Chicago Architecture Tour 2017

The Palette and Chisel will be having an open house during the architecture tour this weekend, I hope to see anyone in the area there! I've lived in Chicago for 6 years and I've still not gone on an architecture tour. I've planned on it a few weekends but life gets in the way I guess, or you don't realize what you have at you fingertips until you move.

Luckily, The Museum of Science and Industry is not too far away and it is beautiful. The building was originally built for Chicago's World Fair to exhibit fine art, which I learned from watching EXPO: Magic of the White City. If you haven't seen it I'd recommend it. Plus it's narrated by Gene Wilder and who doesn't love him?  I could probably work from the museum every day and still find little details I didn't notice before.

Here is a drawing of one the reliefs going along the building. 

The framed drawing, with my tiny little house plants.

Alex

I dream of being prepared and early for everything but often that doesn't happen. This was an unusually busy weekend since the restaurant I work for was open for Mother's Day brunch. Which means doubles for everyone and less time for me to pull my life together. It was a great turn out though and I hope all of the Mothers enjoyed their day!

Sunday after midnight I realized I forgot to put an imprimatura on the panels I use for these studies. They are also in a box somewhere and I did not feel like rummaging through to find them. Instead of giving up and skipping the open studio I used an old canvas that's been sitting around my apartment. I wasn't able to finish it because the model couldn't make it anymore or some sort of scheduling conflict, there is always a scheduling conflict.  

The old painting was so much darker than what I usually have for my imprimatura so I massed in the lights earlier than normal. I also used charcoal to roughly block in the figure this time. For me seated poses or reclining poses are more challenging. I hope with practice to get better with them. Near the end of the session I re-established the outline and shadow shape, trying to hold on to the drawing. Unfortunately this pose was too uncomfortable for the model to continue with it.

Here is the final sketch. 8 x 10 in oil on canvas.

Maureen with a Ukulele

Every day we learn something new. Today I learned I can not spell ukulele. I was way off, I don't think I've ever had to write it until now. I am really enjoying the props though.

Here is the final sketch. Oil on paper, 8 x 10 inches.

Ralph

This study was painted on Raymar's oil painting paper. I wanted to try out a few new surfaces since I've been mainly working on a rougher canvas. This study looks more like a drawing than a painting to me, maybe I was influenced by the surface? Ralph was a delight to paint and I hope to see more of him at the open studio.

Here is the final sketch.

Elise

I've attempted to make another GIF, this one did not take as much time as my first try HOORAY!!!  I will have to learn how to line up the images a bit better though... maybe I should pay more attention while photographing? Glad we can all struggle through this together:) It's been helpful to look back, as I'm learning what works best for me and what to avoid in the future. Today I tried to start by massing in the shadow and light shapes without as many construction lines as I normally use.

I believe this was the strongest stage in this study, afterwards I did not keep things unified enough.  

Here is the final sketch.

Looking Back Six Years

It's difficult to see progress in your own work, it can feel like you are putting in all you can but not seeing the results you want. I was attempting to organize my images and noticed I had a similar view of a female portrait painted 6 years ago. My first thought was my painting ability should be more advanced than this, but that is an unproductive way of thinking. My goal is to be able to dedicate more time to painting but for now this what I can put in. I think the study on the right is stronger than the one on the left, yes there is room for improvement but there will always be. It's important to see how your work has developed and continue to move forward.

It did not take long to find other examples of studies all completed roughly 6 years apart. These studies are nice to compare because they are all around the same size 8x10 in and they were all painted in 6 hours. 

I spend a lot of time trying to understand the pose while painting a figure during an open studio. When I studied figure drawing our teachers posed the models in a standing contrapposto within a very controlled environment. I believe that setup enables you to see more clearly how the figure is moving. And hopefully, make better decisions about it what to do to make sense of it in your work. I spend most of my time trying to make the bodies of these lounging ladies not look broken.

Jamilla

I have spent more time learning how to make a GIF than painting this study. Sorry for the choppiness it's my first attempt :) I initially just wanted to take pictures throughout the open studio to be able to look back at how I started as I'm still trying to figure out what makes the most sense for me as I'm painting.

Bunny

What better way to bring in spring than with a model named Bunny? This was painted at an open studio at The Palette & Chisel. I finally got there early enough to get out of the dark corner I usually set up in. Thank you uber pool. I used comparative measurements for this one and tried to make sense of her head tilted up slightly. The critique of needing a frying pan before making eggs kept coming to mind. I continued to go back to the big shape, frying pans are challenging.