Fiddlehead Ferns

Fiddlehead Ferns

Away from the New England coastline, in moist, woodland areas, it is common to see clumps of fiddle head ferns this time of year.    Their bright green curly tops stand out against winter's
peat colored bed of dead leaves and grasses.  They unfurl one-by-one in clumps and are among the first sprouts of spring.

The process of capturing these emerging greens began by setting out the composition, roughly a third in warmer light (the sunlit bed of leaves) and two thirds with blue/brown undertones, darker/deeper blues for shadows.  I then carved out the ferns with my rubber tipped wipe out tool; this was to ensure a smooth texture to represent the fuzzy gray-green sprouts.     In order to keep the colors in harmony, I mixed a bit of Gamblin's Radiant Violet into each of the colors on the palette as I worked.   The simple technique of putting dark ferns against light, and sunlit ferns against shadow helped to create a more eye catching pattern.  

Pink Roses

New Mop Brush

For a golfer, it may be that new driver, for the tinkerer, an antique tool, and for a chef, perhaps it is a new cooking gadget.  No matter what a person's passion may be, the new tool (i.e. toy) has the potential to simplify and/or improve the result which is something we enthusiastically look forward to.

For me, a painter, it was a new brush, a fancy mop head brush. I have been quite excited about it and even have put off using it for just the right moment.   {"Get a life," you may be saying?}  It wasn't cheap and I'm not so adept at using it yet but I'm learning.   I used it on this painting of pink roses to soften all of the edges prior to the final application of the lightest lights.   I think it enhanced the pretty subject matter and helped the light on the petals look more translucent.  Using it for the background light rendered a somewhat ethereal feel.  

Pink Roses

I usually do not paint flowers.   I have found them even more difficult than faces in some cases.   I did like how this came out, so maybe my new mop brush is helping!

Traveling With the Brand New Set Up

Six Vieques Paintings

I've already shared my six tropical paintings from Vieques, but I didn't talk about the challenge of painting with a complete change in my usual painting parameters. You'll take one look at the ultra-gorgeous scene I painted that first day and most likely have zero sympathy when I state that it was difficult to get started.  Okay, yes, I'm thinking of that old saying,  "a bad day of fishing beats a great day at the office."

So in the context of being fortunate and grateful to even be on this trip, I'll say that there were challenges. Among them:

• A new lightweight easel (disassembled for flight) 
• A new palette board (no familiar color spots marking my usual placements)
• Unfamiliar hardware used to attach the palette to new easel

  

  Not Exactly Travelling Light

• Stark white, non-toned substrates (usually I use toned surfaces).
• No turpentine (not allowed by security)
• Tropical colors! No recipes on the brain  (especially for that dazzling turquoise ocean)

Yes I suffered through it :)  item by item...

• Once the new easel was put together on Day One, it didn't need to be disassembled again until it was time to fly home.   The assembled easel stowed easily in the back of the rented Jeep for the duration of the trip. 
• The newly cut (and lightweight) 12x16x.25 inch birchwood panel travelled well and though it took some time initially, it felt no different than my heavyweight palette at home once populated with the oil colors.



Modified Aluminum Easel

• The new aluminum easel had "L" brackets attached with couplings that slid up and down on its respective tripod leg.   Three matching drilled holes in the birch palette lined up with three "L's" on easel legs.  See the three red arrows in photo that shows modified easel that allows palette panel to sit in between tripod.
• I typically apply a neutral undertone over the white canvas and let it dry at least overnight.  All the canvases I brought on this trip were stark white and I discovered that because everything here was so brightly lit, the white surface helped me maintain a high, clear color key.
• Oil painting without turpentine was tough.   I wiped my brushes often and used my walnut oil to clean them as well.   This wasn't an acceptable workaround though, and we located the local hardware store where we purchased a small can for $7.
• Color matching was a matter of trial and error.    I had brought the right ingredients (Cerulean blue, pthalo blue, emerald green).  It was a matter of blending these in the right amounts and combinations.    By Day Two - the required rework was reduced somewhat.

So that is the story.  What I didn't cover here about traveling with the oils is the packing and flying, which I'll share in a future post.  If anyone has questions about the customizations to the easel, the palette or color combinations, let me know and I'll be happy to share more.

Black and White and Torrit Grey 2014

Comerant

Perched on High

My favorite oil color manufacturer is Gamblin and each year they run a contest challenging participants to create a painting using only black, white and Gamblin's custom color, Torrit Gray.     Torrit Gray is a free giveaway color produced from collecting all the factory pigment that would ordinarily end up in the trash.   Rather than discard the pigment, an annual Torrit Gray blend is created, tubed, and then given away with Gamblin purchases as a customer bonus and environmental initiative.  I have entered the competition for the past two years, and this year I entered again.

