Challenge Day 18: The Color of Peace & Joy

"Peaceful Petals" 8x10 oil on linen--in progress

Happy Thursday everyone! I’ve missed posting for a few days but have greatly enjoyed teaching this week, enjoying the gorgeous weather, and getting ready for the many fall art shows on the horizon in Denver.

(Speaking of shows, I’m very happy to report that my Day 1 challenge painting (my Blue River sparrow) was juried in the All Colorado Art Show.)

But today I’m back at the easel and my goal was high key ethereal colors. I’ve always loved this type of painting. (If you like really gentle light colors too you may enjoy my “High Key Heaven” art board on Pinterest.)

On a pigment note, I've been hearing a lot about Gamblin's warm white (which is a mixed white with a little hint of an yellow/orange) and thought it would be interesting to try in this. For those of you who feel your whites get too cool you may enjoy it.

I thought a sunlit peace rose would be a perfect high key subject. Originally cultivated in the 1930’s in France, the trade name "Peace" was publicly announced in the U.S. in April 1945. Later that year peace roses were given to each of the delegations at the UN inaugural meeting with this note: "We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace".

Interestingly in Italy rose is known as “gioia” or joy—also an apt descriptor for such a blissful and colorful flower.  Wishing you all a peaceful and colorful week as fall approaches!

I'm Positive About Negative Painting

Watercolor and gouache on YUPO paper 9x12

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln

Next week I’m excited and honored to be doing a YUPO painting demo for an art club in the area. In preparation, I painted this little abstracted garden this morning using transparent watercolors, opaque gouache and a 9x12 YUPO pad.

Here’s what I started with—basically a wet in wet abstract watercolor which I let dry overnight. So you’ve got an interesting base painting like this, then what? Could you leave this as a more abstract painting? Of course. But I like options...

Shape "hunting" with watercolor pencil on the original painting.

As an artist who paints in both oil and watermedia I can’t imagine not having negative painting as a key option and skills. So I wanted to share 5 negative painting tips that I hope will help you the next time you face a painting challenge.

1. Consider the power of your mind’s eye. We need to be skilled shape makers and finders as painters. Negative painting fine tunes these abilities. In other words, what do you see in those big blobs of paint? A figure? A tree? An octopus? Keep looking…..And enjoy the process.
2. Want to push your more non-objective abstract painting over to a more representational painting? Negative painting helps you modify what you already have like I did today. It’s also a great way to “fix” or “salvage” a so-so painting you might have in the studio.(Don't we all have a few of those??)
3. If and when you negative paint over an existing background don’t be shy. Consider a bold value contrast that will really “pop” your image. For example, try black (or near black) over a very light painting or light negative painting around darker shapes.  Along the same lines if your base painting is very high chroma try a more neutral negative painting again for contrast.
4. If you enjoy painting nature and organic subjects like I do I think negative painting often looks less forced and more natural than positive painting.  That doesn’t mean you can’t paint any branches positively but consider using more interesting negative shapes as well—such as sky holes.
5. Take your time. Don’t rush negative painting if you’re not used to it. If you need to use a non-permanent light drawing tool (i.e. pastel pencil, watercolor pencil, soluble graphite, etc.) to help you find the shapes before you commit to paint.

P.S. If you want to improve your watercolor negative painting skills check out Linda Kemp's Painting Outside the Lines. She also has some videos on Artist TV Network.

Challenge Day 27: The Personal Nature of Color

"Coastal Tide" watercolor on YUPO (collection artist)

“Color may come purely from imagination and, so long as the value and relationship is good, may be even more beautiful than life. I do not consider that faking.  That is understanding color.”
Andrew Loomis

Since I’ve taken a bit of side trip into watercolor land during the 30 day challenge I’ve been re-reading some of my watercolor books. I have some wonderful books but over the years they've taken a bit of a "back shelf” to my oil painting books. (Which reminds me, if anyone has read the new Alla Prima II yet I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!)

Last night I was reading Watercolor Free & Easy by Washington based painter Eric Wiegardt. Since I love color I tend to skip to the color chapters read those first—like eating the cream in the Oreo!  In this book, I particularly liked the section about having a “Personal Color Sense” or “Color Instinct” if you will.

Along the way, you’ve likely heard from other artists that if you get the value relationships correct then you can paint that “super dark” any “super dark” hue of your choosing. But how do you decide exactly what that color will be? 
That’s a great question. Some of that answer for me is “intuition” and painting—a lot. But in addition, Wiegardt offers some helpful questions to help you select a color that works best for your painting and not necessarily the one you see in front of you:

• What color best expresses the painting’s mood and/or emotion?
• What temperature dominance makes sense (note the colors follow this choice)/
• Could I use complements to add excitement and interest?
• Are all my colors the right intensity? Should some be brighter or grayer?
• Is there an overall “mother” color or tone that would work well? (Think of a night café scene.)
• Is there some “bounced” color I could take advantage of?

