Some book reviews

Further updates on the owl are proceeding as expected - in that they are proceeding :)  I don't have a picture to show today, but I will attach one next time.

In the meantime I have had the chance to do some reading of the books from the library.  Did I mention at any point that one of the books I borrowed is currently out of print?  Of course it's the one by James Gurney and Thomas Kinkade.  It's been a really great read and I would love to get my hands on a copy, unfortunately with it being out of print, the cheapest I can get is $80 not including shipping (the most expensive one I saw was $700).  I'm thinking of asking the library if they will sell it to me instead.  In the meantime I can probably get away with borrowing it for 2 months, so I intend to read it until the print get lighter ;)

The other book I finished was "Pen & Ink Sketching" by Peter Caldwell.  I don't know if this one is out of print or not because I don't intend to own a copy of this one.  Don't get me wrong - it's a very good book!  It's a relatively light read - I finished it in a few hours, but it's packed full of good tips and advice for working in ink and sketching.  Has some very good tips on perspective (including arches) and general composition placements.

I highly recommend both of these books if you are interested in learning to draw or sketch ever.  Mr. Gurney's book is neat because, well one, it's a lot longer, with a lot more info, and two it was written shortly after he graduated art school and he and Mr. Kinkade basically backpacked through the U.S. sketching and drawing and learning.  A fantastic experience that I'm sure had both their parents' sleeping restlessly.

Crocus III

I came away from my studio feeling very positive about the direction this painting is going.  This a huge turnaround from how I felt yesterday - once again I struggled against the panic and fear that seems to go with working creatively for me.  I did win out in the end.  I pushed past the fear and walked into the studio, sat down and started the routine of preparing my paints, etc.  It's amazing how routine can quiet the mind and absorb fear.

Anyway...I worked more on improving the shadows in the petals.  I read somewhere (maybe James Gurney?) that objects that face the sky will reflect blue in their shadows, while objects that face the ground will reflect reds/browns in theirs.  I could see that effect in my reference photo, so I tried my best to follow it.

Then I worked to define the veins in the petals.  One thing I've definitely learned from this project is that when you are doing veining, do them first.  Veins should be under the shadows not above them.  It doesn't show well in the picture, but in the real painting it looks to me like the veins are above the shadows.  I also decided to darken the areas behind the flower to better allow the flower to "pop" in the painting.  After this I decided that this was about as much damage as I wanted to commit and chose to remove the masking on the pistils.

After looking at my reference photo for a bit, I decided that it would be easier to mask over the dark portions behind the pistils in the middle.  This way I could work unimpeded and the values would be more fluid.

I've never added masking to a painted surface before, and I noticed that the colour started to move into the masking.  I'm really hoping that this doesn't mean that the mask is absorbing some of the pigment.  We won't know until I lift the mask unfortunately, but if it has, I am determined to try to paint the dark areas back in.  I decided to prep my paints and palette for the oranges and yellows needed in the pistils and then I started my first wash.  I kept going, adding darks and lifting lights until I started making mistakes.  Then I figured I'd quit while I was ahead :)

We're not quite done yet, there's more definition to put into the pistils, but I can definitely see the finish line!  I like how the orange of the pistils has added some warmth and life to the painting - not just a focal point.  If you compare this image to the one above, before I added pigment, the painting seems very cool and lifeless I think.