Barnyard

If you paint, you may want to consider entering.   It is really interesting to see what people come up with when they are color-limited.   All the entries are posted on the Gamblin website and the company has been very generous in sending a free gift to participants.  I really love Gamblin - for many reasons - and the paint is manufactured in Oregon.

My strategy when brainstorming my entries was to hunt through my digital photo archive for a photo that would make a strong black and white painting.   A strong dark/light tonalism usually means added strength for the composition.  Obviously things that don't have much color or are already black and white were things to consider.  

Maybe you could try it too!

One Word and A Twenty Inch Square

Canvas Stretched onto Cradleboard

This year's challenge for the North River Arts Society event is to transform a twenty inch wooden cradle board into a work of art - and - somehow integrate a word into the creation.  Signing up for these challenges is exciting because it really makes one push out creations that otherwise would never have been conceived.

Staring at this nice cradleboard square of sturdy wood, it did cross my mind that it could serve as the base for a three dimensional creation.   3D has never been part of my repertoire - and call me cautious - but I didn't want to risk doing failed experiment with a creation that would benefit the organization.  So my first step was to cover it with gesso'd canvas.

Thumbnail charcoal

I don't typically work on squares and every time I do, I really enjoy it.   Composition "rules" that are generally followed for rectangular canvases, aren't necessarily in play for squares.   For example the widely accepted guidance of not placing the center of interest in the middle of a rectangular canvas, can usually be ignored for squares.   Symmetry works just fine on a square.



Once Upon a Storybook - Stage One

In the spirit of the "people" work I've been concentrating on lately, I sketched out some scenes with small children playing.  I have been experimenting with unusual head placement/angles and one of my latest favorites is the head down angle. I composed a scene in which small children are gathered around a checkerboard - see thumbnail to left.    


After completing stage one, I swapped out the checkerboard for a large picture book - with, of course, a word.

I first positioned their heads within a circle drawn within the square.   Additionally I roughed in two tangents, the calf/shoe of the boy on the left, and the arm/hand of the boy on the right.   The book forms a strong quadrilateral shape to balance the square and circle.

Important:   If you are interested in the painting, it will be auctioned off Memorial Day Weekend at the North River Arts Society Festival of the Arts in Marshfield Hills, MA.





Once Upon a Storybook

Tropical Watercolors - Loose

View from Mars

Yellow Lady Slipper

I was fortunate to be able to travel to Aruba this year and just like in years past, I brought my watercolors.  Watercolors, although not my preferred medium - provided a nice to change.   I used 4x6 inch and 6x9 inch Canon brand blocks, but I relaxed my past ways.  Rather than using photos or framing tight little scenes,  I just tried to match scenery color, only loosely matching the view.   I let the colors flow into one another using lots of Caribbean Sea water.   


This was more like playing around and experimenting, with no expectation of a worthwhile end product. What was worthwhile was more the process and relaxation of staring at swirling color starting to dry under the strong Equator sun.

These few are the "loosest" of the watercolors.  A forthcoming post will include some "tighter" watercolors.




Yellow Flower Spray





Sea Monster Emerging at Sunset





Tropical Fish

Palette Box

Rectangular Wooden Palette

Palette Box with Foam Core Lid Closed

I use the same rectangular wooden palette for painting both in my studio and outside.    I prefer this arrangement because it eliminates the time and expense of loading and maintaining two palettes.  Since I mostly paint everyday, the fully loaded palette sits on my studio sidetable ready for use.   I don't cover my palette in the studio but I always wipe my mixing area clean at the end of the day.   The piles of paint may develop skins over them, but I simply cut into the pile of paint with my palette knife and draw out what I need from the smooth wet paint underneath.    Every couple of weeks I completely scrape off old paint on the palette and start with fresh new piles. 



For taking the paints outside or into the car, I use a palette box that has been retrofitted with a foam core lid.   The cover is lightweight, opens like a cigar box lid, and is just sturdy enough to protect the palette full of paint inside.





Foam Core Lid Open

Velcro strips that secure palette to palette box

On both the bottom of the palette and the palette box, Velcro strips hold the palette in place within the box.   Even if the box were to tip on its side or even upside down, the palette of paint would stay stuck within the box.


I also have some Velcro strips on the outside of the palette box to secure in on top of my art supply box on wheels if I have to walk a greater distance than usual.

I know there are fancier systems, but this is what I do.