Foundations and Values

Analogies and metaphors have always played 

an instructional role for me to understand something new.

Lately I have come to think of "value studies" in art like

 underwear, or perhaps even the footers, of a painting.

In other words, a critical part of making the final effort hold together.

Recall these value studies done in the Andy Braitman workshop:

The two pieces on the left were both started from the same photograph and done in three values: dark, middle and light.  From this foundation I had a recipe for making the final effort hold together and flow as I had predetermined I wanted it to go.  Let me show you how each piece took on its on look.

Using the same color palate I decided to take one piece towards the cool and the other much warmer. Putting away my reference photograph I got bold and let the rocks and water take on their own forms.    Even the background trees and skies began to be different in each painting. The key was to keep the darks in the black zone, the light colors in the white areas and tie them together with mid tones of different colors.  

I love the idea of layering colors as I build the piece overall.  It takes a lot of patience to paint, sit back, think, let dry (while I literally write down notes so I don't forget them) and then start again.  I found that the slower I went the more I had a cohesive plan to execute.

This piece is 30" x 24" and definitely has a cool, closed-in feel to it.  I think I have "been here" many times on my hikes.  The water moves gently and has lots of colorful reflections in it and the rocks have a mossy feel to them.  On the other hand...

This version feels more exposed to the sunshine to me.  The water is moving fast and furious and I can hear the water falling as the sun heats up the rocks.  At about this stage I set it aside and my kind husband gently informed me that my crashing waters had no discernible direction...in other words, they did not read true.  And I agreed: water flows downhill, not up!!  

I thought about the changes and, not losing the energy of the foreground, was able to paint a more believable flow upstream.  I still feel the sun in this version although there is very little sky to confirm it.  I feel like I have been here as well.  Both locations are clearly different although they started with the same reference photo and then took off in different directions.  As long as a landscape is reasonably believable and touches something we can relate to (moss, heat, cool, sounds of water and such) it can be "of" any place you want it to be.  

I like both equally but you might prefer one over the other.  Can you articulate why?

ROCKING OUT IN COLOR,

Cindy

#25 Uncapped the Paint

I think the muse was not finished with the fountain in Eola Park yet...because when I discovered I could get some of the tops off the acrylic paints it was the park I rushed in to paint.  With palette knife!

 You may not recognize this if you are not an artist...it is a palette knife and comes in many shapes and sizes and is used in place of a brush.  Why I thought it would be easier to work with than a brush is beyond me...it is sort of like icing a cake with the paint being the frosting; only you are going to use several colors of frosting and attempt to get a recognizable subject onto the canvas.

Eola Park Part II

8" x 10" acrylic on canvas

$30.00 plus shipping

It began as a very high key painting (meaning the darkest darks were relatively light) but I kept feeling at loose ends without some grounding deep colors...I think I am discovering that I really enjoy the lower keyed work where the lush darkcolors guide you around the composition.  It was not full sun when I did the photo so I will try another and see if the colors emerge better.  This 30 in 30 challenge makes for tight deadlines and the light outside doesn't hang around to help me out.  Oh, and yes, for this month I will include the 8 x 10 canvas in my $30.00 special.  It is a standard size so it should be a cinch to find a ready-made frame for it.

Here are a couple more shots of the work in progress.  It was wonderful to be back in touch with the paint and I didn't even mind the fact that when finished I was wearing quite a bit of it!

my set up as I begin to work...I took my composition from several different photos of the park

detail of the fountain; palette knife usually results in quite a bit of texture and I even found an old toothbrush to add a few more spatters for the water spray....I want you to feel like you may get wet if you stand too close!

to purchase: contact art@cindymichaud.com or check my etsy store here

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.