Another Studio Painting from a Smaller Study (Updated)

Two years ago, on a dark, rainy spring day I was going stir crazy sitting in the house.  I grabbed my camera and went looking for photo opportunities.  As I pulled into Fair Oaks (often referred to as Fair Oaks Village) the sky opened up and the rain came down in buckets.  The warm light from the window of the coffee shop contrasted with the dark afternoon skies and the wet streets.  I snapped several pictures.  Later, using Photoshop Elements, I pasted several shots together to make a panorama.  About a year ago, I did a small study of the scene which I liked.  While I've been loafing around the house all of the month of December experiencing and then recovering from some health issues, I pulled out the study and decided to do a 24" x 36" version.

Rainy Afternoon in Fair Oaks Village  Oil on 24" x 36" canvas

I think it's about done since I've reached the point where I'm not sure what else to do.  I'll let it sit for a week or so and then decide.   Once again, I'm having a lot of trouble getting a good photo of the painting.  I'm not sure why, but I suspect my camera is at least part of the problem.  The other is no doubt the operator.  Anyway, this picture is a bit warmer than the painting, but it's not too far off.  Also, once again, Blogger is clipping the picture edges.  Click on the picture to see a larger and complete version of the painting. 

UPDATE:  I finally quit blaming my camera (Canon A570 IS) for my bad photographs and begin to try to do something to improve.  I went online and read a number of informative articles on taking digital photos of artwork.  Very helpful.  I also spent some time on a proper photo 'setup' including some tungsten lighting.  I now am thinking that I need to built or buy a "wall easel" mounting system and install it permanently for the sole purpose of photographing my paintings.  Finally, using information from the articles I mentioned, I searched my camera for some of the settings mentioned and - what do you know - found them!  It all made a huge difference.   This new photo of Rainy Afternoon is VERY close to the original. 

Painting From A Painting - UPDATED

In my previous posts, I described my recent trip to Ft. Bragg and Mendocino for a painting workshop.  The last painting I did was on the bluffs above the Pacific just mile or so outside of Mendocino.  I liked the painting quite a bit and I decided to paint a bigger version in the studio.   I was disappointed to find that the photos I took that day were almost useless...completely washed out.  My camera is an inexpensive point and shoot, but ususally gives me decent pictures.  In this case, I suspect I had the camera set on manual unknowingly.

I decided to forge ahead using my 16 x 12 plein air original.  I've included it at the bottom of this post.   


I chose a 24"x36" canvas that had an old, very bad acrylic painting on it.  Several weeks ago I had covered the canvas with a  wash of white oil paint so it was handy and ready to go.  Just as I had done with the plien air painting, I started with a red / orange tone of middle value and then started to sketch directly with the brush.

Morning on the Mendocino Coast   Oil on Canvas   24" x 36"

This painting really "flowed" for me.  I covered the entire canvas with basic form and color during the first session of about 2 hours.  I felt like I was doing a plein air painting again, quick decisions, rapid coverage, broad shapes.  It just felt like I knew what the next step, the next color would be, maybe because I had already done the painting in plein air.  This was a fun painting and I looked forward to each session to add a bit more.  It's interesting how different the paintings are...the newer studio version is really done from memory, with only the original plein air painting to help. (I've noticed that this picture is clipped when displayed on the Blog page.  If you click on the picture, you'll get a larger, complete version.  Wish I knew why that happens.)

Here's my "model"....

Third Day in Ft. Bragg.

I set up on the top of a cliff above the crashing ocean.  It was very early and the faces of the cliffs across the way were still quite dark.  The light from the East (right) was skimming across the top of the bluffs beyond and striking a single white building among the trees.  A bit of it caught jutting surfaces on the steep cliff face directly across from me.  I loved the light and the mist that still remained and I tried to capture this.  By the time I was finished the scene had completely changed, but I tried to stick to the original scene and I think I got it pretty well.  I like this painting.

I begin with the intention of trying for a bold painting.  I wanted contrast and color.  To set the theme, I toned the canvas in reds and oranges in a mid value. 

Unfortunately, I'm having a very difficult time getting a good picture of this painting.  For one thing, I find that the camera sees 'blotches' that the eye blends.  The result is a much more 'quilted' effect in some areas.  Contrast is also an issue.  In the actual painting, the face of both cliffs are a step or two darker which in turn makes the areas of light at the top of the far cliff and in the mist much more dramatic as a result. 

