Friday, September 16, 2011

Watercolor & Gouache
Today felt like a good day to get the watercolors out. The last time I started a new medium, my watercolors improved. I think it has something to do with seeing the paint in a different light. Before using pastels I only had watercolor to paint with so there was nothing to compare it to. After I started using pastels the watercolors started to become more understandable. I had another point to compare the medium and started to favor watercolor in man made objects and close ups. The pastels seemed to be better suited for natural landscapes. As I've developed my pastels toward a certain style the watercolors started to change as well. Now that I have oil as another reference the watercolors are starting to seem better defined in my mind. Working with oil there is no need to hurry or fuss over detail. It helped me relax and slow down when using the brush. While there is a certain speed required for the watercolors, I'm thinking I was over rushing things. The gradation change in the front trees would have gotten me worked up before but this time seemed different. I took my time and then used a heavier brush to push the pigment around even though it was slightly drier than typical. With it being drier it didn't push too much pigment like is typical and make the area almost bare. There is a lot of difference between oil and watercolor but my understanding of the pigments is starting to make sense. Also like last time I got out the gouache. There were areas that I thought needed lightened up and the gouache is very good for that. Mixing the gouache and the watercolor is still strange. It doesn't quite work out as well as I would think, but it is slightly better than last time. Just like pastel and oil, gouache is also another point of reference in the great scheme of painting. The plan is to learn all there characteristics and strengths. With time I think my paintings in the different mediums will start to mimic and become more like one another. Only practice and time will tell.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Recent thoughts
 The past couple of days during my free time I've had my thoughts drifting in the same direction so I focused my attention on them. Typically if I can't stop thinking about something it makes me curious as to why I'm thinking about it in the first place. The first thing that has been on my mind is still lifes. With fall here and winter steadily approaching the days of going out into the field and painting in plein air will be falling in number before to long. When I think about why painting in plein air is so attractive to me it made me realize that painting still life is much closer to plein air painting that I previously had thought. When you're painting in plein air you are reacting to real objects and getting a first hand look at natural nuances that easily go unnoticed unless you immerse yourself in the experience.With still life you are not feeling some of the more direct natural elements like weather and sunlight but you are seeing and reacting to a real object and the colors and form. Compared to working from photos or field studies you are truly reacting from the subject and not the illusion from a flat object portraying it. That doesn't mean that working from those references is wrong or bad in any way, in fact if you are trying to get photo-realistic results it is the way to go. However, that's not the results I'm looking for. I personally think working from life compared to flat references has helped me learn at a quicker pace and its more enjoyable. Unless the conditions are absolutely miserable there are few places I would rather be. So that's why I've been thinking about still lifes. The other subject that has taken my thoughts hostage is color studies and for good reason.

The other day when I went and painted in plein air, I did a few color studies for one of the paintings and none for another. The painting that had color studies turned out much better than the one without. This may not always be the case but I've decided to see for myself. I began to look at my painting process and realized that this would add another step. While I'm not against adding steps to a process but if you do it better take time off of the total endeavour or make the finished product better. Painting is fun, but when constantly doing it be practical and look at it like any other work. I constantly look for ways to streamline my process and get better results (it would be a lot harder to do this if your work is at a high level already, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try). Today while working on some still lifes I initially planned out some contour and value studies of the subject and then put it on the paper and did an under painting. While I was waiting for the two under paintings to dry, I began to realize that I had a few minutes of down time and typically it is filled with watching paint dry. While watching paint dry isn't always entertaining you can learn a few lessons about your paints and mediums. Those lessons do tend to get old after you see them enough times. So today, like this past plein air excursion, I did a few contour thumbnails and then took hard pastels and filled in the shapes. I did the typical local color study and then another with slightly different colors. I only did two today but your imagination is the limit on color combinations. These little studies only took me a few minutes like the studies from the other day. If all goes well this will cut down on the time needed to process concepts like color theory and refraction and reflection of light.(no refraction here but in landscapes with water that you can see through to the bottom and also see the reflection on top of it can get complicated and difficult to communicate if not planned out) Anyway I will probably be talking more about these subjects until I've had my fill and my brain stops bringing them up.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Tonight's class
This is the oil that I was working on in class. It isn't finished but it is a good start. The sunflower facing away turned out well now the other needs to be worked on. It felt pretty good for being my second still life in class. I think I'm starting to get the hang of mixing the paint and using the brushes. It is much different than using the watercolor brushes. The entire experience is different and I enjoy it. Anyway things have been busy and I will try and get more stuff up here tomorrow.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

This Morning
 Yesterday there was a paint out in brown county at the T.C. Steele estate. I went and had a horrible performance. This morning I decided to wake up and get out and paint a sun rise. Unfortunately the under painting wasn't dry as the sun rose. While it was drying I looked around and saw this scene. After doing some thumbnails and value studies I put down a notan under painting and set it aside. When the first under painting dried I set about trying to re-create the sunrise. It was less than successful but turned out better than anything I did yesterday. After putting everything back in the truck I headed home. At home I put the small notan painting on the table and did a few small color studies. They are at the bottom of the post. These small color studies helped speed up the process tremendously. I found things in each of the studies that I liked, so I combined them into the larger piece. The final painting took me half the time that it typically takes to paint something that size. While I didn't stay true to any one study the end painting turned out fine. There are things that I would change about it, but as a whole it works for what I was trying to show. Also now that the color studies done I can try it again and already have a road map of where to go. I rarely do color studies but after this I will be giving them more use. For those that haven't used color studies, give them a try. At worst you will have wasted 5 minutes for 3 or 4 of them. If things go well you will have a better foundation for a large painting.