Archive for the ‘Oil Paintings’ Category
See It
As a plein air painter, you translate the 3-dimensional world onto a 2-dimensional canvas. We see the objects of a landscape as existing in space: A tree is in front of a mountain. In two dimensions, however, an edge is formed where the tree and the mountain touch.
The first thing a plein air painter should learn is the usefulness of squinting at the subject. Squinting helps to filter out nonessential details.
It is difficult to judge the exact color and value of any element of a landscape out of context. It is easier to see, understand and judge by comparing one element to another. Squint at the scene and ask yourself several questions: Is the mountain lighter or darker than the tree? Is the light on the tree lighter or darker than the sky? Which tree is greener, which bluer? Looking for relationships of color, value and edge instead of looking at objects is thinking like an artist. Not only will it energize your work, but your tree will look more like a tree!
Patterns of Light and Shade
Some of the most descriptive spatial cues for the plein air painter are patterns of light and shadow. When sunlight strikes forms from the side, it creates a light side and a shadow side. This value difference determines the form, creating an illusion of volume and solidity. Finding these patterns of light and shade is a matter of looking at the right time and in the right direction.
Avoid placing yourself so that the sun is directly in front or behind you because back lighting and front lighting provide few cues for volume. At midday, the light stays consistent for longer periods of time, but the shadows are at a minimum, and there are fewer value contrasts. Because the sun is lower in the sky in the early morning and late afternoon, the light side and shadow side of forms are more noticeable. In the spring and summer, the best times to paint are in the mornings from sunrise until 10:00 or 11:00 AM, or in the late afternoons from 3:00 or 4:00 PM until sunset. Keep in mind that the light changes quickly and a 2-hour period is probably all the time that will be available to paint.
Site Selection
The landscape painter considers many factors when choosing what to paint, the least of which is subject matter and the level of inspiration it evokes. He/She is searching for the scene which incorporates the visual cues necessary to create an illusion of space within a two-dimensional painting.
Some of the cues are: 1) Volume. Volume, as in a tree, gives solidity and dimension to forms through patterns of light and shadow. 2) Scale. A second tree is added, smaller than the first, implying depth. 3) Overlap. One tree might overlap the other implying depth. A background, such as a mountain, as added, further heightening the sense of depth. 4) Perspective. Perhaps a fence row is added with shadows in the foreground leads the eye even deeper into the space.
Not all these spatial cues will be present in every subject, but even a few can work together to build the illusion of depth. As you learn what to look for, you’ll discover that a few scenes present themselves in an ideal fashion. As you cultivate an eye for site selection, you’ll know which sites to avoid and which will lead to success.
Pricing Your Artwork
In the September 2011 issue of Professional Artist is an article by Jodi Walsh with the above title. First of all, she says there is no single formula. The article I read last year suggested pricing oil paintings by the square inch and gave suggestions regarding that method. However, the following are her suggestions.
1) Have your work critiqued by a professional (instructor, curator, etc). 2) Take a long look at not only the quality, but also your presentation. The back should look as professional as the front. Presentation is key. 3) Consider the topic or subject matter. In what type of home/office environment does it belong? Is the room modern, contemporary, antique, country, etc? 4) Is your medium or process unique and expensive to use (e.g. a sculptor who has high casting costs)? If so, allow for this up front. 5) Is your work framed or unframed? Plain or non-reflecting glass?
Go to galleries and art expos. Examine what other artists are doing. Seek out your medium and size and take a look at their presentation and pricing. Don’t look at famous artists with an established history. Be honest with yourself. This may not be the simple answer, but it is the most useful.
Berlin, MD
Berlin, Maryland, is a small town on Eastern Shore of Maryland. It’s most famous event was the making of the movie Runaway Bride some years ago.
Today was the Peach Festival. Churches cooked dinners, individuals set up tents and sold peach pies, ice cream and all things peach. Since crabs are well loved here on the Eastern Shore, crab cakes were also sold. It would have been a huge success but the rain poured down.
