color your world

For the past few years, my studio walls have been blue, the same color as a wall at the Women Painters of Washington Gallery, Seattle. I was ready for a change but couldn't stand the thought of ripping the studio apart to paint the walls. So much STUFF to move around.

But, if you look at my October 7th post you'll see my BOS painting (yay!) and behind it, the very nice wall color of the Columbia Art Center Gallery in Hood River, OR. I contacted them, got the wall color information, matched it to my favorite paint (Behr UL1 50-15) and have spent 4 days changing the color of my world. One thought behind this, valid or not, is my observation that my paintings of recent years have been very cool in color temperature. I would like to warm it up and maybe this new wall color will help me do that.

pondering, photographing

Each evening, my husband and I play a game of cards at the round oak table in my Studio. From where I sit, I can ponder the work on my easel. Today I worked on this painting and tonight I will ponder it over his shoulder. I already see a couple changes...

Meanwhile, I received an email asking how I photograph my work so I'll add a little about that here. My camera is a couple years old but I love it: Panasonic Lumix FZ35. You should really use a tripod when you shoot your work. I don't anymore. You should really use special lights too. I don't anymore. Make sure you understand the White Balance on your camera and set it accordingly if you are shooting in the studio under lights or outside in the shade. I do use a Kodak Color Control bar (primarily used for printers in reproducing your work true-to-color) for all the color adjustments in Photoshop.  The thinking is that if the color bar looks correct, so is the color of the painting. I use Photoshop to square-up the image (transform> skew or distort). For more information about photographing artwork, just Google it - there is professional advice out there that is better than mine.

painting more

 The next step for me was to lighten the lower left corner to balance all the drama in the top third of the painting. I selected two yellows. For your painting, decide what the focus is and what ever colors are used there, use them again elsewhere.

I used hard pastels in pink and dark blue for texture and color. The hard pastels don't fill the tooth of the paper - they ride on top and allow the colors underneath to show through.

Here is s closeup of the texture.

This is what my painting looks like now. The next step will be mostly detail work. I'm happy with the drama and value contrasts. I'm happy that I've used a limited palette to help simplify the scene. I hope your own painting is going well.

more paint with me

Next, I selected two values of the same blue, one just a little lighter and brighter than the other.

I applied the blues to the background hillside and in the shadowy foreground. In the foreground I applied the color very lightly to add texture and interest of the previous color showing through. Here's how the painting looks with two blues added. If you're painting along with me, select two colors of your own and apply where needed. Click to enlarge.

Love this pastel pencil color! I used it for the tree branches. Do you have some detail where you might use a pencil? Note: I applied it now because the sky behind it is complete. I also applied some bright, light, cool yellow to create the little illuminated tree. And, using the same yellow and an Xacto knife, I added some sparkle by shaving a little pastel onto the painting. Place glassine over the sprinkles and press in with your palms. Sprinkling is difficult to control so you may want to remove some of it later as I will do with this painting. Use sprinkling sparingly to enhance a statement. If you use too much, it will look like a gimmick. Click to enlarge.

paint with me

In my last post I talked about comparing yourself to yourself. That is, your very best work to your not-so-great paintings. I thought you might want to paint along with me by taking a painting you are not completely satisfied with and reworking it into excellence. By the way, excellence is a moving target...what was my best effort 5 years ago was the best I could do at the time. But, each day, week and year of painting improves our skills and vision which increases the confidence that is apparent in our work. Paint every day.

Select a painting and brush the pastel off.

Select a color or two at each end of the value scale. These are the colors I've used so far:  very light pink, very dark blue-violet and a very dark olive green

This is the reference photo I'm using.

Put in the lightest colors and the darkest colors. Are you painting along with me? If so, I'd love to hear about it.

compare yourself

When I accepted the award at the NPS show this weekend, it was gratifying to have my hard work acknowledged. There is no area within that painting that I would change.

So, when I came into the studio this morning and compared myself (the award winning painting) to myself (this painting) I realized I could have done more to push it (and myself) into excellence.  I unframed it and tweaked it in several places but the most noticeable is the area I've circled in red on the old painting. I'm much happier with it (the one on the left) now. CLICK HERE to see a larger image.

