Posting Every Single Painting

So, as I look back upon my posts and view my progress as a artist I have noticed that the quality of my paintings vary in quality.  There are periods where I am really on and periods where I am not on. I'll look at a group of posts and notice when I am on a hot streak.  As I seek to grow as an artist I am constantly trying new things-it may not look like it but it feels like it to me... One of the questions is do I need to post everything?  Should I just post my best finished efforts?  I try to post every painting in the order it was painted in.  The goal is to show where I have been and to elevate the quality of my work-month to month, week to week, and painting to painting.  I think I just need to paint more and the results will follow.
One of the things that has really accelerated my growth is the plein air painting that I have been doing.  All of the plein air painting I have done so far has been 100% completed on site.  There is no time to rework or second guess the work that you are doing.  This results in definite wins and loses.  This helps to shape decisions in future paintings.  I am not sacrificing the size of my painting to get to a finished product.  Painting larger helps me explore areas of the painting to a greater degree but it is also challenging to get a finished expression in the two to three hours I am painting.

Old Orange Grove

This orange grove is located in Santiago Oaks Regional Park.  It is in a state of recovery. 

Working on some of the concepts that Thomas Jefferson Kitt had taught a couple of weeks ago was an objective for this painting.  One of the key concepts that I was trying to explore was the idea of establishing and holding onto a notan throughout the painting.

In this picture you can see the gray blue color of the board and how the transparency of the color is showing the characteristics of the board.  I worked to set the lights of the sky and the darks of the orange trees as the shape of the painting.

Old Orange Grove

At this point the shadows of the orange trees become part of the light and dark pattern.  So do the oaks in the background.

Through out the painting, as one part of the painting changed I would go back and try to keep all of the parts of the painting relating to each other.  Highlights are moving into the painting as well as the development of the foreground.  I am working at keeping the detail, values, and colors supportive to the feeling of the painting.

Old Orange Grove

 

 

At this point in the painting I am leaving the masses alone and working on the edges and highlights.  I am refining details and trying to not mess up the parts of the painting that I feel are working.

The refinements continue until I feel like I have nothing left to add without hurting the painting.  Done. 24"X36". 

Shaw's Cove Shadows

By the time I had finished the first painting, there was not much time left to finish my second painting.  Usually I do the large painting first but I changed it up.  I had even less time to finish this one.

The intensity of the sun made the contrasts in this painting difficult to do.  It was one of those days charged with energy and calm, serene beauty.  As I painted, people would come and go but it seemed like there was never more than a dozen people at any one time.

The sandstone in the foreground was changing by the second as I finished up.  I started with the bluffs making sure to represent the contrast between the light on the water and the mass of the sandstone.  I then worked the values within the bluffs and added the details of the shapes associated with that mass.  I then worked the water, the rocks, the foreground with the sandstone in it and finally the sand with the waves washing up upon it.  This painting was more satisfying in its completion.  It felt like I got the feeling of the place better in this painting.

Shaw's Cove Gazebo

This day could not have been more beautiful.  This day in November could not have been more spectacular.  It was so clear and warm.  This small hidden cove was mine and mine alone to paint.

I really like when there are places that make it easy for me to set up and keep my stuff organized.  In this case, the home that was on the beach had this little patio area.  It just so happened that it was about the only area I could set up without getting wet.  The tide was high when I got to the beach.

I tried to keep in mind some of the concepts that Thomas Jefferson Kitt covered on his demo.  One of my key take aways was to work with a notan concept.  Trying to hold onto the light and dark pattern of the values as long as possible.

Shaw's Cove Gazebo

The challenge was on the one hand holding onto the notan and to not ice the cake until the very end versus making sure to capture the shadows and highlights at the correct moment-before everything changed and it was too late.

This painting measures 26"X24".  It is painted on a piece of birch wiht pumice gel and acrylic paint as an undercoating.

Shaw's Cove Beauty

How many paintings could there have been made from this single location?  This beach is only a couple of hundred yards long.  I think if I was frozen in time at this location I could paint every day all day and never run out of things to paint.