"Orleans Number Two", 8" x 16" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$930. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
Detail of "Orleans Number Two", Frank Gardner © 2008
Showing posts with label Landscape Painting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Landscape Painting. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
"Orleans Number Two"
This was painted on the beach in Orleans, Ma. on Little Pleasant Bay. I believe it was a wildlife sanctuary of some sort on this side of the inlet. There were just a few adjustments that I needed to make to it the next day.
"Orleans Number Two", 8" x 16" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$930. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
Detail of "Orleans Number Two", Frank Gardner © 2008
"Orleans Number Two", 8" x 16" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$930. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
Detail of "Orleans Number Two", Frank Gardner © 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
"The Lobster Pot"
The Lobster Pot Restaurant is one of my favorite Provincetown landmarks.
This painting was done from a photo reference on one of the rainy evenings during my trip to Cape Cod. I had really hoped to get back to Ptown to do some street scenes, but the weather kind of went sour on us. That should not have kept me from painting outside, but we just were not up for getting wet in a cold rain.
I need an umbrella.
"The Lobster Pot", 11" x 14" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$950. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
Reference photo for "The Lobster Pot", Frank Gardner © 2008
My friend Jack Riddle was talking about painting from photos on his blog the other day and suggested that I might write a few of my thoughts about that.
Here goes.
I always feel like I am taking a big risk when I post the reference photo next to my painting or a photo of the scene with the painting. Will all of my "mistakes" stand out like sore thumbs.
There are so many things to consider when using a photo reference. I could go on and on about pros and cons. One big con is that the values are usually a bit off. The darks are too dark and or the lights are too light and washed out. One pro is that it does not move and the light does not change, but that can be a con too.
Something I take into consideration when working from a photo is the look and or feel that I am aiming for in the finished piece. How much detail will I try and put into it. The problem with working from photos in the studio is that you can just keep going and going, adding in every little thing until it is really tight and probably over worked. It becomes a matter of taste and style.
The look that I decided on for this one was a solid design with a loose plein air feel. This was a plein air trip after all, and I wanted this painting to fit in well when hung together with the rest of the stuff from the trip.
I'm sure that this scene would look just as good if I had done a tighter job and brought it up to a more detailed finish, but that is not what I wanted in this particular painting.
By solid design I mean a strong pattern of light and shadow. Little details that are not real important can be edited out. Kind of like when I am plein air painting. Get the basic light and shadow pattern down first, add variety of color to the large value pattern, work up the detail in the center of interest. Get the important stuff down first, and then you can stop at any point.
The first thing that I did was evaluate two photos that I had of this street scene and chose the one that best suited my needs. I wanted the Lobster Pot to be the main interest, but the people are also an important part of Provincetown, so I wanted to feature them too. Couples walking, someone with a bike, that is all part of what makes it real. I liked having the building on the left to frame the street, but I did not want to add detail there that would take away from the Lobster Pot.
The neon sign is such an icon. I wanted to show it, but I did not want so much detail in it that it would hold the eye and not allow for movement in the painting. What I tried to get was the color and glow without even putting in any letters. It was one of the first things that I painted in. Almost pure cadmium red, thin enough to get the glow from the white tone of the linen showing through. Then I concentrated on just blocking in all of the shadow colors. I wanted to keep them lighter than what I was seeing in the photo. I tried to get a lot of variety in my colors but keep them all in a simple value range. I wish that I had taken some progress shots to help explain how I went about this.
Since I had determined that this would be a loose piece, working fairly fast was key. I approached it as if I was standing there on the corner trying to catch the important stuff first and fast. The big picture. When you see the reference photo along with the finished painting, it is easy to pick out little things that I did not include or may have drawn a little off, but is that detail important to the statement as a whole? Not for ME in THIS painting.
I'll try and point out a few examples of what I mean by lack of detail. Take a look at the budweiser sign. Did you know that it was a bud sign without having the words written out? O.K., my lobster may look a bit like a little red dog, but I bet that anyone that know Ptown knows that it is the lobster Pot. How about the tree? There could be a lot of picking at that and spotty leaves painted in, but the simple light/ shadow pattern works good enough in this case. The two figures in shadow walking in front of the restaurant. Can you tell that is two women? or at least feel the gesture of two figures walking casually? Good enough then. I think that the storefront windows behind them has just enough detail to know there is something in the window. When you stare at a photo you may be tempted to put in more and more in a thing like that.
I did not start adding any light family colors until I had a solid drawing down of color in shadow and most of it all linked together into a big pattern. Then I quickly laid in the light family colors. I put them in thick and then even scrapped some back off because texture always comes forward. I left the thicker stuff for the foreground and mid ground. I really had to rein in my urge to keep adding detail at this stage. My natural tendency is to make it all perfect. I wanted this to look like it could have been done on location in one go, so I stopped while I thought it still looked fresh. Could I have done some things differently? Sure. But each painting has to be thought of as an expression of your feelings. This is how I felt about it on this day. If I did it again today I might have a totally different set of colors and criteria.
That's all I'll write on my thoughts on this piece, and painting from photos for now. I'll probably end up expanding on this in the comments anyway. Thanks Jack for thinking that I might have some skills to share here. I'll work on some other posts along the same lines.
If anyone is still reading at this point, thanks.
I usually don't write such long winded posts.
This painting was done from a photo reference on one of the rainy evenings during my trip to Cape Cod. I had really hoped to get back to Ptown to do some street scenes, but the weather kind of went sour on us. That should not have kept me from painting outside, but we just were not up for getting wet in a cold rain.
I need an umbrella.
"The Lobster Pot", 11" x 14" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$950. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
Reference photo for "The Lobster Pot", Frank Gardner © 2008
My friend Jack Riddle was talking about painting from photos on his blog the other day and suggested that I might write a few of my thoughts about that.
Here goes.
I always feel like I am taking a big risk when I post the reference photo next to my painting or a photo of the scene with the painting. Will all of my "mistakes" stand out like sore thumbs.
