Carol Jessen's Watercolor World

Inspiration

2012-02-01T11:20:00.000-06:00

I still remember the first time I saw an exhibition of John Singer Sargent's paintings in London. I had stopped painting for several years, but his work inspired me to pick up my brushes again, and I haven't put them down for 38 years. I was especially drawn to the paintings he did of architectural features, statues and fountains. Ever since, I, too, have been attracted to these subjects and love painting them.

Finding an artist whose work you admire can be inspirational. Is there an artist that you admire? Leave me a comment to show your appreciation.

This memorial is in front of the Episcopal Church in Apalachicola. It is dedicated to Dr. John Gorrie who invented an ice making machine with a fan to blow cool air over his patients with Yellow fever. Thus, he created the forerunner of the air conditioner, thus making him the patron saint of Floridians!

Receding Space

2012-01-30T12:55:00.000-06:00

There are several ways to make space appear to recede in a painting.

1. Size -- Larger sizes in front, middle sizes in the mid-ground, and smaller sizes in the far distance.

2. Color -- Brighter purer colors in the foreground, more neutral colors in the far ground. Warm colors up front, color hues in the distance

3. Textures -- Textures in the foreground, few or no details in the background areas.

4. Edge Quality - Hard edges in front, softer edges in the distance.

5. Perspective -- Lines that recede to the vanishing point.

6. Values -- Darker values in the foreground, midtone and lighter values reserved for the far distance.

A lot to think about, to be sure, but better to think about it and get the feeling of three dimentional space.

Stomp 'n' Holler

2012-01-26T10:55:00.000-06:00

It doesn't happen as often these past few years, but every once in a while I'll have a Stomp 'n' Holler Day. The painting not only goes badly, it goes so badly that I lose my temper, holler in frustration and stomp on the nasty thing I've just created. (This technique is also helpful in chasing curious onlookers away!)

My birthday was Monday, it was a beautiful day, and I had hoped that I would paint a good painting to commemorate my special day. It was not to be. The first painting was tight and the color was lacking dominance. In the afternoon I tried again, but the humidity didn't allow for any drying time and the paint just kept spreading. Stomp #2!

We all have these days. The desired result is firmly in our mind, but circumstances or lack of focus or some fool painting muse or other puts the hex on our efforts. We're convinced we don't know anything about painting and that we'll never be able to paint anything good again.

But after a few days the itch comes back, and out I go again. Yesterday things went better. This is the memorial near the library in Apalachicola. Sometimes simpler really is better!

Trees

2012-01-19T11:23:00.000-06:00

I love trees. I love to paint trees. I once told my English Lit. class (some of whom feared for my immortal soul!) that if there were no trees in heaven, I wasn't going!

Many of my watercolor students, some of whom are very accomplished, approach painting trees as if they were still in kindergarten. In their prejudiced eyes, all trees are brown. But when I ask them if they can see red, their eyes suddenly fly open! If I ask them to see green on the bark, they suddenly notice moss. If I ask them to see blue, it takes a little longer, but eventually they start coming around. And even if they can't see those colors, I still ask them to paint them because unrelieved dark brown is so boring.

Other students insist on trying to get the whole tree in their painting. If this happens, I tell them to look straight ahead and tell me if they can see the blackbird on the top branch. If they move their head to look, then I point out that they are not painting a video!

In this painting of a live oak in Apalachicola, the tree is not a frame for the main subject; it is the subject. The figure and the dog against the light of the house act as secondary interest, but the tree is the main entertainment, which I emphasized by its bulk and texture. I downplayed texture elsewhere in the painting so your eye would travel the surface of the tree and its color.

Study real trees instead of relying on your idea of a tree that you probably formed in elementary school.

Inventive Color

2012-01-16T16:59:00.000-06:00

By the sea, by the sea, By the beautiful sea.....

I love to paint the water. That's why my two homes away from home are Apalachicola, Florida and Boothbay Harbor, Maine. And if you're near the water, what more natural subject than boats?

But even a seasoned watercolorist can get a little tired of a favorite subject. What to do to spice things up a little?

I like to play with color combos. In this painting of a couple of shrimp boats at Scipio Creek, I began with cadmium yellow and cobalt violet, both in the sky and the water. The really bold move came when I threw some cad yellow on the stern of the near boat. Then I repeated it in the area that would become the nets. Later, when these areas were dry, I added some cerulean blue. Blue + Yellow = Green (and the nets were really green!). I continued to add those four colors in ever darker values in the reflections.

I love painting docks, boats, and trees. Next time.....trees!

Placing the Darks for Emphasis

2012-01-09T12:40:00.000-06:00

In this painting of an unloading dock in Eastpoint, Florida, I began with the light midtones and then began to place dark midtones and dark values around the right edge of the structure. Working outward from there, I kept lessening the darks to keep the emphasis on the textures of the dock which was my main interest in the scene.

The overall shape of the dock structure was also a consideration. I wanted it interlock with the background to form an L shape. That created a balance problem. I didn't want all of the weight of the composition to be on the left, so I added the shrimp boat on the right.

So much to think about while designing a composition.

The Importance of Obliques

2012-01-02T09:58:00.000-06:00

I've always felt that oblique lines give a painting energy. They can be used as pointers, tension builders,
or as a contrast to the more formal verticals and restful horizontals.

In this painting of a wild undeveloped beach in Eastpoint, Florida, the line of cypress "knees" echoes the oblique of the old dead tree trunk. The shadows are also a good way to incorporate obliques.
And since so many obliques seemed to point to the middle distance of the beach area, it seemed right to include a couple of figures taking a New Year's Day stroll.

As in the previous post, I used a red/green complementary color scheme.

P.S. Many people use the word "diagonal" to describe oblique lines. An oblique is any slanted line; diagonal lines divide things in half.

Complementary Colors

2011-12-31T08:53:00.001-06:00

Much of this painting is blue-green. Therefore, it made sense to use a pinkish (red) color for the trunk colors and the mud beach. The color choice for the boat was made to complement the surrounding reddish hue. Complementary colors contrast and attract attention. Careful placement of them around the focal point is a good idea. Make sure one dominates, and then use the complement to emphasize the primary subject.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Using Shadows as Frames

2011-12-29T10:40:00.000-06:00

In "Oysterman's Rest", I decided to use shadows in the foreground to help frame the oyster boat. The shadows are also reflected in the water, which extends the frame, providing a dark shape to look over.

The scene is of Indian Creek, which borders the property here at Sportsmans Lodge. I wouldn't even have to leave the Lodge grounds and still have plenty of subject matter to paint!

Framing II

2011-12-23T09:36:00.000-06:00

In my last post, I talked about using "framers" to peer around to get to your main subject. Here's a really old painting that does just that.

Now that I'm in warmer weather, I hope to get out and paint very soon. Meanwhile, Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Framing the Subject

2011-12-14T08:30:00.000-06:00

I learned about framing as a kid when I was first exploring photography. Placing the subject so that you have to peer around something in the foreground creates a sense of depth as well as a sense of mystery.
Looking over, past, or around something also gives special attention to a second subject, kind of a two-for-one painting.

Here's a painting I did in Naples, Florida several years ago that illustrates this approach.

Dry Spells

2011-12-05T05:49:00.000-06:00

For a variety of reasons, most artists go through periods when their productivity drops off dramatically.
It could be illness, depression, confusion about direction, lack of motivation, or time restraints.
There might be the thought that you've "lost it", that you've run out of ideas, that you'll never be able to paint anything good again.

I've experienced this phenomenon several times. The upside of this, unfortunately not known at the time you're experiencing the dry spell, is that it sometimes signals a breakthrough is on the horizon. It is often my observation that while the hand is not busy, the brain is still thinking through problems and their possible solutions.

