” Locally Grown ” 11X14 oil on panel
Mr. Carter has now got a face and a proper identity. I took the advice of Frank Gardner, who can nail the essence of a subject with minimum fussiness, and did a loose rendering of the features. It was good advice. ” Squint “, he said. Little did he know that’s my usual state of vision anyway.
Working backwards now, and so you don’t have to scroll back to an older post, here’s what preceded this finished piece:
Got more detail and warm tones in the left side foreground and aimed to set what is behind him, into the background with bigger blocks of color, cooler tones.
The beginning:
Sometimes I like the whole painting and other times, I like parts. I like the knees down in this one. Hands down.
A lot of farmers took a big hit after Hurricane Omar- it’s going to be some time before regeneration and re-planting yields viable crops again. We almost bought our way out of another season, but almost wasn’t cause for celebration.
I’m going to show this painting and some others at The Good Hope School Art Show in February, a repeat of the one I did last year.
Tags: Depiction of Organic Farmer, Finished work in progress, oil painting, Painting of St. Croix Farmer
Asheville: The North West of The South East 
October 28, 2008 at 9:09 pm |
good lessons 🙂
October 28, 2008 at 11:06 pm |
Mr. Carter looks like he’s relaxed and ready to sell! Great job Bonnie, and I love his face! Or the “essence” of his face. He looks relaxed sitting there with the foliage behind him.
Mr. Carter looks strong and striking.
October 29, 2008 at 1:17 am |
Paintings- thanks for dropping a note all the way from Iran! That’s a first for this blog.
I visited your site- we share appreciation of some great artists- Lucien Freud, Scott Burdick.
Your work is very compelling. Come back and visit again.
Carol- Mr. Carter would probably like this piece. You summed him up pretty accurately. He’s well into his late 80’s ( he and his wife Margaret were at our wedding- might you recall??), and still at it, although a bit wobbly but just as determined.
October 29, 2008 at 1:18 pm |
You could always be a photographer if the “talented painter” thing doesnt pan out. Or you COULD be a double threat, like Maestro Leonardo.
October 29, 2008 at 1:22 pm |
Noel- I love it when you leave one of your droll and amusing comments.
And do you remember how photography was always a favorite of mine?
Love you son.
October 29, 2008 at 1:54 pm |
Bonnie, please tell me you will show your painting to Mr. Carter. I’m sure he will be so honored. A bigger painting than usual too! That must make a difference in the way you paint, no? Not to mention help with the squinting 😉
The elbow seems a bit strange to me, but I’m the non-initiated, the non-painter, the not-knower so I guess I probably said something completely wrong and the whole community will want to tar and feather me. 😉 As a whole, I love it!
I bet you sell all your paintings the first night of the exhibit. I loved your work more than anyone else’s at Good Hope last February. Thank goodness you have your blog to keep you in line and painting! No more vacations for you! Paint, paint, paint…
October 29, 2008 at 5:54 pm |
I see the difference in the background and perhaps would have missed it had you not brought it to our attention. I love this way of scrolling down to the beginning! Very thoughtful of you to do that and I’m with you 100% on the magic of the knees down. I was totally taken with that aspect from the beginning. And, son comments? Awwws. Now, this masterpiece we like from all angles and persepectives.
October 29, 2008 at 7:14 pm |
Another wonderful painting. I admire your talent.
October 30, 2008 at 1:03 am |
It just kept getting better – very good painting.
Now, let’s not wait another month for the next please.
Really great piece!
October 30, 2008 at 1:51 am |
came out great! youre loose but on target and controlled. WTG
October 30, 2008 at 1:52 am |
You nailed it from the composition to those pesky face nondetails. Great job.
October 30, 2008 at 3:15 am |
I love the way you are able to capture the essence of a figure and the background and keep it so loose.
What you do is my goal. My goodness… I wonder how many thousands of miles of paint I’ll have to put down to get to where you are!!
I hope the farmers and the island can get things going again soon. I’m sure pulling together will help.
Be well
October 30, 2008 at 4:46 am |
Very good comrade!
October 30, 2008 at 6:57 am |
Love him! This one’s so much about mood and expressiveness, and you’ve got some wonderful lost edges here (I’m all about losing edges now). that make him part of his surroundings, and thus very locally grown.
And, treating the face very loosely was very wise, as you leave it to us to make up the details and expression. And oh yeah, great knees! 🙂
October 30, 2008 at 2:08 pm |
Nat- no one would tar and feather you, unless, of course, your requested it.
The size is bigger than recent sizes but still smaller than the two I showed at Good Hope. I’m building my way up. Oils are much more costly and I want to do the learning curve without blowing my inventory.
Sales- who knows? This is a strange year. Maybe people will still buy art, maybe not. I do them for myself, and when they do sell, I miss them.
Pat- I’ve gotten so much out of the de-mystification of seeing the process of other painters, that I wanted to put some of that out myself. It’s a way of also documenting the process for myself, otherwise the underpainting is gone.
S.Le- thanks for the compliment and for visiting again.
Bill- Your good words make me want to do more. I just can’t do them as fast as you do. I wish I had more of the Keebler Elf in me but I’m into the anguish thing. Gotta get over that, don’t I ?
Mike- so glad I figured out the WTG! Thanks for the cheer.
And the letters are much friendlier than WTF! ( lol )
It’s very heartening to hear the appreciation from everyone.
Nancy- pesky face non- details. If ever there was an apt description of this struggle, that is it. Glad you liked the finished piece.
Marian- ooh- you don’t have thousands of miles of paint to go through. You’re very much on top of your medium in so many ways. And if I remember, you’re taking a workshop with Frank Gardner, for which I am very envious.
Your work has grown so much in the past few months alone.
David- thank you- may I be at ease now? Or shall I continue to salute?
Nava- those lost edges are like the ones on your last watercolor post. I think it relates to negative space in that what you DON’T do is as valid as what you DO include.
Every work is a series of new lessons, no?
October 31, 2008 at 1:17 am |
Nice. I like the way you showed the process. Thanks for sharing.
November 1, 2008 at 1:14 am |
Wow! The face came out great!
Loved the sage advice from some of your comments, particularly David Lobenberg and the reference to the Hawthorne “Mud Heads” from Frank Gardner which I had to immediately look up.
November 1, 2008 at 5:37 pm |
Mary- thanks for making a several post visit! I always appreciate your comments.
Sharon- it does take a village to provide advide and we’re lucky to have one here in blogville usa.
I’m going to look up the Mud Heads now that our internet is working again.
November 3, 2008 at 4:05 am |
Great job on pulling it together Bonnie. Just the right amount of detail for my taste.
Love the bits of suggested colors around too, like that red on the ground.
What do you mean you had not looked for any mud heads yet? Hard to find pictures of I think, but there is a lot of talk about his teaching them in Hawthorne on Painting.
November 3, 2008 at 3:39 pm |
Frank- as in clothing yourself, my mother always reminded that ” understated ” is better than overdone.
The same thing applies to a painting, it seems. Knowing when to stop.
After you mentioned the mud heads, I went online to read about the concept and found it really helpful. With ignorance I admit to not knowing about Hawthorne until you mentioned him.