Category: How I Paint

Began this yesterday AM, at about 7:00, and am now a couple hours into it.

untitled 12 x 16″ oil

It’s surprisingly one of the most constantly transitioning subjects I’ve ever painted, which is odd because all of the shapes are as stable as they come. One would imagine I might claim that about the ocean, which certainly doesn’t sit still, but this mountain takes the prize.  It’s the light and color that is absolutely schiz-o  from one minute to the next.

Anyway, I find it as challenging as can be to find the color notes. Because of the difficulty, I again find myself experimenting with a method of organizing my color mixing…creating a large middle tone for for an area I wish to paint (say the mountain) and bring touches of color around this base that can be dragged into it (scrambled a bit); light from above the mixture,  dark from below the mixture, warm from the right side, cool from the left.  It’s a game, but The Idea is to be systematic in adjusting the values and temperatures, which I find gets me using more paint (a good thing for me), and hopefully lends a more decisive and cleaner look to the painting.

This is the idea, if you can make any sense of it:

The painting surface is one of my beloved homemade lead-primed panels, and it’s perfect for the kind of painting I’m doing, which is tiled-on notes with straight paint over a warm wash.

Can’t wait for tomorrow A.M. to get cracking on this again.

For many year I’ve persisted in painting from life whenever possible.  This has included everything from landscapes and ocean pieces to the commissioned portraiture that comes my way.  I tremendously enjoy the engagement that comes from being in-the-moment with the subject I’m painting, and will continue to do so as long as I’m able.

But recently I’ve been looking to improve on some of this because there is an obstacle within my approach, that of becoming overly-occupied with the purely visual (which I do love) and not allowing enough consideration to other matters.  Working with the subject constantly before me has at times led to some poor decisions in composition, color, and emphasis over the years.  The more I look at the paintings that I admire, the more I see my future progress in terms of designing more unique and thoughtfully composed paintings, if I am able to.

What’s changing

The approach I’m adapting is to create paintings by starting with an imaginary sketch of what I think is an ideal design.  From this point, I gradually gather my other resources (drawings and color sketches done at the location) to combine and develop a third and final work. This tips the see-saw in favor of a structured and inspired composition, and away from relying on finding a decent arrangement  in nature where one may not really exist. This final amalgamation may be painted in-studio over time, with the advantage of the color sketch done from nature providing actual color notes and shapes.  This is different than relying on photography, because I’ll have mixed the color combinations before when sketching and will not have to skirt the yawning trap of reliance on photographs.

In case you were wondering, this is nothing new; it’s actually an older approach than the generally  impressionist approach I’ve been cultivating for so long. As I find myself getting older, I’m looking  to make use of all of my accumulated experiences painting before nature, but also to be able to direct my energy to the larger, more carefully composed paintings that can’t be done in the wind and weather.

This small (5 x 7″) watercolor sketch, based on a scene I’ve painted before, is an arrangement that I thought I’d like to impose on the actual subject.  It’s from my mind’s eye, an arrangement of simple shapes and colors that I think are better than what I see at the location. This allows me to move shapes and emphasize what I find helps the painting. All of this is studio work done in advance, employing a little daydreaming and composing that I can’t do when I’m outdoors, primarily chasing the light effect.

Later, I went to the actual location and painted this oil sketch (9 x 12″, below)  This contains enough factual information, like color of water, shadows, rocks,  to combine with the imaginary sketch above for the composition of a final piece, which may be in watercolor, oil, or pastel, and at any size I decide.

This will be a great advancement if I can make it work.   I’m planning a full-sheet (22 x 30″)watercolor from these two resources which would be quite difficult to achieve outdoors. A small scale version of the final piece in pencil is today’s project, and I may get to the final piece later this week.  I’m enthused!

I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve been spending every possible sunny morning working on this painting. It’s moving along well (I think) and so I’m posting some new shots from the last week or so.

Winter brings some powerful winds, and so this arrangement is how I keep the trusty old easel standing.  It works quite well, and I’m able to continue work on days that would be impossible otherwise.

A calmer day, towards the end of my session. The warmth of the color of the painting has given way to the cooler light of the later morning.

The painting is about 80% complete. I plan to add a couple small figures and do some re-designing of the light and dark patterns in the foreground now that I have the colors figured out. I’ve made an effort to build the paint surface heavily in some of this area, and that will require some removal of paint to accomplish, so I expect to take this into the studio for the final working out and completion of the piece.

That’s good news, the break from the elements is welcome.