Saturday, September 27, 2008

Virtual Sketch Date - September


oil on gessoed board, 8 in x 10 in

Above is my entry for this month's Virtual Sketch Date.

Thanks to Sharon for the reference. It's a beautiful reference, but honestly, in the end I had to abandon it.

I sketched this four times in the sketchbook. Then I started to do a CP work on vellum. As that progressed I remembered why I decided that I needed to find a new main medium. After my five false starts, I decided to put the reference away. I came up with another sketch (in CPs :D) from my memory - a simplified version. I decided to paint from the simplified sketch in oils.

At a few points during painting I consulted the reference, but each time it just made things worse. In the end, I just went from the simplified sketch and gut instinct.

I thoroughly enjoyed the painting, even if the false starts were frustrating. Can't wait to see the other entries!

And as for the oil painting...well, this was my first piece on gessoed board and I love it! Canvas will just never feel right again! :D

30 comments:

"JeanneG" said...

Very nice Rose. When I oil painted I always used canvas. I never tried jesso. But I am just not into messy now. I'll stick to my cps.

Jo Castillo said...

Rose, this is wonderful. You are zipping along in the painting. Applause!!

Kari Gibson said...

Oh, working with your instincts is so successful! It has a liveliness and vibrancy that makes it feel as if you were painting the actual peony before you instead of a reference. All those sketches paid off!

S.G. Chipman said...

fantastic painting, Rose - I really like this one.

cathyswatercolors said...

It's so nice to see the different interpretations of the study. I painted about 3 different versions and ended up posting a very cropped version. loved the study and your oil painting is great.

Stacy said...

Rose, this is great - loose and vibrant. I like that we can see the brush strokes. I agree with Kari that it looks like it was painted from life.

Jennifer Rose said...

wonderful painting :) your paintings are really coming along nicely, lots of life to them.

Rhonda Bartoe Tucker said...

Oh, this is luscious! Great choice to do this in oil. I also am taking a cue from you and going to try to work more from instinct and memory than heavily relying on a reference photo. I can only hope I have the results you did!

Jeanette Jobson said...

Great painting Rose. You have really moved forward with oils and I love the loose brushwork. I struggled with this in terms of paint too and persevered, but you've obviously conquered.

The pumpkins are fabulous too.

Rose Welty said...

Thanks everyone for the kind comments! There are some lovely entries this month...I wish I had the patience for the details others put in - well, and the skill to put them in! :D

Valerie Jones said...

This is gorgeous! Glad you decided to use your instincts!

Unknown said...

Very dramatic- I really like the brushwork and the movement :)

Unknown said...

Very dramatic- I really like the brushwork and the movement :)

Andy said...

Oil paint seems to like you Rose, those petals are beautiful.

Cathy Gatland said...

I love this expressive piece and the delicious oiliness of your brushstrokes - sometimes working through false starts and frustration is really worth it, like here!

Regina Calton Burchett said...

I like your re-imagining on this subject - the vase looks like leaded crystal and the flowers have a lovely, plump look to the petals.

Ann said...

This is lovely! You are doing so very well with oils. I admire your dedication.

Leslie Hawes said...

The center petal just fascinates me. It points right down, and makes me feel like I just put that flower in the vase.
Very cool.

Dianne Mize said...

Who would have known about all those false starts. You have a lovely painting. I especially love the transparency in the bowl and the lively gestural strokes of your petals. See, your muse knew best.

Deborah said...

Very nice. I don't use oils but I am always impressed with the results people get. Very rich.

Sharon said...

I like it that you put the photo aside and let your inner muse guide you!. It's fascinating to see all the different interpretations of the photo. I love the movement in this painting!

Gail Bartel said...

Rose,
I prefer board as well to canvas whenever I'm using oils or acrylics. I think the give of the canvas always sets me off a bit. Nice brushwork, from the sounds of it a lot of prep. went into this one and it shows. Beautiful job.

BARBARA WEEKS said...

I love the way you captured the weightlessness of the petals.

Marion said...

Lovely interpretation. I like the idea of using a new medium for Virtual Sketch work. Perhaps I will try some different medium next time.

Paulette said...

I love that you worked from memory!
It has a lovely feel to it!

Vivienne said...

I'm envious of this one, Rose.It looks as if you had lots of fun moving those oils around on the smooth gesso surface. Yummy green water (hmmm maybe not the right word); and painterly finish. I think I'll go and find some boards.. Do you get them ready made, or gesso them up yourself?

Rose Welty said...

Vivienne,

This one was pre-gessoed. I prefer those, but as the price is so much higher, I am going to start trying to gesso them myself. Gesso seems to be a very personal thing, so trying to figure out what I should buy was a nightmare, everyone says to just try different ones and then decide...that's alot of toxic stuff to buy though! I'll let you know how it goes.

Belinda Lindhardt said...

Rose i missed this until now. It really is very lovely despite you feeling like it was hard work. I really enjoy the colours and emotion in it i think you have done a really good job here :) well done.. love to see this painting journey you are on its great :)

MaryAnn Cleary said...

What a delightful interpretation. I like how you painted from memory. In a workshop this summer from Marc Hanson, we had to paint a landscape from memory (look at it for 5 minutes and then paint with out back to the scene). We then did another interpretation of the same scene looking at the subject. In all cases, the one painted from memory was better than the one looking at the subject. A very nice painting!

Quilt knit said...

Your Painting is just wonderful so painterly! Rose I love the deliberate intent of the strokes.

Sherrie Roberts