When this happens, I find myself going back to the basics: values, design, color dominance....
I also tend to go back to very small paintings in the hope that if it isn't a serious attempt, if I'm only playing around, I have nothing to lose. It frees up the hand and the brain.

Now....if I can only take my own advice!

The Silhouette

2011-11-26T08:59:00.000-06:00

A tell-tale silhouette is often the cure for the over detailed and textured depiction of a subject. These Monterrey cypress trees are easy to caricature because of their zig-zag shapes.

More paintings fail because the descriptive silhouette takes second place to details in the interior of the shape. Get the silhouette right, and it will carry the day.

The Sketchbook Habit

2011-11-19T10:32:00.001-06:00

"An artist is a sketchbook with a person attached." --Irwin Greenberg

Preparation in art is a matter of keeping your eyes in training. I often say that each year when I return to Maine, I get my eyes back. Looking and seeing are two different activities. The former just needs to identify objects without much detail identification or naming. But seeing implies that you stop for a longer studied view of things: their shapes, values, subtleties of color and texture. Giving your brain and heart the time to connect with what you see is an invaluable skill in the production of meaningful, emotional art.

Your sketchbook is the shorthand reminder of these moments. Jotting down impressions helps to free us from overwhelming details and allows us to be free to adjust things and improve them. To find patterns, alter colors, add figures, experiment with values....All are easier when dealing with a reference sketch.

So tuck that sketchbook in your car, and take advantage of waiting times or unexpected vistas. Keep your eyes and your hand busy and they will be ready for you when it comes time to paint that masterpiece!

The Demo

2011-11-11T10:42:00.001-06:00

Last night the members of the Art World Association here in St. Louis invited me to give them a demo at their monthly meeting. I was a bit nervous as I planned to do a painting using the technique I've been doing for a while now which starts without any drawn plans. Facing a totally empty white piece of paper with no preconceived notion of what the end product will look like is normally daunting; doing it in front of an audience is nearly paralyzing!

I gave them two choices: horizontal or vertical format? warm or cool colors? They chose a warm, horizontal theme.

I then proceeded to carve out the whites. Look carefully at the four corners of the finished painting and you'll see that they are all different sizes, shapes and directions.

Then I started placing the midtones, defining the normal objects found around a working dock.
Last came the carefully chosen placements of darks. I think the final product has a vibration and movement that resounds with the energy around a seaside dock.

Thanks again to the Art World Association for having me!

I'm going to try to move on to some new subjects next week. Tune in again soon!

Underpainting

2011-11-09T11:53:00.000-06:00

In this painting, I began with an abstract underpainting of cool blues ---cobalt turquoise, thalo blue, and ultramarine blue--and cobalt violet to give some warmth to the painting. Then I went back with darker values of the same colors to add some buildings and signs. Finally, I left a trail of dark accents.

I think you can see that the preserved whites left after the initial underpainting all point to the busy focal points of the design. Intuition played a large part in placing the buildings and signs.

Early this week I kept getting into trouble because I was trying to include too many colors and none of them clearly dominated the paper. When you have too many warm colors to choose from, the temptation is to put them all in. To get out of that problem, I decided to stay strictly on the cooler side of the palette this time.

Containment

2011-11-03T19:42:00.001-05:00

Design is the hardest part of producing a successful painting. One consideration is to contain the subject matter within the parameters of the paper. I am very mindful of the negative space in the background. Keeping the background relatively quiet will certainly focus attention on the focal points of the subject matter.
The values and textures should be limited to the focal points, keeping the background area quiet and subdued.

P.S. Design is not an easy thing to achieve. I've attempted at least ten paintings in order to produce one that hopefully accomplishes these attributes.

St. Louis Proud!

2011-10-29T12:11:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted lately, but I've been busy cheering on my St. Louis Cardinals who are now the World Series Champions! It's hard to believe since on August 25th, we were 10 1/2 games out of first. But we scratched our way back to the Wild Card spot and then beat the Phillies and the Brewers in the playoffs.

Game 3 was amazing with Albert Pujols tying only Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson with three home runs in one game. But Game 6 will forever be implanted in my memory as the most amazing baseball game I have ever seen. Twice, the Cards were one strike away from losing it all, but came back to tie the game. And home town favorite David Freese nailed it down with a walk off home run which sent us to last night's game and victory! A fairy tale ending to an amazing season! If sports is a metaphor for life, the message is don't ever give up. In baseball or in painting! The journey is its own reward!

Here's Albert Pujols hitting a homer early in the season. And waiting in the batter's box is World Series MVP David Freese. Congratulations to the World Series Champions, the St. Louis Cardinals!

Color and Value

2011-10-22T10:34:00.000-05:00

Many of my students have a difficult time translating their black and white value sketches into color.
Either their value sketch doesn't have a clear pattern of value shapes (at least three), or when they transfer their idea to the paper and start to translate it into color, they are fine with the light values, but the midtones and darks don't seem to be clear enough.

Here's a reversal of the process. I took a photo of my latest painting and used the computer to convert it to black and white. You can clearly see that there are light areas, midtones (especially around the edges where I wanted the least emphasis), and darks where I wanted the viewers' eyes to be drawn.

Some colors do not lend themselves to dark values. Yellow is especially hard to go much beyond a light midtone. But most other colors can be rendered darker merely by limiting the amount of water applied in the second or third glaze. To maintain glowing transparency, it is important to be able to commit to the midtones and darks the first go, or you will have to try again with the real possibility of muddying the area.

Try changing your computerized image of one of your paintings into black and white to see if you have clearly rendered the three basic values. It would be a helpful thing to do this during the stages of your painting, too, to see where placement of a dark would enhance the focal area.

From This to That

2011-10-19T14:39:00.003-05:00

People often wonder how the artist starts a painting. I started this one with a cool relief of blues and then proceeded to what was to come...a warm, red, violet ground color. Then I began to pick away at the midtone I had established to "find" objects in the wharf scene. I did no previous drawing or value study. I simply knew that I wanted to emphasize the wharf objects, so I started finding barrels, flags, boats, and architectural features I have used before. It is all invention. But it is very conscious design. Obliques that are emphasized by the darks and cools help create shapes that are interesting and create tension.

Remember that every color dominance needs a relief of its opposite. Warms need a little cool, and cool dominance needs a little warmth. And above all, establish interesting interlocking shapes!

Workshop Opportunity

2011-10-17T09:49:00.000-05:00

I am conducting a workshop in Naples, Florida February 20th - 24th. Tuition for the five day workshop is $425. To reserve your place, send a check before December 20th to Carol Jessen 8865 Flamingo Ct. Brentwood, MO 63144 You also might want to make your lodging reservations soon as it will be high season in southern Florida.

Please join us for painting in sunny, warm Naples in February!

The "S" Curve

2011-10-13T07:08:00.001-05:00

"I Saw Her First"
In this painting of sunflowers and daisies, I painted the background first, keeping in mind the trail of white shapes which formed an "S" curve. It was then a matter of emphasizing the focal area with a few well placed darks.

Seasonal subjects are always a good choice. Pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks, apple pie. Try some!

Travel Paintings

2011-10-11T09:20:00.001-05:00

"Newport Harbor"
When I'm travelling long distance by car, I always keep my French easel on top of the suitcases just in case I get an urge to paint. But I can't remember a time when I've been willing to spend a couple hours painting in lieu of seeing as much as I can during a limited visit.

So photographs are the answer. On the way home from Maine this year, I veered off course to Newport, Rhode Island. So much to see: the mansions on Bellevue Drive, the cliff walk, Ocean drive, the tree lined, cobblestone streets of downtown, the wharves. So the easel stayed in the trunk.

