SUM of the Parts - but not ALL

You are familiar with the saying " the whole is greater than the sum of its parts".
Not this time....
Last year I did this 30"x 22" painting of the Great Sand Dunes to replace another oversize piece that sold from the Dunes Show up at Denver International Airport. The first one was fresh and little wacky, but colorful and I thought I could improve on it. Instead, I painted a snoozer - that's artspeak for - boring -.
It has been hanging in my studio for a few months and I could hardly stand to look at it -
so, with nothing to loose, I started cutting it up.
I don't do this often, because it so seldom works compositionaly; your signature ends up right in the middle or some other dumb thing.
Sometimes tho', trimming or resizing a piece can change the focus or bring different elements to life.
In this case - there were areas that I liked but the whole piece was weighed down by a huge chunk of drab middle ground.
I cut the vertical piece, to the right, first to a 2 x 1 format. This is one of my favorites formats and I like verticals. The new piece is 20"x 10". This makes the trees more important, still showed the dunes, and accentuated the distance.
In the smaller 10"x 8", the dunes become the focus, playing up the diagonal shapes.

Something Different- Take 2

This piece in red and the one below in blue are both based on the CROSS compositional idea. This small photo to the right shows the first strokes of what, in the end became the big painting. I got a little carried away in the fun of, well - everything - but the compositional foundation of the piece, and the dominant color theme - are the rails that keep it all on track.
And one more note I want to make at this point - I have been influenced, hugely, for abstract and acrylic painting by various artists: Janis Loverin, in particular. Janis is a wonderfully versatile artist and fellow member of the High Desert Painter Group. To see some of her work, click on the J. Loverin Studio link down on the right under LINKS.

Class Notes: Apple - the new Pear

This composition, similar to the one below is basically a pyramid, one of the most simple and time honored compositional ideas - ever. Except this one is allowed to escape the picture plane creating a less formal feel to the entire still life. For the sake of variety a couple of the elements have changed. I got a little burned out on pears last spring and tho' I have never been as fond of painting apples I think there is much to be squeezed out - and that's not just juice.
I have noticed how, when confronted with familiar objects the tendency is to paint what we think we know, as opposed to really looking to see that thing as it really is. In this sketch the apple "breathes", while the one below looks like a shape that was cut out and pasted on.

Class Notes

Oil Painting class(es) started this week with a good group of, mostly experience painters and we will be focusing on Basics. Gee!- would that be important for those of us who have been painting for awhile?
In the spring we addressed technique and brushwork, and this summer we spent a lot of time looking at the landscape and learning how to design a painting around good compositional ideas.
This fall we are going back a step or two to work on things even more foundational like how to start a painting, drawing and placement.
Mustard, anyone?

Coni's Daily Paintings

These small studies were demos done in class as part of a discussion about Composition and the importance of employing a compositional idea to 'the view' in front of you. See past Blog Posts for May 20th, Class Notes:"Going in With a Plan"and May 27th, Class Notes:"The Big Idea".