Juggling Commitments and Schedules.

 August 4, 2010

  The excitement grows as we enter the dog days of summer…and it has nothing to do with the temperature, football summer camp or vacation time. Starting now, the notices about acceptance into fall and winter shows keep artists on their toes with anticipation. On top of that, many major shows are in September and October. For those shows we have been accepted into, we are furiously painting to have great paintings to ship to these events. AND this is also a time when we must submit to important shows for late winter, spring and summer of next year! 

    Visualize this comic image – Here you see the artist with a paintbrush in one hand with finished canvases flying off the easel – with the other hand he fills in the blanks on submissions, creates perfect digital images of paintings and stuffs envelopes with portfolios of works and prepares paintings for shipment. The artist’s eyes scour the email for acceptance into shows and researches new shows, peruses her inventory of photos for stimulating images to paint and visualizes completed paintings.  Simultaneously, this artist keeps his website, blog, newsletter, accounts and spreadsheets up to date, teaches and converses with galleries, workshop invitees and the most important people - clients.   We are also husbands or wives, parents and friends. Only this is one of those few professions where the livelihood comes directly from a personal core, the heart and soul of the artist, and the results return directly to the core also.

  Have I completely bored you with this diatribe of words? Sorry! For you artists reading along, I ask that you laugh out loud with understanding and good visual acumen!

  So yes, I have been busy in the studio, have been accepted into some great shows and obviously I am keeping my blog up to date tonight – in a wild thunderstorm and, yes, I am saving my file after every sentence.

   None of these paintings below are really finished – I’ll tweak them here and there before they get framed and shipped out.

 

Grape Creek Walk 12 x 9 Oil

   Last year, after participating in the wonderful Art for the Sangres Show in Westcliffe, Colorado, our hosts hiked with us down to Grape Creek in the valley below. Fall was in the air and the reflected light from leaves turning gold and copper gave the whole world an amber hue. Here the low water slithers over well rounded rock formations occasionally reflecting our beautiful Colorado blue sky above.

 

Morning Shadows 12 x 6 Oil

Painting these small vertical pieces is always so much fun. It seems as though you can say a lot more in the vertical spectrum – though that is only an illusion. Early morning sun created dramatic lighting and long tree shadows on the water, still quiet from the night, The mountains lay in deep shadows of cool light except for the pulse of sun on northeast facing slopes.  It doesn’t get any better than this.

      No more suspense! As of today, I have been accepted into American Impressionist Society 11^th Annual National Exhibit and Paint the Parks Top 100 2010. I am currently painting up a storm for Representing the West, the Artists’ Gathering Show at Chico Basin Ranch and Art for the Sangres – plus I simply must have a lot of really good paintings for other submissions! Work, work, work! Right now, plein air painting is set aside for good quality time in the studio. With this storm brewing outside I certainly prefer the studio anyway.

 

Storm Approaching 8 x 16 Oil

Appropriate for the current weather outside, here is one of the completed plein air paintings from my visit to Zapata Ranch a few weeks ago. All I had to do was finish the foreground and define some of the details – not too much though, as I wanted to keep this in the plein air style.

 Log Shed 9 x 12 Oil

I completed this one too, very quickly adding the branches and leaves on the cottonwood trees. And I removed the chimney (there actually were three!) because it looked contrived and out of place. I never paint reality, just my emotion and preferences.

Last Light on Blanca  12 x 16  Oil

Sunset and sunrise are challenging. I couldn’t get this down fast enough as a plein air, and though I did an early morning plein air of the scene, I succumbed to some photos and my memory to paint this one. It’s not finished, so keep watching as I work on this one. I wonder where it will take me?

   Good luck to all of you artists making submissions and painting your hearts out in hopes of good sales and some words of encouragement. For everyone else, thanks for letting me carry on with my artist’s angst.

  Now…….go buy some original art, please.

  Ciao,

  Ginger

Just another day plein air painting in the Mountains of Colorado.

 July 22, 2010

  Most of last week and weekend I painted in the awesomely beautiful high country of Colorado. Mornings brought cool air and quiet water, afternoons we suffered from the unusual heat and bevy of bugs. Sometimes the ever changing light caused my brush to pause, sometimes the movement of water and the flickering light on its surface mesmerized me and sometimes I danced the famous “mosquito tango” or “fly fantasia” in an effort to rid myself of those annoying companions…. and so, sadly, I accomplished little in the way of painting though I came away fully satisfied.

 Gracious local residents hosted me and my husband and provided unending support and assistance. I thank these fine folk, for my days were blessed in many ways. 

  All artists suffer some when plein air painting and many a time we asked ourselves, “Just why we submit ourselves to this torture?” But, we persevered and the show was filled with some truly amazing work. 

 

Mountain Track 9 x 12 plein air oil painting – Summit County, Colorado

I am not sure of the name of this mountain but it is on the back side of the Ten Mile Range in central Colorado ski country. I was able to drive up a way on this four wheel track, set up and comfortably paint for an hour or so in the mid afternoon. I think the painting is a bit brighter, but as it sold at the show, I can’t now compare my photo to it for correction.