When I arrived home, I was able to filter all the sights and sensations of the place. The one lasting impression I have of Newport is the harbor and the scene of the America's Cup races. The bridge out of Newport over to Jamestown Island was impressive and heart shaking, as I would soon have to drive over it! Here it is, seen from Goat Island and its lighthouse, in all its magnificent, terrifying altitude!

I'm Back!

2011-10-09T14:28:00.000-05:00

Sorry I was gone for a while. I was on the road back to my home here in St. Louis. Between packing up and travelling, I also haven't done any painting in a couple of weeks. But now I should be settling into a routine and posting more frequently.

Here is a painting I did up in Maine a few weeks ago. It is also on the subject of zooming in. To give you an idea of the actual distance I was from the lighthouse, I'm also including a painting done earlier this summer.
Sometimes zooming in will change your whole perspective about the subject, and give you a different motivation for painting it.

Glad to be back!

Everything But the Kitchen Sink

2011-10-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

When confronted with an overload of possible subjects on location, the tendency is to think that since it's there, everything must be included in your composition. Not so. It only confuses the viewer when looking at such a painting. What is this picture about? If the answer is, Everything, try zooming in on one particular object or building or boat.

If you can title the painting, it might help focus your attention and thus eliminate extraneous details. A painting called "Boothbay Harbor" doesn't tell us much about what you want to say about the place. If you can say, "Sunset over Boothbay Harbor", we know your focus was on the sky and its light and color. If you give it a title of "Red Wharf", both you and viewer will know that your interest was on the color red, not just the subject.

The time to do the hard work of focusing on your purpose is before you start the drawing or painting. Know what you want to say. Then say it!

Limited Palette

2011-09-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

I've said it several times this summer because I believe it; limiting your palette will force you to concentrate more on your values. This painting was done with yellow ochre, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue.

In addition, when making a painting of a repeated object, the further you recede, the fewer details are needed. By the time you get to the last buoy, the eye has already figured out the shapes, and so including every detail there is not necessary.

What better subject to say "Maine" than a string of lobster buoys?

Is this the last painting of my summer?

More Small Paintings

2011-09-22T09:55:00.000-05:00

On a wet, soggy day, plein air painting is impossible, so I decided to do some more small paintings.
I normally don't paint flowers, but I'm on a flower kick. Here are two more.

Little Paintings

2011-09-20T08:51:00.001-05:00

The last day of my workshop, I encouraged students to paint often. But that isn't easy when you're searching for ideas and trying to be bold. So I set up an assembly line of small paintings: 5 1/2 x 7 1/2", taped with masking tape around the edges. I first painted the background of one, then the sky of a second, the water of the third, etc. By the time I painted the fourth or fifth background or underpainting, painting #1 was dry enough to go back to. I had no idea what the subject was going to be in most cases, so that freed me up to explore the shapes with bold color.

Try this small painting-assembly line approach and see if it doesn't make you loosen up.

Staying Loose

2011-09-17T07:19:00.000-05:00

First, I want to say thank you to all my students who made the first annual Carol Jessen Boothbay Harbor Watercolor Workshop a great success You worked hard, played hard, and ate and drank well! Let's do it again next year!

One of the goals stated by the students was to learn how to stay loose. Here are five suggestions:

1. Keep the background simple, perhaps painting it wet-into-wet (dry-into-wet).

2. Find several places to soften your edges. Hard edges need the contrast of soft edges.

3. Use larger brushes for the first two thirds of the painting process. That will cause you to think in terms of large and middle sized shapes.

4. Paint standing up. Swinging your arm instead of rotating your wrist will keep your strokes longer and more fluid.

5. Hold your brush farther down the handle. The more you hold your brush like a pencil, the tighter your strokes will tend to be.

Happy splashing!

Through the Looking Glass

2011-09-14T15:24:00.000-05:00

On location on the the third day of my workshop, I looked at the gazebo on Boothbay Common and noticed the town office building across the street. I thought it would be fun to look through the gazebo at the building. Framing things with objects in the foreground that the viewer has to peek around or through is an old photographer's trick, useful when designing painting compositions, too.

Remembering yesterday's lesson, I decided to work in contrasting colors of blue and orange. Figures always give scale and life to a landscape, so I included a happy couple under the gazebo, which is slightly off center. To add interest to the right side of the background, I carved out a tree by painting the negative space around it.

What a great bunch of kids in my workshop this week! So eager and ready to give it the old college try!

Dominance and Contrast

2011-09-13T16:53:00.003-05:00

Deciding which side of the temperature scale is to be the dominant one in the painting is critical. Throwing equal parts of warm and cool colors at the paper doesn't establish a clear color theme. But staying exclusively on the cool side or exclusively on the warm side doesn't provide enough contrast to create the tension that gives a painting interest.

Think about a novel with a fictional character that is all good. That would be a rather boring story. Most authors create interest in their good characters by showing a flaw in their character that leads to tension and therefore creates interest. Their intentions are good, their past is filled with good decisions and actions, but suddenly a flaw crops up that contrasts with the dominant good side, and creates interest.

The same is true of paintings. It is imperative that you know which temperature is going to "win" or dominate. But it is also necessary to provide a touch of relief in the form of a cool at several places around the picture, especially near the focal point.

Here are two views of Hendrick's Head Lighthouse on Southport Island, Maine.

Workshop Eve

2011-09-10T17:55:00.001-05:00

I spent the day getting ready for my first annual Boothbay Harbor Workshop. Today was all about setting up and hauling supplies and paintings to the Lions Club where I'm holding the workshop. Twelve students have signed up. Not bad for the first time around.

I'll be posting almost every day this week. Check back often!

Relief By Contrast

2011-09-04T11:43:00.001-05:00

A painting should display a dominance of color temperature, either warm or cool. A warm painting needs a little relief, so placing a few cools near any spot in the painting that you'd like to emphasize, relieves the eye.
Contrast is always an attention grabber. But keep the relief smaller than the dominant color.

Also notice the trail of S-curved white that will direct the path that the eye will travel.

Good to be back in Maine! Between hurricanes and a quick trip home to the sweltering midwest, I haven't gotten much painting done lately. I hope that will now be corrected!

Hurricane Irene

2011-08-29T16:11:00.000-05:00

Irene tore her way up the east coast on Sunday. Southern Maine was hit hard but midcoast was spared the full treatment. So this morning I awoke to bright blue, sunny skies. The town is temporarily without its usual tourist population. But all the businesses that closed yesterday are back open, and the fishermen are ready to haul traps. Their boats are normally in the harbor on Sunday anyway since by law they can't haul from Friday night to Monday morning as a conservation measure. Here is a photo.

Two weeks from today my workshop begins. There is still time to sign up and I have some spaces left. Please join us!

Encouragement

2011-08-25T07:41:00.000-05:00

Every artist needs some encouragement along the artistic journey. Sometimes it's sales. These two paintings have been sold at my show at Gleason Fine Art this month. Sometimes it's the encouragement of our fellow painters who know what the struggle is all about. And sometimes it's a breakthrough painting that signals a new level of competence or successful exploration of a different approach. I'm grateful that those exterior confirmations have been generously offered.

As Hurricane Irene approaches New England and with travel plans, I may not post for a few days. Check back, leave a comment or reaction (encouragement!), and keep painting!

Breaking The Line

2011-08-18T16:29:00.000-05:00

My friend Betsy drove over from New Hampshire to paint with me for two days. This morning I took her to a spot I've been wanting to paint for a while, an old abandoned shack at the end of Linekin Bay. To let the viewer know that it's a Maine shack, I provided a small peek at the water and a rowboat that wasn't really there.

