M. H. Dunaway

supersonicelectronic: Missy Hammond Dunaway. Paintings by Missy...

Thu, 23 May 2013 13:42:48 -0400

Missy Hammond Dunaway.

Paintings by Missy Hammond Dunaway:

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Super excited to be featured on Supersonic Electronic!

Your sketchbooks are so inspiring. Do you sketch/doodle stuff out whilst you're out and about and paint over them later, or take photographs of inspiring stuff whilst your out? I always feel as if I should carry too many supplies with me if I want to do a good piece..

Thu, 23 May 2013 11:10:00 -0400

Thank you! Recently, I’ve been posting sketchbook pages with the tagline, “the earlier the book, the messier the page.” The reason why early pages are messy is because I took my books everywhere and painted on the fly. I still take my sketchbooks around for some plein air work, but if I want to make a polished, complete page I need about two hours of focused work time. For this, I’m most comfortable in my studio -not a subway car or cafe. Recently, I’ve been taking reference photos and working from home.

I remember one teacher of mine, Larry Horowitz -an amazing landscape painter- used to ask me to meet him in places that were difficult to reach for lessons. Later, he told me he purposely did this to see how resourceful I was. How did I pack my gear? What materials did I bring, and what did I leave behind? Could I improvise with found objects onsite if I was unprepared? I remember using a pizza box (not used) as a portable palette while shlepping my paint between locations.

I suggest looking into a French easel- they store your materials and double as backpacks. For paints, really, you only need the primaries and white. So yes, get out there and make some art!

Left page reads, “I’ll be glad to leave most of this...

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:55:00 -0400

Left page reads, “I’ll be glad to leave most of this city. But I’ll think of the water towers. I will miss those.”

And the right page: “my hands smell like steel.”

Can I ask what kind of sketch composition books you use?

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:33:13 -0400

Absolutely.

I am a devoted Moleskine sketchbook owner. I find the thick, glossy paper in the standard sketchbook to be surprisingly versatile. It can accommodate graphite, pens, ink and paint. So far, I haven’t found a medium that it can’t handle. I hear Moleskine makes sketchbooks specifically for painting with watercolors, but so far I haven’t felt the need to experiment with one.

The older the book, the messier the page.

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:19:03 -0400

The older the book, the messier the page.

Photo

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:33:34 -0400

What a pretty record of sketchbooks. Very inspiring, and what's better, fraught with an emotional sense of the artist's soul. Can you tell us what paint do you use for the average moleskine entry? Thank you

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:49:13 -0400

Hi Artdomain,

I’d be delighted to talk shop. Generally, my Moleskine paintings are made with two types of ink: Daler Rowney FW Acrylic Inks, and Windsor & Newton Drawing Inks.

Daler Rowney FW acrylic inks are thick and easy to layer, but they still have the slick and fluid texture of ink. Best of all— thanks to their acrylic binders, the colors won’t fade over time.

I also use natural inks from a variety of companies, including Winsor & Newton. These inks are more delicate. If not taken care of and kept out of sunlight, they will fade over time. However, they’re worth the risk because natural color is always bright, pure, and quite frankly, more beautiful.

If you don’t mind, I’d love to go slightly off topic to discuss paint and color chemistry, because it plays a large part in my process: Synthetic colors are heavy and opaque, and natural colors are translucent and stain-like. You can tell if a paint is synthetic or natural by reading the label. Acrylic inks will be labeled as such, but you should also take the color into consideration. Colors that are named after a mineral or stone (ex: cobalt, umber, sienna, ultramarine) actually use those elements to make the paint. This explains why they’re so expensive. Colors with names that sound more descriptive (sky blue, flame red) were concocted in a lab. This holds true with most paints, including oils.

…you should hear me go on about brushes in my Kolinsky Sable Brushes post!

Cheers,

Missy

“Walking up the familiar hill now. Cemetery on my right,...

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:13:37 -0400

“Walking up the familiar hill now. Cemetery on my right, transformer park on my left. The air carries the scent of a cigarette lit a block ahead of me. This is my walk home. And I walk it without you.”

—

So pleased that the first page of my fifth painted book received so much positive feedback, because my walk home has been a reoccurring theme these days.

