spring forward steps

A bright spot on our dog-walk is a Forsythia bush now in full bloom. I wanted to paint it as one of the first colorful signs of spring.

Step 1: I have several 7x5 inch Ampersand Pastelbord panels with abstract oil-wash foundations. Using my reference photo in grayscale as well as in color, I laid in a black acrylic map of the darkest area for a little pastel painting called "Spring Forward." 

Step 2: The image on the left has the addition of blue pastel in the sky and water.

Step3: All colors except the yellow of the Forsythia have been added to the image on right.

"Spring Forward"•

7x5 pastel

reverie progress report

Progress Report or, Questions I am asking myself:

1.  Do I want to lighten the water to better match the 6x6 value study? YES, but not that bright, this is a different mood or time of day.

2.  Do I want to become more literal in the grasses under the water in the foreground and, if I do that, will it be too much contrast in technique to the way the background was handled.

3. Do I want to add more details (those tempting peekholes) to the tree mass in the background?

4. Do I need to resolve the background shoreline vs the landmass in upper right? YES, done.

5. Do I want to add more clumps of grasses in lower right that would lighten the values in that corner?

6. Do I want to make the grasses curve around on the right upper? YES, done.

7. Do I know when to walk away? And, while I am away, I will use PhotoShop to make all the adjustments I have questions about to see if they work.

Notice that none of these questions is about color. I'm good with that because this painting is about creating mood with a very limited palette.

reverie foundation

I love to paint the foundations of oil paintings. This 24x24 oil is called Reverie and I'm working from the 6x6 oil study of the same name. I'm thinking of leaving both of these in the foundation stage rather than taking them into full color.

the path of least resistance

Yesterday was the first day of spring, today we had snow in Washington. At the change of seasons, I find myself in a reflective mood. Winter is over - what were the events of my winter that are memorable? What do I want to make of Spring 2013? One thing, paint bigger. This is a 24x24 inch oil from the Nisqually Refuge series. Water filling nooks and crannies as grasses define its path of least resistance.

What is my painting-path of least resistance?

1. Establishing the composition using values only. I covered most of the painting surface with a medium value sepia tone then brushed or wiped away paint for the lightest areas and added full color paint for the darkest areas.

2. Using a color palette already familiar to me, I am using the notes from a previous painting to begin adding color.

a bright tomorrow framed

A Bright Tomorrow •

oil

5x7 inches

sun slide, over and over

Smaller does not mean faster! I spent most of yesterday on this 5x7 pastel called "Sun Slide •." It could have been called brain slide. Or, maybe I was thinking too much.

I was very happy with the black acrylic foundation work on an Ampersand Pastelbord panel shown above but it was downhill (no pun intended) after that. Put pastel on, wipe it off, repeat, repeat. I finally ended up with a different painting than I had in mind so I left it, ate a big plate of my comfort food (spaghetti) and went to bed. By this morning I was over what I expected it to look like and now appreciate it for it's delicate color (click to enlarge).

big surprise workshop

I'm going to teach a very small pastel workshop, Landscape Impressions, at my Studio in Renton, WA July 22-23, 2013.

No one is more surprised at this turn of events than me! I was a long-time instructor at Frye Art Museum in Seattle and at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in OR. I finally quit teaching to concentrate on my own work. Now, I find myself wanting to share my thoughts and painting process again, in-person with other artists.

I need one more student. If you are interested in painting plein air with me and the above dates and location work for you, send me an email  barbaranewton (at) comcast (dot) net and I'll send you additional information. Note: sometimes it rains on July 22-23 in Washington state. If that happens, we'll paint in my studio from your reference photos and mine. That is the reason I have to keep the class size very small.

spring light color study - framed

Spring Light Color Study •

pastel, 5 x 7 inches

four demos

I came across these four demos in my flat file and will post them for purchase on Etsy. Clockwise from upper left:  Pear Demo for pastel workshop at Frye Art Museum, Two Cherries, watercolor with colored pencil, Lilies and Lace - this appeared in a national magazine as a step x step colored pencil demo, Glass Reflections in colored pencil on gray paper. My shop at Etsy is called BBNewton Art.

spring stream - framed

Spring Stream •

oil,  6 x 8 inches

true love in two mediums

Yesterday I finished the 18x18 inch oil painting based on my 5x7 inch pastel color study. Similar scene, different format - square instead of rectangular, different mood - changed the direction of the light source, different medium. And of course, a different painting experience with each medium.

using the color study

This is 'Spring Light, Winter Shade,' pastel, 14.5 x 20 inches.

I used the 5x7 color study as my guide to apply the oil wash foundation to Wallis paper last night. This morning, with the color study beside me, I began adding pastel, went for a dog-walk, ran some errands and finished the painting in the afternoon. Another painting, my first full-size pastel, under my new studio lights.

it's about the light

For this little color study, the first from the reference photos taken at the Nisqually Refuge, it's about the light. When we started our mile walk, it was winter but the sun came out for the last 15 minutes.

