Spring Is Calling

"Spring Is Calling"

8x10 oil on linen

What a beautiful day we had today!  My kids are on spring break this week so we're just hanging around enjoying the incredible weather we're having.  Monday I leave for AZ to paint for a week with painter and friend Kim Casebeer, I'm really looking forward to that!  So I thought I'd better get outside and get the paint moving 'en plein air' before heading West.  

My 11 year old (Nick) and I went out to my Dad's place later today to enjoy spring and do some painting.  This is my piece from today.  It just sounds like spring, hence the title "Spring Is Calling".  

"High In The Valley"

 "High In The Valley"

18x24 oil on linen panel

"High In The Valley" is my latest piece from the studio.  Since the start of this was a demo for my Thursday advanced painting class, I thought I'd do a post and share some of the process here on my blog.  The initial idea came from being out painting last fall along a pumpkin patch just north of where I live.  When I set up to paint this mid morning, the sky was pretty flat and there was really not any clouds, by the time I was finished with my morning piece, I turned to the left and this is what I saw, stunning lit clouds and landscape with a vista view.  I didn't have time to paint it so I photographed this scene thinking I'd eventually need to paint this, it was truly stunning light!

My goal in this painting was to keep the intensity of the light I remembered by keep rich, clean paint in the clouds and keep my lights and darks very clarified throughout the painting. 

-6x8 color study-

But first I need to start by getting my color scheme and abstract composition developed through a small color study.  This is a simple piece of linen taped up on a board.  I find myself almost always doing a small study before hitting a large canvas, it helps me to work out the shapes and colors so I have a good solid plan.  You may notice the notes of color on the side of the painting.  Once I am happy with my overall color scheme, I scrape up the 4 major colors and lay down the notes on the side of my panting to possibly help me on my large painting.  

Getting started on my large piece. 

 First I start out with a light wash of Transparent Oxide Red to get the drawing laid in, then I wipe it out to tone the canvas.  I then go back in wish a more solid drawing, using my brush. This isn't too difficult since I did most of my 'thinking' on my small study.

Right away, I begin mixing large piles of paint in the large 'averages' that I need in my painting.  Typically I start with my darks to develop some structure.  Then comes the major 'averages' of the sky.  I used all palette knife in my sky in attempt to use enough paint to work with later.  I've now got a solid foundation and this is the point in the demo where I told my class I was finished and would complete the painting on my own.  

Beginning to work the edges, temperature and depth in the sky.

I had a lot of paint in my sky and it's important to work the sky while it's still wet in order to achieve the edges I was after.  I use all palette knife in the clouds to work in warmer and cooler temperatures and soften and roll the edges.  This took hours of painting. . . honestly I don't even know how long. . . I really had fun working with all this paint!

Note: as the shadows of your clouds move away from you typically they will get lighter and cooler.

Developing form in the trees:

Since I like the edges of the sky and tree line to somewhat meld together the trees seemed like the next logical thing to work on.  By this time my first lay in of my tree line was dry so I repainted it so I could have good paint quality and work wet into wet.  This is not a difficult thing to do if you have a solid foundation, just match the lights and darks.  Then I find a good mid tone color to lay between my lights and darks in order to roll the form.  

Note:  to develop recession, the tree line gets lighter and cooler as it moves away from you. 

The final Painting, finished!

There is a time in my painting where I completely zone out and go so deep into the painting that I don't know how I got from the last stage to here.  It's a lot of making notes and stepping away from the easel to get a fresh look and hopefully not over work any area.  This is the point where I do more thinking again than painting in order to do only what helps the painting.  I also do quite a bit of scraping areas out if they don't 'help' the painting.  It's important not to be afraid to do this, remember its all about harmony in your work.  I try to remember to never fall so in love with one little area that it disrupts the harmony and unity.  

It's easy to over work a painting once you get to a certain stage in the piece.  I find slowing down and taking a lot of breaks a good way to not completely destroy what you've started a good idea. 

 Like I tell my students, painting is more brain work than a physical act, but good art comes from the soul of the artist.  

So, here you have my finished piece, of in my mind, some of the most beautiful land in the Mid West! 

to see the painting in detail double click on the image and it will enlarge  

The Building Of A Painting

 This past week I've been working on a studio piece that was inspired from a field study (plein air Piece) done last summer in, yes, once again, Door County.  In the photo above you can see my set up and how I often times work in the studio.  To the right of my easel I've got my 'study' done in the field with pretty good color reference to work from.  To the left is my Mac set up with a photo image I took the day I was in the field painting.  Although I had good references to work from, it's important to have a strong concept and structural idea for a large painting to work out and become it's own painting, not just a large field study.  The foundation of this painting in my mind was a path to lead you into the painting and carry you through.  I love the idea of walking through a painting and it continues to be a great source of inspiration for me in much of my work, it's so poetic.  So with that said, an idea is one thing and making it happen is another.  

The passion and inspiration of the artist is what makes a piece original and authentic but in order for this passion to be properly supported, the painting must be grounded with the foundation to support of the original and authentic idea.  

 When I start laying in my paint, I start with a fairly thing layer and think of the big 'sweep' I want going through the painting.  In other words, the design of painting.  I lay in the large shapes of darks that connect throughout the piece, leaving the light shapes open with a warm wash underneath.  At this very beginning stage of the painting,  I can already see if I'm going to like the painting and the direction it is going, off to a good start.  If you don't like the painting at this stage, you should WIPE IT OUT and start again!  Very little time has been spent at this point.  From here on out it's simply building paint texture and color until you have what you need to say what you want to say.  

