Inspiration

This weekend the family took a wonderful trip to the Sandia Mountains.  Our older son was taking part in a repelling/climbing field trip which left all day for the rest of the family to ramble through the mountains.  It was a stunning autumn day, the scrub oak and beautiful aspens were in full glory, blazing yellows and oranges across the terrain.  The sun peeped in and out of puffy little clouds and the breeze danced through the leaves and pine trees.  It was magical.  I would love to be able to capture these moments in paint, but my camera will have to do for now. 

the path to inspiration

Along the Turquoise Trail

12"x12", studio painting, layered oils

I painted this from several photos I took of a road trip along the Turquoise Trail between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.  It is a lovely drive through the mountains and rolling vistas into the beautiful northern New Mexico landscape.  I have a personal attachment to the views near Santa Fe because that is where I grew up.  Growing up in Santa Fe I was surrounded by art, culture and the beautiful southwest landscape that has inspired so many artists.  I feel so lucky to have grown up in that environment.

 

New Mexico Indian Summer

plein air 8"x10"

I painted this on a day when the weather was perfect, my painting gear made it up the hill in one piece and I completed the painting before the rains came.  I was really pleased with the outcome of this painting and wished all my outings had the same results!  It was painted in the foohills of the Sandia mountains.  

A Study with Grays

plein air 8"x10"

Last evening I did this plein air study and my aim was to practice using grays to create realistic color in my landscape.  I was first introduced to grays in a plein air workshop I took in 2010 with artist David Mayer.  It was a great experience.  Last year my interest in painting plein air was growing and I was lucky to be able to attend the workshop and learn the basics of painting in this style.  I had a desire to go as far in the opposite direction of my normal glazing technique to challenge myself and plein air was it!  David emphasizes the use of grays in plein air painting so I decided to try a plein air painting with plenty of those grays on my palette.  He recommends using four different grays, which I pre-mixed below-- 

basic neutral gray= terra rosa + yellow ochre + ultramarine blue+
                      white (top left)

red gray=       + cad red

blue gray=     + ultra blue

yellow gray= + cad yellow

Another tip I learned was using terra rosa and adding red to to create better and more varied greens.  I may have gone a little overboard in my study last night!  I just read another blog that talks about it here:
Tools for smuggling red

On to new adventures

studio piece glazed/layered oils on canvas "This must be the place" 16"x16"

This past week something rather out of the ordinary occurred.  My husband and I decided it was time to move.  Within one week of making this incredibly stressful and life changing decision we had a for sale sign up in our front yard.  We are never ones to take our time with these sort of things, the decisions in life that most other mature people are likely to mull over, research, work out on paper by making lists of pros/cons.  Once we have an idea it usually comes to fruition at absolutely light speed.  Maybe this is why our lives are so unpredictable. 

Next week my boys, age 13 and 9, start school again.  I know I'll feel it when they go, but right now I'm looking forward to some undisturbed studio time--in between the packing. 

Plum

alla prima plum on linen 6"x6"

When working in layers, as in the indirect method of painting, you really can take your time to build up the light and dark values in a painting.  I am used to always starting a painting in the mid-tones and adding my highlights and transparent darks near the end.  Indirect painting is a great way to separate all the different problems in painting, drawing and composition, value, color, edges and paint quality.  For me, to concentrate on each problem at the same to complete a painting in one sitting is extremely challenging.

Juniper at Dusk

A glazed painting on Linen.  8"x10"

Painting alla prima

I'm beginning to experiment with painting alla prima, which is when paint is mixed directly from the tube and a painting is completed in one sitting as opposed to layering and glazing until proper color and values are built up over time.  I hadn't realized how much I depend on using the transparent/opaque qualities of oil paint in my regular layered painting style.  My desire is to have more vibrant color and develop effective brushwork to have a more painterly feel in my work.  Studying alla prima and plein air seem like the way to reach that goal.  I've been experimenting with different supports as well, this little painting is on linen.  I usually work on panels when I layer and glaze and I always smooth my brushstrokes, but I can see the linen is much more beautiful when painting alla prima.  

Demo in Indirect Painting

Welcome!  I am an oil painter residing in New Mexico.  I use an indirect style of painting based on Flemish and Venetian methods; I paint in layers of transparent glazes and opaque scumbles to produce a painting.  I have done extensive research over the years on classical glazing techniques.  This is a very time consuming way of painting, each layer must dry completely before the next can be applied.  The final results create a very beautiful paint quality, quite unlike painting done wet-in-wet with paint mixed directly from the tube.  I thought I'd begin my blog with the following basic demonstration in layering paint and glazing to illustrate my current painting style, this painting is from 2009.   

1. rough sketch on gessoed panel in charcoal 

 2. burnt umber glaze and opaque white on subject matter to clean it up. 

 3. a glaze of burnt umber and ultramarine in shadow, ochre on subject matter. 

 I like umbers and ochres because of the warmth as opposed to grisaille.

4. Introduced cad. yellow and more opaque colors in the lighted areas.  There should be a balance of opaque/transparent areas and an awareness of warm/cool areas.  blend blend blend  Warm transparent glazes help the backround recede, cool opaque white on subject come forward. White will always cool a color, cadmiums warm. I also mix and use my own version of paint similar to Naples yellow light which is a balanced warm light.

 5. deepening of colors, texture starting to appear.  Opaque paint reflects the light hitting the painting, light travels through transparent areas.  The play of light across surface of the painting helps define form within the painting itself. 

 6. adding more details. overall this is a very warm painting which has a lot of color harmony because I used a limited palette.  

finished painting