Painting With Genevieve, 10x12

Years ago ....
...I found myself trudging through six foot snow drifts with several good friends and one of my art inspirations, Genevieve Tuck.  Somewhere in the Cascade mountains outside of Roslyn, WA.  In the middle of winter we had lugged our equipment to the edge of a frozen lake where the most fascinating thing I could see to paint was 93 year old Genevieve having a great time.  She is in the lavender coat and the other person is either Diana Shynne or Catherine Gill, they were both on this trip.

She was an enthusiastic artist and a friend to many.   If you want more of the story you'll have to find the section in my book Sketching With Valued Markers about her.  Suffice to say that GT didn't begin painting until she was 73 to 75....the age varied with the day you asked her....and she kept going with a brush or pencil in her hand until she was just a hair shy of 100.
A year after this painting experience with her, this enthusiastic sprite of a woman called me and said 'I hear you have a cabin in Montana and, you know, I've never painted in Glacier Park'.  More than happy to drive her over and put her up, we tried to work out the details.  My schedule was not a problem....it was hers.  She was opening a gallery and going to France and the farm needed some care so she was sorry 'but I can't seem to fit it in'.  If the math eluded you, she was now 94.

I tell this story to any person who says they are too old to learn to paint or draw or do anything in life that excites their passions.  She has certainly long been an inspiration for me.

Paging through a book on watercolor from my library, Painting from Life by Douglas Lew, I was surprised to see this wonderful painting of our heroine.   Since Mr. Lew taught at the University of Minnesota I wondered about the connection.  Perhaps my friend Greg Lipelt might enlighten us.

Thanks for looking!   I'm currently in Montana wishing Genevieve could have made it.

Spring On The Cle Elum, 12x12

It was Video Day, the day.....

.......Cathe Gill and I picked to do camera work for her upcoming video on using watercolor with pastel.  It will likely have the word 'ooze' in the title....due out in July.  Unfortunately, clouds, sun direction, wind and my patience did not cooperate.  I almost threw Cathe in the river....you know, she's smallish and I needed something to toss so it crossed my mind....fleetingly.

What else could we do but paint?  Sure enough, as soon as we were into it the weather cleared up.   This began as an overcast scene but lightened up soon enough that it was possible to pull it off without repainting the entire thing.

The challenge in this type of scene, at least for me, is to avoid 'organizing' it into equal spacing, similar heights and lots of tree 'fingers'  pointing to the sky.  Nature can pull it off without a hitch but what's out there sure doesn't always make a good painting.  Add to that our natural ability as humans to organize things, even unconsciously.   When I got it back in the studio I did have to gently guide it into something more pleasing but at least it wasn't much.

Stay in touch with Cathe's website if her video would be of interest to you.  I'll bug her to get something posted.  Look HERE.

Thanks for checking in.  I have more to post tomorrow.

Snowballs and Poppies, 12x12

Snowballs in Spring....

....are one of those blossoms I always look forward to.  They are the consolation prize for just missing the lilac season.  They were all over Roslyn, WA but this one had real character....and obviously some survival skills.

I should have taken a before and after shot; that background hill was actually higher and, at first, I painted it that way leaving no room for a sky.  In terms of composition it wasn't the best so I lowered it and let a little of the morning spill in.  Much better.

It was hot.  How hot?  Hot enough that my white kept sliding down off the palette.  Had to catch it several times before it cascaded onto my shoes.

That's why my next stop was the shade of a big Ponderosa pine and a jug of water.

 I suffered for my art.

Quote of the day:

"Understate, overstate but NEVER tell the truth."
                                                           Charles Movalli

June In The Hollow, 12x16

Roslyn, Washington....

....is an old mining town nestled in a valley on the other side of the Cascade Range.  The aging farms and steep roofed buildings (to keep off the winter snows) make it a unique place.  It has some good beer too.

This old cottonwood was once a large tree that got whacked off by storm or someone's hand but the new shoots are now making multiple new trees....and somewhere in there is an old apple. 

In keeping with my latest fanaticism, it was painted without any solvent to clean brushes or dilute paint.  Just stuff right out of the tube on a dirty brush, occasionally mixed with a little of Gamblin's new odorless gel medium.  I let Rob Weiss and Mick Davidson try some of the gel and got two more converts.

I'll post some from the Bloedel Reserve tomorrow.

Last Stop, 10x12

The sun was just beginning to rake light across the snow when I climbed on top a bank left by the plow and began this one.  Less than an hour later there was only a hint of light remaining.  We left to go see about a glass of wine but, considering the drive back home across the pass, decided against it.....I still have that thirst (for painting and a glass).

Painting class, in oil, acrylic or gouache, begins Thursday at the Winslow Art Center.  Hope to see you there.

