Upgrades in the New Model

Was it last year's model or this year's?

The picture below is similar to one currently in a show. It has a tarnished piece of copperware, a dark background, and a copper spout curved toward the right side of the piece.

I went looking for a scan of the one in the show and found this. But it didn't seem right. Then I remembered the piece in the current show was completed at the last minute before another show several months back and there hadn't been time to scan it before it was framed.

Sure enough I checked the picture on my website, and it showed a similar, but better painting, and yes it was in a frame.

So what was this one? An earlier experiment concerned with the same themes which went in a different direction and then got pushed (literally) to the back of the closet. I did a newer version honing in on the same obsessions and forgot about the earlier one.

An artist's obsessions

What obsessions? Well, I love the look and feel of copper and the reflections created by other objects on it. The faint hint of tarnish on the short watering can later became a big spot of tarnish on a tall watering can. The wine bottle made it in again because I just thought I could do a better job with it, and the candle stick snuck into the right hand side of the newer version to echo the tarnish blotch of the taller watering. The red cloth got unfolded because it seemed too busy in the earlier piece.

Still, I had forgotten that I did the earlier painting. Possibly the little disappointments hung around in the back of my head for the rest of the year, and got a redesign at the end of it. They do it with cars every fall, why not with paintings?

The Challenge of Finding Good Art Materials

Finding art materials that I like is a real challenge.

I like a certain kind of Pastel Paper. My favorite local art store stopped carrying it.

I purchased 10 holders for my NuPastel chalks. The holders were too big. I solved the problem by wrapping paper around the chalks and shoving them in to the holders.

Now the store no longer carries the holders.

I got around this by buying some pencil extenders and switching to Conte chalks which are slightly smaller than NuPastels. I persuaded the new chalks to fit into the new holders. Of course the art supply store carried tons of NuPastels which can be bought individually in a myriad of colors. The Conte chalks could only be bought in sets, forcing me to take colors I don't need.

Fixing a Pastel 

I have found that Blue Label fixative is by far the best and sells at a very nice price point.

You guessed it. No longer at the local art store (which is the only decent one in the area.)

I am going to try Windsor and Newton. The replacement offered for the Blue Label was over twice the price and was not "workable" fixative. I haven't found any use for non workable fixative. Fixative can deaden the color of a pastel, making it necessary to able to draw or paint over it. So to avoid mud I always use workable.

By the way, I never buy Krylon Fixative. I learned the hard way what multiple sprayings of the stuff tends to do. The result is something like a piece of sandpaper rolled up into a ball. You can't flatten it afterward because it will crack.

Why don't I just move to France, where you can get decent art supplies? Believe me, I've thought about  it, but with the European economic situation and the availability of online shopping (see links above), I'll make do here in Connecticut!

Thoughts on style

One of my still life pastels—

this was fun to do

An artist's thoughts on style, or where will I land with landscapes?

With still life pastels I seemed to find my artistic style fairly early on. But I've had more of a struggle with landscapes, and I've never been entirely satisfied with the results. Some landscapes came out very nicely, but I wondered if they were merely exceptions to the rule. Maybe they pointed to something I was overlooking. After all, I have been drawing for decades and a style ought to come without too much of a struggle. It should be fun to do in some way (which is not the same as easy). The lack of some level of enjoyment always means something's not quite right. At least for me.

So the landscapes have recently been taking on a more nervous, line oriented style as opposed to the more representational feel I lean toward with a still life. That's the case for now but no one should be surprised if I follow various approaches to the landscape before I settle on one basic thematic style, although of course it would vary according to the particular scene. Drawing the outdoors is infinitely more complex than what I can arrange in a still life indoors. 

I took a few more pictures today in hopes of carrying on the pursuit of that elusive thing called style. Keep coming back to this blog to see some samples of what I'm talking about. 

The Best Drawings or Paintings

Usually the best drawings or paintings seem almost to draw or paint themselves. They pour out smoothly onto the paper and seem to fall into place. Pastel colors blend beautifully, the textures work together and there is a landscape or still life that has really come to life on the page. But this state of affairs is a culmination of a lengthy period of learning, trial and error, or   in other words, the best art is usually the result of a lot of frustrating failures that went before. I think one learns the most from the disasters, not the triumphs. The disasters tend to far out number the triumphs too, at least in my experience as a fine artist. So you could say, I'm able to learn a lot and often, but it's all worth it when a wonderful piece of art is sometimes the gratifying result!

What is your experience getting to the best in your work or your art? Was it worth the effort? Did you learn something?

The Need to Simplify or Abstract Art

Marble Quarry Pastel Landscape by Paul Creedon.

As a pastel artist I find that the most formidable challenge in the visual arts is the need to simplify (or abstract) the appearance of the object I intend to paint with my pastels or draw with sanguine chalks. My artist's instincts seem to resist the idea of leaving out some of what I see when I compose a new still life or create a landscape. But given my years of experience and training I know that I must in order to arrive at a better picture.

And it will be a better picture. That is because a lot of extraneous stuff will be left out that would only confuse the viewer and art lover. Even if they are someone who is used to looking at fine art. Knowing what to leave out also helps to convey the one major thought that I want a person to see and come away with. Perhaps it's the roundness of a fruit in a pastel still life or the light coming through the trees in a landscape drawing.  Either way I know the picture is enhanced when there are fewer distractions.

To see more of my pastel art and to make a purchase contact Patricia Creedon at 

pmcreedon@optonline.net.

Ways to Fix a Problem.

Squinting must be one of humanity’s greatest inventions. When I am at a loss about what to do with an unusually obdurate painting, I look at it and squint. Once my headache clears up, I’ve gotten a start on what needs to be simplified or changed.

Maybe this works for me because I give my brain a nice problem: what has to be edited out of a scene so that enough of it remains for the mind to make sense of it? Theoretically the optic nerve is impartial, so I can depend on its decisions.

Another recommended method of determining what’s wrong with a piece that just isn’t cooperating, is to look at it upside down. Frankly this one has never worked that well for me. Still, if some line I’ve convinced myself is ramrod straight just happens not to be so straight, the upside down trick will usually deliver the bad news.

Supposedly, one of the premier challenges for the artist is to know when to stop working on his piece of art. I generally stop when I’m sick of the thing.

Paul's pastel, "Three Apples", was accepted into the juried "Spectrum" art show at the Carriage Barn in New Canaan. It opens May 1st.