'Gouache on the Fly' Demos

 

Last week we ended....

    ...Gouache on the Fly, my course in using watercolor instead of gouache to fill a very portable sketchbook.  True, we also used white gouache and a little black, but most of the paintings were done using tubed watercolor like it was oil paint.  We had a great time exploring this approach and here are the demos I did for those in the class but I thought you might enjoy them also.  This is my third sketchbook done this way and I'm still enjoying the processs.  Below are full page (8.5x11 inch) scans that begin in value studies and move on to full color.

Black and white gouache and one from a mix of two complements.  There is some unintentional green on one rock on the vertical piece which was an accident.

The top one of the bridge is on a piece of watercolor paper; the bottom one is right on the sketchbook paper and is a value study done in a warm and cool color but not representative of the color in the scene, just the values.

Sketches are out of order.  Some were done earlier in the course than others and they were put in the sketchbook where I could find room.  The top one is another warm and cool value study done with Alizarin Crimson and some sort of green I mixed.  All are done on card stock of varying colors or watercolor paper.

Top one is another value study in warm and cool.  Two colors plus white gouache sitting in our living room.  Don't ask me where the fish came from....

A redo of an earlier one with an emphasis on the watercolor transparency.  

Thanks for looking.  Because this was an online course most of the images are fron photos.  Normally this method is something I use almost entirely for field sketching. 

Back soon!

Once Again...

'Passages' 16x16 Oil Plein Air

I Haven't Posted On......

....this blog, my website, FB or Instagram in well over a year.  Nothing.  It has felt good but it may be time to return.  

I needed some time off and some creative privacy, I guess.  I kept painting, studying and even taught a few courses but I was tired of media.  Still am, but decided it was time to share again and see if I could change the terms of engagement.  No, I don't yet know what that means other than not taking it seriously, despite what the online marketers recommend.

In the interim a few changes I hadn't expected crept in.  Being trained mostly by Sergei Bongart's teaching assistants I once used a color palette of up to 18 hues.  Over the years that number shrank slowly until around 2005 it was down to 9 colors, a split primary palette with a couple 'kickers'.   It is interesting and significant that the number kept going down.  I'm now at 3 tubes of color plus white.  I keep a standard primary palette of a red, a yellow and a blue in differing temperatures and saturations.   I will switch out one or more of those hues when I think it's appropriate or when I want a challenge or just to see what happens.  The number still stays at three colors.

Both of these plein air pieces use the same palette except for the blues, one done with Ultramarine Blue and the other Prussian Blue ('Passages', 16x16 PB and 'Morning in the Gardens', 10x20 UB at Battle Point Park).  I'm really rather amazed at the variety of colors that can be achieved and the subsequent color harmony.

A couple of things that sort of happened at the same time in terms of materials also helped re-enthuse me to paint and explore.  I'll talk about those next time.

 'Morning in the Gardens', 10x20, Oil, Plein Air

Thanks for looking.  Come back again.

 

Lilies of the Evening, 12x12

This is my....
.....second attempt to paint this group.  I had tried it a few evenings before and bombed (see below) so came back a few nights later for another shot at it.  I think that if I counted there would be about half the number of lily pads represented here that were actually there.  As it was I was going cross-eyed trying to sort out an interesting view.

Here is the painting from before...sorry about the glare on it....and the resulting panel which was repurposed for this one.  I've found that some panels/canvases have to painfully learn what it is they are supposed to do.  Sometimes it takes multiple attempts for one to begin cooperating.

Of course that's a bad joke, but it feels like truth sometimes.  I have panels with five wiped off paintings leftovers underneath.

Thanks for looking!

Foxglove, 6x12

A very quick....
....sketch out in the back of Nancy's house done on shellacked birch plywood.  Maybe 40 minutes of painting or a little less.  Put it down and leave it alone....fun.

The complexity of the forest is simplified to graphic shapes to help give some drama to the flowers.

Someone snapped a picture.....

Thanks for looking....back soon....

 

Evening Waterlilies, 12x24

As I was leaving the pond....

.....after painting the last one, I noticed a glow start to form across the water as the sun was moving toward night.  With that in mind I began this one a few days later around five o'clock and hoped that if I worked quickly there would be enough light to finish.  

