Journey Back into Plein Air

Working out a painting

2008-09-30T15:16:00.001-04:00

The last few days have been spent in the studio and outside painting plein air.
Saturday morning was an overcast morning and after walking around the Glendale Art Show, I settled in to paint the gazebo in the Village Square. It was fun saying hello to everyone who stopped by and commented on the painting. Due to other commitments I couldn't stay as long as I wanted, but the painting is a great start and I have some good photo reference. I'll work this out over the coming weeks and you'll see the results here I'm sure.

I've also been working on my maritime series. I wanted to get started on these paintings while St. Andrews was still fresh in my memory. My studies and photographs are proving to be priceless. I thought inside of continuing two blogs, that I'd post my work in progress here on the site. It is amazing how much progress you can make by painting plein air. And..well--drawing. I've been doing more drawing and sketching and that seems to have strengthened a number of skills.

I've gone through over two hundred photos of the St. Andrews experience and whittled them down to ones I want to paint. I start with a sketch of the photograph, beginning to work out details and composition. From there I go to a 11X14 canvas board and work out more of the sketch. Here's the first layout I did with the along with the light and shadow areas blocked in...

There were a number of things that I didn't like about this painting and a number of drawing issues. This was a timed study and wasn't meant to be a painting ready for sale, but one to study and determine what I needed to change, what I liked about it, are the values good...just a timed study to question, practice painting quickly, and from to learn. I decided to return to my photo references and decide if there were some elements from other photos I wanted to pull in or was there a better representation of the man in the boat that would be better.

For example, the man is facing to the right. Your eye follows that direction and "off the page you go" since most of us read left to right. There is nothing really to circle your eye back around in the painting. The boat is somewhat centered right in the middle of the painting. I sat and studied the first attempt for a few hours making note of things I didn't like. Also, the size of the man to the boat is not proportioned right. Perspective is a bit off.

The result was this second study. Again, another timed study, only because I want to practice catching and working out details quickly. This again was a study to work out composition issues and focus on getting the drawing and perspective correct.
Here's the drawing that I did...

This drawing is much better and some composition issues were addressed. The man in the boat is more balanced, and the boat is not smack in the middle of the painting.
The background land is more proportioned and adds depth. The man is now turned back to the left, leading your eye not off the page, but back into the land mass and trees. The trees have sufficient interest as does the rocks. Here's the painting in middle.

Note that there is a considerable lack of interest in the center of the painting. While the values lead you to believe this is a sunny day and add some interest there is nothing really in the center to make you want to linger. Now take a look at the finished study.

The pine trees were added and have some curvature to them that pushes your attention to the right...so your eyes enter the painting at the left (because we read left to right here in the USA) move to the boat, man and then back to the rocks to the left part of the painting. The trees lead you to the right to the house roof, which leads your eye down to the land and the seaweed which leads you back to the right.
The result is a balanced painting. The composition is much improved from the first try and the perspective is also improved. With most of the issues worked out, this is ready to be transferred to a larger canvas. Before that occurs, I'll be pulling my studies from St. Andrews out and place it side by side with this study. I'll be asking myself are the values true to what I saw up in St. Andrews when I was plein air painting. I'll make notes right on the canvas board where it should be lightened or darkened. Then, I'll begin the painting that will become the second painting in my maritime themed paintings.

Check back and see the progress from study to completed painting for the "Seaweed Harvest" painting. I hope you found this interesting as you become part of the process of creating a painting. You know how to reach me if you have any questions.

Ciao,
Linda

Reflections of St. Andrews

2008-09-09T17:24:00.002-04:00

As I sit in the Detroit airport on a lay over back to Cincy, I'm thinking about my week in St. Andrews.

First, I have to say the group of people that I shared this week with were just wonderful! We painted, struggled, preservered, laughed, learned, shivered, roasted in the sun, chatted and spent a long day with one another. Never was there a tense or bad moment. No one got in each other's way. Wonderful group is an understatement!

At the end of hte long day painting we weren't tired of one another. We cleaned up and went to dinner. We started the whole thing over the next day.

At the heart of our little group was our soul, our guides and two of the sweetest people! Joe Anna Arnett and James Asher were supportive, our cheerleaders, our mentors, our friends, "one of the guys" and so very patient with us. They joined us for dinner when they could and then again in the morning for breakfast. Their attention to us was never ending and their sense of humor divine.

Their talents are immeasurable and their desire for you to learn only limited by your own ability to want to learn. Saying it another way, their desire for you to learn was limitless. If you wanted to learn, they were there with the information, lessons, and guidance.

I learned so much this past week from my mentor, Kevin Macpherson and from Joe Anna and Jim. I feel I gained so muchas well. The learning isn't limited to painting but to the entire paint out experience. The energy you bring to the workshop is so important--as important as how much you want to learn. Those in the workshop, if clueless or not careful, can impact the energy of the whole group. Go with openness and enjoy the journey.

I met a group of strangers and left with eight new friends and memories of a warm and so enjoyable week of painting. I don't think I've ever felt as strong a desire to stay as I did with this group--Such a Comfort Zone!!

I look forward to conversing with my new friends. I look forward to seeing Kevin and Wanda, Joe Anna and Jim in the coming months and working with them. All those associated with En Plein Air Masters are truly classy people and talented, giving people.

I'm so thankful to Kevin, Wanda, Joe Anna, and Jim for all they are sharing with me--for all they have done and all we will do in the future.

Day off? So Why Am I Painting??

2008-09-03T10:38:00.003-04:00

We headed to breakfast as Joe Anna's crew discussed the plans for our day off. I did see Joe Anna and Jim at breakfast. We talked a while and then we headed out in different directions for our day off. I headed down to the wharf area of the downtown. Many of the painters in the paint out were set up painting out on the wharf. The were painting various boats on the water or the distant shoreline in the morning light. Honestly, none of these caught my eye or gave me much feeling.
After painting foreshortened boats and shacks with shadow and light, these compositional choices seemed dull. I took some photographs just in case something hits me later, but I doubt it. I left the wharf and headed down the main street.

I turned down a street--still not seeing Joe Anna or anyone from our crew--so I told myself if my guides wouldn't help me find her, then it wasn't to be and I could go out to the lighthouse and paint the cottage aerial view in morning light that was so captivating days before. Well--my spirit guides decided that wasn't to be, as the street I chose to turn around on was the street Joe Anna was set up to paint on!

After a brief discussion in which I was strongly reminded that I was invited to paint with her today and should have called her cellphone, I walked about looking for what was speaking to me.

The result was a sailboat parked at the wharf with sloping land in front and warm rocks and seaweed catching the light. I sketched my subject in my sketchbook, snapped a few photos and a good thing I did. No sooner did I get done sketching and the sailboat left!!! Sailboats were coming and going and so my sketch was priceless! The tide rose, the light changed, boats coming and going, the only constant in plein air painting is change!!

Then a gift from the painting gods--five young children and their day care provider decided to have lunch on the beach. Both Joe Anna and I took a break and snapped shots of them playing on the beach. The study I did will help with the colors of the photographs for other paintings of this scene and I can incorporate them in a sketch and work out details back in the studio!

The end painting certainly showed progress. I knew I was doing something right when Jim Asher drove by to check on Joe Anna and I and I heard from behind me a "WOW!".
Here's a photo of the finished painting:

The afternoon was spent sketching to practice my drawing. I tried sketching the main street of downtown and failed miserably! However, it was a great learning process and Jim Asher is a wonderful drawer (have to be for his watercolor paintings!) and he came by later to check on my progress. He gave me some great pointers that I'm using as I sketch something almost everyday.

