Susan Carlin Art Journal: September 2008

New approach to her eyes

I took a new direction with this subject's eyes yesterday and lowered her upper lip, as well.

I'm off to Idaho today and will drive back over the next three days. Bonnie will have the gallery today, Marilyn tomorrow, and my sister Patty will be painting there Thursday and Friday. It looks as though I'll be back for Saturday and will be able to paint online Sunday after all, though with my folks newly here, I may choose to wait until next week after all. I'll send out an email to the folks on my newsletter and on Twitter if I paint this Sunday. Can't wait to 'see' you all again!

Even more progress on couple

Today, more hours of refining and of putting the design on the woman's scarf. I think I may have resolved the eye issue, but will look at it fresh on Monday.
Tomorrow I get to do the "Paint Around" at the Austin Pastel Society- it should be fun and exciting. I'll try to take photos of the five finished paintings to share.

Yet more progress on couple

Another 5-6 hours on this painting today. I think it's taking shape finally. Still need the detail on the woman's scarf and I want to come back fresh tomorrow and consider her eyes again.

I had such fun talking with people today and yesterday. It's a little cooler here in San Antonio and folks seem in such a good mood as they're walking from gallery to shop to gallery in La Villita. I feel so privileged to be a portrait artist in San Antonio.

Progress on couple

I worked three hours on this painting yesterday but I'm not sure what I did will be very detectible from your vantage point. I'm posting the progress anyway, since I'm moving forward. I'll be working on this painting much of today, as well, so maybe there'll be more to show tonight.

Tuesday and Wednesday I was in Seguin, TX giving a portrait workshop to a fun group of artists, mostly members of the Seguin Oakwood Art League who worked in oil, acrylic and watercolor. Another member of SOAL was the model all of Wednesday. I did take a video of the demo Wednesday morning, but haven't had time yet to look at it. If it has any merit, I'll post it after editing.

Sunday I get to participate in a "Paint Around" at the Austin Pastel Society as one of five artists who will all paint on each other's paintings. We'll start a painting for ten minutes on our own easel, then move to the easel to the right for ten minutes and so forth until the last ten minutes of the hour we'll complete our original painting that the others have each worked on. I'm eager to see how they all come out. There will be portraits, still life and landscapes among the five.

Next Tuesday I fly to Idaho and will have an adventure driving with my parents back to Texas over the next 3 days or so. I'm looking forward to the time with them.

Sunday's Paintings- Gingham Girl, and Patty again.

Gingham Girl
8" x 10" (20.4cm x 25.4cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
$100 plus $4.95 shipping and handling in the US
E-mail me for International shipping rates or other inquiries.

This was a fun painting to work on today. I painted this little girl in the second hour of the program, after working further on the one of my sister from last week (below). Of course, now that I've posted the photo of the revised painting, I see an errant brushstroke at the edge of her nose. Ain't that the way? I'll fix that now. I do feel better about the value distribution after another hour on it today.

Thank you, again, to those wonderful artist friends who hung out with me online while I painted. You're the best!

Painting Online at Sunday Sept. 21, 1 p.m. (Central)

I've been looking at that painting I did of Patty last week and wishing I could have another go at it. So for at least part of the Sunday session I'm going to do just that. I may start another afterward if there's any interest. I hope you'll come by! http://www.ustream.tv/channel/susancarlin

Possible reference

Sunday's Painting... my sister Patty

Patty came for coffee this morning and I hadn't chosen a reference for today's online painting, so I asked her to pose for some photos. I really enjoyed painting this today. Thank you to you wonderful folks who hung out with me for those two hours!

A little less than halfway...

The tiniest details, the smallest brushstroke changes everything at this point. So many more to do. Can you see the change in her smile? And still there's much more to do... soften, deepen, lighten. Will keep you posted.

Pastel of girl and her horse

I painted this today.. pastel, 11"x14" on Kitty Wallis Belgian Linen. Because I photographed it this evening in fluorescent light, the color is wonky. I still need to finish the hands and other details.
I painted it on ustream.tv, but the recordings didn't record properly. There's a 30 minute piece that will play, though. w ww.ustream .tv/channel/susancarlin

Goals Revisited

Here it is the 10th of the month and I've managed to procrastinate ten days the accounting of my goals. Deep breath.... here goes-

Last month I set five goals for my art for the remainder of August, and three for September.

