North Carolina Snowshine

After a couple of weeks of rain, rain, rain we had a beautiful snowfall when we awoke Friday here in the North Carolina Piedmont. I was so glad to see the sun and the snow reflecting that gorgeous light of morning that I had to put on my boots and go take a photo before the sun got any higher. I am pretty wimpy when it comes to plein air painting in the cold but I did make an attempt to do a snow painting through my window.

 

This was an exercise in chasing the sun so I decided to try another snow painting from one of the photos I had taken. I liked the peachy glow that seemed to be coming through some of the branches  against the bluish purple shadows under the trees so that's what I focused on. This took just a little over and hour to get started and then I left it alone over night and went back to work on it for about another hour or so today just to add some definition and tie it together.

This is my first finished painting of the new year, a 9x12 oil entitled First Snow.  I think it will be one of my 2 small pieces for the Small Art, Big Heart show at Hampton House Gallery opening Friday, February 8th. The show will benefit Aids Care Services of Winston-Salem, NC.

Starting the New Year

I feel like I haven't painted for a long, long time. Spent lots of time with my family over Christmas and New Years; cooked, ate, laughed and watched a lot of movies, but not much art was created here at my house. My daughters Jill and Jessica were at home long enough to settle in and relax – we just hung out together which was great.

This week I began work on a scene that I had wanted to paint for a few years.

I had taken many pictures of these young musicians, chose the best shots and combined them into this scene. The next step will be an underpainting on sanded pastel paper using watercolor or pastel and gamsol – haven't decided yet!  Got to get back to it now.
Happy Painting in the New Year!

Tis the Season for busy-ness

Becoming too busy to paint can be very frustrating and this is definitely the season when that situation occurs.

On top of holiday plans, show applications are popping up daily on emails and plans are being made for upcoming art events. I noticed that all of these deadlines for entries seem to be falling in early January. The pressure of finding time to prepare for all of these things is quite real!

As a result, concentrating on painting will be very difficult. I have decided to admit that not much will appear on the easel until 2013 and spend what time I can find catching up on marketing tasks, cleaning up and winding down 2012, Applying to the shows that I would like to enter probably won't happen until January either, but maybe I can analyze what I might want to enter in which show so I can get the applications in on time.

Happy Holidays to everyone and Best of Luck in the new year!

Being Honest with Yourself

As I was preparing to frame my work for the Germanton Gallery Miniature Show, which will open next week, I went to their site and took a peek at the preview of the show.  I could have sent my images for inclusion in the preview, but I had procrastinated. I had pieces that I had been working on for weeks but just didn't feel satisfied with them. After seeing the wonderful work that would be in the show, I was forced to step back and be objective about my efforts. Clearly these were not my best.

Walking down the hall to my studio, I was struck by the glow of golden leaves on the maple tree outside the window. I grabbed my camera, shot some closeups of the leaves and went straight to the studio to begin a new pastel.  I was so excited about the subject that the painting was effortless.

8"x10" pastel Final Performance.

Feeling like I was on a roll, I searched through photos I had taken at farm we visited in Pennsylvania. I had always loved the feeling of this image so I decided to do a pastel of the sheep family. Once again, something I loved at first sight made a good painting.

8"x10" pastel Family Time

Now I can deliver these to the gallery, relax and enjoy Thanksgiving with my family. The show will open next Friday, November 30 with a reception from 5:00-8:00 pm at Germanton Gallery in Germanton, NC. Please join us!  (Click to see directions and preview of show.)

Starting with a Value Study

Many times I am too eager to begin painting and don't take the preliminary steps that might help me, but I felt it was necessary for this piece. As you can see below, the photograph I had to work from was of such poor quality that I wasn't sure I even had enough info to make a painting of the scene.

I really loved the woman sitting on the sidewalk with all of her creature comforts - umbrella to shade her from the sunset, a cold drink, cell phone in hand and a comfy chair. I wanted to make sure I gave it my best effort.

The source photo was over exposed.

To increase my understanding of what was happening with the values and shapes in this image, I made a black and white charcoal study first. This helped immensely; I was able to work out my drawing and values in this preliminary piece at the exact size I would be painting. I corrected and fixed things at this stage and was much more familiar with what I was painting by the time I picked up my brush.  You don't have to get every detail down or make a masterpiece. Get the shapes of dark, medium and light that tell the story so that YOU understand what's going on.

A charcoal study helped define shapes and values.

Here is the final painting which is available at Hampton House Gallery in Winston-Salem, NC.

