Calla Study

Calla Study

8x6in  oil on canvas board    100.

Busy day today, but time to do a quick study of my favorite flowers.
They are elegant at every stage.
This is the time of year they are starting to bloom in some lucky areas
of the country.

Artist Note.

This study was all about warm and cool colors.
The sun cast a warm yellow light and I placed the callas where
the shadows formed a strong diagonal.
The green changes are the most noticeable. They are a strong yellow/green
in the sunlight and a much cooler blue/green in the shadow.
The white on the flowers had so much light bouncing around them
they did not get too dark, but the sky cast down its color in the shade
and produced delicate hues of blue and mauve.

After the Storm

After the Storm

8x6in oil on canvas panel  100.

This was done from a photo.
The dull colors with the light starting to break through
onto the lake, speak to me of clean, fragrant air and sunshine ahead.
I love my sunshine!

Artist Note.

This is a palette knife and tonal painting,
Golden rule of reflections...they are the same height/width and shape
as what they are reflecting.
Moving water can change that rule somewhat!

Start of Sunset, Santa Fe, N.M.

Start of Sunset, Santa Fe, N.M.

8x6in  oil on canvas panel   SOLD

During our stay in Santa Fe, the four of us would take a walk in the evening.
I was walking with my back to this view when my friend's husband
called out for me to turn round and enjoy the cloud formation.
It was a stunner. Camera..click...click!

Artist Note.

This was painted from a photo on my computer screen.
I was careful to make the foreground lighter than it looked on the screen.
I have discovered by painting plein air that the sky still casts its brightness
onto the ground before dusk and although it is getting darker,
it is never as dark as the typical photo shows.

Golden Field and Great Tip.

Golden Field.

6x8in oil on canvas board     100.

I used a contemporary design to make a statement about the field.
Simple without detail. It is all about a place reduced to its basic shapes
and colors.

Artist Note.

Have I got a tip for you!

When pouring from my Gamsol can I always had to use a funnel,
and still would have drips. Look at this simple solution.
You pour with the spout at the top! Clean flow, no drips!

Those that know this already maybe rolling their eyes, but let me tell you
that all the artists I have told so far, none had known to pour this way and
neither had their family members. My husband didn't even know
about this tip. Works with any size can of this type.
We all have been pouring with the spout at the bottom - closer to the
container we are filling.

Try it this way. I got it from our handy, handy man, Bob.
Pass it on.

Painting in the Car

Painting in the Car.

6x8in  oil on canvas panel  100.

I received a few inquiries on how I could paint in the car
when the landscape changes so fast.
Good question with an easy answer.
I start on something in the distance and paint that first. For example,
yesterday's blog had the Sandia Mountains, Albuquerque, in the distance
so I did that first.
 Next I look to see what is around me at that point and fill in the bottom half.
The colors are usually in similar tones due to the sun, land or weather patterns.

The painting above was actually started as the one below.

This is a typical, metal roofed house with a dirt road
leading up to it. I painted the house, mountains and trees first.
Then from memory I did the dirt road, fence and bushes, looking
at the colors as we were whipping on by.
This kept me happily occupied until we reached the start of the
farming areas in the Mesilla Valley, when, lo and behold, I looked up
and saw the beautiful fields, so I quickly scraped off the bottom half
and brushed in the new pattern -  leaving the top part of the
painting as it was.
The sun was warmer as it was later in the day and I went back into the
top part and made the colors warmer where the sun was hitting.

It doesn't matter if I liked the painting as it was before or not.
Is is not precious. For me, these car paintings are purely about
the enjoyment of painting.
(And preventing car boredom)

Looking towards the Sandias

Painted in the Car - Looking toward the Sandias

6x8in oil on canvas board  Not for sale

I managed to do a few painting in the car on the trip. Some of them have wavy spots where
the car hit a bump but all in all they will be good color studies for a future painting.
Here is a photo for those who have not seen my set-up.
My little painting box rests on my open glove compartment. I hang a trash bag from it too.
This doesn't show it, but I rest my palette in a pizza box just in case we stop suddenly.
I use water based oils so no solvents are in the car. Brushes and water go in the door.
A pack of baby wipes for my hands and I am all set.
It sure makes those long car trips fly by.

Storm Over the Tesuque Hills

Storm Over the Tesuque Hills, N.M.

6x8in  oil on canvas panel   100.

This was a quick study of an approaching storm viewed from
my friend's studio window. Her windows must be 12 feet high
and they provide a dramatic vista on stormy skies and sunrises.

Artist Note.

It was the sky I wanted to capture, but the clouds were moving rather fast
so I squinted to get the overall colors and values of the sky and hills,
and I was mixing the different shades as I compared. Once I had the colors
I painted a dark sky going cooler as it moved back and put in the shape of
the hills...and I waited.
As soon as the sun broke through I quickly painted the light pattern
on top of what I had already put down.
 I even had time to catch where the sun fell on part of the
back hills. The foreground I did after waiting for
similar light.
This is the method I use for capturing fleeting lighting conditions.
Having the colors premixed makes speed possible,.

The Pink Adobe

Pink Adobe, Santa Fe.

8x6in   oil on canvas board   100.

We are back home from out little trip and we both agree
life doesn't get any better than visiting good friends and
catching up.

Artist Note.

This has a strong horizontal format so placing the tall trees
was needed to break it up.
This may sound elementary, but I was careful
not to place them above, or too near the peak
of the roof...even though that is where they were. 
As an artist, I have permission to do
some landscaping chores!

Spider Mum Study

Spider Mum Study

8x6in  oil on canvas panel  100.

Using the same flower arrangement I painted from yesterday,
 but concentrating on the Spider Mums.
They are more of a delicate flower than I realized. I think of mums as sturdy
because they last a long time but the long thin petals easily bruise and droop.


Artist Note.

I had to concentrate on breaking the background into the oval mass of petals
in an uneven manner to show the long, thin petals.
For those of you who like to have a more painterly approach the following
is how I do it.

 First, make a mass of base color
in general shape.
Sargent used an olive color to mass
in his whites. I used transparent
Indian Yellow with
ultramarine blue and a little bit
of transparent oxide brown (if too green.)
I also find orange and a yellow green
is very good but I wanted it to be transparent.

    Next I placed my cool color reminder...
    underneath and in the shadows
    and then I found the center which in the
    actual flower is a green shade.
    I used a soft blue/violet gray
    for the shadows areas.

  I get a general idea of the petals and
  use a cool color in the shadows.
  It helps not being too careful with this stage
  - just plunk strokes down and leave them alone.
  Having some of the base color between the
  petals is good.

This is the important part.
I painted the background into
and between the petals, which
merges some of them softly and allows
me to have a few crisper edges.

This method can create 
the desirable, uneven negative 
areas.
Even if the flower looks perfect
all the way around, (in real life)
I find it is better to cut back into
the circle, here and there.
It creates a more interesting shape.

Flower Study

Flower Study

6x6in oil on canvas panel  85.

We arrived at our friends house in Santa fe to find they had bought these lovely flowers for me to paint.
This was done very quickly as an exploration of the forms and I think Iwill do a more complete painting in a larger size for pure pleasure.

Artist Note.

I was trying something new. This panel was gessoed to make a brush textured panel.
I think the idea is for the texture to break up the edges.
I have seen it used quite successfully in landscape painting.
If you click on the image to enlarge it you will clearly see the ridges.