My father

My father, 23 x 30 cm

My father, who passed away two years ago, would have been 92 today.  I painted these two portraits, a couple of weeks apart, from an older photograph. What a satisfying feeling it is to be able to re-create, albeit in a tiny way, the person you miss.

I remember the time as a child when I realized that my parents are not all-mighty gods, but more or less ordinary people. Every child probably has such a moment of revelation. Yet, for me, my dad always remained a kind of a semi-deity. I could discuss with him almost anything, from complex math and science subjects to art and culture. He was my Wikipedia, in the pre-web era. He had a nice, refreshing sense of humor and a fine taste. A true model to aspire to, which all of us, his children, still do.

While from the same photo, the two portraits ended up having two different expressions, both typical of him. In the first one, he is about to crack a joke, and smiling on the inside already. In the second, he's glad and content. So I couldn't pick the one over the other. I'm grateful to my niece for trying to help the selection and for her articulate descriptions.

My father 2,  23 x 30 cm

Back to basics

This is a quick sketch of the kind of glass jars I use as water containers for painting.

It has been a year since I posted a photo of my, then brad new, improvised, studio in the basement. So, here is how it has changed since. The flimsy garden table is replaced by a decent one, and a tilting desk was added. There is storage for all paints and materials and a comfy chair. One of the best things about this basement setting is that I don't need to protect the floor and furniture from water and paint, and can concentrate solely on what happens on the paper.

Sunny day in Aix-en-Provence

Another sunny scene in an attempt to bring some warmth and sunshine to all friends in eastern and southern  Europe, suffering through an unusually cold and snowy winter.

Flower market in Aix-en-Provence

Flower market in Aix, Arches, 30 x 40 cm

Portrait challenges

They say that the best way to learn portrait painting is to do self-portraits. My problem though, is that I wear glasses and they add a level of complexity to the face. So, I was wondering what would happen if I try to paint a self-portrait without glasses, which means - painting without seeing well.

Well, in spite of having almost no resemblance, I like this portrait as a painting. This experiment forced me to work loosely and there was no risk of fiddling. I like the accidental spills of pigment, the un-softened edges and the quick suggestive brushstrokes. So, does bad vision lead to looser painting? Or... is loose painting a sign of bad vision? ;-)

Tunisian village

Sidi Bou Said, Arches, 25 x 30 cm

Continuing with the Mediterranean theme... this is by a photo taken in the Tunisian arts-and-crafts village of Sidi Bou Said, located near the site of ancient Cartage.

Quiet morning on Patmos

Patmos, Arches, 38 x 28 cm (11 x 15 in)

This is based on a photograph we took when visiting the Greek island of Patmos a number of years ago. We hiked on an early morning from the port up to the hill town of Chora. The town was quiet and serene, there was hardly anyone yet on the streets and the restaurants on the main square were still empty. My favorite time of the day...

Lately I have been watching one of Alvaro Castagnet's DVDs. I love his style - very loose, using bold colors and stark contrasts. This painting was influenced by him, I did it quite fast, trying to focus on the big shapes and main values. While there is still much to be desired, I had fun painting it and am happy with the way it turned out.

Rookiepainter challenge 33

This time I decided to try the challenge suggested by Jen at Rookiepainter. I intended to do a more free interpretation, but it was all new to me - the shiny surface of the creamer and the texture of the thread bobbins. So I ended up fiddling quite a bit and producing a much more realistic type of painting. In the end though it doesn't look too bad.

Red peonies

Arches, 40 x 30 cm

My goal was to paint this loose, with the focus on value and contrast. And I'm not unhappy with the result...

Tapestry

Autumn in Muskoka, yarn on cotton warp, 75 x 120 cm

This is not a watercolor or a painting of any kind. It's a woven tapestry, which I made a few years ago, but fully completed and hung on the wall just this week. Finally the result of long and tedious efforts is on display.

The second picture shows the process and the frame loom that I built for the purpose. My initial intention was to make a series of  four panes, representing the seasons. But  unlike weaving rugs, where the whole row is the same color and can be easily automated, this tapestry style involves all manual work similar to embroidery. Unlike embroidery though, here if you don't like something, you have to undo everything back to that point. Not my kind of work!
So, I am left only with the Autumn. Maybe I'll revisit the four seasons idea in painting...