Saturday, November 29, 2014

Award winning sunset

Sunsets always take a good deal of planning.  I usually paint on two nights and I scout locations that are close to home (or at least close to a dinner table)  and that have a simple foreground.  Every time I paint a sunset I end up painting until it is too dark to see anything. Below is the scene-





I am painting the land purposefully darker than usual and also trying not to go blind.  I am underpainting with a reddish mix for the trees and an orange for the field. 



Beautiful orange and lavender colors this night


I am not happy here with the way the sky is going,  I think it is going to be wiped off soon...those thin wispy gray front clouds are hard to capture.



Getting dark too quickly


I am however happy with the land.  Now I will wait for another sunset another night that might inspire me with clouds that are arranged in layers and that have more density.



Rustico al Tramonto  o/panel  8x10in

I didn't take any photos on the actual night that I finished this painting- oops - I was in a frenzy as usual.  You can see that in the top part of the sky there are three simple layers - the blue sky, next a soft orange cloud layer, and finally the lavender close clouds that were painted with slightly harder edges to record the depth that was actually there in the sky.  I have to keep in mind that the sky is not a flat backdrop, but a layered three dimensional thing.  The bottom part of the sky was painted without individual clouds and was rendered with hazy murky colors.

This painting has recently won  "Best in Show"  at the Eastern Shore Art League member show.  The ESAL is based in beautiful Onancock, Virginia.  The Eastern Shore of Virginia is a wonderful narrow peninsula that is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean  and the Chesapeake bay.  The peninsula is full of salt marshes, islands, creeks, and beaches.


Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Who needs an umbrella?

Here is a spot near our place that has a great old oak tree standing alone in a field.  This day was very windy, so I was scouting on foot for a spot that had a natural wind block.  I brought along an 8x10 inch masonite panel but no umbrella because of the wind.



The oak tree


I was protected  from the wind by a row of trees to my left, but the sun would not stay in one place and soon I found myself rotating my easel to the left to keep the sun off the panel.  It was kind of funny in the end - I was facing a direction well away from my subject and later I moved the whole rig closer to the trees to stay in the shade.  I could have used the umbrella after all.


What happened to all that shade?


Below is the finished painting 



Quercia Solitaria, Toscana  o/panel  8x10in  - available at the Stage Door Gallery


Thursday, September 11, 2014

Roadside painting

Here is a spot on the back road to Porrona.  I loved the way the dirt road curves through the scene, vanishes for a bit and then reappears on the left.  I painted right on the side of the road as there was hardly anyone passing on this back road near Cinigiano.  A few farm tractors passed, but that was about it.



calm morning, blue sky


There was not a lot of shadowed areas in this painting, I sketched the shapes and then tried to get the few shadows placed accurately.  Then some extra light sky value.



drawing with burnt Siena


Next it was a matter of dealing with the greens, the grasses where bright and yellowish up front and I had to gray down the distant grass to make things work.  The interesting part was the dark greens in the upright forms of the trees and bushes.  I usually mix my own greens but I also modify oxide of chromium green with orange and red to get the darker values. These rich greens are usually placed over a thinner layer of near black that I make for shadowed green areas with alizarin crimson and french ultramarine blue.



the wide view



Adding thicker paint -the shadow is now gone from the road and it is getting too hot 


I did a bit of finishing back on the front porch and in the end I didn't have to go back to the site for a second day.  Working at home the sky was completed and the foreground tree was developed.  The tree's edges were kept soft against the sky.  Below is the finished piece:




Strada Tra I Campi, Toscana  o/c  30x40cm  - available at the Stage Door Gallery

Friday, August 1, 2014

Spring colors

I know it is summer, but I am just now writing about a painting done in April.  I guess I have been busy.  I did travel to the States for a short visit,  delivered some paintings to the Stage Door Gallery in Cape Charles, Virginia, and I found time to visit my old teacher and friend Jack Richardson who has a great gallery in Onancock, Virginia.

So- below is the scene back in April, the leaves are not fully out on the trees.  This site is just down the hill from the plum tree in my last post.  I am in the shady area that you can see in the plum tree photo,  in the distance to the left of the tree.




The dark verticals and diagonal shadow shapes made for an interesting image.  Now how to paint all that overwhelming info.  First came the drawing below:






Then it was a matter of simplifying everything and just plowing through, trying not to get discouraged.  At this point it looks like a child's painting:





Here was my set up:





The next day I returned and decided to move the canvas to my right side, as the sun was not striking the canvas directly-  it was a bit more bright that way.  The tall trees on the left were built up slowly with overlapping layers of color.  There were many  little sky holes and foliage color spots side by side that eventually produced the effect of light coming through the tree branches






After making sky holes one should put back some foliage spots over parts of the holes, and watch that the edges are varied and not too sharp.  Back in the studio (or rather the front porch) I was dropping in sky holes, then partially covering them, and then repeating, adding branches etc, until I was satisfied with the layered look -



detail of foreground trees



Primavera, Toscana  o/c  40x50cm  -available at the Stage Door Gallery

Friday, June 20, 2014

Plum tree in bloom

I waited one year for this particular tree to bloom again, last year I waited too long and a big wind took away all the blossoms.  The way the branches bend a bit to the left and the depth of the background drew me to this tree two years in a row.



Not too late


I decided on a vertical composition and then began blocking in the white areas for the flowers with a very light gray.  That way I would not be putting white flowers over the dark background -making a muddy mess.  It was then a question of filling in the background in between the white areas.  This was a great time to paint because the colors were not all green.  I had fun with the white flowers, cool in the shadows and warm in the light.



