Painting Demo at Whole Foods-Bee Cave

Beautiful day at the new Whole Foods at the Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave, Texas. Today is the day Whole Foods features the Bee Cave Arts Foundation and donates 1% of sales for the day to the foundation. I am a Board member and manned the BCAF tables while doing some plein aire work on some oils I had in various stages of completion. All three of these paintings are 11 X 17 on masonite that I cut, sand and gesso for plein aire work. This size does not require bracing and fits well on my EasyL painting system and in a Guerilla Painter travel box. I find it easier to work outside in oils versus watercolor. With watercolor the wind and sun really do a number on efforts to manage drying. Plus, I use a lot of water when I work in watercolor and carrying water is a pain. I struggled with plein aire painting until a member of my painting group visited our cabin in Colorado with an EasyL system. Problems solved. Working outside tends to draw people and I love the ensuing dialogue while I paint.

It was a lot of fun to be outside and working in oils. I haven’t done any work in oils for about three or four months and have been promising myself that I would begin addressing the five or six projects started over the last year. I have the bug now and plan to balance my time better. Here are pictures of the paintings I worked on today. I apologize for the hint of glare due to some glazing I was doing with Neo Meglip or Maroger medium. I wanted to get something posted but didn’t want to drag out my lighting diffusers which I normally use when I photograph oils or anything with a tendency to reflect a glare.

The first painting, Barone di Villagrande, is the furthest along. I’ll reassess in a day or two and begin fine tuning edges and values where necessary.

The next is Europa Point, a scene near Gibraltar on the coast of Spain. I still have considerable work to do on this one as I create texture in the rocks and better model the structures.

Last is In the Shadow of Mount Etna (need a better title), which is just past the blocking-in phase as I begin to define color and value schemes. Both this painting and Barone di Villagrade were developed from material gathered on the island of Sicily. Between these paintings, other oils in process and the five or six watercolors underway. I’ve got lots to keep me busy. I have to chuckle at artists that complain that they don’t have anything to paint. It’s all around you!

Getting Ready For Fiesta

I have been working on Getting Ready For Fiesta for a while and that might be part of the problem. Looking at it this morning, it feels overworked. One of the issues you deal with as an artist is knowing when a painting is done. The “feel” here needs to be lighter and perhaps a bit simpler. I am thinking about attacking this one with a fresh approach but will wait until after the pigments dry a few days and I soak and re-stretch the painting for final adjustments. Soaking a watercolor settles the pigments where they are too thick and has a tendency to unify the composition, softening some edges. I liken the process to the final varnish on an oil painting .

This painting was probably not totally resolved in my mind before I started painting. It’s common for a painting to evolve as you paint but  sketching, value studies and color planning help you to work out troublesome issues so that the painting process flows more smoothly and the  tendency to overwork a painting is reduced. If anyone is out there taking a look and has an opinion, I’d appreciate the feedback!

Low Tide

Just a quick note to announce that Low Tide, which has been discussed on the blog under the title Peggy’s Cove, received the President’s Award at the Texas Watercolor Society’s 63rd Annual Juried Exhibition. Details on the show can be found in the Calendar Tab on my web site at www.joeblanford.com.

Le Sentier des Amoureux

Last fall, I was walking the grounds of the house of author Lucy Maud Montgomery’s (Anne of Green Gables fame) Cavendish home on Prince Edward Island, Canada and came across a scene that struck me as a series of contrasts. The feel was both dark and brooding but also light and full of life. It was also a contrast of color and darks. The title, Le Sentier des Amoureux, means Lover’s Lane, yet the trail was empty at the time. I found a couple walking the trail at Montmorency Falls in Quebec later that week that fit the pose I envisioned, an older couple arm in arm. I superimposed them into the composition, altering colors to fit their new environment.

Prince Edward Island was a beautiful location in terms of gathering material. I have another painting underway, PEI Garden, that offers an entirely different feel, plus lots of raw material for other projects that you may see here over the coming months.

I went out on an image safari yesterday, gathering material from the Sixth Street and South Congress (SoCo) areas of Austin, Texas. I recently donated a painting, Blind Pig Pub,  from my inventory to the Leukemia Society and was notified that it sold for $1,800 (yea!). When I updated my inventory records I realized that I had sold all but one of my 6th Street Series paintings. I had been meaning to start some additions to the series anyway, so, with a few hours of work in the morning, I got some promising material that I’ll start sketching out this week in between work on current projects.

Let me know what you think of Le Sentier des Amoureux!

Coming Up For Air!

