Spring Cottage 6" x 8" O/PThis is the second day in a row that the temperature has been forty five degrees F. It sure felt like our spring was really arriving. A real incentive to paint.
I used my usual Ultramarine Blue, Yellow Ochre and Burnt Sienna to roughly 'wash' the big shapes in. These shapes were the corner of a building on the left, and washing my way over to the main building and further to the trees in the background. Some of this wash was also introduced into spots at the bottom and to the right of the bottom and to shadow areas . The other four colours on my palette are Cadmium Yellow Middle, Alizarin, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White. After the surface of the wash had evaporated, I proceeded to introduce the other four colours into the painting. Not having to think about the layout of the painting and the darks is a big advantage of doing the "wash in " in my mind. These darks may also be altered as the painting proceeds to finish.
'til next..
12 comments:
Hi Frank,
we share a love for plain air, and really like your pieces, they are really great impression of life. I feel guilty as today the temperature here(Lithia Springs, Georgia) was 75, trees are already flowering and birds are singing!!!! On the other hand you have unique beautiful vistas, and by now you are used to the cold!!! Frank i very much engoyed the comments you publish about the modus operanda of your oils. Thank you very much, there is much to be learnt on your blog, sincerly
Mariano
Nice one Frank!
Glad spring is arriving there as well, go for it!!
I like the central tree enormously it's almost transparent nicely done! What I was wondering have you ever read the book from Keven Macpherson "Filling you painting with color and light" ? He uses just a limited palette with Ultrm. Blue Cad. Yellow light and Alizarin Crimson. + white of course. I used it for some month now and though I liked burnt Umber a lot I never missed it really. What is your reasoning to use so much colors?
I enjoy your brushwork abandon..large pieces of color.
Hello Mariano.. Nice to read your email. Thank you for your comments. They are much appreciated. Do not feel guilty about not getting out. Sometimes we have to smell the flowers, and listen to the birds. These things to the plein air artist are what help to motivate us. Right? :-)
Do not let me lead you astray. Take what works for you and throw the rest away.
All the best with your painting in the future.
Take care.
Yeo, Rene..Great to hear from you. Yup, tomorrow is the first day of spring. :-)
I am familiar with that Macpherson palette. Nice! Really, our palettes are not that different. For the sake of clarity, picture two palettes.On the left one is
Yellow Ochre
UltraMarine
Burnt sienna
On the one to the right, I have-
Alizarin
Cad Yellow Med.
Ultramarine bl.
White being common to both.
I see Ultramarine Bl. is common to both. The rest is made up of two reds and two yellows.
My Method.
I start with the left palette (three colours)and as the painting progresses I work gradually work to the palette on the right.(three colours)
As I see it, I am working with three colours at any one time. White being common. This seems to me to be a limited palette with more value choices..and colour surprises.
I think this is a good representative palette for the region in which I paint. Perhaps I will have to change as the weather changes, we shall see.
Hope my explanation helps. I do not think that we are all that different,if numbers are the criteria. What,,three colours to five ..and two of the them common plus white. :-), Right?...I rest my case.
Take care, Rene..
Thank you, Celeste. I appreciate your comments and compliment.
I really enjoyed your blog.
Nice figure work !
Keep well.
Hi Frank,
I live in the Wisconsin and I can relate to painting outdoors in 40 degrees weather. If the sun is shinning and no wind, I'm comfortable. One tends to forget the cold once you get into the painting.
I find a few extra colors when it's cold cuts down on my time mixing color, especially when my fingers are getting numb. I paint with gloves sometimes which helps. I'm still a novice at plain air so it really helps to read what colors you use.
I like your quick brushstrokes and colors in your Spring Cottage painting. Very nice!
Hi Carol.. Nice to hear from you again. Looks as though we can just about get rid of the winter clothing. It will soon be time to complan about the heat..:-)
In my answer to Rene's post, I mention my method of painting, or at lest, how it works for me.
These are the exact colours and method that I used for the painting, "Spring Cottage" and the previous few paintings.
Thank you for your comment and compliment.
Good luck with your 'fair weather plein air painting'. :-)
Stay well..
same here frank,spring feels like summer allready,good seeing you making the most with your expresive strokes!
Howdy, Rob..! Great to hear from you. Thanks for taking the time. Just above freezing and getting warmer.The sun feels great. Heading north for five days.. :-) That should cool things down.
Really cool to read about you doing the teaching thing this summer. Is this something new for you ? Have a great time. Wishing you all the best at it.
Stay well..
Hi Frank,
enjoyed your digital jabs today !
I recently read about someone who does not use any blues, he substitutes blues by black plus white ?????
Did you ever try that and does it work?
Hey Martin..good to hear from you.
In answer to your question I must say that it is on my "to do" list. If the examples of the paintings are any indicaton, I would say, "Yes,it works". The artists that come to mind are Anders Zorn, a Swedish painter and Kenn Backhaus, an American painter. Both used/is using,"Ivory Black". Anders Zorn,
http://aseparatepieceart.blogspot.com/2007/07/article-zorn-palette.html
and Kenn Backhaus,
http://kennbackhaus.com/demoshawcove8.html
I hope that this helps to answer your question.
..Glad that you enjoyed the digitals, Thanks !
Take care.
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