There are so many things to consider when using a photo reference. I could go on and on about pros and cons. One big con is that the values are usually a bit off. The darks are too dark and or the lights are too light and washed out. One pro is that it does not move and the light does not change, but that can be a con too.
Something I take into consideration when working from a photo is the look and or feel that I am aiming for in the finished piece. How much detail will I try and put into it. The problem with working from photos in the studio is that you can just keep going and going, adding in every little thing until it is really tight and probably over worked. It becomes a matter of taste and style.
The look that I decided on for this one was a solid design with a loose plein air feel. This was a plein air trip after all, and I wanted this painting to fit in well when hung together with the rest of the stuff from the trip.
I'm sure that this scene would look just as good if I had done a tighter job and brought it up to a more detailed finish, but that is not what I wanted in this particular painting.
By solid design I mean a strong pattern of light and shadow. Little details that are not real important can be edited out. Kind of like when I am plein air painting. Get the basic light and shadow pattern down first, add variety of color to the large value pattern, work up the detail in the center of interest. Get the important stuff down first, and then you can stop at any point.
The first thing that I did was evaluate two photos that I had of this street scene and chose the one that best suited my needs. I wanted the Lobster Pot to be the main interest, but the people are also an important part of Provincetown, so I wanted to feature them too. Couples walking, someone with a bike, that is all part of what makes it real. I liked having the building on the left to frame the street, but I did not want to add detail there that would take away from the Lobster Pot.
The neon sign is such an icon. I wanted to show it, but I did not want so much detail in it that it would hold the eye and not allow for movement in the painting. What I tried to get was the color and glow without even putting in any letters. It was one of the first things that I painted in. Almost pure cadmium red, thin enough to get the glow from the white tone of the linen showing through. Then I concentrated on just blocking in all of the shadow colors. I wanted to keep them lighter than what I was seeing in the photo. I tried to get a lot of variety in my colors but keep them all in a simple value range. I wish that I had taken some progress shots to help explain how I went about this.
Since I had determined that this would be a loose piece, working fairly fast was key. I approached it as if I was standing there on the corner trying to catch the important stuff first and fast. The big picture. When you see the reference photo along with the finished painting, it is easy to pick out little things that I did not include or may have drawn a little off, but is that detail important to the statement as a whole? Not for ME in THIS painting.
I'll try and point out a few examples of what I mean by lack of detail. Take a look at the budweiser sign. Did you know that it was a bud sign without having the words written out? O.K., my lobster may look a bit like a little red dog, but I bet that anyone that know Ptown knows that it is the lobster Pot. How about the tree? There could be a lot of picking at that and spotty leaves painted in, but the simple light/ shadow pattern works good enough in this case. The two figures in shadow walking in front of the restaurant. Can you tell that is two women? or at least feel the gesture of two figures walking casually? Good enough then. I think that the storefront windows behind them has just enough detail to know there is something in the window. When you stare at a photo you may be tempted to put in more and more in a thing like that.
I did not start adding any light family colors until I had a solid drawing down of color in shadow and most of it all linked together into a big pattern. Then I quickly laid in the light family colors. I put them in thick and then even scrapped some back off because texture always comes forward. I left the thicker stuff for the foreground and mid ground. I really had to rein in my urge to keep adding detail at this stage. My natural tendency is to make it all perfect. I wanted this to look like it could have been done on location in one go, so I stopped while I thought it still looked fresh. Could I have done some things differently? Sure. But each painting has to be thought of as an expression of your feelings. This is how I felt about it on this day. If I did it again today I might have a totally different set of colors and criteria.
That's all I'll write on my thoughts on this piece, and painting from photos for now. I'll probably end up expanding on this in the comments anyway. Thanks Jack for thinking that I might have some skills to share here. I'll work on some other posts along the same lines.
If anyone is still reading at this point, thanks.
I usually don't write such long winded posts.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
"Blue Skies, Blue Ocean"
This is one of the paintings that I posted during my painting trip. It is one of the ones that needed a little adjustment back in the studio. The rigging on the boats was slightly off, especially that one line on the left that was curving up when it should have gone straight or curved slightly in from the weight. The only other change was to darken the values of the shadow sides just a bit. You can tell if you look at the distant water between the two boats. That value stayed the same.
The color in the photo of the finished painting is more accurate as well.
I am much happier with the finished piece.
I'll re post how it looked when I stopped work on the dock, as well as the set up, so you can compare the two.
"Blue Skies, Blue Ocean", 11" x 14", Frank Gardner © 2008
$950. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
First Version "Blue Skies, Blue Ocean", 11" x 14", Frank Gardner © 2008
The set up on the docks in Provincetown.
It was real fun painting out on the pier in Provincetown. It is amazing how fast the tide makes the boats go up and down.
The other great thing about painting boats is that they usually have names that make for good titles and I don't have to struggle too hard to come up with one. Yes, they are called the Blue Skies and the Blue Ocean.
The color in the photo of the finished painting is more accurate as well.
I am much happier with the finished piece.
I'll re post how it looked when I stopped work on the dock, as well as the set up, so you can compare the two.
"Blue Skies, Blue Ocean", 11" x 14", Frank Gardner © 2008
$950. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
First Version "Blue Skies, Blue Ocean", 11" x 14", Frank Gardner © 2008
The set up on the docks in Provincetown.
It was real fun painting out on the pier in Provincetown. It is amazing how fast the tide makes the boats go up and down.
The other great thing about painting boats is that they usually have names that make for good titles and I don't have to struggle too hard to come up with one. Yes, they are called the Blue Skies and the Blue Ocean.
Monday, June 9, 2008
"The Constance Sea"
The colors of this boat set against the colors of the sand and ocean really attracted me to this scene. The reflection was an added bonus. Those of you who have done plein air paintings of boats, or water, know that reflections come and go and change quite often.