"Into The Color"

24x24 oil on linen

The finished painting.  

There is an interesting juxtaposition of thin and thick paint going on in this painting.  If you click on the image it will enlarge so you can see the texture of the paint.  For me one of the most challenging parts of painting is knowing when to stop.  I could have painted notes of flower colors all day long but needed to decide if it would help or hurt the overall harmony of the piece.  Too much can just be too much!  This is when I decided the piece is finished.  

In The Studio Today. . . .

"County Road"

8x10 oil on linen

Hard to believe I was in the studio today when it was 52 degrees and sunny here in MN in January, but I was!  I had this painting in my head and needed to paint it today regardless of the unseasonably warm weather outside.  I DID take advantage after I was finished though and took a good long walk, what a treat!  :) 

Although this small painting resembles most of my 'plein air' work, it's a studio piece done from a photo, and once again, I use the photos as memory triggers, not a literal interpretation.  If I didn't have the experience I have from painting from life, I don't think I would be able to do this.  I can't stress enough the importance of working from life.  When I work like this in the studio on smaller pieces, it's a goal of mine to keep the paint fresh and clean, as if I were painting from life.  In order to do this, I limit my time.  This piece was done in about 2 hours. 

Since I've taken the month of January off of teaching, it's my goal to paint as much as possible on a variety of different subjects.  I'll probably do another small piece tomorrow and then start a larger one towards the end of the week.  I find after doing a piece like my last 20x16 where there was a lot of subtle quiet work and many hours, it's nice to push the paint around on smaller pieces and start and finish in one sitting. 

Into The Reflection

"Into The Reflection"

20x16 oil on linen

I hope this post finds everyone well and happily and creatively entering the new year ahead!  "Into The Reflection" is my first painting of 2012, just finished today.  I started the new year off in the studio on Sunday with a solid 8 hours in this painting.  I then took 3 more days with a couple hours each to complete what you see here.  The scene you see is a place I love to escape to in Door County during the Plein Air Festival I've participated in the past 3 years.  (This year I'll be teaching a plein air workshop in July there)  If you know anything about being a featured artist in the plein festivals, you know that they can be intense and somewhat demanding at times with many many events and locations you are to be featured through out the week where lots of people come to see you paint!  It's all good and I'm not complaining but as much as I paint in public for my classes, demos etc, I am a quiet painter.  I need my own space and time to connect with my subject, and to emotionally respond to the time and place, usually being Nature to truly feel in 'the zone'.  This little place is way off the beaten path and it would be rare for someone to find you painting there, it's one of those places that feels like it's there 'just for me'.  :)  I know that's not true, but it feels like a place I connect to on a deeper sensitive level.  I know I did at least 3 plein pieces here over the past few years, maybe more. . . . this year I took a number of photographs and found this angel the other day and knew it was what I wanted to paint! 
Truly, I composed the photo quite well, I didn't have to change much as far as composition.  However, each time I use a photo as a reference, it's usually always a place I feel I know quite well from painting it from life.  I always feel the photos I take are cold and my memory recalls the warmth of the day and warmth of the colors in the water.  All the photo does for me is triggers these memories so I can bring myself there in order to paint it again.  No matter how many times I paint the same place, each painting is it's own painting. 
Looking into the reflection was an after thought once I started the painting. Day one, I truly didn't even consider this element in the painting, and by day two it was in.  I wanted to be able to paint the effect of this incredible little piece of water in all it's richness yet complete clarity as you could see the bottom in the reflection.  The most difficult part was stopping and not putting TOO much in.  I think I painted just enough although it was so tempting to put a little trout twirling and glistening around the bottom, just teasing. . . :)
 
So, painting number one of the year, done!  Happy Painting and Happy New Year!

December Reds

"December Reds"

12x12 oil on linen board

This is my latest piece, just finished.  Discovery, reds are difficult!  So much warmth needs to be balanced by cool vibration, this is where the magenta vibration comes in.  There's a LOT of paint on this canvas, so it was even more difficult than normal for me to photograph, lots of glare.  I think the painting is probably more subtle than shows in the photo but I got to the point that I thought I'd just get it up and posted.  But you get the idea, hope you enjoy!  

Late November Subtleties

"Late November Subtleties"

8x10 oil on linen

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there!  So much to be thankful for.  There is the obvious, my children, friends, family, students, health, and believe me, I am SO grateful for all!  As an artist, I'd like to extend my gratitude to the gift of vision through my eyes.  What an amazing gift everyday to be able to see  the incredible colors that exist in Nature, that so Many forget to stop and absorb.  Yesterday was the day after Thanksgiving, my son Nick and I spent the day out at my Dad's enjoying just being outside.  It's unusually warm here in MN for late November (50 degrees today), we had a small snow fall last week that has since melted, leaving the ground wet and saturated with rich but subtle color.  My eyes almost can't believe what I see in the grasses these past few days.  "Late November Subtleties" was my yesterday's attempt at capturing what I believe to be some of the most difficult but most inspirational scenes to paint.  VERY flat light we had, but so SO beautiful.  This piece was done at about noon and I could hardly see my palette, it was so dark, very strange.  The green in the pond which was a thin layer of ice under the melting water top was very interesting to me since I don't usually get to see this color was fun to study.  It's a short lived effect.  

Happy Painting to those who paint.  I hope you enjoy what you see today!  It truly is a great gift!