Hi All,
We have moved all of the posts & comments at this site to our brand new home! Please come and visit me here at: http://shannongrissom.info
All of the posts that are here are filed under Art, AND there is LOTS more to come!!
Hope to see you there soon!
Cheers,
Shannon Grissom
Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!
I was totally inspired by the Italian trio at My Aunt Margaret’s 100th birthday party. They sounded great and had wonderful costumes! I shot a ton of pictures at the party and couldn’t wait to get started on the series in the studio. I felt it would be a great way to incorporate my love of music in my art.
Fired up, the very next day I blocked in my painting, the same way I normally do.
The following morning I arrived at the studio and realized it was time to stop playing it safe. Oh I could make a nice painting with a brush but I had to see what I could do with a knife.
Here’s a sample of my wild knife pieces…
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So today I started to go over the piece with a knife. I worked on the background, his hat, skin, and a bit of his pants. He’s a mess now but I know he’s going to be beautiful when I’m done.
I’m so glad I took a chance. I’ll post pics when he’s done.
2/11/10
Complete 1st statement with a knife…I’m loving where this is going…
I rarely paint from other people’s photographs, but when I saw this photograph of Caitlin Duffy, taken by her father, Bob, I knew I had to paint it. Caitlin is such a beautiful soul, both inside and out.
Cailtin Duffy by Bob Duffy
Bob truly captured her timeless beauty in this beautiful photograph.
This is not a commission. I saw the photo and was compelled to paint her. I also feel that she will lead me on my next journey. (I don’t know where she’ll take me, I only know that I must go.)
The canvas is huge. (It measures 72″ tall by 48″ wide.) I was pleased to discover that it wasn’t too hard to get it up the two flight’s of stairs to the studio, and very grateful for my husband Dwight’s help in transporting it.
Here’s the start of the sketch. It’s not her…yet.
Caitlin Sketch (Day 1)
I’ll post pics as I progress…
Day 2 (October 12)
I wasn’t sure I had the energy for her today. I had early morning appointments and didn’t get to the studio until 9:30 a.m. I put on a Bocelli CD, and I didn’t come up for air until almost 1:00 p.m. I guess I had more energy than I thought.
Normally my landscapes do not contain people and my portraits do not contain landscapes. Today I made a conscious decision to merge the two genres. This is new territory for me… stay tuned
Caitlin (Day 2)
Caitlin Day 3 (October 14)
Today’s painting session was quiet and contemplative. Most of my session was spent on her dress.
Caitlin (Day 3)
Caitlin Day 4 ~Face 1st Draft
Caitlin Day 4
(October 22)
Today I decided to get lost in the music of Loreena McKennitt and visit Caitlin again.
It was a magical experience. As her face came to life, images of her parents and brother merged with her likeness.
(No, I don’t use any altered substances to get in the zone. It just happens to me naturally!)
I focused primarily on her face this morning. I had a feeling it would take all of my energy and it did. I know I’ll make many adjustments to her features in the sessions to come. For now though, I must leave her alone until she dries. There is no rushing this work and that’s OK with me. I am truly enjoying this journey.
Day 5 (October 28)
When I arrived at the studio this morning, I wasn’t sure I could paint anything. Sometimes I let comments from others get me down and I lose faith in myself. And though I was sad, I knew I must paint. So I picked up the brush and looked around at my work in progress. Which one should I hang out with today? The tree? No, too much to sort through there. The sock monkey? No. I wasn’t feeling it.
Caitlin? Yes. Caitlin was calling me again. Encouraging me to complete the first statement. After a few strokes I got lost in the painting and my trepidation vanished.
I came close to completing a first statement. (I still haven’t addressed her purse and part of her dress but I just needed to stop.) It’s a good foundation.
I’m glad I pushed past my inner critic.
Caitlin 10/28
Days 6 and 7 (November 1st and 4th)
Most of the painting session was spent tidying up the composition. For example, I simplified her hands so that they’ll be folded in to one another once I’m done. I also noticed that the rhythm was off so I deleted the tree. (It looks great in the reference photo, but I changed so many background elements that it wasn’t working any more in the painting.)
I still have not decided if her purse will have a strap, but I will make sure she has her jewelry intact by the end of the painting. I feel it adds to the composition.
Caitlin 11/4
These were both “thinking” painting sessions . I’ll be able to play next time I approach the canvas. I can’t wait!
Day 8, November 10
I was wrong about the play day. I’m still working out the mechanics of the piece. Oh there was play involved but I still spent time adjusting the composition.