 The painting above resulted from true frustration on my part. My first painting became the “killing field of mosquitoes” as tens of the little buggers stuck to the wet paint and I finally wiped the canvas clean. I moved on to another location near some lovely water only to find that there were no flat surfaces to place my easel….and even when I finally balanced it precariously on some rocks, I couldn’t back up as I painted as I always do…..again I wiped the canvas after about an hour! So the above painting became the only completed piece for the entire day.

 

Afternoon Delight 9 x 12 plein air oil painting – Summit County, Colorado

This is a man-made reservoir at probably 11,000 feet or more and absolutely natural looking, at least in this direction. The water is clear and cold and chocked full of large Cutthroat trout. Wildflowers are everywhere in profusion. This painting will serve as a good study for a larger painting – soon!

    On the day I painted the above scene, all the artists involved were gathered around this reservoir to paint en plein air. Continental Divide Land Trust provided free transportation and guides for interested parties to come up from Frisco to watch us paint and participate in a wonderful wildflower hike!   Wildflowers at this altitude present an amazing show. With only a few days without frost, every spring, summer and autumn flower rushes to maturity blooming all at the same time in a riot of color. 

  I suggest you get yourself up to Frisco this weekend as the show will remain through next week and you will find some great work at reasonable prices. You’ll find the show at the Buffalo Mountain Gallery on Main Street behind the Brewery in Frisco, Colorado. There is a lot to do in the mountains and Summit County is a great place to visit summer or winter!

 

Aspen Thicket - morning 9 x 12 plein air oil

This was my first stop – well really the second as I ventured to the lake first and found the mosquitoes so thick you would breathe them in! The morning light was changing rapidly and the whole world appeared as shades of green - difficult to capture, for me at least. I may work on this some in the studio while the memory of the scene is fresh in my mind.

 I’m back home now, the studio calls and I am happy to return to its comforts and convenience once again. Each time I venture out for plein air painting I learn more, grow slowly in my skills and return to the studio refreshed and excited about concentrated painting time. Perhaps this is really the reason we plein air paint.

 

Patio Pots 6 x 8 plein air oil

 

Morning Flowers 8 x 10 plein air oil

   A week ago or so, a group of us gathered on my patio to enjoy some local plein air painting. This was all very civilized plein air painting with shade umbrellas, water and restroom facilities close by. I thought you might like to see plein air work done in the comfort of the back garden!  I don't often do flowers - surprise!

   Thanks for being here with me today. I enjoy your comments and appreciate any suggestions you have for subjects on this blog. Ask questions if you wish, I love the challenge of finding answers. 

   Ciao,

  Ginger

THE TRUTH about plein air painting.

 July 9, 2010

    I had such good intentions…..full of ideas for blogs and newsletters, excited about painting at the Zapata, relaxed and ready…..then everything changed. Artists, engineers, homemakers, lawyers, bakers and Indian Chiefs - we are all in this together. Life throws curves, we duck and recover, but precious time has escaped. All it took this time for me was 4 days at Zapata followed by a long holiday weekend making two very short weeks indeed. On top of that I am off next week for 4 more days of plein air painting – this time around Frisco, Colorado. So catch-up is not possible for me in the month of July which as far as I am concerned is already over. I promise to show you work from the next plein air painting outing in a more timely way.

 

Buffalo Water 9 x 12 plein air oil from the Zapata Ranch 2010

Notice the mosquito stuck on the canvas at the left in the mountains? And the water spots – now not so visible? I found this great view way up the road into very sandy conditions, but when the lightening got too close, I had to seek shelter. You are looking across sandy grasslands where the buffalo roam toward the Great Sand Dunes and the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. I think I will complete this with some work on the bank, removal of insects and sand and then put the buffalo back into the distance.

    As usual the Zapata Ranch experience delighted my senses. We had a few showers, mosquitoes were abundant, but the views were awesome, the group of artists very interesting and humorous indeed and the food and hospitality exceptional. You need to check out this Nature Conservancy property near the Great Sand Dunes National Park!

 

Abandoned 6 x 8 plein air oil

Adobe Homestead 6 x 8 plein air oil

These two little paintings of abandoned homesteads on the Zapata I find intriguing. Soon they will be totally demolished by the elements and the buffalo rubbing against them. As I set up to paint, I find myself asking permission to do so from the inhabitants of long ago. Sometimes I think I can read their stories of hope, loss, love, joy, tragedy and finally abandonment written on the walls. That’s why I paint them - to keep their stories alive.

  In my last blog post I wrote about the importance of plein air painting. The buildings above prove the value immediately. You can never ‘read’ the emotional stories of places from photographs… you need to be there feeling the breeze, breathing in the air of the place with its fragrance and remaining spirit of family. You can hear the words written in the air here, if you spend an afternoon listening.

 

Log Shed; The Boiler Room 9 x 12 plein air oil

It’s just about dinner hour, but the rain has stopped so I set up just outside my quarters to paint this old log outbuilding – now named the Boiler Room. Not enough time to finish the cottonwood trees’ branches and foliage as cocktail hour was being announced and I couldn’t possibly miss that! Think I will complete this one too as I like that log cabin feel.

