BIG NEW PAINTINGS & LATE NIGHT MUSEUMS
I'm still painting...not a whole lot else going on. I'm about %80 done with the first of the wood panel pieces, and this week I started on a new bigger canvas (below). this new one is 48" x 48", and while that isn't huge for me, the composition is much different than I'm used to. I usually tend to focus on a single torso/head, but this one will have two subjects, with both full figures within the scope of the canvas. (that seems oddly unclear but I can't think of a better way to say it). this means that although the canvas is big, the faces end up being about the size of the palm of my hand, which is really different than painting them at (or larger than) scale. i'm really having to be conscious of overdoing detail and getting too meticulous in the early stages, as I feel like it could easily muddy things down the line. new territory is fun though, so I'm anxious to see how this one goes.
On Saturday night, I went to the Oakland Museum's grand re-opening celebration. The museum had been closed for over two years undergoing some huge renovations, and this weekend they opened for 32 hours straight, and for free. I cannot pass up a chance to go to a museum in the middle of the night, especially one in my favorite city.
I hadn't been to Oakland Museum since I was in elementary school. It's reputation was such that, even in the busy Bay Area art scene, I really only thought of it as somewhere you take 5th graders to learn about the gold rush. within the last few years though, there's been talk of updating it; bringing more focus to their contemporary gallery, and making it more art (and adult) friendly. They did a really good job, and the new gallery space was way bigger than I thought it would be. they also had a really broad selection of art they deemed contemporary, which although confusing, actually was great for people like me with short attention spans.
I was there from about 12:30am, to well after 3am, and couldn't believe how many people were there that late at night. it was a really good representation of how awesome Oakland can be, and it felt very comfortable...not like I envision most free public events. I wasn't sure my car windows would be intact when I left, but all good all around.
here's some pictures:
