Summer market - unfinished painting

I went to the studio, yesterday intending to clean up and tidy. I had finished a painting the day before, and was mulling what my next subject would be.

I have plenty of unfinished paintings lying around and this one caught my attention. I started thinking what needed doing in it and found myself compelled to pull out the paints and start painting.

At the time I was not satisfied with the progress and was beginning to lose momentum.

That's fine as it means that the motivation is there again. So this is what I will be working on these next days.

 Oil on canvas 80 x 60 cm

Taking on an Old painting - final result

Finished. I repainted the sky, lovingly finished off the river and lightened the crane structure.
Again, I am putting the original after the painting for comparison. Seeing the two together really gives me a feeling of what I have accomplished.

I also took greater care when photographing the painting this (last?) time.

If you wish to see the previous posts concerning this painting they are here first and second

please click on images to see larger version

Taking on an old painting - take 2

After a new coat or two, here is the painting  as it is, not finished yet, but beginning to vibrate a bit.

I washed a lot of blue and violet into the darks, put some very dark red and green in the trees, and spent quite a bit of time on the water. 

I have put the original from 2007- before modification - for comparison.

click image to see full size

click image to see full size

(old version)

Taking on an old painting

A painting I did in 2007 towards the beginning of my long(!) career was very competent for the stage I was at. However it lacked some character and was a bit garish. This week I decided I was going to paint on top of it to bring it closer to my approval. It was painted entirely in acrylics, which you may know is an acceptable base for oil paint from an archival point of view.

The scene is a crane mounting on a lock on the River Rhone at sunset,

Here is the painting in acrylics before modification. The photo is also from 2007

The painting has an overall color cast which makes it a little uninteresting. This was before I had discovered some of the magic that colors can have when interacting with each other.

By the way you can see four stages of the painting I put up on my site at the time.

My plan was vague, but I knew I wanted some blue/violet in there to vibrate with the oranges.

Here is the painting in its new life after a first session.

I hope you will agree that it is already beginning to get better. I washed ultramarine blue over all the dark parts, then toned down the oranges put some blue/violet in the clouds.

For the painters, I am doing the first stages in alkyd (fast drying) oils and will finish in classical oil paints.

I will post as it develops.

Dancer - finish point 1

I have brought this painting to a possible conclusion. As often, I'm putting it aside for a few weeks, in order to evaluate it with a fresh eye and take a final decision.

oil on canvas 50 x 40 cm

Detail 

Dancer again

I finally took on the dancer again. The face is beginning to go somewhere I like.

 click image for larger

Not so inspired today (Night Parade)

Today was one of those days where you push the paint around without much conviction. I quit after a couple of hours. You have to be attentive to not letting it get you down. The thing is, when it's flowing, the feeling is almost godlike, so when it's not there, the contrast is striking.

So it goes...

Here is the state of it:

click to enlarge

Night Parade - Painting stages for the day

While waiting for my dancer to dry, I started this today. Here is the progression from the day's session.

Acrylic base

Acrylic sketch

Oils