Four Burners Going at Once

I've always wondered what it would like to be a chef, it was at some point the career path I wanted to follow. I knew that working in a kitchen was hectic with different moving parts going at once, no matter if it was a chill neighborhood restaurant, or some big critically acclaimed New York City restaurant. You see that kind of rush in television shows about chefs, but I could never empathize with them since I've never been in that situation. Well looking around my studio today I feel like my kitchen is cranking out dishes and all my burners are full! Four burners have been going at full capacity since last summer and things are simmering but nothing is fully cooked through! Will they ever be? I ask self. Will I finish this work that has been going on for months or will I get bored with them and leave them unfinished?
I'm not sure what's going on in my head, only that I have lots of ideas and desires and I can't seem to prioritize. The large landscape above was begun on the eve of hurricane Irene. Just like her big bad self the desire to accomplish my biggest landscape yet took over me, and just like Irene it came and went quickly and uneventfully! I'm still working on it slowly when I get a little of that desire every now and then. The tromp l'oiel of roses above also started the same way. I haven't lost interest in them, the main reason why I have been working so slowly on this painting is because I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself to do it right. I'm looking at other tromp l'oiel artists and their talent makes me feel most times minuscule. It'll get done, I know for sure, but when?
Then we move on to Jarod's portrait. Again started with a sudden urge to capture him, but after so many layers of paint and corrections I think I lost the spontaneity I was after. Now I'm just trying to get through it, and I have come to the part of painting the sweater which I'm having difficulty understanding both in color and detail. Again I say, I'll get done!
This is the most recent addition to the pots on the stove, I only started working on this last night, and so far it has come along way in a few short hours (I have done more work to this since I took a photo earlier today). I have a vision for this, so far it's coming along effortlessly, let's hope it stays that way until I finish it. Now that I've given myself a headache I think I'll go paint some more. Till next time, cheers!

Comments

Unknown said…
Wow Luis! Those plein air landscape studies have definitely been paying off! I remember the landscapes you were working on when I lived in NY, and they were well done in their own right, but this painting really displays your progress!! Green is such a peculiarly complicated color to use correctly, and the way you utilized it's many variances within the trees to the left is masterful! Love u and miss u buddy!
Unknown said…
Also.. the smuggled reds really turn me on.. haha! :)
Luis Colan said…
Hey Clinton, it's great to hear from you! Thank you for the comment, I appreciate it. I've been working on this painting on and off since last year, been pushing myself with this one but at the same time I'm not trying to rush it. Green is a very complicated color, for many years I didn't work with it because of it's difficulty, but part of growing as an artist, or a person in general, is to push ourselves and do things we're not familiar with. I enjoy landscapes and I'll continue to paint them and see how far I can take them. By the way, the red tones on the right seems to turn on a lot of people lol. Most thing that it's fire and that I'm painting a landscape on fire! Not a bad idea but that's not where I was going with this.
Hope you're well, and that you're still painting. Miss you too! :)

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