Posts Tagged ‘Oil Paintings’
Finding Your Voice
A reader asked Canadian painter Robert Genn, “How do we translate our life experiences into our paintings and express who we really are?” Or, how do I find my voice?
His answer is: Voice in style is different from voice in cause. Hopefully, style develops over time. Cause is based on attitude and issue and changes with growth and development.
To find your very own voice, you need to put in regular working hours. Work generates clarity and direction. You need hunger – for knowledge or to find an antidote for some injustice. You need curiosity – wondering how things will turn out or wondering if you can do it. You need joy – in your work and in the need to feel you are giving it to others.
Hopefully, over time and with persistence, we can all find our voices.
The Art Sale
Today, I want to tell you about my friend Thelma. She and I met in the early 70s after my family and I moved to Moline, Illinois, and we have been good friends through the years.
These days, she visits me in Florida in the winter, where we try to paint 2 oil paintings each week. I try to sell mine on the Internet and, thus far, she has refused to sell hers because she thinks they are not good enough.
This past Saturday, after much convincing and increasingly less storage space, Thelma decided to have an art yard sale and she sent invitations to all her friends. For the larger pieces she asked $20, and for the smaller ones $10. At the end of the day, she couldn’t believe she had made $740. It sounds to me like her friends really liked her art work!!
Ocean City, MD
Around here, folks all agree that Ocean City, MD, is the place to be in the summertime. Earlier, the spring breakers flock there, but in the summer, families and couples are more the norm. They come for the weekend, for the week, and for longer periods if they can arrange it.
The Ocean City Art League issued a call to artists. Each artist was allowed to submit 2 large paintings to be hung in the Convention Center and 2 smaller paintings for the Chamber of Commerce, and all were to stay there for the remainder of the summer! There were no entrance fees and only a 25% commission on a sale!
Of course, I was eager to send some oil paintings. So today Betty and I took hers, mine, and Suzanne’s paintings to the Art League to be hung later in those larger venues. I can hardly imagine any greater exposure at such an inexpensive rate!
To Each His Own
Everyone has his or her own criteria as to what constitutes art. For some the work must display some set of talent as prescribed by classical artists, but for others the definition is more obscure. Personally, I ascribe to the school of thought that recognizes a vast range of art. And while I enjoy many styles of painting, abstract oil paintings are my unequivocal favorite.
While I enjoy realism in painting, I feel more connection with the pieces that are abstract. When an artist simply recreates a landscape or still life, I get the same impression as when I look at a photograph; I enjoy the beauty of the subject, but I fail to feel any serious connection to the artist. With abstract art, on the other hand, the artist’s own interpretation of the subject is palpable, which creates more feeling in the piece.
The Roofer
Sometimes life just has plans for you! Take today, for instance. The shingles for the roof came yesterday and today the roofer was coming to take off part of the old ones and put on some of the new. I didn’t really feel like going off to paint with the roofer there, but I did want to paint.
It seems like I always have some oil paintings that need a touch up, or need to have their edges painted. So I worked on those in my studio and every hour or so took out a bottle of water to the roofer whose wife is a friend of mine!
The Art Walk at Val’s
My friend, Val, has an art-and-antiques gallery called “My Studio” in a nearby town. She, herself, is an artist and sells her own artwork as well as that of her friends, including me. On Friday night her gallery was open, along with all the other galleries in town for the Second Friday Art Walk.
Betty was the featured artist and had previously given Val 15 paintings to be hung. We had a good crowd, partly because Betty is a local gal and has many friends. Also, a new shop has opened next door, rented to an architect whose wife is interested in art. They drew a large crowd because they featured a well known, big name local artist who was doing a demonstration.
By the end of the evening, Val had sold a few antiques, but Betty had sold 2 oil paintings!
Selling a Home in a Tough Economy
How can a homeowner make their home as appealing to potential homebuyers as possible? That’s a question on the minds of all homeowners looking to sell in this tough economic climate. The bottom line, success is often based on whether the home is move-in ready, or how much effort the current homeowner is willing to put in to make it ready.
Expensive upgrades and fresh paint won’t pay off all the time, but all sellers can benefit from a little reorganization. Much of what will spark a potential homebuyer’s interest is their first impression of a space. For example, does the home have a foyer or vestibule? If not, create one with a shoe and coat rack, and a nice landscape painting.
Painting at Pemberton Park
For a while, I have been thinking of going to Pemberton Park and doing a large landscape painting of Turtle Island. I have already painted it 3 times. First, I did a realistic painting, and with the help of a wonderful teacher, it looks great and hangs above my mantle. The second and third times, I outlined the important parts and painted them in a solid color, so those paintings look rather like stained glass windows.
Today I started by outlining (lightly) the main parts of the painting, but adding texture with lights and darks and a variety of colors. And this time, I had lots of company as a group of first graders and their teachers and helpers were having a field trip and all stopped by to chat with me. What a fun time I had talking with those delightful children and their chaperones!
Choosing a Scene for your Landscape Painting
We are all attracted to some scenes more than others. So the first task is to find a scene that speaks to you. As you think about the placement of that scene on your canvas, think of a Tic-Tac-Toe grid. Where the vertical lines cross the horizontal lines are the “sweet spots”. The focus of your landscape painting should be in one of those 4 areas.
Using a view finder or making a square or rectangle with your hands (depending on the shape of your canvas) will help in deciding just what to draw on your canvas. Making a few sketches in your sketch book will help you in deciding exactly how you want to place your landscape painting on the canvas, what to include and what to omit. These sketches also help you to remember just where you were when you painted that scene..
Colors to use for Landscape Paintings
If you are a beginner, chances are that you may need to buy paint. Inexpensive paint will work just fine as all paint consists of pigment and a binder, often linseed oil. I suggest small tubes of warm and cool varieties of the three major colors plus raw umber and white. For example, alizarin crimson and cadmium red light, cadmium yellow hue and cad yellow pale hue (cadmium is a heavy metal and is toxic, therefore always use the hue, if possible), ultramarine blue and cerulean blue.
Titanium white is probably the best white for all around use and you will probably need a large tube, but bear in mind that titanium is also toxic, so if some gets on your skin, try to wash it off as soon as possible. Personally, I use Flake White Replacement, as it is non toxic, but more difficult to find.
Also, consider the medium you might want to use to dilute the colors and/or help them to flow. In the past, I used turpentine to help the colors flow, as well as to wash my brush. However, turp is also toxic. Now, I use linseed oil for both purposes. Ordinary canola oil is good for cleaning the brushes followed by washing with ordinary hand soap or Master’s Soap, which is wonderful for getting out even dried paint.
With these few colors, you will be able to mix any color you choose in preparation for your landscape paintings.