"The Constance Sea", 8" x 10" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection
The toned canvas was a wipe out from the day before. It worked perfectly in this painting since it was pretty much the color of the sand.
This boat, "The Constance Sea", is in Chatham, Ma.
After painting the "Little Dinghy" I turned around in the same spot. I even got to keep my bare feet in the same cool hole that I had dug them into for the other piece. Painting on the beach is great. The sun had dropped quite a bit and the light was just right.
"The Constance Sea", 8" x 10" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection
The toned canvas was a wipe out from the day before. It worked perfectly in this painting since it was pretty much the color of the sand.
This boat, "The Constance Sea", is in Chatham, Ma.
After painting the "Little Dinghy" I turned around in the same spot. I even got to keep my bare feet in the same cool hole that I had dug them into for the other piece. Painting on the beach is great. The sun had dropped quite a bit and the light was just right.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
"Little Dinghy"
The simplicity of this dinghy pulled up on the beach was what attracted me to paint this one.
"Little Dinghy", 8" x 10" oil on board, Frank Gardner © 2008
$720. Framed, available at Galeria Gardner
We had a wet finish to my week on Cape Cod. It cut down on some of our outdoor painting time, but it gave me a chance to make some slight adjustments on a few of the paintings back in the studio.
I completed nine paintings and had to sign and title them, get the frames all wired up and take some quick photos of the finished paintings. I left them all out there at my friend Jerome Greene's gallery in Dennis, so I had to have everything ready to leave with him on my way off the Cape.
"Little Dinghy", 8" x 10" oil on board, Frank Gardner © 2008
$720. Framed, available at Galeria Gardner
We had a wet finish to my week on Cape Cod. It cut down on some of our outdoor painting time, but it gave me a chance to make some slight adjustments on a few of the paintings back in the studio.
I completed nine paintings and had to sign and title them, get the frames all wired up and take some quick photos of the finished paintings. I left them all out there at my friend Jerome Greene's gallery in Dennis, so I had to have everything ready to leave with him on my way off the Cape.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Some Paintings from the Trip
In case you have been wondering what I have been up to, here is a quick upload of a few of the plein air paintings from this week. I'll just post sizes of these. When I get a chance to sign them and decide on titles, I will re post them all. There are more paintings,photos and stories to tell, but I don't want to put too much time into this right now. I am here to paint.
"East Dennis Marsh", 8" x 16" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$930. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
"The Rogue and The Misfit", 8" x 10" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$720. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
"The Wreck", 8" x 10" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$720. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
My setup and subject on the pier in Provincetown.
"Blue Skies, Blue Ocean" in progress, 11" x 14" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$950. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
"East Dennis Marsh", 8" x 16" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$930. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
"The Rogue and The Misfit", 8" x 10" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$720. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
"The Wreck", 8" x 10" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$720. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
My setup and subject on the pier in Provincetown.
"Blue Skies, Blue Ocean" in progress, 11" x 14" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
$950. Framed. Available at Galeria Gardner
Friday, May 9, 2008
"Hard at Work II"
You may remember this composition from Another Grab Bag Palette. This one is the same design, larger canvas, and back to my normal palette.
"Hard at Work II", 14" x 18" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection
What I was really missing in that grab bag was yellow. Now I was able to paint the yellow flowers along the back and the yellow bag. The first version really helped me get the design and drawing down. Working in series is always a good way for me to stay loose. I knew I had the other, so I was able to take some chances on this one. I did not feel like I needed to get into too much detail.
Detail, "Hard at Work II" , Frank Gardner © 2008
Detail, "Hard at Work II" , Frank Gardner © 2008
"Hard at Work II", 14" x 18" oil on linen, Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection
What I was really missing in that grab bag was yellow. Now I was able to paint the yellow flowers along the back and the yellow bag. The first version really helped me get the design and drawing down. Working in series is always a good way for me to stay loose. I knew I had the other, so I was able to take some chances on this one. I did not feel like I needed to get into too much detail.
Detail, "Hard at Work II" , Frank Gardner © 2008
Detail, "Hard at Work II" , Frank Gardner © 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Colin Page
And now for something completely different.
Working on some larger paintings has cut into my blogging/ posting time, so I am going to post about someone else.
Colin Page is a painter who's work I admire. He lives in Maine and paints mostly from life. Colin paints a lot of plein air landscapes and some excellent still lives and interiors as well.
I first ran into Colin's work in Maine, while up there painting with some friends, and I saw several of his paintings in a gallery.
Last fall, I found his web site and on line journal and we have become friends through the internet. I hope that we can get together this summer somewhere on the east coast and paint.
I would like to introduce some of his work to those of you who may not have seen it before.
"Lobster Boat Color Study" 10" x 12", Colin Page
One of the things that I like most about Colin's work his use of color. He does not hesitate to throw in some bright yellows, greens, purples. Like in this piece with the yellow sky.
He is also pretty prolific which is really the best way to improve painting skills. I tell him he needs a kid or two to slow him down a bit to give the rest of us a chance.
His brushwork is loose and confident, and the draftsmanship is right on the money. I have yet to watch him paint, but I can tell that he jumps right in there without a bunch of aimless poking around. He puts down a stroke of paint and just leaves it alone.
"Trawler with Gulls" , 12" x 16", Colin Page
His journal is kind of like a blog, but you can't post comments. However, you can email him by clicking on the contact information on his web site. At the bottom of each post there is a link that will take you to a previous post or you can use the archive list along the right. There have been a few good posts lately that deal with beauty in art and what makes great art different than just average art. See here here and here.
Still life , Colin Page
He shows his paintings in quite a few galleries on the east coast. Here is a link to some more of his work at the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockport, Maine where he will be having a show in June.
"Red and White Buoys", Colin Page
Working on some larger paintings has cut into my blogging/ posting time, so I am going to post about someone else.
Colin Page is a painter who's work I admire. He lives in Maine and paints mostly from life. Colin paints a lot of plein air landscapes and some excellent still lives and interiors as well.
