A Sneak Peek Into The Homeless Finch Studio

I'm in the studio today.  No appointments, no distractions just me, my doggies, my finch and my paints.  Oh! and my laptop.  I am writing this after taking a break for lunch. I needed to let the paint dry on the three canvases that I am working.  Working is the word.  Not sure exactly where I am going with these three.  It's exciting, but frustrating as well.  I work an area wondering if, in the finished product, it will even be visible.  That has become my process.  I just let some things happen.

Along the way, I snap quick images to document where I have been.  I like to do this and then go back and analyze my choices and re-address the direction the painting is taking.  Sometimes, I see things in the flat presentation that a photograph supplies that gives me insight into new ideas.  I have decided to show you the series that has developed.  What the heck, right?!!

The canvases are 20 X 20 each.  This is the first few layers of paint that I put down.  I combined Mars Black with White in varying combinations to create a few different hues.  I also watered down a few to create washes.  I felt like starting with something that would loosely feel like a landscape.  Here are a few details.

I allow some of the washes to drip and run on the canvas.  I don't try and control this because I like the visual texture that they can lend later on in the process.  I let this dry, took a look at the images and decided to play a little bit with some of the areas with solid coverage of paint color.  Here is what I got.

My son saw these in this stage and said, "Oh, mountains!"  I thought, "Maybe."  I don't like to label anything as I go. In fact, I avoid labeling things because I find it restrictive.  I am not always successful in that endeavor. 

So, I get sick of all the grey.  Without much thought (I seriously mean this) I painted a few colors straight out of the tube onto the painting.  I mixed a wash of Alizarin and wiped it with a paper towel across the top and allow some to smear in other areas. 

I take a look at the image above and decided that I hate the dang wavy lines that I put in the grey-blue area above my sons "mountains"  They had to go.  They 'felt' wrong.  I decided to use blue tape to mask off the bottom of the paintings like this...

I took the leftover blue-grey mixed colors and spread them across that area with 5 brushes in my hand all at once.  Crazy? Yes. I know.  Every painting has an experimentation phase.  I was in it.  It produced a horrible muddy mess in that quarter of the painting and I knew I needed to take a serious break before I made a dumb decision that ruined the paintings.  I let that layer dry. 

Giveaway item. Cute!

This is the point when I check the blogs.  I need a good distraction from my canvases as the paint dries.  I actually found an awesome solution for my master bath windows on this break.  I will show you that in another post.  I also entered in a giveaway on my friend Deneen's blog, dreamingincolor.  Fingers crossed. I might win.  What is it that I want to win? Well, go to the link and find out! (wink)

Okay. That aside... I decided that I had a good base of color on the canvas and I want to use it as an the under-painting.  I took down the paintings from the wall and grab my gesso.  I proceeded to use a brush and my hands to cover all the canvas in a destructive and fun manner.  The first time my kids saw me do this, they screamed, "No! You are ruining your painting!"  I then sprayed water on them to moisten them and covered them with grocery bags, pressing down as I went.

After letting them sit like this for 15 minutes, I grabbed up the bags and pulled them off the paintings.  I threw them wildly at the door.  I did.  See here is the pile filled with gesso that I am sure got on my floors too.  I'll clean them up later.  Maybe. 

This is what they look like right now. I consider this the first stage in the process. 

I like the texture that the baggy gesso gives the surface.  The gesso takes well to glazing too.  I will let these dry all afternoon and attack them again in the morning when I am fresh.  I realize that the above image is hard to see, so here are a few details.

Hope you enjoyed the little sneak peek into my studio time today.  Coco did.

-The End-
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