Study for Rainier Light, 14x18

This is a study for a larger piece that's in process....meaning that it is still in my head getting ready to move into paint.  When we see the mountain (when the rain stops and we eventually SEE the mountain) it is gorgeous and inspiring and awesome.  I suppose if it happened more we could get ho-hum complacent about it.

This study just works out some of the color structure and tone.  I have ideas how it can go from here but I'll need to mull it over some more before committing a larger canvas.  A painting of Mt. Rainer can be rather trite....I'll see if I can make it interesting.

Yesterday I hauled our paintings over to Roslyn for the show that begins this weekend (see previous post).  After dropping them off I left to find a painting spot.   The work was going well until a thunderstorm moved in.  I decided to leave....but the car wouldn't turn over.

Must be a bad battery connection, says I.  So I get out a few times to detach and clean off the connectors but, while it did get better it still wouldn't start.  One more try, says I.  By this time the sky was dumping so when I got out I closed the door.  I detached the connector again and when I reconnected it I heard the car locks go 'click'.

Phone in car.  Check.
Keys in car.  Check.
Doors all locked.  Check.
Raining like buckets.  Check.
Soaked.  Check.

The story continues but you get the idea.  The painting was also a wet flop.

The Changing, 24x30

Catherine Gill and I have a show beginning this Saturday called "Palette of a Village, a Plein Air Perspective of Roslyn".  The two of us have painted there for many years but the pieces in the show are from the last twelve months or so.  Here is one of Cathe's watercolors:

Nice, huh?  How I wish I could get those soft edges and transparent colors in oil.  Watching her paint is poetry.

Anyway, the show lasts until August 16th and we will be at the opening this Saturday from 3 until 8, and there again on July 14th from 4 to 6 for book signings.  Cathe will have her book, Powerful Watercolor Landscapes with her and I'll have my book, Sketching with Valued Markers.  It's at the Vintage Vine (wine tasting!), 104 1st Street in Roslyn (509-674-8805).

If you get a chance, drop by to meet us or at least stop in to see the work and visit the wine shop sometime before August 16th.

Roslyn On Edge, 14x18

Part of the charm of Roslyn, WA is that not every thing is perfectly square, perpendicular, level or entirely secure in its footing.  Roslyn is an old town, by western standards, and a recent coal mining community with many of the company buildings, houses, and downtown still around.  Residents are fixing it up but some have the good sense to let the precarious and picturesque remain.

Two of us have a show opening there on June 30th.  Catherine Gill, talented and well known artist in many different media, and I are each hanging 10 pieces we have done in the last year in and around Roslyn.  Cathe is showing her exquisite watercolors (see the book by she and Beth Means, Powerful Watercolor Landscapes) and I've got some large and small oils, all plein air.

"Palette of a Village, a plein air perspective of Roslyn"  will open on June 30th from 3 until 8 and there will be an artist's reception and book signing on July 14th, 4 to 6.  Cathe and I will both have our books there.

The Hollow, 8x10

Yipes, have I been busy!  The holiday season always catches me by surprise.  I've done paintings lately but haven't taken the time to photograph them.  This one was from early Fall when the leaves were just beginning to change.

Classes have finished until January when I begin a new round and couple them with some workshops on portrait, gouache, and maybe marker drawing and printmaking.  OK.  Now I'm already tired just thinking about it......secretly I really enjoy them.  I live for seeing people have that 'ah-ha' experience when all the juggling of  plates we call painting actually works. 

I also just finished building 12 suitcase palettes for people.  Don't know what a 'suitcase palette' is? .....I'll show you when I get the picture.

By the way, I ran across a painter named Daniel Corey from Maine whose work I enjoy.  He's running a fund raiser with his paintings.  Whether you buy one or not it's worth the look to see what he's doing.  Go HERE.

Green Porch, 10x10

By the end of the day it had turned cold with a bitter wind.  Heavy snow was approaching and the puddles were freezing crystals on the surface.  Just a bit earlier, however, the weather was milder, almost approaching warm if you had two jackets, warm up pants, gloves, hat and a hand warmer.  It was the last days of Fall.

Attracted first by the red tree and then by the complexity of the green porch up against that red, I stopped for an hour or two to paint this.....although it seemed longer in the wind.

Into the 1970's, coal was still being mined in Roslyn....that was a few years before it became the set for Northern Exposure.  Eons before that (careful, I like natural history) it was an island that ran into what would become North America.  The swamps surrounding that island became the coal under the town and in Black Diamond on the other side of the mountain range.  The Cascades came later, rising up to split what had been the island mass, leaving half of it on the west and the rest on the east side.  Near Cle Elum are outcrops of sandstone, the old shoreline.

So I drove back that evening, passing through an almost blizzard....but it felt great to have gotten away for the day.

Old Friends, 10x12

 

Retired trucks.....but still ready for action if you need them.  I'm never quite sure why old things hold such attraction but would guess it has to do with all the history they contain.  Like the abandoned apple tree from a couple of posts ago, it's easy to imagine the excitement when that green International was first driven down the driveway.  I used to have an International just like this one, except that it was grey.....and rust.  I think I bought it for $90.

