Archive for May, 2011
Studio Work
In the comfort of the studio, the artist has the luxury of time to resolve the visual problems in his/her landscape painting. Problems of composition, color and paint handling sometimes take several days or longer to resolve. In the studio there is time to put the painting aside and gain a fresh perspective days or even weeks later.
Studio paintings do not always possess the spontaneity of plein air works, and for that reason many artists do a small plein air painting as a beginning and later enlarge it in the studio. However, the studio experience embodies everything that outdoor work does not: controlled lighting, a comfortable environment, and time to take a more thoughtful approach to the subject. The result is the fullest expression of the artist’s work.
Establishing Consistent Light on Palette & Canvas
A single color will appear different under lights of varying brightness. This simple fact is crucial to controlling color mixing. Imagine the difficulty if every time you mixed a color and applied it to the canvas, it appeared either darker or lighter than you intended. This is exactly the problem faced if the light on the canvas and palette are not the same.
The worst imbalance is when the sun shines on the palette and the canvas is in the shadow. If both the canvas and palette are in full sun, judging colors is next to impossible. The most balanced situation is when both canvas and palette are in soft shade – as under a tree or in the shadow of a building.
To create shade when plein air painting, sometimes the easel can be positioned opposite the sun, so that shade from the canvas falls on the palette. With French easels, a piece of cardboard or an extra canvas can be put behind the painting surface to block some of the sunlight. Another possibility of obtaining equal light on palette and canvas is to place the palette upright in the same plane as the canvas. Use a mini bungee cord tied from behind to hold the palette against the frame. Finally, an artist’s umbrella allows you to make shade wherever you are.
The Plein Air Critique
If a workshop coordinator has a critique each day, that’s a bonus! “But,” you say, “my oil painting is so bad that I don’t want everyone looking at it”. Let me tell you, there are others in the class feeling the same way. Besides, just as any 10th grader knows, you have to go through grades 1 – 9 to get there, so every advanced artist had to go through the beginning steps to get where she is today.
Here are the positives: There are others in the class, some more learned than you, some less. All come from different backgrounds and experiences and have differing amounts of talent. You can learn a lot just by looking at their paintings and listening to the critiques given to them by the class. When it is your turn to show your painting, it is amazing the ideas people will have for you to improve your painting. You will be subject to ideas that you never would have thought of yourself. All are given in an empathetic and positive manner and you will be so happy you took the risk of showing your work.
Plein Air Artist Workshop
Typically, the workshop will begin with the class assembling and each person introducing themselves. The workshop instructor will give an overview of the class, where it will meet and the time, and do a demonstration illustrating the lesson of the day. Afterward, the members are free to choose their location within a given area and begin painting.
At first this is somewhat overwhelming because the artist might have an 8” x 10” canvas board on which to paint and a panorama of sights from which to choose a scene. To make it easier, the artist has a few choices. She can make a few sketches in her sketch book as to how she thinks the scene will look when painted. She can also use a view finder which will block out all but the desired scene and move it around to get the optimum positioning. The view finder can be as humble as putting one’s thumbs and forefingers together to make an opening approximately the shape of her support, or as complicated as a small plastic with a slide that alters the shape of the view from rectangular to square, depending on the shape of the artist’s support.
Often the workshop instructor visits each landscape painter once or twice during each session to offer suggestions. After all, he/she wants the painter to be pleased with the finished product. If the instructor has a critique session each day, that’s a bonus! Each member of the workshop has a chance to comment on all the paintings created. A critique session can prove to be very helpful to the artist because the many members of the workshop often have ideas that are totally new to the artist. If comments are offered in a positive manner, the workshop participant can go home refreshed and inspired and eager to begin painting again.
Landscape Painters’ Studios
Landscape painters must be comfortable in two “studios” – en plein air, where they receive their initial inspiration from nature, and indoors where they develop and refine their paintings. Since all landscape painting begins outdoors at the source, the plein air experience is the foundation for landscape painting.
Some artists work exclusively out of doors. For them, a direct and immediate response to nature is the very definition of landscape painting. Their work is typically small, infused with spontaneity and with fluid brushwork. Others work almost exclusively indoors, yet often return to nature to keep their translation skills in good form. Most landscape painters, however, work in both studios. In larger works, the artist who works in both studios is capable of accomplishing feats that are unattainable in a quick plein air painting
The French Easel
If a plein air artist paints medium to large paintings, he/she usually uses a canvas for support and a French easel for painting. A French easel has three adjustable legs and holds paint, brushes, cups for medium and brush cleaner, a palette, paper towels, trash bag and an apron. It will also hold the painted canvas during transportation.