The next day brings a day of consultations with the masters and critiques of our work. My thoughts on this tomorrow. Today--more painting and sketching....

Oh--and I guess I didn't answer the question. Why did I paint on my day off? Guess it's because I don't think of having days off from painting. Sure there are days I don't paint--but on those days I'm still looking at light and shadow and asking the questions--warmer? cooler? darkest dark? greatest contrast? How would I handle that in a painting? Is it a good composition? My mind always has a brush in my hand and I'm painting in my mind even if I'm not standing in front of an easel.
While I don't get many opportunities to go whale watching, I'm never going to pass up a chance to paint with someone of Joe Anna's and Jim's skill and talent. Besides--this isn't work....not really....this is a labor of love. I'd rather be doing this than most everything else.

Until tomorrow!
Linda

Day 4 Deer Island Revisited!!

2008-09-02T09:29:00.002-04:00

Our first visit to Deer Island was in fog and rain. A disappointing day-so the group decided to head back out there on our 4th day in glorious sunlight. We headed to a little cove of land where 2 fishing boats were waiting - stranded on land by the low tide. One of the boats was a wonderful maroon-purple next to a green shack, lobster traps with orange buoys and grey tubes abounded on the dry docks next to the boat.

I purposely choose to paint a foreshortened boast as this a very complex drawing--and well my mentor, Kevin Macpherson, told me to pick something complex. There is a method to his torture! ;-) Of course the objective for me when painting with these wonderful Masters such as Kevin, Joe Anna Arnett and Jim Asher is to learn from them--not paint what I know I can paint, paint something that I struggle with so that I can take their advice and wisdom back with me. Force me to ask the questions that are needed to learn. What do you learn if you do nothing but paint what you know in front of them just to impress them. Impress them? Pleeeeeeaaaasssseee! That's like practicing one lick on a guitar--playing it in front of Clapton and expecting to get a rave review from the man! Even in this case you'd probably get a mere..."oh..pretty good...what else can you do?..." Oh yeah...impressive... :-D

The foreshortened boat proved painful...and showed me a weakness I now will spend lots of time against. Drawing, while never my strong point and thanks to Drawing on the Ride Side of your Brain---gave me the biggest block to drawing that I've ever had! But with the complex compositions that I choose this week and Joe Anna's method of sketching the scene first--it became very apparent that drawing skills are so important to the plein air painter when selecting complex compositions. And as Joe Anna said in her talk--"You want to draw better? Draw more---you don't need books telling you how--just paper, pencil, eraser and subject....just draw." And so I shall.

The study itself was a weak one, however, as well all who provide critiques, there are always positive among the negatives. The positives in this study was the values I nailed, the learning I learned, the struggle I went through to learn what I learned and the importance of painting with thick paint.

I began to understand the importance of pushing wet paint around in plein air and have started to use thick paint and realizing the advantages of doing so. Bolder strokes, refining shapes, adding depth--all so much more intriguing a the paint began to flow. Also just important is the lightness of touch.

That afternoon, after a delightful lunch with my new painting friends--was spent watching Joe Anna paint and create. The importance of a solid drawing and perspective became even more apparent as I watched her create. The little aides that she uses to find the center point, transferring the sketch to canvas, working out the most complex area of the painting on the sketch and not the canvas before you start the painting were all shown and discussed.

I asked questions sparingly as this was Joe Anna's time to paint as well. It was after all a paint out. And you can learn so much just by quietly watching a Master at this level. One questioned I asked was if she approached the blank canvas asking "where's the darkest dark?" and if she holds to the belief of only one darkest dark in the painting throughout. After a number of attempts to answer the question--or I should say to ensure that I understood what she was trying to tell me--it boiled down to me that the question of where's the area of greatest contrast--most complex point of her drawing. This really doesn't do Joe Anna's answer justice. The discussion was enlightening and also helped to explain why Kevin asks the four questions continually while he is painting. Where's the darkest dark? Lightest light? (that's the area of greatest contrast?)...when laying colors in the shapes...Lighter? Darker? warmer? cooler?--also known as contrast? What's the contract between the color I just laid down and the color next to it. However--with all those questions--don't get lost in the little area of the painting---overall is it working--the colors and what you want to convey. You know---if it were easy--everyone would be painting!!!

I watched as she worked dark values in areas that I would have painted lighter in value--which prompted the question of only one darkest dark. Joe Anna patiently explained her thinking on this concept. Again--Greatest contrast--not so technical as to continuing to worry and struggle where is "my darkest dark" and only having one. Paint and catch the contrast and in layers you can lighten and create contrast.

We rushed back to catch the ferry back to the mainland. We painted late on this day. Our group that was the last to leave went directly to downtown St. Andrews for a late dinner at the Harbour Front. We drank and ate with lots of laughter as we talked about our adventures of the week. The next day is a free day--No formal instructions and while I originally planned to go whale watching, I decided that I would paint instead. It's not often you get invited to paint with artists at this level. Joe Anna invited and I accepted. It was her day off as well, so I was not expecting help or critiques--but wanted to reinforce what I learned from the week.

More on that one tomorrow.

Green Point Lighthouse

2008-09-01T11:17:00.006-04:00

After breakfast we headed out to St. George New Brunswick past Back Bay to Green Point. This area had wonderful views of cottages to a lighthouse. The morning sun was brilliant, casting long blue shadows on patches of rocks and grassy patches that lead your eye naturally to the lighthouse. The cast shadows were deep blue almost black with the sunlight yellow kissed green grass. While some chose to beat the tides and paint the lighthouse from the beach, there some lavender, pink and yellow flowers blowing in the gale wind in the foreground of the lighthouse that were calling me.

Here's the photo....

I mentioned briefly that there was a gale force wind..and I'm not exaggerating. You know you love doing this when you are standing in a wind that can easily blow you over, let alone your easel. The flowers were swaying, at times laying sideways, in the wind and it the composition of the painting it was an opportunity to direct the eye back to the left of the painting. Also, it became apparently clear that paint was going to have to be laid on thick--a great learning on pushing paint around and a light touch!

While my drawing of the lighthouse left much to be desired, the overall values I captured and the composition was very good. One other you learn is that you can't crop back red in a wet painting-not without making a total mess--so I can actually fix the top of the lighthouse when it is dry with some cropping back. I ask you to ignore the drawing of the lighthouse and observe the good things about the study.
The distance or depth in the study is good. The flowers movement, the color of the water and the depth of the islands in the distance...all great color and value. Very nice cast shadows. Considering the conditions and the fact I can correct the drawing, not bad....and will be transferred and worked in the studio.

After a morning of painting and being wind whipped we broke for lunch. There was a bald eagle that graced us with its presence and we painted. His watchful eye our protector and his graceful gliding on the winds a joy to watch. In the bay there was a grey seal frolicking in the cold blue/green waters of the wind whipped bay.

In the morning light a cottage on a s-shaped strip of land caught my eye and since a utility building higher up provided a wind block and an aerial view of the cottage in flat light, an painting exercise and lesson was the subject of the afternoon painting. Joe Anna suggested this aerial color field painting to those of us who wanted to attempt it.

Here's the view with Joe Anna demonstrating the lesson to us...

This exercise was to lay in quickly the color fields in shapes since there were little shadows in the afternoon light. The whole study would be high key with close values. We watched her lay in the colors an after twenty minutes the foundation of the painting was complete. She sent us to our easels to attempt this.

Grasping the basics and tired from fighting the wind, I stopped short--knowing I caught mos the values and with the help of a photograph, I could attempt this exercise to it's fullest in my studio. The photographs I captured not only capture the cottage in afternoon light, but I had captured it in morning light as well. I look forward to painting both to illustrate the difference between the two scenes at each time of day.

