Int'l Contest Entry

Here I am with my painting about to be shipped to the LDS Church Art and History Museum. Sorry about the glare and the florescent lighting, the FedEx lady snapped the picture for me. Will I do this again? Probably yes, when the church has another competition again in 3 or 4 years. It was costly, however. $240 for profressional framing, about $45 in art supplies, $50 for professional photograph of the artwork for submission and $75 in shipping, packing and insurance. gulp. Not exactly the right time to be spending money! Makes me wish I lived in Utah so I could have just dropped it off. I learned a ton doing this, however, which is priceless. For one thing, I would not do a darkly lit subject in oils again. It is nearly impossible to photograph well and shows every imperfection in the canvas imaginable. Oils need so long to cure before final varnish, it is really problematic unless I use a new fangled medium and varnish. I wanted to do a heavier layer of paint on the figure and torch, but it would have taken much too long to dry for shipping. All this needs to be considered at the idea stage. I am really thrilled to have made it so far in the competition, as I never expected to make it to the first round of cuts. It has encouraged me to keep pursuing my dreams. Compared to perfecting a piano performance, college studies in geology or childbirth, this art thing is just really, really difficult! Worth it, but very hard to do well. I push my abilities to the limit with each painting, as that is the only way to progress. Frustrating, maddening, disheartening, humbling, exciting, thrilling and satifying. What a rocky road I am choosing to drive on!

Next up I am creating a children's picture book for the lds market that I hope to get published someday. The 'dummy' (a true scale mock up of the book done in pencil and a couple pages of colored paintings) will take up all my time for the next two months. Sorry I can't share it with you: gotta protect my art/idea for copyright issues. Its a big bad world out there. In the meantime, I will start working on the oil portrait of the little girl. And no, it will not be a dark background.lol

Child portrait

Ok, I have revisited a portrait of an eight year old that I started and never finished from several years back. I think my skills have improved enough to tackle it again. So here is the preliminary sketch. Now I need to get to the store before I can apply oils, and we are having an ice/snow storm all over the state, so this puppy will have to wait for a week or so before I can start the paint process. So, all you folks who know this beautiful girl: does this look like her?

By the way, I heard from the art competition, and I made it through to the first round of cuts! Now I have to frame and ship Modern Day Mother in Zion to the church's museum of Art and History by January 24th for the next round of judging and eliminations. Wish me luck!

Modern Day Mother in Zion

Ok, here is the finished painting. What I attempted to portray is a modern day mother struggling to keep herself and her children safe in a wicked and dangerous world. We all know the family is under attack as never before and that as parents we get battle scarred and weary with the skirmishes that the world throws at us. This mother has been in a recent battle of some sort. She is grimy, shows fresh wounds and is tired. She remains undaunted however, and leads others onward with the torch she carries, symbolizing Jesus Christ the Light of the World. She wears armor, symbolizing the gospel and carries various weapons symbolizing the Priesthood. She is protective of her children, who look to her for hope, safety and guidance.
I wanted to realistically depict the difficulties mothers face in raising their families. It was important to me to show that she is leading out, but not obviously surrounded by people and human assistance. Our personal battles often feel as if we are very much on our own, and I tried to show that even so, we are capable and strong while being sustained in our vital work of the the last days.

Modern Day Mother in Zion

This is a close up of the flame and her arm

Modern Day Mother in Zion

Here is a close up of the face.

Mother in Zion

Here is the first layer of colors in oils. I applied the paint very loosely and tightened up a bit in the face. I will keep the areas surrounding the woman very loose and brushy with lots of texture. It is about 30% done at this point.

mother in Zion

O.K, this is a big leap of faith for me, but there is no sense in dawdling, so here goes: I decided to try and create a painting for my church's art competition. I've had this idea for it for five months and it won't leave me alone, so despite my obvious lack of skills, I am going to create this beast even if it doesn't turn out good enough to submit to the contest.

The subject is a modern day mother in Zion. She is carrying a torch and turning back towards the opposite direction to show the way for others to follow. She is sweaty, obviously been in a few battles, and carries a few scars and recent wounds. She is tired, confident and determined. She carries a sleeping infant on her back and a small child clings to her left side. She will have leather cuirrass (chest armour) and a spear in her right hand, symbolizing protection and weapons of the gospel. Lotsa symbolism going on in this one.

I have gotten my photo references and messed with sketches that keep turning out horribly and not at all what I envision in my head. But, when I did a color thumbnail (a very small color rough for values, line and composition about 3 x 4 inches) I felt more encouraged. I think I'm going in the right direction now. I'm going to forge ahead and paint the thing ala prima....which means no detailed sketch, no layers and layers of color. It will be very loose and painterly...my favorite way to apply paint. I will go for mood and emotion, not details. gulp!!!

Posting it here commits me to finish it. This blog is a good task master. Nothing like making things public to keep a person driven and honest! Wish me luck!