Introduction and Some Peonies

[JStarr]

Hi- I was part of the old WC until, oh, the mid-early 2000s, although, by then, I wasn't posting work there often. A few of us who were part of the Pastel Forum there kept in touch, and recently, CS's name came up- so I came and looked around. This seems a VERY nice forum for artists of so many mediums and genres- I was glad to find it.

I've worked in soft pastel for, gee, twenty-five years or so; taught both drawing, pastel and how colour works in pastels, and I retired from working for a living as CoVID started, thinking I could paint more-More-MORE, but my husband became disabled and I had so much to do, it hasn't been more than a half year or so that I've done more than keep cleaning and re-arranging the studio. But, DH is holding his own, mostly, and I broke back into painting re-doing one I'd sold years ago but always liked- and it sold, and I've had something on the easel almost every day since Thanksgiving.

My nails are a mess from washing my hands all the time, but I'm okay with it- and I've got more things in mind.

This is on the dark gray UArt, 400 grit, 10" x 24"** WIP of some peonies. It's coming along- we'll see if I can pull it off.

**Edit: DH is a woodworker, and, when he's doing well, he's always willing to play in his garage- and he makes lovely, deep rabbeted frames for me.

I'm thinking maybe a double reveal, both very thin, white, then red, then a regular 1.5" dark blue-green mat in a narrow, neatly routed walnut frame....

 

[snoball]

JStarr, (Julie, if I remember correctly), I remember you from Wet Canvas. Always enjoyed your work. Glad to have you aboard here!

 

[JStarr]

Yup- your name is familiar, too! Glad you landed somewhere good.

 

[CaliAnn]

JStarr: Welcome! This is going to be a beauty!

 

[JStarr]

Thank you! It's possible this will work- it is looking like it has potential if I can manage to not go out into the dithering hinterlands- I sometimes see something "Hey! What about..." in the middle of a piece, try it, and all it does is make it not-work. Best if I stick to what I originally saw.

If I can still see it in the work now/then in front of me....

 

[Donna T]

I remember you too and it’s nice to see you here. This looks great so far! The flowers pop against the dark background.

 

[Terri]

Welcome, JStarr! Happy that you've joined us!

This looks like it's going to be beautiful. I really like your decision to put this on black: those peonies are going to pop. Lovely!

DH is a woodworker

I'm sorry, what is DH? (As an aside, we discourage using abbreviations like this to avoid confusion. Thanks!) I'm guessing you mean your husband - in which case, you're very lucky to have someone around to make frames for your pieces.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work!

 

[JStarr]

I remember you too and it’s nice to see you here. This looks great so far! The flowers pop against the dark background.

Hi Donna! Nice to see you again- looking forward to seeing more of your work, too!.

 

[JStarr]

Welcome, JStarr! Happy that you've joined us!

This looks like it's going to be beautiful. I really like your decision to put this on black: those peonies are going to pop. Lovely!



I'm sorry, what is DH? (As an aside, we discourage using abbreviations like this to avoid confusion. Thanks!) I'm guessing you mean your husband - in which case, you're very lucky to have someone around to make frames for your pieces.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work!

Yes, DH is Dear Husband, which is what I call him (usually- sometimes there's a muttered sound in there according to, you know, mood, amount of sleep I've gotten, whether or not I've been able to take a break, myself- you know, I'm sure).

Appreciate the comment- I prefer working on a dark tone- neutral if I can get it, but no paper takes toning as well as Wallis, and I used the last of my roll end up a few years ago. Last I heard from Kitty, she was unable to get the aluminum silicate (I think it is) used to make her paper- but that was quite awhile ago. Inherited a box full of pastels from her, though, when she moved her studio- a nice treat.

Even if I work on a lighter surface, I'll use a bit of a hard pastel rubbed into the surface to tone if the tooth will take it- a friend (Preston for those who remember) is now often working on LAID PAPER- working plein aire and just killing it going with the flow of whatever happens. I'm really impressed by that- I have to lean on that sanded surface because I can brush off anything that offends me, and do it again.

Having DH around to make odd-sized frames is very nice and we scour antique and junk stores and haul off anything we think might work for one of us (he's a photographer). Plus it gives him something to do not. in. the. house. This retirement stuff is neato on the one hand, but on the other, it's nearly impossible to miss him anymore because he is always right here. Yup- there he is. Right there. Again.

Dear? Don't you think there's something you need at Home Depot...?

 

[Jo Castillo]

Happy to see you posting here. Looking forward to more pastels. This is gorgeous. We are about in the same spot with husbands. Ha.

 

[JStarr]

Happy to see you posting here. Looking forward to more pastels. This is gorgeous. We are about in the same spot with husbands. Ha.

