Jasmine (our African Grey parrot) and I used to go for long walks in the Gex countryside.  We saw all sorts of things and took loads of photos, which have since become a source of reference shots for paintings for the Gex book.  Well, I took the photos and did the walking, and Jazzy sat and climbed around in her backpack cage on my back, eating and looking around.

During one of our jaunts we came across some cows being transported to the fields for grazing.  During the winter the cows around Gex are kept in or near the barn, and during the late spring and summer they’re brought out to the pastures. ‘Cow-Bus’, (13″ x 10″) seems a good name for this painting.

It was fun painting this.  Jazzy and I had a great time out that day.  It was so pretty everywhere, spring was vibrant with bright new flowers, butterflies, bees, insects buzzing everywhere, fresh air, and sunshine.

Jazzy was chatting away as usual, making impressive hawk sounds and generally commenting on things.  She liked to chat, sometimes she chatted in a continuous flow of non-stop, almost unintelligible words.  One time we were sitting at a bench and she was doing this. Someone got out of a parked car and crossed the street to ask if I had a radio on, and then discovered Jasmine.  Of course, Jazzy was delighted because then she was admired and soon someone else came and she had a crowd talking to her.  From then on, whenever she chatted like that (which was much of the time) we called her chatter: ‘radio Jasmine’.

Here you can see a more close-up view of the tractor window.  There’s quite a bit of detail in this painting.

I’ve decided that I like detail, and perhaps more of a graphic-type look, rather than an overt so-called ‘painterly’ look, which often seems to translate to a more sophisticated look. I’ve had quite some difficulty trying to understand what style paintings I want to create, because I admire many different styles.  But I think I do best with a simpler expression, and it has been such a good feeling, almost a relief, to discover this.

This painting was painted using Corel Painter 11.

Here’s the egg tempera painting I finished recently:

Sunken Boat (18" x 7")

This is a boat in Greece that came upon hard times.  As is true for all the egg tempera paintings on my site, the colors are richer and the textures are more subtle on the originals, changing more gradually and fluidly than they appear here in jpeg form.

This was probably the most challenging painting for me of all that I’ve done so far.  I’ve been looking forward to tackling this one for a few years now.  It’s very nice to see a painting take shape that has been formulating in my head for so long and to see finally how it actually turned out.

I love the faded, yet still vibrant, colors on the boat and the glossy surface of the water.  Hopefully someone came to rescue this cute little boat so it could go places again.

The thick braided muscles on his forearm tensed as he lifted the axe above his head.  There was a sharp crack as the wood split clean down the middle.  He leaned down to hoist the next log onto the thick tree stump.  Again he raised the axe.  Someone could have marked time by the rhythmic motions of his body and the distinct sounds of the woodcutting.

Tom had wielded an axe since his grandfather taught him when he was eight years old.  Now, at twenty-eight, he could keep a steady, constant pace for two hours.  After a ten minute rest he’d resume his work with the same vigor he’d had at the beginning of the day.

The August noonday sun was fierce, hardly casting a shadow.  Tom paused to wipe his brow across the short sleeve of his white cotton t-shirt.  A few yards to his left, tiny waves lapped against the rocks.  He was so used to the gurgling and sloshing of the river that silence in this place would have startled him.  A strong pine scent wafted from the short, knotted trees in the woods that hugged the contour of the shoreline.  Tom knew this land better than he did the inside of his house.  He spent most of his time outdoors.

He resumed the flow of the work, his mind clear.  Just as the axe reached its peak, held in momentary suspension before descent, there was a loud crack and the blade shivered as something metallic ricocheted from it.  “What the,” Tom swung the axe one-handed down to his side and swiveled round to cover his back, bringing the axe up to his chest, now holding its broad wooden handle with both hands, ready to swing in defense.

Another bullet whizzed past his right ear.  A man stepped out from behind a tree at the edge of the wood.  “Hi Tom,” he held a rifle, casually and confidently, aimed at Tom’s head.  He was thickset, bronze-red hair hanging loose around his shoulders.

