Bamboos finished ( I think )

Acrylic on canvas, 46*38 cm, 18*15 inches.
I have found the japanese name "Take No Oujo" which means, if the translator is right, "Princess of the Bamboos". I hope it does mean that.
Now I'm going to work on the second painting of this series, for the same show, a 80*100 cm, about 31*39 inches.

Interlude

Before putting on my blog new photos of the wip painting, here is a way to restore deleted photo from a camera card after having erased them.
It proves useful sometimes!

I once lost all the new photos on my PC recently, after having deleted them from the camera card.
After some research on the web, I found this tool:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
which is a free photo recovery tool.
I recovered almost all of my lost photos with it.
In fact, photos are not really erased from the card. It is just that the card "table of contents" is erased.
New photos will fill the space on the disc, crashing the old and creating new entries in the "table of content".
So it is very important not to take new photos before doing the recovery, to be able to recover most of the data on the card.

Bamboos continued

Hereafter are new progress images of this painting.









As can be seen in the last two images, the surface is very textured. I used this canvas for a long time to make abstract trials and use the rest of my paints to finish my palette. It makes a very intersting surface to work on.

Retro sewing book

I'm fascinated with sewing and textile.
Textures and colors, shapes, folds, I love every aspect of fabric.
As regards sewing, I have always found surprising that following the printed indications in a book you could end with a wearable garment ( at least some people do ).
I bought this old french sewing and cutting textbook on eBay.



It is a 1947 edition.
I love the cover design. It is so old fashioned.
The sub-title is delicious too: (rougly translated )
"all the necessary advices for the housewive to make her clothes, her childrens clothes and her husband linen."

Bamboos and asian figure wip

This is a new project with bamboos and an asian figure.
I'm not sure yet of the direction it will go.
A sketch:

A beginning with a rather small canvas:

To be continued...

Books : "Fanny: A Fiction, by Edmund White"

I once began two blogs, one dedicated to painting, the other to bits and odds, thinks I like and/or that inspire me.
I have decided that it is too difficult for me to have both blogs running, so in this blog there will be from time to time posts not relative to painting, at least not directly related as these other things do inspire my painting.

"Fanny: A Fiction" by Edmund White, is a work of literature that is very enjoyable to read.
It is written in an old-fashioned style which is consistent with its presentation as a memoir of Mrs Fanny Trollope, who is the mother of the novelist Anthony Trollope. I enjoyed reading "A Married Man", also by Edmund White, which told a rather somber story.
I spent an even better time reading "Fanny: A Fiction", a mock 19th century novel, full of wit and "esprit".

Many thanks to Nina Kuriloff whose help to edit and rewrite this post was very precious!

Maryvonne

A friend of mine opened her blog:
Maryvonne
She makes knife paintings with bright and happy colors and a spiritual touch.
The blog is in french but don't hesitate to comment in english, she'll understand.

Iris wip: finished at long last...

One year ago, I began an "Iris" wip.
I finally finished this painting this week.
I had a "blockage" ( is that word english ?) on it.


Acrylic on canvas, 55*46 cm, 22*18 inches

Muscaris last post

I finally found the time to post the end of the "Muscaris" wip.


Acrylic on canvas, 30*40cm, 12*15 inches

In the meantime: Jen Stark

Very busy preparing local shows...
In the meantime,here is a link to an artist I just discovered, who does wonderful paper sculptures:
Jen Stark

Muscaris continued 3

Working on the bulbs and leaves.
That is a long and rather slow work.

Muscaris continued 2

I worked on the background, adding blue and red and ochre.
I redefined the leaves and onions with charcoal to prepare for the detailed work on them.
The colors are slightly off with the halogen light.
My challenge now is that the real plant is not in the same shape today than when I began to work on this painting.

Muscaris continued

Some more work on the muscaris.
The composition sketches:

A photograph of the real object I'm working with:

The first acrylic on canvas sketch:

Primroses

Another ink from my sketchbook.
The problem is, as I do not make them quickly enough, these flowers tend to fade before I have time to draw them.
I should take pictures, but it is not exatly the same thing.

Muscaris

Muscaris - ink pen on paper.
From a little pot I bought this week end.
I bought some primeroses too, to be drawn later.

Some Sketches

From a reference photograph in WC! I did some sketches.
I find the head angle difficult to grasp and will continue trying.




Bob Hague did a wonderful watercolor rendition of the same reference in his blog:
watercoloradventure

I plan to do it in acrylics if I succeed in grasping the angle...

Bonne Année! Happy New Year!

I wish all of you a very Happy Year for 2007!
Je vous souhaite à tous une très Bonne Année 2007!

Merry Christmas!!

Digital art.

Glass Sculpting - Sculptures de verre

No digital camera for the time being, a pity by this cold weather and time of year where the light is so beautiful.
So I spend too much time on the blogs and discover unique art.
I have seen on a "A dress a day" blog, a dream of a dress in glass, by the artist Karen LaMonte.
More art can be seen on her blog at : Karen LaMonte
Realy impressive and poetic.

Super Hero chain results

Double P published the list of blogs that participated in the Super Hero drawing chain on his blog. Many thanks to him for this fun idea!

Double P a publié sur son blog la liste des participants à la chaîne "dessine-toi dans le costume de ton super-héros préféré". Merci encore pour cette idée amusante!

