Steadily plodding along in my studio, these days. Here's my latest painting. I need to remember to work on several paintings at once, since each painting needs drying time between layers.
There is a peace that comes with January. The holidays are over and there is a hush as we all get back into our routines. Now there is time to pursue our own interests, to read and make plans. I'm hoping you all experience your own kind of peace during the month of January.
Here is my latest large painting done in Tonalist style. It was completed about five weeks ago and since then I've put it in a black frame. I think the black sets it off nicely.
The thing I've noticed about paintings done in this style is that they seem to glow on the walls. Unlike some of my Impressionist work, one notices the many layers of opaque paint, translucent paint and transparent passages. I've fallen head over heels in love with this style. Although the learning curve has been extremely steep for me, I think it's been worth the many months of study.
Very soon my new on-line class starts with Deborah Paris. It's called Magic Hours. I'm so grateful to her for showing the way.
Tomorrow is Summer Solstice. It's also Father's Day, so we all have two reasons to celebrate. My husband is on his annual fishing trip up in International Falls, Minnesota. Every year about twenty guys go up in a caravan of vehicles and fish to their hearts' content for one week. They've been doing this for the last twenty-some years. Our son is with them this year, so at least he'll celebrate Father's Day with one of his children.
There is a magic in the air at this time of year. At the true beginning of summer the fireflies put on their nightly display. The flowers smell especially sweet in the humid evening air and the moon has an enchanting halo around it. There are so many gifts in nature. It's hard to take it all in at once. But I'll try. Maybe I'll sleep on the back porch tonight.
There are voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson
From reading my blogger friends' posts, I've noticed something in the air lately. Blogger burnout. Over the past few months, people are saying that they can't find the words, don't have time to post, too busy. Just too much on the plate at the moment. Something has to give.
I've been there myself. Which is why I intend to ruminate on the above quote this summer. It's only in solitude that we hear our own authentic voice, whether it's daydreaming, journaling or quietly pursuing our interests and hobbies. It's time to fill the well.
This painting is finally completed. I've been working on this one for several weeks, on and off. It is done in a tonalist style which requires an underpainting, and the numerous build-up of painting layers of opaque paint and transparent paint. Each layer needs to dry completely before the next is applied so that each color shows through.
This method of painting is new to me. I've been completely immersed in this process this year and plan to continue in this style. It's a process that seems to progress inch by inch. But I'm more pleased with the results than my previous painting style. I've learned to slow down and be more patient. Like the changing of the seasons, some things just can't be rushed.
I was calm when I got up this morning. Really. But I've been having a bad technology day. Seems everything I touch, that has to do with technology, refuses to cooperate. Even the toaster refuses to work right. Okay, I'm done complaining. Not really.
The small painting above is one I did of Lincoln Marsh. I messed up the color corrector on my iPhoto, so it looks a little different in the photo than it does in real life. The point I was trying to make is that I sometimes use small paintings as references for bigger paintings. I find it helps me to focus in on the joy of painting when the composition, values and colors are already worked out. Every once in a while I need to get a big painting out of my system. Usually these bigger paintings look very different from the smaller ones. The small study is a jumping off point to the bigger one. It's easy to expand on the larger canvas. I feel more freedom painting larger.
Lincoln Marsh River
22x28
I think I'll stay away from technology for the rest of the day. Thank goodness there's no technology involved in painting!
This is a study that, I must admit, came from somewhere in my imagination. It was done purely as a way to learn more about the transparency process. I learn from every one of these paintings. And to make sure I retain what I learn, I take detailed notes. Hopefully, I'll be able to create larger paintings soon. But for right now, there's more to figure out.
I start by building the bones of the painting with dark transparent colors, then allow them to dry. The trick is to not do this too dark, because successive colors will darken the initial colors. For the sky I used transparent sienna mixed with white. After drying, I glazed over it with sienna. In the background field, transparent colors were used, but when they dried completely, I also glazed over with a bit of white and transparent sienna to cause recession of space.
There are times when I feel I'm wasting my time with the pursuit of going off in a whole different direction. I feel like going back to what was a comfortable painting process for me. But other times, I know I'm on the right track. Being an artist means having difficult, frustrating times too.
This small study is from a photograph I took last August. My daughter and I decided to go on a photo-hike through a natural preserve area near our house. This area is part of DuPage Forest Preserve and is a gigantic wetland marsh area. The trails go on for miles and miles. So I've only studied a small portion of what this beautiful area has to offer so far.
My goal is to return at different times of the year to capture the gifts of this natural, magical place.
In this painting I used three transparent greens - sap green, terre verte and olive green. To lighten the greens in the grasses and trees, I added naples yellow and white, which brings the greens back to opaque, not transparent. That's where the paradox comes in. In order to have the transparent glow, the color needs to be painted straight out of the tube and not mixed with any other opaque color. Or it needs to be mixed with another transparent color.
I'm posting what I learn along the way. There is a lot of studying and note taking during my current painting sessions. And I'm painting lots of small studies.
This painting is loosely based on one of my previous paintingsJourneythat I painted two years ago. I'm beginning my experiments with using translucent color and thought I would use this composition as a model. Using translucent color is a new thing for me since it requires the building up of layers. Each layer changes the next and I feel that there will be much experimentation with this new process.
I first became interested in using translucent color when I read a book by Albert Handell years ago when I was doing pastels. Albert Handell is a master at painting pastels and oils. The reason I was reading his books was to further my study in the area of pastel landscapes. But his oils caught my attention. They seemed to glow. I believe it was from viewing his oil paintings that I decided to teach myself how to do oil paintings. I've been doing oil paintings now for five years and feel I'm at the point where I want to put the time into further experimentation of this technique.
With anything new, it takes me a while to accomplish my goals. It seems I'm forever learning and probably will never stop. In the meantime, I'll be posting what I learn along the way.
When I first started this blog, I had no idea that I would become so attached to the whole process. I had intended to use it as a tool to drive more traffic to my website but it has turned into something else entirely.
I enjoy sitting down at the computer first thing in the morning before the rest of the household wakes up to see what's going on in other artist's lives. I learn so many things from other artists, from technical tips to organizing solutions. But most of all I've met so many wonderful people. I believe artists are sensitive souls and we all feel a connection in the inspiring process of creating art. Our artwork stands as a beacon of hope in a troubled, chaotic world.
I'm off to Florida tomorrow, to the land of warm weather. It's an unexpected trip and it couldn't have come at a better time. I'm going with my husband to Naples for business and then across the state to visit my step mother and her mother (she's 96 and still going). When I come back, I expect to be less sunlight deprived and ready to go at the easel with full force. The last few months, I've gotten my feet wet and hopefully will have some goals that I've so far been reluctant to post.
At this particular moment in time, I want to thank all the wonderful artistic souls out there for the difference you've made in my life with your blogs. Peace!