Tom lowered the axe, gripping it with his right hand, “Hi Marty.”

“Told you I’d come find you when you came back.”

“I’ve been waiting.  Where you been?  I’ve been here for over a year.”

Marty held the gun steady, “I ought to  shoot you and be done with it.”

“How many times do I have to tell you it was an accident?”

“That might be, but you were drunk.”

“And you’re telling me you weren’t?”

“I wasn’t in the raft.  At least I had the common sense to know I couldn’t manoeuvre those rapids.”

“You mean you had to throw up and that’s why you got out and jumped on land while we were still moving down river.”

“You didn’t lose your sister and your fiance.”

“You don’t think I’ve been tortured these last five years?  Sally was my girl, you know I was gonna ask her to marry me.  And I’d known Emily since before I quit wearing diapers,” Tom slammed the axe blade into the wood stump and stood up straight to face Marty square on.  “Go ahead, do it,” he crossed his arms, “I’m waiting.”

Marty stood there, frozen, lips pressed thin.  His bright blue eyes were hardly visible his face was so distorted with bitterness.  The two men stood, one longing to pull the trigger, the other calmly awaiting his fate.

Marty threw the gun down.  It fired, exploding randomly into the air, echoing off the trees and rocky terrain.  “Damn you, I wish I could,” he turned and strode back into the woods.  He vanished, the gun on the ground the only evidence he had ever been there.  Tom noticed the sound of the river, wiped the sweat from his face again and picked up his axe to continue his rhythmical chopping.

These last couple of months I’ve been learning quite a bit about what it takes to write a good story.  I’d love to write swashbuckling, fun, suspenseful adventure stories.  For a long time I’ve dreamed about writing, but haven’t had the courage to pursue it wholeheartedly.  I’ve decided to give it a go.

Previously I thought writing a book must be a fairly straightforward endeavor.  It isn’t.  So I find myself in the midst of what has turned out to be a rather lengthy study of writing, dialogue, characters, what makes for a captivating story, and all sorts of stuff that I hadn’t even thought of before I started looking at this in more depth.

One thing that happens consistently once I’m a few chapters into a story, I notice that some of the characters know a whole lot of things that I don’t know much about. And if I want to continue writing, letting these guys do what they have in mind, I have to do some research.  Consequently, I’m currently reading about loads of really interesting stuff.  One of the things I’m learning about is Sumerian civilization.  They developed over three to four thousand years ago many of the constructs and even inventions we have in our society today.  It’s really amazing.

Between research for the story I’m writing and learning about how to write and develop stories, I’m also trying to practice writing on a regular basis so that I can improve and get some experience with different kinds of writing.  I haven’t disciplined myself into a set routine or even given myself concrete goals yet.  It’s kind of difficult to do that when you don’t have a clue what you’re getting yourself into.  But I regularly write a spontaneous short piece in response to a ‘writing prompt’ (a suggestion given to start a writing topic) or a photo or just something out of thin air.  I thought that occasionally it might be fun to share these on the blog.  So every once in a while if you see this illustration shown at the top of the page, you’ll know that the post includes one of my little writing ditties.

I also plan to include one or two little illustrations to go along with the piece.  I’d love to hear your thoughts about these posts and their content as they come along.  Of course I love praise and you’re welcome to tell me if you like them, but also if you’d like to give me pointers for improvement that’d be super too.

I’m also in the middle of painting the next Gex Book painting.  This time I started with a quick watercolor under-painting, to get the watercolor texture, and have scanned it into the computer so that I can work with it in Corel Painter.  Creating digital paintings that look like watercolor is very demanding on computing power, and my computer doesn’t have enough RAM memory or processing speed, making watercolor digital painting painfully slow.  So I’m experimenting with creating most of the painting in watercolor and adding a few touches in Corel afterwards to get the best of both worlds.  I also have three more drawings ready for painting in egg tempera.