We packed up to leave to the hotel. Joe Anna Arnett was speaking that night and we were looking forward to hearing more of the wisdom this Master could impart on us.
Her talk was informative and provided lessons on Sargent and his perseverance and patience in painting.

We followed the lecture with dinner on the porch of the hotel. A great ending to a great day of painting, in our way, persevering the elements to capture 2 studies that will come in handy!!

Deer Island Day 2

2008-08-29T10:57:00.003-04:00

While the first day of the workshop was warm and sunny, the second day was cool and foggy. We headed out to Deer Island with the intention of getting some painting done. This would have been a great lesson in tonal painting...notice the words would have!

We spent most this time scouting out locations with John Budicin and his group along with us. We took lots of photographs and here's the conditions we were facing. We actually set up to paint this....

I had envisioned a light purplish/mauve tone to the fog to balance out the yellow of the boat. But that was not to be---as a passerby asked me a question regarding the direction to the ferry, I turned to see a storm bank moving in. This was not good. I called down to Joe Anna and pointed it out to her. A dismayed face and everyone started to paint faster---well those who were set up to paint. The rest of us hoped it was a passing storm. WRONG! It drenched us! We broke our stuff down and headed back to the ferry.

While we didn't paint we had lots of great discussion on tonal paintings and lots of photo reference for both practice in the studio and drawing exercises.

We'll see what Day 3 brings us!
Ciao,
Linda

The first day of En Plein Air Masters!

2008-08-28T16:16:00.005-04:00

After arriving at the Fairmount Algonquin, I was already late for the meet and greet. I didn't realize that St. Andrews is on Atlantic Time Zone (one hour earlier than Eastern!) and when dropping the luggage off in the room, was surprised to see I only had 10 minutes left to get downstairs!

I met Theo and Asia. After briefly talking with them, I was "assigned" to Joe Anna Arnett to paint with all week. There were seven of us total in Joe Anna's workshop and she is an execellent mentor. Joe Anna paints still life and landscapes, has an execellent grasp on composition and colors and is just an adorable soul! Of course all of this is a vast understatement! Check Joe Anna out for yourself by clicking here.

We traveled out to Back Bay, just outside of St. George New Brunswick. This is a little working harbor with quaint little homes/cottages and those who work the sea for their living. The docks were spotted with equipment sheds and boats floating in the bay when they weren't coming and going earning their living.

We also scouted what Joe Anna kept calling "an adorable little blue shack". It was located on a pier waterside or bayside. The behind it had clothes hanging out on the line to dry. After a brief discussion with others in the workshop we decided to paint on this location.

Joe Anna gives us instructions to sketch the whole scene first and then crop down to the composition you want to capture on the canvas. Using the viewfinder to help me sketch and sketching the whole scene as she suggested was a great little "AH HA!" as I always try to cram to much in or not enough. This little technique is really going to improve my compositoin selection!

Earlier in the morning I was instructor by my mentor, Kevin Macpherson, to paint complex subjects. Well, folks, it doesn't get any more complex than maritime scenes!! We spent 4 hours here and everyone humming. Joe Anna was extremely helpful as I finished up the abstract shapes and catching the proper values. I got to a point where I always begin to wonder what next. I know it isn't finished--there is more I wanted to do--but didn't have the courage to do it. Joe Anna was right there to explain and encourage.

I have to say the end result was probably one of the better studies...but it was all improvement from here! Here's the shot of the beginning and "end" after 4 hours.

After lunch we moved to the working harbor and wharf. Seaweed was bing harvested and fishing boats with nets and traps that harvested the sea for herring, sardines, and in a few days lobster were bustling around the harbor.

We walked around the site and found a number of compositions that would work. I photographed and sketched quick pencil studies in my sketch book. However, one area was calling to Joe Anna and for a good reason. A red boat with a green boat sitting in the foreground. The boat were facing opposing directions keep the viewer's eye inside the painting. A gift--as Joe Anna was saying. The red/green compliment was just that and we quickly set up and sketched our compositions. As fate would have it, the owner of the red boat came over to inform us that the red boat would be leaving. We talked with this sweet man, who was so sorry for taking our subject matter away from us! It was his living!!! The owner of the red boat's friend, William, pulled up to ask what we were talking about.

Sweet William, as he became known to us, offered to move his green boat--same year boat and same angles as the red--in place of the red boat...and "You can just paint it red in your painting." Needless to say, everyone in this town that we talked to where so friendly and welcoming. Sweet William moved his boat for us and we were off and painting again.

We spent 3 or 4 hours on tis painting and the lesson of hte afternoon painting is that sometimes you just don't have the time to keep trying to mix that perfect color off a limited palette. Joe Anna and I joked as she provided just the right color blue I needed to mix within five seconds the correct value of the teal colored boat.
"Gee---plein air painting is easy when you have the right colors." I joked and then said how my mentor is not going to be happy with me.

That evening when I saw Kevin I made this comment with Joe Anna present. He knew he was being set up and joked with us about our rudimentary skills. It was all done in good humor and I would have gotten there eventually if I hadn't gotten frustrated. Just another lesson that I've got more to learn when it comes to color mixing....you are always learning.

As I picked up my gear and head back to my car, Joe Anna complimented me on a great day of painting. It was a great day. Joe Anna and the group I am painting with are a great group of people. You'll discover more about Joe Anna and this group over the coming days as I enter more journal entries. While I'm not yet ready to say the journey is over--I don't think it will ever be over--I am ready to say improvement has been made. And Kevin and Joe Anna are the big reasons why!

Check back in for the next day's report on the workshop. It just gets better and better!

Caio,
Linda

A Timed Study

2008-08-13T18:18:00.004-04:00

A timed study was the order of the day. I gave myself one hour to paint a study on an 11X14 canvas board. The purpose of the exercise was to get myself loosened up a bit and concentrate on matching and mixing the correct color note. But also not to stress over it and mimick the conditions of painting on location plein air.

So, I put the palette knife aside, grabbed a roll of paper towels, squeezed out the paint (red, yellow, blue and white), grabbed my brushes, set the timer and quickly studied the shadow and light areas of the subject. The timer went off in an hour and I snapped this photo.

The background on this location--Pine Knoll Shores, North Carolina. Pine Knoll Shores is an east-west running beach on the East Coast. I've been told it's the only truly running east-west beach on the East Coast. It's a barrier island off the mainland and is unique in that you get a sunrise on one part of the beach and the sunset on the other. I had done some studies while staying there and I pulled them out for reference while I did this study. I gave myself 30 more minutes to finish the study and here's the result.

All in all I was pleased with the results. When I convert this to a finished painting--meaning converting it to a larger canvas, I'll probably shrink the beach/ocean and condos and focus mainly on the clouds and sky. There was a thunderstorm brewing and actually when we finished our walk on this night, lightening was seen back over the mainland. The water on the beach is probably a little warmer than it should be, but not bad for spending only 1 hour and 30 minutes on it.

Another Hot and Humid day!

2008-07-10T17:04:00.005-04:00

I have to start by saying it's been hard to get motivated to get back outside when you are looking at heat indexes into the high 90's or 100. However, I wanted a change from painting in my studio today. I told myself, "Just spend two hours painting outside....stop at two hours and see what you have--pack up and leave." Oh--the pressure of that little statement!!!

I decided that since it was a hot day, that I'd find something simple in the backyard garden and focus on what Kevin was trying to teach us at the workshop. The scene selected was this one....

I started by studying the shadow area in the scene and laying in a basic foundation.

Not a bad, simple representation. There's a strong statement of shadow in the the picture above. A good start.

