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.

The Feeling of Painting

The feeling of painting outdoors.  The start begins with searching my thoughts about the possibilities.  There is a general anticipation and a sorting process where I think about what kind of day it will be in some of the areas that I would like to paint.  I am thinking what the actual painting will feel like from a best case scenario.  At this point I am not even sure where I will be painting.  These feelings and thoughts are about the colors and what they will be like at the location I am trying to decide on.

When I get to the location I scout it out.  I am trying to pick the best spot based on the time of day.  I am looking for the most interesting composition.  My personal trends and interests guide my decision making.

The board's under painting is determined by the type of day and the potential subject I am going to paint.  Anticipation builds as the board is created.  I get a fuzzy feel for the colors that will work on the board.

I set up my gear and determine the details of the composition.  Based on the size of my board and the subject that I want to paint I lay out the preliminary design in a sketch. 

Once I start drawing everything starts to change.  I feel a tremendous sense of urgency.  As I begin to draw everything begins to fade out of focus except for me, the landscape, and my drawing. 

I lose track of the time.  I am constantly trying to observe the details of the painting.  I am comparing each part of the painting to every other part of the painting.  There is an intense awareness of the painting at the expense of everything else.  There is a feeling of tunnel vision where everything else on the peripheral goes out of focus.  Although I can still hear thing around me it is like someone turned down the volume by half.  My other senses and needs become reduced.  It is like I am at the center of a tornado.  My mind is the calmness and the act of painting is like the wind.  There have been times when I don't realize that I am getting sun burned until I reach this point when the painting is done and I snap out of this trance like state as if I was hypnotized and suddenly brought to.  When I am painting I don't know I am thirsty until I finish the painting. 

Thomas Jefferson Kitts Paint Out-Mission San Juan

Thomas arranged to meet members of the LPAPA the day after the Laguna Plein Air Invitational.  We met on the grounds of the mission at San Juan Capistrano.  The day was perfect.  It had started out foggy and influenced the board I took to the paint out.  By the time I got to the mission the fog was burning off.



Thomas provided more information than any other of the artists I had painted with.  He was excited; having just won a ribbon for artists choice, for his depiction of the scene he was going to demo for us.

Thomas was firing off his thoughts in between putting the paint down.  The following are some of his thoughts at the beginning of the painting session:

• There is no substitute for getting in your painting mileage.  If you want to be good you have to put in your time.
• It is more important to get 100 starts than 100 finishes.  You will learn much more from a problem solving stand point.
• Painting the same subject over and over again will help you develop because you will be able to get farther in the painting each time you paint the subject.  It will point to the new territory to go into.

Thomas Jefferson Kitts finishing his painting

Thomas shared some of his thoughts about plein air painting.

• He is an advocate of everything fitting in a small tight pack.
• Plein air is not necessarily a 2-3 hour process with smaller canvases.  It is different for everyone but most people are painting larger now because there is money back in the market.
• Thomas believes in finding as many ways to handle the paint and the brush work as possible.  It will only lead to better problem solving, more interesting paintings, and better technique.  The more ways you can touch the surface the better your painting will be.  Actively works at varying his brush marks, his shapes, his sizes, and temperature .

As he continued to develop his painting, Thomas would jump around and work different areas of his painting.  Similarly, Thomas would skip around from topic to topic.  Thomas continued to share his thoughts like they were springing from his brush as he worked the different areas of the painting.

• He paints with the pallet at the same angle as his painting so the colors on both surfaces match.
• Thomas said he is working on painting without solvents because of health reasons and in order to develop his color.
• Thomas discussed his type of painting as planar-meaning he paints the color shifts of his subjects based on their relation to the source of light.

As Thomas worked at finishing his painting, the topics shifted as he put the finishing touches on his work.

• Thomas discussed the foundation of his painting process.  His focus on maintaining a notan throughout the course of the paintings development is key.  He continually returned to this concept throughout the painting.  He asked the group if he had maintained his notan up until the finish.
• Where the notan focuses on a black and white value pattern used to build the composition, he uses color temperature as a basis for the color buildup.
• If you start with the right temperature in your initial lay in, it will provide a solid base for the rest of the color choices in the painting.
• In order to understand temperature before you start your painting you can hold your brush over your canvas.  If the shadow is cool then the light is warm and vice verse.
• Thomas starts his color super saturated and then brings down the temperature.
• Avoid chalky by painting from dark to light.
• For his shadows he starts with a neutral color and adds color to it.

