In progress: more dirndl portraits

Bea in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2012 Julie Galante.

I have nine large dirndl paintings that are in progress or finished so far, all of them hanging out around my studio. I think they’re going to make for an interesting body of work – so many beautiful women in colorful dresses all grouped together. I can’t wait to exhibit them somewhere. But first, I need to finish them!

I last shared this painting of Bea in this post back in October. I’m trying to remember to take more photos of my work at different stages, because I really enjoy looking back at them and seeing the progress I’ve made. I think this one is almost done. What do you think?

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Will you be in Munich on February 11th? Come see some of my paintings at Munich Creative Group’s Pop-Up Gallery!

Tags: dirndls, oils, painting, portrait, portraiture, work in progress

Painting in Progress: Sarah in a dirndl

Sarah in a dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2012 Julie Galante.

Happy New Year! I’m back in my studio in Munich and painting up a storm. My first goal of 2012 is to complete the first 10 paintings in my Women in Dirndls series. I have about seven of them in progress already. For the painting you see here, I’m happy in general with how it’s progressing, but I still haven’t figured out what the background color(s) will be. Any suggestions?

Tags: dirndls, Munich, oils, painting, portrait, work in progress

Work in progress: Bea in her dirndl

Bea in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

Before I start bombarding your with daily paintings for Art Every Day Month, I thought I’d post a look at one of the larger pieces I have in progress. It’s part of a series I’m working on, portraits of women wearing dirndls (traditional Bavarian dresses). I’m hoping to have 10-12 of them finished by the end of the year. My painting schedule is full!

Tags: dirndls, Germany, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting, portrait, work in progress

Dirndl portrait in progress: Petra

Petra in her dirndl (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

I love how painting changes the way I see. Now that I’m spending so much time painting dirndls, I have a whole new appreciation for the infinite variations they can have. Wandering around Oktoberfest these last few days, I seem to be spending most of my time checking out all the dirndls around me (and sometimes fighting off the urge to chase someone down and beg her to model for me). In past years I don’t think I ever gave dirndls a second thought.

Basically these traditional Bavarian outfits have three parts: a sleeveless dress made up of a bodice and skirt; a small half-shirt with sleeves, and an apron. Each part seems to come in an infinite number of cuts, colors, and fabrics. Petra’s white cotton shirt with puffy sleeves is typical, although colored shirts have gained some popularity in recent years. Her purple dirndl and apron, both picked up at a second-hand store, fit her beautifully. That’s something else I’ve started noticing at Oktoberfest – whose dirndls fit correctly, and whose don’t. This is pretty strange for me; typically I don’t even pay attention to my own clothing, much less anyone else’s.

Tags: dirndls, Germany, oils, Oktoberfest, painting, portrait, portraiture, work in progress

Painting through Oktoberfest

Dirndl portrait: Emmy (in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

I have so many paintings in progress right now and I’m excited about all of them. I’ve recently started on a new series of 80 x 60 cm (32 x 24 in) portraits featuring women wearing dirndls. These traditional Bavarian dresses have returned to popularity in a big way here in Munich, especially at Oktoberfest and other celebrations. Almost every woman I know here owns at least one dirndl, so finding models for this series hasn’t been too difficult. This is probably the only city in the world where that would be true!

It’s a little difficult to keep up my painting momentum this month since we have a lot of house guests visiting for Oktoberfest. I love guests, but having them for a month straight is definitely a bit of a challenge for an introvert like me. I’m trying to sneak in as much painting as I can while our visitors are out exploring Munich or off on day trips to other towns.

Check it out: the Etsy Germany Street Team blog is featuring me today!

Tags: dirndls, Munich, oils, Oktoberfest, painting, portrait, work in progress

Work in progress: self portrait with iphone 4

Self portrait with iphone 4 (work in progress), 70 x 50 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante

If you follow this blog you’ll know that I’m in the middle of painting a series of portraits with modern technology attributes. I’ve been putting my subjects in unnatural posed positions, and seeing what different kinds of moods I can evoke. So far the project has been really interesting. I’m happy with the way it’s progressing.

