Update on Work In Progress

Hello everyone!

Just a quick post to update everyone on my recent piece. I haven't forgotten, but unfortunately it's been shelved until next week....possibly as early as this Sunday due to a Halloween gathering I'm preparing for Saturday.

Rest assured it has not been forgotten and I look forward to resuming work on it as soon as possible. Thanks again for following along.

Work In Progress part 3

Today I feel rather productive. This morning I went out for some fall fun with my two kids and had a blast making leaf piles and then destroying them. Yeah, leaves make great mulch and act as nature's compost.....but who can resist raking them up and then immediately jumping in???? Well, we couldn't and as a result the motivation to start working on my latest painting was renewed.

Today I managed to get a lot done and had a hard time putting the brush down. I've completed all I can for now though and will have to wait for this layer of paint to dry before moving on to lighter leaves. As always, the slow drying time of the oil paints can be a bit of a bother forcing me to leave longer amounts of time between sittings than I would like, but it's paying off and I can honestly say that I'm happy with the progress. Believe it or not, the initial blocked in orange of the leaves is still a little wet!

Work In Progress part 2

Well tonight I attempted to continue work on my fall foliage piece.......and I am now completely reminded as to why I am not fond of oil paints as a medium. People who know me can confirm that patience is not really one of my strong suits and oil painting is definitely something that requires patience. With watercolours and acrylics the process is much for final and you have to work quickly. Oils are very forgiving and will stay wet for days at a time. They blend beautifully and their colours are so very vibrant.

Last night I was unable to work on the piece as the blocked in foliage and the sky were still very wet and any brush strokes I made were blending the surroundings in. So, I shelved it thinking I could pick it up tonight and continue on with little difficulty.

I was wrong. Although I was wrong though I did manage to get the trunk and thicker branches blocked in and some shading worked into the trunk. While I'm getting frustrated at how little I was able to accomplish I am satisfied with what was laid onto the canvas. I will have to adapt my thinking on this piece and the speed I was hoping to finish it....if not anything else it will be a lesson for myself.....and one I am looking forward to seeing through until this painting's completion. Once the sky and leaves completely dry I will go back in to paint in the finer branches.

Work In Progress......part 1

Well, for the first time in over two months I have managed to grab a paintbrush with the intention to paint.....a picture. That alone isn't the only thing that has made me feel successful tonight. This also marked the first time I've attempted a piece using oil paints in at least a year and a half if not in almost two years.

Oils are great....fantastic......however I find them very hard at times to work with and requiring a LOT of patience. Patience is not one of my stronger qualities, so that said I tend to gravitate more towards watercolours and acrylics.

I am very often taken by the strong and powerful colours that autumn brings, making it a very popular subject for me. Right now this is only the first sitting with this piece and I can only hope that I keep up the momentum. I'm hoping that by keeping up with updates regarding the piece as it progresses I'll be more motivated to keep up the momentum and see this one through to completion.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.........

So many ideas, so little time to implement them......

It seems that my latest addition to the webpage has gotten the wheels turning in my head. Well, that and having finally set up my office/studio/guest room after having moved in almost two months ago. I'm finding my head is swelling with ideas and what seems to be the start of inspiration. While I've gotten everything out of the boxes, I still have to get the studio part of it finished. I'm finding that displaying a bit of my own work is helping.....along with the new page added to my site page at logansmeadow.com displaying work I did earlier this year. My hope is to start marketing myself and getting my name out there. I need to pick my paintbrush back up and stop making excuses why things won't work.

As an artist we can be our own worst critic, and worse still, we can be our own worst source of procrastination too.........I'm hoping to snap out of it soon.

Keep your eyes peeled.......hopefully this feeling of inspiration will produce something that will work for me.

New Web Site Content

Hi everyone! Nope, I haven't completely disappeared but have an update instead! Things are moving steadily along as I settle into my new home and while I haven't been able to site and create any new works I have managed to put aside some time and add a new section to my website. I now am showing pics of the mural I did a while back on the actual website and am now offering to do these to those that live nearby to my location. Check it out at logansmeadow.com