The real purpose of the rowboat was to interrupt the straight line formed where the shack and the grass met. It also is a "pointer".
The chimney already interrupted the lines of the roof. The tree does as well. But study the length of the eave, and you'll see that the line there is broken into three different lengths. And the space between the chimney and the foreground tree is different from the space between the tree and the pole on the old shed.

I also enjoyed painting the negative space behind the trees on the right. Certainly an enjoyable morning spent painting with a good friend.

Grouping for Balance

2011-08-16T06:56:00.000-05:00

Balance can be of two kinds: Formal and Informal. Formal balance occurs when objects of the same "weight" are found on both sides of the page. Informal balance, which is more prominent in paintings, is like the father and the child on the teeter totter.

In these two examples, setting one of the objects apart provides an informal balance. Grouping several of the chickens or the lightbulbs gives weight to the left side of each painting, while the "outsider" gives weight to the right side. The space on the right side is the equivalent of the child with the length of the teeter totter helping to equalize the weight.

So use grouping and spacing to achieve informal balance.

Old and New

2011-08-09T14:46:00.000-05:00

Old View

New View
Change is the one constant. But for me, it's sometimes hard to accept changes in the landscapes I love around the Boothbay peninsula.

This is Cuckold's Lighthouse, just off shore at Southport Island. I'm also including a painting I did over the winter of this very famous lighthouse that marks the entrance to Boothbay Harbor. This summer, work is nearly complete on rennovations to restore the light to its original condition, including some of the outbuildings that had been demolished years before I got here. It's hard to accept the "new" view of this old favorite spot.
But I'll just bet, some old timers would say the same thing after they had to tear down the old buildings!

You can see the Cuckold's Light from the Town Landing at the end of Route 27 on Southport Island, Maine.

The Opening

2011-08-06T12:16:00.000-05:00

After months of painting, experimenting, culling, matting and framing, there finally comes The Night. Two hours of greeting people who will decide whether all of your effort has been worth the trouble. Red dots are nice, but every bit as important to me is the reaction to the work. What will they pick out as pleasing? I always hope the comments are not just about the subject matter because the painting has been about much more than that. Will they notice the things that were important to me as I painted? Color, texture, design, shapes. Some will, because many of my fellow artists will come to support and encourage. They know, because they are in the struggle.

So as I anticipate my two hours in the spotlight, it gives me a chance to catch my breath before the next round of painting begins....tomorrow. Always tomorrow.

Growth

2011-08-03T08:21:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I go through the stack of my old paintings and cull the worst ones. But I still hang on to some that I would never show publically. It's good to see how far you've come in your painting journey.

My first emphasis was on accuracy. I strove to depict the landscape as it actually appeared. But now I want to highlight other concerns. Color is much more important as its own subject matter. I'm much more aware of edge quality. I move or entirely eliminate objects. And I'm more conscious of where I can place obliques.

If you want growth in your work, try concentrating less on portraying your subject as you find it, and more on the elements and principles.

Here are two works I executed about several years apart.

Overlapping

2011-07-30T13:08:00.000-05:00

Sample's

In this painting of the "End of Sample's Boatyard", overlapping plays a big part in creating movement, textures and interest. First, overlapping plays a crucial role in interrupting many straight lines. That creates shapes that are not boring rectangles. More important, the overlapping that occurs around the dock house contains the lightest values in the painting and therefore draws your eye to that area.

Be conscious of overlapping shapes to create both aerial perspective and textural interest.

New Colors

2011-07-28T16:08:00.000-05:00

I've had the same colors on my palette for ages. I know how they combine with other colors, and which ones to use to mix up a warm or cool gray. But this summer I decided I needed to shake things up a bit and have tentatively added a few new flavors to the mix.

I'm still not sure I would recommend that an absolute beginner buy every color note offered by the manufacturers. Get to know the basics: a warm and cool of each primary and a couple of earth tones ought to do it. Gradually, you can experiment with one or two new colors if you find a reason to. It is very important that you know your color goals as well. Since I'm gravitating towards more inventive and arbitrary colors to make color a statement that is every bit as important as the choice of subject matter, it only makes sense to expand my choices.

Here's today's effort, which utilizes Quinacrodone Rose. (It took forever for my tongue to get around that one!)

Plein Air Group

2011-07-27T11:20:00.000-05:00

I was once asked by an elderly painter I had just met if I "painted in a herd." I knew what she meant, but nevertheless, I was somewhat offended by the superior attitude. Painters paint together for all sorts of reasons. Life drawing/painting classes are certainly more affordable if everyone chips in for the model's fee.
Instructors teach classes in which there are always some people at the beginning of their painting journey. And sometimes it's just fun to paint with a group of friends.....no teacher, no critique....just everyone doing their own thing. While waiting for my watercolor washes to dry, I get a chance to walk around and see what other painters have chosen to paint and how they choose to paint it. And often in that setting, we get to talking about technique or composition or current shows. The conversations develop naturally, and usually laughter is involved.

Back to my painter friend. I answered that sometimes I valued the comraderie of painting with my peers. And a good teacher can inform or remind you of the basics of painting. I understood that she meant that sometimes painting in proximity to other artists can influence the direction of the group. I countered that if you have a solid background and have already begun to develop your own style, you can still take clues from the work of others. If we didn't, we might never go to a gallery or a museum to study what others have done.

So, yes, today I painted in a small herd of talented and dedicated plein air painters. And I totally enjoyed it!

Local landmarks

2011-07-24T14:20:00.000-05:00

The Footbridge
Every town has them. Landmarks that are so iconic that every artist in the area has painted them a dozen times. So how do you get a new angle on an old subject?

1. Zoom in. Most of the time we put in far too much subject matter and the landmark gets lost in the crowd.

2. Limit your palette.

3. Add figures.

4. Let other buildings "frame" the landmark.
I once saw a painting of the Missouri State Capitol framed by the opening in a close-up barn. I never forgot the image.

5. Soften or eliminate the background.

Here's a local landmark in Boothbay Harbor, Maine....The Footbridge House.

Color Theme

2011-07-23T15:51:00.000-05:00

Wharf Life #13
This is the third in a series of paintings I've done in which I've limited my palette to white, grays, and blacks.
The first two were vertical, so I wanted one more that was a horizontal.

Also, note the absence of texture in the water and most of the foreground. Cluttering up the foreground would make you look at that instead of out where I wanted the viewer to focus. Instead the eye looks over the foreground on its way to the textures and busy-ness of the dock. Limit details and calligraphy to the focal area.

Drama

2011-07-22T14:54:00.001-05:00

Friendship Sloop Races
It takes big contrasts to create drama in a painting. Far from photo realism, I still believe this painting achieves a level of dramatic color, value and lighting.

The technique is again to carve out the whites with the first wash. If the resulting shapes are interesting, and the washes are clean, the lack of detail is an asset in creating drama with big bold shapes. Notice that the white sails overlap and therefore create one big shape with oblique, interlocking edges.

These are Friendship sloops, designed originally to haul cargo downeast. I love the long graceful curve of the bow and the rectangular shape of the main sail.

It's hot here!

Alternation

2011-07-19T15:39:00.002-05:00

One of the six value patterns described by Ed Whitney is alternation. It's a kind of checkerboard pattern with no real light source. Alternating white, gray and black with a few touches of warmth for relief, here's a painting which illustrates the technique.

Basically, I established the white shapes using the grays. Then I added the blacks, either within a gray shape or next to a white. You should be able to look at any valued shape and find the other two tangent to it. There are a few exceptions, but mostly alternation is present everywhere.

Scroll down and see Second Chance for a color version of this technique.
Beware! This is way harder than it looks!

Layering

2011-07-15T15:47:00.000-05:00

After putting on a wet, juicy first wash, while the paper is still very wet, you can load the brush up with another color and layer it over the first. It should be remembered, though, if you start with a cool, stay on the cool side with the second layer. You can gradually add more layers and even go to the warmer side. But if you go from cool to warm or warm to cool too quickly, that will create a mud bath.