   On this particular plein air gathering for artists, I managed to paint 3 – 5 paintings (all small mind you) each day. Some are pretty bad, some have really good elements. I get better as the days progress and I re-learn the important lessons on getting the subject down FAST. In the early morning the light changes so rapidly you have maybe 15 minutes – that’s it! From then on you are working from memory – that is if your brain is awake enough and you had time for your morning coffee.

 

Storm Approaching 8 x 16 plein air oil

Having just been disgusted by my inability to capture anything of value in a plein air painting begun earlier, I decided to drive up the road seeking solace from the awesome views. I was driving slowly, passed these buildings, when my brain clicked in, confidence soared and I backed up to grab this scene. Next thing I knew rain was pelting the canvas and I hurried back to the steaming car for safety. Although I painted stormy clouds, I was unaware of the approaching storm. That’s plein air painting for you. In my alpha state of painting, I neglect to check my surroundings for danger signs – like storms, buffalo and insects! No, those aren’t birds in the sky, they are gnats stuck in the paint!

  Sometimes I wonder if it really is appropriate to call a painting “plein air” if you return to the studio with one incomplete and finish it from memory? The above painting has good bones and with few changes and some finish work on the foreground, I will complete this in the studio. And I will call it plein air as the composition, colors and general definition (as you can see) were done in the field. Now you know, so keep it a secret, please.

  Plein air paintings are frequently just kept for their accurate information about color, value and ambience – our encyclopedias sort of. These plein air sketches become our source for reality, keeping our studio work more truthful and real. This week, I checked out my photographs from Zapata and in many cases I compared them to the images I painted. The color of the adobe in the Adobe Homestead painting above, for example, looks nothing like the photograph. The photo shows no blue in the adobe wall shadow and no warmth in the adobe in the sun! The camera saw warm shadow and cool light. I saw it as cool shadow and warm light. In fact, I had trouble getting the color of the adobe in the light correct – it was yellow/orange, nearly white, sparkling in the sunlight, while the shadow seemed to be the color of the sky! All of my photos show details I didn’t bother to paint – simplification is so important in the studio and out – and most show the relationships of shapes different from my paintings. This is a new realization for me. When I am on location, I make compositional changes which are good choices. I must remember to do that when using photos – I already do that frequently, but I need remember to see beyond the photo in major shapes and their relationships to each other. Good lessons!

  That’s enough for today. 

   Ciao,

  Ginger

What’s so important about plein air painting?

 June 23, 2010

    I am just about to head off to the Zapata Ranch for the annual Artists’ Gathering. This year we will number about 30 artists! That’s kind of a crowd, but will add to the fun and sharing atmosphere. I’ll rise at the crack of dawn to head out for some early light, return for a shower and breakfast then out again even though the light becomes flat. There are lots of old buildings with large overhanging roofs which can provide some nice dark shadows even at noon, so that will be a concentration through the noon hours. If the light is good before dinner, I’ll paint again, but sadly, painting after dinner is difficult….. by the time I eat and gather my gear it is approaching sunset which lasts only minutes. The days will fly by as I attempt to paint 3-4 paintings a day (small ones mind you) and all too soon I will be in the car heading back home.

 

Zapata Barns 6 x 12 Oil (plein air0

This is one of my “right after lunch” plein air paintings from the Zapata Ranch last year. The sun was so bright and hot it seemed to shimmer off the foreground grasses – somewhat like a mirage. You wouldn’t have seen that in a photograph, but hopefully you would remember it if you chose to paint this in the studio.

   So you ask, “What is all this interest in plein air painting really about?”  “Why do artists endure less than hospitable conditions to paint a scene they could just as well have taken a photo of?”  “Why paint under these conditions when a photograph will give you detailed information?”

  Over and over again, as you know, I express my dissatisfaction with photographs. Not only is the color incorrect, but they’re also so sterile.  Where is the heat or chill, the rain and wind? Where are the annoying bugs and the wild or domestic animals (including passers by) poking their noses into your space? Where is the dash-for-cover-as-the-thunderstorm-arrives-unannounced? Where is the trickling sweat annoyingly dripping off your nose or the feet gone numb from the cold? A photo has no feel of a place, no soul reaching out to the artist. Oh yes, it’s all available as you take the photo, but to keep all that subjective emotion on the tip of your brush when you paint from a photo is difficult at best. To really capture the essence or soul of what you are painting then all of these ambient facts must come into play. When you plein air paint – it’s all right there IN-YOUR-FACE.   

  But that’s not all……color value and temperature are skewed in a photograph so now for the plein air artist it’s even more about what you see and feel right now – not what you think you see or what your camera sees.

