Posts Tagged ‘plein air paintings’
That Pile of Unfinished Plein Air Paintings
Last week Robert Genn, Canadian plein air painter, talked about the pile of unfinished paintings that sometimes accumulate for various reasons. His suggestion was to divide them into three groups – possible, borderline and impossible. Relegate the last group out of sight, possibly later to be reprimed canvases. Then do what is important first.
His readers made some interesting suggestions. One suggested working on them in order of preference. An art teacher had a bunch of drawings and paintings on paper that she used as collage in later works. Another mentioned that Titian would turn his unfinished paintings to the wall and re-evaluate them at a later time. Sometimes you need a little time away from the painting to truly know what it needs.
How to Critique Yourself – for the Plein Air Painter (2)
My first essay about critique for the plein air painter was last week. Robert Genn continued, saying he felt that a checklist is valuable and that you need to write and follow your own list. His list includes a series of varying questions: Meaningful subject? Strong patterns? Middle tones? Interlocking gradations? Echoing shapes? Flowing design? Alluring counterpoint? Lost and found? Focal point? Big and small? Overall simplicity? Complex shapes? Visual depth? Interesting shapes? Aerial perspective? Sophisticated color? Natural believability? What could be?
His readers questioned him about a few of the above and he continued. “Alluring counterpoint” is where there is a small amount of jumpy detail or “grace notes” that give a secondary area of interest without destroying the power of the whole. I often try for at least one area of AC. “Interlocking gradations” are smaller gradations or blends laid side by side or juxtaposed. They give added, often abstract, interest and mystery to otherwise ordinary subjects. General gradations are gradations or blends in a large area such as sky, water or the general base of an abstract, etc. Interposed with “flats” these general gradations go a long way toward strengthening compositions (also helping areas to “sit up” or “lie down”) and holding the eye. “Interesting surfaces” means texture, shine (final varnish) and evidence of the human hand at work. In my case I like an even, “handmade” look, not too artificially rough, not too slickly smooth. Inconsequential though these concerns might seem, they all contribute to a work’s visual “stickyness.” In the pursuit of making your own work unique, I should emphasize that while your list may have parts of other artists’ lists, your list needs to be your own list.
If you want to see what other readers mentioned as their lists, go to http://clicks.robertgenn.com/critique-self.php
The Impatient Plein Air Painter (2)
The traveling plein air painter will find that alkyds dry quickly enough to be easily managed. With a full alkyd palette, the paintings will be wet when you come from the field, but after a day or so, they can be stacked without damage – just use wax paper to separate and protect them.
For the painter who likes to work wet-in-wet, alkyds dry just enough during a painting session to become tacky. The surface then becomes receptive to taking on additional paint. Also, if you play with texture, you’ll be able to layer paint more quickly.
For the studio artist who builds up layers or glazes, each of which is allowed to dry, alkyds are great for establishing an under painting. With alkyds which dry in 18-24 hours, a new layer can be applied the next day. For painters looking to add many layers of glazes, the painting can be completed many weeks sooner than if done in oils. In addition, varnishing can be done much sooner, sometimes in as few as 3 months.
To my readers: look for blogs pots to come out about twice a week in the future.
The Impatient Plein Air Painter
If you are a plein air painter who doesn’t like to wait for your painting to dry, then alkyd oil paints are for you. Alkyd oil paints – or simply, alkyds – can dry to the touch in less than 24 hours. They are ideal for someone who uses multiple layers of glazes, paints wet – into – wet or travels to paint.
Why not just use acrylic paint? Although acrylics have come a long way since their creation in the 1950s, they still don’t handle the way oils do. Alkyds are fully compatible with oil paints. Because alkyds are made with a modified version of the same oils used in traditional oil paints (such as linseed or safflower oil), alkyds can be used interchangeably with traditional oils and their related products (turpentine, mineral spirits and varnishes). And cleanup is exactly the same for alkyds as it is for oils.
Analyzing the Plein Air Composition
If a potential scene offers the necessary spatial cues and presents its major shapes and values in a relatively organized way, then just making choices about how to position the picture window can lead to a good composition. However, there are times when a few adjustments would lead to a better composition. Here are a few types of alterations that are reasonable for the plein air painting. What makes them acceptable is the small degree of alteration.
Moving an element over to reveal what is behind it or removing a minor element that interferes with the overall composition would be acceptable. Other alterations would include: slightly increasing or decreasing the size of an element, adding small accents to the foreground to give it better perspective, or reshaping clouds so they suggest more perspective. Often what is needed is not so much an actual change, but an emphasis or deemphasis of what is already there, an adjustment of the relative strengths of the elements.