Review your work of this year. Pick your favorite piece and remember how you felt painting it and how satisfying it is to look at it now and know you did your very best. Now look at your other work. What would it take to push other paintings into excellence? Even though I don't teach anymore, that is a workshop I might be interested in scheduling.

happy day

I'm very happy to post the news that "Edge of Winter" received Best of Show at the Northwest Pastel Society 2012 Members Exhibit at Columbia Art Center Gallery, Hood River, Oregon. The show runs through October 28th and was juried and judged by Dawn Emerson. This painting has a special place in my heart because the reference photo is from a dog-walk early this year with my two grandsons. A happy day then and now.

Jeffrey Moose Gallery Exhibit

Click image to enlarge

resolution

I thought the process of my resolution for this painting might be interesting to you. I took a photo of the image and printed it out. Then, with actual art in front of me, I made notes on the photo of corrections I planned to make. I had just begun to work on the sky when a friend called. As our conversation was winding down, I walked back over to the painting and began again with a blue pastel in the upper right corner. One thing led to another and as we chatted, I added the blue into several other areas of the painting. It wasn't one of the notes on my plan but once my attention was on the phone call, my intuition took over and the addition was a good idea. A good phone conversation might be one of the things to add to the list of tools for resolution of a painting.

Below is "September Side Road," 22 x 17 inches. I have posted this image on my DailyPaintworks Gallery so you can use the magic magnifier to see the details. CLICK HERE.

detour

 

I'm still working on the two oil paintings I've been posting but this afternoon I took a detour to my pastel work station and managed to get "September Side Road" about 95% complete.

The top image shows blocking in shapes with pastel on Color Spectrum paper. The next image is after an alcohol wash and a some dry pastel on the upper half. 

The bottom image shows dry pastel applied over all. This painting is about 95% done. I'm concerned about the shape of the clouds and the shape of the light on on road. It was not intentional but maybe the shapes are too similar? I'm thinking...

wintergrass

Time for only one painting today. I photographed the painting, turned the image into a grayscale in Photoshop, printed it out and used it to make value corrections to the painting in progress. Now I'm going to let this one rest and dry while I work on the other one tomorrow. Inching along.

two oils, step 3

Posting each day's work on these two oils might be too much like watching paint dry. In the end, I can print the images and staple them together for one of those little flip-books to entertain myself.

two oils, step 2

Another hour of painting on these two this morning. Now, a wheelbarrow of Italian prunes to deal with. I think I'll just eat as many as I can.

back to it

These cooler days and crispy nights are my favorite time of year! A project for Women Painters of Washington has filled most of my week but I was happy to be able to get back to painting this morning. Here is the start of two 18x18 inch oils.

rework #22

Found another painting to rework. The original painting was high-key and a different scene (see below). The rework is a scene from a dog-walk at Luther Burbank Park on Mercer Island last week. "September Sojourn," 11.5x18 inches.

rework #21

Now, that's better! The new and improved "Wenatchee River" is cooler in color temperature and darker for a change of mood. There is more sensitivity in the handling of the trees and bushes, less detail in the rocks. Background has much more depth especially because this time I have indicated a path. We do the best we can with what we know at the time. In the five years since painting the original, my handling of the medium has improved so I am better able to tell the story of a painting. My advice...paint every day so the five year changes don't take 10 years to happen. I'm going to put this on DPW just because I love the magnifier tool!

This painting, along with the other 20 reworks can be seen as they are now and as they looked before the rework. In most cases, the current images looks completely different. Click on the link in the upper right corner of this blog - Reworked Paintings

sketchbook reminder

I'm coming to the end of my list of mediocre paintings to be reworked. "Wenatchee River," painted in 2007, had enough redeeming qualities to put it near the end of the list so I'm going to try to save some of it.

An email conversation with a friend about the many uses of Photoshop for an artist reminded me of the preparation steps I used to go through. My process was to use PS to look at the reference photo in grayscale as well as blurred (as if squinting). I also turned it into a value sketch. I looked this painting up in my old sketchbook and will use this page from 2007 as reference when I rework "Wenatchee River" today.

