Holly

I couldn't resist squeaking out one more painting before the holidays. There's lots of fresh holly in San Francisco right now that provided some great inspiration for this piece:



"Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown."

Happy Holidays!

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Arise

"Arise, shine, for your light has come..." - Isaiah 60:1

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Venita

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A Butterfly's Adventure

"Those who turn back know only the ordeal but they who persevere remember the adventure." - Milo L. Arnold

Welcome to this special premiere of one of my thesis paintings. I have been keeping them mostly under wraps during production over the past year and am excited to reveal them to you! I have called my thesis Faithful creating a total of 15 paintings with varied subject matter that I hope will inspire you to pursue your dreams.

Keep watching Bethany's Journal as I release the rest of the series early in the new year.

Thanks for following!

Arise (Study)

Here is a study for a large still life I'm working on... I'm loving the textural ground and lots of Burnt Umber. I like the idea of figuring out what you see on the edge of consciousness. What is clear and what is not? Maybe you see something you wouldn't normally see when fully awake. That's something I'll be exploring more in the large piece.

Green Purple Pink

Wham, bam! A huge one-day painting... 24"x36".

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Boudoir

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Boudoir (Study)

This is a small study for the larger painting I'll be completing in class this week. I've been working more and more on expressing mood and emotion in my paintings and this is increasingly irrespective of detail and perspective. I'm finding classical techniques are often unreliable in conveying what I want to say.

My teacher, Baoping Chen, spoke to me last week about the process of painting first what you see, then what you know, and finally, what you feel. Personally I believe there is one more step: painting what you sense spiritually. I think this is a separate process that involves perception apart from the five senses. This is something I continually grapple with in my art.

Window Tree

Tree at my window, window tree,
My sash is lowered when night comes on;
But let there never be curtain drawn
Between you and me.
- Robert Frost

Purple Rain

This is from my expressive painting class this week. Fun with texture!

And yes, I totally have a Prince song in my head right now...

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Charles Bridge

A favourite vista: Charles Bridge viewed from across the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic.

Figure with Texture

This was a small exploration I did in class this week. All I want to do is add detail! But I restrained. You can fill in the blanks.

The Illustration Friday quote especially suits me this week: "The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play." - Arnold J. Toynbee

Self Portrait at 30 (process)

I'm close to the completion of my MFA in just a few weeks but have found that it's been good to keep my hands busy with side paintings. Watch this journal as I will reveal my thesis paintings here soon (and perhaps some of my process too)!

Below are a couple shots of a 'side painting': my self-portrait in progress. The first is my initial lay-in of colors and some structure. The second I worked more on the face and values. Next I'll solidify what I'm doing with the background before I go back into the face some more. Portraits are always difficult but a self-portrait especially so as I've found I don't keep as still as I like! This makes it hard to capture the bone structure.



Something I've been exploring more lately is working with desaturated colors and limiting saturation to the focal point. This is difficult with acrylics but also because I love color and now feel like I'm painting with 'mud' everywhere. I hope this will end up making my paintings more sophisticated.

Oh look! Here are my brushes. I can never get them quite as clean as new.

Self-Portrait at 30 (Underdrawing)

This is the underdrawing for a self-portrait I'm working on... a celebration of my 30th and the impending end of my MFA.

Agapanthus Fields

Today is the three year anniversary of my art journal since my first post on October 27, 2006: Man on Street. Boy, my work's changed a lot since then! But... I still love bright colors.

Krakow's Daughter

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Quick Portrait Studies

Sometimes it's fun just to paint quickly and see what comes out. The top is a self-portrait done in about twenty minutes and below that is a painting from a model done in about five minutes.

Oh, and here's a two minute sketch of my pastor:

Purple Orchid

I know. Another flower... but I hope it brings you joy on this stormy day.

Yellow Rose

Another "warm-up" painting... I used various paint applications: direct painting, a rub-out technique, glazing and I also scumbled across the surface to obtain the haziness in the background. I enjoy vibrant colors but am working on variations in color temperature to obtain depth. This is a certain variation of yellow rose on view at the Rose Gardens in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

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By the Water (detail)

This is a detail view of a full length nude I completed today. The model said it was like I "reached into her brain and found out where she wanted to be" and brought it to life on canvas.

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