Working Towards a Crescendo...

"The last thing you paint is 

the first thing people

will notice."

                    Andy Braitman   

I'm certain I have quoted Andy before; I never get tired of his nuggets of wisdom.  And once again my mind is reeling, full of Andy-isms and new ideas and just-realized a-ha moments when things start (only start) to click into place.  It takes a while to recover from a Braitman workshop, he is an energetic painter and an enthusiastic teacher.  He leaves us all gasping for air and begging for more!

This past week was my annual dose of Andy, his July workshop at Carlton Gallery here in the High Country.  I'll let the process of one of my experiments speak for itself.  Our theme this year was "prismatic progression."  And it will take a while for me to fully digest it and be able to actually show you what it is.  Meanwhile....

I start with a very small value study - a lot will change between here and finished but it helps to have a roadmap starting out.  When complete, the painting may only have a vague similarity to my inspiration photo.  

This is 24 x 20 and the point of this first pass was to put down the values, contours and leave plenty of texture to work against later on.  Andy uses a lot of mixed medium at this stage so the large flat bristle brushes can smoosh out a rough surface.  Now, I will confess that I got my wrist slapped (gently) for the magenta trees in the middle ground.  NOT because they are magenta but because they are almost identical blobs of same size shapes dancing across the break.  Fixable I was assured.

With the first day's work dry I could move in to add more color keeping in mind that the value study is a guide to tone.  This photo was made outside so the colors were captured beautifully.  Notice that i have moved the horizon line in from where the not an sketch had it.

My apologies for the poor photo above, with little light on it the colors feel washed out.  But that is always a good check (a black and white photo) to see if the darks are still holding their own and if transitions in value are believable.  I often sit and eat my lunch staring at the piece in this stage.  The final applications of paint are much more calculated now and slowly applied.

Calling it finished.  I'm certain you feel better with the magenta somewhat submerged...but it is still evident in places and I think it ties the composition up rather neatly.  Exhausting.  Too much thinking.

Practice will make it come much more intuitively.  

It's going to need a name....something better than "River of Angst."

Magentfully yours,

Cindy