I worked quickly and focused on trying to ask the questions...lighter? Darker? Warmer? Cooler? with each color note I mixed and put onto the canvas. After two hours and a ton of sweat I had this simple little study.

If and when I convert this study to a painting, I'd probably change the composition a bit. Little things like taking the Clematis off the page tothe right, move the containers/flower pots and make them the area of focus. There are some areas of the clematis that is too dark and need some fixing. The shadow area of the clematis could be widen--more space between the containers/flower pots and the shadow area of the clemetis giving it more balanced.

However, the study provides good color notes for the converting of the study to a painting. I like the splashes of color of the flowers and in the finished painting would allow for a little more refinement. That's when the photograph comes into play in your conversion from the study. Use the study for color note reference and the photograph for detail.

All in all a good day!

June 19th

2008-06-27T14:02:00.003-04:00

We painted at the home of Walt Gnosky. Beautiful grounds! We had a model to paint today. Here's a picture of the painting I did....

When the boxes arrive and are unpacked, I'll find my study and critique it.

We also toured Walt's studio and it was inspiring to see his work and hear of his work ethic.

Walt painted with us and then showed us his work that he completed in four hours (and we aren't talking an 8X10 inch study!)

Seeing this drummed home the importance of painting each day.

My day was average. I tried to focus on putting a value or color down and leaving it alone. There some strong areas to the painting. Kevin stood back from my painting and Ray's commenting he liked how strong the two paintings were. I struggled with the warm value in the shadow family. Kevin helped with this, mixing the color that I couldn't quite get and noting that sometimes the values around what we are struggling with may not be right and need to be adjusted.

Overall, a better day than Wednesday. In the afternoon, Kevin gave us an exercise to paint off a limited palette of colors he provided. My three colors were a grey, terra rosa, and Carmine (red). You also had White to use. This was challenging--as you picked your subject first before seeing what color you had to work with. I had chosen a little birdbath with flowers behind it. My goal was not to have a finished painting, but to learn how colors relate to one another and how I might possible get something blue from these three colors. A grey-green was basically all I could get. It wasn't a total failure. The birdbath was really nice in the painting---learned what an unattractive shadow shape I had in the painting--how the carmine could be the darkest dark--but yet warm shadow color. So it was a valuable lesson!

Thursday night was the celebration and dinner at Kevin's house. We enjoyed each other's company and shared dinner. We got to show our families just what we were striving to become--by showing them Kevin and Wanda's work. Of course, we all told them how much we wanted a studio like Kevin's!

One one day left---painting in the morning and a study to studio painting demonstration in the afternoon.

June 18th Demo and Arroyo Seco

2008-06-27T13:41:00.007-04:00

Today we started out with Kevin demonstrating what he was trying to teach us at the Adobe Church in Arroyo Seco. He painted each plane in the proper family--shadow or light and built the painting up from there.

Here's a black and white picture of his painting with just the shadow family masked in.

Here is Kevin's almost completed study. You can see why he is the master..

We then went off to paint on our own. I started to paint a very "Monet-ish" looking set of trees--but the energy quickly waned. Kevin came by to critique. He noticed that I was selecting simple subjects and almost always the same. He wanted me to attempt a painting that contained multiple planes. He wanted me to challenge myself more.

After lunch I found an angle of the Adobe Church and began working. Kevin's critique was that it was a solid painting. The building was too low in the composition, making it awkward. The areas of the painting I liked, he didn't and painted over them--we laughed--and I could see his point. Too much detail--no strong shapes....I was mucking around in the details and not looking at shapes.

I had taken my migraine medicine in the morning and by this time in the day the migraine was taking it's toll. Overall, my assessment of the day was that it was not a good day. I struggled in the heat and sun--exhausted and was pretty worn out. I was finding it hard to concentrate on what I concentrated on the day before. The energy of the group that afternoon was very low--we all had a tough day. Even Kevin's energy felt low.

I am hopeful that Thursday is a better day. There's always hope!

June 17th--"You had a good day today"

2008-06-27T12:58:00.007-04:00

"You had a good day today." Kevin said to me today at the end of the painting day!

The day started with a beautiful sunrise that caused long but fleeting shadows around the grounds of the hotel--El Monte Sagrado--where we painted in the morning.

While the workshop officially started at 9:00, my body was still on Eastern time. So, by 7:30, I was out around the peaceful waterfalls of what they call the Sacred Circle, easel set up and painting. It was a day of learning and some frustration. My first attempt after 2 hours was abandoned. The composition was too complex---a bridge over a small pond with Irises and rock wall. There were stairs in the back--well--way too much! At 9:00 in the morning, when Kevin called us together, I pulled the canvas off the easel and into the wet box. It won't be seen again--it will be sacrificed to the paintings gods! Hmmm---keep things simple seems to be ringing in my head!

Kevin set the goals for the day--paint the shadow family first--leaving the light family as white canvas. No value darker than your darkest dark in the shadow family and only one darkest dark area. The darkest dark and should be a connected shape in the painting. The same is true for your lightest light--no value lighter and only once in the painting. Never let the shadow family of values cross into the light family. Oh--and while you are concentrating on all of that--we had to pick a piece of paper out of Kevin's hat. We weren't allowed to look at it until we had chosen our subject to paint. The paper had 1 word on it--an adjective or feeling that you needed to have your painting convey.

Kevin encouraged us to sketch a black and white (dark and light families) to simplify the composition into shadow and light family. I did this rather successfully. Well--ok--Kevin used the sketch as an example to the others during the critique. It was a good abstract drawing of dark and light shadows. Of course, one area I have always struggled with is transferring that to canvas. After a discussion about this with Kevin, the learning was to find the darkest dark in the scene I was painting. Then fill in the dark/shadow areas with other values and colors that were not as dark as the darkest dark. Stay in the shadow area. It can be what I call a medium valued shadow family and worked up in value from there--but never darker than the darkest dark!

So far, 3 learnings for the day and it wasn't even noon yet! As mentioned Kevin used the sketch in the critique. He pointed out that only the darkest dark was in the one shape and that the dark or shadow family had a wide range and high key (in the painting I was doing) Here's the picture of the Black and White sketch, and then the shadow family values on the canvas painted in:

Even though the painting was high key--very bright--this was ok because the light family was even higher key and never crossed to the shadow family. Here's the finished study and it's accompanying black and white pic. You can see the similarity to the black and white sketch.

The afternoon session was at one of the founder's of the Taos Society of Painters studio/home/museum--the Couse Studio. After a tour of the house/studio by his granddaughter, we were "set free" to paint. Well--free in the sense to paint within the parameters set by Kevin for the afternoon. The word I had to paint in the morning was "joy". This afternoon the word was "excited". It was hard to paint excitedly when you are hot and tired...but never the less--off I went to find something to paint. OH--a few more parameters. First the subject/composition of the painting had to be 1/3 shadow and 2/3 light family. The shadow family can only be 2 values and the darkest dark had to be a value of 8 on a scale of 10 and purple.
The light family can be any color.

I choose my subject and started with a sketch. In the end, Kevin was quite pleased with the painting and it showed progress in what he was trying to teach us. The composition, when I first discussed it with Kevin, was, in his opinion, uninteresting. Through the use of shadow, light and color, Kevin expressed that I was able to keep the viewer interested. He described the painting--finally using my word that I was to express--"excited." I pulled the word from my pocket and proudly displayed it. He smiled and shared my success! The shadow shape was strong and attractive. The use of shadow family in the clouds pulls it together. The choice of color was very good.

Here's the black and white and color pictures of the study.

Everyone knows the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction when someone you admire and respect smiles and gives you compliments on your work. Kevin seemed genuinely proud of me when I successfully met his challenge. So, when he told me, "You had a good day today." I think you could have seen my smile all the way back to Ohio!

