Different Roads to the Same Destination
Because I work in pastel, oil and watercolor a common question is which medium do I like best. Honestly, I like them all and each one has its advantages and disadvantages. To me, using different mediums is like taking different roads to the same destination.
When I create a new painting I am thinking in the visual language of shape, value, edge, color and application. Every medium is a tool that is used to express what I want to say. If I am painting a landscape with a farmhouse being hit by sunlight, I will analyze the scene by looking at how the shapes fit together on the canvas or paper. I find the parameters of my palette by deciding what the lightest light, darkest dark and brightest color will be. I look for the area of strongest contrast and then look for shapes that merge together with similar values and colors. Finally I think about how I will apply the medium so it will best describe the form and atmosphere in the painting. By dissecting the scene into the visual elements, I can then turn my attention to deciding which medium I want to use.
I am most comfortable with pastels. I have been working with them for almost 30 years and am familiar with a wide range of applications that pastel can give. I work exclusively on 400 grit sanded paper and I know the right amount of pressure to apply to get the most expressive stroke. I know how to layer the darks and lights; pastels look beautiful when the lightest value is applied last and with a heavy pressure. Pastels are what I use when I want to get somewhere fast.
Two recent pastel 6x8 miniscapes.
Oils are very similar to pastels. The problem with pastels is that sometimes you are missing a certain color or value in your palette and mixing on the paper is tedious. With oils I can take a palette of napthol red, cadmium yellow light, ultramarine blue, viridian and white and mix exactly the colors that I want. There is an added dimensional quality to oils. You can do your under painting in a thin wash then add thick stokes of paint on top to add a tactile feeling to the composition. Oils are what I like to use when I have some time to stop and sight see along the way.
An oil 5x7 miniscape and recent portrait demo.
I have been working in watercolor for a few years now. Part of the reason I turned to watercolor was to train myself to think before I paint. In pastel and oil mistakes are easily wiped away but watercolor turns ugly fast when it is meddled with after the initial application. The beauty of the medium comes when you let the pigments finish their mixing as they dry. The end result is often a delightful surprise. Watercolor is what I turn to when I want an adventure.
Recent 6x8 watercolor miniscapes.
I don’t think of myself as a painter of a specific medium. If I have an image in my mind that I want to create, I think about how I want to get there and which medium will suit my journey the best.
Speaking of journeys I am off to teach a color and landscape workshop for the Connecticut Pastel Society. There are a couple of spaces left if you would like to join us. For more info click here
