Blog Comments - Do you or don't you?

Heating It Up

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

by Miki Willa

This is one of the glass heating ovens in the hot shop at the Tacoma Glass Museum. When I took the reference photo, I was not sure the intense heat would really show around the edges and bottom of the door covering the oven. This is a very hot oven that heats glass to a molten stage. Glass blowers pick up glass from the oven on pipes or punties to create bubbles or other glass starts. Yesterday, I went to see my son working on glass spheres and he gave me a short lesson on what all these things are called that I am currently painting. I love the intensity and the geometry of the lines. I already have the next few ready to sketch and paint. I may even get brave enough to put glass blowers in the paintings one of these days.

On another note, I was thinking about making and receiving comments on blogs. I know I get far more viewers than comments. I am guessing it is the same for most bloggers, at least in the art world. I am wondering why some people leave comments and some people don't. Does it have to do with the art or the text? I have tried asking questions, and very few people answer. Some people have surveys on their blogs, but the number of people who participate is nowhere near the number of people who regularly read these blogs. I know time is an issue for many people. I try and make sure I post a comment or two each morning as I read my favorite blogs. I am very grateful for all those people who stop by to look at my blog. I am even more appreciative of those who leave a comment, however brief. Don't get me wrong. I love the blogging community and all it has to offer. I am not complaining, just observing. Anyone have anything to add?

The Resolve

I seem to have so much difficulty with photo placement in this program. After several attempts, this is the closest I can come to what I was looking for. That being said, I want to talk a bit about how I resolved some of the issues I had with this painting.

I was relatively happy with the sense of depth in the one on the left, which was the unresolved painting, but decided to push it further. I darkened the foreground, especially on the lower right, which I think helped establish the steep incline of the hill. I also lightened the shadows on the small rocks toward the top of the path where they meet the rock pile. I then decided to add some highlights on the rock pile to bring out the shapes and forms. While it looks like I darkened the shadow sides, I actually lightened the shadows making the rock faces look darker. It is all about simultaneous contrast. One last area I resolved was the light value on the ground in front of the rock pile. I realized the area was in light shadow, so darkened it a bit. I am much happier with the painting now, even if the focal area is smack dab in the middle. It works for me.

On a totally different subject, my husband had finally started a blog. He does some amazing work in pastels and photography. Take a look here to see what is going on with Tom.

I also want to suggest you take a look at this painting by Casey Klahn. It is bold, intense, and very exciting.

Another artist I have come to appreciate more and more is Mary Buek. Check out her paintings and collages here.
Finally, you can follow all of Margaret Ryall's posts on art critiques at this site.

My first portrait in pastel

Portrait for Different Strokes from Different Folks

8 x 10 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

by Miki Willa

Portraits are very difficult for me to even contemplate, so I just haven't done one in color before. I have sketched likenesses of family members. I have even sketched myself. I don't know why I decided to join this year end challenge at Different Strokes, but I did, and I am really glad I did. I think it is important to get outside my narrow box, subject-wise, once in a while. My goal was to interpret the expression on the artist's face. I am happy with the results. I hope she likes it.

I have been looking at lists of favorite blogs on other artist's blogs and want to add my thoughts here. I have selected three blogs that I find very inspirational to the artist in me:

Linda Blondheim's Art Notes

Rose's Art Lines

The Colorist

Linda Blondheim's Art Notes: In addition to really liking Linda's artistic style, I enjoy her honesty. Many of the ideas she expresses seem to answer questions I have been pondering for a while. The path she is taking is very inspirational to me. I also enjoy the recipes. Her other blog, Landscapes of the South, showcases her paintings and shares her stories about the places she paints. I really like that idea, and thoroughly enjoy the stories. Finally, I really appreciate that she responds to comments and is very encouraging.

Rose's Art Lines: Rose Welty is sharing her artistic journey in a thoughtful, thought-provoking way. She has inspired me to think about trying other artistic endeavors. She has great courage, which is an important trait for an artist, I believe. She also responds to comments regularly.

The Colorist: Casey Klahn has more than one blog, but this is my favorite. He shares information about artists he admires, ideals he aspires to, and he promotes other artists whose art inspires him. I especially enjoyed his series about artist's traits. Casey and I have very different styles, but I am learning from him about stretching my usual color boundaries once in a while. That is a good thing. He is also good about responding to comments.

There are other wonderful artist's blogs out there that I enjoy for many reasons. I keep finding new ones when I have the time. Let me know what blogs you find most inspirational.

New Directions

Early Fall in the Blue Ridge

12x18 soft pastels on Kitty Wallace white

by Miki Willa

We returned from our seven week adventure last Friday and I have spent the week getting used to being home. During the week, I have been pondering this blog and where I want to go with it. I started out doing a painting a day and the blog helped me to stay focused on that project. This summer, on the road, I was exploring plein air painting and how I would adapt to it. I have learned several things.

First - I am a studio painter. I am very glad for the opportunity to paint on location and learn new ways of seeing things. I know it will help me enormously in the studio. I learned a great deal from Richard McKinley about translating what I see onto paper to help others see it, also. I have a long way to go, but I will keep at it.

Second - Doing a painting a day was very good for me to learn to control my medium. When I started out, I had a heavy hand. All my strokes were way to heavy. I am pleased to say, I am getting better at varying my pressure and strokes. That being said, I still have trouble with tree trunks. I have to work on that.

Third - I want to work on larger, more in depth paintings for a while. This means that I won't have a painting a day to post on the blog. I also want to do some artist studies. I have become very enamored of Andrew Wyeth and Winslow Homer of late. Do I post only my finished paintings as they are done, or do I take the blog in a new direction to share what I am studying and learning? I am not sure yet. For the time being, I will post some of the paintings I did on the trip that I have not already shared.

To that end, today's painting was done in studio while in Virginia. We spent a lovely weekend in Syria, Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On the way in to Syria is the small town of Crieglersville. As we drove past it, I came upon this scene and knew it had to be painted. It was early fall and the trees were just beginning to turn. I am a complete sucker for these pastoral scenes. They bring me so much peace.

I am glad to be back and hope to figure out my new directions very soon.

Other Artists Blogs

Ohia Blossom

Christmas preparations are upon me, so I am not sure I will be able to paint much in the next two or three days. I thought I would take the time to send you on to three of my favorite art blogs. First is Painting My World by Karen Margulis. Karen is a pastel artist who does great landscapes and animals. Her marsh and beach scenes are very good, and she paints daily.

The second is Making a Mark written by Katherine Tyrrell. Katherine is a colored pencil artist and she shares her work occasionally on this site. Primarily, she researches and shares information about art, artists, and art blogging. Her daily entries are always informative, and often inspirational.

The third blog I have been enjoying lately is Pastels by Casey Klahn. Casey doesn't post every day, but it is worth subscribing to for his reviews of materials, insights into his art, and introductions to other artists.