Art Every Day Month - Post 12

Wet into Wet Washes

Spruce branches - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on paper -
Study of wet into wet washes

Source photo

It was a cool, drizzly day and the spruce branches were shedding raindrops in a dramatic way.  The branches bowed over as the water drained off the needles and ran down to the end, accumulating over the bud-tip until the drop got too heavy and separated, flicking the branch back and releasing a tiny spray of the water that remained on the needles. Then the process started all over again. It was worth getting wet to stay out there and watch it.

In the painting, the drops of water didn't work as well as I'd hoped in the wet into wet washes, but I know what to try the next time.

Art Every Day Month - Post 10

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

This painting is a study in brushstrokes and making marks, and also in complementary colors -  the yellow-greens and red-violets in various intensities give a sense of depth and shallow distance in the image.

I started the drawing by setting the direction I wanted the marks to flow in and then I followed these faint lines, repeating brushstroke gestures as I went.

Art Every Day Month - Post 9

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

In Oriental painting, there is a formal study of brush marks, similar to the calligraphy of Oriental writing. This is not that.

As I was experimenting with this study of  brushstrokes, I became fascinated with the results that a movement of the brush touching the paper and leaving a mark in paint would give. I was amazed at how a sequence of free gestures repeated in a variety of ways could build up into a compelling image suggesting leaves and branches. Rhythm, repetition, shape, direction, flow.

Art Every Day Month - Post 8

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

I love the look of watercolor washes. Some watercolor pigments dry with a granular residue that settles in the surface of the paper and enhances its texture, and others when dry appear to float above the rest of the image.

In this brush stroke study, the contrast of the misty blue background washes and the definite shapes of the brush marks gives a quiet landscape feeling to the picture.

Art Every Day Month - Post 7

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

I've always been fascinated with Japanese sumi ink drawings, and this experimental series of brushstrokes has a feeling that evokes this style - the various intensities of neutral tones, the suggestion of foliage as subject matter, the flow of the lines in the composition, even the shape of the brush marks. Even the glow of color in the background has a suggestion of natural environment.

Art Every Day Month - Post 6

Brushstrokes

Brushstrokes - Detail of 11" x 15" Watercolor on Paper -
Study in Making Marks with a Brush

Things never turn out the way you expect... this month has been wonderful for opportunities and not so good for routine.

Closing in on the end of this year's Art Every Day Month, I can look back and see I have maintained some of what I pledged to do and fallen back on some other things - I have mostly kept up on the daily walking, and on taking the daily photos, and I have generally not kept up interpretating in paint what I have been observing and posting the results.

So, my 2012 AEDM challenge will stretch a little beyond the end-of-November deadline, and I'm glad I'm able to do it.

Bones of the Earth - Capstan Island Battery

Bones of the Earth - Capstan Island Battery
Oil on Canvas, 11 3/4" x 15 3/4"

detail: Bones of the Earth - Capstan Island Battery

No matter how ancient and impressive the geology might be, there are times when it is outstripped by the fleeting drama of the clouds and the transient character of the foliage in a scene.

Each of these natural processes take place in its own time frame and with its own cycle of activity. That's a lot to think about when you are looking at a painting!

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Bones of the Earth - Point Amour

Bones of the Earth - Point Amour
Oil on Canvas, 16" x 20"

detail: Bones of the Earth - Point Amour

There are a number of remarkable things to see at Point Amour. One is the lighthouse, completed in 1857, one of the tallest in eastern Canada at 109 feet (33m), and a visible landmark for miles in the Strait of Belle Isle. Another is a burial site of the Maritime Archaic Indians dated from approximately 7500 years ago, which reveals the richness of the marine environment then as it is now.

For me, I was struck by the "terraced beach" at Point Amour. A terraced beach is formed as seabed, that has been weighted down with glaciers, gradually springs back up after the glaciers melt, and creates a new shoreline with the water. Well, the glaciers are long gone, but there are beaches all along this coast whose profile shows the terraced look of their icy past.

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Bones of the Earth - L'Anse au Clair

Bones of the Earth - L'Anse au Clair, Labrador

Oil on Canvas, 16" x 20"

detail - Bones of the Earth - L'Anse au Clair, Labrador

For a long time, I have been fascinated by the rock formations that I recognize driving through western Newfoundland and southern Labrador. In some places there are towers of rock and in other places craggy cliffs or piles of boulders and rubble. Here, years ago, a forest fire opened up the rocky surface, which hasn't yet grown over again. It's as if the broken soil has exposed the Bones of the Earth.

