Color Motion

Painting a Day, Firm and Juicey 5/8/07

2007-05-08T19:54:00.000-07:00

Firm and Juicey Number 15 in the Painting a Day series. I stold these lemons out of the pantry and set them up on a scrap of paper on my studio table. You can bid on this original oilstick painting at www.ebay.com All you need to do is search Painting a Day and/or Greig Leach. I've been posting paintings for just over two weeks now, a new one everyday. Three have sold and five have moved through the auction process. Opening bids are only $80.00 for original art.

Painting a Day, Honey Lemon Pie 5/7/07

2007-05-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

Honey, Lemon Pie This is numer 14 in the Painting a Day series. You can see this piece and bid on it at www.ebay.com and search Painting a Day and/or Greig Leach. Opening bid is only $80.00. This will only be up until May 14th, 2007.

If you want to learn more about my artwork, visit www.greigleach.com

A Painting A Day, Greig Leach, Vino Rosso

2007-05-06T11:38:00.000-07:00

Vino Rosso

I have been working on a Painting a Day. They are being posted on www.ebay.com and can be found by search 'painting a day' or 'Greig Leach' or both. This is the first painting to cycle through ebay and did not sell. I will be posting each painting as it cycles through. Trying to reach new audiences for my work. And after all, after we make the work, we need to make a living.

You can also visit my web site at www.greigleach.com

Thanks for looking and do come back tomorrow.

It is done by adding layers

2006-09-16T20:30:00.000-07:00

The next step is to add the textures and begin to lay in areas of color and pattern. The director's shirt has been finished, using green to compliment the pink script. The actors clothing begins to develop, using a combination of warm patterns in the foreground and cooler darker patterns in the background. Two additions from the previous stage include one of the producers working on a lap top (she is to the extreme left in front of the grip) and a ladder in the upper left to help hold the weight of all of the actors in the lower right. At this point there is only the coffee cup to represent craft services, but it is enough to reflect their all important function on a film set. Robert's face (extreme lower right) isn't there yet. It definitely needs more work.

The Next Day and More Detail Is Added

2006-09-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

Now that the frame work is laid for the piece, it is time to lay in details and color. The painting is a continual balancing act of the color wheel. I knew that I wanted the pale pastels of the trailers in the background of the peice. And I knew that the "Indians" would necessarily have dark hair, thus creating a value contrast that will set the painting off. The figure in the lower left is a grip, the backbone of the production crew. I wanted to include a reference to the film unions, so his t-shirt will have the IATSE logo on his chest.

You can still see elements of the original start to the painting. This "under painting" often is a good foil to work against and finding my way with the confusion helps to create a stronger more immediate painting.

Step two. a completely new approach

2006-09-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

So, the next step...

First, Bridget rightly, hated the original start of the painting. It did not show what happens on a movie set. It looked more like a staged portrait.

In order to capture all of the activity and sitting around that is a movie set, I needed to include a lot more people and physical references. I took the original start, turned it on its side and began laying in more information. At this point it looks very confusing, but you can see the inclusion of the wardrobe trailer, one of the actor's trailers, and the long table for eating at base camp. The green arm is the director's holding a pink script (scripts change colors based on the number of re-writes it has undergone).

The painting is now fully underway, and to a much better end.

Starting out and going step by step

2006-09-08T06:22:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to show the development of another painting. This one is being done from a combination of sketches and memory of a day I spent on the set of 'Patriotville' in Rock Hill, SC. My wife, Bridget, is plaaying one of a group of "Native Americans" that are planning to scam a small town. It is later revealed that they are not really Native American. The fun irony is that about half of the tribe are in fact Native. I love the absurdities of Hollywood.

So this represents about an hour or so. It features the director in the foreground talking to the five Native Americans in the cast, while they are waiting to go to set.

Life over runs a blog

2006-08-29T19:05:00.000-07:00

I am surprised that I have been away this long. I have opened and closed a show in Jacksonville, IL and surprisingly sold several pieces. I had a car wreck on the way out to retrieve the show, nothing serious but just enough to take me off of my stride. I have just opened a new group exhibition in Lexington, NC at the Davidson County Community College. It is a strong show with some other excellent artists from throughout the southeast.

