boring stuff

i had this HUGE post with a bunch of info but blogger wouldn't accept it. not sure why. i just thought i'd share a few things i've found lately.

http://monalisa.com/ - there is a video that explains what it is, i just registered with it - http://darcibertelsen.monalisa.com/ it seems like it could be real sweet.  it's just starting to get it going, i saw somewhere that they're trying to get it all up the first part of this next year.

Plate show at art access, it’s about 100 artist, 300 plates.
.....you just have to email Sheryl Gillilan (sheryl@accessart.org) by January 15th, 2012. If you are a new artist to this event, please include a link to your website or 4-6 images of your work. We will confirm that we have received your email and will make all acceptance notifications no later than January 18, 2012. (Please note that our office will be closed December 22 thru January 2nd.)....

these are websites that list national show - i've been trying to find more places to enter into show in and out of state. you kind of have to dig, but it seem to be an ok resource (for something online)
http://www.artpoints.net/calendar.html
http://artdeadline.com/artman2/publish/opportunities/index.shtml

so that is the short version. if you have questions about any of these things email me, or comment and i'll send you an email with more info or shows i've found that are coming up in the next few weeks/months.

photography

James Gurney of Dinotopia fame has a really good post about photographing your paintings. A budget solution without an intense lighting setup. HERE

oil sketch

So I painted up this thing tonight, based on some tweaks Geoff suggested. I used cerulean blue, burnt sienna and white, for a warm/cool effect. I thought it was interesting the mixture of the two had a green tinge - wouldn't violet be more towards the mark?

Anyway, this is gessoed butcher paper, about 10 x 18 or so. I have five more for other studies. So far, I'm digging where this is going.

shadow box

another experiment inspired by the paintings Vince did a while ago.

Round 2

Swamp Thumb

Some sketches for a painting request for my mom. Some of the elements: elongated ratio, eroded roots, and an Alexis Rockman style cross-section of the water.

Any of these getting anywhere?

Magic Circle

Man, it's hard to get the colors right on blogger.

This is a little 9x7. I really like working in this size. The last one I posted is still in progress, and not going extremely well, though I've figured one thing is clear: I really like working right on the wood. This one is just the panel with several layers on polyurethane. I really liked working on this one and I think its the biggest success I've had in paint in a while.

snow truck + family

so i'm trying to get the done by saturday for the religious show at springville.... (i was thinking of titling it "isn't it about time" - not really) anyways i'm kind of stuck, i know her face is horrible and i'm having a really hard time figuring it out there is NOTHING in my reference. i'm thinking i need to break some edges quite a bit more to make it more painterly, but every time i do it throws off my perspective more (so i'm thinking i'm having value/saturation issues?)  the snow in the front is really blue, and there is a road in the back ground. in real life the road is more pink than what the photo show so the 2 stripes of color in the snow aren't the same color. i think that might be the biggest part of my perspective issues. any ideas how to fix that?
when it get's a little further i'm going to glaze it all so it's a little pinker/warmer. and i'm trying to find places where i can add some line work/accents. do you think the bed of the trk is too dark? or warm?
give me anything please.

this is just a little 5x5 and way blurry i don't know why i'm having such a hard time taking a photo of it. it's just similar so i thought it might be good to post with the other one. i was making this one too saturated, and i don't know if i've desaturated it enough or gone too far.

artist folder

dear everyone,
i've told a lot of you, but i'm not sure if i've told everyone so i'll explain.

the past 2 ish years i've been collecting images of artists. it started because really, who can afford all the art books you want, and i was tired of looking up/trying to remember the same images over and over again so i decided to start saving them. it's now huge and i thought i should share. it consists of artists who have stood out/influenced me for one reason or another. some of them are people i really don't like their work at all, (because sometimes you can learn just as much from work that seems a little off.)

i was thinking if you want to add to it and share you could keep a separate place (so i don’t have to sort through what’s new and what’s old) where you add any additional info to the folder and send it back to me, i could consolidate all the new information everyone has added and re- distribute.

long story short, if you want to leave me your address i'll mail you a copy.

The Ancient Dragon Defends Her Last Egg

So I made a new discovery: Drawing on bare wood is a blast. I may never go back to paper.

This is going to be a beat-up piece in experimenting on a new process for the Wunderkammer series. I love the wood grain so much, I want to try to varnish the drawing and oil paint right onto the wood, acting more like a stain than opaque paint. And I think it would add to the dated feel. I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen, so I wanted to get a pic before I started (I know a lot of the white will go away; hopefully to be rectified in paint). Anyway, what'ya think?

Michelle's new work

Sorry the top image is not the best, but it's still a work in progress. So this is my new series that I am working on that is incorporating my two favorite things: figure painting and collage! Many of you have already seen these and provided critique, but I haven't made a post in a while, so here we go. I have started this series based on a lot of formal elements, but I have absolutely no idea what the theme or concept is. So if anyone wants to try to interpret my subconscious for me, and tell me what they think these are all about, please do! I would like to have a loose theme or concept in mind that I can tie this series together with. Next, I haven't painted for over a year now, so some critique on the painting would be good for future works. That's all.

A Little Bit O'This

Holy cow.  I think I lost a thousand percent of my color when I uploaded this onto blogger.  Anyhow, this is my first painting back from my year-long pregnancy hiatus.  I don't know what was wrong with me.  I couldn't paint.  Made me nauseous.   Tear it apart, please.  I'd love to hear your most critical feedback.  Thanks!

