Archive for December, 2009
The Daily Painter – Week 1
You’re probably wondering how I made out being a daily painter this past week. I did fine on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday I was exhausted! I could do only menial tasks around the house. On Friday, I was still tired and the day was cloudy and windy, so I finished the tree paintings while sitting on my screened patio.
My landscape paintings are all about design and color. After I have painted en plein air, I have to bring the painting home and look at it for a day or two. Sometimes I have to do minor touch ups, sometimes change something about a color, but always have to paint the edges.
Saturday and Sunday, I made Christmas cookies to send to my Austin hosts. Conclusion: This is not the best time of year to become a daily painter. Also, painting more than 5 paintings per week would be totally unrealistic, and fewer than that would be more nearly possible.
Painting Surfaces
The most popular surface for oil painting is canvas, made of either cotton or linen, and stretched over a wooden frame, called a “stretcher”. The canvas is “primed” with a thick coat of white gesso by the manufacturer but can be lightly sanded and more gesso can be added by the artist. These priming coats are called the “ground”.A Brief Overview of Abstract Expressionism
Following World War II, New York City was the epicenter for unique styles and creative energy. One of the main movements that spawned from this artistic whirlwind was abstract expressionism art. The term, first coined in 1946 by art critic Robert Coates, is used to describe a range of spontaneous and surrealist creations.
One of the main artists in this movement was Jackson Pollock. His drip paintings stressed the importance of the creative process, not just the finished product. While to the untrained-eye abstract expressionism may appear to be a muddled, amateurish art form, the pieces exhibit a subconscious attention to a greater theme.
Today’s Landscape Painting Dec. 7, 2009
Today, I decided to stay close to home as I have many other things to do today in addition to doing my landscape painting. I walked across the street and on the other side of that building, I found just what I like – a gnarly tree, with a couple of slash pines and a small lake nearby.
Home Again
There’s no place like home. Whether it’s Kansas or elsewhere, I’m with Dorothy on that! I arrived home in Florida Saturday evening after spending two weeks with my friend/art teacher in Austin, TX. I was happy to visit her showing at the Laguna Gloria Gallery and see several of her large pieces which were new to me. She paints clouds and phenomena of nature like tornadoes, waterspouts, etc.
But, alas, her health is not good. It is devastating to see someone who was in vibrant health two years ago, and having so many problems now. I mentioned earlier that she has this awful disease called Progressive Supernuclear Palsy (PSP).
I did come home with some new resolves, though. I am going to try to do one landscape painting each day – to become a daily painter. It will be a small one – 12″ x 12″ at first, as those canvasses are all that I have on hand. We’ll see what happens after that and if I can keep up. And now that I have made this announcement to the world, I have a lot of work to do.
Pissarro on Landscape Paintings
What follows is more advice from Camille Pissarro regarding landscape paintings.
When painting, look for a clear object, see what lies to the right and left of it and work at all sections simultaneously. Apply paint all at once, with brush strokes of the right colours and brightness and try to set down your observations directly.
Cover the canvas in one sitting and work at this until you can find nothing else to add. Paint what you see and feel. Paint strongly and unhesitatingly, for it’s best not to lose the first impression. One must have only one master: nature. One must always ask her counsel.
Pissarro on Painting
Camille Pizzarro was approximately ten years older than Cezanne. He was a man of stable personality and very much a part of the Naturalist group as he took his easel and paints daily to the out-of-doors and painted. According to Jack Lindsay’s book: the painter L. LeBdel has given us a clear account of Pissarro’s attitudes and advice:
Seek out for yourself a type of nature which suits your temperament. One should observe forms and colours in a motif rather than drawing. Accurate drawing is dry and destroys the impression of the whole. The brush stroke, the right shade of colour, and the right degree of brightness should create the drawing. Paint the essential character of things and don’t worry about technique.
These are guidelines which those who use the Impressionist style still use in their landscape paintings.