Beginning by blocking in the white areas

Now we have only to wait for the fruit to appear and ripen - and fight with the thieving crows.


Albero di Susino  o/c  40x30cm -available at the Stage Door Gallery


Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Windy morning

Here is a view at the field's edge across from our place.  I thought the tire tracks in the now dry field made a great lead in to the scene.  



The view


The side light was strong and clear.  I had to use the umbrella this windy morning so I tied the whole painting rig to a bush.




Now I dare the wind to knock over my rig


By some miracle the sketch didn't take so long, and soon I was trying to hit the values and remember to relax and try to paint what was there.  This was a simple scene with many overlapping light and dark areas.  The light appeared to make diagonal stripes through the dense vegetation.  The olive colored plants are broom bushes that have intense yellow flowers later in Spring.



Coming along




In the photo above you can see that I didn't emphasis the diagonal light yet,  I need to do some touching up at home.   Maybe I will do it tomorrow because it is wild asparagus season and today is just too beautiful to not hunt for the new growth --- Monica has just arrived and she already has a few in her hand.



Solchi sul Prato  oil/panel  8x10in  -  available at the Stage Door Gallery




Wild Asparagus

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Colors of late Winter

Here is a scene near our place that caught my eye.  Working on the edge of a field is always rewarding in that there are clear shadows and large open areas without too much complication.  Many Oak trees still have their dried leaves hanging on, these warm trees made a nice contrast with the lavender looking bushes.  The side light set up layers of light against dark in the bushes with long cast shadows on the field.


kind of dull looking in this photo


the umbrella helped



getting started



Things went fast because I didn't have to spend a lot of time on the drawing.  I was a bit scared of all those branches everywhere, but it came down to putting down layers of color and trying to get the value right. The foreground was easy to simplify, just eliminate trees and add green grass. The hills had a nice purple cast. There was not a lot of green there - spots of brown, orange and lavender.


progress



Fine Inverno  o/panel  8x10in   - for sale  $175.00

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Winter Sunset

I decided to do a large sunset painting near our place.  My goal was to capture the look of the sky just after the sun disappeared below the horizon. I knew that I would have to try on a couple of nights, so I first picked the spot and then I started with a pencil sketch.  I thought that by having the land already drawn in on the canvas I could then concentrate on the sky and not loose time struggling with the land drawing - instead I lost time with the ground color and values. Below is the pencil sketch.






The grid pattern helped me transfer the land shapes to the canvas.  I was able to pencil in the outlines of the basic land shapes and then start blocking in at home.  With the land roughed in I was ready to start.  There was not much time to get everything down before it was too dark to see, but since I could paint easily on more than one night, I didn't have to panic as everything disappeared into darkness that first night.



never enough time



It took 2 nights and a lot of re-touching at home.  The sky was mostly done in one go, but the land colors and values took some work.  I was determined to keep the land dark, and I was happy to finally paint green grass in a dark value.  That curving driveway made a nice foreground lead- in.

When painting clouds it is important to think of them as 3D forms, especially the close clouds. In this way your sky will have some depth.  Cloud shapes way back there in your sky can be more flat.  With this large cloud I used a finger and cotton cloth to soften the edges here and there. 





 cloud detail







Poggio Corno  o/c  40x50cm






Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Secret beach





OK - this is not really a secret beach, but Monica and I found it by accident.  We were determined to eat our lunch (focaccia and pizza slices) by the beach on this sunny but cold December day.  Our destination was Marina di Alberese.  Upon arriving we found the access road to the regional park closed for some sort of repair so we continued down the coast toward Talamone.  The winter parking situation by the bay was confusing, so we kept heading South on the coast road.  When we were passing the stretch of pine forest that is full of summer campgrounds, we decided to park and take the short walk to the hidden beach.  What a surprise to emerge from the pines and see this view.


Underway - where is everybody?





I tried the usual approach keeping the sky extra  light and the near pine tree shadows extra dark.  The value of the water and the value of the distant blue mountains were tricky.  I remembered that I usually paint water too light so I tried to keep it darker initially.  Later I brushed lighter values here and there over the water, and also some color with reduced chroma.  I knocked down the high chroma of phthalo blue/white with orange. I really enjoy painting coastlines.

Note that I angled the support against the sun so I didn't have to use the wind catching, disaster making umbrella.  Perhaps it is uncomfortable to paint looking across your arm , but it is worth it when there is a breeze and lots of sand ready to stick to your wet painting that blew over when you were watching a gull fly by.  This was a dream to paint so close to the waters edge because there are not big tidal changes in the Mediterranean.


Lots of layers of clothing against the cold, but no sunscreen needed in December


Torre di Talamonaccio, Toscana  o/c  30x40cm


Friday, January 3, 2014

Painting small on a big hill

Here is a view of a great valley that is always a pleasure to walk to.  I was drawn by the large Oak tree that dominates this part of the hill.  It was a warm and windless day - a perfect morning for painting.






This is a simple subject, should be easy...I just have to remember everything.  Small doesn't mean easy, I had a struggle with the value of the far hill, and I had to remind myself not use too much cad yellow in the foreground grass.



Getting the masonite covered


I made some changes on the front porch the next day,  I enjoy re-touching outdoors with indirect sunlight.  Also easier to breath. If I could just keep the neighborhood cats from walking on my palette - hey! don't lick the Burnt Sienna.






Tre Querce, Toscana  oil/panel  8x10in -  available at the Stage Door Gallery