The snap shot at right shows my start, including some 'scribbles' ala Harley Brown.  If you look closely, you'll also see that I've started to sketch in the lights and darks and basic shapes.  You can also see that I've indicated the house that I've already decided will be an important note. Taped to the side of the palette is the thumbnail sketch that helped me settle on the basic scene.  I rarely refer to the thumbnail once I've started painting, but it is valuable for establishing the composition. 

The Mendocino coast

If anyone wonders about the allure of plein air painting, these photos should provide the answer.  WOW!

Vicki waits for the verdict, which was..."Outstanding"

In this picture, Howard decides to do a watercolor which turned out disgustingly well.  I think he's done them before! http://howardreesartist.com/index.html

The First Day in Ft. Bragg Continued

In the afternoon the sun shifted to the west, of course, and we were able to now look east toward the Noyo Harbor area.  There are a lot of great structures and boats here.  Enough material for days of slopping paint on canvas.  The main challenge is finding a spot to set up and to get the light right.  On this day, I painted from across the river.

I really like the scene.  I think I took several photographs so I should be able to tackle another version in the studio.  In this case I used a 10" x 20" canvas panel.  I like these 1:2 ratio canvas sizes. They are perfect for landscapes.  I wish I had brought more for the trip.  I feel that the buildings on the left are a bit weak.  I may see if I can punch them up a bit with some contrast.  The light was coming in from the west (right) and it was bright and intense.  I didn't really capture that...but I should be able to add it now without much reworking.

All in all it was a great first day at Ft. Bragg.  Beautiful weather and great landscapes to challenge any artist to do their best.

 Ruth Andre on the first day.  She had a very successful trip.  Ruth's fabulous blog and her posts on our Ft. Bragg workshop can be found here: http://apaintingday.blogspot.com/

Barbara found a great spot, but without an umbrella, that sun was BRIGHT!   Barbara and her husband Mario had just returned from New York where Barbara had a one-woman show.  The competition on these workshop trips is getting fierce!  Here's Barbara's website...you'll see why she was having a show in New York!! 
http://barbarafracchia.com/

Ted gets going on day 1.  The sign isn't kidding, especially if Ted has brought along Thalo Green.  Ted had a great trip and managed to do one of the best paintings of the four days.  We didn't take a vote, but if we had, Ted would have gotten the prize, I think.

Supporting the Locke Foundation

If you read this blog, you know that Locke, California is one of my favorite places to paint.  It's also the home of several of my artist friends including Martha Esch, Ernie Wester and Chris Spencer.   Going to Locke is always a treat...and of course a beer and hamburger at Al the Wop's is required.

The Locke Foundation is the Locke town council and they raise funds for improvements and historic projects in the little town.  Saturday was the Harvest Homecoming Festival, a fund raiser that included Chinese singers, dancers, a chinese orchestra and, of course, Chinese FOOD!  A great time!!


I donated three paintings that I've done over the years in Locke.  All of them sold in the silent auction!!  I was very pleased to contribute the proceeds, and also pleased that they all sold!  How about that!?? 


I could only find pictures of two of the paintings and they are included here.  Both were 12 x 16 I believe. The one on main street was painted during the annual chili cook-off on stretched pre-toned canvas.  Painting while your insides are being dissolved by incredibly hot - and delicious - chili is a challenge.  The tequila shots that many of the chili vendors pass out as bribes to vote for their chili don't help a lot either.  The painting of the buildings in the alley behind main Street was done on a toned canvas panel.  I've always liked this painting.  I used black acrylic gesso to sketch the scene and also to block in the darks.  The rest of the painting was done in oils.  This black gesso technique gives a painting a lot of contrast....something my work can sometimes lack.  The gesso is also really nice to paint over with oils...Take a look at the handrails painted over the black gesso in the lower left of the painting.  I like the effect.  The third painting not shown here was also painted from the end of Main Street during the Chili Cook-off a few years ago.  It was a large painting done entirely on location.  I think the beer helped me see it through

 Don't miss a chance to visit Locke if you get it!!

In Ft. Bragg with the Group

Once again, I attended a workshop presented by Howard Rees, Jackson California artist, and once again, it was a gathering of good friends - this time in Ft. Bragg California.  Many of these fellow artists have been mentioned in my earlier posts, but I'll sprinkle pictures of them here and there as I present our four days of painting in the next few blog entries.
Our weather couldn't have been better for the entire trip.  The days were warm and sunny with cool mornings and evenings that were easily handled with a light sweater.  I marveled the entire time at how lucky we were.  Some members of the group had been in the area the previous week and reported heavy downpours for days on end, but for our visit we could not have ordered up better days along the rugged and spectacular Mendocino, Ft. Bragg coastline.

