Walla Walla WA

9"x12" pastel on Pastel Premier Italian clay 320

My sister went out to Walla Walla, WA this past week for some vacation time.  She texted me some photos and that was the spark to start a frenzy of painting for 2 days. I so wished I was there with her!  But I would have to rely on her photos for inspiration to paint. My sister knows what I like to paint, so she kept texting me photos.  Once I started painting I couldn't stop and did 5 paintings in the 2 days. 

This was actually the first painting. I had a smaller 8"x10" piece of the Pastel Premier italian clay 320. I am really liking this paper. I don't have to start with an underpainting because the paper already has a neutral putty color. It has a lot of texture and will take a lot of pastel layers. I turned on some music, I just wanted to start painting! This first painting I did quickly.  One of the vineyards she visited.

I decided to stick with the same paper for the series of paintings. This one is also 8"x10". I really had fun with the grasses. My sister tells me there are wheat fields everywhere, and the texted photos kept coming.  The color of the golden wheat was just beautiful. They had harvested early from all the rain they had , so much of it was cut. 

 I was now ready for a larger one. This one is 12"x16". I decided on a reference photo of some of the uncut wheat. Always good to practice painting the grasses. I had to tell myself to stop!

The fourth painting is one on the top. The structures standing starkly in the wheat fields where great. I think this is my favorite painting of the series.

For the final painting, I went back to the vineyard photos. This one is 9"x12", still on the italian clay paper. It was a cloudy day, the colors were cooler , so I pulled out more blue greens and neutral colors. I changed the perspective some to give the painting better composition. I feel like I want to walk into that vineyard. 

Thanks to my sister for sharing her wonderful photos with me. I'm gifting her the first two 8"x10" paintings and the other three will be available in my upcoming shows.

Art For the Park, Marietta GA November 2-3

Whimsical Wares Art and Gift Show, Marietta GA November 9-13

Vickery Village Artists Market, Cumming GA December 2-3

meet Molly !

"molly" 11.5"x15.5" Terry Ludwig And Girault pastels on Sennelier La Carte

Meet Molly!  This is my friend's dog at Frame Up II, where I work. She asked me to paint Molly and she will be hung up in the shop for all to see. No pressure, right? Wow! Black dogs are really hard to paint! When you look at them , of course you think "all black", right?  I decided not to get flustered and took a bunch of photos of Molly. I have painted other animals and it's really important for me to get to know them, their personality.

Molly at the frame shop

Then I  started sketching her, I really want to capture her personality and a likeness. Look how shiny her coat is…. not all black…. do you you see the grays and blues?

in my sketch book

Molly is really a sweet dog, part cocker spaniel part labrador… we think. Her coat is very wavy and shiny.

here is some of my progression

  The color is not good in these pics. I used a dark blue/gray Sennelier La Carte paper. It's my paper of choice for painting animals. I always start with the eyes…. do a basic sketch of the head and start laying in the darks. I do not use black pastel! I use Terry Ludwig's darkest violet and sometimes a dark blue. Next come some of the mid tones (Girault neutrals and friends by Richard McKinley) and highlights are last. 

I sent Molly's owner a pic and she couldn't wait to see the real painting. Frame is ordered and soon she will be hanging in the frame shop! I'm happy!

Things I love about summer

"CT countryside" 8"x10" pastel on Pastel premier 600

In GA the kids have gone back to school. But summer is not over and it is quite hot outside. I saw a blog post of Karen Margulis' about continuing to enjoy the summer until it is really over. I decided to take her advice and paint one painting each day for a week about things I love about summer. I tried not to spend more than 30 minutes on each painting. I wanted them to be fun! No pressure…. it's still summer!

The above painting is actually the last in the series. My July trips to CT to visit with my family always involves driving around looking around for photo opportunities for my paintings.

I've included here photos of the progression of the painting. I used a blue violet nupastel to lay in the darks and went over it with an alcohol wash with a brush and then layered in the pastel. I used a Pastel Premier 600 paper , which is finer than I like to use…. I tend to be a little heavy handed with the pastels , so I filled up the tooth of the paper fast. 

"coneflower" 8"x10" pastel on Uart 500

In my courtyard.

"beachside at Edisto" 8"x10" pastel on Uart 500

The house on the left was where we stayed on our summer trip Edisto Island.

"nest" 8"x8"pastel on Pastel Premier 320 Italian clay

trimming up a shrub in my courtyard I found this abandoned nest. 

"beach" 8"x10"pastel on Uart 500 with a watercolor underpainting.

For this painting, I used a reference photo from a previous trip to the Florida Panhandle. To me, summer is not complete with out a beach vacation. 

