Wednesday, June 16, 2010

light and sanford gifford

8x8 pastel and watercolor on Uart
You may not already know this, but Sanford Gifford is one of my heroes. He might as well have been named Light Gifford for all the beauty he achieved when he painted light. One important fact I know I have mentioned before was the way he limited his value scale- 1-5, rarely visiting a 7.
8, 9,or 10 were off limits.  That's it. Simultaneous contrast...a 4 looks dark next to a 1.

I was thinking about him when painting. Analogous colors side by side, they change in value and chroma as they get closer...but not so much repetition since that it would be boring.
Light filled.
While I may never be Mr. Gifford, I certainly can learn from him.

Tomorrow starts the big sale. I have been making the blog post for days. 31 paintings will be on sale. First time ever on line for me. Five PM eastern standard time....be there or be square;-)


PS Thank you Domi for taking the time to help me figure out the paypal tabs!

9 comments:

Steve Moen said...

Nice explanation, but what did you mean by, "Analogous colors side by side, they change in value and chroma as they get closer..."? Closer to eachother?

loriann signori said...

Hi Steve,
Sorry for being a little vague. The values and chroma change as the colors and places in space get closer to you. A deeper, richer, warmer color will be nearer (closer) to you. Does that make sense? Good to hear from you again! How is your painting going? I'll have to stop by your blog!

Dale Sherman Blodget said...

Hi Loriann,
Your work continues to draw me in. I love seeing and reading about your focus as it changes so minutely. Eeek! A sale. I go into a panic at the idea of making a decision! this one or that one? But I'll be there. congrats on getting it going.

Steve Moen said...

Thanks Lorianne,
That makes sense. May play around with that thought this weekend (tone and value changes of analogous colors). As for my blog, I found the format to be a convenient way to post some of my work for for friends to see. Its also a great place to track a few blogs of interest. I've really enjoyed yours.
Best,
Steve

loriann signori said...

Hi Dale!
I am happy to hear that you enjoy my blog. Thanks! And I hope to see you on the sale day!-loriann

Hi Steve,
Let me know how your play with analogous colors goes this weekend. Have fun. If you have time go downtown and savor Sanford Gifford's Egypt painting. ooh lala!

Caroline Simmill said...

Is that a wee bit of sky I see in your painting! It is very pretty and reminds me of Wolf Khan's work, maybe he uses the same colour ideas. Did you mean there are less contrasts more a natural fusing of colours that are close in value? I think Turner did that with some of his pale bright light sky paintings.

loriann signori said...

Yep, you caught me Caroline...it's sky. That's sky....interesting idea about WK's colour ideas. And I will go back and look at more Turner. I can still see the huge exhibition the National Gallery had of his work 3 years ago. It was awesome.I remember those skies.

Sara Mathewson said...

I so love your paintings and how you explain the how's and why's of them.
I may be moving to a very small space(motorhome) and am at the moment in a bad financial way. If that were not the case i would be all over your sale tomorrow. I know you will do well and congrats to all of you who get one of loriann's beautiful paintings! I am very jealous!!

loriann signori said...

Hi Sara,
How sweet of you to say! I am glad that you enjoy my paintings and ramblings. I am sorry to hear about life's squeeze on your finances. Believe me I understand where you are coming from...oh the stories we could share. I wish you the best in your recovery. Hang in there.-Loriann