Archive for the ‘Oil Paintings’ Category
Color Gradations in the Sky
Most of the time, when I paint a sky it is lighter at the horizon and gradually becomes more blue at the top of the painting or I avoid the issue totally and paint the sky pink. But I do plein air paintings and they are finished in a few hours. Perhaps I should take the following advice.
Michael Albala, in his book Landscape Painting, says that “to interpret the sky as a solid patch of color is to miss one of the best opportunities to explore the richness of color available to the landscape painter.” The sky actually undergoes several color gradations from horizon to zenith – namely, red-orange, yellow orange, yellow-green, blue-green and blue-violet. They are not distinct bands of color and vary according to the weather conditions and time of day. They are more obvious in early morning and late afternoons. Color choice can make the sky feel like the luminous light source that it is.
Landscape Paintings on Parade
Suzanne brought 5 landscape paintings to my house today and I will add several of mine and take them to Betty’s house tomorrow. We are getting ready to show our plein air paintings at the Ocean City Library from September 19 to October 31. Betty and some friends will hang the paintings on September 19.
Tonight Betty also received a call from Mary at the Ocean Pines Library asking if we would like to show our work there – during October! Even though the request comes at the last minute, how could one refuse a request like that? Now we are scampering (and rapidly painting) to find enough paintings for that exhibit which will begin October 1.
Plein Air Painting at Chincoteague, Again
What a time we had this week! The weather was cloudy, occasionally misting rain. Katya was coming up the coast producing phenomenal waves. The big problem was that the sky had very thick white clouds, hence no shadows, what we all need to describe form. And when you looked at the breaking waves, they were almost the same color as the sky!
This was the 8th annual plein air event and 45 artists came to celebrate. There were many sales. Paintings in the $75-$125 range were popular, but also many paintings in the $350 and above also sold well. I don’t know the final tally, but Nancy West, the Coordinator, said it was the best year ever! And that is amazing!
In the Studio
Landscapes executed in the studio can be the artist’s most full-bodied expression. In the comfort of the studio, the landscape painter has the luxury of time to resolve all the visual problems that fleeting light and time don’t permit in outdoor work. Studio paintings do not have the spontaneity of plein air work, but what they lack in immediacy they more than make up for with fully realized solutions.
The slower, studied approach of studio work gives the painter options to explore issues of composition, color and paint handling in ways that can bring the visual idea to its most complete state. In oil, for instance, glazing or textural brushwork can take several days to dry. In the studio, there is time to put a painting aside and gain a fresh perspective days or weeks later. In short, the studio embodies everything that outdoor work does not: controlled lighting, a comfortable environment, and time to take a more contemplative approach to the subject.
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.