More Thoughts From Thomas Jefferson Kitts



• He really likes lead paint because of the way it drags across the canvas, it avoids being chalky, and does not influence other colors as much as titanium white.  It also allows better color saturation.
• Thomas avoids chalky looking painting by painting from dark to light.
• Avoid painting lights into darks and leave the darks transparent.
• Look for the biggest value contrasts and then the biggest hue contrasts.
• Work you painting from shape to contour to line and then dot.
• Working a shape from light to dark in opposition to dark to light creates an interesting contrast.
• When establishing masses build vertical masses early because it lends itself to planar development later in the painting.
  

• You want to suggest the time of day but don't lock yourself in and understand you must keep your initial impression of the time in your painting.
• When creating the composition through the choice of shapes and values resist suggesting shapes through the highlights until the end.  Hold on to the notan till the end of the painting and then ice the cake.  Keep the light and dark areas of the painting the same value to maintain the notan until the end.
• Establish distance in the painting by maintaining relationships between the foreground, middle ground, and background.

• Massing values, hues, and temperature and relating them to each other is key to a successful painting.
• If you can relate two of the three elements you will have a successful painting.
• There are no same colors in nature.
• Once you introduce white into the painting the whole game changes.
• Keeping the painting simple as long as you can by working at getting the big shapes correct in all of their relationships between values, colors, and temperature.
• Build the painting anyway you want but need to look at everything all the time to keep the relationships correct.
• You can only paint as well as you can draw.

My Turn

After Thomas finished his demo, it was our turn to paint.  There was so much information provided that I had the same feeling I get when I am finished painting en plein air.  I was empty.  It was interesting to feel that way after a demo.  When I am painting there is a deep concentration and focus.  There are thousands of decisions being made and executed within a relatively short period of time.  By the time I started, I felt like I had already finished.

There were so many amazing subjects to paint at the mission.  The mission closes at 5pm and I did not get set up until 1:30 pm.  I painted the lily pads because there are so few opportunities to paint them.

As I was painting, Thomas made the rounds several times working with all of the painters.  Thomas grabbed some pastels and showed me some of his chops while illustrating some of the points he had made during the demo.

Finish

 Thomas went into my painting and reestablished and redefined some of my key elements in the painting.  He took the masses back to the value stage by reducing some of my mark making so that he could emphasize the contrasts in the area of interest.  It was difficult letting him work on the painting, but I appreciate Thomas' willingness to illustrate his concepts.



Thomas came in and worked a couple of concepts and changed the feeling of the painting.  The way he simplified my shapes and enhanced the values within the painting by use of his planar approach increased the strength of my painting. I really appreciated the time and interest he took doing his demo.   

Painting is like handwriting

Painting is like handwriting.  The grace and swing in the curves, ovals, and the general rhythm in the line of written words is possible when the hand easily and confidently makes the strokes.
-Edgar Payne

Bluffs

 

I was hoping to find some plein air painters.  It was the last day of the Laguna Plein Air Invitational and this is a classic painting location.

The tide was very low so I felt that I could set up here without fear of getting my stuff wet.  The fog was just starting to burn off as I set up. 

This is my initial drawing of the bluffs.  I would normally do a sketch but I have painted this scene enough times that I did not think it was needed.  I would have liked to have included the rocks in the ocean but I liked the size of the subject on the board.  I will have to get a different size board to include both next time I come back to paint.

Bluff

By the time I got this far in the painting the sun was peaking through and everything changed from a lighting stand point.

As I moved through the painting, I focused on elaborating the details and building up the high lights. 

I worked on developing the proper relationships between the values within the bluff.  I was also trying to see the underlying colors between the highlights and the complimentary colors that would accent the light.

Bluff in Laguna

At this point I had decided to take the painting in a more impressionistic manner.

From this point, it went on automatic pilot.

Done.