noli me tangere

Here is a detail of the apple/pigeon painting. I added goldleaf to the halo today. It's really beautiful stuff. The result is a saturated gold surface that I couldn't acheive with the gold acrylic paint I previously applied. I am wrapping up this piece, still contemplating working back into both the apples and the pigeon to make them more life like. On the other hand, I don't want to lose the freshness the images have right now. We'll see if I get around to a touch up.

On other fronts, I have determined how much work is needed to compile my grad school portfolio; and it is time to focus and churn out images. The thought kinda makes me cringe, but at times I work well when I have to be quicker with my decisions. I don't linger. I printed two small poplar panels with a linoleum pattern today using an oil based ink to avoid the running I encountered in the background of the above piece. I also began preparing a large square linen canvas. It is on my list to stretch it today and hopefully lay down a sketch on it next weekend.

I can't put titles into Blogger right now for some reason. But if I could....#$%@!!! is kind of how I feel right now. Some days are like that. These two pieces are growing by leaps and bounds, however, very akwardly - like adolescents. We shall see. I am thinking of a new name for the piece as well.

Eve 24" x 24"

Here is the piece in which I incorporated the linocut into the background. I left the grain of the wood exposed which also led me to paint with acrylics rather than oils as I could eliminate the need for gesso. I probably still should have prepared the area under the painting with gesso, but with acrylics unlike oils I don't suffer as much for this oversight when trying to manipulate the paint. Initially, I was painting a pigeon in the top lefthand corner of the picture - a poopy pigeon. I really didn't like how it was turning out. So today, after I added the apples, I sanded the bird out. I am left with a rather rough looking portion in the painting and I am not sure yet how or if I will resolve this. The whole piece has been fun, fabulous, and messy!