On My Back Door-Step #4

Fireweed and Branches (#4)

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Watercolor on paper 11in x 15in
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Contrast. It's out there all around.
I didn't realize how much contrast I was dealing with until I started to get into it. As I set out my paints, I thought "Today I'm working with the contrast of complementary colors - the pink of the fireweed flowers against the green of the foliage."
Well, fine, but then there's the contrast of the small size of the pink area and all those masses of greens, and the contrast of the highlights in yellow-greens against the dark-olive shadows. And the contrast of the horizontal curves of the branches against the vertical curves of the stems and leaves. And the thickness of the tree trunk against those same slender stems.
Contrast? I got a lot more of it than I had bargained for... and you know the best part? The next time I go looking for contrast in a scene to paint, I will probably find even more to play with.
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On My Back Door-Step #3

Fence Rails and Bushes (#3)

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Watercolor on paper 11in x 15in

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Creating a composition is a vital part of making an image. Composing a scene for a landscape photograph seems absurdly simple, you point the camera at what you want to capture, frame the scenery so it looks good, and - snap - press the button.

Well, it's another matter creating a composition for a landscape painting, plein air. First, there's so darn much scenery all around, it's easy to get distracted. And then, as you are glancing up and down from the vista to the painting, it's hard to keep your eye on the thing or things that attracted your attention in the beginning.

My problem-solving solution... ta-dah! the old trick of creating a composition using a viewfinder. From of a plain piece of paper, I cut out a rectangle with the same proportions as the paper I'm painting on. I peer through the cutout, and I can sketch my scene onto my paper with some accuracy. Once the main elements of the composition are in place, things are going to run a whole lot more smoothly.

Of course, there are many things about painting outdoors that a viewfinder won't help with, but it makes a good start!

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On My Back Door-Step #2

Fence Rails (#2)
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Watercolor on paper, 11in x 15in
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When I am making a painting outdoors under direct sunlight I see an incredible variety of colors.
Since I am using no intervening technology in the process of translating the scenery in front of my eyes into the paint I put onto the paper, I have no easy filtering or simplification of information, compared to painting indoors from a photograph.
Painting outdoors, I also see a massive variety of textures in the foliage, the grasses, bark, flowers and wood, which I depict in shapes and masses of lighter and darker tones of colors.
My first job is to make sense of what I am looking at, and my second job is to make my record of the scene comprehensible to someone else.
Practice, practice, practice.
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On My Back Door-Step #1

Birches in Sunshine #1

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Watercolor on paper, 11in x 15in

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I am such a sucker for a challenge.

So when that Ol' Pointy-Toe Boot of Patricia's nudged me into starting some new daily landscapes, I took the good advice (thank you!) and I got started.

This is a challenge to do 30 paintings on my back door-step, and by co-incidence the number matches with "30 Days Hath September," and so this is my September project.

For now, I am exploring with watercolor paints, on quarter-sheets of paper. The media may change during the month, but I have accepted the challenge, and I can't wait to see the results. What fun!

So, check back during the month of September and see the things I can see from my back door-step. I'll be out there with my paints every day, and if you're here, you can see the results!

Thanks!

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Art Every Day Month - November 15

Spirited Calligraphy

I found a quote from one of my old painting teachers, John R. Fox, who passed away recently:

"I believe that a painting has to be a feast for the eyes.
I try to create in my art something that makes me feel alive.
Any art that makes me feel better is good." - John R. Fox

The colors I used in today's challenge, a flat wash of cadmium yellow underpainting, with Opera magenta and alizarin crimson details in the blocks, would look bright and cheerful in any painting.
When you look closely, the alizarin crimson actually looks dull and brownish in contrast with the much more saturated pink and yellow.

But it is the active brushstrokes that bring this painting to life.
I blotted these calligraphic marks out of wet washes with a brush that I first wiped absolutely dry, and then put a touch of color straight from the tube just on the tip.
When I made a firm heavy stroke, the dry brush sucked the wet paint away, and the concentrated paint laid itself down on the paper in the same movement.

This painting certainly makes me feel enlivened just looking at it, and I am grateful that the 16 block arrangement has become truly a feast for the eyes.

Art Every Day Month - November 13

Flat Wash, Overpaint and Scrub

I began this painting with an overall flat wash of viridian, covering the entire surface of the quarter-sheet of paper.
A flat wash requires a steady hand and good timing in applying the wet paint: excellent practice for me!


After the wash was thoroughly dry, I started painting the sequence of today's 16 blocks with varying dilutions of prussian blue, using a wet brush to remove the underpainting or simply painting over it.


I discovered that a sufficiently wet brush and enough pressure would remove two layers of dried paint, so there are several areas where I have scrubbed back to the white surface.

This effect is similar to Day 6 in Layers: Transparent Washes, but this time it's not an accident, and the brushstrokes make it a lot more lively.

Art Every Day Month - November 10

Brushstrokes and stretching

Chinese brush painting is a difficult discipline.
For a skilled Chinese brush painter, the brush just touches the paper, and the strokes make beautiful pictures.
For someone unfamiliar with it, you start working on the art piece in a different way.
You hold the brush in a different way, and you make brushstrokes in a different way than you are used to doing.

Today I made 16 attempts of the hundreds of brushstrokes that I will need to render a credible leaf or blossom in this technique.

My process in this Art Every Day for the Month challenge is to push myself beyond what I know. So I experimented, I improvised and I tested.

And that's how I stretched myself today.