Thumb in the Dunes 2

Hello, again O:-) If you're having some closer looks into Edgar's book, too, Caroline and Phoebe, perhaps you could tell me about the meaning of the decorative approach to composition. I must say I've just got the feeling that he's not fond of it, but I haven't understood what he was talking about O:-) Could you explain?

Thumb in the Dunes

This was a very light dune I saw on the Baltic Sea and I find nature has done a good job with the composition O:-)

Recent Pen & Ink Sketches

Here are two Pen & Ink sketches I've done in the last two weeks.  They are minatures, 4" x 4".  I start with a   quick and rough thumnail sketch.  Then I go to watercolor paper and do a light sketch in pencil to get the right position.  Then alternate pen and wash with a brush.

Thumbnails again

I'm reading Edgar A. Payne's "Composition of Outdoor Painting". It's a great book to learn with and that's why I'm back to do those tiny drawings again.

A Little More Info

I posted thumbnails and three underpaintings done at the workshop. Also there are photos of The Little Everglades Ranch; a thousand acre working farm with Belted Galaway Cows, Hanavarian horses, sandhill cranes and the most beautiful old Florida landscapes one could ever find in Florida. Early one morning before the workshop began I witnessed an early foggy morning that required me to pull the car over and take the pictures. Thought you would enjoy them.

Back From Deborah Paris Little Everglades Workshop

I just returned from an exceptional five day workshop with Deborah Paris at the Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City, Florida. There were 13 students very eager to learn what Deborah had to teach. Probably the biggest effect on people was the realization of the need to brush up on the skills of field sketching; going back to the basics of drawing which most of us lacked in our early years of art education. The artists through the ages up until the 20th century were trained to draw and it became second nature to them. We spent the first two days out in the field sketching thumbnails and value studies. Some people had the courage to put away their camera and draw the landscape learning to look for those values, work up a composition that was acceptable (with a little help from our friend Edgar Payne) and edit the sketch into a design that would make a good painting rather than painting exactly what was there in nature. People really saw the value of Slowing Down and Thinking! Then we brought the sketches back to the studio and started working on underpaintings. Deborah gave a color demo showing the colors she likes to use and explained the glazes and scumbles technique. She brought with her examples of her latest works and shared indepth her growth process in tonalism. She has a vast knowledge of American landscape artists and is able to present a timeline of American landscape art that is so impressive one only wishes they had a tape recording of it to play over and over. Deborah also has an excellent way of working with artists at all levels; beginners to professional artists. Each artist can receive information at the level they are at. (Much like reading John Carlson).

The time flew by and the last day arrived way too soon. We each lined up two to three pieces along the wall and Deborah gave the most informative critique I have ever been in. It was a thrill to see and hear what people had to say and how much they had learned. Everyone left the workshop very fulfilled and inspired to do so much more. I think people became believers in Field Sketching and the value of Thumbnails. Hope so anyway.

It was a Two Thumbs Up Week!

latest works

I am finding working very small is so useful to learn how to compose my landscapes a bit better. They are mostly ideas and there have been thoughts on trying to capture more intimate misty trees, as in being in a wood, to standing back and sketching and painting trees. I am not keen on acrylics but have managed to find a handful of colours recently that are more natural. I used a glazing medium and started off painting in flesh coloured tones then moving onto bamboo and terte verte colours. As the paint dries so quickly it is useful for a learning purpose for me to establish what colours I can use for a bigger painting. The top sketch was done in water soluble graphite pencils and they are great to use out on location when you don't want to have to carry lots of paints out with you. I am relying more on memory and from making notes too when outside. I learned a great deal on working out in the field on Deborah's latest classes which were very helpful in getting me to work more from life and not to rely on the camera.

Back to the Basics

Back to the drawing board! It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything on this blog but I am more convinced in the value of Thumbnails than ever before. It is the most important stage of a painting or a finished drawing because it is the stage of developing a good composition and thinking about what idea or concept you want to convey. For me, right now that's the biggest challenge. The only way to get comfortable with it is to practice, practice, practice. Skipping steps in the process of painting is always costly. Thumbnails build a solid foundation. If you believe in the concept, develop a good composition, understand where your values are, then you're well on the road towards a good finished piece. But if any of these things lack at the thumbnail stage they will not improve in the future stages.

I have put away my camera and am drawing from life or memory. If I can do a good thumbnail and value study on site I can do the rest in the studio editing as I wish using the sketches as references. IT REALLY WORKS! But I have to admit it took a long time to believe it would and trust in my thumbnails.

I have really enjoyed doing pen & ink studies. These were done on sight so they aren't really completed.

So that's the latest on this end. If there is anyone still coming to this blog I would be happy to hear from you and see your work. Feel free to comment and post.

Thanks much, Phoebe

More Thumbs

These are results of an exercise. They are quite rough but postable. O;-)

Will This Ever End?

This is one of those painting that started out rough and and there were many tries to improve it but the composition is lacking so it's never going to sing. But I stuck with it for learning purposes; glazing and scumbling and dealing with clouds etc. All I can say is it's much better than it was a week ago but it's not for sale!

Back In The Saddle Again

Hello Caroline and Ulrike and everyone!

Finally am "back in the saddle again" and have some paintings to post.

The top painting was started three weeks ago and finished today. I have been working on simplifying my composition and colors using glazes and scumbles which gives it the tonal effect. Painting in the indirect style takes a lot of planning and time, allowing each passage to dry before putting on another glaze or scumble.

The second one is from Buyou Drive; one of the most beautiful areas I've seen in Florida. I really like the composition of this painting and plan to use it again for a sunset or a cloudy day.

I am finishing up the paintings I started in Clarksville TX with Deborah Paris' workshop. It's so tempting to set them aside and start over since I've learned so much since starting on them (which was before the workshop started). I would do so many things differently now. But, no doubt, there is great learning in finishing them so I'm plugging away at them.