The gallery in DC that "wanted" the work also wanted a $2,400.00 payment in order to be exhibited as well as taking 50% commissions. To all of you out there, "THAT IS RIDICULOUS!" He called it a managed co-of. If the gallery is asking for money up front, walk away. What incentive is there to sell work if they already have your money? This arrangement would put all of the risk on me and all of the profit in his pocket. A gallery relationship should be mutually beneficial, not tilted one way or the other. So I keep plugging, selling a good number of paintings out of the studio and finding other work that allows for more studio time.

Greig
www.greigleach.com

In Honor of Friendship

2006-04-04T13:50:00.000-07:00

There are so many ways to take this one. After Beating My Head Against the Wall and Driving Off the Cliff, we are relying on our friends, and by so doing honoring friendship. It is our community of friends that enable us to exist, and give us a space from which to create. The next is of course this painting entitled, "In Honor of Friendship", it is a group of our friends celebrating the birthday of Honor (she is the woman who's face you can't see). In Richmond, the galleries all open their exhibitions on the same night, calling it First Fridays. So after we all toured the openings we met up at a new restaurant, to dine, swap stories, argue ideas and change seating arrangements at least three times. Long ago I did a painting entitled, "A Circle of Friends", and I wanted to use the circle as the predominate element in this painting. It is the interweaving of shapes that give the painting its structure. Then the color can work against and with that underlying form.

We are three couples ( a fourth was at the table put didn't make the painting ), who have known each other for over twenty years, have watch each other struggle, succeed, and remain together and in love with our partners.

And the last way, is the pun. Something I love. It is my theory that all Dads love puns, and inflict them whenever possible. That being said, the friendship with Honor, and the day in her honor is the occasion for the meal that became the painting.

Driving off the cliff?

2006-03-22T05:17:00.000-08:00

I recently heard the expression 'Driving off a cliff' used to describe radically changing your enviroment inorder to challenge yourself, to infuse your life/career with new energy. While doing the sketch for this painting I was sitting in NYC waiting for my wife to complete a day working on the Sopranos. We had spent about a week in the city staying with friends and in a hotel just off of Times Square. Since that time, we have been debating the idea of relocating ourselves to the City. What are the advantages, what are we giving up. We have stood on a soap box of regionalism in the arts and have made a life for are selves living in a small city in the south, living as artists, raising a family, surrounding ourselves with dogs and cats. We have developed a network of like minded talented artists, actors, muscians and friends. Is it now time to change the base? To break with that commitment to regionalism and grab hold of the center of our respective arts? What can be gained is huge. What can be lost is not really known, but space and being able to be alone are among them. This is a six month old debate that seems to be gathering steam. Anyone's thoughts would be helpful, either from the City or those of us who have chosen not to go.

Beating My Head Against the Wall

2006-03-13T17:05:00.000-08:00

While I am excited by the series of paintings that I have begun in the studio I am frustrated with living the life. When you are in the bottom of the rollercoaster it feels like you will never get back up to the top. I have had three new clients (yea!) but alas, all are paying on time and one had a payment returned. The galleries that I visited in DC, still have not responded ( guess that is better than a rejection letter) and the "We are sorry..." Letters from the grant applications are starting to come in, two so far.

For me financially, it is always when we sell the next painting we will be fine. But, by the time we make that sale, it is time to say, "When we sell the next painting, we will be fine."

According to the book "Shock of the New", Franz Kline and his wife made a distinction. They never said they were poor, it was always that they were broke. To them and me, being poor means no hope, being broke, is short term, and perhaps by choice. So, will I'm in the down swing of the rollercoaster, I remember that I knowingly got on this ride and I can't imagine doing anything else.

I promise new pictures with the next posting. And I will begin a more disciplined approach to regular postings.

