Blog
9/25/2017 9:10:11 AM
Tomorrow I leave for Italy. I have finished my packing and am ready for the grand adventure. There is a wonderful group of artists that will be joining me for the workshop which is hosted by my friends Debra and Ivano Zamperla who run Artensity. This year I have students who are oil painters, watercolorists, and pastel painters so, as the instructor, I am bringing all three mediums.
This is where my love of limited palettes comes in handy. If I can limit the palette then I can limit the space and weight each medium will take up. In oils the colors are limited to titanium white, napthol red, cadmium yellow light, ultramarine blue, and viridian. I have enough experience with them that I know I can get strong saturated primary and secondary colors which can all be mixed into lush “ishy” colors that will capture the light of Italy.
I used the same limited oil palette when visiting Utah last year. Campground View 6x8 oil
My pastel box I tweaked this year by adding some darker warmer colors and some richer greens. I also rearranged my watercolor palette by replacing some of the earth colors with brighter primary reds and blues. To check if my pastel and watercolor palettes will work successfully I did a few test paintings to make sure I had the value range and color saturation that will work for me.
I posted one of these tests last week when I took my set up to the local state park and painted along the lake shore. Before I went out plein air painting I did a little test in the studio to see if I could get a sunny painting with a good value range. These sessions helped me to decide how effective my selection was and if I needed to add or subtract any pastels.
6x6 studio pastel sketch
The watercolor palette consists of half pans using two versions of each primary color, one cool and one warm, plus burnt sienna, yellow ocher, neutral and white. I also added gold green because it is so darn pretty and helpful for painting sunlight. I tested this palette by copying a John Singer Sargent watercolor and another watercolor painting of Italy that I found online. I don’t consider these finished works - especially the watercolors which are just copies of other artists’ works. Their sole purpose is to see if I can get the values and colors that I want. Making these little paintings was a really helpful way to create limited palettes that will work successfully.
I will share the results when I return. Ciao!
The blog and newsletter will be on hiatus while I am in Italy. I do not want to miss a minute of the scenery, company, and food while I am there. I am so grateful to all of you for the support and conversation and I promise to post lots of photos upon my return. Until then, happy painting!
9/18/2017 11:55:21 AM
In last week's blog I talked about my latest portrait commission of retired Macomb County Judge Peter Maceroni. This week I would like to share with you photos showing the process of the painting. It was created in many layers and took 3 months from start to finish, which is a much different approach than my usual painted-all-at-once alla prima method. The portrait was painted on a 40x30 oil primed canvas which I toned using a mixture of burnt sienna and Utrecht's greenish umber.
By combining the two colors, I could shift the mixture warmer by using more sienna or cooler by adding more greenish umber. The light source of the subject was cool so as I created the under painting I kept the background and the shadows warm knowing that some of it would show through in the end. This under painting is very thin but gives me a map to follow for drawing and values.
I began to add white to the lit areas of the face and hands. This was done in many thin layers allowing the white to build up thick in areas of highlight and thinner as it recessed towards shadow.
The painting took on a ghostly appearance once the whites were finished. The white provided a base to layer the color for the face and hands using glazes and scumbling. It is a tedious process but gives a depth and luminosity to the color that is hard to achieve otherwise.
A couple of layers in you can see how the color is building on the face.
The finished portrait has many layers of color on the light areas. The dark of the neck is still the original under painting. Putting thick lights against thin shadow enhances the illusion of depth.
The original gold book of Longfellow poetry was simply a prop but I liked the richness of the gilded cover. I made the book plain but used the edge of a squeegee to lay in thick lines of ocher to represent the shimmer of gold.
Once it was dry I varnished it using Gamblin's Gamvar Varnish in satin finish. This evened out any sunken-in areas and made the painting glow.
The painting was framed beautifully by my friend and super artist/framer, Sharon Will. I delivered it to the courthouse on Thursday and am looking forward to seeing it hang on the wall of his former courtroom where his son now presides as judge.
