After Van Gogh and What Was I Thinking?

Oh my!  So my 1 hour time limit is off with both of my Van Gogh paintings.  The first one took 2 hours and today's painting took over 5 hours.


Just getting started......

Trying to do a little of the tedious background before I do the face.

Enough with the background (which I thought was difficult) and onto the face! 2 hours in......

OK a little more background and then I allowed myself to start the beard.  Crazy making! 3 hours in...

4 plus hours in and I am loving it but ready to jump in the creek!

Finished and ready for a glass of wine!

The man that Van Gogh painted was his postman and friend, Joseph Roulin.

The Roulin Family is group of portrait paintings Vincent van Gogh executed in Arles in 1888 and 1889 on Joseph, his wife Augustine and their three children: Armand, Camille and Marcelle. This series is unique in many ways. Although Van Gogh loved to paint portraits, it was difficult for financial and other reasons for him to find models. So, finding an entire family that agreed to sit for paintings — in fact, for several sittings each — was a bounty.
Joseph Roulin became a particularly good, loyal and supporting friend to Van Gogh during his stay in Arles. To represent a man he truly admired was important to him. The family, with children ranging in age from four months to seventeen years, also gave him the opportunity to produce works of individuals in several different stages of life.
Rather than making photographic-like works, Van Gogh used his imagination, colors and themes artistically and creatively to evoke desired emotions from the audience. - Wickipedia

Like I said in a previous blog, Van Gogh was a mad genious!

Channeling Vincent

Over the last five days I have been participating in a challenge to paint 30 paintings in 30 days. Each day I post my painting on Leslie Saeta's blog - Slices of Life by Leslie Saeta

I think there are about 1,200 artists participating in her challenge.  She has chosen to do abstract paintings because she has never done it before.  She sold her first 2 paintings and was commissioned to do a third!

The first four days I only allowed myself one hour to paint a 6 x 6 inch canvas and unfortunately, I began late in the day so by the time I finished, it was hard to photograph my finished painting. But today I thought I would begin early and it would be fun to see how some of the old masters worked.  I chose a Vincent Van Gogh self-portrait. It took me 2 hours and I almost gave up 15 times.  I had no idea it would be so difficult!

Where to begin?  What were his base colors?  Yes, I could figure out the final top color but he had many layers going on there. And each dab of paint is clean, fresh paint.  Mine was turning to mud....

But I trudged on.....

No mixing or blending, just one dab of paint next to another.

What an incredible, talented, insane genius this man was!

After just five days, I have already learned so much!  The first day my "darks" were not nearly dark enough so the next day I improved that.  It takes good darks to make your lights glow.

The Getty 2014

Over the weekend I was able to spend some time at the Getty Museum in Southern California.

They have these wonderful metal sculptures that have Bougainvillea and Roses growing up through them to hang over the top and form shade as well as beauty.

A few of my favorite pieces that hang there are -

"Wheatstacks, Snow Effect, Morning" by Claude Monet

Just look at the beautiful color in both the haystacks and the snow.

"Les Iris" by Vincent Van Gogh

 

 

 

 

 

Overheard a guard say that they paid 90 million for this painting and it is now worth 108 million. Glad someone has money and can share this beauty with the world!

"Young Ladies Admiring Japanese Objects" by James Tissot

"Portrait of Louise-Antoinette Feuardent" by Jean-Francois Millet

"Portrait of Therese, Countess Clary Aldringen" by John Singer Sargent

"The Laundress" by Jean-Baptist Greuse

 This was a favorite find.  It was hidden around a corner and is small but sweet.  The laundress had dressed up in her Sunday Best for the portrait, not what she would usually wear to scrub clothes.  The frame is original and was designed by the first owner of this painting.

"Dancer Taking A Bow" by Edgar Degas

This is a little out of focus because it was in a room with very low light.  The Getty had all of their pastels and sketches in this room.

"Houses at Bougival (Autumn)" by Camille Pissaro

"The Portal of Rouen Catherderal in Morning Light" by Claude Monet

Mr. B checking out Monet's painting a little closer as we will be traveling to Rouen, France this Fall.

"The Promenade" by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

"Portrait of Maria Frederike van Reede-Athlone at Seven Years of Age" by Jean-Etienne Liotard

Time for a break.....

View of Santa Monica in the foreground and Los Angeles in the back