So that’s the news from DweezelJazz Art.  Thank you for coming to read this blog, it means a great deal to me.

Cheers

Le Brevant is a place on the peaks across the valley from the l’Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc.  Le Brevant is accessible by hiking up the mountain and doesn’t require any special equipment to manage it, but we prefer to hop on the cable cars to get up there!

The weather on the peaks can change quickly with clouds appearing rapidly, seemingly out of nowhere.  This is a view from Le Brevant looking across the valley in the direction of Mont Blanc, but the clouds have moved in.

It’s among these craggy landscapes that I discovered some daisies growing. And that’s what inspired this 12″ x 15″ egg tempera painting ‘Daisy Rock’:

It’s amazing how plants and even trees can grow amongst the rocks in what seems like a fairly inhospitable environment.

It turns out that this area has lots of wildlife and plants and is part of a nature reserve ‘Aiguilles Rouges’.  In the billboard below, the white area shows the nature reserve starting at Le Brevant which is down at the lowest point of the white area.  To see this closer up click on the image to see the text more clearly.

(As usual, click on any of the images to see a larger version.)

The lake contrasts with the rocky arid area up at Le Brevant and shines like a jewel.

There are some very nice hiking paths along there too.

Looking round a little to the right of the lake you can see the rock shift gradually into greener slopes where it’s just that bit warmer lower down.

Looking even further, to the far right, there are spectacular jagged peaks, and this time the fog is rolling in and out giving the place an eerie feeling.

Closer inspection of the rocks shows them to be very interesting and the colors are beautiful.

All sorts of things live among them.  I took a photo of a medium-sized black spider hiding in between the rocks, but I thought these daisies peaking out were a lot less creepy.

The fog started to dissipate and the mountains on the Mont Blanc side of the valley popped into view.

When it’s clear the view is fantastic.  You can see more of these views in the previous DweezelJazz Art blog post Egg Tempera Painting of l’Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix Mountains.

There’s a pleasant, though somewhat steep, walk down the mountain from Le Brevant – the ski route in winter.  Trees and grass replace bare rocks and the scenes are more gentle than those in the rugged beauty of Le Brevant peak, but even here flowers nestle among the rocks.  Beauty and life thrive even in the most awkward of places, perhaps making it all the more precious.

There are beautiful little alcoves and doorways all round Gex, a hillside town in the Pays de Gex, Ain, France.  Walking around the streets higher up in Gex I caught sight of this doorway.  It struck me as a simple entrance, without pretense, and yet it has a nobility about it that makes you wonder if it’s the way in to some great hall or building of historical importance.  I don’t know whose home it is, or if the building has specific history to it, although being part of the old town of Gex is significant enough.

The painting is 12″ x 16″  (30 x 41 cm) and is done with egg tempera.  This painting will also be a part of the ‘Gex Book’.  I love the town of Gex and creating this book is my way of paying a small homage to that special place.  I think the best thing in life is to share beauty, and so I hope you enjoy it too.

Here’s the latest watercolor painting for the Gex book:

As you look at this painting, imagine turning round to your left and a few paces back down this same street, then you would see the view of the Gex Town fountain, which is in a small square to the left of this street.  You can see the painting of the Gex Town Fountain in the previous DweezelJazz blog post.

Yesterday I finished another painting for the Gex book. Walking uphill on one of the main streets in Gex, there are wall-to-wall two to three story buildings hugging the sidewalk on either side of the street.  So it’s quite unexpected when, on the left, a small square opens up, and it’s possible to see the Jura mountains in the distance and in the square there’s a fountain with running water.

I finally succumbed and tried Corel Painter 11, and this scene is painted with Corel Painter watercolor brushes.  It is really a very nice way to paint digitally.  I don’t find it easier than painting with normal paint brushes and pots of paint.  In fact for the style I’ve used in painting the Gex fountain, I find it’s much more time-consuming to paint digitally than with watercolor on paper.