"coneflower" 6"x6"pastel on UART 500

I don't know about you, but cornflowers are one of my favorite summer flowers!

"queen anne's lace" 9"x12" on UART 500

These are everywhere in the summer . I had to try my hand at painting them and actually spent more than the 30 minutes to get them right. 

So that's it for this week, already thinking about what I will paint next week. You can follow along with my paintings on FB. Just search - Bonnie Morgan Hyde fine art. Please "like" the page if you would like to follow along with my daily art postings.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

my thoughts on sky painting….

"field day" 12"x16" pastel on  Uart 400 toned with oil stain of alizarin crimson and paynes gray

Does the pathway lead you to the sky or does the sky lead you to the pathway inward? What is your perspective?  The sky - each day we are blessed with it's ever changing beauty. I am thankful for each new day and all it has to bring.

various pastels from my reference photos taken at different times of the day

9"x12" pastel on Pastel Premier italian clay. 

Sunrise at Edisto Island SC. We rose early to catch the sunrise….. if you have not done this , it is a must for your "to do" list. The first cast of light as it hits the morning atmosphere. A favorite time of the day for me for photo taking with the soft edges of the atmosphere….

12"x16" pastel on Pastel Premier 320 with watercolor underpainting 

There is so much to learn about the clouds and atmosphere. Having an understanding of this really helps me to capture what I see when I paint. My reference photo was taken in the late afternoon - the sky was filled with cumulus clouds and the sky , that perfect blue.

14"x14" pastel on repurposed Uart 500

Oh the sunset! The end of the day. The colors can be brilliant, richer and warmer. This painting is from a reference photo my cousin took. She lives on Black Lake in upper Michigan and is fortunate to see the sunset almost every evening.

In August, I will be taking a workshop with Karen Margulis on painting the sky. I am so fortunate to live close to Karen! I hope to bring my sky paintings to the next level, showing more movement and expression.

To be added to my "to do" list - to paint the night sky and take a workshop with Stan Sperlack ( whose sky paintings I really admire). Hope you have enjoyed my sky paintings .

inspired by the oceanside

"thankful" 9"x12" pastel on Pastel premier 400

sunrise…a new day begins…

There is something that draws me to the oceanside - no matter the season. It calms me. It slows me down and I take time to SEE and FEEL my surroundings. The crash of the waves, the sand and the shells, the low country marshes and the wildlife. The sky and atmosphere - soft and cool in the morning, warm and bright in the evening. The humidity in the air softens the edges of the shapes I see. There is so much there for me to paint and enjoy. I thought it would be good to gather all my paintings from the last few weeks after my recent trips to Edisto SC and St. Simons GA. Most are done from reference photos that I took. But photos don't always tell the truth. So with my memories, notes and reference photos - I painted from my heart.

"beach walk" 12"x16" pastel on multimedia board

The first day arrived……

Edisto GA

Botany Bay Plantation on Edisto SC

St. Simons and Jekyll Island GA

And I end with a sunset, that we watched most evenings…….

I hope you enjoy my paintings

"tropical delight"

12"x16" unison pastel on Uart 500

Today's painting came to me very spontaneously . You know, when you are just feeling it and you can't stop painting until it's finished. 

I have been admiring palm tree paintings by two artist's that I follow on FB. So when I went off for some vacation time at the beach recently, I couldn't help but photo and study the palm trees.  For the last week I have tried painting them and drawing them in my sketchbook. I wanted to get more familiar with the palm trees before I did a larger painting.  

I recently loaded the Value Viewer app on to my iPad mini. I usually work from my reference photos on the iPad.  What a cool app this is! You look at your photo through the app and it gives you the color photo, a black/white version , a notan and a 3 value version which you adjust. I worked totally from the 3 value black, grey and white version for this painting. 

image on my iPad

 The last two weeks have been about experimenting and pushing myself to try new things. So why not start with a color scheme…. I picked a triad with orange, green and violet. I've had this set of Unison pastels that I have not used so I pulled them out.

Unison starter set 

 Uart 500 sanded paper is my safety paper, I'm familiar with it, so I decided to start with that. I had so much fun at the Richard McKinley underpainting workshop and wanted to practice more with the oil stain underpainting. I knew I wanted the drips of the paint and could get the more intense color with the oil stain.

oil stain underpainting

I told myself to take my time and really think out the underpainting and where i wanted the painting to go.  Excitement - I really liked the way it turned out and wanted to get started on the painting….but I had to let it dry. So I took a break and had some dinner. 

