kensington station and trust

Downtown Kensington with its old train station has a view that continues to keep me  fascinated. Each day I cross the tracks and think about the shapes and wonder about the different possibilities I have yet to explore.  The scope of the view includes both the train station and Mitzels' lumber yard. The best part about the view is looking towards the lumber yard. It faces directly west,  the sunset. I have painted this place so many times. It is one of my "painting homes" of which I will return for as long as I live here. This homing pigeon behavior inspires me to play and not paint "it." The concerns with making that real disappeared  years ago. Now I seek  a more abstracted, emotional response. 

My  next goal is to have at least 5 LARGE (at least 4x4') pieces for my next show. I have learned that for me, painting big requires a different type of color understanding. I feel better when I "practice" the possible color glazes and later move on to a larger format satiated with this exploration knowledge. It frees me.
This painting is 6"x6" oil on board.  Numerous plein air pastels have preceded it. This idea will grow to be another 4 foot square painting. In order for this to happen with some degree of success I know I need to paint through my intuition. My plans simply inform me of the direction.  I know that as I move on I must give up some measure of control and be willing to pursue unanticipated directions. Plan, but wait for the painting to speak to me. Each day I enter the studio I see on the door,
"An artist must come to trust if he or she wishes to transform, rather than merely record, what he or she witnesses." 
(Mary Sipp Green)
Doesn't that just say it all? 

sky- sunrise, cape may

6x9 pastel on somerset
In Cape May this weekend I  was mesmerized by the morning sky over the ocean....not the ocean but the endless sky.  The sand completely absorbed the colors of the cloud's pink light. Keeping in mind that skies are simply vapor, the edges are loose and the yellow gold glow from behind finds its way through in many places. The one darker area in the cloud was necessary to create deeper space.

Deborah Paris Interview:part two

Autumn Twilight by Deborah Paris

A continuation of my interview with Deborah Paris. For part one click here.

Deborah- It's important to never reach your goal. Always be fascinated. When you choose to be an artist that choice has consequences, how you live your life...what you feel compelled to do. You must never reach the place you want to be.

L- Please talk a little bit about your metamorphosis as a painter.

Deborah- I started out as an alla prima painter painting in a high key fashion. Ned Jacob, my mentor, painted that way as well. I didn't have a reference for indirect painting in landscape. I didn't know a contemporary painter that painted that way.
I was a pastelist first. The way I was working was suited to pastel. I didn't worry about dry or not dry. I just picked it up and put it down. Ironically when working in pastel I never did an underpainting. I always worked directly. My move to oil and glazing was a technical transformation driven completely by aesthetics.
I had continued my art history studies and became reacquainted with the Hudson River School, Constable and Corot. I remember the big exhibit of Hudson River painter, Sanford Gifford (the same exhibition that was at the Met in 2004 and DC in 2005.) At that time I lived in New Mexico and the show was at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. I drove there twice, just to see it. It was an amazing show.
Through my studies and visits to museums I began to be drawn to the Tonalist way. I read information about technique, I wanted to understand it better. I started to realize the important part of the way the aesthetic could be made manifest.

L- What attracted you to Tonalism?

Deborah- The emotional component of the work made it so powerful. I always loved poetry and I felt a great kinship between poetry and painting. The Tonalist aesthetic had the same components as poetry- creating visual  and literary ideas. It was more compelling.

 L- What inspires you most?

Deborah- The landscape inspires me. Everything starts there. In the last 5 years I have understood it in a deeper way. I am more amazed and in awe of what I see. I have more time to look at it now. It's part of my job. The more I look, the more I feel connected to it. Before I traveled a lot. Now, for the past 3 years, I paint where I live, where I am intimately familiar with the landscape. When I moved here to east Texas it really reminded me of where I grew up in North Florida: big pines, water, marshes, big oaks. I felt instantly comfortable.
 In this time my focus has shifted toward a more intimate view of the landscape. Of course, that is part of the Tonalist aesthetic, but in my case, it is also because I've had a chance to become really intimately familiar with the area around where we live (very rural) and this has had a profound impact on my art.

Deborah painting

Next techniques and inspirations......
Meanwhile check Deborah's website and blog.

start with your concept/ diffused golden light

8x8 pastel on toned uart
November in the Mid-Atlantic is a beautiful time. Small touches of orange and gold, diffused light, subtle grays..ahhh! Diffused light makes the light and color bounce. It makes shadows soft and grays color filled.  Because light changes so quickly at the transitional times of day I had to simplify my scene- which was an old apple orchard. Choices.
Detail is never the artist's friend, instead essence is far more important. Since I always start with a concept I know what I am aiming for...what is the essence I want. Without that you just wander. I knew that I wanted a softness of light and an golden connection. The gold played itself out as pinks in shadow, as white gold in the sky and in oranger gold in the tree and warmed parts of the ground.

On a separate note...this morning I woke up at 5 so that I could paint the twilight. When I went to check on the kittens I noticed that Luchianna (Luchi) was making funny noises with her throat and pawing at her mouth. I could see anything inside, but knew something was wrong. She and I left for the all night emergency care and the vet took out a 3/4 inch piece of wicker in the top of her throat!
She wanted me to write about her adventure. She is feeling fine now.

kick-start your brain

4x6 pastel on somerset
I have learned that mornings when I immediately go outside and paint(even when the results are less than good) I am more energized and my "responding" brain gets kick-started. It makes for a more productive studio day. Try it sometime and let me know if it works for you.

                                          

dominant color, temperature and pastel pencils?

