THE SINGER II

A new attempt, in gouache.(6x8in)

LUMIO

Gouache on Jordan paper 6x8in 15X20cm

This little gouache was painted for The Virtual paintout; the subject this month is Corsica, an island I know quite well.
This village, situated in Balagne, between Calvi and l’Ile Rousse, towering above the whole bay of Calvi, was built in the XV th.C.
Sainte Marie baroque church, was built in 1800. It’s  36 meter steeple  was finished in 1880. There are several other similar ones in Balagne.

the singer

oil on paper 6x8
I tackled this portrait for several days.
Someone recently wrote John Sargent said that if we were aware of a mistake in the proportions, we ought to start from scratch.
I decided to do the opposite, and see what would happen, and learn.
The nose was hard to paint, I did not want to do it too big.But, after a change, it was too small, and the space between the nose and the mouth was too short..The eyes were too spread apart, so I had to narrow it.
Now, the skin tone is not good, so I have to improve it and so on.
Well, of course, it is better to be right from the departure, I would’t have wasted all this time, but I have learned from my mistakes.
And, it is not finish!

THE CLIFF

oil on Yupo, 6x8
in, 15x20cm
I painted this one yesterday, after Henri Edmond Cross, with his pointillist manner.
Yupo paper is quite new for me.
  I read about it last year. Apparently, it was an odd support: you could mix  water and dishwashing  liquid and get nice effects in  watercolour;
so, I bought it for gouache,but was not pleased with the result. I suppose I am not fond of impredicable things
This month, I tried again with oils, deciding to cover the surface with a layer of black acrylic,let it drying, and then paint.
it gives a smooth surface, easy to work with.; I will use it now, starting with small pieces (1/2 sheet, e.i. 6x7in).

DSFDF

oil on Yupo  6x8in 15x20cm
This is the portrait I’ve painted for DSFDFswap challenge.
The beginning was hard, I had as a support only a small picture.
After tries and tries, I reached a  point of reasonable satisfaction, and I am aware that I’ve learned a lot by persisting;; however I would have liked to improve it, to go on by looking for the very right expression.
But a few previous desatrous attempts taught me that it would be more prudent to  stop!So I did…

LES CANNELES

                 oil on board 6x6in

Les cannelés, évidemment, il n’y en a plus, ils ont tous été mangés, et voici leur représentation à l’huile-eux contenaient du beurre-Le plat m’a donné beaucoup de mal, je n’ai pas encore réussi(vais-je continuer?), l’ellipse n’est pas conforme, mais il était préférable de s’arrêter là, pour éviter la catastrophe.
There are no more cakes, called “cannelés from Bordeaux”, they have all been eaten;the dish gave me a lot of trouble, because the ellipse, and I preferred stopping there, to avoid the disaster.

avant le départ(peinture en cours, in process)

oil on plywood 51x30cm, 12x19in
C’est Camille. Juste avant de prendre son train de nuit pour Barcelone, où elle est sensée passer une année, sa valise bouclée –et bâclée- en 15mn.
J’ai pris un format plus grand, cette fois, le ton de la peau est trop foncé, pour l’instant.Commencée en septembre, elle reste sur le chevalet, et de temps en temps je la reprends , pour changer des petites toiles qui me donnent autant de mal, du reste.
It’s Camille.She was going to take a whole night train to Barcelona, Spain, where she is supposed to spend one year.On the right side, there is her suitcase, packed in 15mn, overloaded, of course.

L’église Ste Ursule

Voici une petite toile peinte l’été dernier, après l’expo Kandinsky, à Beaubourg.
Il s’agit d’un détail de “Munich, Schwabing avec l’église Ste Ursule”1908.

huile sur carton entoilé 13x18cm 5,5x7in
Here is a small painting after Kandinsky exhibition, at Beaubourg.It is a detail from “Munich, Schwabing with St Ursule church”1908.
I’ve liked painting these strong colors.

Are you sure?

color pencil on strong paper 8,5x12
This was done years ago, in color pencil, before I began to paint;I liked the tense stare of this old lady.

LAST CALL FOR THE FLIGHT...

oil on panel 8x9,5


Here is my latest attempt to Karen Jurick's challenge;I wouldn't say that I liked the subject, but I am glad to have been able to finish it! it is worthwhile  to make efforts, I hope I'll improve, and  I've seen such beautiful renditions on Dsfdf!

My first color wheel

This summer, on one of thoses numerous windy and rainy days we had at the Lake, I borrowed
a book of Betty Edwards,(I had already read The new drawing on the right side of the brain, and I've loved it);this one is called COLOR, A course in mastering the Art of mixing colors.
One of the first exercises was to make our own color wheel, mixing colors.
I made 6!(not the same, of course) it was  very useful to paint it,it helped me to remember the primary, secondary, complementaries colors. I had already learned that thousands times,without remembering very clearly,  but the fact of  drawing  ,painting,cutting(with a plate as a template) looking  for the colors , and placing that on a clock change everything.

to start, a first sketch

pencil on paper , 6x9

the matter was difficult, and I prefered to start with a drawing, before painting.
It was the 1st time I drew something with a view from above, I am wondering if it is clear..

I am fagged...

5,9x8,3 acrylic on paper
Here is my latest entry to Karin Jurick "DSFDF" challenge

In Summer

Here I am, and the  followings days are on my other blog, en Gironde

After painting!

from Toronto to the Lake of the Woods

We left Toronto by train on Saturday, at 10PM, and arrived on Monday, at 12.30 at Winnipeg.We were delayed for 4 hours, because a freight train derailed in the night before ( we could see the car and the engine scattered in the muskegs).
The day after, we took a Greyhound bus to Kenora, and we arrived at 12.30.
Our boat was waiting for us in the mainstreet dock, and after a 20 mn trip, we at last reached our cottage.
We would need several days to rest after that!