Tarts for Thiebaud, 10x8"

Tarts for Thiebaud, Ann Feldman

I can never just walk by a painting by Wayne Thiebaud.  I find myself stopping and staring at his paintings of pastries, all lined up like a row of soldiers, and I ask myself, what is it about this painting that I find so intriguing?  The pastries are displayed like icons, and they are imposing without being threatening.  They are tilted toward us invitingly.  The shapes and shadows are painted simply, but with extremely complex color shifts.  Thiebaud is pop art, contemporary art, impressionism, and realism all rolled into one.  He can't be defined, and perhaps that's why I find him so mesmerizing.

To bid on this painting, please click on Ann Feldman Tarts for Thiebaud.

Wayne Thiebaud, Four Cupcakes, 1971

Das Kaffeehaus, 6x6"

This is a little cafe street scene in Germany, painted mostly with a palette knife to keep the figures very loose and open to the viewer's interpretation.  I haven't been to Germany, but I can imagine that this place creates quite a clatter!

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Toastie, 6x6" (Sold)

This week's challenge for Daily Paintworks is to paint your toaster.  Easier said than done.  Every time I'd get my setup together, someone would sneak up to my studio and steal it to toast something downstairs!  I hadn't realized 'til now that this appliance was so vital to our daily living around here.  I'll never take you for granted again, Toastie!

To bid on this painting, please click on Ann Feldman Toastie.

Richard the Second

Richard came in to sit for us again last week, and I developed his portrait a bit further.  I'm glad that I took the time to put more thought and detail into his face.  In the first sitting, I covered large areas of his face with broad brushstrokes of color.  The second week, I went into these areas and broke them up with shorter strokes of new color.  I think it gave him more dimension and a more lifelike appearance.

The Good Dog, 8x8" (Sold)

I saw this modern-day cowboy out fixing fences in Colorado a while back.  What really impressed me (besides his fancy red horse with wheels) was his really good dog perched on the back of his bumpy vehicle.  He was more than ready to jump down and give some cows a little instruction!

To bid on this painting, click on Ann Feldman The Good Dog.

It Must Be Monday, 6x6"

Nearly every Monday is Sushi day at the Feldman house!

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Self Portrait

Hello Friends: Yes, I know that this portrait doesn't look a whole lot like me-- I'm serious and I've got my mouth closed (!), but as you can see, it's what I would call "experimental".  I can do this with a self portrait, because I know that the client won't mind. I used a loaded palette knife to apply the paint, so the likeness got away from me a bit. But I'm happy with the push that I gave myself in a new direction, so I won't sweat the details.

And Now For A Teachable Moment:  Several of my portrait students have asked that I jot down some of my teachable thoughts on my blog, and I have a couple of them today. In class, I stress the importance of finding the light and shadowed areas on the head, face, and neck and sticking to those areas throughout the painting process. In this portrait, after I found the light and shadow areas, I was free to apply any color I wanted, as long as I stayed true to my original "map". Notice the huge green area on the shoulder. Since it's in the right value, it reads right. This allows me to push my colors into completely new and unexpected areas. Having a plan is actually very freeing!

And now a thought on using the palette knife. Applying paint with a palette knife is a lot like riding a wild horse with really loose reins-- you're not really in control and unexpected things happen at every turn! I maintain just a bit of control by having very large mixtures of paint on my palette in light, middle, and dark values, and I "average" the color in each puddle to what I see in the large areas of my portrait. As long as my values are kept separate, I can add colors and apply them liberally without as much fear as I normally would have. Let's look at that shoulder area again. I started with a very light mixture of paint for the skin in the light, then added light green and light blue to my mixture with the knife. These colors didn't blend entirely on the palette, so tiny streaks show up in the painting. I love this effect. Every time I reloaded my knife, I picked up a bit more color from somewhere on my palette and put it into my mix. This keeps the area alive and gives a feeling of movement.

So stick to your plan, and push your color! You might find new experimental horizons of your own!

Nesting Time Again, 8x10" (Sold)

If this painting looks familiar, I painted one very similar a few months ago, and was asked to paint it again!  I rearranged the order and tilted them the opposite way, but I still found it pretty difficult to paint another painting so closely related to one I had done before.  This one took about twice the time the first one did, and I think it's because I lost the freedom I had with the first one-- I had to match all the decisions I had made before, and it was a completely different process.  I enjoyed it nonetheless, because I'm intrigued with shiny objects and bright colors (I guess it's the magpie in me).