On the first day, we painted right below our hotel balconies in the Noyo Harbor area.   I believe I am right in saying that this is a harbor formed by the meeting of the Noyo River with the Pacific Ocean.  The harbor is surrounded on all sides by high rock cliffs, some covered with trees and forest, some craggy and stark.  The intense early morning light from the east forced me to face toward the ocean (west) and look for painting opportunities there.  There is so much to see when you look out to the ocean...distant cliffs, rock pounded by surf.  It's immense and can be almost overwhelming.

I decided to paint the massive cliff face at the very point that the ocean meets the river.   The early morning light was coming in strong and low from the left and raking across a few jutting areas of the cliff.  I wanted to capture that light while painting the rock boldly and quickly. I knew the scene would change rapidly and soon the whole cliff face would be in sun, so I sketched directly with the brush on a white (untoned) canvas panel.  All the while, I made an effort to remain clear in what I wanted to paint - in other words, I had a plan, something I so often forget in the rush of plein air painting.  I made a special effort to sketch exactly the areas where the light struck the sloping rock face in the lower left and the very tip at the top of the cliff before they changed.  

Noyo Harbor Cliff, Ft. Bragg, CA

This was the result and my first painting of the trip.  It's oil on canvas, 12"x16".

Frankly I was very pleased with the result and consider it one of my best plein air efforts in awhile. I love the colors and I felt that I maintained some restraint and correct values in the light. 
















On the same morning, Andy (left)  and Rusty (below) paint similar scenes. If you look carefully at the picture of Rusty, you can see the same concrete seawall that appears in my painting (extreme right). 

Fiddling Around with Nero

Last weekend I decided to try the Wetcanvas.com Portrait forum Challenge for July and August.  I shouldn't have.  The challenge turned out to be to paint from a sculptured bust with several to select from.  Foolishly I bypassed several lovely young ladies to take on ....yep....Nero.  That's where my troubles began.  Mistake #1

Day 1 the pencil drawing using a grid

The first day I printed out the subject using standard printing paper rather than photo paper.  Mistake #2.  The picture printed out dull and without the rich look of the original bust.  I didn't care since I convinced myself the print was only for the purpose of copying the head onto canvas and that the painting would be done from a computer monitor or iPad.  Using a grid system, I transferred the 8 x 10 photo to the 9 x 12 canvas.  I had a new panel from RayMar I wanted to try...triple primed, very smooth cotton canvas.  Nice stuff made for portraits. Wow it's easy to draw on too.  I rarely use pencil, preferring to draw directly with the brush but I wanted to proceed carefully so I drew it out. 
In an hour or so on the first day I had it blocked in.  I was OK with the progress. 

Day 1  the block in started. 

The second day I worked another hour or so to begin to refine the image a bit.  I find the block in stage to be the part of the process I like the best.  It always seems to go downhill from there. I was using synthetic sable for most of the block it.  For several years, I've used bristle entirely, but I'm beginning to move away from that. 

 

Day 2 Refining the image a bit

             

                        

On the third day, I worked on getting a likeness while at the same time trying to paint a "statue" and not a real face.  I want this to look like a sculptured bust. In particular I wanted to correct the chin which I had much to far to the left.  At the end of this session, I was pleased with the general progress and the likeness.  I should have quit right there, but of course - Mistake # 3 - I didn't.  In looking at the painting, and more specifically, at the photos of the painting, I could see several issues.  The primary one wasn't a drawing problem -although there were a few of those at least -instead, I didn't like the color.  Somehow I had drifted into a very greenish cast to the shadow, no doubt a result of using unbleached titanium as a primary base color and adding ivory black for shading.  The mixture results in a green, which I should remember for landscapes, but which is unpleasant in a portrait.  (It looks better here than it did in life.)  Anyway, I decided I wanted to 'repaint' the bust to get closer to the richer base color and to get to a cooler, bluer gray in the shadows.  Not to mention that by now my new Isabey mongoose brushes had arrived and I was dying to try them out for the first time.   A perfect excuse to Fiddle with Nero some more.

Need I say it?  Tune in for the next post in which I manage to take four giant steps backward without saying "Mother May I?"