Back to landscapes

Silos 9x12 pastel, copyright 2012

The right lighting can make just about anything interesting, even something as ordinary as grain silos.  Spotted from the road on the way home from Oxford after a football game, this grouping was catching the sun in just the right way.  

One of the challenges of painting metallic objects is "bounced" color.  Bounced color refers to the color that objects reflect onto one another.  It is not a true reflection but more about how the color and light of objects in close vicinity affect each others' appearance.  It's more obvious in more reflective objects such as metal and glass, but it happens on others as well.  For a good discussion on how artists can address bounced color, check out this post by Canadian artist Gaye Adams.

On a more personal note, I've found that the break from landscapes has been an excellent refresher.  I was getting a bit bogged down and frustrated, and starting to have doubts about whether my work was truly unique and worthwhile.  After all, there are a lot of landscape painters out there.  But stepping back helped remind of what I find most attractive about painting - capturing those fleeting moments when bright light and warm color and deep shadow come together to create a "luminous brightscape".  I think the description fits my work, and that is where I need to focus myself.

Beyond blue

Reveal 16x20 oil on panel, copyright 2012

Clouds breaking apart to let a bit of sunshine peek through inspired the last of these sky paintings.  I have to admit that this one gave me a lot more trouble than the other three.  The problem seemed to be that I tried to hard to make it look like the photograph instead of just letting go where it wanted to go.  The paint got pretty thick, then hard to move around and impossible to create the softer feeling of the previous painting.  After a few days of drying I worked on it a bit more, let it dry slightly, then went over it with a dry brush to soften some of the edges.  I still see places that could be changed, but over working is always a danger and it's best to quit while you're ahead.

This is the last of the sky paintings only because I had only four panels.  They were a good break from my typical landscapes, a way to get the creative juices flowing again.  I will be purchasing more of these panels to keep handy when breaks are needed, so you can expect to see them at random.  And the paintings were certainly helpful - I got back into pastel landscapes this week and will be posting one soon.  It's one of my best yet, at least in my humble opinion!

Tis the season

Red Ornament 6x8 pastel, copyright 2012
SOLD

It's the holiday season, so I decided to try a quick sketch of one of my favorite things, a glass ornament. My brother and his wife bought this one for me in Venice.  My glass collection includes a number of pieces from Venice as I find handmade glass far more appealing than shoes and handbags.  May is the best time to visit, before the tourists swarm the place and the heat and humidity get unbearable.  It's good place to get lost, wandering through the back streets admiring the architecture and the locals - just don't cross a bridge, or you will get really lost!

This particular ornament has gold leafing wrapped around it, but I haven't quite figured out how to paint gold yet.  I have another ornament made from Murano beads that needs to be painted sometime, though with its many colors it won't be a quick sketch.  Another ornament, painted in oil, is currently available at the Preble County Fine Arts Center in Eaton, Ohio.

Cobalt blues

Light of Dawn 16x20 oil on panel, copyright 2012

Inspired by a photograph taken several years ago, this is my favorite of the skies so far.   The photo had quite a bit of purple, but the painting wanted to be more blue, so I just went along.  Some time ago a friend was generous enough to give me quite a few oils that she no longer had an interest in using, and cobalt blue was among the colors.  It's been fun mixing it with white and the other blues to find new colors, and I am loving the brightness of it.  

Art for the holidays

Nautilus 9x12 pastel, copyright 2010

Hayloft, Evening Light 9x12 pastel, copyright 2010

Bank Barn, Early Spring 9x12 pastel, copyright 2012

If these three pastels seem familiar, it's probably because you've seen them on the blog before.  This morning were dropped off in Sidney, Ohio at the Gateway Arts Council.  During the month of December the GAC is having an exhibit, Give the Gift of the Arts.  It's a show made for the holiday season, with work from a wide variety of artists, all priced under $300.  The reception is December 7 from 6-8 and it looks like I will be able to attend.  There are some very talented artist participating, and I feel honored (and a bit humbled) to be among them.  Hopefully I will see some of you there!

Charcoal portrait

Contemplating 6x8 charcoal, copyright 2012

Every artist should draw or sketch every day.  It's like exercising or doing your homework, a necessity to keep up your skills.  I know this, and while I have good intentions, it often doesn't happen.  Life gets in the way, as it tends to do.  But really, that's just an excuse, one that I need to quit using.  

Over the weekend, Black Friday in fact, I stopped in one of the few remaining art supply stores around to look for some of my favorite pastel paper.  They didn't have any so I picked of a pad of gray tone papers, thinking it would be good for sketching.  Today I decided to quit using excuses and use this paper instead.  I flipped through my reference photos and found this one.  Hands and faces and the two parts of the body that I have the most difficulty with so of course I had to put both in the same sketch.  Obviously I still need a bit of practice, but it's not too bad for a half hour of work.  Now I just have to convince myself to keep sketching every day.

Autumn creek

Along the Creek, Late November 12x9 pastel, copyright 2012

Not surprisingly, it didn't take long before I returned to pastel landscapes.  This one wasn't really planned, but the weather was so perfect last week that I decided to wander down to the creek and see what I could see.  A couple of tree trunks that had piled up during last spring's flood served as both seat and easel.   It took about an hour to work it out and the details were finished later in the studio.  I might play with it a bit more, perhaps eliminating the grasses since they feel a bit distracting to me.  It can be difficult to filter out what's unnecessary when working plein air - there can be too much too look at sometimes, though I certainly can't complain about the view.