I have decided that she needs the shoulder strap of the purse. It adds wonderful tension to the composition. I’m also keeping the earrings as they add a playfulness. I’m still not sure about the necklace…
Anyway, today’s focus was her dress with a little bit of work on her skin. I started the session with very little energy and left charged. Now that’s a good painting session.
Caitlin Day 8
Day 9, November 16th
I loved the background but it was competing with Caitlin and we can’t have that! I spent the session creating more neutrals and space in the background. And then I added a bit more ultramarine blue to her dress. I was a fun session.
Day 10, January 7, 2011
Well this may be day 10 of painting but it’s been months since I’ve worked on her. I just wasn’t in the mood for her until today. If the painting was a commission I would have found a way to motivate myself. Since this is something I am doing for me, I just waited until she spoke to me again. She talked a lot today. It was a 5 hour painting session.
The background was still competing with her form. The v-shape bothered me so I toned it down further. I worked the entire canvas today, making sure all the color notes were playing well with each other.
What’s left? I ‘m thinking all I need to do it give her bit more form/definition to her limbs, finish her dress, and the I’ll sign her. I’ll post one more pic when I’m done. Thanks for staying with me on this one. It’s been a long yet rewarding journey.
Caitlin Day
Caitlin Day 10
January 27, 2011
I’m done! Funny how things come together all at once. I woke up this morning and suddenly I knew the lyrics to a melody that’s been in my head for the past two weeks. (The song is all about how the day will be wonderful.)
I wanted to stay home and work on my music it but I’ve a ton of pressing things at the studio. So I recorded the lyrics, hoping to get back to them tonight. On my way out to the car, I spot a rainbow right over my house.
A rainbow! Now that’s just cool because it’s not been raining. In fact there was only one cloud in the sky.
I get to the studio and somehow I know I’ll be able to finish Caitlin. And it’s fitting because she is as beautiful and as magical as a rainbow. It is indeed a good day. Oh yeah, I’ll get the song done tonight.
Thanks for hanging in here with me on this long journey.
Caitlin
Some say paintings are like children; they are birthed and then released to the world. And while that rings true for me, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Yes they are children but they can also be compared to relationships.
And like all relationships, the interaction is different with each one. Some paintings emerge almost effortlessly. They breeze in and out my life with little effort. Some paintings are like a good book that I don’t want to end. Others still, are like guests who outstay their welcome.
The best relationships are rich and full of surprises. And with all relationships, somehow there is always a song tied in to the whole experience.
This piece is about a few of the painting relationships I’ve encountered and how I’ve been able to move on when it’s time to go…
River She Rises Detail
The Soul Mate Painting
This is the kind of painting I live for. It’s the kind of painting that propels me to the easel every day. And like the perfect golf shot, it doesn’t happen very often. But when it does, you know it’s time to celebrate!
Music: Crank up the Theme From Rocky, the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah, or even Queen’s We Are The Champions. Now, throw your arms up in the air, sign that puppy, and say, “YES!”
Letting Go: Well if that wasn’t enough, spin in circles with your arms outstretched until you are dizzy.
The “Lack of Commitment” Painting
You’re never sure which way to go with this one. It’s doesn’t give you any clues and you are not so sure you want to commit either! Could be that the values are too different. Then again, it could be that you haven’t decided if it’s going to be a cool or warm piece. This vacillation goes on for some time. You push it one way, it pushes you another. Finally, you are tired of going over the same ground and you let it go.
Music: John Mayer’s “I’m Going to Find Another You.”
Letting Go: Sometimes it helps to start a new one and take it new one to places you’d never take the old one. What do you do with the old one? Find artist friends with their own relationship issues and trade artwork. Then experiment on each others paintings!
The Lucy and the Football Painting
This one reels you in with some wonderful passages. However once you think you are well matched, you are thrown off balance. Being the persistent artist that you are, you give it one more try. Finally you decide to leave it alone. Yet just when you are about to quit, it reels you in again. In the end, it never quite works out. The composition is bad and no amount of decoration is going to save it.
Music: Aretha Franklin, Chain of Fools
Letting Go: Focus on the parts you like and forget the bad stuff. (Hey, there had to be something you loved, or you wouldn’t have stayed with it so long.) Cut out the parts that work and make something out of them. Even with works on canvas, you can re-stretch the work or mat it. I’ve recycled beautiful passages as bookmarks, greeting cards and miniatures.
The “What Was I Thinking?” Painting
Every once in awhile I get fooled by a pretty idea and let my head tell me what to paint instead of my heart. Ooooh It always turns out bad. There is no love, no spirit, only frustration.
