Wonderful Workshop in Daytona Beach

This past week's painting workshop was a great experience for all. The feedback from the seven participants, Judy, Debra, Trudy, Shayna, Dottie, Tammy, and Dawn told me I hit the mark. Painting white fabric with lace was touch and go but I pulled it out of the weeds.  One problem was the medium I was using had a smell that affected one of my students so I had to switch.  Tried something new and found the drying time took forever.  But it all worked out in the end.

Each morning was my time to teach beyond the brush.  We discussed schools of different painting processes and painting "intentions and concepts."  Tuesday night was a cruise on Spruce Creek leaving from Cracker Creek.  The sunset cruise with wine and goodies was breathtaking and ended with a demonstration on how to crack a whip hence the name "Florida Cracker."

During the day my ladies worked long and hard.  Lunch was provided by Shayna, one of our artist, and my husband, David.  He loves cooking so when he said he wanted to fix a traditional Southern dinner, there was no stopping him.

Here's Trudy jumping right in with a colorful block-in.

Debra found one of my wooded puppets and put him in a setting.

Dawn challenged herself with a piece of white cut embroidery to accompany fruit and glass.

Tammy found a piece of velvet tapestry and is blocking in building form first.

Initial block-in by Judy.  Another lace fabric to challenge her.

Trudy is from the Cayman Islands by way of Georgia and you can see how she loves color.  Mango anyone?

Looking through the viewfinder and cropping her still life, Shayna is planning and drawing first.  As I emphasized the entire week-"Honor Your Process."  There is no one right way to start a painting so my other message was "choose your process that supports your strengths and your weaknesses."  But this is a topic for another blog.

My next workshop will be in Fredericksburg, TX in February.  Contact The Good Art Co. for more information.

Next April 4-7 I will be hosting a visiting artist Karen Winslow who will be teaching the prismatic palette in both landscape and still life.  Contact me for more information.

Almost Finished

Sorry for the delay and the almost finished white lace painting.  Last week was my week long workshop and my attention went there even though the painting is finished.  As usual, I will look at it for a while and tweak it if needed. I will get a picture of the entire 30 x 40 inch canvas and post tomorrow.

Small Bites

If you have been following along on this painting, you may ask yourself, "How do you paint the intricate lace patterns?"  Okay, one bite at a time isn't a sufficient enough answer but describing the process in a verbal linear fashion may be impossible-but here goes.

 First, there are about four areas that are treated somewhat differently in the approach.  Top left lace is folded and draped on top of itself which means there is no distinct pattern and the values, in places, are very close. Brushwork is varied-dabs mostly.  I look for distinct open areas where the dark of the rug shows through.  That is painted in as the shape that I see.  Those small areas must be somewhat dry before I try to put in the small strings that cross the dark area.  You can see where one area has the strings and lower down it is still just a dark pattern.  On to the right of this area.

Top middle: one must see that value pattern that is underneath the string pattern and continue the light/shadow pattern first ignoring the lace (that was done earlier in the block-in).  Squint down on the band of lace in that area and ask yourself-"Where is it darker than the dark shadow already there?  Is it  warmer or cooler than the shadow pattern?"  I do this all across the top band.  On the far top right there is very little pattern showing because it is totally in shadow. This is about four hours of work.    So far so good.

Looking at the bottom, you can see the left block-in looks differently than the right.  That's because the left lace is draped such that the folds overlap in places.  That's where you see no blackish background.  In contrast, the bottom right is flat against the background with only a slight fold.

The same questions are constantly being asked in my head about values and temperature.  My colors are still pretty much the same,  I'm using Warm White from Gamblin to keep the light side warm.  Next installment, I hope to have the bottom finished. 

Love Maybe

     Here I have massed in the light shapes and the shadow shapes.  This is the stage that goes quickly because I only have to decide is it light or is it dark.  It's like sorting laundry into two piles.

       Someone asked about the colors I use.  First let me say I paint with a small north light window but it's not enough light so I augment it with a 5,000K bulb up next to the window.  That "leans" the light a little warm.  Remember 6,500K is close to north light coolness.  Next because this beautiful fabric is old and has a yellowed aged cast to it, I want the light sides to be toward warm making the light perfect.  I'm using the new Gamblin Warm White as my base white.  It holds the warmness when mixed and does not cool the color or make it chalky like some whites.  This is an indoor atmosphere so I'm not using all the brilliant colors of the outdoor palette.  Shadows in the studio tend to be warm also.  My light is a mixture of the Warm White, a touch of raw umber (green shade) and a touch of Cobalt blue.  My lights are massed in at about 2/ 3 in value and all my lights then can later be adjusted with a range of the lightest light at a 1 and the darkest light at about a 4.  You can see the pattern clearly.  Shadows go darker and start at about a 6.  Again I can go up to a 5 and the darkest darks get to about an 8 but only in the dark creases of the folds.  Translucent lights need to be ignored at this point. 

How do you eat an elephant? Yea, one bite at a time.  At this point the progress slows down and my love turns to labor, like in pains.  I have to remember the elephant question or else I would give up.  How do I know?  Because when I paint this type of lace, it takes concentration and focusing on the values of the surface changes.  Then and only then do I focus on the strings of the lace.  One stroke then about thirty seconds to a minute before the next stroke is made. 

The open lace work is treated differently since the rug shows through in some areas.  The basic rug color is painted in and here is where I have negative thoughts running through my head.  When I look at the entire surface I feel like I can't do it but if I focus on one area and tell myself that if this one area gets completed today, that's great. Small bites.   I'll  think about the other lace sections tomorrow.  Now I sound like Scarlette O'Hara.