The day was so hot--something I can't tolerate very well--and the upcoming migraines were proof of that. I soldiered on--The hard work was rewarded with unexpected compliments and a sense of Kevin's pride and excitement for the progress I've made. I'm sure tomorrow will be just as challenging--weather wise and in what Kevin will instruct us to paint.

Arroyo Seco is the destination. It will begin with a demo by Kevin. More then!

June 16th--Kevin Macpherson's Workshop--First Day!

2008-06-27T10:48:00.002-04:00

First, I have to say that Kevin and Wanda Macpherson are the sweetest, most down to Earth people I have ever met. It is such a great opportunity to learn from someone who is so giving of his time and knowledge.

Because of the opportunity to work with Kevin on the exhibit and also to work with him to continue the exhibit of Reflections On A Pond in the rest of the 50 States, it was both an exhilarating and nerve wrecking last few months. Resumes were sent--both art and business resumes. The Procter and Gamble/business resume was a bit long--hehe. When I introduced myself to Kevin, his first reaction was "I thought you were an old lady!" I laughed and said that I'd take that as a compliment. I guess, in retrospect, there has been much accomplished and learned--and yet so much more to accomplish and learn. I try hard not to look back. What is back there--has been edited and what is useful kept. As George Lucas once said, "I edit the past, I live in the present and I direct the future." I think I couldn't have said it better!

There are about 15 students in the workshop at all skill levels. Kevin's critiques are direct, but good. He focuses on weaknesses and also mentions the strength of the painting. Kevin asks for much information from his students before the workshop. For me, he did a great job remembering what I had written. Kevin has a wonderful way of making you feel comfortable. He gives you the sense that he wants you to succeed and wants to help you learn and improve.

We spent the morning painting around Kevin's property. I naturally had to paint the pond. I wanted to experience what Kevin did when he painted the pond project. My critique of my painting was similar to Kevin's.

I started by getting rid of the nerves by mixing the general colors. I then moved to catching the pond colors, painting the mountains, sky and the pond again all as quickly as I could. Kevin's first critique was that the painting was too dark for as bright a day it was outside. I didn't catch the atmosphere. He suggested lighting/bluing the sky. It was too grey. The last critique was that it was still dark--not capturing the summer's clear atmosphere of the day. He suggested capturing an almost "white" color on the pond--even though this was hours after I started the painting. This was an attempt to lighten the too dark painting.

Kevin spent the afternoon discussing light and shadow. After that session, Kevin commented to me that I have a wonderful sense of color and that my weakness was in keeping true to that light and shadow area.

The painting I did this morning truly was too dark. My shadow and light areas converged--the planes weren't present. Kevin and I agreed that I need to think in shapes not details. Is that shape warmer/cooler than the light next to it. Work from my darkest dark--that isn't necessarily black. The darkest dark in the painting isn't always black and sets how high key the painting will be. The important thing is to see the difference between shadow family and light family and don't let the two converge. Doing so results in a muddy painting.

Tomorrow, we will work on focusing on the shadow area and working from the darkest dark. Questions for the day tomorrow:
Where is my darkest dark?
What is the overall shape of the darkest dark?
Is the color next to that warmer or cooler? Shadow or light?
Where is the lightest light?

Also remember:
Paint in big shapes--no details
Simple--keep it simple
Paint by shapes--carve out smaller shapes!

Until tomorrow evening---and another journal entry to remember what I've learned!

This, That and the other thing!

2008-06-12T13:51:00.008-04:00

It's been a hectic time around here! I have managed to start a painting or two. If not painting, I reviewed some photographs for future paintings!

THIS
On Thursday, June 5th, my one (wo)man show reception was held at the Middletown Arts Center. With all the storms earlier in the week it was a sunny, although windy day.
So windy that the rain soaked land decided that they just couldn't hold some stressed trees around the city. Well, whenever you have that situation, the electricity wires are in trouble! Yep--you guessed it! The reception was held despite that fact the electricity had gone off at 4:00 that day and was still off at 6:00 when the reception started. It didn't stop folks from stopping by, viewing the art (thank the stars for the big glass doors and windows!), and enjoying some great wine and food. Everyone had a good time joking about the new way to view art--using our imagination and creativity in what we were looking at--and at about ten till eight, the electricity came on to which the refrain of "hey--there's art on the walls!" could be heard!!

I'd like to thank everyone for stopping down and to Deborah Rumford for taking the snapshots shown here and for her help in setting up and being the great friend she is. I'd also like to thank my hubby, Tom, for being a great bartender--hopefully his golf game will improve from all the tips he received!

;-)

Linda displays one of Kevin Macpherson's works that was a special surprise at the Opening Reception.

The exhibit called "Places I Remember" will be on display through the month of June. After that, it moves to the Atrium (not all of the exhibit--just some of the paintings) out off of I-75. It will be at the Atrium through July.

All photographs courtesy of Deborah Rumford of Rumford Productions.

THAT
Time is approaching for me to go to New Mexico to paint with Kevin Macpherson and to meet both him and Wanda (his wife). While Kevin, Wanda and I have been in touch via the phone, it will finally be nice to actually see the two of them. My painting gear has been shipped out and now is the time for mental preparedness and last minute nerves to set in! Seriously, I'm looking forward to being a sponge--trying to take in all I can while in the presence of this Master. I won't be updating the blog while I'm gone (unless there are computers at the hotel I'm staying at), but I plan on writing a "blog" on paper that will capture what I learned each day. A sort of decompressing of knowledge on paper so I can clear the mind and get some sleep!
I'll update the blog with those learnings as soon as I can.

THE OTHER THING
There was a sort of study that has been rolling around the head for a while. The Golden Gate bridge in the yellow/purple complements was the first in the series that I wanted to do. The other day I started the second in the series. My intention is to paint the same scene of the bridge from Baker Beach but do so in the three different complement combinations. The second in the series of three is the blue/orange complement combination. The third is the red/green complement combination. I'm hoping that this exercise/series will explain the palette in each of the complement areas and help with color mixing of the two complements that will ultimately "hold" the painting together.

While painting this study, I found myself doing some good things instinctively that I hadn't done before. Even though I'm still at the foundation level of the painting, I notice that I'm getting more confident in my brushstrokes and therefore becoming more painterly. I patted myself on my back (for once!)and noted that Kevin's advice of painting smaller and painting more really does help you improve quicker. (Don't you just hate it when they are right?!

;-)

So that's it for this that and the other thing.
Thanks for stopping by to read what's been up for the Journey...
Linda

A trip to Ceasar's Creek

2008-06-03T12:15:00.003-04:00

Last Friday a student as well as a good friend and I traveled to Caesar's Creek State Park to paint en plein air. It was an interesting day to be painting outside.
The conditions seemed to change from moment to moment. When we first started out it was cloudy, a bit gray and looking like it might rain. As we painted, the sun came out and pretty much stayed out. The wind began to pick up in intensity, making it difficult to make sure that palettes, paper towels, the easel and sometimes yourself from blowing away.

I have shipped my "easy" plein air set up out to New Mexico in anticipation of painting at Kevin Macpherson's workshop, so I had to use my old French easel. It was amazing to see the difference in the amount of time it took to set up the French easel. Also, it made me realize how wobbly my French Easel is. I'm so very glad I invested the money in the tripod, pochade box set up.

At one point the wind blew and if I didn't know better I would have sworn someone opened the door to a blast furnace! The signs of things to come--as we were expecting to get thunderstorms that evening.

The painting session itself was very enjoyable. I started out working on the focal point of the painting, then worked in all areas of the canvas board around it. I grabbed a general color family first then refined after I got most of the painting painted.