Greig

Going to find a gallery

2006-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

No paintings for this one, mainly because this excerise seems not to be about the image. One of the necessary evils of making a living as an artist is figuring out ways to sell the work. While I do well, the best way to expand an audience (and step outside of the marketing) is to work with a reputable commercial gallery. Two weeks ago, after selecting a couple of DC galleries from the internet, I went to 'case' the spaces. The first gallery that was both in DC and Bethesda, MD, was willing to look at some paintings that I had with me. But alas, they were not "edgy enough". This is a phrase that I am beginning to dislike. I pressed the gallery owner to define her terms. She was looking at the painting entitled "There is Hope for Us All" (a painting of the death bed of our friend who was dying of cancer). What she showed me was a triptic of a mother and child standing in a fire of skeletons with two panels of slaughtered pigs beside it. Her critique, was that my work would definitely sell. She then sent me to a gallery that she felt would be interested in my work. I took this as kindness until I saw the gallery. It was a poster gallery and frame shop, I now knew the "help" for the insult it was intended to be. I debated going back to ask her to have the decentcy to insult me to my face, but what's the point. This is to say that this is not the career for the thin skinned. I later met with two galleries that were more interested and asked to be sent slides. I am still waiting to hear from them.

Three Dog Day

2006-01-16T09:59:00.000-08:00

This is a bit of a departure for me, although it refers back to older works. This is done on plywood, then painted with oilsticks. So the piece is three seperate images painted on cut-out shapes of 1/2 inch ply, then mounted as a grouping. This one was done as a gift for my brother-in-law, Luke Gethins. He is a dog groomer, owning the shop Purrfect Grooming in Arlington, VA. After we hung the piece in his shop, he has had a lot of interest in the pieces and in his business. I couldn't be happier that the art is helping his shop attract clients. It has helped so much that he has commissioned three more dogs. I'm so pleased with the pieces that I am starting a series of my own animals. I will be posting them here as I complete them. Now off to chase the dogs and cats with my sketch book.

New Work for a New Show

2005-12-28T10:54:00.000-08:00

So, the other main subject matter I use is food, particularly sweets. One of the artist that I have study quite a bit is Wayne Theibaud, a California artist who was part of the Bay Area Artist group (it include Elmer Bishoff, Richard Deibenkorn, David Parks and others). One of his themes are food items arrange in cafeteria presentation style, he is known for his strong shadows and thickly applied oil paints. This piece entitled, "You Can't Get Around It" was the most recent piece I created for my current exhibition, "Greig Leach: A Visual Life" at Metrolux Gallery in Lexington, KY. As I was preparing for the exhibition I found this frame digging through my storage area. The piece measures 52"x62" and is created with Oilsticks on paper (as is most all of my art work). The imagery comes from Rocco's Bakery on Bleeker Street in NYC. I have sketched and photographed their goods on numerous trips to the city, using the sources for this and other abstractions that make you hungry for confections. Since the frame was nearly square I felt that the best compositon would to be a circular arrangement around a central object. I used the eclairs as a directional element and then used the petit fours to establish and break a repetitive rthym. Given the complexity of the repetitive shapes I felt it was necessary to limit the palette. I choose the orange/blue complimentary scheme with a sub-scheme of red/green. The primary scheme adds to/creates the brilliance and pop of the objects, supported by the strong light and cast shadow.

The exhibition has a reception on January 6th and runs to the 13th of February.

There Is Hope for Us All

2005-12-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

Some images have to be made, they imprint themselves into your brain, burn ther until you can get them down. This is such an image. Our good friend Mary Sue faught a valiant battle with small cell cancer finally sucumbing in August. My wife and I had been helping where we could and spending time with our friend whenever possible. As it became obvious that the end was near Mary Sue's friends, theatre colleagues and family gathered at her home to say good bye. I was lucky enough to be there as she died, a moving , inspiring moment that strengthened my faith, added to my belief in family,and showed me the mystical relationship between life and death. This event and her life was celebrated in a memorial service hosted by her fellow actors, muscians and directors. What was obvious to me was how each artist takes in a singular event and through their respective art forms creates a piece of powerful art. A musian wrote a song and played it on a new guitar created and named for Mary Sue, playwrights wrote wonderful stories, actors paid homage to her work and I made this painting.