I first ran into Colin's work in Maine, while up there painting with some friends, and I saw several of his paintings in a gallery.
Last fall, I found his web site and on line journal and we have become friends through the internet. I hope that we can get together this summer somewhere on the east coast and paint.
I would like to introduce some of his work to those of you who may not have seen it before.
"Lobster Boat Color Study" 10" x 12", Colin Page
One of the things that I like most about Colin's work his use of color. He does not hesitate to throw in some bright yellows, greens, purples. Like in this piece with the yellow sky.
He is also pretty prolific which is really the best way to improve painting skills. I tell him he needs a kid or two to slow him down a bit to give the rest of us a chance.
His brushwork is loose and confident, and the draftsmanship is right on the money. I have yet to watch him paint, but I can tell that he jumps right in there without a bunch of aimless poking around. He puts down a stroke of paint and just leaves it alone.
"Trawler with Gulls" , 12" x 16", Colin Page
His journal is kind of like a blog, but you can't post comments. However, you can email him by clicking on the contact information on his web site. At the bottom of each post there is a link that will take you to a previous post or you can use the archive list along the right. There have been a few good posts lately that deal with beauty in art and what makes great art different than just average art. See here here and here.
Still life , Colin Page
He shows his paintings in quite a few galleries on the east coast. Here is a link to some more of his work at the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockport, Maine where he will be having a show in June.
"Red and White Buoys", Colin Page
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
How Long Did it Take You to Paint That?
Last week I was able to get lots of quality painting time in the studio. There are some larger canvases in the works and a few small ones. I took a break from blogging so I could concentrate on the paintings and do some family stuff this weekend.
"Another Dusty Road", 30" x 40" Oil on Canvas
Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection
I have been working on this painting off and on for about a year and a half. That is about as long as I have ever worked on one piece. I had done a 14" x 18" painting of this scene two years ago and thought that it would make a great larger painting. This one started out strong and then I ran into some trouble. I moved some things around a bit, struggled with the light, etc. etc...It just wasn't looking how I could see it in my mind.
I decided to set it aside for a while and just live with it in different spots around our house. It has been back up in the studio several times over the past 18 months. Sometimes it came back downstairs looking worse than when it went up. Other times it came down looking better, but still needing a little work. After the talk about finish in my last few posts, I decided it was time to wrap this one up.
The first painting sold right away, so I did not have it around while painting the large one.
"Dusty Road", 14" x 18" Oil on Board, Frank Gardner © 2006
Private Collection
It is hard to keep a painting looking fresh when you need to keep making adjustments to get things looking how you want. I think that just walking away from this one once in a while kept me from overworking it. It is in a frame now and looks good. I may need to tweak just a few things now that I see it down at the gallery and posted here.
I like certain things about the small version better and some things about the larger one better.
The jury is still out on this one.
"Another Dusty Road", 30" x 40" Oil on Canvas
Frank Gardner © 2008
Private Collection
I have been working on this painting off and on for about a year and a half. That is about as long as I have ever worked on one piece. I had done a 14" x 18" painting of this scene two years ago and thought that it would make a great larger painting. This one started out strong and then I ran into some trouble. I moved some things around a bit, struggled with the light, etc. etc...It just wasn't looking how I could see it in my mind.
I decided to set it aside for a while and just live with it in different spots around our house. It has been back up in the studio several times over the past 18 months. Sometimes it came back downstairs looking worse than when it went up. Other times it came down looking better, but still needing a little work. After the talk about finish in my last few posts, I decided it was time to wrap this one up.
The first painting sold right away, so I did not have it around while painting the large one.
"Dusty Road", 14" x 18" Oil on Board, Frank Gardner © 2006
Private Collection
It is hard to keep a painting looking fresh when you need to keep making adjustments to get things looking how you want. I think that just walking away from this one once in a while kept me from overworking it. It is in a frame now and looks good. I may need to tweak just a few things now that I see it down at the gallery and posted here.
I like certain things about the small version better and some things about the larger one better.
The jury is still out on this one.
Monday, April 21, 2008
"You can never achieve perfection" Emile Gruppe
So how does one know when to stop?
I often tell students that I would rather see something painted slightly wrong, but with confidence, than something painted to perfection but with a look of labored fussiness. It's just that I don't always practice what I preach.
There were a lot of really great comments and thoughts on my last post. Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts and opinions on this. I'd like to borrow a few bits and pieces from all the comments to share here.
"Fuss over the details."
"messed up something that was just fine."
Seems like a lot of us have been there, done that.
"Second Wind, Spruce Head", 11" x 14" oil on board, 2008
$950. Framed, Available at Galeria Gardner
Stepping away from the piece to come back with fresh eyes seems to be a common way to try and control the urge to over work.
Speaking of which, here is the other Maine painting that I started last October, but just came back to with fresh eyes to make a few adjustments. It is of the same boat, "Second Wind", that I wrote about before. Some old wooden lobster boats in Maine have a sail in the back that allows the captain to do all of the labor by himself. Steer and haul pots. Amazing! He is swinging into the same dock as in the last post to unload his pots at the end of the season.
O.K., back to the main point. I told you I get distracted.
Seeing the finished painting in your mind, before you start, is also a good idea. You need to have some sort of idea of what you want to achieve right from the get go.
Here is a good quote by Emile Gruppe, from "Gruppe on Color".
"When I paint outdoors, I've always liked to let the paint do some of the work. I go for the big effect; and when I get it, I let the rest go. Of course, I can still remember my father telling me "try taking it a bit further." But I always felt that if I did, I'd ruin the spontaneity and excitement of what I had in the first place. After all, it's possible for a thing to be well drawn and so systematically developed that the essence of the subject is lost.
