Portland Street Painting

Portland 12th and Stark streets

This month I had the opportunity to get to the mainland, primarily on a family visit to Portland, Oregon. While there I spent a gloriously cold morning with my beloved eight by ten inch pochade box painting a street scene from my old stomping grounds in Portland’s Southwest side.

It’s a special thing to be back in a place that holds so much that is terribly dear to me, but that has also changed tremendously.

While working out the painting, I was happy to meet a number of very nice and very encouraging passers-by. That was a plus, because I didn’t know what working on the streets would be like anymore. And, of course, the more time I spent my considering my surroundings, the more it became an indicator of how much both Portland and I have changed since my leaving in 1985.

Purposeful Painting

Somehow, when you’re painting  something you know and care for, the work just goes better. You don’t have to dig up a rationale for choices, or to dwell on how it might be received. You’re invested…it’s got a built-in purpose, a token of gratitude and affection.  I hope that reads in the final work.

Here it is…not signed yet.

12th ave PDX
“12th Avenue, Portland”      8x 10″ Oil on panel

Night Painting Over the Pacific, part 2

night painting cloud study 2

This pencil drawing, from my prior post, remains as a solid summary of what I’m after in my final piece.

I’ve relied on it to refresh my memory…in the heat of  constructing a night painting, it’s easy to gradually lose oneself along the way.  One needs an anchor, a plan, and I’d be lost without it eventually.

composition sketch
Small Pencil Sketch

The Essential Question

So, what am I after?  It’s hard to know with certainty. It’s not a commercial question, though it’s a given that I’ll be doing my best to make it as beautiful as I possibly can. But there has to be something communicated, something that I see and consider worth attempting to help you to see. And as I progress through these stages of organizing the picture, that’s the thing to be cleared up.

Right now, all I know is that I want to create an emotional response like what I’ve experienced at night, out on those cliffs. And to communicate it clearly to others. I hope that this basic motivation will become more nuanced as I proceed.

The Practical: Finding My Way

One of the particular difficulties is that the final painting must be done in the studio, and from studies that cannot be executed directly from nature.  It’s too dark outside.  So my “visual memory” must be sharp and reliable enough to put things together. And that’s not a clearly established procedure like some other aspects of painting.  I’m finding my way gradually.

At this point I’ve determined that the next step forward, now that the basic color/mood sketch and thumbnail are established, (here), is to make studies of the clouds.  They are the most complex and dramatic elements in the painting.  Accomplishing this will enable me to work out  my composition intelligently.

The Cloud Studies

I painted three main cloud studies from a nearby hilltop over several sessions.  I sketched in the ocean beneath  for scale.

It’s crucial to decide where the light source is to be in the final painting.  I’ve decided it will be the moon, and positioned directly above the view, and out of the canvas.  This was established in the thumbnail sketch. This is an important consideration and especially for a night painting. I want the moon outside the canvas because I would like to attempt to suggest it’s effect without including it.

Because of this, I hit upon the idea to paint the cloud studies outdoors at noontime, when the sun illuminating the clouds from directly overhead would replicate the moon at night.  I could then paint the forms I saw being created by sunlight on the clouds with confidence that they could translate into the night time effect by adjusting the values.

 

The cloud studies in order, 11 x 14″ each.

cloud study 1

norseth cloud study 2

These studies were essential and are extremely useful…not only for a night painting, but as contributing to my general knowledge. I know that work one does from nature, with all it’s hassles, roots itself in an artist’s mind in a unique way.  And they were great fun to work on!  Forms like clouds need to be rearranged and manipulated to move the eye within the painting; I’ve come to know that clouds are among the most flexible and reactive of the forms occurring in nature.  Full of surprises, expressive, and very, very beautiful.

I’ll be springing the final study in my next installment. Mahalo (thank you) from the South Pacific!

 

Mark

October Sun

I’ve just finished this new oil painting after many interruptions, mostly weather-related. But I managed to shoot some sequential images along the way, and I hope you find the process and the progress interesting.

Octobe Sun unframed
October Sun  Oil on hand-primed linen,  26 x 28″

 

Setting Up

Octboer Sun progress 1

My setup for starting.  I’m careful that the top of the canvas is perfectly level with the horizon. I have a large pair of “Square Corners”, wooden right-angles, leaning against the right leg of the easel.  When used as a viewfinder, these help tremendously with visualizing the composition. I’ve come to see that they are a must-have for composing from nature like this.

