Brighten 2010

Mary Kay Wilson 2010 Art Calendar by MaryKayWilson

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Bob: Completed

What can I say? I do love Bob. I love his red and white checkered overalls. I love the hair and his smile. I have fond memories of eating at Bob's as a child, especially the chocolate milkshakes. I remember when my family moved to Texas how happy we were to discover that the Big Boy was there too, even if his name was Kip. I love him so much I know I have to paint him again.

Painting Bob: Stage Twelve

I have painted the sky blue and used watercolor tape to mask the straight edges on the sign.

Painting Bob: Stage Eleven

Starting to add small areas of stronger color on Bob.

Painting Bob: Stage Ten

Building up the layers on Bob.

Painting Bob: Stage Nine

At last I am beginning to paint Bob.

Painting Bob: Stage Eight

More layers on the posts holding the sign up and the outer edge of the sign.

Painting Bob: Stage Seven

With the letters finished and the frisket removed, I have started working on the rest of the sign. Even though I haven’t begun to paint Bob yet, he is now becoming an important element.

Painting Bob: Stage Six

I haven’t taken the frisket off yet, but the letters are essentially done.

Painting Bob: Stage Five

Continuing to building up more layers of color on the sign.

Painting Bob: Stage Four

Gradually building up more layers of color on the sign.

Painting Bob: Stage Three

I am concentrating on the sign at this stage as I do not want to leave the frisket on the paper longer than necessary. There is a long way to go on the letters but I have a good idea where I am headed color wise.

Painting Bob: Stage Two

Is it a "happy accident" when the cat walks across your painting? I'm hoping I can turn it into one because that is what happened when I left the painting drying flat after stretching the paper. Unfortunately, the paw print in the sky area of the painting does not seem to be going anywhere, I will probably end up painting the sky with acrylic.

Painting Bob: Stage One

Bob is an iconic figure in my neighborhood. I have often thought that he would be fun to paint and finally decided to do it. This is the very beginning. I have put down a lot of masking to protect the neon lettering. I am using both Winsor Newton Naples Yellow & Holbein Jaune Brilliant, opaque colors that I normally do not use.

Strater Hotel: Completed

This painting was "almost done" for a fair amount of time while I tried to determine the finishing touches it needed. I used payne's gray in some of the darker areas. I don't use the color often as it is easy to use too much and and go too dark. It works well here in small areas of the large window. I also used it on the underside of the overhang, the triangle shape on the lower left hand side. It brought too much attention to the shape so I lifted most of it off and added layers of some of the warmer colors in the painting to darken the shape without making it pop out as much. I also soften some of details in the area above the triangle shape.

Strater Hotel: Stage Nine

I feel a certain amount of guilt about my lack of commentary with this painting. But I hope the images speak for themselves. And the reality is time is so precious right now... and sometimes I have the words and sometimes I don't.

Enough... let me just say about this stage that the painting is almost done.

Strater Hotel: Stage Eight

Strater Hotel: Stage Seven

Strater Hotel: Stage Six

Strater Hotel: Stage Five

Strater Hotel: Stage Four

Strater Hotel: Stage Three

Strater Hotel: Stage Two

Strater Hotel: Stage One

I started my painting of the Strater Hotel in Durango, CO. It is a great old Victorian building. I am painting just a slice of it, looking up at the upper portion of the building against the sky. I like the lines, arches and angles. By using this point of view and just a piece of the building, I hope that the details are more noticeable. I also hope it is an interesting painting and composition. My reference photo was taken on an overcast day. I am going to try to capture a little more light and contrast as would be seen on a brighter day. I have started by including more blue sky in the painting than there is in the photo, and making it a deeper blue. As it is now I have done two wet-in-wet washes with cobalt blue. The clouds look light and fluffy. I am done with the sky for now. I need to wait until I get more building painting before making any adjustments. It might be done.