At 6:30 it was difficult to see the darker passages and judge the color balance so I packed up.  Fortunately I found it pretty much finished when I got home and could see it in good light.  There were only a few spots that had to go darker, but they were easy adjustments.  

Three blues (Ultramarine, Pthalo, Cerulean Hue), two yellows (Cad Yel Pale, Alizarin Yellow) Cad Orange, three reds (Cad Red, Indian Red, and Rose Madder deep) and, although I don't usually use it but did selectively and very limited in this one, raw umber.  Three brushes: a nondescript 3/4" flat, a rigger and a very cheap Simply Simmons 1/2" flat watercolor brush I swiped from my gouache kit.  Most of it was with the last one.  Done on a gessoed hardboard, 12x24.

I'll try to get out again this week to do another.  These flowers don't last long and "If not now, when?".

Thanks for looking.

Reflection, 10x15

Last Wednesday....
....I spent a lovely few hours around this small pond with a couple of painter friends.  They were painting over on the other side and the sound of their voices talking softly came across the water mingling with the quacking of ducks and the splash of Canada Geese.  It was mesmerizing to hear that and be able to look at the push and pull of the lily pads on top of the moving reflection of the trees.

This is an oil painting done on birch panel and needed very little in the way of retouching when I got home.  Just some picking out the fluff of the poplar cotton and seeds as they floated down on me and the paint.  I didn't need to do much redesigning of the scene either.  It's nice when things go easily.

Thanks for looking.

I'll be back.

Afternoon at Eagle Harbor, 2 x 8.5x11

There Have Been Three Practices.....
.....that have greatly influenced my art.  I mean, besides all the great artists I've had the privilege of studying with.

Drawing with Valued Markers, from the morning I accidentally picked a marker up and tried it, has opened my eyes and instructed the hand.  Using just three marker values and white (or sometimes toned) paper has made it so easy for me to quickly create form and study composition.  And cheap!

Yesterday I started out the door with my paints but didn't feel the urge to use them once I got to Eagle Harbor.  Since I have a marker workshop coming up (see below) I thought I needed to hone my skills a bit...and I was too tired to haul out the paint.

That's another thing I like about them.  A sketchbook and very few tools are needed to catch a mood, a place or and effect of light.

Here is another from the same day:

That Marker Workshop is on May 18th, about a week away.  Because I like to share this technique I'd love to see you there.  Find out about it by going to the Winslow Art Center website HERE.

Hope to see you.   (If you can't come, check out my book on it in the tabs above.)

More on those other two practices to improving your art in later posts.

Thanks for looking!

Rhodies at Dawn, 10x10

I Had Woken Up Way Too Early.....
.....and couldn't get back to sleep.  I had a need to paint but knew that my schedule that day didn't really allow much time for it.  The sky was barely getting light so I got up for some tea and noticed the light beginning to filter into the yard.  That was exciting.  It didn't really matter if what I painted even turned out if I could just be outside using a brush.

I grabbed a birch panel that I had given three coats of varnish, a nice mid tone to work on and carve out the light.  The rhodie was an obvious choice since it was the only plant in bloom.  Using Burnt Umber I scumbled in the large plant forms enough that I could visualize how the shapes would work together.  Using Pthalo Blue, the Burnt Umber, some Cad Yellow and a little Rose Madder Permanent I began with the darks, varying the mix for interest and form.

About forty five minutes later it was mostly finished and I could finally get my tea.   Of course then  the painting began telling me what it needed and I made a few adjustments.

I had a good time and got some painting into my day.

Thanks for looking!  Have a great day.  

Fall at the Gardens, 12x12

Bainbridge Gardens....
....has long been a destination for tour buses that visit the island, so when I got a suggestion to paint there I was in.  (They also have a nice outdoor restaurant.)

You'll have noticed that the last five have been 12x12 size.  They also have all been shellacked birch plywood, no gesso or other preparation.  I've been using egberts, which are long bristled filberts that, especially on shellac, give very little control.  I'm having a blast using them.

Looking for something to paint from a comfortable spot, I didn't originally believe I could make anything out of this and that I would use it as just an exercise, scraping it later.  Turns out I find it a pleasant little piece.  Lots of fire.

Thanks for looking.  Back soon.