The work and focus on color mixing has been very helpful and I think it shows on this painting. Of course, standing waaaaaaaayyyyyyy back when looking at it also helps! Overall, I really liked this painting and for the first time in a long time felt I was successful in capturing what I wanted to capture. The creek wasn't an especially inviting color, being spring here in Ohio which has had a lot of rain, it was a very muddy dark green with little reflections. I played up more reflections as part of my artistic license!

Here's the finished result. I hope to return to this scene in a number of weeks. I'm hopeful the creek will be clear and I can capture the scene with a clear running creek and blue sky reflecting in it.

That's all for now...
Linda

The Mock Orange

2008-05-28T16:58:00.005-04:00

After spending the last few days practicing mixing greens, I spent the day outside painting today. Mixing the greens wasn't as frustrating so it was time well spent.

My Mock Orange tree is in full bloom and just gorgeous. It's located on the corner of my house, by the garage, and it actually makes for a nice little scene.
When I took the snap at the beginning of the session, I forgot that my camera was on the black and white setting. Here's the photo:

I didn't paint exactly what was in the photo. I edited out some things to focus on the mock orange and the wall and lamp behind it. Here's the finished painting photo:

It's the worst plein air painting I've done. It's not the best either. A few questions come to mind. Things like, "would it have been more interesting if I had added back in a little of the grass area and driveway? Is the blue really what I saw, or did I just go that way because it was easy?

Here's the color photo of the area at the end of the session:

I can't say how much I'm looking forward to painting in Taos in Kevin Macpherson's workshop. So many questions, so little time! ;-) As I look at the color photo, other things jump out like not bringing the branches of the Mock Orange over to the wall. But all in all, the greens are better and the chroma of the whole painting is better as well.

Next session will be Friday. Thursday is jammed packed with hanging my one-person show at the Middletown Art Center and teaching at the center as well.
Till next time,
Linda

It Isn't Easy Mixing Greens--Part 2

2008-05-27T17:10:00.005-04:00

The last few days were spent mixing greens for the lily pond painting talked about in the last blog. The painting is now done--and I have to say that I really like this one. It was a challenge and I believe it stretch my green palette. Painting outside again will tell. That will happen this week when the weather gets really nice.

As mentioned before, it's always a good idea to add the complement colors to really give the brain something to absorb. After all, just looking at various shades of green could be a bit boring. Here's the completed painting...

I used my red and blue Plexiglas "spy" glass to continually check if I was getting a good value range in the painting. The ultimate way to check this is to take a Black and White picture and match it up to the shadow and light area foundation that you did at the start of the painting. This way you can check your painting to see if you held true to the original under painting. Here's the black and white photo:

As you can see there is a very good range of values here. Here's the original foundation painting:

Comparing the black and white to the shadow blocked picture, I think I actually improved the light and shadow areas. In any case, the important thing is that I like this painting and I believe it helped expand my green palette and the mixing of green colors.

Hope you enjoyed the painting as much as I enjoyed painting it. The real test for the practice of mixing green exercise I did is the transfer of the knowledge gained into the field. Next up--outdoor sessions again!
Peace,
Linda

It isn't easy mixing greens

2008-05-24T10:03:00.005-04:00

It's been a week of meetings and more meetings. Sometimes that's just the way it goes.

Since time was crunched and life getting in the way, I decided that I wanted to continue my emphasis on mixing greens. It is spring--seems everything is green. All would be fine if there was one value of green to mix, but there isn't. Green can be on the blue side, yellow side, and even have some red in there. Trying to decide the primary you are seeing if difficult and then mixing the greens are just as difficult. I tend to make my greens too intense. Since green never goes away in a landscape painting, I decided it would be time well spent to study this color a bit further.

I looked through my reference material, since time wasn't going to permit me to paint outside this week. I had a rather large pre-stretched canvas that was just calling my name to be painted on. I found a photo of the Giverny Gardens. Could we get anymore greens in one photograph? It's of the lily pond. Brush in hand and with great concentration on the shadow and light areas, I put in the foundation of the painting. Here's it is with a little work done on the lily pads in the foreground.

I always tend to forget that trees have open areas where you can see through them, so I tended to keep those spaces larger than usual. This particular painting will be an interesting pursuit. The reflections in the pond will be a challenge--especially since they are green as well. Here is a close up of the area I started working on earlier in the week.

In your assessment of your work, it is good to not only see what you don't like about the painting you are working but more importantly what you do like. Just like life, focussing on the negative can make it worse. So reward yourself with a little positive feedback. Ask yourself what you do like.

So far, I like the composition that I grabbed out of this photo. It's a smaller area of the photograph, focusing on the lily pads and the reflections. It's a high concentration of greens with a large spectrum of greens at that. Remembering that red is greens complement color and studying the photograph, there is some red--all the way to a red-purple present in some of the lily pads. I like the contrast between the two and it's something I'm going to explore on the second patch of lily pads I begin to paint next. I also like the idea of taking the greens all the way through the spectrum of blue-greens to yellow-greens. That will allow for a larger range of highlights/light areas that will also work with a large range of reds--into the oranges.

Here's where I ended up after some intense study and painting. This is in no way finished, but will give you idea of where I'm going with this. OH--and it's time to mix more greens, pushing myself to really open up the range of greens...my values are a bit too intense still and I want them to be softer. I'll be giving that a try here on the second batch of lily pads.

At first when I put in the pond and it's reflections to the right of the foreground lily pads, my edges were way to sharp. They were fighting for attention. Good thing I have a mop! I used the mop brush to blend gently the edges away--careful to not over blend. Again, the area is not completely done and to my liking, but it is much better than where it was just a few minutes before I blended them.

Stay tuned as I work to finish this painting over the coming weeks. If time and weather permit, I'll get outside to paint. But if not, I'll be working in my studio on the one thing I know will help me when I am outside. That is how to quickly mix the green I'm seeing. It isn't easy mixing green....(but you can't get that song out of your head now!) ;-)
Cheers,
Linda

The Rewards of Analysis!

2008-05-14T17:01:00.012-04:00

The weather outside was windy and rainy--not very warm. Not that I mind painting in the rain--OK-I mind it a little bit--but I decided that I was going to do some serious critiquing of a plein air study that has been bugging me ever since I painted it at Smith Park.

The painting done on a sunny day at Smith Park is this one.

I wasn't pleased with this one at all. Plenty of compliments were given while I was painting it, but the colors were wrong and the composition--quite simply stunk!! There is nothing there to keep the viewer interested--except maybe the bad colors!

So I thought about it and decided I'd try it again...The second result was slightly better--as I focused more on my colors and trying to duplicate the scene from memory.
Here's the result of the second attempt.

The composition still stunk! The colors were slightly better--but everything is just too busy...I even tried to add interest on this one by taking the second little piece of land and making another piece of land come off of it--like a fork in the road. Well, the result shown below was a failure--muddy area and it didn't add any interest!

So that brings us to what I did today. I sat down with the two studies in front of me. I asked myself again..."What made me want to paint this when I was out at the site?" I looked at the back of the studies, then at the center where the little land mass sticks out. Was that it? Then I looked at the front of the painting and it hit me. Originally when I was going to paint the front area, where the two trees and the fallen log met the pond. Was that it? I closed my eyes and meditate on that area--standing there at the site I painted it and saw it again. Somehow I got sidetracked into painting the whole scene. Here's the area I'm talking about:

Hmmm....looks good..might work. So I sketched it out on a 9X12 inch canvas board (all the studies were done 9X12 as well).