 Not finished but good enough for today.  Comments and questions are welcomed. 

A Love Affair Continued

Day 2- With great anticipation day two began.  One of the bad habits I engage in and need is not cleaning my palette.  I do clean my brushes the same day but the big glass palette is usually left without cleaning the days previous mixed colors.  My first 15 minutes or more, first thing, is scraping the glass and getting it pristine clean.  It's sort of a meditation for me and gets my thinking transitioned into what I will be doing.  While I'm scraping I think of my next steps.  It works and I can't do without it.  I guess you could call it a form of foreplay.

The dark background is still wet so the vase needs to be blocked in and the edges worked into the background.  The blue is a low chroma blue almost gray so out comes the grays-Portland and Torret Grays from Gamblin (not an ad but they are wonderful).  Cobalt blue is added into the grays.  Two values are mixed for light shape, shadow shape.  The mantra plays in my head as I look at the form-light shape, shadow shape.  Say that three times fast.

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I also thinly block in a dark blue/umber value for the rug.  Having a dark surface to paint the pattern of the rug on is a must.  The dark gives the light threads a three dimensional look which adds to the texture feel.

This is the progress after about four hours at the easel.  I have blocked in the light and shadow shapes of the white cloth leaving the lace area untouched.  Painting the open lace work needs a different process.  When blocking in the light and shadow, my light value (about a 2/3) is the middle value for the light.  That way I can go lighter and a little darker to build the form.  Same in the shadow area.  The shadow value is about a 7.  Translucent light areas are ignored at this point and I have to simplify, simplify, simplify.

This will need to dry so tomorrow will probably be the rug area.  Stay tuned.

A Love Affair

Now you were probably thinking you would be reading about some kind of sorted affair and were looking forward to the juicy details.  Sorry but it is about love.  These last few months have been a search for self and what really inspires me to paint. Plein air painting is not one of my favorite endeavors, but I decided if I try it---I might like it.  I now have all the right equipment, have been out in the field, and have actually completed several small pieces that aren't too shabby but not ready for prime time.

Above is "The Cottage." The cottage was built back in the early 1900's and located at Cracker Creek here in Port Orange. The early morning light on the front porch glowed along with the metal roof.  My Maine experience didn't produce anything great, but with practice I may be able to relax and truly enjoy painting in the great outdoors.

So back to this love thing.  While in Maine, we stopped in Kennebunkport and visited North Light Gallery and True North Light Gallery.  It was great to see Jill and Harry.  As I walked from one gallery to the next, I saw a small little store front with Asian imports.  The owner had been an diplomat and now had friends that sent him items to sell like small chests, garments, and vases.  I found two treasures; one was a jacket made of silk and a vase from Korea.

The grayish blue with the crane design had me at first sight and of course I brought it home.  It is unusual in that it is three sided and not spherical.

Here's the love part.  I put it with my lace fabric and created a new setup to paint.  The drama of the light across the vase and the glowing translucent light that passes through the fabric makes my toes curl.  Is that love?  You bet!  I juxtaposed the textures of the smooth ceramic glazed sides with the delicate lace and folds on top of the rough threads of the rug.  My intention is to capture the light across all these diverse textures.

Yesterday after setting it up, I loosely sketched in the folds and placement of the vase.  Under the white fabric is one of my favorite blue rugs.  Here is today's progress.

                                                              Actual still life

                                                     Ultramarine blue and burnt umber sketch

The dark background is a "black mixture" made with all transparent colors with a leaning toward reddish orange.  This mixture is made of sap green, ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, a little ivory black, and trans. red oxide.

Here the background is blocked in on this 30"x40" linen canvas.  The reddish glow at the top gives what Adrian Gottlieb calls optical red; an illusion of light in a dark shadowed area. He referred to paintings by Rembrandt and how this red glow gives a feeling of space even in the darkness.  I have used it many times with great success.  Thanks Adrian.

I will post my progress this week.  My work today felt like a love affair.  I got up this morning with excited anticipation and throughout the day was almost giddy.  Yep, this is where my passion lies. Did I say that I just love painting fabrics?

In Love With Warm White

I can't believe it's been two months since my last post.  No excuses-well yea. Two sets of grandchildren visiting which means fun, games, excursions, and no easel time.  Once I got out of my daily routine, it was difficult to get back to the easel.  When I did, my brain was still in neutral with nothing much to say.

These last three weeks, however, have been busy.  Three paintings all with my favorite object-white fabric.  Now here's the great news.  Gamblin has put some new colors on the market and the one I am in love with and I mean LOVE is their Warm White.

It's the perfect balance of yellow and orange pigments to lighten and warm my whites that are in the direct light in my studio.  When mixed with other colors, it warms them while maintaining their hue.  There's no chalkiness and it glows with a sunlit warmth I'm looking for. Gee I sound like a freaking commercial.

The first painting leans toward the cool blues but the areas of light I wanted to pop with a warmer white so I used the Warm White.  This is a 30x40 on linen canvas. 

The next painting was all about red. Red rug and red pitcher so I keyed the white lighter and brighter using the Gamblin's Warm White. This is a departure from my usual cool backgrounds.  Red comes forward so I let the design border of the rug be more distinct in design instead of trying to send in back into the "air" of the background.

Today I did a quick study (8x10)  to change it up a bit since these last two were large and required drying time between layers.  Here is where I used the Warm White to make a cool gray green.  I think it works beautifully.

There was no Titanium White used at all, just the Warm White.  The image is a little washed out but the white of the fabric is soft and airy grey green. I had to order a large tube so as not to run out.  If you have any questions, please ask in the comment section.