Here's the important difference between tight and loose painting: tight, meticulous work can be copied- even a reasonably clever student could do it. But loose, spontaneous work is full of accident and inspiration. And great paintings done in this manner can never be duplicated- the painter himself doesn't know how he got some of his effects. All he knows is the he was outdoors. Something happened to him. He saw differences; he felt the shadows and the textures- and put them down. Such painters see their pictures even before they begin them- as if in a dream. The subject hits them hard. When they finish, the picture is better than nature, but never as good as what was in their minds eye. They worry about it, of course- but they also know that you can never achieve perfection. There's never and end to things. It's like the universe: where do the stars end and heaven begin?"
Two more things that I pulled from the comments on the last post.
"Wasn't it Picasso who said, "A painting is never finished--it simply stops in interesting places." "
"Everyone else has to judge the painting without the benefit of our internal dialogue and the hindsight of seeing the better versions that happened before we finally stopped."
Very good points.
I think that in the end you just have to be happy with where you leave off on the painting. If I am not 90% satisfied with how the piece looks I will cull it out and not frame it and show it. That 90% is an estimate. I shoot for 100%, but I realize that I sometimes have to settle for a little less.
That's it for now.
Thanks!
I often tell students that I would rather see something painted slightly wrong, but with confidence, than something painted to perfection but with a look of labored fussiness. It's just that I don't always practice what I preach.
There were a lot of really great comments and thoughts on my last post. Thanks to everyone for sharing your thoughts and opinions on this. I'd like to borrow a few bits and pieces from all the comments to share here.
"Fuss over the details."
"messed up something that was just fine."
Seems like a lot of us have been there, done that.
"Second Wind, Spruce Head", 11" x 14" oil on board, 2008
$950. Framed, Available at Galeria Gardner
Stepping away from the piece to come back with fresh eyes seems to be a common way to try and control the urge to over work.
Speaking of which, here is the other Maine painting that I started last October, but just came back to with fresh eyes to make a few adjustments. It is of the same boat, "Second Wind", that I wrote about before. Some old wooden lobster boats in Maine have a sail in the back that allows the captain to do all of the labor by himself. Steer and haul pots. Amazing! He is swinging into the same dock as in the last post to unload his pots at the end of the season.
O.K., back to the main point. I told you I get distracted.
Seeing the finished painting in your mind, before you start, is also a good idea. You need to have some sort of idea of what you want to achieve right from the get go.
Here is a good quote by Emile Gruppe, from "Gruppe on Color".
"When I paint outdoors, I've always liked to let the paint do some of the work. I go for the big effect; and when I get it, I let the rest go. Of course, I can still remember my father telling me "try taking it a bit further." But I always felt that if I did, I'd ruin the spontaneity and excitement of what I had in the first place. After all, it's possible for a thing to be well drawn and so systematically developed that the essence of the subject is lost.
Here's the important difference between tight and loose painting: tight, meticulous work can be copied- even a reasonably clever student could do it. But loose, spontaneous work is full of accident and inspiration. And great paintings done in this manner can never be duplicated- the painter himself doesn't know how he got some of his effects. All he knows is the he was outdoors. Something happened to him. He saw differences; he felt the shadows and the textures- and put them down. Such painters see their pictures even before they begin them- as if in a dream. The subject hits them hard. When they finish, the picture is better than nature, but never as good as what was in their minds eye. They worry about it, of course- but they also know that you can never achieve perfection. There's never and end to things. It's like the universe: where do the stars end and heaven begin?"
Two more things that I pulled from the comments on the last post.
"Wasn't it Picasso who said, "A painting is never finished--it simply stops in interesting places." "
"Everyone else has to judge the painting without the benefit of our internal dialogue and the hindsight of seeing the better versions that happened before we finally stopped."
Very good points.
I think that in the end you just have to be happy with where you leave off on the painting. If I am not 90% satisfied with how the piece looks I will cull it out and not frame it and show it. That 90% is an estimate. I shoot for 100%, but I realize that I sometimes have to settle for a little less.
That's it for now.
Thanks!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
I get distracted sometimes
"End of Season, Spruce Head", 11" x 14" oil on board, 2008
Private Collection
I get distracted sometimes.
I am learning to use what could be considered a fault as a strength. In my own little way.
Example. This year I have had relatively small windows of studio time in which to paint. Sometimes I will start a painting then run out of time for that session. When I get painting again, I often prefer to start a new painting, since I may not be in the same mood or lack the focus needed to finish the work in progress. Hence, I have a lot of works in progress.
This painting was like that. I started this painting back in October. I worked on it for one session of about four hours. There were a lot of nice loose strokes that I was happy with, but it needed to be refined. There were times that I wanted to finish it up, but always felt a bit disconnected to it and I knew that I would mess it up by trying to make it perfect.
I finally got myself in the mood to wrap this one up last week. I think that by waiting and taking my time on the "finish" that I was able to leave a lot of the loose stuff that I really liked and bring it to a point of finish without killing the spontaneity and freshness of the piece.
You can click on the images to enlarge and see what I mean. Loose strokes, shapes and colors, suggested detail, just enough, but not too much. I don't want to spell it all out. There is a fine line between enough and too much.
Detail, "End of Season, Spruce Head"
O.K., so how does the being distracted help me? My tendency in painting is to want to keep going, trying to make it perfect, and in the process I kill the suggested detail that I like so much in a painting. I don't know how many times I have pushed a painting just a little further only to regret it. My distraction becomes an ability to stop painting, step back, and then either call it done or have the smarts to just add minor corrections or strokes to solidify forms etc.. More on this in a future post.
Detail, "End of Season, Spruce Head"
Painting on location is different. I have a limited amount of time before the light changes. This is good when I only have a short amount of time to paint anyway.
How many of you have done this? You come home from a painting session outdoors, on the spot. You look at your painting in the studio and think, o.k., with just a few more strokes I am going to make this painting sing. Ah ha, those strokes end up ruining all of the freshness and spontanaity of the plein air and you want to throw it across the room. I don't know how many times I have yelled expletives as I act like a lemming jumping into the sea, I ruin a nice painting even as I know that I shouldn't do it. I feel like a moth to a flame. Julissa, my wife, just shakes her head and says, "I told you not to touch it."