Laid in the shadow areas--

Stepped back, sat down and asked myself--does it work? Is it a good composition? Can I generate enough interest to keep the viewer in the painting? I didn't hate it and it actually was appealing to me. So I laid in some shadow colors and light colors.

Now I really began to like this. I spent only two hours painting this painting. If I include the analysis it was an afternoon well spent. The finished painting is below and is evidence that a good critique can save almost any plein air study that fails you in the field.

I hope this step by step helps you save something you created in the field. I found today to be quite rewarding. I hope you did too!
Cheers,
Linda

Baby Steps

2008-05-13T16:08:00.010-04:00

A friend and I painted at Smith Park today. Such a beautiful day!
The wind was blowing keeping it very cool. The sun was shining brightly.
Lots and lots of green colors--for some reason all the spring blooming trees have gone. It's that time of year--lots of greens which is always a challenge to mix.

I was somewhat happier with today's attempt. I'm still going to focus on mixing as I'm still getting frustrated on that. I'm posting today's attempt. I love the composition of this painting...but if I am (and I probably will)going paint this onto a larger canvas, I'll probably move the fisherman up to the front of the composition more.

"Patience at Work"
6"X8" canvas panel
This is the painting from yesterday. It's the one I did in the studio of azeleas that I discussed in the blog yesterday. The canvasboard was 11X14 and I timed myself to cover it in an hour. The more I look at this the more I like this start.
Bad weather is looming for tomorrow, so I'll probably work on finishing this study in the studio tomorrow. This one will also make it to a bigger canvas.

Azeleas Study-Only the Beginning
11" X 14" canvas board
And just for kicks, two of the better plein air paintings I did around my gardens.
The first is of my dogwood tree.

"In the Pink"
6" X 8" Canvas Panel
And what I consider my best effort yet...my phlox where it meets my stone wall in the backyard.

"In my Garden"
6" X 8" Canvas Panel

This one will make it to a painting on canvas in the studio as well.

I hope you enjoyed looking at the studies. Not quite finished work--but hopfully they will help you see what I'm struggling with and why I'm going through the mental and painting exercises that I am.

Keep Painting!
Linda

One Step at a Time

2008-05-12T17:37:00.002-04:00

Due to some health related issues in the family, I spent the day inside the studio trying to apply a few learnings over the last couple of days. I spent a large amount of time with my nose in the books. And I think it paid off--in a small way.

I started the day mixing some paints and decided to pull out the study I did the other day at Smith Park. I figured I'd try my memory and use the study which I knew was way too intense to practice mixing greens. That simple object was met. I mixed greens that were so much better than the study. Time well spent and more learnings.
It was more to do with composition and less to do with the color mixing. Tomorrow when I head out to the park, I'm going to really focus on selecting a really good composition. Something I need to improve on and something that is so very important. If I just spend the day there sketching out shadow patterns and selecting compositions, it won't be a day wasted. Edgar Payne will be at my side--that's for sure. And yes--guess what I'll be re-reading tonight!!

I ended the day with a challenge. I pulled out a cheap canvas board which was 11X14 inches. I had a photograph of some Azelas that I wanted to paint on canvas for showing, but I need to work out some details of the painting. I spent some time mixing up some general colors that I'd grab from while covering the canvase. The challenge was to have this canvas board covered, with something that I could work from in the future, in 1 hour. Including some mixing time, I didn't want to spend anymore than an hour and a half. I succeeded doing just that and actually like the loose, painterly feeling of the flowers. Time permitting tomorrow, I'll snap a picture of it and place it in the blog for to see.

Timing yourself does a few things for me. It makes me mix colors with my brush and makes me paint looser--challenging me to think about values and edges so I don't end up with mud. It also gives you a bit of a plein air experience in that you have to paint fast outside to catch the light. Working from the photograph allowed me to not worry about the light and I knew the values I was mixing should match the intensity of the photo--so it forced me to mix what I remembered of the flowers that were outside my front door a few weeks ago.

All in all, I pleased with today's sessions and the results. I still need practice and need to push those color notes. Both build confidence. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

On a different note, I did spend some time today framing all my painting that will be in my one-woman show on from June 1-July 30th. It was nice to see them all framed. I hope everyone will enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed painting them.

That's all for now.
Caio,
Linda

Back to Basics

2008-05-06T15:52:00.002-04:00

After an evening of research and contemplation, I really decided that I wasn't happy with the way I was mixing colors. I couldn't quite put my finger on just what I didn't like about it, I just knew that the color notes (value, hue and chroma or intensity)were not what I wanted--but more importantly were not what I was seeing.
Why (there's that pesky word again) was I not putting down what I was seeing? I think it's was/is a combination of two things.

First, I want to capture the light and paint fast. Anyone that paints plein air knows you have to paint fast. So I mixed a color note that was possibly in the family of colors I was seeing and put it down. But as of last night I wasn't sure that I was really even in the color family.

Second, my studio where I can take time to mix and is not remotely like painting outside regardless of the fact that I have Ott lights throughout it was making me see things differently!! But is a color note a color note regardless of being in my studio or painting outside?

Well--let's prove that. So today, which got off to a delayed start, was devoted to mixing colors outside. That's it--no painting on a canvas board--no pressure to capture fleeting light. I stood outside in the brilliant sunlight and with my trusty paint chips in hand began mixing colors to match the paint chips. These chips can be snatched from any paint store. You know the ones--the strips that have five colors all in the same color family. Before heading outside, I grabbed a random lot of colors from my collection of chips. Then, stood there and mixed colors.

This is a wonderful exercise and I can't say enough about doing this. My frustration is stemming from the fact that my colors are too intense. Mixing to the paint chips made me add in the complements or white to grey down my colors. I didn't stop at "That's close enough." Nope--it had to be exact and when it was only then did it get the honor of being put on a cheap canvas board for future reference.
Toward the end of the session, I was running low on blue. I work from a limited palette of Yellow, blue and red (and white--more on that at another time). I mixed up a green trying to match another paint chip--but I decided that I wouldn't put anymore blue in my pochade box and just push the green with some leftover dark "mud" (blue/purple). I mixed in complements, white and just put swatch of the colors I was mixing next to the other. I mixed some oranges, reds, and placed those in the line. I stepped back looking at the range of colors I had mixed over the hours in the sunlight. I studied the effect the sun had on the colors (my pochade and canvas are shaded with an umbrella when standing in brilliant sunlight)and how my eye interrupted them. I studied what happened when I put one dark value next to a light value, a complement color next to another. Did I mix any medium values?...Were they really in the mid range of the color family?

I realized that I wasn't painting what I was seeing in the previous sessions. I was painting to try and paint fast and that didn't accomplish anything--except frustration and a return to basics. I know my say that they don't like wasting paint this way--but believe me, with what you learn this is not a waste. I paint with inexpensive paints when I'm plein air painting anyway, and since this exercise can be done close to your studio or home, you can take a disposable palette with you to freeze any paints you mix up and want to keep. Or better yet, empty tubes that you fill with the paints you mix to be used in your studio later.

Believe me, what you will learn about what you are mixing and what you are seeing is worth the couple of hours you will spend mixing outside. It's a great way to get re-calibrated to painting outside and seeing outside. After I had a number of greens painted, I walked around my yard and held the paint brush with the color note on it next to the foliage of different plants. Was it warmer or cooler? What would I add to get to that color? Make a mental note.

The last test--I packed up my gear and headed down to the studio. How far off was my studio Ott lights. Surprisingly--not that far off. I do need to get some warm lights to offset the coolness of the Ott lights. That's easy enough to fix. But the biggest difference was that I was pressing to paint fast and just accepting any color I mixed. Now is the time to break that bad habit. If you use studies to paint from in your studio--the color notes are most important part of that study.
That was an understatement. As Kevin Macpherson says--"That first color note is the most important." That is so true! It sets the tone for the whole painting. If it's wrong-the painting will not be what you see.

