Tuesday, April 22, 2008

WIP - The Finished Painting

"Put your brushes down and step away from the canvas"
The voice echoed in my head like a cop on a loud speaker.
"Who, me? Just one more thing."



"Untitled" , 24" x 30" oil on canvas, Frank Gardner © 2008
$3,100. Available at Old Town Gallery, San Jose del Cabo

With some painting time at home this weekend and yesterday, I was able to finish the work in progress (WIP) from the other day.
I shouldn't post WIPs.
This is the post with the first stages.

Oh, I also struggle with titles sometimes. I'll post a title for this piece soon. Can't think of an appropriate one right now.

45 comments:

David Lobenberg said...

Beautiful. Love the feeling of sunlight and warmth. Your figures have a very natural feel to them. All your paintings look mucho better after I enlarge them and can see the brush work and color notes better.

Don Gray said...

Wonderful job, Frank. Love the range of warm, broken color with the notes of cool. Really enjoy the Maine paintings too, with their change of palette.

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks David. The brushwork is kind of thin on this one. I scrubbed and blended colors more on this one. Seemed fitting for the subject.

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Don, thank you. That means a lot to me.

Dean H. said...

Wonderful work, Frank. By all means, keep posting WIPs! Love 'em!
I really appreciate your use of varied, close value, broken color. That will be goal for me on my next paintings...if I can remember that long...Lol.
That blue highlight on the man's coat sizzles!

Christine Mercer-Vernon said...

this turned out wonderful. i really liked where it was but even better now. the colors on the back wall are really nice the overall feeling of warmth from that direct sun really comes through. all those large graphic shapes and colors of the walls really help to keep your eyes focused on the 3 figures. you should keep posting WIP, they are great insight into your processes plus they are a great way to step back and look at what you are doing.

Barbara Pask said...

Please don't quit posting WIP's, I'm sure it makes you feel a bit pressured but it turned out wonderful. After all it's just us, your faithful blogger junkies. I have a title for this painting, ready? "Hey hey chickie babes" Thought you needed a laugh. Barb

Alicia Padrón said...

Ohhh it looks lovely Frank!! How you work the lighting like that is beyond me.... You've captured truly a wonderful moment. I feel the light is so strong and real here that it seems to me any second now is going to get a bit darker because a cloud stood in front of the sun :o) Awesome!

How about "Encontró frijoles en el mercadito esta mañana?" For the title I mean..
(I figure that's what the old lady is asking to the woman carrying the bags) ;o)

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Dean, I'll have to think about the WIPs.
I'll do the step by steps after I finish.

I was really going for the broken color in close value, especially for the yellow wall in shadow. I could have taken it lighter maybe, but then the figures would not have popped as well. Maybe.

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Christine, for the kind words.

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Barb. Blogger Junkies, LOL.
The two figures on the left are a couple, so I don't think he would say that. Thanks for the chuckle though.

Frank Gardner said...

Hola Alicia, Thanks!
Mas bien, " Que hace el gringo?"
"esta dibujando un cuadro, no esta tan mal, pero le falta un poco." Ja ja.

I took this photo one day when I was set up painting the church. I left all of that out in this piece to really simplify it into the big shapes and give the figures a wall in shadow to stand in front of.

Unknown said...

as a serial over-painter, i've really been enjoying the current run of posts 'bout 'finishing' paintings. nice to know i'm not the only one out there...
solid work - love the way you can feel the air & the way you make those grays sing. great counterpoint to the northern light of the maine works.

Jack Riddle said...

Frank--I knew when I saw the WIPs that this would become one of my favorites of your paintings. It has all of the attributes-- lighting, colors, brushwork, etc., but there is something about it that really touches me. Maybe it's the "scale." I really can't say yet. I hope it lasts long enough for me to see it live in the fall.

mike rooney studios said...

how about "Fine.And you?"
dont know how they greet each other in your part of the world tho' "que pasa?" LOL

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Shaun. Maybe we can start a club of over painters annonymous.
I appreciate your comments. Do you have a web site or blog? Your "profile" is not available.

Frank Gardner said...

Hey Jack, I'm glad that you like it. You know well how the light here should look.
I hope it is not around in the fall. Have not put it anywhere yet besides my dinning room wall.