October sun progress 1a

The drawing of the main lines, big shapes, and divisions of space on the canvas.

I start by placing a small x in the center of the canvas to build the composition around. Adjustments included enlarging the main tree in size from what nature provided, and moving the small island on the horizon to the far left of the canvas as a balancing measure. I’ve moved the horizon line up because it was too close to dead center.

All of this is very important work and anticipates the end result I have in mind. Chances are good that anything I really dislike in the final painting will be rooted in some choice I’ve made at this stage. This part of the process can be done in one session, and an overcast day is fine for this step.  I prefer to have some time back in the studio with the drawn-in painting to study the composition,  preferably after leaving the location. That way I can be more objective about where I’m going with the painting.

The composition is drawn in with a thinned mix of Ultramarine blue and Indian red and painted in with a hog-bristle round brush. I use a rag and a bit of Gamsol to wipe away any lines that need removing or adjusting.

Proceeding into Light, Shade and Color

Once light and color are introduced,  the painting sessions require similar light.  And as the painting progresses day to day, the window of painting time narrows to accommodate the specific effect I’m painting.

Octber Sun progress2

A photo taken after one or two sessions of light/color work.  I’ve established the lightest note of light ( white of the wave) and the darkest dark (foliage in shadow) and every other value note should fall between those two poles. The sunlight effect here is earlier than what is eventually in the final painting.  Usually I work with the easel in shade, because working with direct sunlight on the canvas throws the values off, making the darkest notes look too light.

IMG_1364

A long shot at the end of a session, close to the last one.  The painting is pretty close to being finished. This is after the light effect has gone, which is a delightful time to be with the painting and in the place after an hours’ s hard work. Notice I’m practically alone on the beach!

Framing 

While the painting is in progress, the other side of the effort is that I build and finish each frame for my paintings.  This work takes place on days when I have time to chip away at the framing task, often in the middle of overcast days, since most of my painting is either early  or later in the daylight hours.

26 x28frame

I enjoy building the frames and take pride in being able to make something that intentionally complements each picture.

OctSun fitting

Here, I’m fitting the frame around the finished painting.  I begin making color decisions for toning and finishing the wood with the painting in place. The frame will be sanded and shellacked for smoothness.

I first decide whether I want the frame’s effect to be darker than the dark notes of the painting, lighter, or somewhere in the middle. Dark makes the picture stand out (or”pop”, a word I don’t like!), but also can make the picture feel heavy in the room.  This is especially true in Hawai’i , where light colors and an airy feel are part of a desirable interior. I choose to go with a middle tone, picking up on the colors in the shadows.

Sun

And here’s the final painting. October Sun, 26 x 28″, oil on hand primed linen.  And currently available for sale.

Studio Use of Plein Air Sketches

On many occasions,  I’ll find a subject that requires an immediate response, so I take the plunge.  But either weather, the poor quality of the light, or other circumstances make an in-depth plein air study hard to manage.

So, oftentimes I’m disappointed. The results of these plein air sketches are not as effective as they would be if they were more fully developed.  And almost always the main weakness is in the composition. Either nature didn’t provide (or I didn’t recognize) a suitable arrangement of elements to make viewing the painting a fully satisfying experience.

Waimanalo plein air

This sketch (above) is a 7 x 11″ watercolor that is our case-in-point.  It was sufficient in a no-frills way to capture the general effects. But the sunlight was on again/off again, I had interruptions from rain, and the composition now seems crowded into the rectangular format.

A Reminder and a Reference

The sketch’s  real value to me is only this: when reviewed  later, after I’ve moved on to other work, I’m reminded of visual/sensual experiences ( I mean sounds, smells, circumstances) that are now part of my memory.  It conjures recollections much more like a movie than a snapshot. The sketch has become a reminder and a reference.

What artists know is that sketching something plants the entire experience of being somewhere much more firmly in the mind than passive observation or photography. The information from sketching is sifted.  More personal as well as visual, gathered  through the lens of our own personal temperament. And this added dimension ultimately enriches the final painting.

