Discussions with Mark Norseth

I’m finally back to some oil painting after several months that have been predominated by watercolor work for an upcoming show and magazine article that are in the works.  More on that later.

This is the lay-in and some second -day work on a new painting I’ve started.  It’s decidedly not a new subject for me; I’ve painted various interpretations of this mountain over the years.

However, I’ve never been entirely through with it as a subject…it’s monumental presence, practically in our community’s backyard, is delightfully transmuted hourly as the sun and the atmosphere play their games across it’s face. Whenever I look at it, I find myself wanting to give it another shot.  My goal is to  capture the truth of the color in the early morning hours, on the rare,  clear sort of day when the entire mountain is visible. I want very much to make this a painting which makes it’s stand on beautifully observed color and shapes.

The two main difficulties in this painting are the speed at which the color in nature changes, and the unusual combinations of pigments required to get the right shades.  Combinations of pigments that easily can go dead have to be applied  loosely, reds and blues and yellows woven or scrambled together into rather odd scarlet-greens in the lights, and shadow-shapes of  violet greys that seem to be equally troublesome to get a handle on.

My solution for all of this is to repeatedly get to work on the painting in the same light and at the same moment of the day, and gradually build the painting in touches of color as best as I can, allowing the truest notes to show through and adjusting the shapes and carving out the form gradually.  I’m really not sure how different this is than a portrait approach, in all honesty.

untitled, 20 x 24″ oil on primed linen

I  will probably need about eight clear mornings to get a good grip on this, and hopefully the weather will be accommodating for another one or two days this week.

The canvas is a medium linen with a somewhat absorbent oil (lead white) ground that was single primed at least six months ago.  It’s taking the paint well.

detail

As an added inspiration, I’ve just re-read Ives Gammell’s “Dennis Miller Bunker”, a wonderful biography of one of my favorite American painters.  Revisiting that book, I find myself again connected with the idea of going after the “big look” of nature wholeheartedly;  that it’s a worthwhile and precious thing to obtain a beautiful result through a patient and thoughtful impressionism.

Man in Coffee Shop

I began keeping sketchbooks as part of my work habits about fifteen years ago. Because life is the disjointed and unpredictable thing that it is,  I found there was a real need for something I could do, incrementally, to keep  my work on track in the spare moments I would find throughout the week.

As I looked  closely at all of the artist’s I admired, I realized that they were  always planning things on paper,  always leaving abundant sketches and drawings in their wakes.  I knew my own work needed more thought, and my observational and figurative skills constantly required  practice. Also, I did not cotton to the idea of relying on photographs;  much of the work I loved was painted before the era of the camera took hold, and I wanted to see if I could train my mind’s eye to capture the essential things around me.

Couple on Subway

Beginning with the sketches of Rembrandt, (and later  artists like Menzel,  Fantin LaTour,  Sargent, Constable, and so many others), such drawings became, for me,  exquisite examples of artists thinking aloud on paper.  I realized that one constant occupation of these artists was visual involvement with the world around them.

Hip Lawyer

Concurrently,  my reading of “Harvey Dinnerstein:  Artist at Work” impressed me very much. I recommend this book as it discusses the painters’ life in terms relevant to modern times.   Like artists of the past, he’s drawn upon the life immediately around himself as a subject, using personal friends, students, and family members as models.  And he is a fluent sketcher,  from whose work  I learned this critical lesson: to always draw and paint ideas, not pictures.

So, I continue to use my time observing and sharpening myself, squirreling  away the details of what lies about me. Here are some of my  sketchbook works from the last few years, done for their own sake or as a study for something that may become realized more fully later.

Language Student/Coffee Shop

Maui, Roadside study

Man on Bus

Stylish Woman

Beach Study

Mother