You are so talented and I am extremely jealous of you haha. Where do you find inspiration for your artwork? Whenever I try to create something, I become completely stumped as to what I should paint/sketch. x

Sat, 11 May 2013 10:02:12 -0400

Exceldior,

Thank you for checking out my blog, and for the very nice things you have to say about my work- although I have mixed feelings about inspiring jealousy in others :)

I’ve been keeping a sketchbook since I was 19 (I’m 25 now). I don’t post most of my early work because it’s very self conscious. Looking at the work now, I can tell I was over thinking everything, mentally mapping out the drawing before even touching pen to paper. But I kept drawing and took my sketchbook everywhere. Over the years, I got in the habit of drawing daily and my work became impulsive- and the ideas started flowing.

When you have a writing assignment and you have no idea what you want to say, your professors tell you to write stream of consciously. Write about how you have nothing to say, how you’re bored and this assignment will never be complete, and then before you know it- you’re writing. A lot. When I approach a blank page, paint brush in hand, I apply the same tactic. I don’t think, I just paint. I’m not precious. Really, every painting you see on this blog has two failed attempts beneath it. If a painting fails, it’s not a waste of time. It will undoubtably lead to a better idea and you can trash the first. And so on.

Hope this helps!

Missy

“Blue and Orange Inkblot Landscapes” 22.5x15 inches,...

Thu, 09 May 2013 02:17:25 -0400

“Blue and Orange Inkblot Landscapes” 22.5x15 inches, ink on paper, 2013. Full painting at top, three details below.

A pair of prints produced back in the day when I had a dark room...

Sat, 04 May 2013 19:09:00 -0400

A pair of prints produced back in the day when I had a dark room handy. If you’re still in high school or college, take advantage of your dark room, intaglio, and lithography facilities. You’ll miss them one day.

A rerun of a favorite painting. ”Santiago’s Scallop...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:04:53 -0400

A rerun of a favorite painting. ”Santiago’s Scallop Shells and Constellations,” 30x22 inches, ink on paper.

Choice closeups from a 4 foot painting of lichens.

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:59:57 -0400

Choice closeups from a 4 foot painting of lichens.

Text included is “Shoes” by Akron/Family.

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:08:11 -0400

Text included is “Shoes” by Akron/Family.

And here’s the first page of my new book. White text on...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:49:30 -0400

And here’s the first page of my new book. White text on left reads, “I walk home without you.”

Excited to christen the new book with the first page tonight.

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:57:01 -0400

Excited to christen the new book with the first page tonight.

The older the book, the messier the page.

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 10:44:32 -0400

The older the book, the messier the page.

I remember making this on a rooftop in Barcelona while listening...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:27:28 -0400

I remember making this on a rooftop in Barcelona while listening to Mirah’s “Gone Sugaring.”

Peshtigo Fires of 1871, 15x15 inches, ink on paper, 2013 Text...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 12:32:00 -0400

Peshtigo Fires of 1871, 15x15 inches, ink on paper, 2013

Text included is a list of the worst forest fires in American history between 1871 and 2003. For the complete list, with all of the fascinating details, click here.

“1871 Oct. 8–14, Peshtigo, Wisconsin. 1889 June 6, Seattle, Washington. 1894 Sept. 1, Minnesota. 1902 Sept., Washington and Oregon. 1910 Aug. 10, Idaho and Montana. 1918 Oct. 13–15, Minnesota and Wisconsin. 1947 Oct. 25–27, Maine. 1949 Aug. 5, Mann Gulch, Montana. 1956 Nov. 25, California. 1970 Sept. 26, Laguna, California. 1990 June, Santa Barbara, California. 1991 Oct. 20–23, Oakland–Berkeley, California. 1994 July 2–11, South Canyon, Colorado. 2000 April–May, northern New Mexico. 2002 June–early July, mainly western U.S. 2003 Oct. 25–29, Southern California. And so on.”

“Painting of a Taxidermic Bird with Silver Halo” Ink...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 15:30:26 -0400

“Painting of a Taxidermic Bird with Silver Halo”

Ink and silver leaf on paper, 22x30 inches, 2013

Let the regular posting begin! Thank you for your patience during my March hiatus. To start things off, here is my first painting to include silver leaf, accomplished with thanks to the hundreds of gold leaf tutorials on YouTube. Yes, it’s just as difficult as everyone says, but not impossible.