From this stage, I’m then able to deal with the composition.

As mentioned, the first sketch doesn’t suggest the grandness of the place.  It’s hemmed in by the rectangle and lacks clear areas of interest. So I  put together this second study (below) in my studio, making better use of the elements that nature provided  as well as altering the composition to suit my desire for a better eyepatch and more interest.

Waimanalo studies 2
Waimanalo watercolor study, 6 x 14″

This small study is still “the place”, but is now better organized to lead the eye in an interesting way. The addition of figures and refining and simplifying the shapes now give me something with more pictorial interest.

A Point of Departure

From here the watercolor can serve as a basis for many possibilities… an oil painting, a larger watercolor, or a pastel.  In this instance I thought a larger painting in pastel would be a good response, to be worked up in my studio.  So I used both the first sketch and study to refer to as I worked.  I think I developed a better painting than I might have had otherwise…while making it much more “my own” in the process.

watercolor to pastel

Here’s the easel setup with the watercolor study positioned so I can see it directly with the pastel painting.  After several sessions I was able to complete the pastel.

And below is the final painting, now framed and in a private collection.

Makapu'u Head from Waimanalo, 10" x 24" Pastel
Makapu’u Head from Waimanalo, 10″ x 24″ Pastel. Private collection

One Final Thought

We obviously live in a time of technology, and the option of photography as a useful reference tool has been available and used by many painters for a long time. And undeniably, many beautiful works have resulted from this.

For my own efforts I have decided to invest in drawing and painting without the advantages/disadvantages of photography as much as possible. And I recommend that my students, while they are my students, try and do the same.

Art-making and life-living in our modern world have increasingly become solely results oriented. Labor saving devices are a wonderful blessing for the many people occupied in endlessly routine and stifling or tedious work. We’re thankful for labor saving devices whenever the labor is unpleasant, dangerous, or unprofitable. 

But artworks are different.  We are richer for the experience of interfacing with our subject over time, watching the many variations and possibilities, getting to know the subject in many moods.

On that subject, we’re well served by painter Joseph Paquet’s recently published forward to the Plein Air Painters’ of America exhibition catalog.  He eloquently states the whole idea better than I’m able to.

It’s well worth the click!

A New Pastel Figure en Plein Air

Our “Painting the Museums en Plein Air” class had our final get together for 2014 on Wednesday morning at Spalding House on Oahu.

Michelle 2

Our model, Michelle, took a reclining pose…and we took advantage of superb weather and luscious surroundings to put in a couple hours with her before having our traditional Artist’s Holiday Bohemian Bacchanalia (Christmas Party).  We had a great time, and I’m happy to have been able to work with this fine group.

A straightforward approach to painting a pastel figure outdoors

As an informal demonstration, I decided that a small pastel piece that dealt directly with the subject in terms of color, shape, and value alone would be interesting. The piece was done without a preliminary drawing, but just as a seeing project.  Simple, mostly squarish strokes ( I refer to them as “tiles”)  of the appropriate color and value placed selectively and as simply as I could.  Very clean color can be had this way.

Michelle sleeping

I fussed with it a bit after, but essentially it’s a direct-from-nature piece, 7 1/2 x 10 inches on some pale yellow Ersta paper I have.  I have plans to frame this one rather soon for a small show, so the frame, mat, and glass are waiting.

If you are interested in finding out more or joining us, you are welcome to check the schedule for our upcoming class here. 

Starting & Staying Fresh-An oil painting in steps. Part 3

The weather has been challenging; a hurricane was anticipated and this kept me off the beach for several days.  But, we dodged another one and so, thankfully, we’re back with good weather again.  And I’m happily re-engaging with this painting.

Staying fresh is a matter of exercising taste.  A composition has a point to it, a purpose…and if the artist identifies what the point is early enough, questions of what to include and what to eliminate in the painting are answered by whether they help or hinder the desired final effect.

I’m largely concerned with getting the feel of the light…I mean the color of  early daylight on the various elements, and making something beautiful with the composition by  leading the eye through the elements in a pleasing way. Everything I do, anything I add or subtract, should contribute to this purpose.

