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Let's Check In at Jeff's Studio!

"So Jeff, how are those paintings for your November show at the Faculty Club coming along?"

Funny you should ask. I was just working on them today.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I'll be taking this deadline right down to the wire. I've got six more paintings I need to finish, and about a six weeks to complete them in. That should be just enough time provided I can stay on pace and finish one a week.

Today's visit to the studio sees the following works in progress. I've been doing mostly sketching and underpainting right now, though we did see one painting completed and two stalled.

 
 These are the undepaintings for Midst Steam and Smoke (after Adamson) (left) and Master Keim (after Eugene) (right). So far so good, though it's still early. Good underpaintings are nothing more than a promise.

This is the finished underpainting for The Ring Toss (after White). I'll start working in some colors next (also known as place where I'm most likely to lose the plot and create a muddy mess).

This painting's done, which means I've more or less fought it to a draw. I've painted a bunch of these boats with varying degrees of success. In this case (#12), if Hackman Frames can come up with a good matching silver frame (in a nice cove molding) it should look pretty good. Don't underestimate the value of a good frame. Seriously.

These are awful. I've lost track of how many bad painting of this photo I've done. I really don't understand what the problem is. It's pretty straightforward stuff; landscape painting 101: sky, trees, haystacks, and done, right? Nope. For whatever reason I just can't seem to get anything I'm satisfied with.

And finally, this would be the an example of the Taylor Swift fan art project that's been interrupted by this year's show. I started a couple of these back in January but then stopped once I realized exactly how much work I'd need for November.

Once I get through the November exhibition I'll be getting back to these. My goal is to do 12 of them at 12" x 12" and then hopefully show them as a group somewhere. After that, well, I expect I'll have 12 paintings of Taylor Swift, because honestly, who would buy them?

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