The Start of Something Colorful

"Purple Paint" 8x10 oil on archival gesso panel

This pinto horse painting is available at Framed Image Gallery in Denver

Beginning with audacity is a very great part of the art of painting. -Winston Churchill

Happy Monday everyone! As a painting teacher many new or "rusty" artists often ask (and rightly so) about the process of painting. More specifically, I'm asked: How do you start a painting? or What exactly do I do first?The truth is a variety of "starts" get the job done. That being said, here are four "sound beginnings" (for wet in wet oils) I find most helpful:  

1.Time for Toning?
I don't always "tone" or color wash my white canvas first but if you're the kind of artist who likes to leap and "just get going" this can be a good first warmup step. I say "wash" meaning a thin layer of acrylic (needs to dry) or "watery" oil paint (using Gamsol or other non toxic thinner.) 
I like warmer toning but you could tone in any color including black. You could also mix color into some white gesso and use that to tone--especially if you desire more tooth/texture on your surface.
2. Thin Darks to Thick Lights
Tried and true for most most occasions. Block in your darkest darks (thinly), then medium values and finally your lightest values (and thicker paint) at the end. I find the "darks first" reveal a light/dark design (i.e. notan) you can easily see from the get go. I find this is a safe, organized approach--also keeps me from using too much white too soon.   
3.Bright Color to Dull
Do you have a lot of "islands" or "spots" of bright color in your painting? If you've read Carol Marine's Daily Painting then you know she suggests starting with intense colors--imagine a bright pink bloom in a sea of dull green leaves. This approach helps keep your color notes cleaner as you work quickly with wet in wet oil paint--some might say a more "painterly" style.  
4. Colorful Under Painting
One of my favorites--But more time consuming because it can take some planning. Imagine a light blue sky painted over a peachy or magenta underpainting. Note this can be done wet in wet or over dry paint on a white (not toned) surface. Great if you like color surprises and "vibrating broken" color you seen in pastels.

In today's horse oil painting I combined darks first with bold color under painting. I hope that overview of "good starts" was helpful. How do you like to start your painting?

P.S. Speaking of new starts, I FINALLY created a studio page on Facebook so please feel free to follow me/friend me there as well. Thanks for your support!

Let's Paint--It's Blossom Week!

"Peaceful Paint" 8x10 oil on Gesso Panel (SOLD-Thank you!)

To me, horses and freedom are synonymous. 
Equine sculpture Veryl Goodnight

This is one of my favorite weeks in Denver.  It’s the week my four ancient crab apple trees come to life turning cotton candy pink. I always look forward to "blossom week" and this year it’s even about a week earlier than usual.

April apple blossoms in my yard

If you’ve been following my last few posts, you saw I was working my way around the color wheel with some fun mixed media work but today I woke up in an oil mood.

Pink blossoms are also tasty!

I have thousands of reference photos (I take photos at least a few times a week) so I look through them quickly to see what grabs my attention. What am I looking for? Typically 2 things: Intriguing shapes and bold value changes. Note that as much as I love color it’s not the main factor.  

I selected this photo because a bold dark/light design supports allows for more personal color interpretation—and for me that’s the best part of painting. 

For more information about my upcoming May color art class (for oil and acrylic painters) please email me or visit the Curtis Art Center website. Wishing you week full of creative blooming!

An Oil Painter's Confession

"Bella Buckskin" 24 x 24 acrylic on deep gallery wrap canvas (in progress)

After a super sunny warm fall it's suddenly freezing in the Mile High City today! As with all poor weather, this is the ideal excuse to skip my "non art" errands get some work done in the studio.

More specifically, I’m prepping for my painting demo tomorrow evening at the lovely Cherry Creek Country Club. My thanks again to the Club for the invite! Picking a demo painting subject is never easy (at least it's not for me) but I’m pretty sure I’m going to work on one of my favorite types of paintings—a contemporary colorful equine painting which is my post today.

As a daily painter I will always adore buttery alla prima oil painting. So I'm sometimes asked why I still use acrylic paint. The fact is that acrylic has many advantages which many of my painting students enjoy every day in the studio.