I feel so stupid, and in my quest to prove myself, put even more stupid strokes on the piece. I have a lot of them stacked in my studio to prove this.
I feel myself getting distracted as I write. There are so many little side tracks to take here. Time to stop for now, as I don't want to bore you. The next few posts might have a common thread of what is "finished" when it comes to painting. I am really interested in hearing what other artists think or do, when it comes to finish. When to stop, what is enough, how much is too much?
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Another Grab Bag Palette - "The Painting"
This painting was done with my second Grab Bag Palette. These colors were a bit harder than the first Grab Bag Palette that I picked last week. My colors this time were Raw sienna, Winsor Violet, Permanent Green Light, and Oxide of Chromium, plus White.
"Hard at Work", 8" x 10" oil on linen, 2008
Private Collection
I have a larger painting of this scene in the works, with my normal palette, but I wanted to give this one a try with the limited palette colors that I picked.
This gentleman was plowing his piece of this field while his wife walked along dropping corn into the rows. I usually don't take photos of people up close like this without permission. I asked this couple if I could shoot some photos to use for paintings, and I paid them for the privilege.
"Hard at Work", 8" x 10" oil on linen, 2008
Private Collection
I have a larger painting of this scene in the works, with my normal palette, but I wanted to give this one a try with the limited palette colors that I picked.
This gentleman was plowing his piece of this field while his wife walked along dropping corn into the rows. I usually don't take photos of people up close like this without permission. I asked this couple if I could shoot some photos to use for paintings, and I paid them for the privilege.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Grab Bag Palette - "The Painting"
If you did not read my intro to the Grab Bag Palette, see here.
This one was fun. I was able to get much better color than I had feared when I picked my tubes. Purple Lake was out, so I had Magenta, Terre Verte, Cerulean Blue, Chrome Yellow and White.
Mixing lots of colors first, like I showed in my last post, was the way to go. That way I knew what I could do with what I had.
After making the value board, I scraped what was left into three piles of "mud" that were helpful to me in the painting.
My palette, with a lot of the colors that I will use in the painting, pre mixed. They are reflecting a lot of blue sky since I shot this photo in the shade.
That is some liquin in the bottom right corner of the palette.
The thing with an odd limited palette like this is that the mixes need to be seen RELATIVE to the other colors that you will be painting with. Perfect place for pre mixing some colors.
Below is the finished painting and a detail.
"Team Work", 6" x 8" oil on board, 2008
$500. Framed, Available at Galeria Gardner
Detail of "Team Work"
We are going to a Camp Out / Birthday Party for one of my daughter's friends tonight and tomorrow.
Have a great weekend.
As always, thanks for stopping by.
This one was fun. I was able to get much better color than I had feared when I picked my tubes. Purple Lake was out, so I had Magenta, Terre Verte, Cerulean Blue, Chrome Yellow and White.
Mixing lots of colors first, like I showed in my last post, was the way to go. That way I knew what I could do with what I had.
After making the value board, I scraped what was left into three piles of "mud" that were helpful to me in the painting.
My palette, with a lot of the colors that I will use in the painting, pre mixed. They are reflecting a lot of blue sky since I shot this photo in the shade.
That is some liquin in the bottom right corner of the palette.
The thing with an odd limited palette like this is that the mixes need to be seen RELATIVE to the other colors that you will be painting with. Perfect place for pre mixing some colors.
Below is the finished painting and a detail.
"Team Work", 6" x 8" oil on board, 2008
$500. Framed, Available at Galeria Gardner
Detail of "Team Work"
We are going to a Camp Out / Birthday Party for one of my daughter's friends tonight and tomorrow.
Have a great weekend.
As always, thanks for stopping by.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Grab Bag Palette - "The Grab"
Today I painted with colors that were chosen blindly, at random, from a box of paints that I had not used in a long long time. The exercise is suggested by Kevin Macpherson in his book, "Landscape Painting Inside and Out". He suggests setting aside all of the colors that you normally work with, and pick three to five random colors from twenty or thirty tubes of what is left of your paints. I had about twenty in an old paint box. You then have to do a painting with JUST those colors, plus white, no cheating.
Kathryn Law has been doing some paintings like this on her blog here, here and, here. We were swapping comments the other day, and I decided that I would give it a try. I told her I felt like I was about to jump into a lake where I knew the water would be really cold.
The colors I chose were Purple Lake, Magenta, Terre Verte, Chrome Yellow, and Cerulean Blue. I limited myself to five grabs, but one was an un marked tube that contained French Ultramarine Blue, which is a color I use all the time, so it was out. I also chose two tubes of Terra Verte, so I dropped one of those as well.
Gotta give myself some kind of chance you know.
The Terra Verte must have been from the days when I was still looking for the perfect tube of green. I tried em all. They all stink. Throw out your greens and just mix them. Terre Verte is stupid. It has no tinting power at all and I had to put tons of it into my mixes to change anything. Cerulean Blue is not far behind in tinting strength and it is not my favorite blue. My Purple lake was from so long ago that it was very dried up. I could not mix with it. Another one down. There went my darkest dark. Magenta is almost the same color though, not quite as dark and a little redder. It was going to be my "red". Chrome yellow was the lucky draw of all of them. I would have been sunk without it. The white was a given, so there I had my Grab Bag Palette. I was not that excited.
The grab, with piles of gray "mud" that were left over after some practice mixing.
I decided to see what they could do, you know, take them out for a test drive. I just mixed as many colors as I could come up with until my palette was full. Then, for fun, I layed them on a 6x8 board like my "Value Board" that I talked about in this post.
I had a ten step black and white value scale that I made with my workshop painters. The values were arranged along the edge of the board . I tried to line up the colors that I mixed using the new colors, by value, next to what I judged to be the value of each mix. This is actually a valuable exercise on seeing value. I also found that I was able to get a lot of good colors. That water was warming up.