Me as a super hero

A few days ago, a belgian comics artist launched a challenge " draw yourself as a super hero ".
Marie-Laure
invited me to join.
Here is my contribution:

I have always loved Wonder Woman attire and old-fashioned style.

Se dessiner en tant que super-héros est une idée de Double P qui m'a été passée par Marie-Laure.
Voici ma contribution!

Lots of poppies

"Lots of Poppies", watercolor and ink, 42cm*29,7cm, 16.5*11.7inches
Click to bid

Playing with flickr...Stone and Steel letters

http://metaatem.net/words/



You can compose any word you like with letters found on flickr by the tool created by
kastner with php and javascript.
I chose stone and steel looking letters.

Peter Callesen

A slideshow is in circulation on the internet with the magical papercuts of this artist.
Here is the link to his site:
Peter Callesen
Some of his installations are very interesting too.

Poppy

Poppy, Watercolor and ink, 11.7*16.5 inches, 29,7x42 cm.
A try at watercolor and ink letting a lot of white surfaces on the paper, to make the delicacy and frailness of the flower appear.

IF trouble

Well, let's say it's friday...

Sunflowers ACEO

ACEO, peonies in a vase.
Watercolor and ink( 2.5x3.5 inches ).

It's thursday already!
So that's just a quick post before Illustration Friday.

Illustration Friday

Illustration Friday is a blog ring of artists that each friday post in their blog an illustration on a certain theme.
http://www.illustrationfriday.com/
I have not joined yet, but decided to begin to post an "illustration" each friday.
This week theme was quiet, and I don't know whether my drawing complies.
It illustrates a little poem about weekdays for children.

Another poenies ACEO

ACEO, peonies in a vase.
Watercolor and ink ( 2.5x3.5 inches ).

Poenies ACEO

ACEO, peonies in a garden.
Watercolor ( 2.5x3.5 inches ).

Boat ACEO

Another ACEO, a toy boat stranded.
Watercolor and ink ( 2.5x3.5 inches ).

Marc Tanguy

I love this painter work. I have put his blog in my link too.
He has several series on his website, very creative and interesting.
Marc Tanguy

Poppy ACEO

I have been lately doing ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals), that mean small paintings, the size of a trading card ( 2.5x3.5 inches ).
Their small sizes makes it difficult to go into details, that is a good exercise.
These cards are highly collected on eBay.
It is a convenient way to gather an important original artwork collection without it taking too much space on the wall.

At a friend's

Watercolor and ink pen, 25*18cm, about 10*7 inches.
Sketch done at a friend's during a watercolorists meeting.

Super Swap!

Marie-Laure is a young french painter, very creative, who knows how to use strong colors with taste.
She does powerful oils with a knife, cute teddybears and strong flowers in watercolor, and models funny characters from all sorts of medium ranging from aluminum foil to newspaper.
You can find her blog here:
http://marielauremira.blogspot.com/
I'm lucky enough to know her for some time now, and we recently made a painting swap.
I sent her my "Rose et Rosée" watercolor, and received in exchange the wonderful "Cerises et Chocolat" plus a mini "Muffins Choco-Cerises". Yummy!!!
Here is "Cerises et Chocolat", waiting to be hung at the place it deserves in my home.
I love its strong colors and spontaneity, the pale flowers in the background balancing the dark chocolate cake and red fruits.

Thank you, Marie-Laure!

Red Currant Study

A study of red currants from my garden, on A2 watercolor paper.
I have cut a small branch that I put in a glass of water and it seems to keep for several days. It may be a way to keep the berries from the birds, but I don't know whether they continue to mature when the branch has been cut.
I'd love to have enough berries to make a red currant tart.

Stargazer Lily

Watercolor, 25*18cm, about 10*7 inches.
A Stargazer Lily painted in a batik way, zone after zone, and trying to use the lines the watercolor leaves around the shapes when it dries to have a batik like effect.

Rose and dew

Rose et Rosée, watercolor, 31*23cm, about 12*9 inches.
I tried not to use too intense colors on this one to stay in the delicate mood of the rose.

Hollyhocks Postcard

Small format watercolor ( about 10*14 cms - 4*5.5 inches) to play freely with color and water.

Sweet Award

I received the Children's Choice Award for my horse head in a local show.
That's so sweet to be elected by children!

"Au Box", acrylic, 35cm*27cm, about 14 by 11 inches

Tiger

Tiger, watercolor, 25,3x17,8 cm, about 10x7 inches.
Originally from a zoo, this tiger is back into the jungle for the watercolor sake. I hope it will bear the change well...

Back to blogging...

...after an Easter break followed by PC problems...
I just finished 3 paintings for a show. The paintings are to be brought tomorrow and I finished them this morning...
that's called work under pressure! But sometimes I seem not to be able to paint without a deadline.
Hereafter are 2 of them: a horse head in acrylic and marbles in pastel. The marbles are from a WetCanvas! photo library reference.

In the meantime...

I'll show you my palette for acrylics.
It is a pie pan ( is that the correct term in english ? ), non stick, so that the paint is easy to scrape, and its shape enables me to cover it with a film to keep the paint wet longer.
It is also convenient for spraying as the too liquid paint cannot wander outside the palette.