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!

Challenge Day 4: Giving Thanks with A Rose

"Leslie's Rose" 5x7 oil on panel

Challenge Day 4. Keeping today’s post short and sweet so I can get back to the easel.

First, I want to thank Leslie again for hosting the challenge thus my painting title today. I know many of you also enjoy the AHA show as I do.  And if you do, you know Leslie and her co-hosts are always promoting giving back to the art community.

So in the spirit of AHA, I’m going to give away this rose (does that sound like something they say on The Bachelor??) to an artist who posts today in the challenge. (At the end of the day, I’ll go to random.org and draw a number.) I'll announce the winner tomorrow!

My quick tip today:  I think pinks (like some greens) can be a tricky color range. I like to try to look for and really push the whole range from  warms and cools—so from almost peachy into the cooler lavenders. Find this can help whatever the subject read pinkish, but not too pink.

So good luck, post your painting today join the challenge (it’s not too late) and enjoy your painting time today!

Good Things Come in Small Paintings

"Pink in the Park" 6x6 oil study
Sold-thank you!

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. 

Art is knowing which ones to keep. 

Scott Adams

There's so much to paint in the summer it's almost overwhelming. Painting smaller studies (like these 6x6 squares) remind me why “almost daily” painting can be so rewarding. Finding the time to paint every single day might just not be realistic in your world right now. But if you want to grow your artistic vision and skills, I think it’s extremely helpful to paint MORE than you are now.  Whatever that may be for you. 

I promise you’ll find this extra time at the easel beneficial in the long run. Here are three key reasons I think “almost daily” painting is a great goal for any artist who wants to improve:

"Redbud Rester" 6x6 oil study

I love the creative process but the reality is you’re not always going to have a stellar painting day.  In fact, you may have a disappointing painting day when you least expect it.

This can really catch you off guard.  But when this happens to me I have some sense of comfort and hope that a more successful painting may be just be around the corner--rather than weeks or months away.

Also, many artists at one time or another are challenged either by time or budget or both. Small-ish (under 8x10 let's say) paintings are not typically a significant time or monetary investment.  This doesn’t mean you have to use cheap materials for daily painting. On the contrary I prefer linen panels (Raymar), professional paints, decent brushes, etc.  I feel like I can "splurge" because I'm not using so many supplies at once. Plus, if you paint a "keeper" you'll be happy you used nicer materials.

With regard to time, it may take a few tries, but I find I can paint a 6x6 in under 120 minutes give or take. Check out Craig Nelson's excellent book: 60 minutes to Better Painting for more ideas regarding quick studies.

If you enjoy painting on a larger scale, smaller studies are also a wonderful way to “brainstorm” and have fun with paint. For example, in my light and shadow rose study today I tried some some "looser" dragged edges which I thought worked pretty well. Thanks DPW for featuring my little rose on the DPW Facebook page!

In the sparrow study, I tried a strong orange toned canvas to help give a sense of the warm August sunshine. Some of the orange bits work and some I'm not as crazy about. Still worth the test. 

I often compare painting to puzzle solving.  Painting more often allows to test a variety of solutions before you commit to a bigger canvas. For example, you could try different color strategies, take a new color for a test run, change your value key, experiment with your brushwork etc.  It’s also fun to do quick small abstracts and then scale them up--particularly small squares because they scale so easily. Happy summer painting everyone!

Anything But White

"Ivory Velvet" 8x8 oil on linen panel

 Click to Bid on "Ivory Velvet"--SOLD-Thank you!

Whether the flower or the color is the focus I do not know. I do know the flower is painted large to convey my experience with the flower - and what is my experience if it is not the color? 

Georgia O'Keeffe

I so enjoyed painted a rose study last week that I just had to paint another. This time I thought I’d tackle a very high key white or ivory rose—which you quickly discover of course is anything but white. In fact, Renoir is quoted as saying “white does not exist in nature.”

Lots of choices for the painter at the Little Flower Market in Denver

I didn’t have a whiteish rose handy so I picked up a few from  The Little Flower Market (which I think used to be an old gas station)  near my studio. I took a ton of reference photos with my new studio camera which I love already—a Canon Powershot SX 260 with 20x optical zoom.

"Red Waves" 

Here's one of my first rose photos taken with it. I can’t wait to try it out at the upcoming rose show at the Denver Botanic Garden. I’ll never be a professional shutterbug but the more I paint, the more I appreciate having lots of reference shots on hand.

I think you have to be careful not to overuse white to automatically lighten your colors, but at that same time it’s an essential component of my palette. For more info about whites, here’s an excellent article by Gamblin: Getting the White Right. Thanks for stopping--have a wonderful summer week!

Forget all the Roses

"Inner Peace" 8x8 oil on linen panel

  Click to Bid on Inner Peace--SOLD

 

There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted. - Henri Matisse

If you spend enough time at your easel you may find yourself dreaming about painting as I often do.  A few months ago I had a very specific dream that I was just finishing up a large scale (about 6 x 6 feet) oil painting of a pale yellow rose. (Supposedly yellow roses may symbolize new beginnings, happy occasions, and friendship.)

I could visualize the painting so vividly that for a foggy instant I was certain I’d find an enormous rose painting waiting in the studio. But no, it was just a dream…My easel sat empty in the morning sunshine waiting patiently for a new canvas. 

Detail of abstract oil panting of rose-in progress in the studio

I was working on some other projects but kept thinking about the giant rose painting and added it to my “future painting” studio to do list.  In preparation, I took a few rose photos and started an abstract study of a rose—on a smaller scale (24 x 24) as test painting for something much larger. Still working on that one…But here’s a sneak preview....

Then yesterday Carol Marine posted a rose painting challenge on Daily Paintworks.  Sometimes you just can’t ignore the loud creative voice of the universe so I quickly grabbed my brush and happily painted a Peace rose from my small rose bed. It felt great to get that rose image out of my head and onto the canvas. Plus, I love Peace roses— They smell like orange sherbet (really, they do) and they offer painters a prismatic array of delicate color shifts. 

Four Easy Rose Painting Tips:

1. Note the overall cup shape and spiral structure of a rose. Hybrid roses are not as loose and floppy as many garden flowers. You can see this when you sketch them from life—which is helpful before you paint them from your reference photos.
2. Roses not in bloom? Roses are one of the easiest flowers to find at grocery or even a convenience store year round. One of the best thing about being an artist is that it’s OK to buy yourself flowers just because it’s Tuesday!  
3. Note the subtle value  and color shifts within the rose blossom—particularly in very dark or very light roses. Yellow roses, for example, may have touches of blue gray, peach, lime, lavender, lime, etc.
4. Finally, simplify--Yes, roses have lots of layers—but they are delicate flowers so you don’t want them to look too labored or busy.