I thought I'd take a break from painting all day, and to let you guys see

[Longgrain]

what I've been up too..

Just a painting I started to warm up on, it started out as a painting of my porch, until a figure began to emerge...



The familiar image of the Lady in the red dress.

I still have a lot more work to put into it, or I might just put it aside and move on to something else, especially since I already did this painting before.

I have some ideas for some other stuff I might want to do, but here's what it looked like only a few minutes ago...



I had to take it at an angle because of the glare.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed seeing them.

[Finn MacCool]

1. Very interesting picture.

Are you a professional artist?

[Longgrain]

3. Not really, just an amateur right now

But I did go to an art college and I have sold a couple of paintings.

And welcome to DU Finn MacCool. Hang around and get to know us.

[Finn MacCool]

14. Thanks. I've been poking around on this site for a while,

I only just got around to registering.

[Longgrain]

17. Introduce yourself once you have enough posts to start a thread

There's a lot of very interesting people around here, and we're mostly harmless.

[auntAgonist]

31. welcome to DU Finn!

:hi:

[cornermouse]

2. What does the lady in the red dress represent?

[Longgrain]

4. I'm not sure, joy, mirth, danger

here's another, red dress painting, (The first of the series in fact)

[Mutley]

7. I was going to ask that too.

You seem to have done a lot of paintings with ladies in red dresses....

[Longgrain]

8. I have another one in mind, based on this drawing

I'll be starting it shortly...



Other than that, it's what we artists call a motif.

[fudge stripe cookays]

5. Women who won't go out with you?

I'm just sayin....

[Longgrain]

6. Hey! I that was last night!

I couldn't help it that people kept repling to that thread.

OY!

[Longgrain]

9. One more I just started

from the drawing I posted above, so you guys can see the process that goes into making these paintings.

I just started this one, so not much here, but it's beginning to take form...

[gardenista]

38. I like the movement in this one. Love the way her skirt is flying up.

This one is neat just the way it is.

[terrya]

10. That's...really something.

[Longgrain]

11. Hey thanks, I've been meaning to get more serious about painting

for a long time now. Especially after the giant wave of support I've received after posting them here on DU.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

18. Have you trained or is this all from your head?

[Longgrain]

19. Have I trained? Well I went to art school.

This particular painting is from my head.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

20. What school did you go to?

[Longgrain]

21. Massachusetts College of Art in Boston

It was a very liberal school, and, I believe, the only state funded art school in the country.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

22. Is it a BFA program?

[Longgrain]

27. It was, I never got my BFA, but I do have an Associates Degree in Art

The school also had an MFA program, which, from what I've gathered, was very grueling.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

28. Cool. So painting was your focus, I take it?

[Longgrain]

29. Yep, pure painting as we sometimes called it.

Very different from graphic design or conceptual art.

It took a long time time grasp just what a painting "is". It's far more than just an image.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

32. Can you elaborate a bit?

What is pure painting?

[Longgrain]

36. Simple, Paint, oils, canvas, and that's about it.

The artist fills in the blanks.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

37. Did you guys do life drawing or was it all painting straight from your

imagination?

[Cooley Hurd]

12. Is that a snake or a whip in her hand?

I'm trying to determine if it's Freudian or just S&M...;)

[Longgrain]

13. Snake, a variation of the Minoan snake goddess.

She usually has a snake in both of her fists.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Hi, Longgrain,

Your work always fascinates me...BTW, since you've sold some paintings now, it seems to me that you are a professional artist. Doesn't selling your work qualify you to be called professional? Well, it does for me!

I like this painting, but I think you might want to try out some of your other ideas. Although you might be using this painting to warm up, so to speak...Anyway, it's all good! As are you...


:loveya:

[Longgrain]

16. Thanks Peg, great to see you, I guess I'm semi-pro

I probably never be able to support myself doing this, but I have found out I can make some money off of it. I'd like to think of it as more than just a hobby tho.

[supernova]

23. Chris DeBurgh playing in my head

*The lady in red*.....

It might be fun to exhibit the series side by side sometime.

She seems to represent a kind of ambiguity.

She's the temtress in red. Yet, she has an almost innocent, exhuberant quality to her face and demeanor. Yet, her hands are full of snakes.

Ambivelent much? :P

These are so good, Longgrain. I enjoy looking at them. :-)

[Longgrain]

25. Thanks supernova, good analysis too.

I always enjoy other people's insight into my art.

[Zuni]

24. wow. those paintings are creepy and give me weird vibes

[Longgrain]

26. Have you ever seen this one by me...

My other motif being humanistic looking trees...

[Zuni]

30. now that is definetly very eerie

do you know what the first thing I thought of when I saw this? When you were a kid, did you ever have a book called The Bernestein Bears and the Spooky Old Tree? For some reason I got a flashback to that book, perhaps cause of the "spooky old tree" in your pic.

[Ksec]

33. I paint as a hobby

Ive got my stuff hangin around the house, mainly landscapes. I like oils but Ive done some water based stuff also. My wife thinks I should sell some of them but Im not doing it for that reason. Its just a way for me to relax and unwind. I havent touched a brush since winter, I go in spurts.

I like your color scheme in the picture you have posted. Very nice .

[Blue_In_AK]

34. Who IS that woman in the red dress anyway?? n/t

ed... oh, never mind. I responded before I read all the posts. I've GOT to stop doing that.

[Longgrain]

35. What ever muse is inspiring me at the moment.

:7