Starting a Painting or Finishing One, Which is Harder?

I have a lovely fresh board waiting for me in the studio. I have the idea for the painting; a continuation of the White Gloves series, so why am I looking at the rain and writing a blog rather than starting the painting? It is such a lovely blank space. Can I make a painting that means something to me and others? Once I start putting paint on it, am I spoiling the surface or creating improvements?

I finished the first "White Glove" painting a couple of days ago. It is hung in the living room and now I feel it should have been a triptych rather than a diptych. What do you think?

Finishing a painting is not nearly as much fun as starting one. At the beginning there is so much promise and then towards the end I have to solve all the problems that I have created.

rainy day view from the studio

last painting in the viewing room

In the living room

the nice, clean, blank board.

Painting Prices Slashed!

It is time to go through all my paintings before the move and decide which ones can be discounted.
The new house is smaller and there will be a big painting sale, Saturday May 13th from 9 to 3 and many household items as well. Time to let things go! Here are some of the sale paintings. All will be at least 50% off retail and some even more. Come to the sale and choose one or more for your collection. If you don't live near by, I will arrange shipping. Contact me for individual prices.

Kai and Red, Nice, Jazz Festival, pastel on paper

"Almost Home" encaustic on board

encasutic

Process of a Painting

When I was working on my 50 Faces series, I found that followers on Face Book reacted almost more positively to the process photos of the portraits to the finished painting.

I work loosely and do not draw before I start painting. Through the last 13 years I have been trying to get away from absolute realism to a more painterly approach.

Here is the process of a recently finished painting from my series, "Transformations"

Oil over black gesso

The oil painting has been covered with clear encaustic. The butterflies are painted with a hot stylus and the jar is a transfer.

Day 27 of the Challenge

I have been posting a painting a day for the last 27 days on the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. Most of these can not be done in a day, but this one was. It is cold wax on board. The technique leaves a matte finish and it is easy to build up textures. Unlike encaustic, it takes a day or two to dry. I am working back and forth from straight oil to abstracts in cold wax. I have gathered a bunch of tools to apply and move the cold wax. The one I use the most is an old credit card. I like the flexibility.

Another Encaustic Technique

Holding Her Space

Daises On Her Mind

I made this series of paintings a few years ago and have a handful available. Click the youtube link below to see the whole process.

https://youtu.be/RXOMIwZcbmY

How Did I Do That?

After all these years of making art, I sometimes wonder "How did I do that?" I study the painting  up close and try to remember what I used to get that effect or what colors were on my palette during that series.

I always work in series, with rare exception.The exception being when I am experimenting with different mediums and tools. When I am in that special series zone, my excitement and energy pushes me to eagerly keep going . Waking up exhilarated with new ideas,  I work on 3 paintings at a time to stay fresh.

In the series, Women Who Changed the world, you can see the continuing style in each of the paintings:  http://www.artsyshark.com/2015/11/02/featured-artist-ezshwan-winding/

Here is one that I made in about 2010. I still move in close and try to figure out how I did it. This painting of a street musician remains one of my favorites. It was done entirely in encaustic and I recall that I did a lot of scraping.

I published a book, Painting Faces in Encaustic, that I had to look at recently to see how I laid out the hot palette. Of course I had been using oils, almost exclusively last year.

Here's one that sold almost immediately out of a gallery. I must have been in an encaustic zone.

I seem to be out of any zone at the moment. I am awaiting 4 portrait commissions and perhaps it is better to let my muse rest, until it is time to begin those.

A Featured Painting

It is encouraging to have Saatchi Art feature one of my painting on their weekly site. I have great respect for this gallery. The work they handle is top notch.

http://www.saatchiart.com/art-collection/Painting-Drawing-Photography/New-This-Week-4-4-2016/153961/133010/view

Here is a detail from the featured painting:

Here is a diptych from my red series. Lots of carving. 30 x 80 cm.

Scraping away the dark

 I finished another painting in the Memories series, ( I think that is a better name than Remembrances ) . I am going to take a break and clean the studio and get ready for an encaustic student tomorrow. It's a good thing, because I feel as if I have stopped seeing the work. When that happens, the best thing I can do is put the work away and not look at it for a while.

charcoal sketch on milk paint on board

several layers of encaustic and oil glazes

transfers and charcoal

I did a lot of scraping. I though it was too dark

Starting a New Painting - Again

I got rid of the bad painting and began a new one. I found that I hadn't completely removed every bit of encaustic, so the ink wash is reacting a bit differently.  I am adding charcoal for the blackest blacks.

Here is the begining of the cover-up painting. The ghost of other one can still be seen under the milk paint.