Give Blog workshop August 23rd. Continue exploring ways to present it online. (I'm making headway!)
Decide on one painting to do for portfolio to represent higher end of fee schedule. Begin that painting.
Look into opportunities for 2 competitions in the remaining part of this year.
Finish two current commissions.
Paint three small paintings each week and post on eBay or perhaps offer on blog and newsletter.

How I did:

The blog workshop went well. I did hit a wall trying to help an out-of-state artist participate, leaving us both frustrated. I was trying a method which would let people participate live...but from their homes. That method requires more experience with a computer than a novice would have. I don't want to spend my time being a computer techie, troubleshooting connections and the setting up of applications, so this turned out to not be a good avenue for me. IF I pursue this project, I'd need to set up an online class that folks can take at their leisure and would not require simultaneous participation with me personally. Whew. As much as I see a need for this, I'm not sure I want to spend the time developing it. This goal is tabled for now.
The commissioned portrait I'm painting now fits this description nicely and is begun. I've also discovered that a competition I very much want to enter- Salon International at the Greenhouse Gallery- is being judged by my first portrait painter idol- Daniel Greene. The deadline for the entry is early January. I have an idea for a painting and now need to find the model. Finishing that painting before the end of the year would add another painting to my portfolio that fits the bill in this category. I break out in sweats thinking about this one. Of course, that could be hot flashes.
I went overboard on this one. I have two paintings in the national show at Hill Country Arts Foundation, opening Sept 13, and have entered three paintings in the national show -San Antonio Visual Artists' first- here in San Antonio, opening on the 18th. Haven't heard about if any has been accepted yet, though. I also will enter paintings in Coppini Academy's members exhibition and in River Art Group's members show, both the first weekend of October. The big Kahuna, though, is Salon International, but that counts for next year.
Check. I finished both of those commissions. One gets mailed at the end of the month, one will go out the end of this week.
I'm red-faced about this one, and it's not due to hot flashes. The only small paintings I've done since setting that goal have been the ones I've done for the Sunday painting show on Ustream.tv. That's one a week, not three. And I've not put any of those on eBay and only one has a PayPal button on my blog. I may have to table this goal, too.... for now. Doing those paintings would help further my plans to free myself from needing a particular location to be successful as a painter, so it's worth revisiting soon.

September:

Revamp website.
Give Portrait workshop in Seguin, September 23-24.
Finish portfolio painting from August.

Boy, does my website need revamping. Yikes! It's woefully out of date, both in style and in content. My sister Patty will be called upon to help with this. She keeps saying, "Decide what you want and design it, and I'll do it." Sure. So, Ok, it's time to decide and design.
Registration for the two-day Portrait workshop in Seguin is full. I could maybe take two one-day registrations on the first day, because there are two artists taking just the second day.
I'll have the portrait of the couple finished by the end of the month, I'm certain.

I'm not going to set October goals right now, other than to enter those two competitions at the beginning of the month and to start work on the painting for the Salon International. I'll see what else I might add to that list on the first of the month.

Ok, so that's where I am and where I'm heading right now. Wish me nimble fingers and a brave heart!

More progress on couple

From here on out there won't be much drama in the progress, as it will all be small refinements, all of which takes lots of time and won't show up as much in the photos. Today I worked mostly on her collar and neck and little touches elsewhere. This photo makes me think I have her eyes just a bit too close together. I'll check on that on Thursday.

Tomorrow's my day off- Marilyn is at the gallery tomorrow- and besides a long list of errands I need to run, I want to start a pastel commissioned portrait of a teenage girl and her horse. It's a very sweet reference photo I'll be working from.

Also, tomorrow I'll revisit my goals and confess my shortcomings and celebrate my achievements. What fun!

Progress on commissioned couple

I got to focus on this painting another 5 hours today. I start getting happy when at least all the white of the canvas is covered, and that's almost true now. The woman's white blouse is still mainly white canvas still. Tomorrow I'll get to start refining, inch by inch. I love my work.

Sunday Painting

In the company of blogging artist friends and family, this is what I painted between 1 and 3:10 p.m. today. To watch the two video recordings of the session, click HERE.