We Take the Hill

Joanne's Website    I had a recent conversation where a good friend seemed surprised when I said I would only paint from photos I had taken*. I added that it was very important to me that I had been there, had the experience and felt a strong emotional tug about the scene. So that led me to think that I bet many people who are NOT artists might think that artists choose what to paint by what sells, what's popular or hip in colors that are this year’s biggest hues. They might think artists simply scroll around the internet or magazines for images they like and then paint them exactly as they are presented. But you know what? That isn’t how most artists work. Most are compelled to paint what they paint. They might start with pulses of images or ideas that flash through their heads right before sleep. Then perhaps they sketch it around a bit or set up a photo-shoot or still-life. Some paintings are spurred by photographs like this one of women heading to work at a hotel at a tourist town in Mexico. Certain strong images are sort of burned into your head- whether you get them by sketches or photographs. And when they don’t go away, you work it into a painting. A painting is as much about the artist as it is about the subject matter—and if you can see that in the painting, then it’s a keeper. "We Take the Hill", 18x24" oil on cradled hardboard by Joanne Shellan


Exceptions being commission work

Cabo Boats

Joanne's Website    Every once in a while, if you're really lucky, you hit on a teacher or mentor who is just right for where you're at right now. Other teachers may have had the right message but you weren't ready to own it yet. Or you wanted to learn one set of things and the teacher seemed to be heading up a different path. I count my lucky stars every day because I have a great teacher right now in Liana Bennett. Before I started this boat painting, she emphasized to me how the very beginning stage is the MOST important part. Spend loads of time coming up with a solid composition & lightly block it in so you have little invested in the drawing—then when you need to swab the deck clean with turpentine, you won’t cry because your gorgeous drawing is getting wiped out. Take time to thinly block in the correct values and colors. Stand twenty feet back now and look at it. Test how the eye is led through the piece. Figure out the problems and fix them before you get into the depth of the painting. So three hours later, I brought home only the beginning scratches of this painting but I had done as my teacher recommended. Her advice is great and I hope you can use it too. Get lucky!

Good Cherry Pie

Joanne's Website   Be dogged. Be persistent. Stick with it and you might yet get it~! That's the carrot that always keeps me going. I went back into this painting a third time and finally I'm satisfied. What do you think? Isn't it better than the last post? Let me tell you a little painter's secret; the absolute best part of a painting is at the very, very end when you get to put in your lightest lights and highlights! Oh joy! The painting comes to life under these final but important strokes. The difference between last week's cherry pie and this re-do is that this one has unified strong light and dark areas. The last version was muddled and less defined. Clearly defined and persistent are our words for today.

Not so good Cherry Pie

Joanne's website    Every painter has his day; there are good days and not so good days. Good days mean you painted a great painting and you know what happens on the not so good days. My painting buddy, Phyllis Ray, came over so we could both paint this appealing cherry still life that I had set up in my studio. BUT we had limited time so instead of relaxing and really working out the problems before beginning the painting, I dove in and now it doesn't work. When you paint alla prima which means "freshly done, all at one time", it's no fun to go back to a dry, half done painting the next day and try to bring it to life. I'm as persistent as they come so I'll keep working this till I get it right but hear my Message for the Day; Always carefully plan out your paintings and never rush. If you're short on time, paint a smaller canvas...or you'll be eating crow instead of cherry pie.

Oranges and Blue

Joanne Shellan Fine Art    Getting objects to glow is a single skill in an artist's big bag of tricks. It comes after you've covered the big guns part of a painting; creating a solid composition, making sure you have a strong value pattern of lights and darks, choosing a star or focal point, etc. The list of big guns isn't short but if you get that basic list down, you've built a structure upon which to paint a successful painting. Too often I've rushed in to paint and my painting falls apart. My chosen star in this painting is the orange slice that is standing up. It glows because its super warm, light yellow rim is the highest area of contrast in the painting against a very cool, super dark background of blue/purple. Tricks...and you thought only politicians used them! This painting is oil on a 12x16" board.

Humble Eggs

The humble egg takes the stage as food still-lifes continue to end up on the canvas. We see the egg but do we really "See" the egg? In my humble opinion, you only really see it when you try to draw it. Then you figure out it's hard as hell to draw that weird eliptical shape with the slight point on one end. I intend to try this subject several more times in an effort to make it look wetter, to clearly show the eggs as uncooked, to work on making the egg shells appear luminous. Unlike taking a math test where there are actual right answers, painting is ambiguous with many roads to doing it right and twice as many ways to do it wrong!

Fried Eggs

http://www.joanneshellan.com/

   Still lifes have a justifiable spot in the world of 2-D art. Within the parameters of four sides of a board, the artist can highlight a group of items that can are usually passed over quickly. The artist has the challenging job of elevating the features of our daily lives to something to stop and examine. Look closely. See the beauty of a fried egg. Notice how a pleasing composition can pull you into the painting. What are you quickly passing by by that might deserve a closer look? Just drawing out what is in front of you is challenging enough. I often draw it out on the board with a piece of pastel chalk then draw it out again with my paint brush and a warm color paint. There are always corrections to be made on the second drawing! Another life lesson-

measure twice, cut once.