After six months, or more, of not touching oil paints – my time has been absorbed by drawing in various forms – I have immersed myself back in paint, and it has been so enjoyable. But nothing new yet. Some time ago (June 2013) I posted about the nine new small paintings I did in a looser, more unfinished style. These have been on the wall of my studio ever since, and I look at them and think about them. In the end I decided I wasn’t happy with the unfinished nature of them, so decided to take them further. The finished works are still looser than the original works in the series, but now have more depth and richness to them, and I feel satisfied that I have still been true to my intention of loosening up, but have gone beyond the raw, unfinished state they were in before.
I have photographed them arranged in the same way as the first set, so click here to compare.
anna warren portfolio 
http://www.ArtQuenchGallery.com likes your artwork!
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Well, thank you very much Art Quench!
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So, who’s Anne Warren Art? Any relation? (one of your Likes on this post)
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She is a Melbourne artist. No relation.
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Nice job!!! I prefer them now!! 🙂
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Thanks Maria!
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They’re still loose but now they are richer and more luscious than they were. They have an atmosphere about them which shows me that you loved working on them. They are like little bursts of optimism!
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Thank you Julie! You have such a nice way with words, I really like to think of them as little bursts of optimism!
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I love your looser style also. That is something I want to work on, too. I tend to get caught up in showing detail, that sometimes even a small painting such as these starts to make me feel bogged down in the process which is no fun. Do you mind my asking how long one of these took you to do?
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It’s interesting, working these paintings in this way, that is loose, left for a while then returned to, as all up I think they were quicker to do than when I completed them in one go. So, I did the initial nine loosely over a day or so, then completed them in two days, working flat out.
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Wow! How many hours at a time do you work? The last painting I did took me five hours, an 8×10 watercolor, but that was after spending a total of six hours just preparing to do it with the drawing, etc.
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It really depends on how much time I have available, but I do like immersing myself when I can, for as many hours as I have free! But often its only half an hour or so grabbed in between other things.
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Wow! Can you get one of those smaller ones done in a half hour?
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Ooh no, never half an hour. The quickest would be about two hours, and that is only if they are really straightforward, most of them take at least twice that, and often I will return to them. The difference with this set was that I did the initial work quite quickly first, I think I had blocked in most of the colour in a day or two, then the completion took another two full days. When I say I just work for half an hour sometimes, that is on drawings, never painting – it takes too long to set up and then clean up if I only have half an hour available. I need a minimum of half a day to paint.
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Okay. That makes a lot more sense! That is one reason I have come to like drawing with watercolor pencils for cards or quick things. They are so nice for saving time. Although I LOVE getting into my paints! Sometimes I spend HOURS on a drawing like the one I’m doing of Kili from The Hobbit. I bet I’ve invested at least 15 hours in it already and I’m not done yet. 🙂
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Anna, I think your changes added even more volume & depth to the work. It was worth the months of pondering. Well done!
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Thanks Gale. I am coming to the realisation that this is often what I need to do, get something started then ponder for a while before finishing.
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I have so enjoyed following this series of paintings, how you think about your work and the evolution of the paintings. Fascinating. I also like the changes you have made and like you I like to ponder on my work for a while especially if I am not happy with it. A break always give me more ideas and a greater clarity on the work. Karen.
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Thanks Karen, I’m so glad you have enjoyed the progression! You’re absolutely right that a break adds clarity – I am now very happy to accept that works sometimes take time to settle, and that it’s not a disaster if something doesn’t work straight off. Often that space improves the ideas, or at least gives you the detachment to look at the work more objectively.
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I think they work either way, but for me, a tad more satisfying now. Lovely series Anna!
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Thanks Elena!
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Here’s another I’ve come across you may be interested in researching. Perhaps not for jewellery, but then I don’t know about that. Definitely for cards etc, you’ll see. http://www.zazzle.com.au/ Cheers!
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Thanks Janina, I’ll check it out!
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I simply adore how these look as a set, Anna. How long does each one take you to do?
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Thank you so much! The time each takes varies, depending on how easily (or not!) they take shape. All up, I could complete one in a couple of hours, but some take much longer if I have to keep coming back and reworking them.
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Both are lovely, but the newer series seems to have a richer feel.
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Thanks Micah, that’s what I was hoping for. It was a bit of a gamble reworking them, but I think it was worth it!
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They’re very beautiful Anna….
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Thank you so much Patsy.
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I relate to the stepping back from work to get a fresh perspective on it. The first set has a bit of a watercolour feel to me. I do like how they’ve developed! Rich and luscious.
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I’m really getting to like this stepping back, slowing things down a bit approach. I can see what you mean about the watercolour look of the first set. Luscious is such a good word! Thanks for visiting, Karen!
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You make very beautiful art. And thank you for liking my post/drawing “Gidget Again.”
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Thank you!
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That’s so interesting, being able to look at the first version and then your freshly finished ones. Enjoyable post. Thank you.
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Thank you – I’m glad you found it interesting!
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