composition

"shades of green" 11.5x15.5" on Sennelier LaCarte  $125

I worked on this painting most of yesterday and again this morning. I had posted it on my FB page, but something was not right with it. Here is the original post…..

original post

Something bothered me about the composition, so I let it sit over night and went back to my studio in the morning. There it was….. the problem…… the red leaf branch…… it was like a dagger in my painting!

reference photo

Here is my reference photo. It's from one of my trips to Gibbs Garden. I thought I did a decent job of composing the photo. I felt like I could take the viewer into the scene that I saw. The scene was very green and I knew I would have to add some compliments to the green to make the painting pop. But I literally copied in that branch of red leaves and it did not work! So I went back to the painting and brushed out some of the branch and added some more compliments to balance the branch of red leaves. 

A word about the paper I used…. the more I use the Sennelier paper, the more I like it. It already comes in colors, so I don't have to do an underpainting. It also takes quite a few layers of pastel with out spraying  a fixative. It gives the pastel a soft quality. I used mostly Terry Ludwig greens and Great American Richard McKinley landscape pastels

I hope you enjoy my painting!

"catching the breeze"

"catching the breeze" 8"x10" pastel on Uart 500  $60

I know, it's been a few weeks since I have blogged. It's about family. We took our annual family vacation at the beach. I took along my pastels and sketchbook, but this time at the beach ended up being all about family time. With two granddaughters under the age of 4, pulling out my pastels was not a good idea. We had perfect weather and I took a lot of photos. The rain came when we arrived back home, so I headed for my studio to paint from some photos. I was sitting in my beach chair with my camera and like the seagull in this painting, I was just catching the breeze!

5"x7" pastel study on uart

5"x7" pastel study on uart

5"x7" pastel study on uart

I started with these three studies…. I was feeling a little rusty since I had not painted in 2-3 weeks.  The studies allowed me to get back into the pastels, no worries about trying to have a perfect painting. That's one thing a vacation allows you to do ….RELAX! I took many photos of the seagulls and had to paint this pair. I love the colors of the beach homes, this was a view from our table one night out for dinner. I have never painted people…… I caught this photo of the 4 year old granddaughter, she really enjoyed the beach this year and did not want the vacation to end. I caught this photo of her gazing out at the ocean. I tried to just simplify the shapes, catch the light where it hit her body and suggest her likeness. I will gift this to her. 

So…. I'm back home and thinking about my next paintings. I hope you enjoy reading my blogs!

"thoughts of Van Gogh"

9"x12" pastel on Uart 500 "thoughts of Van Gogh"

When I go for my daily walks with my Siberian Husky, I always keep an eye out and my iPhone ready to take photos that I can use for paintings. In my neighborhood we have these beautiful cypress trees. Every time I walk by them I am reminded of Vincent Van Gogh and his paintings of the cypress trees.

paintings by Vincent Van Gogh

I am very fond of the artists from the Impressionistic era, and they are who attracted me to painting. I was very fortunate to have gone to Paris to see many of their works at the Orsay Museum.  So, for todays painting, I thought I would try my hand at painting those cypress trees.  I decided on an oil stain underpainting.

oil stain underpainting

paints used

You have to let it dry overnight, so I had done this yesterday. I like the way the paint drips and try not to cover them up too much with the pastel. Tomorrow I head back to Gibbs Garden and hope to come home with some new photos for painting and may try to do some small plein air studies while I am there.

Historic home tour of Madison GA

5"x7" pastel study on Uart 500

It's late , but I want to get this blog done while it is all fresh in my head.  Yesterday, my good friends took me to Madison GA for a last birthday treat. The day was beautiful, good to walk, see the historic homes, and have a picnic lunch. I think I would love to live there!

 I took a lot of photos, there was so much to see and I was looking for things that I could paint when I got back home.  I decided on these 3 photos.

"Sadie's house" at Jimmy Stanton's Honeymoon House

out building at Jimmy Stanton's Honeymoon House

Serenata Farm

When we walked out behind the house, I felt like I had walked into the Italian countryside!

The first thing I did when I got home was to pull out my sketchbook and do some black pen drawings.

 

It was good to let them sit over night and not jump into painting. But first thing today I went to my studio and worked most of the day to finish the 3 paintings. Here was the process - I layer in the basic values with Nupastel, then did an alcohol wash over the top and then put on the pastels.  

Nupastel

alcohol wash

8"x10" pastel on Uart 500

 I worked rather quickly, not spending more than an hour on each of the paintings. I was able to use the same palette for all three paintings.

Serenata Farm 8"x10" pastel on Uart.

I'm going to have to make a trip back to Madison GA. It's just a little over an hour to drive there. The countryside was beautiful! Next time I go with my plein air box and set up to paint while I am there. Can't wait!

"early rising"

"early rising" 9"x12" pastel on La Carte

I'm considering doing another series of sky paintings. It really is one of my favorite subjects to paint. I had done a series last year of 10 - 5"x7" studies. This time I'm going to keep the size about 9'x12" or larger. I usually catch the sunrise when I am walking my siberian husky in the morning, so I always bring along a camera or at least my iPhone. One of these days I will paint the sky plein air! I made my first attempt at plein air painting on my 60 birthday last week. It was fun but overwhelming! I have so much to learn!

At any rate….. for this painting I used my own reference photo.

It had been raining for the last 2 weeks so I was excited when I saw the sun rise that morning.  I did a 5"x7" study and picked out my pastels (although I did add a few along the way).

pastel palette and sample La Carte paper

5"x7" study

I didn't spend more than 10-15 mins on the study, I just wanted to get the colors laid in and keep it fresh. I decided to use a greenish/blue Sennelier La Carte paper for this painting. You can see it with the pastels. The more I use this paper, the more I like it! I don't have to do an underpainting and the paper takes a lot of layers of pastel without having to spray it. It gave the sky a soft feel, perfect for a morning after the rain. I decided against putting in the electric post, it would have detracted from the beautiful sky. The fun of being an artist…. we always have a choice!

"after the rain"

"after the rain" 12"x16" pastel on Uart 500

We have had a lot of rainy days these last couple weeks….. I guess they are April showers! Finally we had a break in the rain. I went out in my courtyard to enjoy the moments of sun and there was a beautiful sunset!

my reference photo

The photo is not great, but the horizon was filled with a soft pink and yellow glow reflecting on the wet trees. I had to paint it! I chose to do a watercolor underpainting because I wanted to get those soft colors on my paper that I saw.

watercolor underpainting

I had to let that sit and dry so I worked on picking out my pastel colors to use in the painting. I ended up using mostly Terry Ludwig pastels from the Liz Haywood Sullivan skies and water set. I worked on this painting for 2 days which is longer than I usually do, but I had this image in my head that I needed to get on the paper right!.

The next morning when I went out to take my Siberian Husky for his walk , the sunrise was as beautiful, with the last of the rain clouds blowing through. So…. more to follow on painting the sky!

back to basics

reference photo, paints , sketchbook

It's a rainy day…… good day to hang out in my studio. I'm working out some ideas for my next paintings. It's always good to get back to basics and draw. I use a black fine point sharpie pen, a basic set of gouache or watercolors and a 6"x6" sketchbook.

I've pulled out some reference photos that I am thinking of using. These sketches help me work out my ideas for the paintings - laying in the basic shapes, simplifying the subject matter, and then laying in some basic colors.

Here are four sketches that I worked on today. Next I will decide what size and what kind of paper I want to use for my pastels. I think I have some good things to work on for the next few days.