Monday, April 20, 2009

Fussy little details

At least now we know what time it is!



The little details are so much more arduous than you might think. "Lamp posts," you might say, "why, those will take no time at all to paint!" If you were to say that, you would be very wrong. First there is the challenge of painting a long straight line (something I have never been good at). Then you have to get it the right thickness, while still keeping the edges straight. I've done all I can with them until the paint dries some. Next time I'll finish them off, which includes correcting the one that's gotten a little lopsided.

The top of the clock took a long time to finish. A small area of the canvas with a lot of complexity. I haven't decided if I'm going to include any of the pigeons that hang out there. I should include them, but that's more fussy detail. The numbers on the dial turned out alright, especially considering what terrible handwriting I have.





Writing with a brush is very different from writing with a pen or pencil. The gestures and motions needed to form the letters/numbers are entirely different, since a brush handles very differently. I'm still developing my painted signature. At first, I imagined that it would look pretty much the same as my normal signature, but that turned out to be impossible. Instead it looks more or less the same as when I was 11--blocky and awkward. I should probably spend a few hours practicing on scrap canvas.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Time...

Waaay back on March 19 (I believe it was a Thursday), I was looking forward to spending the weekend finishing the painting of the clock on the Green. Unfortunately for that plan, I had to unexpectedly leave the country for nearly two weeks, and that threw a lot of things off-schedule.

This weekend I finally got back to the painting, but managed only two sessions of about two hours each. It seems like there's always something getting in between me and my art--usually it's work, this time it was the holiday.

The new bits are subtle--benches, clothing, and the beginnings of lamp posts. In some ways it seems like there's hardly any painting left to do, just little details (like shoes and the clock face). In other ways, it seems like there's a million little fussy details that need attention and will take forever to complete.