This is the photo used as reference:

Gex Town Fountain

The ability to experiment without worrying about the cost of materials or if the painting will be ruined, allows much more room to let it flow and try different things. I tend to spend more time going after colors and light that I want to see in the painting.

It’s very nice not to have washing or clearing up afterward. This makes it much easier to start painting even if there is only a short interval of time available for painting.  I’m much more inclined to turn on the computer during those times than I am to dig out all the paints and brushes for a painting session.

When painting digitally, I paint pretty much how I would on paper, building up from washes to more detail.  I saved backups when I finished an area, so it doesn’t demonstrate much gradual buildup within any given area, but below is a sequence showing the progression in terms of which sections I tackled in what order (click on image to enlarge).

I highly recommend Corel Painter 11 for anyone wanting to paint digitally.  It’s potential seems limitless, and it’s very interesting to experiment to see what can be done with it.

Do you like digital artwork, or do you prefer traditionally created artwork? Which do you prefer to see? Which do you prefer to create? Why?  I’d love to know your thoughts.

Egg tempera was a primary method of painting until it was superseded, in the 1500s, by oil painting.  Egg tempera paintings are extremely durable, and don’t darken with age as oil paintings do.  Evidence of egg tempera’s long-term durability can be seen in ancient paintings we still have today.  It was used by ancient Egyptians on sarcophagi and portraits; it was used by the ancient Greeks; all the surviving panel paintings by Michelangelo were painted with egg tempera.

DweezelJazz Art Egg Tempera Gallery Page 1

A few days before Christmas I experimented with my egg tempera paintings to see how durable the method is when painted on paper, a process I’ve described in detail in How To Paint With Egg Tempera. I tested around 7-10 paintings, ranging in creation from several years to 6 months ago.

I found that for any painting over a year old it was possible, without damaging the painting, to:

• rub a dry cloth across the painting
• wipe the painting with a very heavily, dripping wet cloth

I wouldn’t recommend rubbing hard or wiping the painting with a very wet cloth in general, but it was a great way to find out if the paintings were durable, even if it was a somewhat risky test!

I also pushed my nail on the surface of the paintings and dragged it a centimeter or so, and to my amazement, no paint came off.  There was a small indentation on the painting where the nail had pressed hard into the surface, but it was otherwise untouched and the image was unblemished.

I discovered that it isn’t possible to do any of these things, without damaging it, to a painting that is less than six months old. Within six months of completion, it’s very easy to scratch or remove paint from the surface by rubbing it hard.

Luckily, it’s easy enough to fix scratches or blemishes if an accident occurs, by applying more paint, so that no damage or touch up is visible.

This turned out to be a very good thing one time when Jazzy, our african grey, decided she wanted to take a visit to the Maldives beach and finally (after many foiled attempts) managed to land on the painting when I wasn’t looking.

Jasmine took her job seriously as DweezelJazz Art mascot and she evaluated each painting.  She clearly had her favorites, because she would sometimes become obsessed with getting close to some of the paintings in particular, the Maldives beach being one of them! She skidded across the surface and created quite a bit of damage only a week after I had finished the painting. Fortunately, I was easily able to fix it and there are no traces of birdie tracks in the sand.

The length of time it takes for an egg tempera painting to become durable will vary depending on environmental conditions. The best approach is to allow a year for the painting to ‘cure’ and set into the durable, long-lived, bright images that egg tempera paintings are renowned for.

Here we are at the end of another year.  This year has gone very quickly!

It has been a year filled with many challenges and also beautiful things.

As nature sheds its leaves, resting and in preparation for a new beginning next year,

I hope that this coming year will be even better, and that we can each, in our own way, make the world a better place.

Thanking all of you who take the time to read this blog and wishing you a very good holiday season and new year.

Snowy Peaks Jura Mountains, France

best wishes,
Nat Wildish, aka DweezelJazz