I think this one is almost done. What do you think?

Tags: attributes, oils, painting, portrait, portraiture, work in progress

On being a doer, and an attribute portrait in progress

Woman with MacBook Air (work in progress), 80 x 60 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante

I am loving my current project, a big series of portraits with modern technology attributes. The first four or five portraits should be complete and up on my website within a week or so. My goal is to have at least twelve finished by the end of August. This will be a stretch, but I’m optimistic that I can make it work.

I started thinking about people I call ‘stallers’ and ‘doers’ during a recent meeting with my creative group. I have met a lot of creative people in my life. The big difference between those who are wildly successful and those who aren’t has very little to do with talent or the quality of the work they’re capable of; the difference usually lies between stallers and doers. Stallers can have great artistic talent, but that doesn’t really matter, because they don’t produce much art. What they do produce, few people see. And when it comes to pursuing ways to show or sell their art? Forget it. Stallers are too busy coming up with excuses to take advantage of opportunities that fall in their lap, much less opportunities that they themselves create.

Doers, on the other hand, are less talk and more action. Their artwork gets shown because they find places to show it. Their novels get published because they go out and find publishers. Their freelance careers are flush with business because they hang out their shingles and find ways to attract clients. I love doers. Stallers make me kind of crazy.

In my creative group, we have both kinds of people. The doers set themselves bi-weekly and yearly goals that are ambitious but attainable, and then they go out and exceed these goals with infectious enthusiasm. The stallers set goals that are theoretically easy to reach, but they won’t achieve them anyway. The one thing they produce that is elaborate and thought-out is their list of excuses.

The good news is this: stallers can absolutely become doers. Most of us have probably gone through a period of being a staller in our lives. What matters is how long we let it go on. I have definitely spent time as a staller, but today I’m a doer.

Are you a staller or a doer?

Tags: attributes, oils, painting, thoughts, work in progress

Flesh, portraits, and Lucian Freud

Detail of a work in progress, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

Another big-name artist died this week: Lucian Freud. Figurative painters are in the minority in today’s art world, especially ones creating truly new, interesting things. I tend to seek them out and study their work; they comfort me against fears that nothing new can be done with paint and a visual reference. Freud is especially inspiring in that way: his portraits and nudes depict such a a glorious, unique duality of fleshiness and globs-of-paintiness.

Just last month I spent a good deal of time ogling one of his self-portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

(As an aside: I really wish more countries had national portrait galleries.)

(As another aside: Did you know that Freud holds the record for highest price paid for a painting by a living artist?)

I have read a lot of obituaries and recaps of Freud’s career since his death. They’ve mostly made me wish to be an artist who can afford to pay models properly and have them sit for extended periods of time. Another effect they’ve had is on the skin I’ve painted this week: I’ve noticed a bit of a turn towards the fleshy in my portraits-in-progress (of which there are currently about six). I’m not exactly sure how this fits in with my style. I’ll be sure to show you the results.

Tags: art world, news, portraiture, thoughts, work in progress

A series is born

So just the other day I was whining about how hard it is for me to work in series.

Work in Progress: Scott with MacBook Pro.©2011 Julie Galante.

Now suddenly my studio is full of related paintings in progress, and I have six more models lined up. I do believe I’ve found myself a series.

I’ve been thinking about traditional portraiture and the use of attributes for a while now, and all these thoughts finally percolated into an idea I wanted to pursue. I am really enjoying the the focus and excitement I feel as I define the project and put together this group of paintings. So this is why artists work in series!

Tags: attributes, oils, painting, portrait, portraiture, thoughts, work in progress

In progress: more Munich

Untitled – in progress, 60 x 80 cm, oil on canvas, ©2011 Julie Galante.

I’m racing against time these days, hoping to finish a few works in progress so I can display them at my open studio event at the end of the month. I really need to stop painting soon so that I don’t have any really wet paintings sitting around when my visitors are here.

I have three new large Munich pieces just about ready to show. Sometimes a little time pressure is a good thing.

Tags: work in progress