After I broke my arm in 2018 and having a year of taking care of my husband after his emergency eye surgery in 2019, my depression lingered and was maybe just starting to crawl my way out of it in early 2020, but then the pandemic hit...along with my husband's continuing elevated anxiety levels. So between the beginning of 2019 and the post-pandemic Illuxcon in 2021, I only painted one painting of note...read 'at all'. In trying to evoke a working mojo to give my creativity a boost and to fill panels at Illuxcon and the next show in February 2022, I tried my hand at painting little Pulp Space epics again. These are those paintings, including ones that I did for the recent Illuxcon last month. I seem to have found my footing with painting again, as future posts will attest, but I still have a few pre-pandemic paintings to post from 2019, and the current crop of Space Epics that I suddenly have the urge to paint. So stay posted for the results.
"Blue Moon Station"
Size: 9x12", Oils on Linen Panel Price: $275.00 SOLD
"Paradise Station Amidst the Rings"
Size: 16x16", Oils on Canvas Panel. Price: $ 500.00 SOLD
This painting was originally 18x24" and I had painted all of it except the purple clouds and the rocket ship. Bereft of those, the painting looked too stark and I didn't know what else to do with it, so I put it aside in 2018 and didn't look at it again. I almost binned it a couple of times but couldn't bear to part with the space station I'd put so much work and love into. Well, when I was rummaging around for canvases to paint on for the upcoming Illuxcon show in 2021, I found it again. I wondered how it would look if I cropped it down to a tighter composition. I had a few frames lurking around and I traced off a cutting line for a 16x16" black frame and used a white chalk pencil to draw in the rocket and a few extra moons and an idea of where the clouds would go. A leisurely hour or so later and I had a new painting I was much happier with. A 5x9" piece of cut off canvas from the top of the painting became another painting with an added rocket and stars to offset the top of the orange 'rings'. I called it 'Cresting the Outer Rings' and it sold quickly at Illuxcon, but I don't have a photo of that little epic at all, sorry to say.
"Phobos Way Station"
Size: 9x12", Oils on Linen Panel. Price: 400.00 SOLD
"Sea of Moons"
Size: 8x10", Oils on Linen Panel. Price: $ 350.00 SOLD
"Bloodfire Station - Colour Sketch"
Size: 4x6", Oils on Linen Panel. Price: $90.00 SOLD
This idea came from a visual idea that I woke up with one morning. I wanted to experiment, so I grabbed a tiny canvas and started drawing the elements directly onto the canvas and then began laying paint. I loved it so much that took a bigger canvas and drew it up again. If you look at the bigger version of this directly below, you'll notice that the rocks are placed just a little differently and I've added a tiny buoy between the station and the asteroid on the left hand side to fill an inadvertent negative space that I felt need something more. I had so much fun painting this one and its bigger sibling.
"Bloodfire Station"
Size: 18x12.5", Oils on Linen Panel. Price: $700.00 SOLD
"Jade City Base"
Size: 9x12", Oils on Linen Panel. Price: $400.00 SOLD
I was experimenting with a new colour scheme to play with and really got inspired to go the 'mint green' route. This photo in no way does the original painting justice, either in colour quality or vibrancy. But it sure was a lot of fun to paint and one colour combination I will play with again.
"Double Moon Flight"
Size: 5x7", Oils on Linen Panel. Price: $100.00 SOLD
As you can see, I used up the rest of the paint on the palette and painted this little gem. Unfortunately, it too has not translated well into photograph in either colour or vibrancy. I had fun, though.
The usual suspects, paintwise, were in play with these paintings. Titanium White, Buff Titanium, Burnt Sienna, French Ultramarine, Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre, while a little Cadmium Violet, Permanent Rose, Permanent Green Light, Chromium Green, and Viridian were experiment with to achieve some tints. Fine brushes like size 0 rounds and size 4 Filberts were utilized, I seem to also have found my big floofy blending brushes again a have been putting them to good use.
Thank you for stopping by, and please visit again to see what else I post. I promise that it won't be so long between posts again.
Cheers,
Marianne