Tonight is a full moon, so I suggested another moon motif in this oft painted version of Hendrick's Head Lighthouse.

The Importance of Values

2011-07-12T15:14:00.003-05:00

In recent years I've become a colorist. But today I felt the need to eliminate most color to express the mood of an old Maine dock. So values became a key element in the painting. I tried to keep most of the darker values under the dock. The large roof area was left in relatively higher values to keep the biggest contrasts at the edge of the dock house and in the lower half of the painting. I threw in some warmer tones there, too, and confined the textures to that same area, leaving the perimeter fairly flat and smooth. The right side of the painting provides some aerial perspective using lighter values, and the simple shape balances the composition .

I also invented the chimney to break up the straight roofline.

Second Chance

2011-07-09T13:44:00.002-05:00

Centah of Attention
The painting on the other side of this sheet is very accurate and very boring. When that happens, and I've got nothing to lose, I sometimes flip the paper over and just paint.......No drawing, just a big wide brush full of paint. The initial wash carves out a white path and establishes a "mother color", as Frank Webb calls it. Then I look for ways to highlight those areas by using complementary colors or by surrounding it first with midtones and then darks for contrasts, expanding outward.

The underpainting is fairly abstract with little regard for where the subject matter is going to be placed. I did save the whites in the steeple, but most of the rest of the white areas are just a pathway through the middle of the painting. I keep the calligraphy and what little texture there is also around the middle. The periphery is lacking in detail, texture and calligraphy so as not to draw attention to the edges of the paper.

I've said it before....a painting is not a photograph. I wanted the feeling of a busy country corner, not a portrait of some buildings. There are just enough recognizable landmarks in this painting to let the viewer know that they are on Boothbay Common, in the great state of Maine on a happy, sunny day.

Mood

2011-07-07T14:50:00.000-05:00

Today was the quintessential summer day in Maine. Sunny, light breeze, ocean lapping. I've painted this scene countless times, but today it felt like something out of a mystery novel. I've seen Grimes Cove bathed in moonlight, and decided that I would paint it that way. Of course, quite a few bystanders thought I had been out there all night painting, or that I had visual problems! Silly tourists. Or.... crazy artist??

Lowering the key once in a while results in a completely different mood. So do color temperature shifts, and choice of subject matter.

I'm hoping not everyone wants a bright sunny day painting, and that they'll be intrigued by the change in mood of a familiar scene.

The Bold First Wash

2011-07-02T14:53:00.000-05:00

When putting down a big first wash, it's easy to be fooled by the white of the paper and therefore be intimidated into putting down a cautious, wimpy first wash. Almost any wash you put down on the white of the paper is going to look darker than it will eventually look. Successive washes can be much darker when placed on top of the first one.

So it's a good idea to put down a bold, brave wash of intense color, especially when carving out the whites.
When it's wet, it will look darker than it is, and next to the pure white of the paper, it will seem even darker. But risk it, and you'll see!

Scale

2011-07-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

The Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library is in the heart of downtown Boothbay Harbor. The quaint old building exudes New England charm. It is not a large structure. In order to make that clear, figures were needed to give scale to the building. The hint of a couple of people across the street lends further evidence of their distance from the library.

Placing figures near a natural object or a man made structure suggest scale and the relative size of a thing.

Back to the Basics

2011-06-24T07:40:00.000-05:00

Cosy Harbor, Southport
Sometimes I actually take my own advice. On Wednesday, I painted with the Plein Air Painters of Maine at Cosy Harbor. When faced with so many details on location, I decided to make a painting based on values, with much less emphasis on color. I also settled on a time honored practice of watercolorists: I started with the farthest, lightest landmass and moved forward in values. I reduced the number of boats to three. And I minimized the value contrast in the foreground. Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Warm vs. Cool

2011-06-20T12:53:00.001-05:00

I've heard it said that warm colored paintings sell better than cool colored paintings. I have no data to back this up. Anybody out there have any opinions on the matter?

I Repeat....

2011-06-14T13:29:00.001-05:00

Repetition is necessary to give a painting unity. In this painting of Pratt's Island lobster shacks, I'm particularly happy with the repetition of colors throughout the surface. It's pretty easy to spot the repeated oranges, violets, and yellows. Some are pure, some are more neutralized, but they are included at various locations on the page. This is why it is important to work on the whole page at the same time.

It is also easier if you work wet into wet. Hard edges tend to isolate colors instead of integrating them.
Try to be conscious of repeating color in the early stages of your painting when areas can be kept soft.

Trail of White

2011-06-09T08:57:00.000-05:00

The white of the paper is very important to the watercolorist. But so many times, the white shapes in a painting can be scattered, random and unorganized. Some authors refer to these as "popcorn" whites.
With some planning, white shapes can be organized to lead the eye through the painting.

Keep in mind, too, that one white shape should be dominant, probably in the focal area. Try to avoid leaving whites along the edge of the paper.

In this painting of Boothbay Harbor, the trail of whites form a "T" composition which takes the viewer from the foreground to the background.

Warming Up

2011-06-06T18:58:00.000-05:00

I finally got out to do my first plein air painting of the summer. Very few tourists are here in Boothbay Harbor this early, so I felt comfortable painting right downtown on the waterfront. I like the composition, and the atmosphere was enhanced by a young couple, he, playing the guitar, she, singing.

For those of you in those parts of the country sweltering from un-June like temperatures, I am pleased to announce that today it was 70 degrees and sunny. Come on up! Or better yet, sign up for my workshop in September!

Painting the Negative Space

2011-05-31T15:11:00.000-05:00

A light subject can be carved out by painting the negative space around it. But many people have problems thinking in the negative.

In this painting of Old Orchard Beach Pier, you can see this approach in the first wash. The buildings on the pier, some of the closer pilings, and some of the surf pools are left when I painted the space behind and around them. This requires good planning, a large loaded brush and a rather fast hand.

The second and subsequent washes can be painted as positive darker shapes. Cast shadows can cut into the reserved lights But the first wash that carves out a clear light shape by leaving it alone is the most important stage. Study the first wash and the final painting and you'll see how saving those large white shapes was a key to the final painting.

Elements of Design - Shapes

2011-05-17T11:41:00.000-05:00

Edgar Whitney believed that the best shapes are longer in one dimension, interlocking, and oblique.
I try to keep that in mind when designing the shapes in my painting.

The hardest thing for students to understand is that shapes and objects are not synonymous. The shade side of a building can be linked to the cast shadow of the building to form a dark shape. The sunlit side of the building can be the same value as part of the background to form a light shape.

In this painting demo, the light on the path leads out to the light on ocean and then into the sky to form one light shape. The path is an oblique and interlocks with some of the darker midtones of the ground vegetation.
And it is longer in length than in width. Study the tree foliage for the same principles.

The Art of Elimination

2011-05-13T15:37:00.000-05:00

In this demo that I did for a workshop in Rocheport, Missouri today, the question that arose in the students' minds, and mine also, was about the tree in the center of the scene. It was my immediate feeling that I should leave it out in order for more attention to be on the gazebo. The tree would have immediately grabbed a lot of attention because of its central location and its dark red value which also would have been hard to repeat.
Near the end of the process when I could have still added the tree, the students all agreed that the painting was fine without the tree. I had also eliminated a telephone pole and a guard rail in the foreground.

Before you choose to include something in your composition merely because "it was there", think about its usefulness to the painting. Eliminating extraneous objects for the sake of your painting's streamlined idea is a smart move.

