Going Light

So between treatments I'm going east to paint, relax, and explore, 8 days.  Gotta go light.  Can't walk too far and have to sit to paint.  Oh well, do what you gotta do.  Cut the chair, shorten the paint supply etc.  Here is my total kit.

About 4 pounds

Roll of paper towels, 5 brushes in protective tube (Flat Hogs Bristle, #4,#6,#8x2,#12), dippers to hold mineral spirits for cleaning, palette knife, small bottle mineral spirits, pencil, grey view finder, sketch book, 10 canvas boards in two sizes - 8x10, 11x14.  Six tubes of paint.  And my Traveller paint box and extension by Good Omen.  Works great!

Top row are my primaries for this trip;

Alizarin Crimson - RGH Paint

Cad Yellow Medium - Blue Ridge Paint

Ultramarine Blue - Michael Harding Paint

These paints limit my high Chroma colour mask.  Landscape is primarily low chroma.

These paints will broaden the high chroma colour mask.  I can always dull them down.

Cadmium Orange Deep - Blue Ridge Paint

Viridian - Rembrandt -  I use this weak tinting green as another blue, mix with ultramarine.

I start my palette with the primaries.  If I need more cool colour I add the viridian - beauty greys with alizarin.  If I need more warm add the cad orange deep - beauty greys with ultramarine.

Titanium White - Michael Harding Paint

Last Minute Decisions

I decided to replace the Cad yellow with the less intense Yellow Ochre also by Blue Ridge. Save me some mixing and I don't expect to see much intense yellow.  Then I decided to take this travel tripod that folds up like a robot.  Adds a couple of pounds.

Soon see how all this works.

With the Sun

I have recently been painting and talking "contre jour".  Setting up looking into the sun with the palette in shade.  So here is a painting set up with the sun behind me.  Still with shade on the palette so I'm in the shade staying cool.  At this time of day I have max an hour to catch one lighting type without chasing and having several paintings in one.  The solution to that problem is to do several paintings in a row.  If you can paint "what you see" you will have a series of colour studies as the light changes - a la Monet.

Evans Wash Day, 8x10, Oil on Canvas on Board

This photo is a bit rich.

Closer

This is closer to what I saw and painted most of the time.  The top photo is more what it looked like as a thin cloud cover moved in at the end of our time.  

You will notice how there is more colour with lower light - top.  The bright light washes out some of the colour.  So, is the painting about colour or light?  

Contre jour would increase the colour and contrast considerably.

Back to Plein Air

My teacher/mentor/friend informed me today that we have been painting together outside for 22 years.  Today was another glorious day.  

I was so fortunate to get my start in art with someone who actually knew what he was doing. The next 20+ experiences were dismal save for 3 people who were able to build on my base.

When I started I was told that I had to learn to "see".  Had trouble with that but it turned out to be so right.  I was to paint from life to learn to do that.  That meant plein air, still life and figure drawing and painting.  A number of challenges soon proved that I "thought I was seeing", but really I was "painting what I thought".  Took a lot of challenges and work to start to understand what Mother Nature was offering.  Been painting plein air in all seasons ever since.  It was years before I saw another plein air painter.

Today was a typical day at the office.  "You want to paint?" was all it took to get out the usuals.  Then we chose a spot and;

- found some shade

Like This

Sun Creep

- set up

- decided on what and how to paint 

- put down paint for an hour and a half max - light had changed to a new painting

- shut down and cleaned up

- had a chat about what we had done, why, and what we learned

- decided on next session

So simple.  So enjoyable.  So instructive.  

Now Plein Air has been taken to Event Status.  A totally different emphasis.  Some are connected to charities, some are learning oriented, some are invitational.  Most stroke the ego and get "paintings" shown with the chance of a sale.  Here are some central themes I see.

- organizations, presidents, vice presidents, and red tape

- memberships

- fees

- mugs, caps, flags

- permission by entry form

- contests

- "judges"

- prizes

I'll be out there as often as I can using the simple route.

Ruins of Belfountain, 11x14, Oil on Canvas, on Board

Outside At LAst

After painting from photos and developing a strategy to do it I finally got outside this week - twice yet!  Two smalls, a bit of photo reference and then a local search for some real close spots in keeping with my energy level.  All good.  What can be better than painting with friends and your mentor of 20 years?  Seeing, smelling, hearing, envisioning.  It can't get better for me.

On the second venture I arrived on site with no paint.  Quite a surprise pack for the concept about to be devised.  Out plopped Permanent Red, Cadmium Lemon Yellow, and Ultramarine Blue Deep, a blob of Titanium White.  Mixed a violet to see what I had - quite grey.  Perfect.  But my lightener surprised me.  The Lemon Yellow was much higher tinting strength than I expected so a large portion of the white ended up there.  Between this exploration and my thumbnail and concept thought I chewed up a lot of my allotted time.  So here is the first wet and a bit more.  Photo clipped off quite a bit......