  Imagine it this way. Say you go on vacation in Italy. One day in the countryside you come upon this amazing group of old stone buildings half hidden in greenery, misty hills in the distance fading off into the yellow sky. The fragrance of olive wood hangs heavy in the air and a light breeze kicks up the occasional falling leaf. The memory of a marvelous lunch, accompanied by a fine wine, still haunts your taste buds. A perfect day, a perfect scene filled with all the best life can offer. You get home and rush to look at the photos of that perfect day. BUT, the sky appears a washed-out blue, the buildings have trash and unrecognizable objects directing your attention. The greens all look like the same color of green and the dirt looks like dirt especially with the low contrast from the stark, mid-day sunlight.   You simply cannot count on a photograph to give you the real experience. Life gives you the experience and we use the photo to stimulate our memory of the emotion we felt at the time. 

  So….we artists plein air paint because these paintings, if done with our eyes and hearts wide open, are true representations of the ‘event’ in color, ambience and mood. We leave out the trash, we see the 100’s of colors of green, we feel the yellow sky, we paint in the experience in subtle shifts of light, contrast and temperature and we bask in our joy of the day regardless of the inconveniences of setting up under difficult conditions. These paintings may not all be masterpieces, but they are the true depth of reference for us when we return to the studio.

 

September Memories 18 x 24 Oil Initial layout	September Memories 18 x 24 Oil Today  I decided I wanted more sky and lower mountains to give the river more importance and weight. I wonder now what other changes I will make.
Coastal Stone 24 x 36 Oil About 8 hours into the painting.	Coastal Stone 24 x 36 Oil Today.  This will certainly take a while to complete and I make constant changes as I go. I do know what I want to accomplish now after some rough starts.
Misty Day 12 x 16 Oil Initial layout. This painting, I've begun with a different layout technique. I’ve used more color, rearranged many objects and tried to designate soft and hard edges a bit more than usual at this stage. Maybe interesting….try new things all the time.

  Today’s reality brings me back to the studio works that rest on the easel where many pieces remain unfinished, as you can see above. I long to return to the day these photos were taken, to re-experience my joy and thoughts as I photographed. My well exercised memory brings back most of what I need, but sometimes I think what I am painting is not quite right and I fight my inner artist for honesty. As you can see, the timing is perfect for my return to plein air painting, the effects of which will last me until next spring when the stirrings inside my psyche once again bring me outside to paint.

  Excuse me if you think I am taking the micky out of photographs or photographers.  Maybe I should just preface the word photo and camera with the word "MY" to keep everything clear.  

 Thanks for your interest.  I'll be anxious to share the Zapata Ranch experience with you on my return.

  Don't forget to check out my Wet Paint page to see the progress on painting not shown here!

  Happy Painting!

  Ginger

making the switch from studio to plein air.

 June 9, 2010

   In my last blog I was full of anticipation and vigor for new inspiration. Today, I sit looking at my computer screen in utter disbelief that I actually call myself an artist. You see, summer time changes everything. I look outside and long to be out in all that luscious green…..I hear the birds chirping happily, watch as the sun plays on the leaves of our aspen trees, enjoy the fragrance of newly mown grass heavy in the air… out of the corner of my eye I catch the patio, now partially in cool shade, beaconing me with its outdoor living room grandeur… flowers spill out of pots and along pathways around the house - their joyful mix of colors drawing me closer and closer, reminding me of the Impressionists vibrant color pallet… long cooling evenings of walking through the damp lawn, accompanied by a glass of wine and the voice of my husband by my side, pull me from the studio and any thoughts of painting. So short, so sweet - this summer will pass all too quickly. Please, please can I stay outside? I promise to return to the studio in the fall, lock myself in and paint until the smell of grass and the rustle of aspen leaves call me outside again.

   Obviously, it’s June and, just in the nick of time, my career will be saved by the first of my plein air summer adventures. Remember my blogs from last fall - the ones about returning to the studio? Cold weather and the need for warm toes and fingers brought me inside then. 

    Thanks, I just learned something I didn’t know I knew…. It is difficult both ways, yes, but there is joy, progress, inspiration, pleasure, happiness and success in both scenarios. So, I say to myself, “Ginger, old girl, get on with it and stop being a sissy. Change is good.” I feel better already.

  Only trouble is I have little to share with you, but share I will with some explanation of the process involved.

 

BEFORE Wild Iris Home 12 x 16 Oil	AFTER  Wild Iris Home 12 x 16 Oil I can’t decide if this one is done or not – I’ll let it sit for a while, but in general, I worked on the iris colors, then completed the buildings and reworked them to harmonize with the iris. Remember, a painting works because of harmony, variety and connection!
BEFORE Prelude to Snow  12 x 16 Oil	AFTER Prelude to Snow 12 x 16 Oil This one is NOT done... I have worked and reworked the right “man-made” bank and am very unhappy, but looking at it today, I understood the main issue. I’ll keep it a secret, but if you have a suggestion, make a comment on this blog and we will see if you have the same ideas as I. I had a good time working on the subtle greys in the distance and near background to create distance in a small space. The contact point of the big tree and the rocky left bank was awkward so I lowered the left bank elevation and kept a suggestion of a steeper left hillside. I hope when the floods come, this bank will sustain the increased flow – it’s on the outside curve!  Good thing I’m not an engineer.
BEFORE Henry’s Fork 14 x 18 Oil	AFTER Henry’s Fork 14 x 18 Oil Still not completed. I have some things yet to do here, but what I did was: I cooled the right green bank to create distance, darkened the middle water and warmed it (for contrast), cooled the color of the reflected sky to balance the new cool sky color (colors are darker in reflection), added misty colors on the water surface at the intersection of reflection, shadow and transparency (sometimes we see this as a haze or sometimes surface algae becomes visible at this intersection), and generally worked with the transparent water composition, color and temperature.

