Woke up to dark and rumbly this morning, raining off and on. The dog is, of course, a mess.
I’ve been working on the pomegranate painting following the suggestions of Codex who offers excellent advice on ways to improve my skill level and I’m grateful that he takes the time to help me with technique but I did not like where it went at my hands. I liked the painting much better before this last revision and spent much of yesterday trying to undo what I did, trying to move the light source back to the left, which is not easy. I’m definitely overworking this piece and will probably ruin it before I’m through. I have a hard time putting the brush down and walking away. I tell myself to just let it dry and then five minutes later I’m dabbing a little more on or trying to lift some of the color off.
I went to take a shower yesterday and when I looked in the tub I saw this.
This tiny little gecko had to be just hatched, maybe an inch log. Took some effort to catch the little thing so I could release it outside and managed to break off a bit of its tail in the process but at least it didn’t get drowned. And I have no idea how it even got in the bathtub. I’m just glad I saw it as I turned the water on. It’s taken years for the geckos to recover from the flood in 2017.
The rangoon creeper is starting to bloom.
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I wrote the above Wednesday morning. Wednesday night a storm came through full of lightning and thunder and rain and a couple of tornados in the county. It rained all night, was still raining when I left for SHARE Thursday morning. All the low spots in the yard had standing water and the rain gauge had nearly 5” by the time it stopped. It cleared up a little for sunset and the air was pink
although the color had faded a bit when I took this picture of the eastern sky.
I did a little more work on the painting Wednesday afternoon, declared it finished and painted in the background. Dwarf pomegranate 4" x 4".
Things are getting bad out there which is exactly what Trump wants. Police in LA are responding with violence, batons, tear gas, and the ‘less lethal’ rubber bullets, to unarmed protesters who have finally had enough of Trump and Stephen Miller’s round up of law abiding hard working contributing members of society, family men and women and their children, sending them to detention centers under deplorable conditions and deporting them to whatever country will take them. There is video of an Australian journalist who was intentionally shot, of an unarmed woman shot at point blank range just trying to get home in the building cops were standing in front of, of a woman shot in the head and left laying on the ground by police until one officer tried to render aid but they refused to call an ambulance, of another protester beaten with a baton by a cop on horseback and was trampled by the horse when he fell. Trump has usurped the governor’s power to activate the National Guard in California against Newsome’s wishes and sent Marines against American citizens on American soil (unsupported of course, he did not send food, water, or shelter). California Senator Padilla was forcefully removed from Kristi Noem’s press conference, thrown to the ground and handcuffed for wanting to ask a question. Trump has had a federal judge arrested, the mayor of Newark arrested for attempting to visit an ICE detention center with members of Congress to conduct oversight one of whom, Rep. LaMonica has been arrested and indicted over ‘trumped up’ charges. Trump is sending National Guard to other big cities in advance of Saturday’s planned No Kings Day protests against his ridiculous military parade and has promised harsh retaliation against any protesters who show up for it. And now, on Saturday he is going to have all kinds of military personnel and equipment in DC with an unqualified toadie in charge of the military ready to support Trump if he declares martial law.
This is scary folks. What will the people of this country do if he declares martial law and turns the American military against Americans on American soil?
We are holding our breath, collectively, watching. Keep on doing art and yard work. It matters.
ReplyDeleteMillions marched peacefully with just a few rare incidents of violence from MAGAts or local cops. All those 5 millions out there expressing how much they dislike Trump and is policies. Probably contributed to his sour mood at his poorly attended parade.
DeleteThe pomegranite looks great! I loved the simplicity of the previous work . The little creature - so vulnerable and so so so tiny1 You have good eyes to have seen it.
ReplyDeleteI can not think about authoritarian fascist racist sexist take over of the country- not sure we will survive four years . I would feel more secure off grid and in forested land with enough fire wood to see us through- potable water, a wolf- the usual survivalist gear...most of us are feeling like our chests have been ripped open . I am thinking that dying is not the worst thing that can happen.
Off grid would be nice. I'm pretty insulated out here. It is a red town in a red county but it's done at the ballot box, not in your face. Although I had to unfollow one of the volunteers at SHARE on FB. She is a total Trump cult member and posts lying memes and misinformation. I try not to talk to her on Thursdays which isn't too hard as she works in the front and I work in the back.
DeleteI think he already HAS turned the military on American civilians on American soil. There's no official declaration of martial law but I'm not sure how that would be much different.
ReplyDeleteI love the pomegranate painting. From the way you were talking about it I thought it would be overworked but it looks great.
Yeah, activating the national guard in California against the governor's wishes is pretty overt. I wonder how long they will be deployed. The painting did turn out better than I feared.
DeleteI agree with Steve- this IS martial law as far as I can tell. Who is going to stop this man? Between what's going on here and what's going on in the Middle East, I am so stressed out I am having trouble staying awake which is an anxiety reaction of mine. I don't know what to say.