Elements of Design - Texture

2011-05-10T12:12:00.000-05:00

Using a little bit of texture provides my paintings with some relief in areas that are just a bit too smooth and boring. In my case, texture is either splatter, calligraphy or dry brush, and it usually can be found in the foreground. But it should still be located in a small area to form a kind of shape or a line. Randomly placing texture everywhere in a painting will diminish its effectiveness.

Sorry I've been away for a while. I suffered through a weekend of toothache pain and had an emergency root canal yesterday. Painting and blogging went to the bottom of my priorities while the pain in my mouth took over my life!

I have a workshop with students in the Columbia, Missouri area this upcoming weekend. Will post photos during that time!

Elements of Design - Direction

2011-05-02T14:37:00.000-05:00

Objects, shapes, and lines can all point. The directions can be vertical, horizontal or oblique (slanted). A dominant direction can provide a restful feel (horizontal), a dignified formality (vertical), or an energized, exciting feeling (oblique). Directions can also point out the focal point or direct the veiwer's eye through the painting.

In this painting of an old fort in St. Augustine, the obliques will guide you into the painting from almost every corner. The shadows zig-zag through the center of interest. The perspective of the turrets also form an implied directional path. Even the figures line up in an oblique direction.

Consciously designing objects and lines that have a dominant direction is a very helpful technique in creating an interesting painting.

Elements of Design - Color

2011-04-28T11:46:00.000-05:00

In my outdoor workshops, I often find that students are overwhelmed with the details before them. And often times they try to match the local color of the spot. That will sometimes result in a lack of unity and harmony, as colors remain isolated and disconnected from the rest of the painting.

My suggestion is to limit the number of colors which will force a repetition of colors over the whole picture plane.

These two paintings were done with limited palettes. One was done entirely with thalo green and alizarin crimson. The other was painted with a warmer palette of burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, and purple.
Depending on the mixture, one color can dominate. The midtones tend to lean towards neutral grayed, broken colors while the lights tended to be purer. Alizarin and thalo green make a fabulous cool black value. Burnt sienna mixed with ultramarine blue makes a warmer dark value.

Here are some other limited palettes to try:

Yellow ochre, burnt sienna, Payne's gray

New gamboge, cadmium orange and cobalt blue

Cadmium yellow, burnt umber and ultramarine blue

Pick a familiar subject and paint it several times, each attempt using a different limited palette. It will teach you a lot about glazing, mixing, and painting values.

Elements of Design - Gradation

2011-04-25T12:51:00.001-05:00

A long time ago in Maine, I decided to concentrate on one or two elements and a couple of design principles when I went out to paint on location. Then, when I returned home, I would set the painting up in a trial mat to evaluate how I had done.

Here's an example. Gradation, the gradual proceeding from one thing to another in any shape, can be seen in the gradation of color in the sky and the gradation of value and texture in the buildings.

If you don't have some elements and principles in mind when you set out to paint, you're doomed to fail. Instead of thinking about painting things (i.e.trees, buildings, water and mountains), concentrate on the the elements and principles you want to use to portray those things. Get your check list out when you evaluate how your design succeeded or not in each of your paintings.

Paint What You Know

2011-04-18T14:52:00.000-05:00

Last week I had a visit with a friend from New Hampshire who was in St. Louis to talk to the students of Parks Aviation College. Betsy is a retired pilot who flew 757's for UPS. She brought along the sketchbooks that she's been making of her workplace for the last few years. There are sketches of the planes on the tarmac, her co-workers, and from the cockpit of the clouds and weather formations she observed. It's all accompanied by wonderful explanations and descriptions of what she's depicting, and makes for a fascinating look at aviation from the pilot's point of view.

I've said it before: Drawing is essential, no matter if you are a realist, impressionist or abstract expressionist. Sketching and drawing should be a regular and routine part of keeping your hand and eye ready. Sketch your daily surroundings, your workplace, and the people around you.

Here are a couple of Betsy's sketches. Thanks for sharing, Betsy!

Impressions of Maine

2011-04-11T13:46:00.000-05:00

Maine has several well known towns, but because of a certain family, one community is known by the rest of the country better than the others. Kennebunkport is a quaint seaside village whose most notable residents are George and Barbara Bush. I imagine curiousity about their residence on Walker's Point has pulled more than one vacationer off I-95 to see what the place has to offer.

It's also a magnet for artists of every stripe. Here's my take on the town square, very loosely represented. I have a second version on the drafting table as I write.

Painting From Photos

2011-04-06T13:04:00.002-05:00

Sometimes it is easy to become a slave to a photograph. More often we overlook some photos as not having enough in them to make them candidates for painting source material.

In early June last summer, I stopped briefly at Old Orchard Beach on my way to my summer place in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

It was a gray, rainy day, and very few people were in this honky tonk amusement town on the beach. But I took some photos anyway.

Here is one I took from the beach looking back at the amusement park. You might not think that it would inspire me to paint the scene. No color, no people, and the rides weren't even open yet, so there were very few people around. However, there are enough suggestions of the carnival atmosphere to build a painting. And the gray scene meant that I wouldn't be tied to local color.

The problem in the photo is the lack of subject matter in the upper left hand corner. I solved that by raising the roller coaster and inventing signage. The straight unbroken line of the fence also presented a problem. I changed it by including figures about to enter the park, and slightly curved the fence to repeat the curves in the ferris wheel and the halfdome building. One figure breaks the line of the fence and the bottom edge of the paper.

You can also detect the linkage of white shapes to lead the eye through the painting.

One last suggestion. As you discover motifs that you have used in the past, draw upon those to help solve the empty space problem. I have often included signs in my paintings, and they certainly came in handy for this painting. By making them slightly oblique, they were also a useful element to "point" to the focal area.

So don't eliminate photos just because they are not ready-made compositions. They might just be the motivation to think about the elements and principles to add to make the composition your own invention.

Secondary Triad

2011-04-03T16:50:00.001-05:00

The secondary triad is becoming a favorite these days. Here's a scene of the Old Orchard Pier in southern Maine done in purple, green and a hint of orange. I'll be trying it again soon in another combination....Maybe analogous colors.

Try limiting your palette selections for a greater sense of harmony, unity and dominance.

Returning to an Old Motif

2011-03-31T13:22:00.000-05:00

Neptune's Trident

I love painting statuary and fountains. When they are combined, that is even more interesting to me. Here's one in Kansas City of Neptune with his trident.

I'm having trouble with catching a wi-fi signal at home so I'm at the library today. Don't give up on me if I don't post for a few days!

Using a Motif

2011-03-26T10:53:00.001-05:00

Kirkwood Market II

One of the best ways I've found to stretch my limits in painting is to use the same subject again and again, but paint it as differently as possible each time. The first time you might use local color. But the next time try using only three colors. The next time eliminate everything in the background. The following time raise the horizon line; the next, lower it. Paint wet into wet, but switch to painting on dry paper for the next painting.
Bring the subject up close, then push it back. Paint the background to leave a white silhouette (painting the negative shape); then paint the object in a darker, positive silhouette. Paint in neutral tones, then in pure tones.

Experimenting will give you options. You don't have to follow the same method every time. Deciding what you want to say will influence the procedure you choose.

Here's another take on the Kirkwood Market with a cooler palette and more pure colors.

Final Version

2011-03-24T07:10:00.002-05:00

Kirkwood Market
Here's the final version of yesterday's painting. I'm using it as a model for a demonstration to students in watercolorist Carol Carter's classes at Maryville University this morning. I'm going to also try it with a cool palette today.

Linkage

2011-03-23T11:02:00.000-05:00

I'm choosing to show the midway point in this painting of the Kirkwood Farmers' Market to make a point about saving the whites to form a passageway through the painting. Rather than think about objects, concentrate on weaving the whites.

