Month: November 2014

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Tom Hudson

I spent the past the several days drawing. Yesterday I started drawing on 2 new canvases: Euclid Avenue (48″ x 60″), and Sunday (42″ x 56″). The day before, I started the 40″ x 50″ Girl in Purple Boots. This furious drawing is, in part, the result of a screw-up. Several days back I started another 42″ x 56″ canvas called Watch. But it was a struggle. The surface wasn’t right–it wasn’t coming together. The next day, hoping that a fresh start would rectify things, was just as bad. Then it dawned on me: I selected the wrong-sized canvas. I was unsuccessfully trying to shoehorn my worked-out design into the wrong size and scale. No wonder it wasn’t coming together.  The design was intended for a 48″ x 60″ canvas. Duh.

I played with redesigning it but didn’t like the results. So I wiped off the drawing and put another ground on the canvas–I didn’t like the surface anyway. Although I really like the design for Watch, I decided to put it aside for awhile, and used the larger canvas for Euclid Avenue instead. I am putting the finishing touches on several other 48″ x 60″ canvases today and Watch will have to wait until those surfaces are ready.

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Tom Hudson

My son John and I left early yesterday morning for a visit to the University of Cincinnati. John, a senior in high school, plans to be a computer engineer and UC’s program is #2 in the state (behind OSU’s).

It was raining when we left; a freezing rain that made the roads treacherous. My F-150 with 4-wheel drive handled the icy roads with aplomb. We had no trouble during the hour it took to get to I-71 at Ashland. But over the first 60-mile stretch of I-71 we passed 13–13!–wrecks. At mile 131, Delaware City, i-71 turned into a parking lot. The traffic app on my Galaxy Note 4 (love that phone) informed us that I-71 was closed 9 miles ahead (9 mile traffic jam!) due to an accident.

We got off at Delaware City with over a 100 miles left to go. Unfortunately, everyone else on I-71 did the same and Delaware City was another parking lot. We jumped onto some uncharted back roads and took Route 42 south, where we hit I-70 a half-hour later.

We turned back east and got on I-71 south of Columbus where we ran into another traffic jam! Long story short, we missed our tour. John wasn’t interested in just stomping around the campus  We cancelled our trip and headed to Dayton where we had a delightful visit with my cousins, Homer King, his wife Becky and their children and grandchildren. We had such a wonderful time that it made up for the frustrating morning.

Homer lives near Wright State (my alma mater) so we did a quick tour. Wright State does have a computer engineering program but no dice–John isn’t interested.

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Tom Hudson

For my birthday, I upgraded my phone to the Galaxy Note 4. And, because it was my birthday, I upgraded my son Keith’s phone to an iPhone 6. Keith is an Apple fan; me, I like Android.

I love the Note 4. Its large format accommodates my fumble fingers. The screen is crisp and clear and large enough that I can dispense with my Nexus tablet. So far the performance been great. I am still getting used to the pen.

New shed, old studio

Fall ended abruptly with light snow and bitter cold. Today’s high is 19. Here’s the new shed seen from the studio door–the old studio door. This shed enabled me to convert the garage into a studio. The old studio might look cluttered in this photo but it’s nearly emptied of paintings, canvases, and supplies. I…

In the studio 11/9/2014

I started the over-painting on The News this morning. The News is 44″ x 60.” I haven’t put brush to it for several weeks while I waited for it to dry. I do a lot of layers and bad things happen if new layers are put over still-wet ones. This is one reason I work on a…

In the studio 11/2/14

This is the first time I’ve shown this painting, titled Three Girls. Today’s painting session was the fourth. The underpainting is finished and this morning I started the over-painting. The stretcher is 40″ x 50″ and old; it’s not heavy duty, it’s like the thinner ones you see on smaller paintings. But waste not, want…