ReplyDeleteYeah, pretty much. I wonder how long the national guard will be activated in California especially since they were sent with no support and are/were sleeping on the floor of federal buildings with not even a blanket. Newsome has sued but courts take time and Trump ignores them when he can.
DeleteCodex: You're most welcome and a quick study. If you're done you're done, but it looks a little cartoonish to me.
ReplyDeleteI've mentioned it before. I took a lot of "upgrade" classes. One of them with a world renowned watercolor artist, (harsh, British and direct), who consistently 'hurt my feelings' in her master class. Years later I realized that her instructions were so good that the techniques stuck. She actually never 'hurt my feelings'.
Keep at it. :)
A little cartoonish? Maybe but I'm ok with that. I wasn't trying for a botanical illustration suitable for publishing, just a pleasant little painting. I want to work at it, watercolors, to get better but I'm ok with moving on when I feel like I've done the best I can on a particular painting. I have a pretty thick skin and I appreciate your critiques.
DeleteCodex: Good. If I was a purist, I'd also teach you about masking fluid (how to tear paper and ruin the painting) and gum arabic (pointless artsy tool).
DeletePomegranates are highly reflective and dimpled. There's always a highlight. The skin has a natural wax texture. So it's still a good painting but 2 dimensional.
If it was mine I'd add titanium white gouache as a little non blended dab. Show step by step pics next time.
Gouache is watercolor, BTW, just more pigment. Thinned down, indistinguishable from watercolor.
How's the Zucchini?
Haven't gone back to the zucchini yet. But I'll revisit it now that I'm done with the pomegranate.
DeleteCodex: Wee little Gecko. Tail will regrow, it shed it to escape. Didn't realize they're translucent when young. Comedian Danny Boye has a great routine on Geckos.
ReplyDeleteIt was a tiny little thing and yeah, the tail will regrow.
DeleteOn painting. If you like to do more rather than less...then use acrylics or oils...not watercolors. Just saying... Perhaps you already have. Since I can barely write with my tremors in my fingers, it would be a hoot and a half for me to try to paint again...but I still have some! It will probably be all dried out when I'm also going that way. The political world situation is indeed getting close to a climax. I wonder what it will be like.
ReplyDeleteI'm not interested in oils or acrylics, tried them both when I was young. Oils are too messy and smelly and too much clean up and acrylics were new back then and dried too fast though I understand they have retardants now. Anyway, not interested in those mediums. I love watercolors. It's not about doing more or doing less, it's about knowing when I've done the best I can do on any particular painting.
DeleteWe had that same pink sky the same evening that you had it. It was so lovely I went outside to take a couple of photos, but I don't have much of a horizon here. I'm hoping I can transfer them from the phone to the computer and have enough to crop a bit and still look good. I grinned at your comments about the painting process. I thought, "Well, at least with writing all those 'edits' are easier than when dealing with paints!" I really like the background you chose for the pomegranate. The colors aren't exactly southwestern colors, but they evoked the area for me; they're interesting shades of the adobe and turquoise that go so well together.
ReplyDeleteI had envisioned the background to be lighter and the little test I did with the diluted paint seemed right but it turned out a little darker but I'm generally happy with it. I'm used to a medium, glass etching, where there is no erasing. If it's overdone you're up shit creek.
DeleteThe gecko is exceptionally interesting. It seems to be almost transparent. Kudos to you for rescuing it and delivering it to safety (we hope) outside. I’m hoping, probably in vain, that no one will show up for Trump’s obscene military parade. That would be the greatest slap in the face of all. If the route is lined with spectators he will claim that as a huge success.
ReplyDeleteI love the geckos, even the adults are almost translucent pink and they chirp. The turnout for the parade was sparse especially compared to the 5 million that turned out to protest him and his draconian policies. He was pissed.
DeleteGlad we have good weather today here in Naperville for our No Kings protest. That will be followed by our annual Juneteenth celebration with food trucks, music, our Congresspeople and speakers. Our local police are always driving by and making sure we are kept safe from any MAGAs that might want to start trouble.
ReplyDeleteThis is my 4th protest this year and it has never been dangerous for us protestors - always very uplifting with lots of people supporting us.
I'm so glad you had a successful turnout. Even red states and cities had big turnouts. I expect Trump will have harsher response now since he was so humiliated.
DeleteYour sky photos are just lovely, and I love the pomegranate. I agree with those above that we're already basically under martial law. So scary.
ReplyDeleteI really loved the one of the sky over the cornfield. Trump is over his shock now and has ordered more crackdowns for LA and blue states and cities.
DeleteIf you were living in fascism you'd be home by now. Lovely dwarf pomegranate
ReplyDeleteYep, about to get worse now I imagine now that 5 million people humiliated Trump.
DeleteCodex:
ReplyDeleteMilitary sent him old squeaky tanks, wouldn't salute or march properly; they can if the want to. He was miserable.
He got what he deserved.
Delete