Summer Shore, 12 x 18

I just wrapped up this painting last night and wanted to post a few progress photos. When painting in plein air or working on studio landscapes, I usually incorporate some buildings or man-made objects. It helps me focus my attention on something strong and hard-edged and affords me the freedom of leaving the grass and foliage very loose. Not having that support in this painting was a big difference for me and makes me respect those landscape artists that do it so well.

New Painting with progress photos

I just wrapped up this painting for entry into the Salmagundi Clubs Annual Non-Member show. The source is from a Putney Painter session a couple months back, and my studies from that day were extremely helpful in keeping as much "from life" flare to this painting as possible. 

Above is my initial sketch done in pencil. Just a 15 minute placement of all the important features, making sure I had everything fitting in the canvas.

 I then went right into splashing some paint around for a loose background, and then started blocking in the head. I painted the head first in the two main values, the dark and then light side of the head, then slowly went into the details, trying to only paint what I thought was necessary.

 This is the end of the first evening of painting, probably 2:30 hours at this point

From here, I just worked my way out from the head. The photo source was very different from what I witnessed from life (you never notice this when just doing things from photos . . . when you paint something from life, and then paint the same thing from a photo, that's when you start realizing what photography robs you of). Some examples of the differences was the washed out highlights on the guitar and sofa, the varying texture of the scarf, and the color of the shirt (which in the photo was very grey, but in my studies, very purple/blue)

Here I moved into the details of the guitar and the hand (the hand is painted with only three colors/values -- the light side, the dark side, and then the middle value that can be seen in the angle shift of the fingers)

And here is the final painting

Song for Putney, 12 x 18 oil on linen mounted to board

Painting Demo - Part 3

Here is the last of my painting demonstration. The below pictures take you through the final steps of refining the skin tones and the background. I wouldn't consider the below final, because after taking a few days away from it, I always find things to touch-up and re-do.

At this stage, I warmed up the skin tones on the back and the left arm (mostly in the darks). Although my reference photos seemed to be producing that almost purple tone, the colors were looking a little muddy and out of the norm (remember, nobody is ever going to see the reference photos, just the painting). I also started with the hand and a little more dabbling in the background.


Not much to be said here, just working my way out . . . trying to be "brushy" and soft edged.

Apprehension, 24 x36 - Here is the the "final" painting. If I make any major changes, I'll post an update, and if you see something that looks off, or needs fixing, let me know.

Update: After some time away from the painting, I felt that the neck/jaw line could use some editing. Although the source material was as I originally painted it, it didn't do the model (nor my painting) the justice it deserves. Below is the Final painting - at least till I find something else to fiddle with.

Painting Demo - Part 2

Here is the continuation on my painting of Kelly. (I haven't named this painting yet, so if you have a good suggestion, just add it as a comment).

At this stage, I added more detail to the face and neck, and then started the darks of the hair. Also, you will see that I added a warm tone to the dress, this is intended to show through the darks of the dress to add some color variations and luminosity.

Here, I have added the main details to the hair and continued to refine the skin tones and edges.

I then moved down the back fixing the values and colors, and getting most of the painting done in the dress.

Working my way out, I work on the arms and some of the background. I'm really trying to be as accurate with as little strokes as possible as I move out of the main focal point. I want the exteriors of the painting to be very "brushy" and soft edged.

More to come soon.

Painting Demo - Part 1

This is a demo of a painting I started about a week ago. I am further along than the below pictures, so I will post Part 2 shortly. The painting is 24 x 36 stretched linen and I'm working from two photos combined in photoshop (foreground and background). For the best color, when painting from photos, I work off my computer screen -- the colors are truer because it is light producing the colors instead of pigments.

I started with a basic drawing, making sure everything was located in the right place and focusing on the details of the face. The drawing took about 3 hours. I then lightly sprayed it with some fixative and then toned the canvas using a mixture of Transparent Oxide Red and Ultramarine Deep.

Next, I did a block-in of the key features. Using mainly the local color of the area, I just wanted to get enough down so I can make the correct color judgments when I do the final strokes. I used a large hog bristle Signet brush for the block in, mixing the paint with some medium to keep it translucent -- this way I'm keeping some of the canvas and tone showing through the strokes.

I start right into the eyes, forehead and nose, slowly adding more detail and surrounding color. This is about 4 hours of work from toning the canvas to this point. Drawing accuracy and color is always in the front of my mind, if something is wrong, I scrap the whole area down and start over again (I did the eye twice and the nose three times)

More to come in the next day or two.