Frank Gardner said...

Mike, Ha, I thought of something like that.
It was getting late last night, so I thought I would think about it for a while.
Thanks for checking in on me.

Unknown said...

Love this one, a lot. If I was going to pick a print, it would be this one. I love the contrast and mood here and how you used perspective in such a way that it works abstractly and to balance the composition rather than for it's own sake. Amazing piece.

Elizabeth said...

Did you come in the night to stal a wall from the medina!? - the one on the right......
Mexico and Morocco seem to have LOTS in common.
I really like this painting.
Beginning, middle and final product.

Elizabeth said...

I meant STEAL in the comment above.
Type too fast!

Alicia Padrón said...

Hee, hee it seems like "el gringo" is painting everywhere this days.... :o)

Well after reading your explanation of the church and deciding to eliminate that and focus on what you did.. the painting is even more amazing now!! You did an incredible good job with it. You should feel very proud :o)

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Eric. That is a big compliment.
Funny, I was joking the other day that I should make prints of the different stages and then people could by the stage that they like.

Frank Gardner said...

I'm telling you Elizabeth, the two countries are very similar.
Thanks, your comments are very appreciated.

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks again Alicia.

kathrynlaw said...

"Hi, my name is Kathy, and I'm a recovering Over-painter." ("Hi, Kathy!!")
:)
Frank, this is profoundly beautiful. Not just the colors, which are astonishing, but the glow and gesture of the figures. You've shown them to be so very human. That very subtle way that the woman at right grasps her skirt, the posture of the couple at left. Very moving, but not at all cliche or maudlin, which would be only too easy to do with subject matter like this. Your depiction feels genuine, sympathetic, and very touching.

Jennifer Bellinger said...

Hi Frank,

Lovely...I can feel the heat coming up off the ground!

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Kathy, welcome to our group.

Really kind words there. Thanks!

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Jennifer.

Frank Gardner said...

Oh, Hi Shawn, I though that might be you, but blogger did not pick up on your ID.

http://shawnkenney.com/blog

A wildlife gardener said...

I'm so glad I managed to see this painting in its finished state. It is atmospheric and seems to be to be a narrative painting. I love the light in it. It has an air of happiness I would say :)

I have some new visitors waiting to meet you and your kids, Frank, in the Barleycorn ponds :)

Ambera said...

Stunning. It has such a presence and immediacy for the viewer. Love the fact that the setting is so simple, it places all focus on the figures, which are beautifully rendered.

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks wildlife gardener.
I like your new visitors. I'll get my daughter and her cousins together later today to see the new post.

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Ambera, Thanks!

Frank Gardner said...

Bonnie, thanks for the suportive words about my blog. I hope that you come back to visit often.

Anonymous said...

Frank- I visit often and linger a long time. There's so much to learn here.
I see you have another favorite artist commenting here as well- Kathryn Law.

I'd like to add you to my blogroll if you don't mind.
I really admire the way you personally respond to visitors to your site and make everyone feel welcomed.

Diana Moses Botkin said...

Love the light in this beautiful painting!

Jennifer Thermes said...

Everyone before me has said it already-- beautiful!

Frank Gardner said...

Hi Bonnie, that's great that you visit often. I'm glad to hear it.
I'd love to have you add me to your blogroll.
I make an effort to respond to all of the comments. It means so much to me that people go to the trouble to comment. It becomes more of a dialog that way instead of just a one way thing.
Thanks for mentioning me on your blog too. I will pop over there again a little later to see some more and add my $0.02 to Kathy's $0.02. :)

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Diana, I appreciate that.
And thanks for stopping by.

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Jennifer!

Karen Cole said...

Beautiful painting Frank. Have you thought of a "naming contest"? I was sitting here smiling thinking of what those people were possibly saying to each other......though I know that naming a piece is very personal.

Frank Gardner said...

Thanks Karen. I had thought of a naming contest, but decided to wait and see what I could come up with.
My mind has been on other paintings and this one is still "Untitled".

Mary Sheehan Winn said...

You did a beautiful job with this one. I like it a lot.

Bonnie Mann said...

This is my first visit to your site and I am enjoying what I see! I really connect to this one. Such softness and it conveys a moodiness that appeals to me.