6x9 pastel on somerset
This is another pastel that when it left the location was not working. Back in the studio with no interference from "the scene" it was easy to see its speckled nature. The first thing I did was unify it with the color of the light. Keeping in mind what would be cool and what would be warm I simply listened to the painting. Long ago someone gave me some pastel pencils, something I have never used. I took them out for this and found them to be helpful. I used them as I would a brush moving and joining colors.

Sorry, I forgot to take a photo of the pastel before I began work in the studio, but instead, here are the fluffernuttins.

september harvest moon

 9x12 oil on gatorboard
Each night I walk to  the soccer field next to my house to watch the show...the sunset. Usually the colors tend to be orange, red, hot. This was later and by now it had a beautiful, wispy, neutral violet cloud at the horizon. Civil twilight it's called, about 1/2 hour after sunset. For many evenings last week the full moon was present heavy in the distant sky. On this night the sun  easily stretched its arms high from underneath the ground plane, coloring the sky with its rich glow. The grass was the hardest to do for it always seems too cool. To counter act that I painted a warmer red underneath.
This is a studio piece. You can see the underpainting here.

value and cooking

 5 x15 (i think) pastel and watercolor on Uart

Value..ah the value of value. When you are aware of value relationships the whole world of color is at your beckon call. If you are true to the value relationships you can choose the color you want for harmony and feeling. How does one make a hot, steamy morning? Color choice.
It's funny, yesterday I cleaned out a studio I had been renting. I had been there for years. Old paintings from 25 years ago were still stored there. Looking back I noticed some successes (rare) and many "dogs." You probably wonder what do these "dogs" have in common????? Easy. I did not realize the power I had as an artist. The values were correct but the color wasn't chosen. I struggled with  just seeing. Now I realize it it's like cooking:
2 cups seeing
stir in 1 1/2 cups feeling
when the bubbles rise, sprinkle liberally with harmony
Taste
And then drizzle with insight.
Some dishes work better than others. Some funky inspirations (like that wild pizza I made last night) can surprise you. Relish it all. Cooking and painting are inspiration.

Check out my big sale when you get a chance.

the paintings keep coming..ten more

21. secrets well guarded, 6x6

22. the magic hour, 8x10

23. soft greens 8x8

24. as night slips to dawn 6x16

25. whim 

26. without pausing, 10x10

27. the air is still moist, 10x10

28. sliver white winters that melt into spring

29. secure, 6x6.5

30. hardly a soul notices, 8x10

Ah, almost done...just three more tomorrow.

One question for you-I have to give a demo on Saturday.What would you want to see if you were there?

the river

 

7x7watercolor on wallis

This is a second painting from the pastel-less day. Tomorrow I will go back and add pastel. My concentration was on edge and not becoming defined in the watercolor. Leave the decisions for pastel. It's hard to undo a sharp edge. That also could be said for grisailles.

I was also very conscious about just using a few colors- alizarin crimson, paynes gray, green gold, ultramarine blue. At the end I added a speck of cerulean blue. I like the very transparent darks that watercolors have.

suggestions watercolor paper for pastel????

8x10 pastel and watercolor on UArt
I wanted to return to watercolor on Uart again...see what would happen. I was bothered by the chunkiness of it. I want a lighter touch. Anyone have experience with a watercolor paper that would accept pastel without a myriad of those irritating bumps? I have liked the gauzy feeling I have been getting from the BFK and Twinrocker papers.
Thank you to Doug (PB) for his helpful paper suggestions!

river at big bend/ value painting and grisaille

9x12 value painting/pastel on BFK

One of my favorite sections of the river is at big bend.  It's a place where I have done  many plein air paintings right here. Using those ideas I created an value painting in preparation for another bigger oil. It's important to create the mood with value alone. "Value does the work, color gets the glory." (Richard McKinley)

 18x24 oil on linen

Then on to the grisaille.
Shapes are important when planning a painting.  Only a few large shapes make a stronger painting. After making your shapes you need to carefully think about shadows and edges. How many edges do you want? (another case for less is more) For a more interesting painting don't contain your shadows let them drift and float.
This is the grisaille for the larger painting. I have been working on just this for 2 days, wiping, scratching, putting on more paint, and rubbing.More about this painting and its genesis later.
I posted two today...this is tomorrow's post..... I have so many things due for my upcoming show in May that I figured since I was on a roll........

mountain view

9x10 (about) pastel on BFK

The layers of distance are made up of similar colors with changes in value and temperature. California has such interesting color so different from the East Coast. A beautiful place.

waiting at the light 1 and 2

10x10 pastel on BFK
So there I was in a line waiting at the light. There was a fog that made an orange- pink cottony glow. The sun was just beginning to come up between the trees.  I was one my way into school. I teach 2 classes this morning. No time to stop and paint. I whip the camera from my glove compartment (it's always with me) and fling my hand out the window and snip the picture just as the light turns green.
I did the value painting at night. Now I am ready to go onto color.

december blue twilight/memory painting

I am seriously on a roll. Same field in December twilight. Memory painting.
Warm next to cool... my goal is to internalize, not represent.

Sun Fingers Push through the Trees

9x12 pastel on watercolor underpainting

I can't keep away from plein air painting .... it's like an addiction. It just feels so good to be out there!

Another version of the field, this time a little after sunrise when the sun fingers push through the trees. Finally, I like this one.

November 7, 2007 Potomac River

Potomac river again ... autumn, late afternoon light.

November 6, 2007 GM field study

Ok , so now I have done 5 of these GM field studies. Am I closer to knowing the color palette? No