So the rest of the week I plan to keep this idea of color choice in mind as I hope to finish out the challenge month with at least a few more posts.
P.S. Thanks Rick B. for lending me his lovely Oregon coast sketch/photo (as well as some salt!) for my YUPO landscape painting today!

Challenge Day 15: The Half Time Report

"YUPO Feathers" 9x12 watercolors on YUPO (collection artist)

Happy Sunday everyone--How’s your challenge painting going? Whew, today’s the half-way point. 15 days down, 15 to go…

Briefly, today’s painting is a study of feathers in YUPO. It’s a photo I took in the park this summer and have been thinking about for a while. Maybe for a larger abstract. So I thought it would be interesting to do a color study in the YUPO. (FYI, came across some helpful YUPO tips from the Beautiful Hello blog for those of you who want to "Do on it on YUPO.")

I’m not a runner but I imagine if you’re a long distance runner at the half way mark in a marathon it’s a mix of emotions. Elation that you’ve made it this far yet at the same time disheartened to that you’ve still got a long ways to go…

I was thinking today too even though it’s the weekend why is it sometimes so difficult to focus on something we actually enjoy? Is it guilt? Is it changing priorities? Is it fear of success? I love painting so it's not the desire that lacking. I think most artists I know would love to paint for hours upon hours with no life interventions...Music on, colors flying, lost in creative bliss...

But like any other creative passion, it’s finding that balance that I think is the tricky part. For example, if I start painting like crazy, I tend to need a long break at some point. Nothing wrong with that approach per se.

But I often wonder if I’d be more productive over the long run if I just maintained my creative energy inside of “sprinting” too hard and too soon.  So if an artistic life is like a marathon that you plan to run your whole life what’s the best strategy for success? Can’t say I have an answer for that right now. But I do think I’ll have a better idea at the end of the month…And thanks again everyone for cheering me on along the way. Because cheerleaders do make a difference!

Challenge Day 12: Visiting an Old Friend...

"YUPO Chickadee" Transparent WC on YUPO 9x12 (collection artist)

Hmm..You may notice a gap between um Challenge Day 5 and today. OK. About a week. The good news is that one reason I got a little behind in the challenge (in addition to out of town guests) is that I've been planning my new November workshop which will be bird themed and feature painting on YUPO--one of my all time favorite painting surfaces. (Sorry for the all caps that's just how YUPO is.)

Briefly, YUPO is a synthetic waterproof "paper." It's super smooth, clean bright white, and you can much more easily make value corrections such as lifting out your lights. It can feel a little strange at first and like any other new art technique take some adjustment, but now I just love it.

A few years ago when I became more of a "daily painter" I moved away from watermedia to oils. But I've always had a special place in my heart for watercolor and fluid acrylics. So you can imagine my delight when I was asked to teach a workshop that featured watercolors and YUPO and birds. Honestly, I can't think of a more exciting combination.

There was only one tiny problem. I had to confess I hadn't painted with YUPO recently but even as I was saying this I was heading toward the garage so I could run up to the Guiry's art store by my studio and buy a pad. (YUPO comes in pads and large sheets--online at Dick Blick.)

So today's painting is a watercolor and YUPO study of a chickadee in my backyard aspen trees. One quick YUPO tip: Use just 3 primaries (red,yellow, blue) because this takes a while to dry and it will run around on you. The 3 primaries will create wonderful harmonious mixes on their own.

If you have any questions about my SAT., November 16 YUPO workshop please email me. I'll have a link for it soon as well. Happy Challenge Painting everyone--we're almost half way there!

Skulls and Roses: Sprick Demo Review

Daniel Sprick
Orchids and Human Head
Oil on Board- 22" x 18"  (from Salon d"Arts 2010)

 

 

Happy Summer All! I have been painting and having a great time with all my summer students but before too much time passed I wanted to post my quick review of the wonderful Daniel Sprick demo from a few weeks ago. Sprick is one of the most celebrated artists in my home state of Colorado and perhaps one of the most accomplished realist painters in the country.

He’s known for his oil paintings of  interiors reminiscent of the Dutch interior masters and beautifully rendered contemporary portraits and figures. Sprick's painting "worlds" are chock full of mind boggling painting challenges such mirrors, double window reflections, fabric folds, skulls, petals, flesh tones, self- portraits, and even insect parts.  Sprick’s an artist who has reached such a high level with his craft and technical skill that when I see his meticulous oil paintings I can’t help but wonder:  How in the world does he do that?

Daniel Sprick Still Life Setup--Love the wrapped skull!

To my knowledge Sprick doesn’t paint many demos or give workshops, though I do see him on the roster for this year's Weekend with the Masters which I bet would be amazing.  So after many years of admiration I was really looking forward to his still life demo earlier this month at Meininger’s Art Store in Denver.

Sprick began with an intimate still life arrangement (on top of a sculpture stand) that included several iconic Sprick items such as a skull (which he had wrapped in cellophane) and a single white rose.  (Note, shortly after he started painting a summer afternoon storm darkened the natural north light so my pictures are a bit murky.)