So I thought I'd share 10 reasons why an oil painter like me still uses acrylics depending on the project and why you too might appreciate this flexible and versatile medium:

1. Do you tend to change your mind as you paint? Acrylics dry so quickly I can easily paint over a section or “correct” with some gesso.  .
2. I’m braver and more experimental with acrylics—You can fix just about anything even if you paint thickly. (No “fat or lean” rule like oil.)
3. Depending on the canvas size, I could (and have) change the entire background color in less than 10 minutes.
4. I can quickly glaze a thin transparent layer of paint over a section to adjust or enhance a color. (Just about impossible in wet in wet oil painting.)
5. If oil is "black tie" I think of acrylic as "casual Fridays." Plus it's more affordable. No fancy linen or sable brushes. And while I prefer pro grade paint like Liquitex Heavy Body I've done perfectly well with Hobby Lobby brand (love the turquoise!) and even 50 cent "mistake" hardware paint leftovers.  
6. Large fresh acrylic paintings are easy and clean to transport. If you have thalo blue oil paint on your steering wheel or leather seats you'll appreciate this. 
7. The harder edges of the acrylic work well for a bolder, more graphic style. 
8. I could easily add a “mixed media” component like pastel, collage or a texture gel/paste for interest and variety.
9. Blending acrylics and soft edges can be tricky but it becomes easier with alacrity, more paint, and practice. (You could also add a slow drying medium or blending medium.)
10. Usually, I can complete a larger painting in acrylic faster than I can in oil paint—this is very helpful for art deadlines like shows, festivals, etc.

Thanks and best wishes for all the time you need to be as creative as you can be!

Challenge Day 7: All Her Lovely Hues

"Fall Fillies" 8x10 oil on linen at Framed Image in Denver--SOLD

It was the rainbow gave thee birth, and left thee all her lovely hues.  (W. H. Davies)

I had so much fun last week painting my little horse painting (and it sold quickly) so I wanted to paint another one. This one my goal was to play with what I like to call prismatic color especially in the shadows.

I've always been attracted to paintings that use a lot of intense color but in a planned and thoughtful way. In this case, I'm trying to move the viewer's eye by color "steps" rather than value gradation.

This painting approach for me is all about color celebration and exploration. Here I've used at least seven or eight pigments plus white. This is a good time to get out that new or rarely used pigment and see how it plays with your regulars. Lately I've been seeing some "color buzz" about manganese violet and alizarin yellow--I don't have those (yet) but they would have been interesting to try in a painting like this.

This framed painting will be featured at the Framed Image Gallery's fall show in Denver through October 31. Update: Sold--thank you collector and fellow horse lover!

That Which We Already Possess

"Painted Pony" 8x8 Oil on canvas-SOLD

It's great to be back. Has it really been almost two months? I didn't mean to take a such a long break but with some out of town travel, a few non art related business projects (thank you clients!), and lots of new students (thanks and welcome!), it's been hard to find easel time late in the summer but as fall approaches (along with some show deadlines) I'm ready to focus and get back to work.  

During my blogging break I've had some amazing art inspiration--a long awaited trip to exotic Kauai (one of the most amazing places I've ever seen), meeting one of my long time art idols Dan McCaw and his sons in person at Gallery 1261 a few weeks ago, participating in the Denver Plein Air Arts Festival (reminding me just how challenging plein art can be), and attending Core Gallery's Black and White Show to see one of my student's first shows. If you paint you know how exciting that is--Congratulations again Grace!

I felt a bit like a groupie waiting in line after Mr. McCaw's gallery talk to have him sign his book. He could not have been more gracious. If you read my blog you know it's one of my favorite art books of all time. Well worth the out of print price on Amazon. I'm sure this isn't the first time he's written this but it felt like it to me. And I wanted to share what he wrote since I think it perfectly and eloquently captures how I also feel about teaching:

We are both on the same journey to find and value that which we already possess. Good Luck.

The only thing missing was that I would have loved to follow him (but in a non stalking way!) to his workshop at the Weekend with Masters. Maybe next year...Coincidentally last week's Artists Helping Artists talk show featured an interview with Dan McCaw and I highly recommend listening to it whether your a fan or not. All of the above events have given me a slew of painting ideas, such as a very colorful pinto horse painted on a red toned canvas.

Finally a big thanks to all my summer students and their parents. Especially those who returned to high school and universities--I miss you already but it was great sharing my summer with you and I look forward to seeing you next year! And for all my new fall students, welcome, I know it's going to be super colorful season and journey!