When we moved here two years ago in January we were convinced it was going to be cold for the next few years. Our seating options at the time consisted of two office chairs with wheels, which when sat in would transport you to the far corner of our tilting floor. Two years later our apartment finally feels like home, thanks to David running around with a caulk gun and shrink wrap, and our awesome new couch and chair that arrived last weekend.
Here’s David enjoying being king of the living room:
And the couch in a rare moment with no one curled up on it:
While David’s been busy making the place warmer I’ve been working on this chilly scene from October in Vermont:
I’m pretty happy with this one. I worked hard on two things: keeping the edges soft and mixing whites. I think it has a nice intensity that comes from minimizing details and sharp edges, and getting the light right on the houses. To keep the edges soft I painted very thinly (so much for overcoming my fear of thick paint). In some places the paint is rubbed in very dry, while in others it’s a thin glaze. The house on the right, for example, is just a thin layer of white that lets the underpainting show through, giving the house a weathered look:
When I set this painting next to the previous one I suddenly realized what was wrong with the old one. Although the brushstrokes in the last painting were much thicker and freer it always looked kind of flat to me. What I realized was that in this painting, the brightest shapes are the roofs that are slanted towards you. They are brighter than the sky. Which means the light must be coming from the sky behind you— which is the sky in the first painting, taken facing the other direction.
I brightened the sky on the right just a hair, but it makes the hillside pop out and gives drama to the sky. It also provides a source for the light on the buildings. With a few other adjustments (adding more gray tot he hillside, more darks to the sides, and simplifying the shapes in the foreground), I am happier with this one too. Here’s the old version for comparison:
Leon Barnard | 08-Jan-10 at 5:36 am | Permalink
I would like to see more of your paintings “in situ”. I remember noticing one of your New York paintings in the background of one of your sewing posts and thinking that it somehow “popped” more than when I saw it in the post about the painting itself. And your second painting in this post is visible in the photo of your couch and somehow it is more captivating in that shot than the photo of just the painting. Maybe you could add some in-context shots to your detail photos (especially now that your house is so cozy). Just an idea…
Lakaribane | 08-Jan-10 at 11:19 am | Permalink
K! Happy New Year! The house does look very warm dans tout l’acceptation du terme!
But…what is that chair David is sitting in. And why do I want one suddenly? I don’t usually like soft chairs (let’s not analyse this right now, ok?)
I have no opinion on the art despite two painters in the family. But the way you placed them around the room seems to make sense to my senses (photo 2).
Amy | 08-Jan-10 at 11:22 am | Permalink
Your room looks so cozy and inviting now! It’s interesting to me how much the sky affects the overall feel of the painting. That was an issue when I used to take landscape photos as well–finding an interesting sky here in the Pacific Northwest can be tricky, since it’s almost always overcast and uniformly gray.
Sylvie Van Hulle | 08-Jan-10 at 11:58 pm | Permalink
I agree with Leon that it’s nice to see your paintings in your living room!
Your house is so cosy, it really inspires me to do something in my house to make it more cosy!
And the paintings are really great!!
Kathy | 09-Jan-10 at 8:21 am | Permalink
Thanks everyone for your comments! I will try to post some more pictures of the paintings up in the house. It’s so hard to get the colors to come out right in a photo. Arielle: the chair is an Ekornes. My Dad has one and David has been coveting it for years. (He always has to fight the cat for the right to sit there when we visit.) Sylvie: thanks! I’m really inspired by your paintings.