A PAINTING NEARLY FINISHED.

I will have taken eight days to complete this 18x24" painting by the time it is done.

Bicycle Cafe, in progress, showing the development of values and details over the picture plane. © by Ruth Zachary

Details in the flagstone work were emphasized much more in the foreground, as the original photo suggested. The tables and chairs in the courtyard were drawn in pencil, and then painted in a deep blue color with a very small brush. I decided at that point that I would not be finishing the painting in oils because I did not want to lose the details already established.

Reflections on the bicycles, wheel spokes, more color in the bricks at the right, and in the bark on the tree were details added in the last stages. I indicated the spokes of the wheels by scraping out the pigment along the edge of a ruler, down to the layer of gesso priming on the board.

Values were also deepened more toward the foreground, developing the tones in many washes or glazes, as might be expected with watercolor.

Am I the only one with Technology  Dysphoria ?
I find that photographs I take in these step by step stages are difficult to translate from camera to a working computer, and on to the final computer where I am able to post the images on the blog. They are not all synchronized with each other.

My camera images show up much lighter on the first computer. I work there because it accepts the digital information from my camera. The program for the printer works perfectly with  the old computer, the scanner is excellent and the program for my printer constantly gets messed up on the newest computer, every time an update is imposed. The new computer would require using a new camera, as well. I can't afford to buy everything at one time so that it will all work together.

And often my new computer will not read information on a thumb drive, from the older computer,
so I burn CDs so my new computer can read the info. One problem is that the images on the old computer are quite light, and on the new computer the images appear  darker than the actual painting appears.

One more challenge is that the camera distortion has to be worked out. After correcting the warped wheel on the bicycle closest to the camera, it still wasn't right, so I will be painting the wheel in the foreground over again for a second time. And I will change it, in the painting, at least. It is a matter of personal pride. Then only two or three coats of matte varnish remain to be done.

Bicycle Cafe, nearly finished, with more details  in foreground.  © by Ruth Zachary

Writing and Images are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.

BICYCLES IN PROGRESS

Bicycles in progress.                                                                           ©by Ruth Zachary.

This preliminary underpainting was the next step after establishing a drawing on a primed panel. The colors were painted in acrylic,  diluted with water so the colors over the white gesso were more like watercolor painting.  The photo I took of the painting at this stage was rather pale, and now on the blog is darker than it really is, but it shows the general color scheme I would like to achieve in the eventual finished painting. This was painted with a half inch angled bristle brush. This took about one full day of work, now totaling four days.

Next I will probably do an acrylic rendition of the bicycles and the bench using a smaller brush. I don't know if I have enough time to paint the top layer (s) in oil, because I am also racing with the clock on the yard work. I need to prune the apple trees as much as possible before they start leafing out. This may turn out to be an acrylic painting from start to finish.


Writing and images are  © of Ruth Zachary.

PAINTING FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

This week I began a painting from a photograph I took about four years ago, of bicycles in an outdoor cafe courtyard. The impetus came from a theme, Bicycles,  to be featured at Madison and Main Gallery in Greeley Colorado in a few months from now. Because it is envisioned to be fully realistic to catch the details of the bicycles, I plan to follow the same sequence of steps I used to develop the painting Emporium Window, shown on this blog in January.

Since I have not painted for a long time, I feel a bit rusty... not secure enough to paint without first doing a drawing in the old exacting manner. Here is the photo I am working from:

Bicycles at Margies,  photo © by Ruth Zachary

First I attempted to straighten the perspective of the image so the tables would be parallel with the ground. In years past, I used to transfer one or more images to my etching plates by making an outline drawing of all the design elements, and then tracing around the lines or edges, below:

Bicycle Cafe, tracing for image size 18x22" on a 24x30" panel. © by Ruth Zachary. 

 

 

 

 

In the past, I sometimes used carbon paper to transfer an image to the foundation, in this case, a Masonite panel primed with gesso. But the old carbon paper was pretty dried out and the image very faint. So I reverted to another old method, rubbing the back of the tracing with ebony pencil before tracing the lines. I went over the lines once more, with a hard pencil, and that time, the image did transfer to the panel's surface. I couldn't believe just getting that far took all of three days!

Next I will re-pen lines with a technical pen so they won't smudge, and then lay in colors using acrylic paint, as I hope will show off the details of the bicycles, the paving of the courtyard, and more. I have just gathered a collection of beautiful oil colors, and I am anxious to try them out. It is possible I will also mix media again, using oil colors over the acrylic layers, which is an acceptable method.  If I don't have enough time for the oils to dry, I will finish the piece as an acrylic painting.

All images and writing are the Copyright © of Ruth Zachary.