I really enjoyed working in a more traditional manner - taking my time and watching the painting evolve in layers. There is a beauty and depth to paint that is impossible to achieve when you work in a direct method. It is also good exercise to approach painting using different methods. It stretches your ability, knowledge and confidence.
That being said, this is how I spent my weekend.
Until next week, happy painting!
9/11/2017 9:38:09 AM
I often post paintings that were done quickly - within one or two sessions. This time I am going to share with you a painting that took all summer to complete: a portrait commission of retired Macomb County Judge Peter Maceroni.
The portrait was commissioned last February and Judge Maceroni was kind enough to come to my studio for a photo shoot and to sit for a pastel color sketch. The time spent during the photo shoot is not just for photo reference but to get to know the subject and take note of gesture and coloring that will influence the portrait. Much of painting a portrait is capturing a personality and Judge Maceroni is very charming and easy to talk to. During a photo shoot I usually take about 200 photos and then combine the best ones into a sketch. This time there were a lot of good photos but one was exceptional. The pose, the expression, and the placement of the hands were perfect. I shared the photo with the judge and he agreed.
Closeup of portrait
Detail of hands
Painting a portrait commission is not just copying a photo. I created a couple of small oil sketches playing with different color palettes to see what would be most effective and they are somewhat cartoonish compared to the final portrait. These small sketches aren’t meant to be finished works, but instead are rough color studies that I use as a reference for the larger painting. The sketches help the client envision what the final painting will look like, and allows them to suggest changes. A commission, after all, is a combined effort between the artist and the client. I showed the sketches to the judge and his wife and after a few suggestions they were happy with the results. I forgot to take photos to share with you but they are part of the commission package and have left the studio. Just know that those sketches were always in view as I worked on the painting.
Once the sketches were approved I began working on the 40x30 oil primed linen. I don’t usually work that large and covering such a big canvas meant using my biggest brushes with my entire arm in motion - it was quite a workout. As the painting progressed the brushes got smaller and I spent many hours at the end working in sections and making small strokes to capture the nuance of expression and form.
There is something relaxing about working on a life-sized, highly detailed portrait. There is no pressure to complete it quickly and the process of building it in a series of layers allowed the painting to evolve slowly and confidently to the finish.
Although I did not get photos of the small oil sketches, I did take photos of the progress of the painting which I will share with you in next week’s blog.
Until then, happy painting!
9/5/2017 8:32:09 AM
Years ago my painting buddy, Sharon Will, and I got it into our heads that carnivals at night would be great for plein air painting. It is a unique situation - the shapes of the rides, colorful blinking lights and the crowds are inspiring and compositions are everywhere. It is also challenging because nothing in the landscape stays still and your senses are assaulted by sights, sounds, and smells that are not usually part of the painting experience.
On Sunday evening Sharon and I set out for our yearly carnival paint out at the Romeo Peach Festival. We were joined by fellow artist Brenda Kirkwood Pinnick, who grew up in Romeo and was in town for a visit. As we worked, the rides rumbled and riders screamed. A nearby barker shouted repeatedly, "A buck to play, a buck to win, a buck, a buck, a buck!" With the smell of grease, cigarettes, and sugar wafting through the air we talked to countless curious onlookers who were not expecting to find painters at the fair.
The Romeo Peach Festival Carnival
We found our painting spot in the evening when the sun was low and tried to envision what the area would look like once the sky was dark and the fairgrounds illuminated. We set up at the side of a kiddie dinosaur ride where there was a good view but we were out of the main flow of traffic. The play of lights from the Ferris wheel and tents caught my attention as I attempted to interpret the festive atmosphere of the carnival. We worked for about two hours then went out to celebrate.
Painting at the carnival: One person asked me where they could buy tickets so they could paint.
My start
When you work at night you never really know what your painting truly looks like until the morning. I am not thrilled with the results but I did not expect an award winner. I like to paint at carnivals because it tests my ability to see the distracting landscape as simple masses of shapes and values. Where else can you work so hard, have so much fun, and eat an elephant ear? I am already looking forward to next year.
My finish
Sharon and I painting at the Peach Festival in 2016
