Monday, August 26, 2013

notes about color in plein air paintings

Notes about color in plein air:
1. * be careful to  not let your biases rule. Absolutes such as- grass is green skies are blue will only lead to boring, predictable paintings.
See with sensitivity.
Challenge yourself to really see.

More color notes next time... with more from my summer stock of plein air paintings.

Monday, August 19, 2013

another black and white

One compositional faux pas artists make is not having a real focal point (or not sticking to it). Whether en plein air or using photographic reference, the draw of more continues to mean less. When the viewer looks at your work it should be clear what interested you when you decided to paint.
If you get drawn into another delicious spot while working, tell yourself that you need to save it for the next painting. Two divas fighting will never work.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

I am back...sort of

Hi everyone!

After a long wonderful summer, that is not over yet, I am finally writing a new blog post. During this time I have been painting both in studio and outdoors...having fun with color. But now I know what I need to do next.
My reliance on color may be a small addiction, and may not be serving me well. Therefore I have decided to work in only black and white pastel, in large format (this one is 18x30.) I am moving back to getting the essence in all its wonderful nuances without color.
Of course I will still do some plein air quickies, but for the next  months I plan to do at least 75% of my work in black and white.
Hmmmmmmm. Let's see what happens.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

artist's studios

Sarah Peroutka has begun a pinterest collection of photos of contemporary and old master studios. I am honored and delighted that she has added a photo of me to her collection. Here is the link to check out her pinterest board. 
I think we all love a peak into other artist's studios, don't we? I know I do!

On another note, I just returned from a long painting trip and will now nest into the studio. Soon I will be back to blogging. In the meantime, enjoy Sarah's board and be sure to check her blog as well.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

retro fave- thinking about the art of making poetry

9x18 pastel and watercolor on Uart
 What is essential to making poetry in a painting? Does the description of the place really matter?  What is it that makes a painting draw you in and stay in?  To me, I may not know what it is but I know what it isn't... Details.  Details are my nemesis. Put it along side persnickity work habits. They carry me in unintended directions. Details are like the letters that make up the words.....but it is the words that make the poetry. 
-->You can arrange the words of a poem just like we arrange the shapes, color, edges and value. Arrange and orchestrate, but details just seem to derail.

Last Wednesday I woke up early knowing we would once again be blanketed with fog. On location the fog was thick. As I worked on the painting I realized it wasn't coming together. I was getting derailed. So I turned my back on the scene and only thought of the poetry of what I saw and the color harmony necessary to make the illusion. Another huge painting will grow from this.


I have been out of town for awhile now, painting in some of my favorite locations. My blog will resume with new posts sometime in September. Till then I will post more retro faves.

Monday, August 5, 2013

retro fave-"just painting color relationships" and Wolf Kahn


As I wonder about why my work is more fruitful  in the studio (at this point in time) I came across a quote from the amazing Wolf Kahn. It helped me understand my complete switch away from plein air. While I am not comparing myself to the great WK, I feel better "just painting color relationships" as I do now, instead of recording the beauty of nature.
In the book titled "Wolf Kahn" by Justin Spring(art critic and novelist)  Justin explains that although WK is a landscape painter, he creates his paintings in his studio. Justin Spring quotes the artist as saying as far back as 1961 that he would “take down a set of relationships from nature, then back in New York,” in his studio, he would “develop and clarify these formal relationships.”
WK says, "The environment in which my paintings grow best is at Broadway and 12th Street. I can see clearly in my studio, undistracted by trees and skies. Art being emotion recollected in tranquility, I constantly find Nature too emotional, and Broadway very tranquil.”