Small Landscape

Sunsplash, Acrylic on watercolor paper, 5"x7"

Another lesson learned

Putting on a warm yellow wash over the entire picture from the previous post was enough to tone down the contrast and create a feeling of an evening glow. Who hasn't seen an evening like this?!

 

Afterglow, acrylic on canvas, 8"x10"

Live and Learn!

Took a half day workshop yesterday with Bob Burridge at the 2013 Art of the Carolinas trade show in Raleigh. The topic was "Loose and juicy landscapes" which is much of what Bob's paints, though he does delve into other subjects. The best part for me was learning about subtractive painting. For example, going from this.........

.........to this. Just by negative painting - that is, taking away everything that doesn't belong!

Kerala Rice Paddy

Kerala is one of the world's most beautiful places and is located in the southwestern-most part of India. A couple of years ago, I had my first opportunity to spend a few days in Kerala, soaking in the beauty of the lush, tea-plantation covered mountains to the intracoastal waterways and the Indian ocean. At every turn on the narrow roads that wind through Kerala are 'paintable' sights, one of which is the rice paddies that dot the entire state.

Kerala Rice Paddy was done from memory aided by photographs. The predominant yellow-orange hue of the entire picture is intended to represent the humid tropical atmosphere that asserts itself in the late afternoon as the sun is dropping to the horizon. Unlike temperate climate landscapes, there are few cool hues in the picture. Just looking at this picture evokes memories of sweaty afternoons and long, cool drinks!

Kerala Rice Paddy, Acrylic on canvas board, 11"x14", $75 (unframed)

Fog and mist

What you get with watercolors is often somewhat of a surprise. The medium performs in infinite ways depending on a variety of factors.In Fog and Mist I was aiming to create the impression of recession just by varying the proportion of water and paint without actually changing the color.

With the paper barely moistened, I started with the background trees and gradually worked up to stronger color for the foreground trees. Once the paper was dry, the bare tree trunks were put in to suggest a fall or spring feel. A bit of color added to the foreground and the piece was done! The picture is not quite what I imagined but it is close enough.

Fog and Mist, Watercolor on 140lb paper, 4"x6", $10 (unframed)

Humble Inspiration

Some years ago while I was living in Michigan, every day I would drive by a patch of country road that went through swampland that had been created as a result of housing developments all around. Hardwood trees that had died from waterlogging still stood tall and majestic, now home to woodland birds and other creatures.

A mental sketch of those swampy scenes has hung around in memory and was the source for Dead Woodland. There is nothing special about the technique here, although I was able to use my (only) recently refined skill in the use of the liner brush to create the tree branches.

Dead Woodland, Acrylic on canvas board, 16"x20", $100 (unframed)

Minimal brushstrokes painting style

An exercise I have found quite useful in developing a looser style of painting is to do a painting with the fewest strokes possible. This requires minimal working of paint on the surface leading to a freshness of color that can be easily destroyed in just a few more strokes.

In Reflections, I have used a rather common scene of trees reflected in the water to demonstrate a minimal brushstrokes approach. The palette is restricted (ultramarine blue, sap green, cadmium yellow and titanium white) and I used the biggest brush I could force myself to pick! After all, this is a small canvas and the temptation was to reach for a small brush. The bigger brush allowed for the canvas to be covered quickly and with the self-imposed limit on brushstrokes, there was no choice but to leave the paint alone after it was down on the canvas.

Reflections, Acrylic on canvas board, 5”X7” (Not for sale)