Music: Queen, “Another One Bites The Dust”
Remedy: Take it to the local landfill yourself. Fling it like a Frisbee with all your might. Do not leave until you see the bulldozer get it. Sometimes, they just need to be destroyed.
The “Rebound” Painting
Sometimes I have to paint the same subject over and over again, so that I fully comprehend that sad fact that I have no business painting that subject. It’s just not me.
Music: Rolling Stones, “Paint it Black”
Remedy: I like to paint it black first before painting over a piece. It seems to absorb all me negative vibes. It’s also nice just to paint directly over the work. The under painting can add interest.
Bottom Line
Let them go. Start a new one. I’m convinced there is more than one soul mate out there!
I wish you inspiration.
This year has started off rather loosely. I’m painting these abstract landscapes with a knife, and only one painting of four was referential. The other three are out of my head.
I’d love to see if you can guess which one was painted over a recent attempt at a self-portrait.
This direct approach is really helping me grow. It’s very liberating to just put the color down…
I hope you enjoy~
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Les could have been a nice painting. That was certainly my original intention. I wanted to capture the beauty of his music.
He started out as a value study, and I could have stopped there.
But nooooooo.
I was missing my color so I glazed him in Indian Yellow hoping the warmth of his music would shine through. But Les had other ideas. He had the blues, and the yellow had to go.
Then one day I woke up knowing that Les would be a transition piece between abstracts and realism. I ditched the brush, knowing that painting with my knife would force me to see only the big picture. (Taking off my readers also helps me lose the details!)
Armed with The Doobie Brothers and a palette knife, he turned in to a thick thick mess. But I kind of like him that way. I think I’m on to something…
What a fun way to end the year. Happy New Year everyone!
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No matter what, Les is done...
Producer Val Jeffery and her husband Gordon dropped by the studio yesterday for a visit. While there, Val presented me with a copy of the video segment she created for the Arts 101 television series. (Val interviewed me right before the opening of my Sock Monkeys in the Wild exhibit at the Blak Sage Gallery. )
Val did a great job with the video! I have to admit that although I love making television, looking at myself on the screen is torture. I spend too much time thinking about how fat I look, or wishing I could keep my mouth straight when I am thinking. I sure make some funny looking faces!
But Val made the video engaging and I forgot to pick myself apart. Now that’s a good video! Thanks Val!
Hope you enjoy~
This summer I started a window and then lost interest…
Work in Progress: Window First Statement
Then I painted over it and created a wild but ugly abstract…
Wild and Ugly Abstract
I painted over it one more time, adding some green and red, but it only made it worse. I never photographed that version.
By now this canvas is heavy with paint. Oh I could have scraped and sanded it smooth but that just wouldn’t be any fun. I decided to embrace its texture and let it tell me what to do. I got out my largest palette knife and it wasn’t long before I was embarking on a landscape similar to the one in my last post. I’m so intrigued by what’s happening here that I’m going to find all my abstract bombs and play with them.
No More
It’s going to be fun to see where they take me.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results… Author Unknown
I woke up a couple of days ago and simply knew I couldn’t keep painting the way I have been painting, and still grow as a painter. Have you heard the Springsteen song, Dancing in the Dark? It really describes my state of being regarding my artwork…
http://www.youtube.com/v/5PSGhuT_gCk?fs=1&hl=en_US
I decided it was time start a fire… even if I was just Dancing in the Dark…
So I picked my most challenging subject matter (trees and landscapes) and I picked my most challenging implement ( a palette knife) and decided to have at it.
Here’s the inspiration photo for the painting.
Redwoods at Roaring Camp, Felton, CA
Hot Hot Hot Underpainting
First Statement
Red Woods
Along with music from Loreena Mckennitt, I danced my way through the underpainting. It’s fiery! I wanted the warmth of these majestic trees to be felt even it could not be seen. I used lots of medium (Liquin) and made a thin wash of the color.
The next morning I cranked up Alanis Morissette and got started. This was a moodier session. I ditched the brushes and painted with a knife. (If I had used a brush I would have been tempted to paint details.) When I was done, I scraped most of it off so that would not have too much texture today!
Today I applied the paint thickly, again with a palette knife. But this time I let it be. Armed with music from last night’s Blip.fm stream, I danced all the way through it.
I might be done with this piece. It would be prudent to hide it for a week, so that when I see it again, I’ll evaluate it with fresh eyes.
However, what would be prudent and what actually happens does not always coincide. I don’t want to hurt it, so rather than play with this one, I’ll start another…
Dancing in the Dark has brought me in to the light.
