Limited Palate Painting

While color intrigues me, I am learning that

unless you have control of the color it can

totally overwhelm a painting.  I have been trying

 to learn how to limit my palate and become intimately

familiar with how color mixes.

For this limited palate experiment I selected 3 analogous colors (next to each other on the color wheel) and the complimentary color to the center one (in this case, the purple).  Add to this the ingredients for mixing black (burnt siena and french ultramarine) and a white, and I have all of the tubes I would use for the entire painting.  No, this was not my comfort-zone palate.  Game on.

I laid out the colors and began to imagine what I could mix up from different quantities of each.  Once a lovely color is found you can lighten it and get several tones from it.  This part is really fun.
The hard part is reproducing in a large amount something that suddenly works in a small bit.

My subject, the entrance view to the Santa Elena Canyon, was already laid out on my 24" x 24" canvas in the three tones of black and white.

done with a black charcoal, medium and white oil

Now I went in with large swatches of color mixed from the limited palate and staying carefully within the tones I had established with the charcoal and white above.

you might be able to see some texture I laid down in this first pass:

I used a roller, made scribbles with a rubber tip and drew lines with my palate knife

I kept mixing and began to add some dimension to the grassy bank, put a little more interest 

in the front bank and tried to get a handle on how the rocks would jut in and out.

I like working on dry layers (this helps preserve the texture which will eventually show up better) so by necessity I worked slowly and methodically.  I would eat my lunch talking to the piece trying to determine what would be tweaked on the next round, the next day. Again, I had to use only the few tubes of paint I had laid out.

Here's the final...maybe.

24" x 24" oil

Santa Elena, incomplete

I'm not so pleased with the mound of the upper left rock....which was going to be my focal point.  I need to redefine it in some way that is believable (the top edge really softens near the sky) but still remains an eye grab (lightest light next to the darkest dark).  But otherwise I think the piece hangs together nicely.  Perhaps some of that lighter gold up there will help?  See?  The problem solving is actually fun when you have limited tools at your disposal.  

Right now I have a totally different piece underway with the exact same palate.  Stay tuned to see how different it is in coloration.  

LIMITING COLORS...for now,

Cindy

Serious Seeing

Back in the studio after a little "play time" away I am working on some

"serious seeing."  What I mean by this is the difficult job of seeing

everything in shades of black and white (grayscales).

As painters we are so attracted to color and its wonderful possibilities that we

often skip the hard part of learning proper values.  Where is the darkest dark?  what path

do the darker values take?  where is the lightest light? and so on....

I've been working with graphite (pencil) for a while now and decided to try it

on a (for me) huge scale: 24 x 36.

I am working from a photo my daughter-in-law took in Nova Scotia.

It was a beautiful misty-grey morning and the only color that stood out was the

bright yellow canoe resting on the closest dock.  The

photo really caught my attention so I got her permission to work with it.  The size presents a few

challenges that a paper sketch does not:

* since all the values are relative it is a constant adjustment process: I have to remember to step back

often and see what needs to be lightened or darkened relative to something

I just added.

* leaning across the piece can be messy, the graphite will smear and transfer unless it is

sprayed with fixative, but once you spray you cannot erase or lighten a line.

* straight lines are hard to keep straight when working 36" across...I have to remember to

find my ruler and adjust when things slide downward or wiggle off to the unknown.

But even with the challenges I am enjoying this piece, I'm quite curious to see how it turns

out...I'll try to remember to share it with you.

She's an Open Book

Not only is she an open book but she got

mentioned...honorably!

The guild where I paint had decided to have a self-portrait show.  I had a

previously done one under the bed so I decided just for fun to try

and execute an idea I had been toying around with for a while in my head.

I wanted to make a book-like painting.

A painting that was acceptable on the surface but then opened to

several more possibilities.

So this is the result.

I've been working in black and white for a bit so I kept with the theme (and

those who know me well know that adding a little red reveals my interior and

wardrobe colors!)

I used two deep cradled wooden panels and gessoed them well before painting.

The insides were a bit of this and that collage, after all this was just an

experiment.  After adding two hinges ( harder than it sounds) and an

appropriate lock (a real brain teaser) here is what I had.

The left side, below, represents my first 50 years of life: yep, a bit of a loud

mouth, an organizer, someone who wanted to lead.

And the right side of course symbolizes the next fifty years: much more of a

seeker, a follower, trudging uphill and enjoying the adventure of it all.

Well, I had no illusions of a prize with such an irreverent piece but I was tickled that

the judge insisted on awarding an honorable mention as he

found it too creative to ignore.

With that bit of encouragement I have additional more art books on the drawing board...and

this time I will have the kinks all worked out.

p.s. everyone should do a self-portrait, it really makes you think about

yourself and the image you project versus what you wish you

projected....hmmmmm

need I say: this piece is NFS!!

With a Little Help From My Friends

See this lovely, one-of-a-kind necklace I am wearing?  Gorgeous, no?  Well, it beautifully

illustrates only ONE of the many reasons I love spending one day a week with

fellow artists.

This piece is made from polymer clay and until Kathy Garvey convinced us

we could combine our talents for a special piece of jewelry I had never worked with the stuff.

Little did Kath know the challenge she faced in getting 7 other women to sit down

and learn a new skill.

We were all thumbs!  But with her patience and our perserverence

we each succeeded in making a unique "charm" in black and white.

For clay artists these are known as canes, a long roll (like cookie dough) that is

then sliced very thinly and pierced and baked.

Each of us then had one "charm" made by everyone else...and Kathy managed to take our scraps (of which there was a huge pile) and piece together some additional little jewels.  Above is the work table on the day we gathered to create the masterpiece necklace. 

Oh my, it took hours to do what pros do in a heartbeat...but it was educational and

entertaining as we each created something totally different from anyone else.

Eye-catching no?  Truely fun to wear and a

real conversation piece.  Whew...new respect for those artists that work with

clay of any kind as well as those who spend their day with the tiny parts and pieces that

jewelry demands.

I'll love wearing my work of art not only because it is beautiful but because it

reminds me that like so much else in life, I would not have it without

a little help from my friends.



Best Friends

I knew it would happen!  I spent the weekend playing, not painting, so I have nothing brand new and finished to share.  However...here's a goodie done a while back: Best Friends, 10 x 8 on canvas in oil, black and white with a bit of warmth added.  I thought of it because I spent the weekend playing with my sister in D. C. and we had as much fun (or more) than two friends can have in 3 days!  The much larger version of this, done in pastel, sold a few years ago, but I still have this one.  I enjoyed watching these two girls that day in the park and knew that as a child, I would have been the more cautious one on the right, waiting for the little blond with her nose in the pond to report on what she had discovered.  That was my sister in her youth!  However, I now like to think, since I am older and wiser, that I would roll up my pants and be the one peering closely into the water full of curiosity.  If you have a special friend to give this to on Valentine's Day drop me a line: for a really good story and $25 (to cover  s & h) I will send this to her.

Now, back to work!!