Mississauga Road Extreme, 8x10, Oil on Canvas on Board

I have found the "one thing a day" priority approach limiting but I can only do so much.  Family and Friends, Health Care, painting and related, then whatever pops into view.  Till next time.......

Flexible Travel Easel

My brother is a guitar maker.  So he has made a pochade box that I am finding very useful.  It is small for travel, but it is also durable, light, flexible, adjustable, and fast to set up.

Panel and Palette Holder Version

When I travel by air I pack very light.  I only take the box, no tripod.  Then I paint with the box on my lap, on a table, on a fence, or whatever.

Small Feet

The feet allow for setup on rocks and such.  The tripod mount is visible here as well.

Mounting a Small Panel

The box opens to any position you wish and there are no wing nuts and struts to frustrate you.  The top holder slides out so the board (or canvas) can be mounted.  Just seconds.

To Eye Height

In a few seconds you can move the bottom panel holder into position for your eye height.  I really like this feature because I like to paint from below the bottom of the panel to facilitate creative brush strokes.

A 12x16 Panel

This thing is very flexible.  Here is a larger panel.  But you can also mount it 16x12.  This allows for painting 16x20 or wider.  For me this covers most of my plein air needs regarding size.

16x12 or 16x20

So I have found this box satisfies my plein air needs unless I go to a larger painting than 16x 20 or 16x24.  I can use this arrangement pretty much every day.  For that I add the palette extension wing.

Ready to Paint

There you have it.  Since I am in the habit of carrying a compact back pack, I find carrying my paint, medium, cleaner, sketch book etc. in small light containers is not a problem.

My brother has been supplying these to other painters now.  So, if you are interested in obtaining one of these, you can email me at gperdue1@cogeco.ca and I will put you in contact.

Algonquin Trip II

We had a special treat provided by Ron M. the owner of the local art shop.  He 4 wheeled us in to the Oxtongue River Rapids.  The morning was misty and heavy overcast.

AY Jackson site on the Oxtongue River Rapids

So, close values, no shadows, not much vibrant colour.  The birches and other trees had a certain Group of 7 mystique.

A bit of foreground colour

I set up here.  A lot of mist but changing fairly quickly.

A Start

I used a pair of complements, alizarin and viridian (cool greys), and Ultramarine and Orange.  The others were deep into it.

John's Perspective

The mist was rising so I had to paint from memory.  Keeping the values close with some foreground clarity, I took this back to the studio.

Wolf Tracks, 16x20, Oil on Canvas on Board

Notice how clear the subject looked in this photo.  The mist and light had changed considerably.  Less mystery.

Studio Touches, Studio Light

Finally Some Snow

You know I find snow painting both invigorating and educational.  Snow just takes on the rainbow in all its forms at any time.  And it simplifies for you.  The first step in awakening a  design sense.

But how do you choose what to paint?  Where to stop?  Tough when you are excited or if you are looking for the perfect scene to copy.

New Years day I took my painting remedy and found this just down the road.

Credit in the Glen, Overcast

I have painted here before any number of times.  And my kids swung off the old Walnut for many years.  That makes this difficult for me.  I have to get the memories out of mind and look not for the things so familiar, but instead to look for interesting abstract shapes.  Then I can ask "what could I do with these shapes?"  How could I make a statement in paint?  Local tone?  Light and shade? etc.  Lets look at a few thumbnails - small number of shapes - simplify - what to leave out?, values - a dilemma with snow? what orientation on the canvas?  Do I have a canvas on hand to do that?  I stopped here so I must feel good about the area.  Are there lots of compositions here?

When I first started to paint on site, my mentor would get out of the car and go casually about setting up.  I often wondered what he saw.  I heard the "Harold truths" on the subject.  I didn't really understand them.  I'd ask him where we should stop.  "Doesn't matter" was  the answer.  Slowly I have developed tools and approaches to deal with these decisions.  It takes time.  Keep at it.  Think shape, design, simplicity, what might be.

I have been watching the ice shapes growing on the river.  We may get a fresh snow tonight.  Should be interesting in the morning.

Earlier, Less Ice, Full Sun

Using Washes in Oil Paint

Painting directly on a white canvas can be distracting.  It also makes value judgement more difficult.  So you can paint on a pre-coloured ground or you can use a wash or washes.  The pre-coloured ground means you are stuck with the colour in your inventory and a dry surface.  A wash can be done as you opening salvo for your painting.  You can key the colour to your desire and it is a nice wet surface to paint into.

My most used approach is to use a wet mineral spirits plus pigment slop applied transparently.

