Old, Ugly Landscape, Reborn

Many of my plein air paintings are unsuccessful. Okay, if I'm going to be honest, they are downright ugly. Subjects that are quickly chosen because of fading light are usually among the worst. This landscape was dominated by too much green and had no decipherable design or focal point. I still remember driving around with my friend late in the afternoon searching for a public place to set up our easels and finally settling on a park because we were running out of time. I really hate to throw away canvas so I try to re-use them whenever possible. I scraped off some of the thick texture but allowed quite a bit to remain. I think it adds character and interest to the top painting, as long as I'm not trying to do a portrait. 

The dominant greens in the bottom layer of this newly created still life still affect the top layer of paint in some areas, notably the background. I decided to leave the background green at the top, modifying it with some grayed down color.

Bosc pears are my favorite fruit to eat, so I usually have some on hand. They're a nice warm, orangish hue that will provide a bit of complimentary resonance to the greens on the canvas. I painted the fruit tonally, without a direct light source, and somewhat larger than life. I had fun with the palette knife, using it to scrape and swirl and pile on the paint.

11"x14" Fantasy Pear

The figure in a landscaoe

This is a different kind of painting for me: more impressionistic and less detailed. I started it at a 2 day workshop with Mark Gingrich on "impressionism and plein air". Shana posed at the table reading a book. If the setting doesn't work it's my fault because Mark is a pretty easygoing guy and he told me to set his wife up anywhere on the porch.

It was a challenge to keep everything loose. I had to really lose a lot more edges than I am normally comfortable with and think in a non-linear style. The railing posts especially were a challenge. I had too many hard edges and they were detracting from the focal point- the model. A successful workshop IMO because I learned a few things.

The painting itself had to be completed at home because 90 mile winds and a strong thunderstorm interrupted our session. On the plus side, it did cool off a bit after the storm went through and we had a beautiful day to paint the following day.

Using Complements to Create Color

I have a collection of old photographs. Some are family and some are from various auctions where people seem willing to sell their family history for a song. I like the look of old photographs, especially silverprints. Many of the subjects who posed have a solemn, enigmatic gaze. The mouth is almost always closed because it's not easy to hold a smile for the length of time a box camera required. The edges are often blurred and there is a sense of mystery.

I admit to being fascinated by the fact that these people are gone, yet they lived and breathed and walked the earth and someone cared enough to make a record of a day in their life. Yet no one cared enough to save that piece of history.

These old photos have no copyright, they belong to no one but themselves; they are fair game for the artist who wants to practice her craft and experiment.

It's a challenge to create a color image from a black and white reference photo. I can think of only one way to do it and that is to use color theory. Decide on the color of the light-- in this instance I chose yellow and the color of the shadow will become it's complement: violet. Of course local color will affect the color of everything too but making a conscious decision about the color of the light in the beginning helps to speed the process.

I like to add some fun stuff in the background to make it more interesting when I can't see much of what is behind the subject.

11" x 14" oil on linen

Dr. Wright