Gouache and the Cathedral

I met up with my friend Jean from the Reuters art group and we went to St Patricks and did some painting.

The format of my sketchbook is not great for a cathedral, I will have to re-think this a bit.

Lunchtime Pinecone

Leah runs art sessions/classes several days a week at different times for our colleagues around the globe.

I joined the Europe/India session today for the first time.

I had no idea what to paint (I don't do Leah's lessons), only that I had leftover paint from last night, and a recycled panel hanging around. 

And a pinecone from Pinetum on my drawing table.

So I painted that.

Didn't plan it well, made some bad decisions, had to fix some of them, had to figure out how to get an always-falling-down-pinecone to stay put (which is surprisingly difficult).

Next week I'm going to plan better.

But I did get to use my Nicosia Green Earth.

5x7 oil

******

This is a practice painting, just a study.

As with all paintings, I always learn something new.

I do kind of wish this was a better painting but it's also ok that it isn't.

Because not everything needs to be "finished presentable" studio work.

For literally zero planning, and 2 hours, it's ok.

And now I have different leftover paint, but not very much.

Coastal Highway Moonrise

Another scene from The Long Dark.

These are fast and relaxing to do, 2 hours,  and it is good to spend time with my Reuters art friends.

Coastal Highway Moonrise 8x10 oil

Color Meditation

My lovely friend Beth teaches an art class every Tuesday.

Occasionally I am a guest in the class.

She was telling me how her class is starting oils and she's having them do color wheels and value scales.

I like that stuff because I'm a geek, and she doesn't like it but had to do it.... and I asked if I could join the class.

Beth is a good teacher and she was absolutely right to start never-oil-painted-before-people with basic mixing and paint handling.

I didn't really know what I was going to do beforehand  but I pulled out a little 5x7 practice panel and transferred all my leftover still-wet paint to a new palette paper.  I did a little color wheel and it was so meditative.  I didn't really have to think very much which was exactly what I needed, and it was good to move paint around and look at pretty colors.

It's just what I needed.  No thinking, nothing intense, nothing serious, and a little practice panel.
It was literally just a Color Meditation. Very calming.

*******

GRUMPY-RANT-WITH-MANY-HYPHENS

I'm going to have a short grumpy rant that is probably unjustified but whatever I don't care, this is my blog and I'll grump if I want to. I'm trying to very seriously figure out how I'm going to get through the next six-months-at-least at home every day, because I'm really losing it.  One day at a time yeah I know blah blah blah.  I'm not one to wish my life away but I'll be glad to see the end of this isolation and being in one room all day every day by myself.  It's not good and I know I'm really on edge.

Which is partly why I'm going to have a little-too-grumpy rant about a well-meaning Facebook comment.

When we artists put our work out there it invites response, and we all know people say stupid things with good intentions.  Like this:

"Next time, use a larger canvas, it would be even more stunning BIGGER! (Not giant size, too expensive!)"

******

Don't tell me what to do.

Don't tell me what I "should do next time".

Especially don't tell me what to do regarding my painting.

Don't take my work and expand on it and tell me I should do your expanded idea.

Don't tell me what's too expensive.

Other people trying to give their direction to my work annoys me severely.

Usually the people doing this are people who dabble in art here and there but in this case the person actually is a very good painter, so honestly they should know better.

I'm just not in the mood.

One day I'll be as evolved as Drusilla, who gets stupid comments like this occasionally and doesn't get annoyed.

Gouache and AMNH

Today I went back to the Museum of Natural History for the first time since covid lockdown.

I painted some birds.

Lots of people said really nice things to me.

One guy came over and was just fascinated, he said he wanted to do that, too.

I told him he should.

Especially at the museum, I get children visitors, which is cool because they decide they want to paint, too. Even more unexpected is that parents are respectful. They tell their kids not to get too close, to give me space.

I love that AMNH is so friendly to painters.

I guess it's really ok when 2 security guards walk by and say how nice the painting is.

I did get white paint on the floor but I cleaned it up.

Upgrade

Daya's phone fell this morning and the screen shattered.

I'm not upset.

She is very responsible in general.

I trust her in ways most parents don't trust their teens.

Truth be told, it helped me make a decision.

The last time I upgraded my phone was Daya's 5th grade graduation.

So almost 5 years ago.
We both had iPhone 6s Plus.

Daya actually kept hers through all of middle school and around the start of high school- due to it needing a battery replacement which was impossible due to water damage, I leased an iPhone 7s Plus, which at the time was the cheapest option I could get while still keeping her on an iphone.

It broke today.

It's ok.

I'm using the third iteration of a 6s Plus, because both times I brought it to the Apple store for battery replacement, they couldn't do it so they just replaced it.

I like my phone and it works just fine mostly.

Also, I own the device outright and it is fully paid for so that's something off my monthly bill, which I like a whole lot.  I think cellphones are a colossal waste of money. We need to have them, but the devices themselves can be a huge money pit.

My battery is dying again, the phone can't hold a charge and this is normal wear.

Even before Daya's phone shattered I was contemplating what to do.

It's true that I could have held out for a couple more months, but not probably not much longer than that.

But Daya absolutely cannot go around with a shattered phone, it is a safety hazard.

So we upgraded.

And I am now financing 2 iPhone 11s.
I will have mine until it makes better sense to upgrade again, hopefully at least another 5 years.

The phone is a lot better and I like it very much.

Especially the camera!! It's really nice!

I do have to pay for 2 of them, which is the part I'm not as happy with.

This will probably be the last phone I buy for Daya, and it should see her into college.

Princess Leia, a Star Wars Cat

Here is a commission I just finished.

It is for a friend's husband. (He is my friend too.)