Showing my Abstract Landscape Paintings
My plein air painter friend, Betty, has a group of ladies who meet in her home once each month for a potluck dinner. This group is her version of the Red Hat Club and she calls her group the Laughing Ladies. They do indeed do a lot of laughing. Betty, herself, is such a warm and funny lady that everyone within earshot also laughs.
Tonight, since Halloween is soon, some ladies came in costume. We had 2 waitresses, complete with trays and cups, a hospital nurse with stethoscope, and 2 others who came wearing whatever was handy – and they were such a hoot! We also had “show and tell” night and we saw a beautiful hooked rug, several quilts, jewelry, and I showed a few of my paintings. The small ones were more realistic, but the larger ones were my abstract landscape paintings. When someone asked how I chose red for the background, I had to say I had asked the assistant at a workshop that question, he showed me a picture with orange eggs and said, “about that color.” When I mixed it, it didn’t come out that color, but I liked it red!
Finding Your Voice – for the Plein Air Painter – Part 2
Continuing from yesterday, Dr. Maisel listed other ways for the plein air painter as well as others to find their voice. A word about these ways follows:
1) Don’t rest on skills and talents. If you excel at painting dynamic dogs, don’t rely on this skill so completely that you effectively silence yourself. 2) Allow risk-taking to feel risky. A risk is likely to feel risky. Get ready for the reality by practicing one or two anxiety strategies that allow you to reduce your experience of anxiety. 3) Articulate what you are attempting – to yourself. By putting what you hope to accomplish in words, you clarify your intentions and will value your efforts more strongly.
4) Finding your voice may be as simple and straight forward as making a list of your loves. 5) Accept never-before-seen results. It can feel odd to speak in your own voice and then not recognize the results. What you’ve created may be genuinely new – and completely new to you – and may look like nothing you’ve seen before. Don’t rush to judge it as odd, a mess, a mistake or not what you intended. Give it time to grow on you and speak to you. Your own voice may sound unfamiliar if you’ve never heard it before.
Placing the Plein Air Painting on Canvas
A composition involves not only how groups of elements relate to each other, but also how those elements relate to the edge of the canvas. The space between the elements and the edges can exert a force of connection or resistance that have a profound effect on the overall composition.
If an object is placed too close to the edge of the canvas, it becomes “magnetized” to the edge. When trees are placed too near the edges, too much attention is given to them. When they are moved away from the edges, there is more balance between the foreground and the open space between the trees.
Centering creates symmetry and balance, but it can also lack the variations needed to make a plein air painting alive and interesting. Instead of the horizon in the middle vertically and a sailboat in the middle horizontally, a more interesting set up would be with a higher horizon line and the boat off center to the left and another small one off to the right.
SEO Optimization for the Web Site Owner
Today I attended a class at the local Chamber of Commerce. The class was entitled “Achieving Top Search Engine Positions” and was led by Ira S. Wolfe, a Social Media Architect (www.socialmediaarchitectsofdelmarva.com and www.bestsmallbusinesssolutions.com ). It was for folks who have a web site or blog.
I learned about searching for keywords with Google’s Keyword Tool. Sometimes a small difference in what you search for produces big differences in the outcome. Using Adwords can be expensive, but you might want to try it for a short time or for a limited budget. In some cases, using Adwords is like day trading on the stock market. Google Analytics can give you all kinds of information and it would pay to spend some time learning how to use them.
This was an introductory class but it inspired me to work on my web site of abstract tree paintings. Mr. Wolfe was an excellent presenter and if anyone out there can get a group together, I recommend you ask him to lead your discussion.
Photographing Your Plein Air Paintings
The highest paid blue collar job in Manhattan in 1909 was “chauffeur” because people didn’t think they could drive their own cars. Today plein air painters must learn that they can photograph their own art and do as good a job as the professionals. These tips are from Canadian artist Robert Genn:
You need a camera with at least 8 mega pixels. Check your camera’s handbook and set the camera on the highest resolution and quality possible in JPG. Hang your unglazed art vertically on a neutral-toned outside wall at eye level in open shade on a bright day between 11 and 3. Take several shots almost filling the frame from a few feet away at a medium focal length. In other words, not wide angle and not telephoto. When you look through the viewfinder, make sure the painting is not keystoned (off square) or pincushioned (curved edge). You can crop it if you wish, but you need to save it without any resizing, as a very high quality JPG before you send it by email.