Chuck Close PRINTS: Process and Collaboration @ Schack Art Center

This Sat afternoon I rode on my motorcycle despite the rain to get to Shack Art Center, Everett to see the exhibit about Chuck Close's printing processes and collaboration with print makers.

It inspired me a lot because it was not about Monroe-born artist's prints but it's about his ever-evolving processes and those printmakers' contributions to his process development. I've learned those processes such as mezzotint, pulp-paper multiplies, reduction linoleum, Japanese-style woodcut, and so on at the exhibit. It included those grids used to create "Phil" with pulp, and woodcuts for his self-portrait.

I spent about an hours to read through the descriptions next to the artifacts on the wall, which is quite unusual for me who wouldn't spend more than 15 min to walk through this size of exhibit. At the end I bought a book about this exhibit wrote by Terrie Sultan at the store.

I'm back to Fisher Peak

Finally I made up my mind to come back to this painting. Last three months I haven't done anything. But now it's time to get back.

I've been thinking which way I want to go; like Mike Wise putting more contrast between values and colors, or like Norman Lundin using limited palette and not much color variation but subtle value shift to highlight limited areas. I haven't made up my mind, but likely in-between.

So I made the mid to foreground much darker since they're actually shadowed by clouds and also much closer to the viewers. I might want to make those limited sun lit area lighter to create contrast. Probably I need to make shapes clearer in the mid-foregrounds.

Mitch Albala Wet-in-wet Workshop

Above images are the outcome of today's Mitch Albala's wet-in-wet workshop at Winslow Art Center. These are 9x12 canvas pad and canva paper (I didn't feel much differences once I rubbed the first layer in). Top one is the fist practice putting 4 layers on the surface, progressively make a layer thicker. However, as always I had a problem putting a consistent layer laid out without scraping the bottom later off. It turned out my paint mix was not smooth enough, and I had to add a little more solvent or medium into the mix. That was the biggest finding in today's workshop.

The bottom right is obviously the last practice of the day for a still life. I think the yellow-green leaves are nicely popping up, but as Mitch commented, the window was supposed to be the lightest of this composition, which is not quite. I need to keep trying to create lightest rich colors.

Mike Wise Workshop - Day2

I didn't take a shot of Mike's outcome after the demonstration on top of yesterday's brock-in, partly because he scraped all of them off the panel to show how we could rework on it if we don't like the outcome. That's an extreme demonstration but in reality that's very true.
My outcome is above. Not as good as I want it to be but I experimented some knife works and dry brush techniques I've learned in this WS. It turned out to be ok to me. I need to try further in real paintings. I basically liked the way Mike progressed on the board. I think I can apply some of principles to may paintings.

At least it definitely motivated me to go back to painting.

Mike Wise's Workshop - Day1

The very and most interesting process in Mike Wise's oil painting is above colorful canvas filling is still just block-in stage. You can see even very sharp edges in contrast areas and he keeps pushing&pulling paints on the canvas board. He mixes colors a lot on canvas. Even spray a mixture of mineral spirits, medium, and linseed oil from thin spray can instead of dipping a brush into solvent. This is one way of painting to me.
Then my take to this method is below. We'll finish these tomorrow.

Snake River painting at Penawawa

I went to an year-end short vacation and stayed at Dayton, WA, for three nights. After I discovered my old ski boots were chipping away piece by piece at the bottom on the second day at The Bluewood Ski Area, I gave up the skiing option and drove out under lower twenties in temp to find sun shine and a little warmth to paint outside on the new year's day, which I luckily found while driving north then east along Snake River. Penawawa Canyon I drove through to get the reiver side was very scenic with some cows grazing around but totally in shadow of southern hills so decided to set my easel along the river.

I should have spend more time to work on the details on the foreground, which should have move value contrast than the background. But the temp started dropping again after I spent 1.5 hours. I think I successfully captured features of great hills in the back as well as a band of low clouds covering entire SW from the spot. 

Value shift problem

Another month past before I came back to this painting. But I haven't given up yet...
After filling more on the right side of mountains, now it's clear that those mountains further behind were too dark compared to the mountains in front of them. I need to push the back ones lighter and the front ones darker.