In photoshop, I switched it to black and white to see how I did. There are some that are obviously off, but some were right on.
You may want to open another window and view the two enlargements side by side to compare. I am not an expert in photoshop or I would have put them together for you.
I finished the painting.
I'm working on getting a post together so I can share it with you all.
Kathryn Law has been doing some paintings like this on her blog here, here and, here. We were swapping comments the other day, and I decided that I would give it a try. I told her I felt like I was about to jump into a lake where I knew the water would be really cold.
The colors I chose were Purple Lake, Magenta, Terre Verte, Chrome Yellow, and Cerulean Blue. I limited myself to five grabs, but one was an un marked tube that contained French Ultramarine Blue, which is a color I use all the time, so it was out. I also chose two tubes of Terra Verte, so I dropped one of those as well.
Gotta give myself some kind of chance you know.
The Terra Verte must have been from the days when I was still looking for the perfect tube of green. I tried em all. They all stink. Throw out your greens and just mix them. Terre Verte is stupid. It has no tinting power at all and I had to put tons of it into my mixes to change anything. Cerulean Blue is not far behind in tinting strength and it is not my favorite blue. My Purple lake was from so long ago that it was very dried up. I could not mix with it. Another one down. There went my darkest dark. Magenta is almost the same color though, not quite as dark and a little redder. It was going to be my "red". Chrome yellow was the lucky draw of all of them. I would have been sunk without it. The white was a given, so there I had my Grab Bag Palette. I was not that excited.
The grab, with piles of gray "mud" that were left over after some practice mixing.
I decided to see what they could do, you know, take them out for a test drive. I just mixed as many colors as I could come up with until my palette was full. Then, for fun, I layed them on a 6x8 board like my "Value Board" that I talked about in this post.
I had a ten step black and white value scale that I made with my workshop painters. The values were arranged along the edge of the board . I tried to line up the colors that I mixed using the new colors, by value, next to what I judged to be the value of each mix. This is actually a valuable exercise on seeing value. I also found that I was able to get a lot of good colors. That water was warming up.
In photoshop, I switched it to black and white to see how I did. There are some that are obviously off, but some were right on.
You may want to open another window and view the two enlargements side by side to compare. I am not an expert in photoshop or I would have put them together for you.
I finished the painting.
I'm working on getting a post together so I can share it with you all.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
"Fields and Yellow Flowers"
Here is one more painting using a pre mixed palette of colors.
This painting is from last Friday when I went painting with my friend Guy Corriero. I painted from a spot that was slightly elevated from where I shot this photo. That way I could get the receding fields read as larger shapes.
I focused on the stacks and middle trees and moved elements from the edges inwards for a better design on my 6x8 panel.
I sketched this design lightly with vine charcoal, then mixed.
A close up of the palette. The color of the yellow flowers is missing from this shot. That blue-gray pile near my cad. red and yellow was a missed attempt, but I later used it in other mixes.
With time to think about it, I changed my design a bit. Less foreground and moved it all to the right and a bit closer.
The finished piece. "Fields and Yellow Flowers", 6" x 8" oil on board, 2008
Private Collection
The scene again to compare to the finish.
Detail 1.
Detail 2.
I was happy with the result. There is a chance that I might paint a larger piece from this. I have a few ideas how I would change things just a bit, but I don't want to mess with this one and lose the freshness and spontaneity of the painting. I've learned that the hard way. I always think that I can just "fix" a few things, but almost every time I wish that I had left it alone.
This painting is from last Friday when I went painting with my friend Guy Corriero. I painted from a spot that was slightly elevated from where I shot this photo. That way I could get the receding fields read as larger shapes.
I focused on the stacks and middle trees and moved elements from the edges inwards for a better design on my 6x8 panel.
I sketched this design lightly with vine charcoal, then mixed.
A close up of the palette. The color of the yellow flowers is missing from this shot. That blue-gray pile near my cad. red and yellow was a missed attempt, but I later used it in other mixes.
With time to think about it, I changed my design a bit. Less foreground and moved it all to the right and a bit closer.
The finished piece. "Fields and Yellow Flowers", 6" x 8" oil on board, 2008
Private Collection
The scene again to compare to the finish.
Detail 1.
Detail 2.
I was happy with the result. There is a chance that I might paint a larger piece from this. I have a few ideas how I would change things just a bit, but I don't want to mess with this one and lose the freshness and spontaneity of the painting. I've learned that the hard way. I always think that I can just "fix" a few things, but almost every time I wish that I had left it alone.
Friday, March 28, 2008
"Trees Along the River" - pre mixed palette
Here is another pre mixed palette and painting that I did this week.
I really liked the scene for its feeling of tranquility. I pushed the painting past the initial block in stage so I could layer the color a bit.
Barb Pask asked me to include a reference photo with one of these posts, so I added one at the bottom. I moved the composition around just a little.
I don't have a set number of colors that I mix up, although for the class I ask everyone to mix at least between 7 and 11 different colors. Sometimes you can get away with less. In this one I have more.
I'll often pick a color and mix it, then push part of that pile a little toward some other colors, say bluer or greener etc...but keep them in the same value. Then paint those three or four colors into the same mass to add some variety. The better you get at looking and seeing color, the better you will get at making those subtle mixes.
One of the main things that this exercise does is get you looking, seeing and learning to mix. You learn to compare colors on your palette and push them a little one way or another or dull them down a bit.
In the morning I am going out painting with a friend. I will take some palette photos and try to come back with something worth showing and talking about.
"Trees Along the River", 6" x 8" oil on linen, 2008
$500. Framed, Available at Galeria Gardner
I really liked the scene for its feeling of tranquility. I pushed the painting past the initial block in stage so I could layer the color a bit.
Barb Pask asked me to include a reference photo with one of these posts, so I added one at the bottom. I moved the composition around just a little.
