Posts Tagged ‘landscape oil painting’
Painting Surfaces: Canvas
For many years, oil painters have used canvas as the choice support for their paintings. The canvas surface is woven either from cotton or linen and covered with one or more layers of gesso. Financially, if the canvas is smaller, it is less expensive to purchase a pre-primed canvas. For larger paintings, it is more economical to buy canvas by the yard and stretch it yourself. Pre-primed canvas can also be purchased and would save you the time of doing that step.
If you paint small, you might be interested in canvas boards. Some can be quite inexpensive, but they don’t always hold up well. It takes time to find a canvas board that you like and will hold up well.
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.
Plein Air Workshop
Two weeks ago or so I met an art teacher who told me about a plein air oil painting workshop near Belleville, PA, a bit south east of State College. My friends checked out the information and we decided to attend.
So tomorrow, we plan to leave Betty’s house at 8 am – a bit early for me – and, hopefully, get there in time to paint. We’ll attend all day Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Then drive back in the afternoon. I’m eager to meet the artists involved and get to plein air painting again. However, you won’t hear from me for a few days, but then I will continue this series.
Fine Art Can Be Found Outside the Museum
When I visited Paris a few years ago, I was obviously astonished at its architectural beauty. The streets were teeming with life, and just watching people go about their everyday activities – gathering groceries for an evening meal, zipping along on motorized scooters, etc. – was enough to keep me busy for hours. More than anything, I relished the chance to see some of my favorite artists’ oil paintings up close and personal.
The paintings are part of Claude Monet’s celebrated water lilies cycle, and they are formally called Nympheas. Like the best impressionist work, these paintings capture a mood or emotion rather than attempting to faithfully document a scene out of real life. Luckily, you don’t have to fly all the way to France to appreciate works of art that are just as stunning and nuanced. Many collectors and appreciators of art do their shopping online, where hundreds of pieces are bought and sold each day.
Enjoying the Day
The days are getting shorter here in Maryland. And with each day comes a greater chance for rain, wind or cold weather.
The last two days have been beautiful! The temps were in the mid 70s, some clouds, a little breezy, but all in all, a great day to paint. I couldn’t resist. I just had to go out there and paint for at least part of the day! Both days I finished my landscape oil painting enough that all I have to do is put in the sky and paint the edges back at the studio. Tomorrow is the day to do that – when it is raining!
Painting in a Photographic Age
In the latter half of the 19th century, photography was just becoming a viable art form and painting appeared to be taking a backseat to this up-and-coming medium. Proponents of photographic art argued that snapshots offered the ultimate expression of realism – they captured things exactly the way they were. In response, European painters began exploring impressionist art.
Impressionism took a look at real images and landscapes from a whole new vantage point – that of the artist. Suddenly the straightforward paintings of old were jazzed up with an emotional impact. Colors were more vibrant and lines less distinctive. It was as if artists were painting from memory, embellishing certain elements of the work even as others receded into the background. In short, the impressionists proved that oil painting was still among the most relevant of mediums.