Let 'er rip

This will drip and run if done on the slop side.  You can add pigment to get the transparent wash darker and thicker.  Here I am working in mineral violet plus alizarin crimson basically unmixed.  I wanted to key to a similar colour family.

Stop the drip

You can see that the wash thinned out and got lighter.  To proceed I reviewed the shape placement on my thumbnail sketch and the added more pigment in another layer - still wet - on the places where shapes were going to appear.

Big Brush

I have stopped adding mineral spirits.  The big brush is still loaded with it.  So I can go to layers and even change colours - still transparent.  At his time I noted an area that I wanted white, for future considerations.  Maybe glazing or dry brushing or translucent passages.

Peekaboo

So I rubbed off the wash with a paper towel.  I can sop up extra mineral spirits and or make some patterns.  It is important to note that an oil primed surface is much more friendly to wipe outs since it is not absorbent.

Same Colour pool on the Palette

Now I change pigment towards blue and work with more pigment placing in the basic shapes.  This has taken only a couple of minutes.  It is great speed training for plein air, but I use it regularly in the studio.  I also use turpentine for the wash process, but not in my studio.  It dries very quickly and helps you cough.

Another Layer

At this stage I begin to paint with the mixtures the consistency of the paint from the tube.  The big brush (#12 Flat Bristle) still has a bit of thinning capability.

Taking Shape

After some opaque and translucent painting I added another wash in another colour at the top.  I wanted to establish the colours and no real pattern.  This is a great subordinating tool.  The wash may decay some of the other painting.  That is Ok at this stage.

Working from The Subject

From here I tend to work from the subject outwards subordinating on the way.

Plein Air Set Up and Touch Up

It has been hot and humid so we have been searching for shade on our out door excursions.  We found a nice stretch of east-west trees along the shore of the Credit River.

In the Shade

It was a bright day so looking at the scene in that light shut down the old eyes, and looking at the panel in the studio told that story.

From the River

The light and dark shapes were not well differentiated.  I knew that as soon as I looked at it. So I used my memory to go back into the painting and restate the light and dark families.  For your reference this photo shows what I saw - well, not really, but you get the idea.

Photo Reference

I started by restating the darks.  You want to maintain the darks.  Using my memory and thinking about the whole painting I started like this.

Background Darks

And progressing.....

Darks and Lights Separated

From here I can take the painting to any desired level of completion.  Normally I like to get the painting to this level on site so the real painting can begin.  A bit of a detour this time.  Part of the concept for this painting was to reduce the proportion of the greens.  From here some edge work and some light versus colour work can be done.

Strategies for Green

The Green Machine has arrived early this year.  I know quite a few artists who have packed it in to avoid going green.  Me, I paint on through all the seasons, but I don't make many all - greens.  I have developed coping mechanisms for dealing with Green.  Here they are;

• Mix variety in the greens - use reds, violets, oranges, yellows, earths, and white in them.
• Lay down different greens with most brush strokes, use different strokes and textures.
• Make structure the focus.  Old buildings, rock formations, water.
• Paint on a coast or lakeshore.
• Paint still life or from the model.

Climb It, 12x16, Oil on Canvas

On the Rocks, 8x10, Oil on Linen

These are from the coast near Bar Harbor.

Closer to home in the greenery in the Escarpment area in Southern Ontario, I have been painting in the Towns.

Court Room and Patio, 16x20, Oil on Linen

And in the countryside I choose a subject and concept to give me this, 

Think About It, 11x14, Oil on Linen

From this.

For Sale in the Hockley

Going Light en Plein Air

Much of my plein air painting is done with only small hikes.  For longer excursions on foot I find I am looking more and more for ways to lighten the load.  Recently I have returned to painting on loose canvas.  I used this approach successfully when travelling further afield by airplane.  For smaller pieces I use oil primed linen canvas pads.

10 Pieces per Pad

Take a sheet off the pad and mount it on a board with clips.  Ready to go.

Common Sizes

These are the size of common frames so they must be mounted on panel.  A straight forward process when you get the hang of it.

If you want to go larger or mount on stretcher bars, cut a piece from primed canvas approximately 2 inches larger than the stretcher frame.

18x24 Stretchers

Then mount the loose canvas taping or marking the size to be painted on a backer board.

18x24 Taped on Backer Board

And you are ready to go.  If you choose to mount the finished painting it can be stretched on the stretcher bars.  The oil paint (or acrylic) is flexible enough in thin layers should you wrap a painted section around the edge of the stretchers, so it won't crack.  You can also mount on a board.  This is my preferred treatment.  I use acrylic medium and a book press to flatten the painting on the surface of the board.  I seal the edge and back of the board to minimize warping.

The loose canvas approach is not only lighter, but requires much less storage space.  As you can see I also paint on loose canvas in the studio some of the time.