  Yesterday, while painting with a small group of artists who meet at my studio a couple times a month, I laid out a companion to the Henry’s Fork painting as seen above. I haven’t done this type of thing recently, but the location for these paintings was the same only looking in different directions. I frequently paint like this on location, so it seemed like a good idea. 

 

Henry’s Fork II  14 x 18 Oil On the Easel

  Tea break’s over and I am back on my head…..painting away in the studio, listening to the birds and catching quick longing glimpses of the sunlight playing on aspen leaves. But today I will prepare my plein air paraphernalia and be ready in a heart beat for painting adventures out doors! Perfect!

 Thanks for listening while I find my way through the maze of being an artist.

 Ciao,

 Ginger

 

WORKING ON MORE THAN ONE PAINTING AT A TIME.

 May 28, 2010

  Let me share with you the four paintings I have on the easel in various stages of completion.

 

  Besides these new ones, there are three older ones I am in the process of working on to bring them back to life – sort of. I certainly don’t think I am the only one who works like this. But for those of you who don’t work like this or are just interested in why I choose to do this, let me share some interesting bits of information with you.

  As I have explained before, ideas for paintings float around my brain all the time, stimulated by what I have recently seen, photographed or have stored on my computer. When I need inspiration or am nearing the end of some series of paintings (or not, as the case may be), I may spend hours looking at digital images I have stored on my computer, sort through hundreds of printed photos from the many years I took photos before my first digital camera or I simply get in the car and head out for some new rendezvous with gorgeous Colorado scenery. Typically I will find up to 20 images of interest this way and these I print out and pile next to my easel. For a few days, as I work on the paintings on the easel, I peruse these ‘new’ images for additional inspiration. This act secures them in my brain where they begin to reveal their virtues as paintings. Honestly, that is what it feels like.

  Eventually one image begins to demand my attention and so with my interest peaked, I reach for a surface to paint on and begin my compositional design. I’ve talked about this before, so you may understand how this demand on me can be interruptive and untimely. But, better to be excited about the painting ahead, while loosing concentration on the one in front of me, than to miss the wonderful sense of exhilaration that commands me in the moment. 

  Sometimes, I neglect the paintings in progress at the time, and frequently there is not just one new idea seeking my attention, but two and then in a few days, a couple more – hence the four-at-once syndrome! 

 I am a very organized person in my left brain. After a few days of total confusion on what to do first, the left brain takes over and though I keep the new ideas circulating in my brain (delightfully, as in looking forward to that ice cream cone), I return to the ‘old’ ones and finish them. This is learned behavior – delayed gratification where you-get-the-work-done-before-you-play habitual behavior! You guessed right, sometimes, one of these ‘in-progress’ paintings gets ignored – maybe it wasn’t coming together as I wanted, or I felt uncomfortable with the statement of the painting – anyway, such is life and someday I will return to finish the painting or I will chuck it altogether! 

  Funny, but I still think of painting as play and I think hard at putting it into the ‘work’ category in order to get anything done at all! Again, that’s behavioral modification for you – just try to change it – good luck! But that is another story about family.

  Pardon me; I just got sidetracked in my brain and just where was I? Oh ya, I remember now.

  There are subtle issues at play here too. Frequently, somewhere near the finish of a painting, I need to release it – let it go, sort of. A painting has a life of its own; I really don’t know how it will turn out – things just happen. When I let it go in an unfinished state, I feel relief and excitement too about its future. Over a few days, months or even years, the painting recovers from my input and re-presents itself to me with fresh ideas. Paintings are individuals in need of representation – sometimes I misinterpret their message – sometimes I hit the nail on the head. I am really not in control here – they are - and God bless them everyone!

  Well, that was pretty deep stuff; if you read between the lines, you know more about me than I do! All artists have some of the “Van Gogh” syndrome! I’m not ready to cut off my ear, but sometimes……..

  Today most of the paintings on the easel are nearing completion and my brain reaches out again for inspiration…..….I have 1500 photos from England…….hummmmmm… and some are marvelous…..

 Stay tuned in.

 Thanks for listening.

 Later,

 Ginger

 

glorious england!

 

may 21, 2010

Stonehenge   -    Amazing!	The Sea
Thatched Roof Black and White Cottage	Cotswold Stone on Country Cottages

   So as not to bore you, I have chosen four photos at random to share with you from well over 1000 I took on this trip to the English Countryside! 