7 year old paper

I've been painting on this same piece of Art Spectrum paper since 2005. In that year, I painted "Softly" which survived until 2009 when I washed it off and repainted the scene as "Wild Iris." Now, that painting is gone and it has been reinvented as "Footpath." This is a fun one to look at with the magnifier on Daily Paintworks.

paper for day dream

I received several inquiries about this painting (and votes for the title "Zombies at Dusk") so I thought I'd post the unframed version. This is Canson Mi-Teintes violet color. I worked on the wrong or "soft" side for less paper texture. These days I usually work on a sanded surface.

The paper was previously used in 2005 for "New Day." Nice value range but tight, over blended, lacking nuance and subtlety, it was on my rework list.

day dream

My grandsons, 10 and 12, are spending their last days of summer vacation with me. I reworked this 2005 painting today and they suggested titles. The 10 year old thought "A Wish Come True" would be a good title. The 12 year old liked "Zombies at Dusk." I over ruled them both with "Day Dream." Does that give you an idea of my week?

I'm going to post this painting on DPW so you can use the magnifier to see the dusting technique I've included in some of my work during the past year. I use this special technique when I want random detail or a surprising dash of color.

another interpretation of rivers edge

This is my third... and final I think...interpretation of this scene. River's Edge was first painted as a vertical pastel in 2007, then as a square oil study and now in pastel again as a horizontal and in a higher key palette. I used some of my pastel sprinkling technique in this - difficult to see here but I'll post it on DPW so you can use the magic magnifier on it to see the detail. Visit my August 16 post to see the beginning of this painting.

I've been totally glued to my computer for two weeks working on a project that I'll tell you about in the fall. I'm tired of sitting and am looking forward to standing again at my easel. Soon...

oil study for "Shadowland"

This 8 x 6 inch oil color study for a pastel painting "Shadowland" will be my last oil for a while because I have committed to a project that is going to take most of my time until mid September. I'll be able to tell you about it after that. You can see this with the magic magnifier on DPW.

another river's edge

After looking at that tight version done many years ago (see my last post), I wondered what I could do with the scene again. The top photo is step 1 and the bottom photo is the pastel about 30% complete.

The painting on the left is "River's Edge," pastel on paper, 25 x 18 inches, painted five years ago. The painting on the right was completed last week from the same reference photo. Square format, 6x6 inches, oil on panel. sold

the heart of the matter

When I came across the reference photo for a painting that ended up in the mediocre group earlier this year and was reworked into another painting, I remembered how much I loved that color palette.  I decided to cut the ‘heart’ out of the photo to use as my reference for a new pastel painting.

I taped a piece of pale pink Art Spectrum Colourfix paper to my easel and applied an oil wash using a large brush and very loose, broad strokes. Then, starting at the top, I began applying pastel.

For me, painting with pastel is a dance between the artist, the paper, and a stick of color. The interchange is exhilarating and energizing as well as challenging and exhausting. A drag and lift of the pastel stick creates a sheaf of dried grass; the edge of the pastel touches the paper abruptly for the bent branch or twig. The play of texture against texture and color combinations as one color is dragged over another is intoxicating. The nuances and subtleties possible with pastel are unlike any other medium I have tried. Below is "Shadowland," 25 x 18 inches. This painting will be at Cole Gallery, Edmonds, Washington in the fall.

wild meadow...again

I came across the reference photo for a scene I've already painted twice: once in pastel in 2007 and then as an oil about a year later. Third try's the charm and I do think I like this one best. 6x6 inches, oil on panel. Oil Study 13 (Wild Meadow) is sold.

unstuck

The little 6x6 study really helped me get unstuck on this painting (see my previous post of July 31). Love that subtle glazing process but in the end I had to throw caution to the wind and punch it up for "Golden Afternoon," 20 x 20 inches, oil on wood panel.

aaahh...pastel

aaahhh...pastel. There's nothing like it! After a seven month break from pastel and a journey into oil painting, I'm back. This is a piece that I painted in 2011. I loved it but after looking at it for a year, I felt it lacked 'content.' I can't explain what that means but it is the word that comes to mind. Last night I added some content and now I'm happy with it and happy to be working with pastel again.

stuck in the middle

 I've been glazing this 20x20 inch oil almost everyday for more than a week. Changes are so incremental that I am having a hard time envisioning the end result.

Out of frustration, I painted a little 6x6 study of how it might eventually look. This study for the larger painting is sold.