I don't have a set number of colors that I mix up, although for the class I ask everyone to mix at least between 7 and 11 different colors. Sometimes you can get away with less. In this one I have more.
I'll often pick a color and mix it, then push part of that pile a little toward some other colors, say bluer or greener etc...but keep them in the same value. Then paint those three or four colors into the same mass to add some variety. The better you get at looking and seeing color, the better you will get at making those subtle mixes.
One of the main things that this exercise does is get you looking, seeing and learning to mix. You learn to compare colors on your palette and push them a little one way or another or dull them down a bit.
In the morning I am going out painting with a friend. I will take some palette photos and try to come back with something worth showing and talking about.
"Trees Along the River", 6" x 8" oil on linen, 2008
$500. Framed, Available at Galeria Gardner
Thursday, March 27, 2008
pre mixing color - "The Sower"
"It is beautifully simple, painting - all we have to do is get the color notes in their proper relation." Charles Hawthorne
I am working on several posts based on the idea of pre mixing color on the palette before painting. There is so much to talk about here that I feel the best way to go about it is to do several posts. I don't want everyone to get bored, and I don't want to overload a blog post with too many ideas.
I'll try and not repeat myself too much. If you have not read my previous post on pre mixing color, it is here.
On this one I worked from a photo, mixing colors for about twenty minutes. I started by mixing my lightest shadow color, which is the woman's sweater in shadow. I compared the values of all of the other colors to that.
Then I blocked in the main masses of the painting for about thirty minutes without mixing any new colors.
After that, I began breaking those main masses up into smaller shapes for another ten or fifteen minutes. Mostly in the background trees. I realized that I was going beyond the purpose of this post so I stopped.
Photos below - (1) palette, (2) after 30 min., (3) after 10-15 min. more.
"The Sower", 10" x 8" oil on linen, 2008
Private Collection
I find that key issues that many students in my classes face are seeing color and value, mixing accurate color, working too slowly to catch the rapidly changing light, and painting the details before the main masses are blocked in accurately. I wanted to find a way to focus on these issues.
It is all about getting the right color, making it the right shape, and putting it in the right spot.
I would like to add a few quotes from "Hawthorne on Painting". If you don't have this book, get it. It is only like six bucks. I have read it at least twenty times. Each time I pick up on something new, something that helps me with where I am at the moment.
"The mechanics of putting one spot of color next to another - the fundamental thing."
"Remember, no amount of good drawing will pull you out if your colors are not true, get them true and you will be surprised how little else you will need."
"Do studies, not pictures. Know when you are licked - start another. Be alive, stop when your interest is lost....... It is so hard and long before a student comes to the realization that these few large simple spots in right relations are the most important things in the study of painting. They are the fundamentals of all painting."
"A mass either stays within the lights or it falls into the range of the darks, and by half squinting the eyes you can tell to which it belongs. Remember, the eye takes in all your big lights against all your big darks."
I'll stop there for now.
I am working on several posts based on the idea of pre mixing color on the palette before painting. There is so much to talk about here that I feel the best way to go about it is to do several posts. I don't want everyone to get bored, and I don't want to overload a blog post with too many ideas.
I'll try and not repeat myself too much. If you have not read my previous post on pre mixing color, it is here.
On this one I worked from a photo, mixing colors for about twenty minutes. I started by mixing my lightest shadow color, which is the woman's sweater in shadow. I compared the values of all of the other colors to that.
Then I blocked in the main masses of the painting for about thirty minutes without mixing any new colors.
After that, I began breaking those main masses up into smaller shapes for another ten or fifteen minutes. Mostly in the background trees. I realized that I was going beyond the purpose of this post so I stopped.
Photos below - (1) palette, (2) after 30 min., (3) after 10-15 min. more.
"The Sower", 10" x 8" oil on linen, 2008
Private Collection
I find that key issues that many students in my classes face are seeing color and value, mixing accurate color, working too slowly to catch the rapidly changing light, and painting the details before the main masses are blocked in accurately. I wanted to find a way to focus on these issues.
It is all about getting the right color, making it the right shape, and putting it in the right spot.
I would like to add a few quotes from "Hawthorne on Painting". If you don't have this book, get it. It is only like six bucks. I have read it at least twenty times. Each time I pick up on something new, something that helps me with where I am at the moment.
"The mechanics of putting one spot of color next to another - the fundamental thing."
"Remember, no amount of good drawing will pull you out if your colors are not true, get them true and you will be surprised how little else you will need."
"Do studies, not pictures. Know when you are licked - start another. Be alive, stop when your interest is lost....... It is so hard and long before a student comes to the realization that these few large simple spots in right relations are the most important things in the study of painting. They are the fundamentals of all painting."
"A mass either stays within the lights or it falls into the range of the darks, and by half squinting the eyes you can tell to which it belongs. Remember, the eye takes in all your big lights against all your big darks."
I'll stop there for now.
Monday, March 24, 2008
"Drying Bricks and Kiln"
I did this little plein air two weeks ago. It is not the prettiest scene in San Miguel, but I think that it has a lot of character. The raw bricks are laid out in the sun to dry before they are put in this kiln to be fired.
"Drying Bricks and Kiln", 6" x 8" oil on linen, 2008
Private Collection
My setup, and the scene at the brick maker's.
All of these colors were pre mixed on my palette before I started the painting. I did not take a picture until I had cleaned off the palette to pack up.
There has been a lot of interest in pre mixing of colors. Thanks to everyone who has commented or emailed me about this.
I am working on a few posts, but they take a while to pull together. Stay tuned.
"Drying Bricks and Kiln", 6" x 8" oil on linen, 2008
Private Collection
My setup, and the scene at the brick maker's.
All of these colors were pre mixed on my palette before I started the painting. I did not take a picture until I had cleaned off the palette to pack up.
There has been a lot of interest in pre mixing of colors. Thanks to everyone who has commented or emailed me about this.
I am working on a few posts, but they take a while to pull together. Stay tuned.
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