Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver, acrylic on canvas board, 8" X 10" inches

I’m just popping this painting up to show you. This is a taxi driver was painted last summer using a direct approach. It was done in a portrait class taught by Arthur Evans (no links!). He supplied me with the photo of the taxi driver and the street scene photo later on. It must be said that he taxi driver's features were a pleasure to work with.

The portrait that I am currently working on is, for the moment, looking very realistic and tight. For a realistic perspective, the painting is fine as it's keeping within the likeness of the subject. The time that has gone into the care of blending is heading towards greater realism and a cleaner painting.

Without dwelling too much into it, I have been wondering a little too why this is and what relevance will it have to the final stage. Mind you, it is a warming experience to have and being relaxed and just let things happen in a learning process is reassuring.

The first dead layer of my most recent portraiture should be finished in the next couple of days. I wasn’t kidding about the amount of care going into it. Hopefully I'll have it posted by the end of the week.

One of hurdles that has developed during this painting is my better half comments of the experiencing a curious odour of solvents lingering through the house. With no desire to go shopping and to continue to live and paint here, without being sent to the shed, a non-toxic and odourless solvent has been rediscovered in storage. (A little reminisce from back in the day.)

This solvent has been used in the house before without any questions. In other words, it should do the trick and a much happier studio for it!

-Kim Bennett

Pear 2 - Catching A Muse

Pear #2, 4" x 4" inches, acrylic on MDF

In the Just Paint It - Pears post, it was mentioned that I was going to take what was learnt and make another painting. This process was an idea that had been on hold for a long time.

I had been itching to try this process for quite some time but it had slipped my mind who knows how many times. It was a post by Neadeen Masters called first acrylics on the Traditions Artist Internet Group that reminded me that I was wanting to play with my materials in a particular way.

Well, should we collect ideas or just get on with it and do it? My thoughts are when you have these A-ha moments or when looking at an artist painting and you just get it. That energy should be put to work before it passes you by. Grab your net and let's go and catch that muse!

-Kim Bennett

Just Paint It - Pears

JPI- Pears, 5" X 7" inches, acrylic on canvas board

This is a submission for the Art Apprentice Online Yahoo List – Just Paint it challenge.

Sorry that this is not a very good photo. It's not the one of my best pears but I take these once a month JPI challenges to try something different.

It was time for me to experiment with a painting using texture medium.

For this painting, the paste was added until the mix became transparent. When it was found necessary, a faux medium was brushed mix into my colours. It was kind of like watercolour with texture which sort of gives it an encaustic look.

Planning to try this process again with what I have learnt.

-Kim Bennett

Yellow Tea Cup

Yellow Tea Cup, 10" x 10" inches, acrylics on panel/MDF
©2009 Kim Bennett

Here it is! Thank you to everyone for the encouragement to get it finished.

This painting was started by blocking in the colours. The first layer of paint was applied with a palette knife. The paint was then manipulated, pushed with a bristle brush. I also borrowed colour from one place and introducing it in another with the brush. This was a good technique for me as I wanted to keep the painting loose.

This was painted on fibreboard. I am not satisfied painting on this type of surface for a couple of minor reasons. One of which is, I have noticed that the edges can easily be chipped. This is occurring in exposed areas such as the corners. When moisture gets into these areas the fibres expand. I can’t tell you how frustrating it can be when those little misshapen corners are brought to my attention.

At the moment I am trying some alternatives to this surface. I will let you know how it goes.

-Kim Bennett

Relax and Enjoy the Process

Still Life With Melon, 6 x 12 inches (15.24 x 30.48 cm), Acrylic on MDF
2009 Kim Bennett

In February 2009, I was working on a painting that was to be entered in an exhibition. The challenge was, to select a painting from a list of master artist and do our own interpretation of it. I selected a still life from the impressionist painter Monet.

In doing so, several attempts were made on the same surface. When things were not going well, I sanded the work back to the essentials. But, each time they were nearing completion. Why did I do this? The painting was just not working for me. The decision of how to approach the painting kept changing. I now realize that if I treated each attempt separately, I would now have a progression of studies or even sketches to look back on and use as a learning tool.

As the deadline neared the painting had to be finished. It also occurred to me that I could have completed several paintings in the time it took me to produce the final piece. By treating each painting individually I would have had three or four pieces to select from, and not be forced to send in the only completed piece.

