"Kitty": Borrowing Cats

"Kitty," oil, 12"h x 12"w, copyright Jill Banks 2013

When I want to paint them, it seems all the cats have gone missing. Weird.

"La Chien de Grange," oil, 30"h x 40"w, copyright Jill Banks 2013: also in "Menagerie'

Yesterday's trip to celebrate son Sam's birthday ... a nice dinner out followed by a great Angel Food Cake made by daughter-in-law Michelle ... also delivered my subject. Their cat. She wasn't much of a model. iPhone photos delivered a lot of blurred heads. But here she is, lying on their rug, figuring out her next move.

She's one of ten or more paintings that will be part of the "Menagerie" five-artist exhibit opening in September at ArtSpace Herndon, 750 Center Street, Herndon, VA. Join us for what WILL be a great show for the reception, Saturday, September 7, 7-9pm.

Whirlwind

"Rainbow" from Kidwell Farm visits: part of "Menagerie"

Many of you have been there, but if you haven't (or you'd like to return), my "Serendipity" solo exhibit ends August 31. It's open during regular library hours (see my events page at www.JillBanks.com) at the Great Falls Public Library, 9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA.

That same events page needs updating -- but I'm still sorting out my calendar.  "Second and Pine Streets" (of Philadelphia's New Market area) will be hanging at the World Trade Center in Baltimore (juried into the "Top of the World" exhibit), pieces head to Nashville Tennessee and New York City.  I'll be hanging work as part of Artomatic Frederick (September to October) and getting ready for the start of classes, MPA's McLean Artfest outdoor show, the Great Falls Studio Tour and more.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project
Email
Phone: 703.403.7435

Events
Serendipity
Solo show at the Great Falls Library, 9830 Georgetown Pike, Great Falls, VA. July 1 through August 31. Over 20 original oils. View the exhibit online.
 

Coffee Break Solo Show at 

Greenberry's Coffee & Tea

6839 Redmond Drive, McLean, VA 22101
(703) 821-9501
Exhibit of six paintings including "Two Kittens," "Traffic Patterns," "Primary Colors," "Spanish Steps," "Second & Pine Streets," and "Sunlight, Sunflowers and Orange." Through August 25.

Lots are right around the corner ... take a look at the events page on my web site: www.jillbanks.com.

Painting Trip to Kidwell Farm and "Moo"

"Moo," oil on gessoboard, 12"h x 9"w, ©Jill Banks 2011

I spent a good part of the afternoon listening to "baa," "moo" and  "cockle-doodle-doo." Pretty funny. I was making an attempt to paint some farm animals from life. Also pretty funny.

Kidwell Farm is a working farm in Herndon, VA preserved by Fairfax County as part of Frying Pan Farm Park.  Today it was filled with kids ... and horses, sheep, peacocks, hens, roosters, pigs, cows and goats. A noisy, amusing spot.

I started with the roosters and didn't get very far. Let's call them rooster scratches (similar to chicken scratches)... but perhaps recording the colors from life will help with the use of memory and photos. And a return trip to the farm. What was fun was to spend time with these creatures. I found I paid a whole lot more attention when I was trying to capture one of them in paint.

I had better luck with the cows. This one in particular.  When an interloper came between this cow and me, the cow struggled to get back into position. (Even while I was considering changing from face #1 to face #2.) Eventually, though, cow #1 turned around ... along with the rest ... and I packed up and came home to work more from photos.

My conclusion for the day is painting a cow was a lot more difficult than I thought. Painting any animal from life is more challenging than I thought. The answer is working with a combination of painting on site and from photos ... bearing in mind the lessons learned from my 100 Faces project. (To rely on the photos lightly and trust what I saw during the live painting sessions.)

One funny bit about my time with the cow. There were plenty of human visitors checking out how I was doing and one woman noticed that the cow had a tag on her rear. I believe it read "heat checker" ... and she surmised that it noted when the cow was in heat. She then said, "Sort of like a mood ring."

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
100 Faces in 100 Days Project: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/100_Faces_in_100_Days_Project.html
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435