My Palette

Over the next month I will try to be more informative about my painting technique (just in case someone might be able to learn something). The below post is a list of my tools, and then in the near future, I will also document a painting so everyone can see the steps and amount of time it takes to create a "studio" painting.

Oil Paints:

A. Gamblin Titanium Zinc White (this is a great white that has a great blend of opaqueness and transparency) - If I'm not using this, I also revert to just Zinc white

B. Cadmium Yellow Light - I'm trying out the Utrecht brand because of price and it is fairly close to the Winsor Newton that I usually use

C. Yellow Ochre Light - Rembrandt (Rembrandt paints have a great consistency out of the tube, but after a few hours, they tend to get "plasticy", so I only put a little on my palette at a time to keep the paint fresh)

D. Cadmium Red - Winsor Newton (Best brand of paint in my opinion, so I try to stick with it for the reds, but it is much more expensive than the others)

E. Alizarin Crimson - I like both the Winsor Newton and Gamblin brands

F. Terra Rosa - I rarely use this color, but there are key times when mixing flesh tones that it is the purest way to get a reddish hue to the checks and nose

G. Transparent Oxide Red - I used to use Burnt Sienna, but this color is far more transparent which is always something I'm looking for. This is without a doubt the color I go through the most--it seems to find it's way in almost all color mixtures.

H. Viridian - The green. You can usually get any green from this . . . it is on the blue side, so I add a lot of yellow when painting grass and trees.

I. Cerulean Blue - This is one of those colors that are not necessary, but it is always so close to the color of the sky when landscape painting, and it "kills" a flesh color so well, that I keep it on my palette so I don't have to mix it every time.

J. Cobalt Blue light - I don't use this much, but it is a very pure blue and is helpful when I don't want something to get to purple.

K. Ultramarine Deep - My second most used color. All warm and cool blacks usually start with this as the base, and this is used to create a lot of my greys.

Other Paints: I use a variety of yellows depending on the situation, in addition to the two above I also use Lemon yellow, cad yellow medium, and Yellow ochre medium. Sap green is the only other color that is not on my studio palette but I bring it with me when landscape painting. It is much closer to most foliage and I do a lot less mixing when I bring it along.

Tools:

L. Silicoil - (has a little spring coil inside that is more gentle to the brush hairs than a mesh brush cleaner) - usually filled with art grade mineral spirits (and sometimes turpentine - I don't really care which)

M. Medium in Palette cup - Schmid mixture: 1 part stand oil, 1 part damar, and 5 part mineral spirits. I use this to initially thin down my paints. It adds a very "liquid" feel to a painting and stops any "chalking" of the more opaque colors. Once I add it to a paint mixture, the mineral spirits evaporate fairly quickly, so if I go back to it, I generally dip my brush in the mineral spirits to get it back to the consistency I like (which is fairly thin, slightly thiner than softened butter - more like elmers glue)

N. 3.5-4" blade - For cleaning off the palette and for creating fine lines in a painting (I found it works much better than a palette knife, it is stiffer and you can place it just the way you want)

O. Sable Rounds - Various brands (you get what you pay for) ranging in sizes from 2-8

P. Langnickel 5590 - Sizes 6-30 (they must have their own sizes because normally a 30 would probably be gigantic, but it is comparable to a 10 flat in the Signets below) - the brushes of choice for most of the major painters today (Schmid, Lipking, Baugh, Burdick, Gerhartz . . .) An absolutely great brush that creates beautiful strokes and effects. The hairs are very light, so they take some getting used to.

Q. Robert Simmons Signets - Flats 6-12 - I use these for all the block-ins and when I want a very transparent, brushy look

R. Palette Knives - the cheaper of the Italian brands, but they have held up for the last five years. I have a size 6 and 10

S. My Palette - Tempered glass glued to a light-grey spray painted masonite board. 16x20 (I also have a plein air setup with a home-made guerilla type box. Maybe I will show that some time in the future)

T. Paper Towels - Viva towels from Kleenex - not just because Schmid uses them, but because they really are the best for painting.

U. Claessens Oil Primed linen - From Utrecht, either 820 or 13J. Mounted onto Gatorfoam for plein air and small paintings, stretched over bars for larger studio paintings.

Ok, that's pretty much it. I do have some cheap, really large brushes from the painting section of home depot for those really large block-ins, and I have a bunch of miscellaneous tools like canvas pliers and such, but I assume everyone has stuff like that. Stay tuned for more over the next couple weeks.