Holding Pond Times Two, 12x12

'Blakey Afternoon'.....
.....and 'Blakely Morning' are from the former site of the largest sawmill in the world, way back in the day.   It is now a park and I posted another painting from there on July 10th.  I've been going there frequently this year, usually to do small studies but also an occasional larger piece, 18x24.  Lately I seem to be getting into the 12x12 size.  Actually, it's intentional because I have always found a square format to be more compositionally challenging...so I'm working on it.

I'm also painting with egbert style brushes which have long difficult to control bristles.  The brush dances all over the surface, depositing little dabs of paint at random.   A bit like painting with the tail of a live peacock.

'Blakey Afternoon' happened in the waning afternoon light.  You see the water level as relatively low but it quickly changed in the hour I was there and ended up only  a few feet below the shore line by the time I packed up.  I have another one in the works from studies as the sun was going down.  The warm sunset light streams through the trees changing the color of everything.

'Blakey Morning' is looking back from that opposite shore the next morning.  The building is all that is left of a very large sawing complex that extended out over the water on both sides of this narrow peninsula.  It has become an ever changing art project for local spray can artists.

Here are a couple of pages from my sketchbook which show small paintings of that building done with gouache.  Gouache is a great way to study, especially when working small, fast and loose.  In an upcoming post I will likely share more of this sketchbook and how it has helped me move toward a better expression of what I want to do. 

And for you who like history, here is a picture of that mill from former times.  What is left is that small lighter section in the center of the photo, the generator building (see inset):

Thanks for looking.  I'll be back.....Dirty Harry said that....

Spring Gavotte, 12x24

Portrait Painting.....
.....happens every other week over at Millard Davidson's studio (see his work HERE).  I had noticed this tree a couple of weeks before at his place and was just waiting for a day that the sun was cooperative....or were the clouds being cooperative?

Anyway, during our portrait session the sky had mostly cleared and the Big Leaf Maple was clearly enjoying the moment.  I had thought ahead (take note) and been driving around with a panel I thought would work, so I set up the easel and grabbed a #12 flat and blasted away at it before the clouds moved back in.

As I painted a part of me was trying to think of a name, assuming it turned out.  Everything I thought of seemed too static or cliche'.   Toward the end I noticed the smaller trees that had sprouted from the thousands of maple seeds this thing would have dropped each year.  It was obviously a dance celebrating the return of the sun.....or something.  The big maple was like the Pied Piper.  Perhaps I'm being a bit anthropomorphic.

Painted on a 12x24 piece of MDF that I had to used Miracle Muck to glue on a piece of Frederix canvas . The best part was I got to use my brand new 'why did I buy this?' tube of Gamblin Cadmium Green for the sun struck moss on the limbs.  Nothing else glowed enough to work.

Thanks for looking.  Back soon.

Splitting Wood, 24x24

Last October we had this tree taken down....
.....and there it sat until the sun began to return the last couple of months.  At ten in the morning for only 45 minutes the sun would hit at just the right angle through the trees to light up the stump and the wood I had been splitting.

So, once I had decided to paint it, each day there was any sun I would haul out the easel and gear early enough that I was ready to paint when the sunlight poured through the trees.  One session to draw and block it in roughly, one to adjust the color shapes,  one to add some detail, and then....Oops!  The yard guys we hired for a clean up decided, while I was away, to help me and began splitting it up and make little piles.  Everything changed.  Nice guys.  Wrong timing.

Fortunately it was within a session of being finished and there was enough information already down to make it work.  So one more short session in the studio and this is what I have.

In the Pacific Northwest winter 'sun' the values can get really dark so I raised the overall values and pushed up even more on the darks, relying on temperature shifts to make the form happen.  I enjoyed doing this one as I had a lot of leeway in choosing color possibilities.

Thanks for looking.  Back soon.

Winter Fishery 8x16

Yes, it has been a while....
....since my last post.  Early October, I think.  I'm back on track now.

Since then we have been in Italy on a very satisfying drawing/painting/teaching trip, found out our daughter is expecting twins, and made it through the holidays.  November was a rough month for me. Can't remember the last time I've been that bummed out for so long.  Painting, other than when I was teaching, was almost non-existent.   You might know why and share the feelings.

