I decided to attempt a more high key painting today – one with a lot of white! I always look for contrast, but here I tried to lessen the usual contrast. Maybe it’s because I rather like contrasty photos as opposed to subtle one with a long scale of color or black and white. Even here, I kept adding contrast! It’s a fixation . . . but contrast is how we differentiate shapes and depth, so it’s necessary, but I am trying to minimalize it. Not sure if it worked or not!
Today both Josh and I were exhausted. This hot weather is so draining, and instead of the nights cooling off as they usually do in California, it pervades into sleeping hours as well. Open windows and fans work most of the time, but today the air conditioning is running full time to keep the house at 75, not 81 or so. The result is fatigue in a very odd way. The mind is numb. The body is numb. It’s like being a reptile in cold weather – moving requires too much effort. In a bit, around 7:30 p.m., we will be out for a walk – how hot will it be? Certainly cooler than earlier, but probably in the mid-80s. How far we go depends on how hot it is. Both the dogs and we need some exercise.
Such an uneventful day. So little accomplished or aimed for other than survival. No dinner cooked, just scrounging around for whatever can be found. Passive activities such as watching TV and movies in the middle of the day. The mind is only now becoming a bit more alert. No sewing, painting, or anything that required too much, although I did pick up a 6th grade math book for the fun of it . . . that took a bit of effort, let me tell you.
And more heat tomorrow . . . it does beat a hurricane, though. I am grateful for that. I still have a home. And, I know enough about heat exhaustion, having had it many times over the past several summers, that I stay hydrated and cool. Only the other day a hiker died in the nearby mountains while his or her companions called 911 for help with their own heat exhaustion. But being passive is so tiring in its own way.
Even though summer is moving through July, soon into August, the rains we had over the spring are still leaving waves of color in the hills of the California back country. Usually at this time of year beige is the predominant color, and in really dry years, a dark dirty brown. This summer is a delight of colors – pale compared to spring – with wildflowers still hidden amongst the grasses.
I’ve had this painting on my easel for about a week. There was a lot of thought put into it – an almost scary amount given my impatient, impetuous tendencies. Sky and basic colors in pale shades. From there, midtones, darker shades, and finally details. The foreground was so challenging – the cone flowers want detail, but don’t want too much. The orange ones are totally lacking in detail, and are just blobs of color. And then the buildings . . . still some perspective issues, particularly in the house on the right, but better than anything I have done to date. Dreams of summer now that spring is blooming here in California!
The temperatures this summer, locally and worldwide, seem to have been – and continue to be – brutal. Finally, nights are cooling down and the day’s highs are 85, not 105, in Fahrenheit (not C fortunately!).
Film, two images merged in PS6. Cosina CX-2, Agfa Vista 200.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 