Here’s where I left off:

Second day's work

The composition is firmly in place and I’m satisfied that I’ve done as much as I can with the basic shapes.  This is, essentially, the painting in terms of design, that what we will irrevocably be “living with” in terms of the pattern of shapes. Today’s and future sessions will be devoted to bringing the painting up; that is, bringing things to life in terms of my objectives.

I’m also wary of overshooting the mark…one can lose the overall unity of the painting by getting caught up in parts and details, observations that don’t contribute but actually clutter the painting.  I’ll need to be very aware, especially when it becomes overcast for lengthy periods because  I can overdevelop an area while waiting for the light to return.

Resuming the Work

After setting up at my location, my first step is to address whatever area of the painting is most out-of- step with the painting’s progress.  In this case it’s the furthest area of the landscape, the sky and clouds in the right background.  Since I have a nice sky today I can easily jump in where I left off before.

The whites of the sky need to be adjusted down a slight bit from the whites in the waves, in order to keep them back in the painting.  This means graying them slightly.   So I mix a slight gray using Titanium white, Ultramarine, a red (Indian, Cadmium, or Light Red), perhaps some Yellow, usually ochre for this time of day,  and place this in the sky loosely.  By loosely, I mean I create a shade of the right value from these various colors, but do not mix them so completely that the colors  lose their individuality. This provides  a tone of a single value but with varied color temperatures in it.

loose gray

The clouds are in motion and the sunlight falling upon them is changing rapidly, so with this light gray in place over all the cloud masses, I can move shapes easily into a more satisfying design.  The effects of clouds on the demeanor of a painting is worth noting as they can help express many different moods. Clouds have a lot of personality! I refresh the blue of the sky with Cobalt blue, a thin layer brushed over the prior work.  With this I can paint edges of white and blue into one another, creating softer edges on the forms.

greying clouds

As I work on this, I eventually find myself over working an area, so I make a point of leaning away from the work (I’m seated) and actually keeping the seat at a distance from the painting so that I need to extend my arm  to paint. The idea is to keep me from getting nose-to-nose with the painting.  I also use an overhand grip on the brush, so that I can hold it with the brush handle cradled in the palm of my hand…this also keeps me back a bit more from the painting. And I try to move from area to area. Water, sky, shadow, light.  Moving all the areas slowly forward, but (hopefully) in a way that stays unified.  If an area is worthy of the eye’s interest , then I will develop it more carefully.  If not, I will try to simplify it as much as I reasonably can.

One of my main areas of interest is in the colors of the shadows in the foreground.  I find such areas to be quite beautiful in themselves. So I enjoy finding color combinations that work within the general value of the shadow, broken colors applied with varied brushstrokes that combine to create vibration of color like what I’m seeing.

As the session draws to a close, I’ve made changes in almost every area of the painting.  Lights and darks in the trees, enhancements of the waves and reflections in the sand, and more refined observations in general.

part 3 image

I’ll be writing another post on the painting soon.  Thanks for the coming along!

Starting & Staying Fresh- an oil painting in steps. Part 2

Fortunately the weather is looking generally cooperative for this second session.  After arriving at the location and setting up, I take a few minutes to compare what I’ve gotten so far  in relation to the actual subject.

I look at the large shapes (also refereed to as “masses”) of trees, ocean, waves,  sand, hills, etc. and see if they are as I want them.  This is the basis of the design, and what we’ll be living with after the painting is completed. Then I check the color of these masses, color which at this elementary stage is relatively flat in character, middle tones thought of  as puzzle shapes fitted against one another. These colors will be developed and refined in the ensuing sessions.

Here’s where I left off yesterday:

16 x 20"
16 x 20″

By assessing the oil painting next to nature, I decide to begin by simplifying some shapes and values to make them work better.   This first part of the morning has interrupted sunlight…clouds move in, and I suddenly have very little to work with in terms of light and color.  When this happens, I always choose to refine and adjust shapes, which are not so influenced by the light.  In this instance it’s the tree trunks and wave shapes which I refine while I wait for sunlight to reappear.