Anyway, this is a new year so on January 2nd, in weather down to 22 degrees and a strong wind (OK.  I know that doesn't seem anything but balmy to those in the rest of the northern U.S. but it has been unusual for here)  I headed out across the water to this spot.  The sun was setting fast and, as quickly as I worked, this was as much as I could get in but I'm satisfied with it....and it was so good to be back painting outdoors.

I used Cad Yellow Light, Cad Red, Rose Madder Permanent, Burnt Sienna and Cerulean Blue Hue from Gamblin.  Their CBH is basically Pthalo Blue and White and is much easier to control than straight Pthalo Blue and it is of a value that often works with little modification right out of the tube.

There are some more paintings hanging around to post and I'm back in the mood to paint so....

....I'll be back.

Thanks for looking.

Pumpkin Patch, 8x10

Pumpkin Patch, Bainbridge Island....
....is the place where all the coolest kids hang out this time of year....and me too.  Nothing like a pumpkin to signal Fall.  By the way, I grew up in the Halloween Capitol of the World (Anoka, MN) and, despite attracting every goblin, elf and witch around to the yearly event, I survived.

I painted this a couple of years ago.  Actually, I painted it twice; once in a more subdued 'realistic' style and right away in this one where I painted it like I felt it.  In the first one....no, I'm not posting it....I felt all constrained after it was finished.  This one felt like a party had happened.

I touched it up a bit the other day so felt I could repost it as it reads differently.

Although I have tried to be more subdued I think it's not me....at least not yet, maybe not ever.  Marianne Elson (HERE) from Anchorage put one of her paintings on a mug and sells it.  I bought it because I liked the painting but I like even more the saying on the back:  'Do Not Judge My Story By The Chapter You Walked In On'.  Fits.  Things are still happening.

Gallery story.  Took this piece into a gallery along with some others.  They rejected this one because they said they had never sold a pumpkin painting.  What do you think?

Thanks for looking.  I'm off to teach in Italy for a bit.  Maybe I'll have something to post when I get back.

Counting Your Strokes

Tim Deibler.....
......came to town the weekend before last.  Since he stayed at our home I got to tag along during his workshop (which I would have taken anyway because he is such a knowledgeable and accomplished painter).  Pictured above are 12 of the 13 paintings (gave one away) I did that weekend....but here's how:

Tim challenged everyone to do paintings in fewer than 100 strokes.  A 'stroke' is every time the brush hits the canvas until it leaves.  If you can cover the whole sky without lifting the brush, that's one stroke.  If you put a tiny dot in representing a buoy, that's one stroke.  A challenge, and also a release because for most of the painting experience it is a concentration on simply stating large shapes and their proper relationships.

Here are a couple at a larger size with the number of strokes noted below:

54 strokes

57 strokes

96 strokes

It was an expanding experience during some unusual August rain, wind and cold...but the company of other dedicated painters made it a rewarding experience.  Tim is a good teacher who never seems to run out of energy.  Study with him if you get the chance.

Thanks for reading.

Off to Idaho....back later, hopefully with some new paintings.

Shig's Way, 12x16

A few posts ago....
....I shared with you about Shig's Place, home of an old Bainbridge Island family of Japanese origin.  Some asked me to post more paintings from there.  As long as some developer doesn't raze it to the ground I will get back there next month and see what I'll find....but there is this one.

This old stair and porch is hidden behind overgrown shrubbery.  When I saw it and while painting it, all I could think about was all the feet that had used the porch.  Generations of kids chased up and down those treads while adults were having strawberry shortcake, coffee and good times with friends (it was a strawberry farm after all).

The most difficult part of making this painting work were the color choices... (and waving away mosquitos).  The colors seem obvious now that it is finished but at the time not so.  I would have thought that drawing the stair would have been the issue but that just sort of 'happened'.

After almost every painting I find myself wishing that I had done it larger.....'larger' being any board or canvas that is bigger than what I've just done.  If this had been a 30x40 I would have wished for a 36x48.  Perhaps it's about trying to capture the impact and energy of things always bigger than what I can do, no matter the subject.

Maybe I'll go back with a larger canvas anyway.

Thanks for looking.  Back soonish.