Decided to take a quick break as some projects dry a bit. Since I didn’t post any pictures last post, I’ll try to make up for it today and show what I’ve been working on:

The first piece is Le Sentier des Amoureux or Lover’s Lane. It’s a scene from Prince Edwards Island, Canada, on the grounds that inspired Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. I have been working on this one pretty consistently over the last week. I am in the process of establishing my darkest darks behind the foliage and cooling the area down with a variety of deep blues. After my series of washes were complete and I removed all the masking fluid I realized that I had allowed my darks and warm hues to get away from what I had envisioned (it happens!). I had been reading some art magazines and came across a new product, Daniel Smith’s Watercolor Ground. I ordered some up and decided to give it a try at recapture some of the lighter values behind the trees. I really liked the result of working the ground into area with my fingers (yes, finger painting). I have, on occasion, used gesso to recapture areas that I needed to rework with mixed results. The watercolor ground seems to work better for me. We’ll see. After 24 hours to dry I went back in with my large sable rounds and layered in color to bring the foliage back. Still have a lot of work to do but the painting is progressing as I had hoped. After working the darks I will address and develop the foreground. I’ll talk in a bit about mid painting value studies.

The next piece is also from Prince Edwards Island and, at present, I’m calling it PEI Garden but that’s likely to change as I work on the painting. This one is not too far removed from the multiple wash process. I’ve been working with brushes on it for only a session or two. The plan is to use darker values in the foreground, mid values in the back ground and focus on high intensity color in the middle ground. both this painting and Le Sentier des Amoureux will benefit from a value study. The attraction of this scene, for me, was the multiple “S” Curve of the rocks and the walkway drawing the eye into the building. This movement is reinforced by the intersecting roof lines and the horizontal lines of the bridge in the left background. I placed the red bush to the left of the targeted focal point to create a little visual tension as red tends to draw the eye away from that focal point. One decision to make is the intensity of the red bush. If it’s too intense will it dominate and not allow the eye to go back and forth? Such are the things that we artists obsess over! I think that’s one of the things I enjoy about what I do… the problem solving involved with taking what is presented and shaping it to make it your own. For instance, in the case of Le Sntier des Amoureux, there were no people present in the images collected that day but in order to “tell the story” the scene needed human involvement. I did not want an idyllic couple but a simple case of two ordinary people walking arm in arm.

The next project is from nearby San Antonio and is at about the same stage as PEI Garden. I’m envisioning a light foreground, dark background and mid to dark value middle ground with high intensity hues in the umbrellas. Note the strong right to left movement along converging diagonals created by the umbrellas and rock wall along the river walk. This movement is interrupted by the strong horizontals of the bridge and the large tree to the right. There is also a rhythm to the verticals of the umbrella stands which I will vary in width and value as the painting progresses.

The last picture to post this time is also the furthest along, Buoy O Buoy!. This was inspired by the lobster traps of Halifax, Nova Scotia. What caught my eye was the shapes, color and the play of light that created a somewhat abstract composition.

There is still quite a bit of work left to adjust values and the pigment is pretty thick in places and will benefit from a final soak in the bath tub to settle things out before making final adjustments but it’s coming along nicely. You might also be able to see some late sketching in pencil at the bottom on a few of the buoys where I will be adding some rope lines. In fact all the rope lines need some development. To wrap up…I left this painting for last to discuss mid painting value studies. Here is the same painting with all the color removed so that the eye

can focus on just the value relationships. Digital photography provides a lot of tools to the artist that takes the time to use them. This digital value study tells me I need to push the blue bands darker as they move into shadow as there is not enough value shift to be convincing or interesting. I also see the need to darken back ground values particularly in the lower left of the composition and probably cool them to get more push/pull between the back ground and the warm hues of the buoys. Also need to address the bottom value of one buoy in the foreground when I address the ropes. That’s about it! Back to painting.

What the heck is going on!?!

No pictures to post but I’ve got several nearing completion and as soon as I complete this post I’m back in the studio! Needed to get the word out on the Bee Cave Arts Foundation Day, May 18 at the new Whole Foods at the Galleria in Bee Cave, Texas. Whole Foods has graciously agreed to donate 1% of the day’s proceeds to the Bee Cave Arts Foundation and I am scheduled to paint on site, in oils, from 8 am until noon. Come out and support the cause! I also wanted to let folks know I have been juried into two upcoming shows: the Texas Watercolor Society 63rd Annual National Exhibit in San Antonio and the 46th Annual Richardson Civic Art Society Regional Art Show in Richardson, Texas. Details are on my web site’s Calendar page at www.joeblanford.com . Hope to see you there!

The studio beckons….. I’ve got a varied batch of projects underway: San Antonio Riverwalk, a couple from Prince Edward Island, one from Halifax, Nova Scotia and another in my New York City series. Add to that the three projects just coming out of the sketching phase and ………. better get to it!!!

Boathouse Repose Demo

I had the opportunity this week to do a watercolor demonstration at a meeting of the Austin Palette Club. I decided to focus on a recently completed painting, Boathouse Repose, that has been discussed on the blog. The completed picture is posted to my web site, www.joeblanford.com. For the demo I decided to redo this painting using all three primary color families and take the group through three successive washes. The yellow family painting (which was the family used on the completed painting) received it’s first wash, the red family painting was ready for it’s second wash and the blue family painting was ready for it’s third wash. Here are the three paintings after the demo:

 The group suggested that, as I  complete the three paintings, I post them so that everyone can see the final result. Great idea! My intent was to demonstrate that, as artists, are not constrained by local color. In fact, we can use color to communicate different moods. I also used different paper with these paintings. I normally use Arches 140 lb. Cold Press but tried Langdon Prestige and Kilimanjaro’s 140 lb. Cold Press paper. The demo revealed that both buckle much more than the Arches paper.   We’ll see how they stand up to masking fluid, lifting and the other techniques I typically use. I am pretty rough on paper so it should be interesting. So, stay tuned as I walk these paintings through successive washes and then normal brush work. If you have questions, let me know!

