Chris Rywalt, Untitled Oil #10, 2010, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches
First up, the final version of the painting I posted a little while ago. I added lines in. Reilly says he likes the colors, which aren't coming through as well as I'd like in the photo, but it doesn't matter since your monitor isn't calibrated either. Close enough.
Chris Rywalt, Hilary on Simon's Sofa (in progress), 2010, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches
Chris Rywalt, Hilary on Simon's Sofa (in progress), 2010, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches
Chris Rywalt, Hilary on Simon's Sofa (in progress), 2010, oil on canvas, 18x24 inches
I put together a figure drawing session at our studio. There have been two so far, actually, but I haven't scanned in any drawings from either of them yet. For our first session I got back in touch with the first model I worked with at Dorian's, Hilary Schmidt. She's as wonderful as I remembered her, lovely and full of good poses, and I got some nice drawings out of the session despite being rusty as all hell. I based my next painting on one of them, a very brief sketch. But I decided to try and do the background that was actually there, which is this awesome red fuzzy leopard print sofa Simon brought over which he originally bought in Austria. I'm thrilled with how the painting is going. I'm waiting for the spots to dry so I can fill in the whole sofa color.
I'd also like to note I looked forward for almost a whole year to having a studio with a window and now that I do I find it creates an insurmountable glare problem with all my photos, and occasionally while I'm painting, too.
I have been reading your posts and in the Spock mind-meld one you really put yourself down. In fact much of what you write is negative about yourself. So here is my tuppence worth of opinion; I really like your drawings and paintings.
They are very simple and they make the women you paint look lovely. There is one I particularly love where the curl of the woman's toes is so like a Japanese print. I like the lovely curves of your bodies and the way you seem to almost have waited until you found the perfect line and then you commit that one line to the canvas.
Your paintings seem kind. In the curve of the breast or buttocks there is only beauty. When you paint a larger woman she is still lush and beautiful.
The drawings you have here on this post are beautiful. So that Tim(?) person who said that your paintings were doodles does not have eyes to see! How big are your paintings? Because your work would be stunning if you painted these women really huge.
Anyway, please keep working. I love what you are doing. And please try to do some positive thinking, it could turn your life around.
I've been putting off responding to your comment, Susan, because I'm not sure what to say. I'm much better at handling negativity than I am positive comments. A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail message from an old friend I hadn't spoken to in almost a decade and after going back and forth a bit he wrote up a really good, solid, positive message about what our friendship had meant to him and how he saw me as a person. Your comment here came on the heels of that and the two blasts of positivity have sort of unhorsed me. I don't know what to say but...I know people mean well when they say nice things about me but I almost find it worse than when they say bad things.
I really appreciate what you wrote about my artwork. When you say I waited until I found the perfect line and then put that one down, that's exactly what I'm aiming for. Franklin says I should mess my lines up more, that in painting, at least, it doesn't work as well to treat your lines as if they're holy. But I can't bring myself to do that because when the line is right, the line is right.
My paintings are mostly medium-sized. These here are 18 by 24 inches. That's about the size of most of them, although occasionally I go as large as 30 by 40. The largest I've gone recently is four feet by two feet.
As far as positive thinking, I haven't really been capable of it in a long time, but I'm trying.
I am glad that you had these two blasts of positivity :)
And why not paint that perfect line? Why ever should you paint the way other people do? Too many times critics tell artists that their vision is wrong, flawed in some way. But that is nonsense! Your work is your work, unique and beautiful and it expresses your vision, your experience.
And I think maybe your happy positive self is peeking out through your paintings; the colours you use and the beauty of line seems to express something joyus to my eye.
Anyway, if you ever need a shot of honest positive appreciation for your work, amble over to my blog and leave a comment and I'll get back to ya! I have had so much support from people on my blog that I am more than happy to share the love around! We artists have got to support eachother.