Careful What You Wish For

"Mooove Back!" (pastel, 16x8 inches)

Our times have changed so dramatically in such a short time. Just two months ago I was sketching portraits for my 25th year at the San Antonio Rodeo, surrounded by hoards of people (well, on Saturdays at least!) Then I woke up one day in March and it seemed as if my entire calendar for the foreseeable future was wiped clean.

For the first couple days of cancellations, I was frankly shocked and a little depressed, wondering where my income would come from. But at heart I've always been one to take life as it comes and follow the opportunities that life presents to me. An idea from another artist prompted me to have a Studio Sale, which has been quite successful thanks to my wonderfully supportive clients! (You know who you are, and Thank You!)

In week 2 and 3 of these strange isolated days, the new reality has begun to settle in, and I've been seeing this as a golden opportunity to handle those critical actions that have constantly been pushed to the bottom of the to-do list since 2016... namely CLEAN UP THE COMPUTER, and the surrounding office! 😂 (and next.... the Master Closet!?)

But humming just beneath the surface of all this domestic activity is the strong, pervasive desire that has been plucking at my mind for months, digging it's way through the frustrations of juggling several businesses and scheduling conflicts. That little voice is telling me "I just want to be a Daily Painter!" In the tradition of Julian Merrow-Smith, Dwayne Kaiser and Carol Marine.......... Drop the events, the craft shows, the festivals... I just want to paint, and post, and see where that leads.

(I've been half-heartedly attempting to paint daily since 2011, but my average has dropped off. Sure, the unwritten "rules" of Daily Painting are not as firmly followed as in the early years of the movement. Even the big names don't paint/post EVERY day any more. But most of them did - for years!)

So the little voice is saying "..What are you waiting for? We've cleared your schedule... "

I'm filled with sadness and regret that it has taken a global pandemic to finally bring this little voice to the forefront. But that just firms my resolve to make this opportunity worth the effort. I'll be taking this adventure one day at a time, and we'll see how far it goes.

I sincerely hope you have not had any friends or loved ones severely affected by this virus. How have the forced stay-at-home rules and the changed situations affected your daily life and your future goals?

Today is Day 1 of April. I invite you to follow along with my journey and I'd love to hear from you!

Follow my Daily Paintings

Background Binds (What to Do?)

"Mondo" with photo reference

I recently had an inquiry from a friend about what do do with backgrounds.

Hi Rita, 
I just discovered your art recently and I love the colors and the expressions of your animals, just beautiful. I am struggling to learn to paint in pastels myself, and deciding when to use which color is especially difficult for me. I was wondering how you determine which colors to use in your backgrounds for your animal portraits, do you have any tips?


Color is a complicated question, and one that I've learned is answered best by "value and temperature." I recently wrote an article on my Art Journal Blog about this, see here: http://ritakirkmanjournal.blogspot.com/2014/11/value-and-temperature-or-how-do-i.html

Backgrounds can sometimes present the greatest challenge in a painting. Especially when the painting is of a recognizable subject that holds its own as a center of interest and is easy enough to paint using a reference. But what about when your subject is surrounded by other objects that you don't want to include?

Sometimes, in my reference photo, I find that the background is perfectly lovely and I want to paint it exactly how I see it (..This doesn't happen very often!!) Usually, I have to use artistic license:

"Azul" with photo reference

I usually ask myself when I'm building up my under painting, "Do I want this subject to stand out boldly from the background, or do I want it to harmonize subtly with the background and the painting as a whole?"

If I want to be bold I use contrasting values. (dark behind the light parts and light behind the dark parts.)

"Bianca" and "Inky"

If I want to be subtle and harmonious (a more recent goal of mine,) I try for analogous colors and very close values from subject to background:

"Paella" and "Mr. Frost"

And usually, my subjects are outdoors, so in what I call my simple "default" background, I habitually use the standard laws of atmospheric perspective, and use cooler (and sometimes lighter and/or more neutral) colors in the far background, and warmer landscape colors in the closer background:


I've also gotten into the habit of keeping the backgrounds "fuzzy", meaning no crisp edges anywhere in the background. This helps with the feeling of  a soft focus that sets off the subject by contrast, and remains "farther away."

As a last point,always try to use some of the same colors in your background as in your subject. This will help assure color harmony, no matter which other value contrasts you're aiming for.

After a while, you'll learn how to completely ignore what's in your image background, and create a background that will best support your star subject!

(Personally, larger compositions have tended to give me the most background troubles. If you'd like to read more about my struggles with backgrounds, here's a perfect example from a while back. I wrote about "Leader of the Pack", in two posts:
http://ritakirkman.blogspot.com/2010/08/newest-cow-painting-progression-photos.html
and
http://ritakirkman.blogspot.com/2010/10/leader-of-pack-finally-really-finished.html)

"Leader of the Pack" (2010, pastel, 32x32 inches) first finish and final finish

Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear from you if you found this helpful!

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