I may just spend the day mixing colors tomorrow. Practice makes perfect and if I mix the colors right, I have a better chance to paint faster. And now I know I can afford to add the complement colors to grey down the intensity and not to be afraid to do so.

Try this exercise, you may be surprised how much you've strayed after a length of time in your studio.

Ciao,
Linda

May 5th--All I can say is they are interesting....

2008-05-05T17:59:00.002-04:00

As I was telling my friend on the phone on the way back from the painting session today--all I can say about my plein air studies are they are interesting....with the emphasis on interesting!

It was a beautiful day to be outside and I'm glad I was there. Warm sunlight bathing the water of the pond at Smith Park--caressing the trees as well. The ducks and geese were--well just a tad bit frisky...well it is spring after all! A number of people were walking, fishing and enjoying the park. Smith Park is by Hook airfield in Middletown. A number of pilots were getting their hours in and the corporate jets were taking off as well. A gorgeous day for flying, hiking, fishing and painting! It must have added to the good mood, because today I wasn't as frustrated as yesterday.

I still need to refine the color notes. I'm still not happy with the result on the canvas. I used my palette knife to mix the initial shadow colors, then switched to mixing with my brush as I started to lay in the shadows--concentrating on what I was seeing and getting those shadow areas down.

The composition I choose was better. I kept it relatively simple...the pond, some tree trunks...but reflecting back...I think I forgot to pick one focal point. Overall the scene is a nice one...but I'm not sure just what drew me to draw it. That in itself tells me that there wasn't something overwhelming catching my eye. Since I didn't identify a focal point, the end result of the study was that it was an average result. No real interest to keep you in the painting and wandering around. Hmmm...one strike.

Overall, I'm entirely too dark for the colors that I saw outside today. Am I looking at too much detail and trying to capture too much? Since I started laying in the shadows first, the result is that the studies are too dark. When I was painting last year outside, I was entirely too light. There's got to be a happy medium somewhere in here! hmmm...two strikes...

I need to remember to pack my camera and the OFF!! I wasn't as frustrated today..and I didn't freak out when a big ole black ant decided to crawl down my arm and into my hand holding my brush. The reason I need the OFF! I know insects are a part of the earth--but I just rather they stay on their own territory!

There was a steady flow of spectators/passer-bys that were supportive and made being out there fun. That's a major plus of painting outside. People will come up and check out what you are painting and most will offer advice, support or at some time guess at what you are painting. Some will even venture a critique or two. This is always good--gives you another perspective, another set of eyes, to view your painting through. So for everyone who stopped today and talked with me--thanks! It was fun meeting you and I'll be back down there trying to capture this pond a number of times in the coming weeks. Please continue to say hello and talk to me. You are part of the experience!!

I'm actually considering just taking a day and mixing colors outside. Just trying to push myself to get the color notes right. It might make for an interesting exercise.

I'm just glad at this point that it was a beautiful day!! No complaints here.
I'm learning...

Ciao,
Linda

Frustration!! May 4th Session

2008-05-05T09:20:00.003-04:00

I started painting at 11:30 and went till about 3:30--completely 2 6X8 canvas panels.
The first panel was very frustrating and had me question why I thought I had the skills to do this. I decided to put it aside after reflection what was going wrong with it and why I was feeling so frustrating. I had sketched out the shadow and light areas with black marker on a sketch pad and a quick look at that reference verified what I had come to conclude. What I was trying to paint was to complex--too much shadow--no contrast and the color notes were all wrong. So I winged it--actually I walked down to my studio and threw it on my work table. I picked up Kevin's book, paged through it as I mumbled more frustrations to myself. There it was in plain English..."Keep it Simple!"

So I went back outside to my back garden area. I took out the second panel and placed it in the pochade box. I attacked the same garden area with new enthusiasm and told myself I will get something this time. I focused this time on where the phlox and stone wall met. A wonderful area of shadow, a very warm area of light. As soon after about an hour, I had what I considered an acceptable study.

My frustration centered on the following--and highlighted what I need to improve.
1. Mixing colors quickly and accurately.
2. Need to remember to keep it simple--it being the composition of the painting.
3. I need to keep practicing mixing color notes and asking those pesky questions. Keep the shadows in shadows--the lights in light and never the two shall meet!

So what are the questions? In the beginning of this journey, when one is learning or refreshing their skills, do you sacrifice catching the fleeting light to focus on mixing the right color notes? And if you catch the light and shadows in a simple foundation does that guide you? I do know that the first color note you put on your panel is the most important. If it is wrong--the painting will be wrong. So we'll focus on getting the first note correct. And we'll work on the focal point of the painting first--since that is where the light will change the is the most important color note to put down.

I need to remember to keep asking myself the following while I'm painting. Is that color note in shadow or light? Is that color note warmer or cooler?

Monday--May 5th--we are going to head out to Smith Park. There is a pond there and I'll be painting there. I have a meeting with the Director of the Arts Center and this will allow me to get some painting in before. I plan on concentrating on the questions above--the shadow and light--warmer and cooler and getting that first color note correct. More to come tonight on today's session! I'm actually looking forward to getting out there--even though I know it will be frustrating--I know I'll learn something today. I know when I get home and look through the books I have, something in there will make more sense because I experienced it. It's so exciting and refreshing!

Ciao,
Linda

Why?

2008-05-05T08:55:00.003-04:00

Welcome to my journey back into Plein Air painting. I've done this a few times before and each time I have done it, I have learned so much. But first, why seemed like a good place to start.

I love Claude Monet's work! And each time that I have been fortunate enough to see his work in person, I have been captivated by his capturing of light and atomsphere. I stand for hours studying his brushwork, pondering endless questions--why did he choose to paint that that way? Why did he choose that color note? How did he see the way he did? What was his journey to "here"? And of course when disecting the painting, is that color note in the shadow family or light family? Is it warmer or cooler than the note next to it? And of course, there's always the question of "Why can't I do that?"

Of course this doesn't always happen with Monet's work--you can throw in Cezane, Sisley, Pissaro, Renior....the list goes on. I studied with or taken lessons from a number of local artists, but none was as challenging as entering the world of plein air painting. For opening this world to me I thank two painters. One is an artist living here in Cincinnati--Chuck Marshall and the other is an internationally known artist that I am fortunate enough to be painting with in June. I'm also Chairperson of a committee to bring his "Reflections On A Pond" to the Middletown Arts Center. The internationally known artist is Kevin Macpherson. Kevin is an inspiration and his books are never far from my side. Talking with him is also a joy--he is so supportive and patient. I hope he has a lot of patience in June!!

So that is the one of the whys. Why can't I do that? Well--I can. I will. And this journal is about the struggles, the successes and the journey along the rough, rocky and challenging road of painting plein air. If you have ever tried it you know that it is not easy. The brain almost gets overwhelmed with all you must concentrate on, but yet keep it simple. You almost panic because it all seems to move so fast. The frustration sets in and the next thing you know you are winging your canvas panel a 100 yards away from you!!

This journal will be full of questions that I'm asking myself. I don't promise answers, but feel free to chime in with your experiences, suggestions and successes.
When I workout what I consider a successful answer to any of the questions, I'll post them. Hopefully together we can grow in our artistic abilities. After all, we all want to continue to grow and improve our skills and that is the other reason why I'm doing this. It will improve my skills and knowledge. The good news is, I have a new mentor, Kevin, who will help me along the way. Thanks Kevin! I look forward to June!!