He was active-duty military for over twenty years- our whole relationship was based on missing each other. Even when he retired and became a civilian worker, it was okay because we were apart all day. Now? We are very rarely apart. Very rarely.

I'll not say sorry that you truly understand, because I'll lay odds the alternative of him being gone all the time is far worse- but wouldn't it be nice if the Army'd call him back up just for a week or two to go teach the 'cruits how to fight and win in the woods or something? I'd even pack his favorite breakfast of champions, Vienna Sausages- lightweight and easy to tuck into corners in a ruck.

I think the peonies will work- I'll have to look at the negative spaces when I have the upper visual level done, see what helps the eye stay intrigued. Might have to buy another strip of walnut, too- that'll keep him in a garage for an hour or two....

 

[Enyaw]

Welcome. Retiring does have its pull on some relationships but friendship conquers all and when your partner is your best friend to boot things fall into place. Nice floral.

 

[JStarr]

Thanks- appreciate your words.

 

[Artyczar]

Hi JStarr (Julie), Welcome to the site! Loving your work so far. Hope to see much more.

 

[JStarr]

Thank-you; hope to continue to be able to do the work. I'm not a direct line artist, as it may seem from the outside. I have an idea- sometimes with a reference, sometimes I have to make or find the reference- and then it has to sort of seep and bubble around in my mind for awhile. I usually know the *what* of it, and the *why* of it, but the *how* of it is always a mystery.

So I measure and mark and cut, hinge the paper to the easel, tone if needed; dither a bit laying out the usual values and hues- looking in the larger sets of drawers in case I am missing one that's *perfect* but has been sitting, neglected, for months and months--- Find a nice length of thin willow charcoal, and lay in the major shapes.

If all that works, it's off to the puppy-races: work a bit, rest a bit; work some more, let life get in the way for awhile, squeeze in some work, finish cleaning out closets-- Eventually, the pattern that emerges is, if I *like* it, I will find a way in the day to work on it; if I do not like it, it will languish there, edges curling as the Arizona dryness tries to petrify the paper, and I will go in more and more often to look at it and figure out what I see that is wrong-wrong-wrong, but I won't touch it.

Eventually, if I've allowed the problem/s I see and possible solutions to percolate enough, I will go in, and either brush off the part/s which offend me and start re-doing, -or- I will pull the whole thing off the easel, (usually) fold it up and toss it unceremoniously into the waste basket. If it is a large piece of ground, and I am feeling miserly, I'll brush as much as possible off with a wide foam "brush", and put it into a separate pile- usually used as cut-up toned paper for smaller works.

I dunno- that's just me. Likely the biggest lesson I've learned is to trust my working method: If I can't bring myself to go into my studio and work on a piece, it's because I don't like it- and not liking a work is a big red "EXIT" sign to me- fix it or trash it.

My apologies for "talking" so long- it's a quiet early morning here, my coffee is 'liscious, and my brain's a-fizzing. Happy Day to you!

 

[Triduana]

Hi, JStarr! Glad you found us . Your peonies are looking beautiful so far!

 

[JStarr]

Thank you- hoping I can get back to them this weekend and get them done before we leave for P-burgh mid-month.

We'll see.

 

[JStarr]

Took me longer than I expected, but summer here is bearing down on us, and, just as winter in the upper midwest can be rough, summer in the desert southwest can be brutal and there was stuff to do before we go back east to see family. Stuff is kinda-mostly done- at least, other than water a bit, I ain't working outside in the heat; I'm Medicare-age and tend to dehydrate and shrivel right up at a hundred degrees, twelve percent humidity.

So, I've reached sit and sip, and I am requesting fresh eyes. Notes: The Google Pixel phone has a good camera, but crap for adjusting levels so sats, especially, are waaay high but if I adjust for that in photo-editing, the blossoms come out rather washed out. Suffice to say the background is mostly muted- a couple leaves are greener rather than grayer, and they have a bit more value contrast to help lead the eye and then keep it it. I hope.

VERY hard to adjust those darks and not lose the ruffly shadows on the blossoms- dunno if I managed it- they appear quite well-lit in person.

Is the bud in the upper left too big, too "plain", too pink or otherwise wrong? I'll hate that, but accept it is possible.

Overall comp? Overall edges?

Thanks- appreciate the eyes!

 

[Artyczar]

I think it looks great!

 

[JStarr]

I think it looks great!

Thanks- I niggled it a bit- decreased the size of the bud and softened its monster's red eyeball appearance, and I cut into the bottom of the second blossom from the right so it and the third blossom weren't so lined up and ping-pong-ing.

Now it's in glassine and I'm looking at a piece with tulips or, if I need to punish myself, a landscape.