The light returns and I’m  now free to move ahead with the next step, which is going for the shadows and color on the sand. These colors are tricky; they change from warm to cool quickly as the morning progresses.  I know from experience that the shapes become decidedly bluer, so I decide to go with the slightly warmer notes I observe earlier and which I mix with a scramble of ultramarine blue, terra rosa or cadmium scarlet, ochre and white.  I enjoy painting these sorts of passages, and go in with this basic violet shadow value over the prior day’s warm ochre wash, using a large egbert, and break light selectively into it with a separate brush.  Once that shadow shape is in place, nuances, eye path (where the spots of light lead the viewer) and refining the value and color are my preoccupations.  I try to keep the brushwork simple and suggestive.

Stepping Away

I can’t stress enough how viewing and working on the entire painting as a whole benefits the outcome.  Stepping back often, viewing the painting through a small mirror, trying to always consider additions to the painting in terms of their impact on the whole painting.   This leads to unity in the picture…the sense of an easy look to the final painting.

 

Second day's work
Second day’s work

By the time this session winds down,  my subject has returned again to glorious full sunlight and I’ve been able to work and adjust overall color, which is refining the prior days laid-in color with additional observations…working around every area of the painting, keeping the entire picture advancing forward. Sort of like a cattle drive in a Western movie.

After bringing the painting back into the studio, I always make some adjustments to the days’ work, which are almost always simplifications of form or value.  I let the painting dry in the sun a bit, and look forward to day 3.

The news reports that a Hurricane is brewing offshore,which may or may not interrupt my little agenda.  But we’ll see.

Thanks for coming along with me!

Starting & Staying Fresh- an oil painting in stages. Part 1

Although I’ve painted along this stretch of beach for years, I still find myself intrigued by new possibilities for richer and deeper expression in these subjects.  The “hook”, the thing that continually catches my eye, is the remarkable brilliance of light and the presence of life and energy here.  My mission, the “art” in this,  is to relate it (this sensation/experience) to others.

This needs to be stated as much for my own benefit as yours because  the challenges of outdoor painting are formidable. Losing the whole point of the painting in the struggle of making the painting is breathtakingly easy, and so I need to remind myself  of my mission frequently.

16 x 20"
16 x 20″

This piece began with basic pencil sketches worked out prior to actually beginning painting.  It’s very important to make a plan about placement and pattern in advance.  Once I begin painting, color, value  and the light effect are plenty to occupy me and not the time to wonder where I’m going compositionally.

The First Session

Arriving early and setting up at the location with a 16 x 20″ white canvas,  I make sure that the light on the canvas is not bothersome, that the wind is manageable, and also that my location will remain in the shade for the next  1  1/2 hours.

With my palette set up in my usual fashion, my first objective is to get my largest shapes in place. I begin by placing the horizon line and tree trunks with thin loose strokes on the white canvas.  That’s a pivotal juncture in the design and the other shapes (ocean, hills, sky, and sand) are positioned in relation to them.

Using large egbert brushes and pigment slightly thinned with Gamsol  I then lay-in all these masses in flat general tones,   in overall color as close to nature as I can get them. This process takes an hour or more.  No details. I keep the edges of masses fairly “lost” in most places.

I really try to be fresh with the brushwork ….an energetic start with large, flexible  brushes can’t be a bad thing at this stage.  I work the strokes in various directions, often attempting the unexpected  ( like pulling the sky tones downward, the tree trunks painted with horizontal strokes “across the form”, etc.).   The whites in the clouds and waves are actually greyed down a couple steps so that the actual brilliance of these highest value notes can later be built and adjusted over the grey.

Everything is kept simple  and  painted as freshly as possible. Although I’m seated for this painting, I work at arms length from the canvas and step back often, so that I’m always viewing the entire painting rather than focusing too much on the individual  parts.  Whatever redeeming qualities the final painting may eventually have are being established now.


Long filbert brushes (egbert) for lay-in work.
Long filbert brushes (egbert) for lay-in work.

After about two hours work, the light has changed enough that I need to stop.   Paintings of this sort are always a survey of the light effect, not (as in a photograph) an instant summation.  As this painting progresses, the window of working time will narrow because I’ll have a better grasp of the light effect.  In ensuing sittings the point will not be to add more stuff to the picture, but to select and refine relationships and beautify what nature is providing.

So, it’s a good start.  I look forward to continuing the momentum tomorrow, weather permitting.

 

More coming soon, and thanks for joining me!