Wednesday, January 24, 2007

This is a small piece that I had painted earlier in the fall of '06. I have looked
at this painting for a while now and finally decided that it is worthy of redoing as a larger piece.
With this small painting, some photo reference and a few "thumbnail" sketches (similar to the method mentioned in a past post) and a gesso prepared canvas, (30"x36") it was a go.
I proceeded to lay in the biggest over-all shapes onto the canvas and then gradually break these big shapes down into their smaller shapes. This was done with a rather "soupy" mixture of Ultramarine Blue and a small amount of Alizarin, brush (No. 10) and a rag. (can't have the colour running onto the floor, right?)
The medium used at this stage was OMS. (odourless mineral spirits)

It looked as though a plan was coming together...

"Autumn Wonderland" 30"x36" Oil/Canvas

This is the result of that planning. The painting is a studio piece that was painted over a period of a week to ten days. Now, mind you, I did not labour over this painting every day for eight hours. During the days or evenings that I worked on it, the average time spent was around three hours. In some cases, I worked "wet into wet" and in other periods I would allow time for semi-drying or complete drying before applying more paint. This method of painting does take time compared to the "alla prima" method ( finished in one go) This would account for the over all time taken to complete the painting. If you were wondering, actual painting time, if I had to guesstimate, was approximately twelve hours.

The palette for this painting was, again, a limited palette. I used my basic palette of, Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin, Cadmium Yellow Medium and added Cadmium Lemon Yellow and Cerulean Blue. As I have in the past, as the painting developed, I added colours as I felt needed. For this particular painting, I added a Veridian Green, Cadmium Red and Raw Sienna. ...And of course, Titanium White.

This was a fun painting to do because it gave me the opportunity to work on a much larger canvas than I would normally use during a plein air painting session. Secondly, it afforded me the time to feel how I would "fit" into my new studio environment. ...It was a good fit!

'til next.

10 comments:

Phyllis said...

'tis beautiful, Frank! Interesting to see the difference between your loose plein air painting and this studio piece.

Frank A. said...

Phyllis...Thank you very much. I appreciate your observation and comment.I think this is what comes with the comfort of painting in the studio. ...Lots of time to think,...maybe to much !
I see interesting things happening on your group's blog. Nice to see it working.

Take care.

Jennifer McChristian said...

Hello Frank,

I came upon your blog through Michael P.
I must say I found myself intrigued and delighted while browsing through your blog. Your paintings are wonderful!
By the way, thank you for sharing your process. It's always refreshing to see other artist's approaches and problem solving methods with painting en plein air and studio.
PS - may I have the permission to add you to my links?

Sincerely,
Jennifer

Frank A. said...

Hi Jennifer


Thank you for your comments and compliments. They are much appreciated. I am happy that the blog pleased you.

I am familiar with your work (B.Wray)and have visited your blog and web pages. ...Beautiful work that keeps me coming back. :-)

As far as sharing my process, you are welcome. Yes,I agree, it is refreshing to see the methods of other artists.

Yes, I would be proud to be added to your links. Thank you very much.

Take care.

Michael Pieczonka said...

Love it Frank. I haven't seen you post anything this large before.. and I'm very impressed. Has a very finished feeling.. and the snow covered road and comp is beautiful. I like the play by play explanation too!

Mike

rob ijbema said...

Spectacular Frank!makes me wanna be there,paint that!
still like the sketch more (-;

excellent blog!

Frank A. said...

Micheal, Thanks for the vote of confidence. Glad that you like it.
Take care. ;-)

Frank A. said...

Rob, Thanks for taking the time to comment. I think that I agree with you on the little one. They ( the plein airs) just seem to have that certain energy, eh?

Take care..

Steve Andrews said...

Frank,

Great painting. Nice to see you have been making good use of your time. Look forward to seeing more as the weather warms.

Steve

Frank A. said...

Hi Steve. Thanks for your compliment and for taking the time to post your comments.
..Still some "snow scenes" to do before the breakup.
Impressive work on your blog. Your atmospheric perspective blows me away. I shall be returning... :-)

As always, take care.