Oilstick painting no. 4

Five months of isolation later...

Some things that have changed: I miss teaching, and I sew masks for us to wear.

Some things that may never change: I work in my studio, and at times it's a bit difficult to maintain focus.

I've very recently begun exploring the use of oilsticks on canvas, along with working en plein air to create abstract paintings whose colour is informed by the outdoor surroundings.  Sometimes that means a little road trip into the country, and sometimes it means painting in my backyard.

Sometimes I start out thinking, "I will photograph the process" but you can see what happens:

"oh right, I was going to snap a pic of the drawing before laying in the first colour"

"oh right, I was going to snap a pic before blending the colour"

... two hours later: 

"oh right, I was going to photograph the process, uh, a bit late now"

... and 45 minutes after that:

"oh well, one final photograph and that will have to do."

It occurred to me today that this is quite interesting: all along I've thought of the beginning and the end of a painting as happening quite fast, with a loooooong middle bit in between.

In this instance, at least, that may not have been the case.  

It seems that in the beginning things were moving slowly enough that I remembered to snap a pic.  Same situation near the end.  

But that middle bit!  Perhaps things were moving faster than I thought, my brain could not keep up with my body (well nothing new about that) and so, no pics.

Ah, but this is a one-shot painting which took about 3 hours to create...  

And there you have the beauty of oilsticks: with them one can create layered paintings without having to wait for the layers to dry.    

With a light hand, new colour can sit on top of a fresh layer.  With a bit of pressure it will blend.  With a brush barely wetted with walnut oil, the blending is very smooth, transparent effects can be acheived, and the surface texture is altered.  By moving the brush in various directions, the reflection of light off the surface can be directed.  With the handle end of the brush, scratched patterns can be created.  With a tortillon, details can be heightened.  And the layers can be built up quite thickly, so that the textures and patterns stand out and catch light.

All this, and yet the colours remain workable for many hours, even days.

This feels like new territory to me and I'm loving it.

Thank you as always for your interest, dear Reader, despite some long gaps in my postings lately.  

 

Alberta Landscape 2018-5

Three friends painting at Sibbald Creek.  Look at that lovely vista!

I did not like the lovely vista.  I painted something more simple.

But I think my painting is not boring.

1. sketch

2. midway

3. Completed

...

All our paintings together:

left: Frances Vettergreen, mixed media on paper
centre: my painting, oil on panel
right: Russel Mang, watercolour on paper

When we had done painting, we had a picnic supper of bread and olives and two kinds of hummus and cheese and meats and cut veggies and grapes and probably some other things as well which I have forgotten. 

Before we painted, we went walking in the woods and around a little lake.  There were many wildflowers.

It was a really terrific day with good friends.

Alberta Landscape No. 2017-3

the view

the palette

the sketch

before the debris-laden wind gust

after the debris-laden wind gust

finished work with debris

on location

in studio, with slight touching ups

Wildfires are burning in Banff and the air is hazy but this does not stop us from going out painting.  In fact the haze lends a wonderful atmospheric effect.  

That wind gust, though: full of sand and ashes and whatever else the fast wind can pick up.  Too much debris to remove completely.  Guess it'll just have to dry in the paint layer; I'll call it "natural provenance".

Ontario Landscape #2

This one was done from near the top of Harold Town Conservation Area.  Another gorgeous spot with lots of trails and varying topography.  After making the painting, I realized I had chosen a view that is similar to what one might find in Southern Alberta... with a few more trees.

the view

the palette

the beginning

the middle

the finish

the artist

"En Plein Air" upcoming exhibition

Two days ago:  Yet another landscape painting!  Autumn is here, the weather is very fine and I want to spend as much time outdoors as possible before the wintry cold arrives.

This week I do some final prep, and then on the weekend we go to hang our landscapes at the Western GM Gallery in Drumheller, AB.  It is the first time I show my landscapes here in Alberta, and quite special for my husband and I to be showing our paintings together.  We are quite excited about seeing our work up in this beautiful gallery!

and now for something a little different

The view: near Dewinton, AB

The paint: 3 black earths and 1 clay earth
collected near my easel
ground with oil medium

The paintings:
clay earth + oil medium on wood panel, 10x10 inches
black earth + oil medium on oil paper, 9x12 inches

observation

As an artist I like to cultivate a habit of visual observation by painting landscapes and making portraits.  Not that I try to reproduce anything exactly, as that would quickly get boring.  Rather, it's a case of split-second, on-the-spot extrapolation, made possible by many years of focussed observation.

For example, at a glance the view below is rather mundane:

But when I take the time to closely observe what is happening in the landscape, I can pull out some of the pure colours which make up all those tertiary tones, and, taking a few compositional liberties as well, arrive here:

What fun, eh?

Besides going plein air painting, this week I made a few more quick portraits.  The basic drawing part generally takes about 10 minutes; add a few more minutes for colour.

In making portraits, the most important thing for me is to catch the feeling of the person.  This requires perhaps a deeper level of observation than mere representational accuracy.

Sometimes I catch the feeling; other times, not so much.  

On rare occasions, the universe conspires in our favour and the portrait not only catches the feeling of the person but is also quite representationally accurate!

There are so many subtle things to observe about people, and the mood of the artist has some effect as well.

For me it not possible to catch much feeling from a photograph, so all my portraits are done "live".

Those portraits above are all done in my red 9x12 sketchbook, with half-perished Sharpie marker and watercolour crayons.  Sometimes I apply a coat of gesso and other times I just work on the paper as is.  The gesso is a nice base for watercolour crayons, and affects the line quality of felt markers, too.

Besides applying my observational skills to landscapes and portraits this week, I have also been suddenly teaching quite a lot.

That aforementioned "split-second, on-the-spot extrapolation" has become almost effortless in my art practice.  For example, the portraits above took maybe 10 minutes each - a bit longer when I used colour - and the landscape painting took maybe an hour from start to finish.  No problem, right?

In the classroom this is not the case.  Often I feel I'm flying by the seat of my pants.  It is not effortless for me to observe and react to 20-25 children's intellectual and social capacities at various age levels, their motor control skills, individual psychology, group dynamics, and a host of other subtle qualities, all while taking them through a process that will yield an appreciable end result.  Add to this mix the need for lickety-split mental reflexes and a very different approach to time management, and the whole thing becomes quite an adventure!

In fact it's rather like the way my art practice felt back in my student days.

Hehee.  It's good to be a student again.

Alberta Landscape #89

Last weekend we went out again plein air painting at the Sheep River just a little way out of Calgary.  It was a perfect day for painting outdoors.

When we arrived at the river, we noticed a really beautiful trout/tag painting done under the bridge, a very sophisticated work of art:

Here's the painting I made, downstream from the beautiful fish tag:

Alberta Landscape #89
oil on wood panel
10x10 inches

Reflections and shadows on water are so beautiful: semi-transparent, shape-shifting, always in motion.  Like this whole world, hey.

Alberta Landscape #85 and #86

A couple of weeks ago the weather turned unseasonably warm and we went out painting en plein air, this time near De Winton.  From a fairly high rise of a hill, I made two paintings.

a very close crop of a distant view

the view I focussed on is just visible,
beyond my easel at the left

Alberta Landscape #85
oil on birch panel
10x10 inches

about 90゜to the right of the first painting view

here the view is visible to the right,
far beyond my easel

Alberta Landscape #86
oil on birch panel
10x10 inches

I adjusted this photo a bit to show the colours of the painting a bit more accurately, although it makes the actual landscape far too yellow.

Here's my palette.  I used the same colours for both paintings, though in different proportions:

Until next time,

:)

V