Travel and painting #1

I've packed my bags - have found a way to get all my art equipment in a single suitcase - complete with wet panel carriers and paper towels.  The only thing I'm not flying with is the Gamsol.  I'll post a photo of the whole package later in the trip.  Middleburg VA was the site of my first plein air painting of this trip. I had managed to hike into an awesome location the day before at Great Falls Park - got mostly set up and realized I didn't have my paper towels.  I ended up using the time to take photos, and do some sketches in pen.  It was a good exercise, even though not what I'd planned.  Back to Middleburg.  I found a nice shady site under a huge magnolia tree and painted a house.  I was almost done when the home owner came out to see what I was doing.  She asked if I'd put her husband's old cat into the paintings, brought me a photos and Randolf was added.  Sold the painting on the spot!

Linda Fisler lesson #2

Great feedback on the black & white painting from Linda Fisler. Helped me focus on the depth of the piece, and how to make each layer of stone recede.  This 2^nd challenge is to look at the photo and determine what kind of composition it is, using Edgar Payne’s book.  Also to look and see if it needs to be cropped or changed to improve the composition.  Since I had already changed the composition from the original photo by reducing the left side and moving the door off-center, I didn’t have more compositional changes.  Looks to me like either an “O” composition or a “Tunnel,” which Mr Payne indicates are often interchangeable.  I really focused on the colors and values for depth in the painting.  Did I get it?

And I kept painting!

While not in class studying drawing and design, I kept working on my painting.  I decided I really like painting buildings, so I did a bunch of them.  I also took a wonderful workshop with John Poon early in the year and then began a Painting I class at the community college with Erin Whitman.  In that class we worked in acrylics (a whole different experience) and focused on color study and layering.  It was eye-opening to see how the layering of transparent paints could produce the depth that I got in the acrylics.  While I enjoyed the colors, I wasn’t in love with acrylics, but didn’t see how I could apply the techniques to alla prima oil painting.  Strange, how one thing tends to lead to another.  Nancy Medina’s flower painting workshop at the end of the year tied it all together.  She sets her palate by breaking out the transparent paints from the opaque and did all the initial painting in transparents.  Whee!  A whole new approach – and one that I could play with layering.  Here are a few examples of 2013 paintings.  I’ll have my website populated in another week, will post the link here once it is ready for viewing!