The final work: Woman in Chair, 11" x 14", oil

This is a method I will continue to use for these studio pieces - it went so much smoother and required very little rework allowing me to keep a freshness I often lose by redoing.

Patience and Perseverance #2

Plein Air artists differ on how they view the pieces they produce outdoors. Purists consider these pieces finished art, ready to sell, while others use these paintings only as studies for larger works; the rest stand somewhere in between. I have bounced back and forth on this over time. Early on I had pretty good luck completing a painting outdoors. Here is one that I immediately knew was finished and ready to sign before I packed up my easel. Someone else agreed - it was stolen from the coffee shop where it was for sale!

When I brought unsatisfactory plein air paintings back to the studio and tried to "fix" them, I was usually unsuccessful. Back in the studio, I was looking at a photo that didn't accurately depict what I saw outdoors and I found myself repainting the whole thing according to the photo I had taken, ultimately wasting a canvas and a lot of time as you can see below -
YUCK! Where is the light source in this painting?!?

After taking D. Eleinne Basa's workshop in summer of 201, I tried following her good advice. She recommended not reworking plein air pieces but, instead, concentrating on capturing what is needed to produce a second painting in the studio. I did this and it does work, but something kept making me want to "fix" them!

This past summer I have done a good bit of outdoor work and found myself working on the pieces when I got them back to the studio.  I feel I have been more successful than in the past by:

• Making every effort to work more slowly and deliberately outdoors, reminding myself to capture what drew me to the subject initially and get the information down that I will need to complete the piece back in the studio.
• Ceasing to work on the painting outdoors when it becomes clear to me that the light has changed too drastically or when I find myself mindlessly slapping paint or pastel on the work.
•  Keeping my colors bright and clean when I am outdoors - even leaving them a bit garish to avoid the muddiness that can occur from overworking things. I can always calm them down.
• When I return to the studio I continue to paint rather than repaint - big difference!
•  Viewing the photo in grayscale on my computer to avoid seeing the color differences between photo and reality - using the photo only as a  reference for values.
• Adding smaller shapes and details to the paintings in the studio.

Here are a few examples - see what you think. Is is working?

Getting your money's worth from a workshop

Workshops are a great way to remove yourself from your day to day routine and really focus on your art for a while. No cooking, no mail, no interruptions – just you and your art and other people who love to paint.

Last week I attended a pastel painting figure workshop with Master Pastelist, Margaret Dyer. This wasn't my first class with Margaret, but it was the first one in six years.

When I attended her class in 2006, I was new to figurative work and Margaret gave me a great start. Her teaching method consists of a few simple steps which she outlines at the beginning, and you must trust that she knows what she is talking about to succeed!  Follow the steps and see what unfolds.

She is also a lot of fun, gives each student plenty of individual attention and is very straightforward, which I appreciate.

She works with three values and a limited number of pastel sticks, a method which allows you to create luminous pastels with beautiful contrast and clean color. You can also achieve wonderful color harmony and exciting colors built by layering the pastels when you limit your colors in this way.

I trusted her in 2006, followed the steps and was thrilled with the outcome. I trusted her in 2012, followed the steps and that, coupled with the experience I have gained since 2006, allowed me to reach a new level of understanding. I saw my work progress and improve each day of the four-day class.

My advice to anyone investing in any workshop is this:

• Buy the best class you can afford – a cheap workshop may not be a bargain.
• Choose your instructors carefully – find artists whose work you admire and can identify with. Don't just sign up because your friends are going.
• Do what they say even if you're not sure you agree with it. Why pay for a class and ignore what is offered?
• Remember that you are there to explore and learn. Break out of your comfort zone and don't be concerned with the quality of your work during the class. It probably will not be your best work, because you are trying new things and learning, which is what you paid for!

Day 1 - Lucky for me, I got the back view which always makes it easier!

Work from Day 1

Day 2 - We had a lovely young girl who was modeling for the first time, so I  decided not to post drawings of her in the nude.

Day 3 - I was pleased with this start, but I didn't feel like I really finished this one.

Work from Day 3

Day 4  - This final piece may need a little finishing work, but overall I was pleased and the model was so beautiful – who doesn't love a ballerina?

Work from Day 4

I feel that the workshop brought me back to the basics, which is something I need to do every so often to awaken a more precise understanding of what I am doing when I step up to the easel. Margaret's workshop was worth every penny, and I had a great week with my artist friend, Kathy Phillips, and all the talented artists I met in the class!