 My return from these exciting weeks of travel in England happened about 2 weeks ago. Seems like two-weeks-off takes three weeks to play catch-up! What is that all about? Finally, I have answered or deleted/saved hundreds of emails, pulled weeds in the garden, cleaned the house following a few days with my son and then my sister, taken on groceries, hosted some fine dinners, organized the garden and even purchased most of the plants including those for the pots! I have accomplished quite a bit, just not enough attention to the studio, Newsletters and blogs. 

  Last week I finally spent a few hours in my studio attempting to refocus on my life as an artist. I felt serious trepidation and lack of confidence along the way and stressed over where to begin in my confused state. So to get started, I pulled out a painting that I had started before my trip – not a blank canvas - and with the first brush strokes of oil paint and my brain’s seemingly automatic return to its alpha state of painting, I realized that I know how to “ride a bike” after all. Pure joy!

  Frequently artists find themselves face to face with their demons - lack of confidence, fear of failure, blank canvas, negative critiques, lack of sales and thousands of other small issues. When I read my plethora of emails recently, I found many newsletters from Fine Art Views, Robert Genn and Alison Stanfield the most noteworthy. I was surprised at the number of essays about this very subject usually called artists’ block! So, no, I am not alone, but I am not debilitated and immobilized with these thoughts. And these are just thoughts. This is my little self telling me falsehoods and she comes from my past. I am an adult now and I am in charge of my thoughts - no one else is. All of these e-Newsletters are good to read and present great advice, but I say, “Stop being a child and become the adult you truly are.” Put these immobilizing thoughts on a “Post-it-Note” on the fridge and go to the studio. Play there and remember that only you can paint like THIS and riding your bike will always be a remembered skill and painting, no matter what, is always your heart and soul riding a bike!

 Here are some of the paintings from the studio since my return……

 

Sunlit Aspen and Oak 11 x 14 Oil

 

Autumn Pastures 12 x 24 Oil

 

Quandary 24 x 36 Oil (Finally finished)

  

Tee off the Top 6 x 12 Oil (Painted for Auction at a golf club)

 

Wild Iris Home 12 x 16 Oil (Just started)

   There are more in various start-up stages, but I will save those for later. I like having about 4 going at once. I bore easily, so that way, I just jump to another one when I bore of the one I am working on. It’s really not boredom; I just need some refresh time away from the painting to decide where I want to progress to in the painting. Maybe that is a good subject for the next blog!

Later,

Ginger

 

PAINTING FROM MEMORY AND PHOTO REFERENCES

 Blue River Access 12 x 16 Oil

 April 2, 2010

   In my last blog, I was the instructor again, a role I love and work hard at. I used to teach 6^th grade academics (math, history, English grammar, literature, creative writing and science) so when questions are asked, off I go in the teacher mode. 

    Perhaps, as I don’t hear any questions from the gallery, today I will explain more about how I choose a subject or photograph(s) for my next painting. I’ll also share with you something about my initial process from looking at subject matter to decisions as to what I want to accomplish. If you visit my Wet Paint page you will see sequential images of many paintings in progress. You might want to jump back and fourth as you read the blog to understand more clearly.

    Okay, so I’m ready to begin the search for a new series or theme for my next paintings. If a theme hasn’t already been knocking about in my head, I begin by perusing photos – and let me tell you, I have thousands and thousands of photos in digital format and in 8 x 10 glossy prints. It’s a daunting task and takes hours and hours. It’s always better when a new theme presents itself while I am still painting in another – that is what usually happens if I listen.

    Finally, I choose the theme (plein air is an altogether different animal) that seems to be pulling at me and I gather together a huge number of photos covering the theme.  Hours are spent just looking and remembering, looking and remembering; then I begin to crop and re-crop, pull in other photos for reference, analyze color and values which are incorrect in the photographs and generally figure out what it is I want to ‘say’ or ‘portray’ in the painting or series. I can do some of this while I am cleaning up in the studio, finishing another painting, doing dishes, or writing my blog. The left brain keeps on working on the project in hand and the right brain silently visualizes the painting as I want it to look.  Perusing photos takes lots of time and attention and takes both sides of my brain. Finally, I am ready to begin the layout of the painting on a surface. Sorry, but I use the surface as my sketchbook – I locate center (vaguely), sketch with thinned oil paint in a rusty hue, fill in some darks, wipe off most of what I have done, start again, repeat and finally feel satisfied with the composition and placement of large shapes. Sometimes this happens all of a sudden – in other words, I may be painting something else and suddenly I reach for a new canvas and begin my sketch right this minute. Obviously, the right brain has been at work. I seldom just move in and start the painting after the sketch is complete, instead I finish what I am working on, think some more about composition, color and value and then clean up from the last painting giving myself a clean, organized space to begin.

    I’ve recently chosen to paint the Western Water of my fantasies, so here are some:

 

River Run 30 x 40 Oil

 

Early Start 12 x 24 Oil

   I usually begin with the large dark shapes and thinly paint them in, then check my composition and move things around or change a large shape. In the above painting, I began with the bright backlit area – everything else was balanced and I knew I needed to key the painting to the light in order to really capture the moment.   And here is where memory plays a huge part. If I don’t feel deeply connected to the scene through my memory of the place and time, I might as well not paint it – it will have no heart and soul. 

