Carrasco Studio

Onward and Sideways

Yeah, I know...who paints a mural in a black t-shirt and jeans.  Not I, said the little red hen.

Anyhow, this is one of my 3 canvases for a client here in Seattle.  A Mediterannean scene...triptych for three arched spaces.  Just beginning.  And, of course, now I 'm tormented with the sound worm of "Lemon Tree" warbling between my ears. 

This job, if I have read my client and designer correctly, will give me option to work in a more painterly fashion, which is a boon and a blessing.  I like the chance to let 'er rip.

Here again is the drawing for the piece...we are altering a few aspects...no parrot cage, etc.

And again, lest we forget....

©Jennifer M. Carrasco 9/17/09  All blog entries on this site, visual or intellectual, are the property of Jennifer M. Carrasco (unless stated otherwise) and cannot be reproduced or used without her written permission.

Rain's Antidote

I am beginning to gather studies and drawings and renderings......and memories of summer sun. Tore a grapevine off a fence and did a canvas study...aged it with umber and raw sienna and some spritzes of alcohol. 

When I finished I laughed at myself.  It looks like it might slither out of a corner, climb up my leg and clasp me around the throat.  I swear, I can draw a rock and make it look nervous.  I should run around the block three times and meditate before  drawing.

My new project is a series of three arches...approximately 11'x7' done on canvas for a sheltered courtyard in a Spanish style house on one of Seattle's lake front properties.

When I went to the site, I immediately thought of the Spanish coast....cliffs and brilliant light, , olive trees, regimental lines of grape vines, and goats in stark rocky meadows.  

I thought something like this example of an Andalusian courtyard....sepias...drawing with a few gouache like accents of color would be terribly chic. (Victorian study...no attribution.)

My client wanted a more gentle Italianate coast, so we came to a compromise. Note the martello tower, but a field with grass and sunflowers.  

However, the client wanted a richer palatte and did not want the parrot cage. She wanted more color and more Tuscan. Ack! I still think something is needed in that space.  If any of my readers have suggestions........

I may end up doing this ala Zuber style, with opaque paint and infinitesimal increments of value and hue.  If I do that, I can get a buddy to come in and work with me to finish quickly.  That style is almost paint by numbers but has a sophisticated look.

I do like working HUGE and then  tiny....back and forth.  Probably tears my mind to shreds.