I’ve been working, honest!

I recently attended a watercolor society meeting and someone mentioned that they liked my blog and I was embarrassed to admit I had not posted in a while. Truth be told, I’ve been in the studio working on several projects and finally hit a lull while some paintings sit prior to being soaked, restretched and reassessed. So, here goes.

I may have mentioned that I took a trip through New England and Northeast Canada late last year. The four paintings I’m posting today come from that trip. I’ve got several more underway but these are far enough along to talk about:

I posted “Peggy’s Cove” earlier, shortly after all initial washes had been completed. At this point I’m ready to soak this piece in the bath tub, restretch and fine tune to completion. The soaking process helps to settle areas of thick pigment and unify the painting. The foreground and some of the deep shadows need some work along these lines. I also need to work some of the reflections, particularly in the left middle ground and I find that the bath helps the liquid look of reflections. At this point I have set the painting aside for a few days to allow the pigments to dry and set a bit so that the bath doesn’t wash away things I want to retain. I also take this opportunity to formally critique the painting  in one of my moleskin notebooks, identifying areas that need to be addressed once the restretched painting has dried enough to get back into those areas I have identified. At a full sheet, this painting is larger than I work most of the time. Most of my work is half sheet like the others featured in this post. Occasionally, I work in quarter sheet but most of that work involves studies for future projects.

This painting, “48th & Broadway“, is also ready for the bath and restretch process but is probably more resolved than the one above.  As mentioned above, it’s a half sheet or 15″ X 22″. I’ve tried to distill these New York City projects to shape and color as the structure in NYC is overwhelming and, frankly, can become boring in a painting.

Case in point is “Water Towers“, Here, I was intrigued by the shapes and tonal shifts of the composition. I have done no brush work on this project, just a series of approximately six washes. A lot to be resolved from a value perspective. There will be only a splash of vivid color at the upper left where a neon sign will catch the eye.

Hopefully, the round shapes will pull the viewer into the composition towards the color. We’ll see. That’s the plan at any rate!

“Boathouse Retreat” rounds out the post. I captured this image in Concord, Mass. and wanted to capture the visual contrast, of a single figure, calmly reading, in what is a riot of color.   This painting is a little further along than “Water Towers”. I’ve begun to establish my darkest darks and clean up some lines and address some values in the boathouse.  As a matter of fact, just sitting here reviewing the image, I’m making a note to lift some darks in the reflection and add some color so that it reads better. A lot of work to be done, but that’s part of the fun. Although I work from photos a great deal, and try to initially set up the composition through the camera lens it is rare that the initial composition survives intact when executing a painting. Nature is chaotic and doesn’t care about composition or what I want to use as a focal point. Plus, I generally invent my own color. The foliage was not really turning in New England during my visit. The photo supporting this project features greens but that would not have communicated the chaos around the figure that I wanted to contrast against the calm of the figure sitting on the pier.

Any feedback?

NYC Geometry I Finished

Completed NYC Geometry I, a bit of a departure, an urban landscape with more of an abstract feel. As mentioned in an earlier post, I collected a lot of material from the recent trip that may lend itself to a different approach. After all, you get a bit overwhelmed  with all the structure in the Big Apple and a certain monotony settles in and I think design and color need to carry the day. I’ll leave it for others to judge whether or not its successful but it fun and challenging to bring some excitement to what can be a bland overall  

visual experience built, essentially, on straight lines, rectangles and vertical thrust.

Contrast that with step two of Peggy’s Cove:

 

 

 

 

 

Here it’s more a traditional approach, where I rely on pushing color and composition to tell the story. This after the third wash, It will be interesting to see how the lessons learned from geometric exercises such as the NYC Series influence tendencies that drive the Peggy’s Cove approach.

New England and Canada

We’re hard at work on material from the recent trip to the northern reaches and I have finished the second of the Nova Scotia Series, Washed Up, a view in and around Peggy’s Cove of two abandoned boats, forgotten in the weeds.

I’ve also begun another project of this area, titled, surprise, “Peggy’s Cove” This is after a single wash.

 

 

 

 

 

And last but not least, the first of a series of geometrical studies from New York City. This one, NYC Geometry I was inspired by a breakfast at the Marriott Marquis as I looked up into the heights of the atrium and was struck by the geometric patterns. I am sifting through material looking for similar themes for a different approach to familiar topics. In addition, I still have several projects that have been sitting in the studio for a bit. Same old story, more material than time. On the show front, I delivered three small pieces to the Season’s Jewels show (see calendar at www.joeblanford.com ). Also, I’ve agreed to hold a one man show starting December 14 at Blues Day Studio in Lakeway and will be posting some information over the next few days.