    When I am painting I allow my memory to return me to the experience and sometimes it becomes so real I can actually smell and hear the day unfold before me! Strange, but the excitement I am feeling helps me capture moment, then I can step back and check if I got it the way it feels. My left brain steps in regularly to remind me of technique, color, value, edges composition etc. and reminds me to wash brushes and clean off an area on the pallet so I don’t make mud. We have become good friends now and don’t mind each other’s back seat driving anymore!

 

Dusting of New Snow 12 x 24 Oil Finally finished this week!

 

Welcome Wilderness Trail  12 x 12  Oil

    So now I have 6 finished (never really finished until I commit them to someplace other than my studio) one getting close and ….

 

Glacial Milk on the Blackfoot   11 x 14 Oil unfinished

 …..As you probably already guessed, I just couldn’t paint water every day and this next scene had been haunting me for ages, so, between water paintings, I painted this one. Sometimes this kind of rebellion helps me return to the subject at hand – refreshed.

 

Written in the Bark 8 x 16 Oil

    Thanks for joining me on this new venture into Western Water. Did you go back and forth to my Wet Paint page? If not you can do it now and see quite a few of these in process. I hope you enjoy the development of these paintings. Please let me know if you have questions!

 Ciao!

 Ginger

 

PAINTING FROM PHOTOGRAPHS

 March 22, 2010

    Good morning! As I sit here writing, the sun shines brightly on 12 inches of snow that fell yesterday. This is springtime in the Rockies! Temperatures are expected to rise into the 60 F range today and this replenishing moisture will quickly soak into our dry ground. What a marvelous planet we live on. 

 

Early Start 12 x 24 Oil

This is the painting I began as a demonstration at my March Studio Walk. My memory of this day is completely different from my photos and so I demonstrated how an artist must use memory to correctly portray a landscape. In this painting, instead of placing the darks in first, I needed to capture the correct colors of the sunlit hillside and then begin the sequence of darks.  This way I would be keying the painting to the lightest light color.

    At my March Studio Walk (and thanks to those of you who came and asked good questions) certain subjects came up over and over. So many folk seem mystified by the knowledge and techniques employed by artists to create a three dimensional scene on a two dimensional surface. 

   First, let me admit that I am still ‘practicing’ my craft; I am not an expert and I make lots of mistakes. I love to teach and especially to approach the art of painting from some scientific knowledge base. I’m not a scientist either and probably have enough science to be dangerous. But I am a careful observer and analyze a subject with my science hat on then switch to my artist hat as I begin a painting.  My demonstration painting triggered the following question.  

   Question: “The colors in the photograph seem totally different from the colors in your painting.”

    Answer: Absolutely! And this is one reason artists plein air paint. If we consider plein air paintings as studies and practice at capturing true color and value this way, bring these studies back to the studio as reference for other paintings, then all our work will seem more real and less photographic in color and value.

    Let me explain a little about value. If you take a photograph and on your computer change it into black and white – you will have a value study. Depending on the photograph you will have various shades of grey – from black to white. Remember, the camera has some difficulty recording values especially where there are only subtle differences. Now if you add this difficulty to a camera’s color recording difficulty, you can see the problems multiplying. 

    So the artist has to use memory – after all you took the photo, so you need to remember what it was you saw to stimulate taking a photograph! This is hard work, and over time, with practice, one can get quite good at this. Memory is terribly important for the artist! 

 

Dusting of New Snow 12 x 24 Oil

This painting, though not yet finished, was a perfect example for two of the questions I received at the Studio Walk from onlookers. I did a plein air sketch of approximately this scene in October where I carefully recorded the colors.  When I began this painting I used my sketch as a reference. I used 3 or 4 photos for layout and some details and shared all of these with the guests, all of whom were amazed at the difference between the color of my painted water and background hills to the photos. It was a good lesson.

    Question: “Why does a photograph look so flat and your paintings look so three dimensional?”

    Answer: Good question and thanks for the compliment! There are a number of factors at play here. I use a good quality camera, but I use point and shoot for convenience. Consequently, many of my photos are over or under exposed which is no problem for me as an artist. A camera really cannot record subtle differences or modulations in color. In fact, the camera does a good job of recording information, but not color and it’s not good at recording values either. So these are the first adjustment an artists makes when painting from a photograph. 

    Then there is the science….The artist needs to know some rules and understand options. I don’t want to bore you so I will make this pretty simple. First, things in the distance are less defined, for obvious reasons, plus you have to look through atmosphere made up gasses, water particles, pollution and dust etc.   All this stuff also keeps us from seeing things clearly in the distance and can shift the colors too. The colors we can see drop out as distance increases. The first color to disappear is yellow, next is red and finally blue leaving only pale grey. That’s why mountains look either pale blue grey or maybe pale lavender grey in the distance and trees that are green up close, become reddish blue grey to blue grey in the distance. A camera seldom gathers this subtle information and so we, the artist, must put it in correctly. This is called atmospheric perspective or aerial perspective. Some of what I described above represents value shifts (thus the grey addition to each color). There is a lot more going on, but for simplicity, I will leave it at that.