I decided to eliminate the background noise of trees and sky in favor of a dominant yellow/orange palette. That led to a secondary palette of orange, purple and green. I used combinations of those colors to surround the whites. I then started painting some darks from the inside outward, grading the values so that the whites "pop" where the darks and lights meet. Textures also remain in the central part of the page, thus subordinating the borders.

This stage of the painting tells you more about how to link objects into shapes that are interesting and lead the viewer around the parts of the painting that I want to emphasize.

Matching the Sofa

2011-03-16T21:08:00.000-05:00

A little while ago I looked up at the painting over my fireplace. It was a break-through painting when I painted it nearly twenty years ago. But I've been fiddling with the decor in my living room, and wanted a painting that would not only be an example of my latest style, but also come in aid of the red accents in the room these days. Luckily, we painters have the option of swapping out old paintings fairly easily.

Sometime it became chic to say that you shouldn't mind, and even be proud of the fact that a painting doesn't match your sofa. I understand that you shouldn't let the colors of your furniture and accent pieces interfere with your love of a particular piece of art. But one of the elements of design is repetition which comes in aid of harmony. Why not let the painting complement the decor and vice versa?

So here's my effort to match the pillows on the sofa. It's a full sheet (22" X 30").

Missing Naples

2011-03-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

Here's a painting I did several years ago of the entrance to the Naples Pier.

Look for ways to interrupt straight lines or boring rectangles. It could be a tree trunk, a bench, a railing or a person.

Also you can simplify tree foliage by using the silhouette technique to describe it rather than including every leaf or frond. Too many textures in too many places confuse the viewers. They can't tell what your focal point is.

Happy Daylight Savings Time!

Watering Holes

2011-03-10T15:26:00.001-06:00

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while know that I've done a series of paintings of people enjoying themselves in pubs and taverns. I am pleased to announce that Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay Harbor, Maine has decided to feature them in a show next July. I hope that some of you can make it!

Since I've been home in St. Louis, the weather has been conducive to studio painting, so here's today's effort, hot off the easel this noon.

Workshop Opportunity

2011-03-06T11:27:00.001-06:00

We interrupt this blogsite to bring you an important message about Carol Jessen's 2011 Watercolor Workshop in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

My workshop will be held September 12th - 16th. The scenery is quintessentially coastal Maine: lighthouses, rocky beaches, quiet village streets, working waterfronts and harbor scenes. Each day's lesson will focus on a different aspect of producing a successful and entertaining painting.

The workshop is headquartered at the Beach Cove Resort, a small resort with spectacular views of West Harbor Pond. Located on a quiet street yet convenient to the downtown area, Beach Cove has large, modern and affordable rooms.

To request an online brochure, email me at caroljessen@yahoo.com

We now return you to our regular blogsite.......

Bridging the Gap

2011-03-02T17:36:00.000-06:00

While travelling home, it's nearly impossible to dig out the easel from under the suitcases to do a painting.
And taking time out from the trip can cost money in extra hotel bills. So, how do you keep your hand and eye ready when bridging the gap between locations?

I found myself in a restaurant which covered their tablecloths with paper. My hand was itching, so I took out a pen and started to draw. Suddenly there was a beach with driftwood, a dog and a schooner out on the waves. The only drawback is that your waitress may be reluctant to put your plate down on your tablescape masterpiece!

On the Road Again

2011-02-24T16:30:00.000-06:00

I've been travelling for a few days, so I haven't posted anything. My painting time has also been restricted. I arrive back on the panhandle tomorrow, so I hope to have some new paintings to share very soon. Meanwhile, here's a painting to tide you over!

Onlookers

2011-02-18T15:01:00.000-06:00

While painting on location, an occupational hazard/delight is having people stop by to look, comment, and admire. Occasionally, though, their comments are memorable.

Yesterday I was painting in downtown Naples. I was standing in a parking lot looking across at a wonderful old banyan tree. When I was nearly finished with the painting, a couple walked up, and the husband said, "Wow! That's a really nice painting! Are you painting a local scene?" (No, I'm painting a banyan tree in Miami from a photograph and just thought I'd come out to this hot parking lot to do it. Sigh......)

Most folks are very kind, respectful and admiring. I generally enjoy the contact. But some do make you wonder!

Naples Workshop

2011-02-16T15:26:00.000-06:00

I was so pleased when five ladies here in Naples invited me to give them a one day workshop today. We returned to Haldeman Creek on a beautiful February day. (That MUST be an oxymoron!).

The lesson began with a description of the six major value patterns. I chose one and then did a demo which illustrated procedure.

The ladies said they were in unchartered waters, but felt adventurous enough to try something new. To their delight and mine, they succeeded beyond their best dreams! We had colorful minglings, good shapes, warm against cool, cool against warm, gradation....they mastered almost every single idea I threw at them. Thank you, ladies of Naples! It was a most enjoyable teaching experience.

Workshop - Day 2

2011-02-10T13:12:00.000-06:00

Naples cafe

Yesterday the class went downtown and painted street scenes. It was a warm sunny day with many passers-by. Peter did his demo, and then we went to work. It is just so good to be in the open air again, with the sun on my face. And it just wouldn't be right to go home to St. Louis without a tan!

Study this painting for its compositional elements. The focal point is the fountain, which is slightly off center, and the people sitting at the tables, enjoying lunch. The repetition of triangles is also a feature. The oblique shadows point to the focal point.

After I was finished, I walked down the street to a little tapas bar and restaurant and had a sangria underneath the shade of an umbrella. A very peace-filled day.

Plein Air Workshop

2011-02-09T15:15:00.000-06:00

Haldemann Creek

Yesterday and today, my friend Chet and I took a workshop with Peter Spatero here in Naples. Here's yesterday's work. We were on a little creek with some falling down tin-roofed shacks that were so tempting! So this was my first plein air painting in almost five months.

Several of the students in the workshop were interested in the three-steps-forward approach to the background. Looking at the painting, you'll see that there's the very light sky background, a slightly darker distant tree suggestion, then another closer silhouette of trees. I saved the texture for the foreground trees.

Being able to edit out objects and elements in a scene is an important component of plein air painting. In reality, there was a dock, no boats, and no figure. Since the shack was the focal point, adding the figure and the boats help focus your attention in that area.

Don't be afraid to add or subtract elements that add interest. And save texture for the foreground!

Travelling

2011-02-07T12:39:00.001-06:00

Sorry I've been offline for a week. I hit the road last Thursday and went to Homosassa Springs and then to Bradenton to visit my friend Connie. I haven't painted in so long that I haven't been posting anything.

I'm staying in the guest house of friends in Naples. I'm including a snapshot of the estate.
Hopefully, I"ll have some paintings again very soon.
P.S. Would it be too cruel to tell you that the high today is 78? I'm sitting out by the pool as I type!

Symmetry and Asymmetry

2011-02-01T08:03:00.001-06:00

In this painting of the historic Gibson Hotel in downtown Apalachicola, the problem was one of depicting the scene somewhat accurately while maintaining some of the desirable aspects of informal balance. The two palm trees make for a very symmetric composition. To counterbalance that, I placed a few more small trees on the left and then placed the monument on the right. Some might consider the building too centered, but the fact that it is interrupted by the foliage provides some asymmetry there, too. Granted, it's subtle, but one could certainly make the argument that the composition is not totally symmetrical.

The easel is in the car, ready for the trip south to Naples. I look forward to painting plein air again very soon!

Plein Air and Enthusiasm

2011-01-29T14:42:00.000-06:00

I'm a plein air painter. But when the weather is windy and cold, rainy and cold, foggy and cold, or sunny, windy and cold, painting outdoors becomes nearly impossible. Since I'm a nearly compulsive painter, I drag out the photos and sketch books in a quest for a subject. But somehow I always feel the enthusiasm factor wane, and that usually gets transferred to my hand.