The French easel comes in full size and half size which is about 25% lighter. It can double as a studio easel if space at home is at a premium. It accommodates canvases of many sizes, including very large. It is relatively inexpensive but is heavy when loaded with supplies.
The Pochade Box
Plein air painters are usually oil painters, although a few work in acrylics or watercolors. If an artist paints small pictures, he/she often uses a Pochade box to carry such essentials as paints, brushes and canvas board. Pochade boxes can be very small, say for a 3” x 5” painting or smaller, or medium size for paintings up to 12” x 16”.
A Pochade box attaches to a tripod which can be adjusted to various heights. The tripod may have its own carrying case which might also carry a roll of paper towels and leak proof can for cleaning brushes and a cup for medium. The advantage to a Pochade box is that it is light; the disadvantage is that it is expensive and can only be used for small paintings.
Plein Air Artist Retreat (Part 3)
Wednesday morning was our last morning at the retreat. In the studio, James gave us a demonstration of the color wheel and mixing of colors and we later went outside and chose a scene. I found a wonderful locust tree with branches everywhere. I only had time to draw and photograph it, but I can finish it in my studio.
I had a truly wonderful time. We had a small group – not more than 13 at any meal. The participants all got along well and some had a great sense of humor! Susan tried very hard to bend the schedule to our needs and requests. I learned much, saw and painted scenery I don’t often see, and found wonderful trees everywhere. I recommend this workshop to anyone who is a plein air painter, whether you are an oil painter, watercolorist, acrylic painter, or whatever your medium. Susan can be contacted via her web site http://www.snicholasart.com or 814-360-2116.
Plein Air Artist Workshop (Part 2)
One nice feature of the workshop is that you can go one day, or two, or as many as fits your schedule. We left early Monday morning in Betty’s big van, arriving in time for lunch at 1 pm at the Studio. After lunch Susan, who also represents Jack Richeson products and Gamblin Oils, showed us some of her paintings, gave a demonstration as to how she works and pointed out materials which we were free to use. She then took us over to the house where we were to stay, a lovely old mansion. We unpacked our bags and set up our paints for an afternoon of painting. I am an oil painter who loves painting trees and I found a huge catalpa tree at least 6 feet in diameter, so I was happy and busy the rest of the afternoon. We had a little while to rest before dinner at 8 pm. Gay Rodgers, owner of the Hameau Farm was the cook, and a marvelous one: every meal was a special treat.
On Tuesday we had a full day. In the morning Susan had gessoed some water color paper and we each taped our paper to a board with tape dividing the paper into 3 parts. She wanted us to pick a scene and paint parts of it in each section of the paper, for example, the whole scene in one section and parts of the scene in the other two sections. It was an experiment to consider different perspectives and she took us to a beautiful creek to paint. In the afternoon, we went to Jack’s Mountain and set up our easels at an overlook where we could see the whole valley with the well laid out fields of various colors. It was a truly beautiful scene (and I found a gnarled tree for my painting!) (to be continued)
The Plein Air Artist Workshop
It was by chance that we met – Anna and I. I had taken my car to the car shop for an oil change. She was already waiting, and the man behind the counter pointed out that we were both artists. What ensued was a conversation that changed my plans two weeks hence.
Anna is an Art teacher at a local high school and was awarded Teacher of the Year for 2010 – 2011. She has been mentored for several years by the Coordinator of the Hameau (pronounced Ham-O ) Farm Studio Artist Retreats which meets twice each year near Belleville, PA, southwest of State College, in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains. Another retreat was coming up in about two weeks and she gave me the information.
The retreat is a week long retreat for plein air painters of all genres and the Coordinator of the retreat is Susan Nicholas Gephart, Central PA Pastel Society President and Instructor at the C. Barton McCann School of Art. She and her assistant, James Farrah, well known Phoenix, AZ, oil painter and watercolorist would both give demonstrations and advise and help students. The cost would be $90 per day plus $25 per day for food. Overnight cabins were available at no extra charge but they had no electricity or running water. When I presented the information to my friends, Betty and Suzanne, they seemed favorably inclined but wanted time to consider, and wanted to pay for a motel room rather than opt for the free cabins. (to be continued)