Shig's Place, 20x24

First, There Were Huge Trees.....
....but they were cut down and, at one time, Bainbridge Island had the largest sawmill in the world in one of its harbors.  Croatian, Scandinavian and Chinese saw work.  Japanese and Philipino immigrants saw the possibility of farms and, once the trees were gone, the island became home to lots and lots of strawberry plots.  That led to packing, processing and shipping plants.  Shig's place was one of those farms.

WWII came along and on a sad day the Japanese were rounded up and shipped to camps.  Their well tended farms went vacant and would have been destroyed but for those remaining immigrants to the island banding together to pay the taxes and mortgages until the Japanese residents could return.

Shig was one of those sent off and it was a wars worth of years before he could return to his family farm...and it is still here, a token left by a dedicated island family and rich historical past.  I hope it remains with us and not just fodder for more homes.

I don't think there is a painting I've done that wouldn't be changed if I could paint it over again.  This was my second attempt and probably there are several more in me, so we will see.   The grass in the foreground was a challenge but was a valiant attempt within the constraints of plein air....or my ability to do more.   I like the piece and the experience of painting it.  It's always the light.

It does capture the flavor of the place and hints at the long history it represents.  By the way, the trees have grown back.

Thanks for looking.  More is coming.

Hazy Morning, 14x18

Amber color....
......and haze suffused everything.  Standing on the shore my eyes burned....but the early morning color was so unique; unworldly but yet softly beautiful.

It was from fire smoke on the other side of the Cascade mountains and, while the source is very sad, the effect on color was certainly out of the ordinary.  Normally this scene would be of deep green trees and very blue or blue green water sparkled with sun reflections.

Because little was as expected I had to do a lot of careful looking and mixing.   Curiously some parts of the scene seemed to have ramped up color saturation.  It was an interesting painting to attempt.  The abstract patterning in the water was the most fun, not only to make it look like water but to lead the viewers eye around and about.  This deserved a bigger canvas.

And I got to meet a lot of nice tourists and residents of the boats who stopped to chat.  Unusual, no one mentioned that they had an aunt who could really paint.

On another note, have you checked out John Crump yet?  I mentioned in the last post that he had a new video which I like....but I've really enjoyed all of his vids.  Yes, I feel like an art pusher....but I don't even benefit from mentioning him....except to send you some place I think you'd enjoy.  Head to the last post for the link.

Thanks for looking.  And wishing safety for the fire fighters and the people living through hell....

Johnson Farm Cub, 12x16

Headed Home....
....from delivering a painting I noticed the sign for Johnson Farm Trust, an old farm site set aside for the public to wander around and grow things.  The late afternoon sun, a red tractor in a mostly green field....no choice, had to paint it.  Plus, I have always wanted a Cub.

While Noelle the wonder dog slept behind me in the van I raced the lengthening shadows to pull this together.  I especially like how the background trees turned out considering how fast it was done.  The tractor took longer.  Nice evening.

Noelle thought she deserved an extra treat for putting up with me....so she got one.  Only fair.

After drawing a box and circle for where the tractor would go, a couple of lines for the poles, a triangle for the distant shadow and a single line for the bottom of the tree line, I began painting.  First that triangle shadow to establish it's size as well as to value key the rest of the painting, then on to the tractor.  I can't remember the order of the rest except for the fun of scratching in those slender lines for the wires between poles.

Thanks for looking!

Artist's Home, 10x10

Hiding behind some bushes.....
.....enabled me to stand and paint without being disturbed.  They weren't home but, being artists themselves, I didn't think they'd mind.  I've had an urge lately to paint things architectural or, at least, with architectural elements.

You can tell it's a home of artists because they have a fish diving into their shrubbery.  Look again....you can see it.  It was actually one of the things I had to repaint several times to make it believable....if half a fish in your front yard can ever be believable.

This painting was from just the other day.  The drawing is from about two weeks ago waiting to meet my friend Marsh for lunch.  It is continually amazing to me how a blank sheet of paper and some ink scribbles can turn into a symbol for a recognizable scene.

If you haven't tried drawing with markers I recommend it.  They are great for travel, amusing yourself, studying composition or waiting for someone to show up for lunch.  A book on it is in a tab above....but just try it and maybe you'll get as hooked on it as I am.

Thanks for looking.  I have more to post soon.