AMANDA BRODIE STENLUND
  • Home
  • Artwork
    • My Beer Man
    • Beach Music
    • Landscapes + Buildings
    • Florals
    • Bedhead and Coffee Cup
  • About
  • Contact
  • Commissions

Later is now, again.

Notes on reviving a painting practice

Getting mouthy

12/20/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Knowing when to stop is one of the most difficult parts of painting for me. But when I know it, I know it, and it is practically euphoric. My eyes get wide, and I’ll say to myself (or blurt out it out), “That’s it.” And I literally take a step back, eye it up and down, and put down the brush. I might go back and touch up a little something technical that I happen to notice later, but that’s different than recognizing the completeness of a painting. (Conversely, when I make the wrong brushstroke that messes up an entire part my eyes get wide and I say, “Oh f***.”)
     It can be an all-over something or just a small passage on the canvas that’s niggling at you. On Black Bikini, I spent, oh, four hours total painting the mouth. I repainted it a dozen times. It’s the teeth that are so difficult. Paint them in shadow and they can look just dirty. Paint them too realistic and they look like Chiclets; too impressionistic and they look like a mouth guard or chewed food. At the AIC this week I sought examples to copy and found my lot in John Currin. Many of his figures have open, expressionistic mouths, and I was delighted to find Stamford after Brunch (detail pictured here) with THREE chatty mouths on one canvas.
     After a few weeks away from le Bikini, I went back today to try again, and after an hour and a half I put down the brush after one small brushstroke on what I believe is an incisor. I approached this difficulty as a technique to improve upon. In the past I would have gotten it good enough and moved on, calling it finished but knowing it wasn't complete. So, while those four hours of mouth painting were frustrating, I'm glad that I took that time to look and re-look and look again, paying attention to what worked and what didn't.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Later is what?

    After settling into various desk jobs, I always said I'd get back to painting later in life, and later is now. Again means that I tried once before. I decided to write about my painting endeavor, too, as a learning tool, an accountability tool,  and to stay sharp in case I have to go back to a desk job. Again.

    Picture
    In front of a mural of a Tim Rietenbach painting in Columbus, Ohio

    A Newsletter!

    I love periodicals, and if I weren't trying to devote more time to painting I'd mail paper copies. Sign up here, and I'll conveniently send it (blog posts, sales, and new work) by e-mail instead.

    Archives

    August 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015


© Amanda Brodie Stenlund
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Artwork
    • My Beer Man
    • Beach Music
    • Landscapes + Buildings
    • Florals
    • Bedhead and Coffee Cup
  • About
  • Contact
  • Commissions