See.  History.

This was the most difficult of the 'no-draw' subjects.  Keeping the angles, perspective, relationship to each other and design placement going was a mental gymnastic.  I'm glad it turned out.

Country Alley, 6x8

For some reason yesterday's post didn't get sent out so I'm using this little sketch to test the system.

I had a few minutes one evening but it was raining so I stood under the lid of my rear door (this is much easier to do with a Vanagon than a Prius) which kept the painting and myself relatively dry.  Just a sleepy little alley.

Here's hoping you get this one.

Orchard Truck, 10x12

Old trucks have character.  Even if you can't see much of this one you know it has at least one flat tire, a bit of rust and a headlight that doesn't work.....but it still starts when needed. 

The zigzag pattern in the grasses  leading back to that spot of red was what attracted me.  This began as thin tonal shapes in the gray grasses, the front shadow,  the shadowed portion in and under the trees and the background area...except where the two poplars are growing.  All else was left white.  That original wash can be seen most easily near the bottom, but there was variation in the color of the tone.  Under the trees it was warmer.

Brace yourself.  More trucks are coming.

Forgotten Apples, 10x12

Anchors to a different time, aged fruit trees can be found on so many old farms and I often wonder about what was happening on the day they were planted.  Who did it?  A young family just beginning their lives together?  A grandmother wanting to leave something for her grandchildren?  The act of planting a tree seems like a gift to the future, an act of faith and hope that our world will continue to be well.

I picked one of those apples and ate it as I finished this piece....tart and perfect for a pie.  It will need another week and some cold weather to become sweet.

This piece was quickly blocked in with large shapes that I broke up into 'trees' and 'fence' as I went along.  As in the last posting, no pre-drawing was necessary.  I like the purplish red metal roofing that was cast away as it sparks off the cool green of the tree.

Hmmm.  I'm hungry for another apple....maybe some cobbler......

Working Stiff, 8x10

Bob handed me a bit of something and said 'Try this' .  It was beef jerky and, while I don't usually eat red meat, after that bite I was off to find the source, Carek's Meat Market, on a very side street of Roslyn.  I made it there but only after I saw and painted this old working truck sitting in the grass.

I was across the mountains as 'general manager' for the Bitterroot Workshops (general managers have a broad job description), but spent most of the time painting.  Deciding before I got over there that I was going to approach landscape the same way I've been painting figure and portrait, none of the eleven paintings I came back with was pre-drawn in any way.

 Most artists do at least a minimal sketch on the canvas before applying paint but I've found that my other work was more accurate and much livelier when I eliminated the drawing stage.  Doesn't seem right but it works.   I'll be posting several of the paintings from the last six days of work and you can be the judge.  I rather like the results.

Oh.  Carek's Meat Market, even if you don't buy anything, is worth the adventure.....and stop by the Brick for a beer while you are there.

Summer's Arrival, 11x14

Yellow California Poppies and purple Lilacs, exact opposites on the color wheel so it was only a matter of choosing composition.  Half way through the painting the owner came out with a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies.  Plein air painting can be so rough....only true grit (and chocolate chip cookies) keep me going.

This painting and 'Speed Bump Ahead'  will be at the Roby-King gallery during July, as well as a few others I've done.  

The month is winding down and the painting giveaway is about to happen.  There will only be another post or two before relatives arrive for the 4th and blogging will cease for a week or so.   I still haven't chosen the painting but I think I'll give the winner some options.  Be sure to comment on any of this month's blog postings to enter.

Morning Blossoms, 11x14

While walking up the street the contrast of the hard edge of the buildings hitting up against the amorphous plants caught my eye.  I've learned that what holds my attention even for a second is something to followup on.  The more I do it, the more in tune I get to what my vision of the world is.  I talk about it in my book on marker drawing....it's actually the point of the whole book.

The uprights of the power poles and their angular support breaks up all the horizontals in the sky, building and land forms, keeping the flow going around the painting.

To enter for the free painting remember to go to my blog at: http://darrellanderson.blogspot.com/ and make a comment to enter.  Every comment improves your chances.  If you select 'Anonymous' as your profile, be sure to include your initials so I can send you your painting should you win.

Roslyn Purple Haze, 11x14

Bluish cast shadow, lavender house and lilacs.  How could I not try the challenge to make it work?

Usually the second painting of the day goes more easily than the first but I had to draw this six times before I got a composition that was passable.   Orchestrating the large blank spaces in the house and shadow also posed a few issues.  Many of those resolutions are too subtle to show up well on the web.  I kind of like the way it came out....especially if you like purple.  What do you think?

This is 'Drawing for a Free Painting' month so enter with your comments at: http://darrellanderson.blogspot.com/.   May the force be with you....