Here I am in Florida, and I have found myself painting New England from photos because of the weather.
The longer this goes on, the tighter my style becomes. Thus, this painting from a photo I took in Vermont two years ago. If you scroll through my other paintings, you'll see that the color is subdued, the brushstrokes are more careful, and the long, vista shot has taken over again.

I long for warmer weather to be able to see, hear, smell, and feel the subjects I choose to paint. That is about to happen. Thursday I leave for Bradenton and then Naples. I need a shot of summer color, the smell of flowers, the contrast of sun and shadow, and the feel of sun on my skin. I'm pretty sure you'll see the difference.

Eastpoint Shoreline

2011-01-25T11:23:00.000-06:00

Eastpoint Shoreline
This is a small park, unmarked and hard to find, that has a great view of the working waterfront of Eastpoint.
The driftwood on the shore gives the place an unkempt look with lots of textures. Hardly a place for sunbathers, it's a great spot for painters.

I'm waiting for the rain to clear so that maybe, just maybe, I can paint outside.

Diminishing Repeats

2011-01-21T17:10:00.000-06:00

Between Eastpoint and Carabelle, Florida, the road hugs the Gulf for almost 15 miles. About halfway, there is a stretch of beach that has the remnants of storm ravaged cypress trees and scrub pines. Coming home after a day of photographing the waterfront in Carabelle, I again spotted the trunks which were dark silhouettes against an orange sunset. Their shapes were so interesting that I just had to paint them.

Yesterday you saw the planning stage. This morning, I took a deep breath and splashed away. Mixing up big puddles for the larger shapes enabled me to cover the sky and beach quickly so that I could drop colors into the "mother color". After this was dry, it was simply a matter of adding the darks.

This painting also illustrates the concept of "diminishing repeats." By repeating the shapes of the stumps in ever decreasing size, you need less and less texture and fewer details. The eye supplies the distant stumps with the details that appear in the foreground shapes.

Since the next few days look rainy and cold, I think I'll try a couple more of this motif. I might try a more neutral palette next time.

Anticipation

2011-01-20T14:11:00.001-06:00

Driftwood on the Beach
Sometimes after getting the composition and drawing ready, I deliberately wait awhile. I've found that the anticipation of painting builds the adreneline or serotonin or dopamine or some kind of chemical that makes the act of painting very exciting. Instead of anxiety, I experience a kind of high that eventually finds its way to my brush.

That said, here's the next painting.......waiting......waiting.....

Shaking Things Up

2011-01-19T09:31:00.004-06:00

Sand Dunes of St. George - 6" X 11"

What to do when you have a painter's block? Sometimes you need to shake things up a bit by trying something out of your routine. A new brush, a different size paper, a new color, a different format (i.e. not always a half sheet or full sheet.). Being out of your normal approach and using different materials can sometimes stir the juices. Risk is a stimulant.
Here's a different sized format, new colors, and new subject.

In Your Own Backyard

2011-01-17T14:06:00.002-06:00

Here on the grounds of Sportsman's Lodge, in Eastpoint, Florida, there is plenty to paint. There are live oaks, palmetto trees, peacocks, and a small cove/creek. The buildings are old and full of character.
So why drive all around looking for something to paint when there's plenty here on the Lodge grounds?

Here's a painting I did several years ago. I took a photo of the scene yesterday and am including it, too.

Incidents Along the Edge

2011-01-13T11:33:00.000-06:00

In this small painting, study the edges of the awning and you'll see that they are not perfectly straight lines. Some students believe that the straight edge is to be desired, but the seasoned painter looks for ways to interrupt the monotony of a line. Ed Whitney described this as "avoidance of monotony en route". It's a subtle consideration but serves to provide a more interesting, if not exciting, shape.

Finding Subject Matter

2011-01-10T10:47:00.003-06:00

I got to thinking about those poor red winged black birds falling out of the sky in Arkansas, and decided to paint some living birds. John J. Audubon I'm not, but it was challenging to try something out of my usual repertoire.

Sometimes it's a place or region of the country that inspires an artist. Sometimes, it's a person, sometimes, an idea about art; sometimes it's wildlife, and sometimes it's an event. Take the time to reflect on what it is that has captured your attention recently. Maybe that will help with any painter's block you may be experiencing.

Intuitive Color

2011-01-06T13:47:00.001-06:00

Spring Point Light
After you've decided on a subject and a composition, next comes the decision about values and colors.
When I finished the arrangement of this painting, I had no idea what colors were going to be used. I soaked the page, and then, without really knowing why, I reached for the lemon yellow. I worked outward from there, mingling blue onto the yellow producing green and then on to blue. As I worked down the page, I made sure to repeat some of the green in the sea. I dashed in a bit of violet for relief. From there on, the colors reflected the actual local color of the lighthouse roof and the rocks.

Decisions have to be made quickly in order not to let the next color be introduced on a damp or nearly dry page. It helps to know ahead of time that two primaries--blue and yellow--make green. The green acts as a bridge, both in color and value. Staying with those two colors resulted in unity. But it was still basically instinctual to choose those colors. This can't be taught, but it can be learned. Practice and lots of painting is the key.

Arbitrary Color

2011-01-04T13:50:00.000-06:00

In this painting of Marshall Point Lighthouse, the use of arbitrary color makes for a much more dramatic depiction of the well-known scene than a literal translation. Favorite color combinations develop over time, and replace blue skies and white clouds that do little for a dramatic presentation. The values set off the carved out whites and make them pop.

To reinforce the point, the other side of this sheet contains just such a traditional attempt. Often, the first failed try is the motivation to let loose and paint without fear. I just get out the biggest brush I have and splash away.

Trinity Episcopal

2011-01-02T12:43:00.000-06:00

Here's the painted result of yesterday's drawing/composition. Things don't always turn out the way we envision them, but that's okay. There's honor in the attempt!

From Photo to Painting

2011-01-01T21:05:00.002-06:00

Here's a photo of Trinity Episcopal Church in Apalachicola. I love the statuary in front which commemorates John Gorrie, the inventor of the forerunner of the air conditioning machine. Oftentimes, I hesitate to paint something because it is obscured by foliage or other objects, as is the case with the church. But then I remember that I can move things around. I altered the position of the tree to reveal more of the entrance to the church. Then I eliminated some of the base of the statue so there wouldn't be so much to attract the viewer's eye. So here is the sketch that I intend to paint tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

From Eastpoint

2010-12-29T17:22:00.001-06:00

Every oyster boat in Eastpoint was out in the bay today. I'm guessing it's because oysters are a New Year's staple and they are stocking the restaurants for the big night.

Here is their starting point. Apalachicola is the tourist destination, with its romantic shrimp boats, old Victorian homes, and broad street commercial district. Eastpoint is the real world of hard working fishermen, with its own pick-up truck culture. The warehouses and launchpoints on this side of the Apalachicola River are much more to my artist's liking.

Happy New Year!

Christmas in Apalachicola

2010-12-25T13:45:00.000-06:00

I can't remember the last time I painted a sunset, but last night was a beauty. This is the scene about a hundred feet from my room here in Florida. I waited until today to paint it so that I wouldn't be too influenced by the details of the sky. It was actually the live oaks that I wanted to capture.

Merry Christmas to my Followers! I hope your stockings were full of art supplies for 2011!

Getting Settled

2010-12-22T15:18:00.000-06:00

I hope you'll forgive me while I'm getting settled here in Eastpoint. I took some photos of very old paintings before I left. Oil and still lifes.... So this doesn't fit my blog site at all. But everybody needs a break sometime. I just didn't want you to be stuck with the same painting for a week or more.

Have a Merry Christmas, and tune in again soon!