Two and Two....and Two!

 

 "Couples"

12 x 12 inches, oil on canvas

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At first, I thought this was a painting of two couples - the oranges and the pitchers, but no, there's a third pair in there: the colored papers. Ha! I even slipped that one by myself. Let's hear it for my subconscious; making artistic decisions, doing its thing.

Here's a work-in-progress:

And here's a mirror selfie that just happens to have this painting in the background - I won't lie to you and say that I snapped this pic to check my work in the mirror. I was taking a selfie to document the stunning fact that I actually took a shower and put on makeup that day. Because, you know, artist's residency. 

  

(Though I do actually find having a mirror in my studio helpful for checking my work - when I get that nagging feeling that something's not quite right with a painting, I look at it in a mirror. The problem will leap out at me. And bonus: I get reminded about personal hygiene.)

Mirror, Mirror

 "Reflection"

20 x 16 inches, oil on canvas

Available here

I worked on this painting from a live model for two three-hour sessions, and then beat my head against the wall tweaked it for another whole day in the studio with a photo before calling it finished.  I do not like working back into dry paintings - which I had to do on this one, since the model sessions were a week apart. I also do not like working from photos/memory, which I had to do in order to finish the head. Oh well. I was willing to suffer these discomforts because I liked what I was seeing emerge. If it weren't for those stripes, and the mirrored reflection I would have thrown up my hands and wiped it.

Becoming too attached to one lovely passage of a painting-in-progress can lead to over-preciousness, anxiety, and continued commitment to works that should be given up as lost causes. I hope to present this as an example of an attachment to several small details that made me persevere when otherwise I might have thrown in the towel prematurely.

And, for better or worse, this painting is finished now. Here's a progression: the first two images from the initial model session, and the second two from the following week.