Getting adventurous!

My last post was a painting of an animal and in this one, I have people! This painting is only 6x8, so they are actually just a couple of brushstrokes, but I don't often put people in my landscapes. This painting is a study to work out the composition for a larger piece, and yes, I know the fishermen are right in the middle! Does it bother you? I look at the people, the yellow bushes to their left and the colorful tall tree behind them as a triangle that is the focal point, rather than just the fishermen. I may change my mind when I do it larger and I might move them over a little bit, but why not break the rules?

I see other artists who do it all the time, and it works, so hopefully this will too.

Working out problems in paintings

I seem to have a three step process for fixing a painting. First, I have to figure out what is wrong with it. Often, I don't know what the problem is, but just have a nagging feeling that it isn't quite right.

I usually will leave it for a few days and let it dry while I look at it occasionally to see if it hits me. I can always see what is wrong with other people's paintings! I should be able to see it just as easily on my own. With a few days space between actually painting it and looking at it again, it often does jump out at me. I also find that photographing it makes it more obvious, looking at it on the computer screen. Looking at it in the mirror sometimes does it, but for me, a photograph is better.

Once I realize what the issue is, I have to decide how to fix it. That often takes me time. I am a relative newbie to painting, and still have lots to learn. I often work it out at night, thinking about the painting when I should be sleeping. The problem I had with the painting above is that the mountain goat and the background were the same value, and they blended in with each other. I could have lightened the goat, but on his shady side, he really was quite dark, even though he was white. I could have darkened the grasses around him, but then it wouldn't have looked like the summer tundra he was munching on. I finally realized at about 2am one night that color temperature rather than value was the way to do it. The grasses had been yellow green and I had used an orange toned board so some of the background warmth was coming through. All I needed to do was cool down the green by adding blue to it and suddenly the warmer, sunny side of the mountain goat popped out. Where he was shaded, I had to still keep the green warmer.

This whole painting was an experiment and was just done as a study to see if I could paint an animal and get the drawing right (not my strong point) and it was nice to be able to work out some of the other issues as well. I still wonder if the pile of rocks isn't too strong, but there aren't many darks in this painting, so I left them.

Oil Painting workshop in New Zealand

I wrote previously about a watercolor painting holiday in New Zealand in February 2012, just over a year from now. We are considering adding another week, working in oils this time, with Michael Chesley Johnson. Michael lives in Canada in the summer, Sedona, AZ in the winter and he teaches lots of workshops. He likes the idea of our relaxed itinerary in New Zealand and if we have enough interest, he would be willing to do it the week after we finish the first one with Adele Earnshaw and Joe Garcia. That would make it the first week in March, 2012, which in New Zealand, is late summer. A perfect time to be there!

The painting above is one of Michael's, not mine. He has titled it Low Tide at Friar's Bay, and I think it is one of his Canadian pieces. I lifted it (with his permission) from his website. New Zealand has similar scenery, with oceans and beaches, but we also have rain forest and pastures. It is a unique country, and one worth visiting. Let me know if you think you might have interest in joining us in New Zealand and I will send you more info.

Colorful Colorado

When I went to Rico (near Telluride Colorado) to attend Jill Carver's fabulous workshop, I stopped and took photos both coming and going. The color was just incredible! It was the last week in September, which is peak time for most mountain areas, and this region was no exception. The photo I used as reference for this was taken on a side road on the Dallas Divide.

One of the women who attended the workshop was Shirley Novak, the wife of artist Ralph Oberg. While Shirley and I and the rest of the workshop attendees were out painting, Ralph and his friend and fellow artist, Dan Young (also from Colorado) went out and painted every day too. The amount of work they turned out was incredible! They each did at least one, and most days two, 11x14 or larger plein air paintings. I was amazed at how quickly they worked and what great paintings they produced.

Getting back to taking photos on the Dallas Divide, it seemed that everywhere I stopped as I headed north to go home, Dan Young was also stopping to take photos, so perhaps one day you will see this same scene, or something close to it, in a Dan Young painting. I am sure he would do a better job on it than I did, but I had fun with the yellow and purple combination.

BTW, Jill is doing another workshop in Rico in June 2011. I have already signed up and am looking forward to it.

What's in a title?

I have a heck of a time coming up with titles. When I do, I find I have already used them on another painting. I ended up calling this one Ranch Pond, which is very uninspired and if I can find something better, I will change it. I already used Reflecting and others that say similar things on other paintings. As often as I paint water and fall, I go through the titles pretty quickly. Any ideas will be appreciated! ( I have already used Double Vision, which would be appropriate).

One fine day

Combining two of my favorite themes, fall color and water. I love to paint reflections. I made a conscious effort on this one to not do purple mountains! At this time of year they get gold and even red as the tundra grasses change color, so why not? Purple and blue mountains sometimes seem a bit trite, but most of the time the color is dead on. This day was different and that is why I liked the reference photo I used for this painting. BTW, if you would like to read a good article about plein air painting, my sister found a great article in Huffington Post, of all places. http://adeleearnshaw.blogspot.com/2010/12/painting-plein-air.html

The Trail West

Another in my series of the landmark mountain in our county, Buffalo Mountain. I have been trying to approach it from different angles and in different seasons. I have hiked this mountain three times now, and saw mountain goats on it twice. I have lots of photos! I am attempting to paint the goats too, and so far have not produced anything worth posting. I am not much of an animal painter, but will keep trying and might post one, one of these days! This is a little larger than I have been painting in the past, at 11x14. I have been working on some 12x16s too and do like larger pieces for a change.