This morning I arrived at my favorite field by 6am. What struck me the the way the light radiated through the ends of the trees. There was a pinkish- gold, low lying, thin wisp of fog.
Thoughts:
* one focal point-the diva and two other "supporting cast points
*making the underpainting dynamic and not separating things or sky
* allowing the underpainting to be more gestural. allowing my arm to make sweeps and not "contain"
*being careful to allow the light to be light. I work on Uart which is a mid-tone paper, so I use Chinese White in my underpaintings and I have added more very light warm and cool colors to my pastel palette
12 comments:
Nice one, Loriann! Interesting comments about UArt. I haven't bought any in awhile. Does it still have yellowy undertones? One of my samples was kind of a beige so I don't know if they have changed the color or not. I can see how the color of the paper would really affect transparent watercolors.
Lovely, I like that spot of blue in the field, really draws the eye in towards the tree and then the blues in the distance.
I think adding the use of chinese white really helped with contrast! It has added an extra spark.
lovely! simple and dynamic
How to deal with color an light in the landscape is not easy and your blog posts have been a great resource.
Regarding early morning light and great places to paint in the Washington DC area, have you ever gone to The Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens? Painted there a few weeks ago with the Washington Society of Plein Air Painters. Fabulous place - wish I discovered it years ago.
6AM??? Wow, I'm very impressed by your dedication to capturing different lighting conditions. I love how you describe that light and see so many colours in it...it's quite awe-inspiring and pushes us all to think more about what we see, to open our eyes and shut down our expectations.
Hi Donna! Thank you. Yes, Uart has strengths- warm undertone and the fact that it does not need to be mounted, even when using a watercolor underpainting. It also has one draw back- that is lack of white. It forces me to use watercolor like oil. Today I used a piece of wallis and it was a totally different experience. No white, so watercolor was watercolor with its rich transparencies. Long ago I used wallis as my standard paper. Then they changed the formula and it became irregular. An orange peel surface repels water was the one problem that still crops up and that affects watercolor underpaintings substantially. Yipes! As for Uart color, each grade has a slightly different color. The 800 is the darkest and 400 the lightest. The 800 also holds a defined mark tightly...therefore I prefer 400. Wow.....I hope that answered your questions...I can go on and on....
Hi Caroline,Thanks about the painting!
Hi Sally! The extra spark was created by my new selection of very light pastels. I have been using Chinese white with Uart for a long time, but it took buying the VERY light colors that helped with the punch. Sorry if I was confusing in my writing.
Hi Celeste and thank you!!!
Hi Steve,
Thanks about my blog. I am delighted that my little tidbits help. As for Kenilworth Gardens...is that on the other side of the city, across the river, down by Anacostia? If it is I went there once and it was LOVELY! Unfortunately it is so far from my home and crossing rush hour traffic to get there was a drag...so I never went back. Please tell me ...and how do you get there?
Hi Caroline, yes I am a confirmed nutcase that LOVES the very early morning.... I LOVE LOVE LOVE that time. The colors are beautiful, with a subtly that is not present in the evening (which I love too...but morning is best...to me.)
Light is beauty...don't you think?
Thanks for stopping by my blog again. Are you still away?
Kenilworth Gardens is in Anacostia around the beltway and then down Rt 50. Its in a part of town where you don't want to get lost, so I plug in my GPS.
Was happy with the painting I did and posted it on my blog site for fiends.
Lots of serious photographers at the gardens early mornings. My wife and I walked it at 7:30AM last Sunday in the rain. There were at least 20 photographers there ahead of us.
One of my favorites without a doubt.
Steve,
Yes, that is the place I visited once. It was beautiful, albeit in a "don't get lost here" area. A woman painting alone there at 5:30am was not a good choice. thus is life. Glad that you were happy with your painting. I will go see it on your site as soon as time allows.
Loriann
Thanks so much Jala! I love the color work that you have been doing. I have been watching and when time allows I will be commenting agsin.
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