This is a portrait of his cat who has passed, she was a very special cat to him, and her name was Princess Leia.

So this painting is a hybrid of Star Wars and Elder Scrolls Online, in the layout style of Medieval books of hours.

And now I know how to paint light sabers in oil paint, which I guess is a cool skill.

Total painting time was about 12 hours over several sessions, but I also had to do a bit of planning and research which took a while as well.

9x12 oil

Cat detail

******

This painting was so ugly for a long time.

Progress shots:

Wednesday Drawing

No, my titles will probably not get more original.

I used this stuff, it is like gouache except graphite.
I got this set years ago at DaVinci and pulled it out to do something different.

It didn't come out so great.

7 minutes

1 minutes

40 mins

De-Uglification Mission

 I have another commission, and I was very excited about the project, it's a bit wacky.
And it also has a crunchy deadline and it is a bit complex.

And it is UGLY.

OMG it is so ugly.

I put about 4 1/2 hours in today and did make good progress but it's still bugging me and I can't wait for it to be over.

I'm tired of being home in one room day after day after day.
At least Daya gets to start in-person dance again on Saturday.

Tomorrow work will be pretty slow so I'll have to spend more time de-uglifying this stupid painting.

I can't wait til it is done.

Wednesday Drawing

I'm pretty sure my life has turned into the equivalent of running in a hamster wheel.

Over and over and over and over.... 

but oh well here's some graphite drawing.

We are listing to Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig.  It is excellent.

Sarafina (and cats) modeled.

7

This was the long pose but I finished early, so I guess about 30 mins.

20 mins

Holy Crap!

Um, wow, I thought *I* was the Queen of Being Batshit Crazy from Neighbor Noise.

Turns out, someone else might have that title.

So, my friend and co-worker's dad is very ill in the ICU with Covid.

She had to go to Bangladesh on Thursday.

But she was cat-sitting her sister's cat, because her sister was in Brazil (but lives here).

So my friend asked if I could help with the cat for a few days until her other friend who was in Brazil with her sister came back this weekend.

I said sure, but I can't take him in my place so I'll go there.

This cat is nuts.  He's noisy and hyper and he WAILS.

He's not doing well being left alone.

My friend's downstairs neighbors are Not. Happy.

I really really REALLY understand and empathize with this.

Sister couldn't get a visa so is coming back to NYC and will get the cat tomorrow morning.

My friend asked if I could go downstairs and tell the neighbors the cat is leaving tomorrow, so I did.

Um, WOW.

They *really* hate my friend!

And I thought *I* was messed up from my upstairs neighbors!!!

I went to apologize about the cat- and I got an earful of all her noise transgressions over the last 2 years.

And they think she is making noise over their bed intentionally.

I mean, they are REALLY hostile.

Also, they said someone was in the apartment vacuuming at 9:30 this morning.... I told them no one is there and they didn't believe me. (I did look around for a Roomba or something that might make noise but I didn't find anything.)

Cat

*********

It would be easy to call my friend's neighbors crazy or mean or whatever, but........ I get it.

I really, really get it.

Noise, especially in your home, makes people crazy.  It has such an adverse effect on mental health, and this is not really addressed by society. Carpeting doesn't really help much either. My dream is to have a home where I can't hear much from my neighbors. I like living in a building but I dream of soundproof spaces in a major way.

I did try and spend over $3k to soundproof my ceiling but the landlord said no because drop ceilings are illegal.  

It would have been worth it.

I think there is some kind of noise-barrier-between-floors requirement in new construction, but in a lot of the big apartment buildings here, there is nothing between floors and walls. Sound also travels oddly.... before my current upstairs neighbors moved in, I called the landlord with a noise complaint about people running around upstairs but the apartment was empty! Management had even changed the locks and the super took me upstairs to show me it was empty.  I was hearing the kids from two floors up running around!!

Noise pollution causes extreme and intense stress, resentment, and anxiety.  It does things to your head and really creates friction between people. It keeps people in fight-flight response.  So many of us are completely batshit crazy from noise and we can't do a damn thing about it.

I would love to see an affordable no-construction solution come to market that people can use in their homes to really block noise.  Like this-- I hope something with this amazing research comes to market.  SOON. Because it's amazing and can really help people in such a significant way.

Saturday Plein Air

I'm feeling very out-of-sorts today but I went out to Central Park because it's a good idea to paint and just get out.

This painting only took about an hour- Zorn palette plus ultramarine.

6x8 oil

Mars the Black Squirrel

My pet deserved to be painted.

5x7 oil

Weds Drawing & Rubbish Painting

We drew a lovely singer named Ejyp who has a magical voice.

I guess that's why he won a bunch of awards at The Apollo.

Here is a 20 minute drawing.....

For the long pose I decided to try a painting, which is complete rubbish so I rubbed it out to reuse the panel.

45 mins just wasn't enough time.
But I do think this speed painting exercise is very good practice.

Sunday Drawing

We have rain today, so I can't go out painting.
Tomorrow I'm back to work and I'm not looking forward to being home all day, day after day.
It has been immensely good to get outside for several hours at a time, and good exercise too.

But at least today there was a drawing session.

Here is the lovely Abigail, graphite.
7 mins x 2

20 mins

45 mins

*******

School and dance also start, but everything is remote.
Dance will go back to in-person 4 days a week in two weeks.

But no one knows when high schools will go back to blended learning.

Pinetum Again

Today is the last day of vacay that I can go out.
Tomorrow it's supposed to rain all day.

Here is another little painting from Pinetum.

6x8 oil, a little over 2 hours

NEW YEAR!

 We made it.

Resolutions, um, intentions:

1. Keep my (remaining) shit together somehow
2. Drink a lot of tea
3. Paint some pictures
4. Stay positive