Plein Air Class

I do teach.  On May 27 I am doing a Plein Air session in Orangeville.  This has been going on at various locations for a number of years.  My approach is to teach "painting" and show people why and how to benefit from working from life in the out-of-doors.  The emphasis is on painting with individual help and attention.

To date I find I am teaching many of the same things on each session.  Even to people who have attended sessions in the past.  Most of these are the fundamentals but some are from the poison passed on by others.  Here is a short list.

• Shapes are off.  This is a drawing and seeing problem.
• 
  
• Values are way off.  This is a seeing problem.  people paint what they think, not what they see.
• 
  
• The values in the light are not distinct from those in the shade.  This is especially true doing a light and shade painting in the sunlight (as opposed to an overcast day).
• 
  
• The painting is all middle tone.  Values theme.
• 
  
• Perspective is off.  this is a drawing and measuring problem.  The perspective is everywhere in the landscape.
• 
  
• In a hurry.  All the problems start here.  There are no short cuts.
• 
  
• Composition or design is symmetrical like tiles in a kitchen.  Nature doesn't work this way.  Observe and see.
• 
  
• Composition puts the subject too close to the viewer or the subject is far away and the foreground include the painter's shoe tops.
• 
  
• Lines send the viewer off the canvas.
• 
  
• The eye drops out of the canvas.
• 
  
• The only way to paint is.....  (glazing if you are from Georgetown).  They told me and she is really good.
• 
  
• You can't ever use.........  Viridian or Black...... are common.
• 
  
• Every colour is bright and saturated.  Everyone is yelling so no one is heard.

Bob's Barn, History Recorded - she's down

I wonder what this session will be like.  we will soon see.

Plein Air in the Sun

I do have a good umbrella.  But today I set up in the shade and on concrete.  Then it turned into this.

Brilliant Sun

At least everything was in the sun.  Painting, palette, me, subject.  Now I never wear sunglasses (and you should not when you paint).  I guess that tells you that my eyes are capable of all but shutting down facing into the sun and that glare.  They go to beady little pin holes.  Evil.  The problem with that is that I get tricked into seeing values lighter than they really are and my painting turns out dark when I review it in the studio under north light.  While I know this, and I compensate for it, today it was not close to enough.  And then the paint darkens as it dries.  Any photo reference is also poor in the brilliant sun.  Here it is in the studio.

Court Room and Patio

Here we are after adjusting the value and the chroma.  Oh, I am sure you notice the activated planes in the image.  This is part of the picture making process of composition.  I have been working some of these concepts for a while now.

Court Room and Patio, 16x20, Oil on Canvas

This is better.  The light and shade planes are clear now.  Remember, in a light and shade painting, every stroke is either in the light or in the shade.  The bed bug line offers some interesting opportunities in this type of painting.

In plein air or painting from life it is important to get one shape the right value.  Then key off of that shape for the others comparing one to another.  Today I was dark at the beginning as I came into full sun.

Getting There in Plein Air

I try to paint from life as much as possible.  You learn to see so much more.  This practice does tend to limit your time in painting mode.  So I have developed some strategies to help out in direct painting.

Once I have visualized the finished painting and done some composition work on a thumbnail, I begin my painting with thin transparent pigment.

Wash Toning the Canvas

Here I chose Viridian Green and Transparent Red Oxide.  I chose these pigments because they are transparent, they make a nice grey, and they are close to the dominant colours in the scene.  I used a large brush (#12 flat hogs bristle for my outdoor kit but bigger in the studio) with lots of mineral spirits to quickly cover the canvas, get rid of the white, and provide an assist in colour harmony.  After this wash I wipe the brush and do not use mineral spirits again.  The transparent paint is easily moved around.

The I add more pigment placing the darks close to where I want them in the composition.  If I want to change the location as I compose, it is easy to do at this stage.

Add More Pigment

Using the same brush I added more pigment, but it is still thin and transparent.  I keep this up locating the drawing and tuning the composition.

Other Transparent Pigments

Here I have added a bit of Alizarin and Ultramarine Blue, both transparent.  Still easy to move things, so I can make corrections with ease.  If I had added white, I would be locking down the composition.  Correcting that is more time consuming.  And it was a good thing.....

Deet to the Rescue

Those little black floies began to tear me apart so I had to proceed in a cloud of DEET.  With the painting more closely located I added more paint beginning to locate some elements with a bit of white based grey.

Lock Down

Seeing to map now I began to fill in the shapes starting with thin darks and working to the lights on the planes where the sky provided differentiation.  More opaque paint now and colours I see in places but less grey.  Progress is fast now.  At some point I introduced another brush, a #6 flat.

Escape Velocity

Enough to let me continue in the studio free of the elements.