The painting is the moment after her death, her mother said, "Its okay dear, you can go." she breath two more breaths and then slipped off.

And Now It Is Finished

2005-11-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

Now I have finished all the projects for this month and can get back to the story. This image represents the next phase from the previous post. The major change is the begining definition of the car in the background and a change to the foreground figures jersey. Both of these are done for color harmony. I always work with a cryptic colorwheel in sight, and invaluable reference tool while painting.

The next image shows the addition of shadows and the other darks, adding contrast to the piece. One should create a piece that is equally balanced in color and when vieweed in black and white.

Well, isn't that special, the image hasn't been balance with in photoshop. But here is the final piece. Just the final expressions and colors for the faces, and the parking lot surface and shadows. The un-manned bicyle helps to add contrast and visual interest to the back ground, as well as helping to flatten the picture plane. I tend towards plastic space that is not a deep vista viewed through a window, but instead a flat plane that is an exploration of color and form, with the added bonus of a narrative element. A documentary image of my everyday life. The piece is completed once it is titled, something that only happens when the visual aspects are completed. My wife, Bridget Gethins, titles my work. Like most artist that I know, I am better with images than with words, she however is a wonderful actor and writer, and works are her medium. We feel that the titled should add to the narrative or possible confound it. But ultimately, the titled the painting and the scale are equally important to the viewer's total experience with the art work.

How one develops

2005-10-21T14:49:00.000-07:00

This is a new beginning. I want to show how just one of my paintings develop. What gets changed, colors, compostion, etc. This painting is being done from a mental collection of remembered images. I am an active cyclist, doing centuries, club rides and solo rides, so this image is that moment of shop talk and story swapping that happens before and after each ride. If you ride in a group it is necessarily social. I enjoy this aspect, but it can get dedious. After all, art making is a solo activity and most visual artists enjoy being alone.

I am trying to balance the colors at this point, find which gestures are going to help the composition, which direction the figures should be looking (which way their head face helps move the viewer's eye through the picture plane).

So now I have added the color and logos to the foreground cyclist, notice how the red band on the green jersey informs the green and brightens it. One of the tools I use is breaking the edge of the margins of the paintings, this increases the movement. The primary reason for not painting to the edge of the paper. That and my mentor in college, Jewett Campbell once said, "The first four lines of your painting are the four edges of the paper."

Now I am trying to find the ground color(s) and work some compliments into the jerseys, working warms and yellows against the intended blues and lavenders of the parking lot pavement. I felt that a fourth bicycle leaning against the car in the background would help hold the upper section and unite the two main characters; other than their hand gestures and their facial directions.

This is what I see happening, what is your take?

Lie Like a Dog

2005-10-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Here we go. What I want to do here is talk about where my paintings come from, what or if they mean anything, and what do you see that I don't or haven't. Just a small endeavor that like my art work is unmapped and unknown. I thought I should start with my most recently completed work.

To cover the basics, this piece is created with oilsticks on paper (Shiva Paint Sticks and Windsor Newton Oil Bars on D'Arches Tout En Cast rag paper) and measures 42"x52".

Like all of my works, the painting is created right on the surface, no preliminary drawings, color studies, no solvents and no pencil or charcoal sketching on the surface. As this site's titled implies, I am interested in color and motion. By working this way, from memory and immediately on the final surface, the colors are balanced against each other right on the surface, next to the colors of their final location and the compostions is quickly realized and then fine tuned as the painting grows. Even in this quiet scene, the motion is created by the color compostion the use of the animals and figure to pull the eye through the picture plan. I invite you to my web site www.greigleach.com. to see other works.

I use narrative imagery to compose the abstract formal elements of the work, and then weave that story back into the basis of the image, each informs the other. The story here is a simple one, a view of my wife (and barely visible) and I asleep in bed with two of our dogs in attendance. Edgar is asleep on/at our feet and Grommet can no longer make it up on top of our victorian bed (that's him in the lower left). We are sleeping under a painterly interpretation of one of my Grandmother's quilts.

I am curious what you think of the work and what questions I have raised on left un-answered in your mind.