'It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade'   Charles Dickens

It's also about the new lights in my studio. I seem to be seeing/thinking/painting lighter and perhaps with more punch (range of value, contrast).

true love framed

Color Study for True Love •

5x7 pastel

119 reference photos

The BEST photo shoot yesterday! 119 photos of the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. You know how much I love marshy scenes. This estuary was wonderful!

mix oil to match pastel

A couple days ago I posted the pastel study for an 18 x 18 inch oil painting. Here is what I did to mix the colors for the oil painting and insure that I got the same color palette as my study:

1. I sampled pastels I used in the color study by applying a swatch on a Viva paper towel. Then, I referred to my Richard Schmid color charts.

2. I mixed oil paint on my palette until I felt it matched the color used in the pastel. In this case, the Schmincke yellow matches the color on the chart made of Cadmium Yellow Light, Cad Red and White.

I could have used trial and error to mix the yellow but this is the reason I spent days making the color charts. Very helpful!

simple pleasures framed

I like to post my DPW gallery paintings here in a frame for their official portrait. Most of the time I forget to do it but here is "Simple Pleasures •."

ahhh pastel...

Today I worked in pastel for the first time under my new Studio lights. This 5x7 is a study for the oil painting I'm working on (tentatively titled "When All is Said and Done").  I love this little study - I'm calling it "True Love" and if I can get the same feeling on the oil, it will have that title too.

By the way, my new lights are warm in temperature so I also turn on my Ott Easel Lite and the combination of both lights makes the temperature and the color very good.

bejeweled posted on studio sales

It's the first of a new month and time for another Studio Sale posting.

This month, "Bejeweled" is looking for a new home. Select the Studio Sales link in the sidebar to the right or, click on the title of the drawing.

paint with me?

A workshop with me? Though I retired myself from teaching workshops I continue to receive emails asking if I teach. For a few years I just said no and that felt right but now I'm considering a workshop or two during the summer months. I haven't kept the names from all the emails requests so I am posting this notice.

If you are interested in a two or three day workshop in oil or pastel with me at my Studio in Renton, WA, please send me an email with the words workshop and the medium you prefer in the subject line. My email address is barbaranewton (the @ symbol) comcast (dot) net

Whew, I've been thinking about that decision too long - thanks for your input.

switcheroo or, let there be light

I love to move furniture around in our house...everything old seems new again. However, with the purchase of a 5-ton sleeper sofa, installation of hanging lights over the dining table and the addition last summer of a super heavy Sleep Number bed, the furniture I can move is dwindling and I don't like that. I long to recreate and renew living/working spaces.

On this blog, you've seen my studio painted and repainted, arranged and rearranged. Through it all, my office area has stayed in the same corner for more than 20 years. That is, until last week.

One of the galleries that represents me asked for larger oils and I couldn't imagine how I would paint larger in my current studio set up. So, I began to ponder switching my office corner with my painting corner. Once I measured, and was willing to give up my old Boeing Surplus metal desk because it just wouldn't fit, I got excited to make the change. Just one problem, as bad as the lighting was on my easel, in its current location, it would be even worse in the opposite corner. My husband to the rescue! He offered to replace the overhead fluorescent light with track lighting. Hooray!

I won't go into the details of what a big mess it made to make the switch or what three days of lifting, shoving, sorting and organizing felt like, I'll just show you the before and after photos.

 

before

after

The two photos above are the Southeast corner of the studio (before it was my studio, it was a double car garage). The top photo is the painting area as it used to be: one side of my Boeing Surplus drafting table held pastels for the easel tucked back in the corner and the other side of the table is covered with glass for oil painting. My Open Box M on a tripod was at end and very convenient to trip over. The other photo shows the same area but now it is my office.

 

before

after

The two photos above show the Southwest corner, first as the long-time office and now as my new painting area with pastels on the drafting table to the left of the easel and the glass area for oil painting on the right. And, because of the track lighting, I can actually SEE. I look forward to painting!

I finally did it

I finally opened a shop on Etsy!  To search for it on the Etsy site, type in BBNewtonART.

I have posted a half-dozen still lifes but will add landscapes in the future and perhaps some prints. Also, I still plan to make a painting or two available each month on my Studio Sales blog (see the link in the sidebar here).

Big changes going on in my studio, I hope to post photos about it soon.

two paintings from one

"Day Dream •" left side

"Another Day Dream •" right side

I found a forgotten pastel painting done on magenta Canson Mi-Teintes, soft side (less textured side). There were parts of this painting I loved so I cut two 8x6 inch sections out, each to stand alone as a separate painting. They will be posted together on my Daily Paintworks Gallery.

bosc on blue

Calling it done. "Bosc on Blue," pastel on Wallis paper with an oil underpainting, 13x 13 inches. To see the beginning steps of this painting, see my Feb. 15th post.  The oil color study for this painting, is posted on my DPW gallery.

begin with an old painting...

 "Garden Pond," pastel, 10.5 x 10.5 inches.