This past Friday and Saturday, Berlin had a Paint Out. There were only 11 artists who took part, but we met on Friday at the Worcester Arts Council in Berlin, who sponsored the event, had coffee and donuts and got our canvases stamped. I painted at the Museum – on Friday, a Sycamore and on Saturday, a Magnolia tree. The plein air paintings were still wet when I framed them, and I couldn’t photograph them because of the pouring rain, but you’ll see them sometime in the future.
Choosing Your Subject
Edward Betts, one of America’s most creative painters, in his book Creative Landscape Painting says that developing a creative imagination or a creative viewpoint means beginning to comprehend nature and create paintings that go beyond the ordinary, toward an art that is more personal and inventive.
One of the first decisions an artist makes is deciding on the subject of the picture. Actually, it is not so much a matter of choosing a subject, but rather to responding to some visual situation. The artist sees something that triggers an interaction with the artist’s inner world of the subconscious. As Sir Thomas Browne stated, “We carry within us the wonders we seek without us.”
The fact that something outside himself has affected the artist intimately means he now has something to communicate. If you are genuinely excited about your subject, then you have a very good chance of sharing that excitement, by means of your art, with someone else. So search out the landscape forms that touch you deeply and make them the core of your art.
Decorating Your Home With Style
Bring nature indoors by hanging wildlife art prints on your walls. You can also place other nature-inspired items in your living area. These include wooden sculptures, vases and figurines made of pottery clay.
Other ways to bring nature indoors include
~ Placing a bunch of fresh wildflowers in a vase.
~ Choosing Landscape oil painting
~ Decorate your living room with various shapes and sizes of pots and jars.
On the Subject of Drawing
When I studied under Austin plein air painter Cassandra James, a daily assignment was to spend 15 minutes drawing. That seemed like such a small amount of time, but somehow I had a difficult time finding the time to do that. I have read that 15 minutes per day for 6 months will make an immense difference in one’s ability to draw.
Canadian painter Robert Genn has this to say: “I’ve encouraged both myself and others to experience the joy of drawing. It may be separate from painting, but it is certainly key to much that is great in painting. To find a line, to make it work, to really see it and know it holds life and energy or is pregnant with feeling, is to experience a kind of excitement that even sensitive observers cannot truly know. If only for the forward march of our own character, we need to fill our sketchbooks.”
Pony Penning
This past week was the annual Pony Penning at Chincoteague, VA. It all started many years ago after a big fire at Chincoteague that the town decided they needed a Volunteer Fire Department (VFD). Then the question became how to raise money for the expenses needed.
Wild ponies, descendents of those who fled the sinking Spanish galleons of 3 centuries or so ago, live on Assateague Island, barrier island that runs from Ocean City, MD, to Chincoteague, VA. Each year the Chincoteague “cowboys” drive the 150 or so ponies across the narrow waterway between the barrier island and the mainland. The fittest are auctioned off for the VFD and the rest are returned to the island. Many thousands of people come each year to the event, the last full week of July.
This event has been made famous in the children’s book Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry which was based on a real horse named Misty and which won a Newberry Award in 1948. In September, I go to Chincoteague for a plein air Paint Out contest.
The ‘Local Artist’
Last week Robert Genn, Canadian landscape painter, wrote a newsletter about the local artist. Some questions arose, such as, “Do galleries favor the local artist or the out-of-towner?” Evidently, he had made an earlier comment about it not being desirable to be a local artist. He had also been bothered by George Bernard Shaw’s remark, “When you know the artist, you think less of the art.”
Genn further commented that he didn’t want people dropping in on him while he was trying to figure things out (i.e., when a painting wasn’t working and he was trying to correct it). He was aware of the ease of selling low-priced work to friends and the negative effects this had on artists when they worked with commercial art dealers. He also had the idealistic idea that his paintings could be sold by distant dealers at decent prices to honest collectors who had good taste. This would leave him free to study, travel or pursue his muse in relative local anonymity. “To be successful,” Genn said, “you need good work, someone who thinks it is good work besides your mom and trustworthy distant galleries.”