To start, he massed in his large shape relationships with a neutral tone relationships on a medium size (12x16 maybe) standard canvas board.  I loved his interesting U-shaped composition. And I have to say I was a bit relieved when Sprick noted he might spend several hours if not days fine tuning a single subject such as the skull even though he’s painted it many times. As “daily painter” I couldn’t help wonder what it would be like to concentrate on and perfect a single apple or lemon. Could be an interesting exercise...

Daniel Sprick Palette

Sprick’s painting surface quality is satiny smooth.  During the demo he often softened his edges with a fan brush as he worked along.  He has a quiet thoughtful approach—carefully mixing color piles on a large glass surface with a knife.  He didn’t list all his palette colors but I saw he premixed a nice warm white with what I think was Titanium White and Cad. Lemon.This is a great idea if you tend to overuse pure white to lighten colors.

I half expected a hyper realist painter to be detached, literal, and rigid but Sprick manner was warm, humble, and flexible.  At one point he joked that he didn’t care for a certain type of brush because they shed which makes him bristle. Get it? Bristle. Ahh artist humor.  At another point, he said he didn’t love the tall green bottle and would likely change the color of it. You can see it's bluer in his painting.

This demo was only a couple of hours so an artist with this attention to finishing detail can’t complete his work but it was still fascinating to observe a master craftsman like Sprick and gain insight into his process. If I ever have the opportunity to take a workshop from him I wouldn't hesitate. For more info about him I recommend this video interview conducted by the Denver Art Museum.

Where the Boat Leaves From

"Green Goddess" 8x8 Oil on linen panel

There's a place, where the boat leaves from
It takes away all your big problems
You got worries you can drop them in the blue ocean
But you gotta get away to where the boat leaves from
 

Take one part sand, and one part sea,
one part shade of a big palm tree
And the drinks they're cold and the reggae is hot
And I know this is the place for me...

Ahoy! Today’s posting title is from of one of my favorite “vacation” getaway songs by Zac Brown Band. We had a quite a big snow storm this week in Denver so although it's bright and sunny today my rather severe beach and palm tree withdrawal continues...

We don’t get too many chances to paint boats (or even water for that matter) in land locked Colorado so I loved visiting the beautiful marinas in Florida. I had to paint this lovely emerald and sea green boat I spotted at the Rose Marino on Marco Island. Speaking of colors, I’m still getting used to many new colors from my workshop—it’s kind of like having new golf clubs or something--but am immensely enjoying the process. Now I just need to find more Old Holland Carribean Blue.

TeachStreet Closing
I’m getting a few emails this week about my beloved TeachStreet closing February 15, 2012. I’ve been a top ranked art instructor on TS almost since they launched so I've been saddened and surprised by this announcement. I hope someone out there creates a new teacher/student site soon! (I apologize in advance if you come across a broken TS link.)

I've met so many AMAZING people thanks to TS and will be always grateful for that. In the meantime, be assured that I’m here teaching painting classes in my Denver studio almost every day. For more info please visit my Painting Classes Page or click the tab above. I look forward to painting with you soon! Pina coladas and tiny umbrellas included while snow lasts...

My Favorite Watercolor Books

"Fading Fast" watercolor 12x16

Taking a break from oil painting today to do a watercolor. This is a watercolor study of some large roses in the Washington Park garden from early September. These flowers were starting to get a bit worn and shaggy at the end of the season. But still a wonderful vintage-y pink lavender color none the less. It's our first really chilly day of the fall season so painting colorful flowers is always a nice way to warm up the day.

For my fellow watercolor enthusiasts, I painted this on a 140 lb. Cold Press Arches Block. It's my go standard for smaller watercolor paintings. My color palette for this was primarily transparent colors which I prefer: permanent rose, opera, some quin magenta, cobalt blue, thalo blue, ultramarine blue, lemon yellow, and aureolin yellow. I used a combination of wet in wet and dry transparent layers here, which is pretty typical of most of my watercolor painting.

My Top Ten Favorite Watercolor Books
While I own dozens of watercolor books, these are the books I find myself rereading for practical tips as well as inspiration. Best of all, many of these gems are quite affordable (under $10) used on Amazon.

1. How to Make a Watercolor Paint Itself by Nita Engle
2. Watercolor Painting Outside the Lines by Linda Kemp
3. Interpreting the Figure in Watercolor by Don Andrews
4. Making Watercolor Sing by Jean Dobie
5. Pouring Light by Jean Grastorf
6. Painting from the Inside Out by Betsey Dillard Stroud
7. Transparent Watercolor by William Condit
8. The Collected Best of Watercolor by Schlemm and Doherty
9. William Mathews: Working the West
10. Reflections of Nature: Paintings by Joseph Raffael (one of my all time favorite contemporary watercolor artists)

Quick welcome to my new fall students and to my loyal ongoing students my sincere thanks for sharing your painting time with me. I'm looking forward to painting this winter with all of you. For as long as I can remember, painting is a powerful antidote for colder, grayer months. For more info regarding my classes, please visit My Classes Page. Thanks for stopping by!