During this time, while looking through paintings by Monet, I noticed he often produced several versions of the same study. One example would be “The Façade of the Rouen Cathedral” (1892 – 1894). What he did was to take things beyond. He produced more than 30 works of this cathedral on canvas. Each was created independently and simultaneously. As the weather and the seasons started to change the paintings of the works created varied in the use of light, atmosphere, mood, etc. You will be able to find some examples of the painting here: http://www.learn.columbia.edu/monet/swf/

Yes, we learn from our mistakes. Sometimes we can get so caught up in producing the one painting it can become an unhealthy exercise. When we struggle in our search for perfection we can loose sight to what is important. Just relax and enjoy the process.

-Kim Bennett

Just Another Quick Study

OK... this is an unfinished study but thought I would show this to you before adding the final touches. During the time, I was more concerned with the skin around the eye area but planning to adjust the eye when the final section is added.

The past few weeks, I have been reading up on a method or technique used by some portrait artist's. It is an imprimatura layer of Raw Umber, an underpainting or deadlayer with Titanium White and then layering of colour on top.

It was an interesting technique and hopefully I will have the chance to work with it again.

Eye Study is 4 X 4 inches ( 10.16 x 10.16cm )
Acrylic on Watercolour paper
2009 Kim Bennett

Many Ways to Open a Pomegranate

Pomegranate, 8 x 10 inches ( 20.32 x 25.4 cm )
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
2009 Kim Bennett

Slicing open a pomegranate gives the fruit a clean break and all the texture and berries of the fruit become lost. This is something that I had come to realise on my own. And what a disappointment it was not to have the berries popping out in all different directions.

Many artists had been there before and during a critique day the painting sparked a discussion about what was the best way to open a pomegranate. The conclusion was this; there are many ways to open a pomegranate. Well, this also depends on what you are planning to do with it.

The second attempt was torn open with a satisfactory result.

Lipstick

Writing and thinking has been the focus this week. The past couple of days have been mind numbing and more has been coming in than going out. With a big sigh, I produced this little painting today.

Lipstick 1, 4.5 x 2.5 inches (11.43 x 6.35 cm), Acrylic, painted on offcuts of MDF from the workshop. There was only one long and narrow piece and it wasn't long before I thought of something to put on it.

If it is not a life size painting, then it's pretty close.

Westroyd Studio Exhibition, Farsley

Orange Study, by Kim Bennett, size 8x10 inches ( 20.3 x 25.4 cm )
Acrylic on Canvas Panel,
2008 Kim Bennett

Three paintings by Kim Bennett will be in a group exhibition in West Yorkshire at Westroyd Studios, Westroyed Park, New Street, Farsley. These paintings were produced within the last few months. Two of the three works will be available for purchase.

The Official Opening of the exhibition is
Saturday, 25th October 2008 at 11:00 am

Opening Times
October 25th-26th 11am-4pm
October 29th 7pm-9pm
Nov. 1st - 2nd 11am-4pm

Simple Changes

It is amazing what simple changes will do.
In saying that, I thought that I would share this acrylic painting with you.

I had been working on a painting which is named "Cherry-O." This painting on your left is my first attempt that was placed aside to rest. On the morning of a critique evening, I decided it was time to revisit it. Having some idea of the areas that needed work, I sat down with my painting that morning to make a few corrections.

Can you spot the obvious?

Yes, you got it! The shadow area of the painting distracts from the cherries. In particular, the reflective shadow area on the front cherry looks patchy. To keep in the style of the painting, I needed very subtle shadows or merging with transition of colour. The shadow should be smooth and not patchy.

Instead of trying to correct the shadow, I rubbed out the shadow area with some of the background colour. Next, I worked on a better transition of colour in the shadow area.

This process was done slowly in stages with much care and nurture, making sure that just enough shadow colour was present just below or underneath the cherries to prevent them from floating. Even though this was a careful process, pulled together in stages, the irony is that it still took less time to paint the shadow the second time around.

What does it do? Well, my eye is no longer drawn to the patchy shadow below the front cherry and my centre of interest is restored to the cherries.


Palette: DecoArt Traditions Acrylic
Phthalo Green- Blue
Quin. Gold
Quin. Violet
Titanium White
Raw Sienna
Ultramarine Blue
Napthol Red
Dioxazine Purple
Hansa Yellow
Yellow Oxide