 

I started by laying in the darkest values on the palm fronds. After that I couldn't stop until I finished the painting! This was really fun for me to do, I had picked out the pastel sticks (about 20) in the triad color scheme and the painting came together quickly. I'm going to let it sit on my easel for the night so that I can look at it in the natural light in the morning and make any fine adjustments.

May pastel paintings and sketchbook

8"x10" passtel on repurposed Uart 500

May was a month of exploration….. taking a 3 day workshop with Richard Mckinley and moving on with new ideas in my head. 2 beach vacations (Edisto SC and St Simons/Jekyll Island GA) - No painting at the beach, but a whole new perspective in looking at subject matter for reference photos and applying what I learned in the workshop. June I get back to work in my studio and I need to get out and do some  plein air painting!

My paintings and sketchbook for the month

notes from a 3 day workshop with Richard McKinley

"almost there…" 12"x16" pastel on multimedia board 

with watercolor/impasto(clear gesso) underpainting

I've had two weeks to mull over my notes from a recent 3 day workshop with Richard McKinley. If you have taken one you know what I am feeling…. INSPIRED! I'll try here to give you the things that I felt were important to me, but there is so much more.

1) Intuitive painting comes with practice. The underpainting is a starting point for the painting.

2) SHAPES are identity,VALUE gives us form, the most important element, think like a sculptor, COLOR shows emotion.

3) atmospheric perspective - creates depth

4) Shadows have weight

5) SIMULTANEOUS CONTRAST - the effect one color has on another, dark and light,what is a shadow in the light, is a highlight in the shadow.

6) light is a reflection

7) bits and pieces

8) angle of vision, we are always the center of our painting.

The top painting is one I did in my studio, a week after the workshop.  I had headed to the beach with my family for week vacation the day after the workshop and everywhere I looked I saw potential for paintings. I took a lot of photos , but no painting….. Back home in my studio,  I took all these items listed above and thought about them as I did this painting. The impasto underpainting was the most exciting to me. It forced me to get away from the detail, to step back a lot and "suggest" what I saw in my reference photo. Those "bits and pieces" made the painting cohesive. 

I was able to complete three paintings in the workshop.

watercolor underpainting on Pastel Premier 400 white paper

12"x16"

I had painted this scene before, and it was fun painting it again with new ideas in my head.

Creta color and impasto with clear gesso on multimedia board.  when dry I added watercolor, let that dry and then put the pastel on from there.  

12"x16"

This was my favorite painting I did from the workshop. The impasto technique was so exciting to me!

oil stain underpainting. Diluting the oil paint with turbenoid to a watercolor like consistency. I need a lot more practice with this type of underpainting….

12"x16" on Pastel Premier 400 white paper.

Again from my own reference photo I had painted before. I always use my own reference photos now, feeling I have a better connection , what was it that intrigued me about the scene and any memories or notes I had on the photo. 

I headed out for another few days with just my camera. I even have a different perspective on what to photograph ….. it doesn't necessarially  have to be a beautiful scene to make a a good painting….. it's how we orchestrate the image. Can't wait to get back into my studio and get started on another painting! !

Just a note, If you have not taken a workshop from Richard McKinley and are serious about your painting, please sign up for one. He was a blast! we all had so much fun and learned so much. 

April's paintings and sketchbook

last sketch for the month of april

The month of April, I felt like I was in a slump. I was not connecting or feeling inspired . But I reminded myself of my goals for the year to do the daily paintings and sketches and pushed myself to accomplish something. After gathering my work for the month together in the grids , I felt much better about my accomplishments.

the paintings don't fit exactly, so this just gives you a suggestion. You can see that the spring season had arrived and I really had fun painting the flowers.

I tried some different surfaces for painting, using mat board coved with clear gesso and fine pumice gel. The last 2 paintings on the right of the bottom grid are with this surface. It allowed me to play and not worry about wasting a good piece of Uart sanded paper. The iris painting on the top left was my last painting for the month. 

from my sketch book.

I can't say enough about keeping a sketch book. I like to use pencil and black pen and some times add some watercolor. I missed a few days but I put time aside each day to just sketch , some drawings are great and some not so, but I know my drawing is improving. Some sketches I used for paintings.

 Gail Sibley, an artist I follow on Facebook, had done some blind contour drawings. I was intrigued and remembered doing them in college! It's where you look at something but don't look on the paper you are drawing the image of. You really have to think about where things are in relation to other things. It was fun! I tried a self portrait and one from my courtyard garden.

 I was asked to show my work in the Whimsical Wares Art and Gift Show again, local to where I live. I'm excited to say that I sold 7 paintings! It's always good to get affirmation…… So I move on to the month of May. I'm taking a 3 day workshop with Richard McKinley!