    Next we look at the options an artist has in the overall values for the painting. The artist must choose how he/she wants to “key in” these values. We can choose to paint from pure black to pure white (high key); we can lower the key severely and choose values from light grey to nearly white and anything in between. Imagine the ranges of value we can apply to our painting!  As an artist, you must choose and sometimes this is difficult, but this choice helps make the painting appear three dimensional. It also helps in developing a good composition and maintaining harmony in the painting.

Blue River Access 11 x 14 Oil

In this painting, I chose to paint only a few of the dead (red) pine trees – it is such a tragedy that Colorado suffers from such devastation. I also chose to change the position of some of the rocks, remove awkward fallen trees and add some cloud interest in the sky. And of course, I adjusted the colors and lowered the value key. Sorry, but this photograph of the painting shows nearly black areas, but there is nothing that dark in this painting.

    Enough lessons for today, time to return to the studio and practice, practice, practice.

    Thanks again to my faithful readers for allowing me this dialog. Please sign up for my Email Newsletter. 

 

Ciao!

 

Ginger

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

 March 3, 2010

    March arrives in our neck of the woods with gusts of wind and snow on its breath. A good sign, me thinks, as it points toward more normal weather and some hope for spring.

    Practice makes perfect – that’s my mantra for this week. I have focused, re-focused, kept my focus, renewed my focus and acknowledged my new focus. Now it is time for Practice.

  I’m not moving as fast as hoped (interruptions from every direction), but I’m gonna share these paintings with you anyway.

  Perhaps you will recall my new theme of Large Montana Water, which I have already adjusted to Big Western Rivers and will probably change again as I get deeper in the process. Choosing the first scene is difficult. You know, when you begin some new journey you never know in advance what the outcome will be. You just begin somewhere and little by little you find the courage to get more adventurous, assert yourself and rise to the challenges presented and somewhere along the way you begin to understand the true meaning of your undertaking. Did you get that? Whew! Maybe I should re-state that in a couple of sentences. 

 Some of the excitement comes in the very beginning. You have a rudder, a sail, a direction to travel, the skills and equipment, the desire and focus, but you have no idea if you will succeed or fail or even what the adventure will bring. So you just start. I chose a scene I love dearly, one filled with memories stretched over many years. 

 

Good Morning 14 x 18 oil

I’ll probably work on this one some more. It gave me a gentle beginning as I thought about those chilly summer mornings with the night’s rain clouds slowly lifting in the fresh sunlight. The earth is refreshed and the pungent fragrance of wet grass and forest matter underfoot permeates the air. Lots of fish will take the bite today and around every corner ideas for new paintings abound.

    Now with one nearly done, I jump headfirst into the next. The reins are in my hands now and my confidence spurs the beast into action.

 

River Run 30 x 40 Oil #1

I’ve chosen a large canvas; a grand river scene, dramatic afternoon light, heavy summer foliage and rocks! 

 

River Run 30 x 40 Oil #2

I’ve advanced to here in two full days of painting and I am having so much fun. These big paintings are such a treat – one huge brush and lots of paint! 

     Paintings (especially large ones) create their own sort of energy. It is as though you are pulled into the scene as you paint. Literally, I could feel the air and sun, smell the river and grass and pine needles as I walked along the shore or in the water over rocks unaware that only my memory was at play – this was not reality. If a long interval occurs between painting sessions this intense, some of the magic disappears. And so, to return to work on this painting, now a week later, I must paint another similar scene, get involved once again in a new beginning and then in the heat of the moment, jump back into the original painting with the same fervor. Not easy – unless you can build in a large block of time. I didn’t have that opportunity last week and so I grabbed this painting which has been hanging out in my studio needing attention for about a year and completed my re-work in a couple of hours.

 

Short Stop at the Falls 16 x 20 Oil

I began this painting a year ago, hit a brick wall for some reason, and stacked it against the wall. I love this falls in the Tetons. Initially I used one photo which showed a large log jam in the river. More recently, I took photos of this falls without the log jam and decided the warm water color was a better compliment to the warm earth colors and removed any hint of a log jam!

Now to get back into the flow of the large painting, I have begun a small water scene – again with a subject of water, rocks, trees and scattered sunlight. This will be fun.

 

Welcome Wilderness Trail 12 x 12 Oil

    I can see my day ahead of me full of hours in the studio. It’s time to get back to the magic of painting. Thanks for heading out on this new journey with me. I wonder where it will take us.

 Don’t forget the

SECOND FRIDAY STUDIO WALK

March 12

4:00 pm to 9:00 pm

At my studio in Castle Pines Village, Colorado

Email or call for directions.

    Thanks again to my faithful readers for allowing me this dialog. Please sign up for my Email Newsletter. 

 Ciao!

 Ginger