Little Dump

I haven't painted at all since Summerfest, so I grabbed a panel and dove into this monkey skull. This is a few hours, alla prima. It's sort of in preparation for a series of Wunderkammer paintings I've had my mind on for a while. I tried to be a little more interpretive than observational. One panel at a time, right?

I also moved my studio from my living room (much to Shanell's relief) back to the garage. Once down there, I drew this self-portrait for the occasion. Again on the brown butcher paper.

Art Competition

http://arts.utah.gov/funding/competitions/statewide_annual.html

I might enter this.

Portrait Studies

This one I did the underpainting for while at my booth at Summerfest. I took it home and finished it later.

These next two were drawings of students while they sat for a portrait session in my class on Thursday. I'm digging the cheap brown butcher paper.

2D/3D abstraction

the other day Vince inspired me to do some experimenting based on the kind of stuff he's been working on. so I thought I'd give it a go with my digital tricks.

what if this were a real painting?

plein air

I can't decide if these are done. the top one the green at the bottom is sage brush, i was planning on putting more info but i don't know if it will be more busy/distracting that way. there is also a fence line at the edge of the sage and field i was planning on putting in, and maybe a little more detail in the trees. . . ?

the other one was right before a storm, i had the sky and mountain painted completely different at first, then it got stormy so i changed it right before we left. i have a picture and there is a little detain in the mountain on the left side, and there is another house in the middle of the trees and white house. i can't decide if i should put it really desaturated and lose in there.

thoughts?

Just got back a copy of a higher quality shot of this last painting thought I'd share.

Latest

Not the best photos here. I ran out and shot these really quick today when I had a moment of sunshine.

Kettle bell dos. Not much to say, just wanted a companion piece for the other kettle bell.

This one I started a while ago, just before finishing the last one with the bricks and the abstract painting in the background. Another set-and-go, with not much thought to narrative. With this one, I started with the intent of casting out any textural concerns, just paying attention to shape of color, as you can see with the cloth. As the painting tediously moved on, I lost interest, and was unable (or unwilling) to maintain that language, moving back to the way I usually paint - from the glass downward. I don't like this painting, mainly because of the experience I had with it.

There you go.

final portrait

I'll have a better pic soon

Qwikie

Taking a cue from Geoff, I wanted to do a quick character sketch to build my chops. This was a little over 2 hours. I used just burnt umber and burnt sienna; I got the idea after watching a Rob Liberace grisaille sketch.

Still Life with Abstract Patinting

I put aside any narrative pretension and just set stuff up to paint. I'm continuing with the egg shell thing (I think I'm getting better at them) and may do another one of these. As some of you know, Steven Stradley used to be in my old studio; the backdrop is one of his old paintings he left behind.

How does it read?

The Finished Product

This is the finished product. Tyler, I agree with your comments on hierarchy, but a lot of this was already glued down by the time I read your comment (you know I'm impatient). However, I think I have created a main focal point and overall solid comp. I realized that I was creating kind of a reflection in earlier stages of this, so I decided to go with that idea. Although it is done, I am open to critique that might be helpful for further collages. P.S. Geoff, I responded to your comment but blogger was down for a day and they were gone when it came back.

Last Night's Experiments

So I think everyone on here is caught up with my recent collage work except for Geoff, so if you would like to see what I've been doing for the past year, go to www.picasaweb.google.com/michellelarsenart.
These are some possible compositions I was working out last night. I had settled on the one with the girl at the top and all the stuff falling below her, but when I uploaded the pics on my computer, I saw it upside down and thought it was a nice composition, so now I am open to that. I haven't glued anything down yet so I am open to any suggestions. I wish I had some more questions to ask you to direct your feedback, but just tell me what you think.

Moonlight Over Ganymede

At least that's what I'm tentatively calling this first one. I started a few of these little 9x12's on impulse, and if I can get it right I might do a few bigger ones. Any criticism is welcome.

I toned down the blue reflected light a lot in this one as per suggested. Not sure where to go next; I was maybe thinking to go redder (glaze maybe) for the hard light. ???

Breakfast 2

Companion piece to the last one

i think you could make and sell a bunch of these and they'd look so well together.

Breakfast

So I got a booth at Summerfest here in Logan this summer. I wanted to pump out some sellable stuff. I had a bunch of eggshells I wanted to paint; this is what I put together.

The back of the bowl is getting a lot of glare; its value is much lower.

I've been experiementing, I'm not going to explain what these are. Just beat them up please.

Richelieu

Going to leave it in this stage. I'm always fighting chalky flesh as I was in this one.

UPDATE: I replaced the photo with a better one.

"All for One..."

So I'm painting a portrait of Cardinal Richelieu for the theater department's production of "The 3 Musketeers." Apparently there is a scene in which he is painting himself, so I have to leave the painting unfinished. I'm going to start applying color to the face, work my way out, and leave sections just the underpainting.

Kettle bell NAI

Revisited with some glaze and scumbling. Tried to work out the pastiness

Kettle bell

So I got my big bristle filbert out and painted this. It was a fun change from the Lang Nickels. I loaded up a lot more paint and tried to be a little looser. I'm not finished yet, I think I'll use this as a beat-up piece for glazes and scumbles. I'm starting on a companion piece soon, too.

It's got a little glare in the shadow that throws the value off a little.

PO

first of all i have to say that i think this one of Tyler's best landscapes. i really like it.

i had some time to play with the image. of course some photographic tweaks are a whole lot easier to pull off than actually painting it up...

*pushing back that upper landmass with a glaze of the water color

*darkening the front landmass with a glaze of that reddish shadow color

*lightening the midground with a glaze of a warm orange/yellow

i skewed the aspect ration to emphasis the horizontal-ness of the image itself