 

In-progress photos:

1. I came across a piece of 12x18 inch Belgium Mist Wallis in my flat file that I had used for an exercise in a workshop a couple years ago. After brushing off the horizontal scene, I turned the paper sideways so I wouldn't be distracted by the ghost image of the previous painting. Using a pastel pencil, I indicated an area 11x11 inches and blocked in the lightest areas of a new painting with an oil wash.

2. More oil wash, this time in the darkest value and a middle value (green)

3. After the oil was dry (a couple hours), I began to apply pastel in the darkest and lightest areas of the new painting. The pastel on this one took less than 2 hours. Less is more. Don't dawdle and doodle because your marks become picky and labored.

oil in progress complete

I've been looking at this painting for 10 days thinking it was about 75% done but when I put it back on the easel today, I just punched up the lights and called it quits. You can see the progression paintings on my Feb. 6th post. "Morning Mist," 14 x 10 inches, oil on canvas paper mounted on gatorboard.

bosc pear color study and progress

I haven't really explored fruit in pastel so during these few weeks of play I'm trying a pear on Wallis paper.

To prepare, I painted a color study in oil (shown above), "Bosc Color Study," oil on panel, 7.75 x 7.875 inches. Watch for this painting on the Daily Paintworks auction.

Below is the progress of my pastel painting that is about twice the size of the color study - 13 x 13 inches.

First, a line drawing was done with blue pastel pencil, then an oil-wash under painting. The two bottom photos show the beginning of adding pastel (left) and at about 70% complete. The surface the pear is sitting on is plastic wrap (wrinkly) protecting a sheet of blue Canson Mi-Teintes paper from pear juice. The color on these shots isn't perfect but I'll post the finished piece when I'm done.

cole gallery show

I hope you can join us Opening Night, Thursday, February 21st, 5-8 pm. You can also see the entire show online at Cole Gallery.

washington park spring

This is the formal/framed shot of my latest 6x8 inch oil on hardboard, "Washington Park Spring •."

mango

I painted this mango some time ago and I want to paint a mango again. Such beautiful colors that change daily as it ripens. This painting is oil, 6x8 inches on hardboard panel. You can view it with the magnifier on Daily Paintworks.

oil in progress

A couple things...first, I'm done playing with those tomatoes. I've posted the finished painting as the conclusion to my Feb. 5th post. And secondly, I'm trying something new: I bought a pad of Fredrix canvas paper and used YES glue to mount one sheet on Gatorboard. I don't like the springy feeling of a stretched canvas so this solves that problem. I'm working (playing) with a path near the Cedar River. Here's a photo of how it is coming along. I'm doing a lot of lifting color back off the ground - a technique I also used with colored pencil and reusable adhesive. With oil, it is a brush wet with mineral spirits in one hand and a Viva towel in the other. Lift, wipe the brush, repeat.

out of season

Every few months I come across this little painting tucked away in a drawer or on a shelf in my studio. It cheers me each time I see it but I will probably never get around to framing it and hanging it somewhere here so I posted it on Daily Paintworks to cheer someone else's winter months.

tomatoes continued

This is my previous post continued. I had to wipe off the foreground, all the way back to the original tomato. When I say 'had to' I mean the painting direction wasn't working. Apply paint, push it around, try to get a vision for the painting....nothing! So, I just wiped the bottom half off and began again.

This is how the little painting looks now. I'm starting to see a story but anything could happen...

Well, every hint of tomato is gone. Obliterated by lots of green oil paint in this scene reminiscent of another part of the Washington Park Arboretum, this time in spring. I wanted to utilize the red of the tomato under painting but when I didn't insist, this little painting evolved on it's own. That's OK with me, especially during these weeks of playing.

bye bye tomatoes

For several months, I've been painting for upcoming shows at Cole Gallery (WA) and Attic Gallery (OR).  Now it's time to play - loosen up, experiment, take myself and my work less seriously.

The next best thing to creating a painting you are pleased with is obliterating a painting that isn't working. Digging around my studio, I found a painting of tomatoes that was pretty bad so I white-washed it a little, turned it upside down and began again.

After adding masses for a landscape, I used my gloved fingernail to scrape some grasses into the foreground so the tomato-red peeks through. Not sure where this will go...I'll keep you posted.

perseverance and studio sales

Today I'd like to pay homage to perseverance. I admire this attribute and I am grateful for those who are shining examples for me.

I'm impressed by the perseverance and bravery of those who find themselves in challenging health situations. A well known pastelist whose work I follow online is sharing her current health journey with the art community. She is an inspiration to me.

I'm impressed by those who persevere to paint no matter the weather conditions. While I'm deciding whether or not I to walk the dog in the rain, Haidee-Jo Summers is out painting every day in the cold and snow. She inspires me to paint more plein air this year.

And, I am in awe of the many artists who paint everyday in whatever limited space they have. One such person is a fb friend, Gary Edward Jennings. I asked his permission to show you his table-top studio. 

Here's wishing you (and me) the ability to carry on, to keep at it, to hang in there and to persevere.

On another note, (or maybe it's the same subject?) I have posted two new paintings on my Studio Sales blog. These are paintings from my studio flat files, directly from my studio to you. Thanks for taking a look!