Meanwhile, this week I plan on ordering new materials that Deborah recommends for making your own linen panels. If any of you are interested in how to make them you can go to Lisa McShane's blog "1,000 Paintings". She has an excellent section explaining Deborah's process. She was one of the students at the Workshop in Clarksville TX. It will be such a change painting on alkyd primed linen instead of oil primed linen panels. The oil primed ones I've been using are slick which is difficult to overcome.

My future paintings are going to be done on larger panels. You put the same amount of effort in a small painting as a large painting so why not have something significant to show for your time? Also, I have a real interest in trying a nocturne painting. When we went to the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, there were several Remington nocturne paintings that took my breath away.

It's such a joy to be painting again and am looking forward to seeing others works also. I'll be much better at corresponding now that I am more focused on painting.

painting and thumb nail

Hi Phoebe and the girls, here is the watercolour painting I completed using the thumbnail as my inspiration. I did a few thumbnails but felt this one was the one I wanted to use. It is a snowy river scene and maybe quite nice to see now that our warm summer days are with us again. I found some more thumbs I did last year in my art drawer and hope to share those with you soon. I hope you are all enjoying your summer painting time.

Thumbs from Bayou Drive Salt Marshes

Hello everyone!

It's been too long since posting but I've been working on NINE paintings from the April Art Workshop with Deborah Paris. Since indirect painting is so new to me, these paintings are Research and Development so if I have the guts to post them at some point I will. Right now they aren't even half way done and there are many more layers of glazes to go.

But today I was bound and determined to do a couple of thumbs before the sun went down. So here they are. They are from one of the most beautiful places I've seen in Florida, Bayou Drive in Hernando Co. There are salt marshes on each side of the road. On the north side you can see a thin strip of the Gulf of Mexico in the horizon. To me they are so inspiring to make endless designs from these marshes. IF I were a fabric designer or jewelry maker I think I would move there just for the inspiration. Can you only imagine?? I wanted you to see the photos of the marshes so you have some idea of where these thumbs came from.

Happy Thumbing to you!

Back from Clarksville Texas

It's hard to believe the April Workshop at Deborah Paris' studio is already over and I'm back in Florida. The eight days were extraordinary to say the least. I'll post some pictures for those that are interested.

One of the many great things about being in Deborah's studio was access to her library of art books. She encouraged us to study the tonalist artists landscape compositions and glean from them. The top page of thumbs were studies from one of George Inness's books. His compositions draw the viewer in and there are many things to look at before you leave the painting. Whereas the Hudson River painters have the viewer come up to the edge of the painting, stop and observe what is there. You don't feel a part of it as you do with an Inness painting.

The second picture has gesture drawings of cows that were in the pastures bordering Deborah and Steve's property. They were beautiful; a variety of colors. No two looked alike. But they were very hard to draw! Much like clouds, they move all the time. The thumb on that page was used to make a dry point. Our last day in the studio one of the students asked Deborah if she would show us how to do a dry point. She showed us the entire process THEN we could do one ourselves. I LOVED IT!! My dry point is en route via FedEx along with all my supplies so that will be another post when I get it.

The third photo are of thumbs for two posters to be used this weekend at an event. The fourth photo are pastels which will be the background for the posters. There will be text that will go in the center of both. The one on the right represents sunset colors as the one on the left is sunrise. They aren't very accurate and I had to get them to the printers early this afternoon so time was short but they will work fine. They will be on the wall in the back of the podium on stage.

That's it for now. If there is any way any of you can get to the workshop Deborah is having in Florida March 2012 it would be the highlight of the year for you. She is a Master Artist and a Master Teacher. No one else is teaching tonalist landscape painting. She has a vast knowledge of the subject and is able to communicate it in a way that you will be challenged to evaluate why you paint, what you paint and how you paint. She talks of poetry; it can either be so boring as words on a grocery list or it can be words arranged so well it is a beautiful thought provoking poem. Same with a painting. It can be a painting of just what you see or it can be arranged in a beautiful thought provoking emotional way as you put your heart and life into it. I can say from spending the eight days under her teaching I know myself so much more as an artist, I'm clear on the direction I want to go as an artist and I've never been so excited about painting in my life. The other four students had amazing experiences as well. Thank you Deborah!

two studies of a conifer tree

Hi Phoebe sorry to be away so long, I have had to settle into coastal oil painting for now so the trees are quietly taking a break! However Ulrike who has been visiting our area came out with me to a lovely beach with a wood by it. Ulrike settled into painting the beach while I took the opportunity to sketch a conifer, it was such an untidy wild looking tree that I had to really edit what I was seeing or not seeing as the case was! It was wonderful to be back drawing my dear friends the trees though I must say I am finding my coastal painting very peaceful and enjoying using the colours and skills learned with Deborah on her courses.

The sketches here are not really on a blue back ground the light outside is incredibly bright, yes the sun is shining in Scotland! so I took the photos inside but it is not a great success but you get the general idea!

Ready for Texas

the top four thumbs are of the same scene on Honeymoon Island. I edited them in different formats and chose one for an underpainting below.

The second underpainting is an idea from the JG Ranch when the blueberries were growing. The sky will be the main point of view.

It's time to start thinking about shipping my Underpaintings and art supplies to Texas for Deborah's eight day art workshop at her studio. This will be an opportunity of a life time for me. You can be sure I will bring a stash of Bon Bon's for the future Bon Bon breaks that will be needed during the steep learning curves coming up! I think it will be like the "Indy 500" in the artists world. Life in the fast lane. I will put on my helmet (straw hat), fasten my seatbelt and enjoy the ride! ;>)

Thumb and Result

Yes, Phoebe, you're quite right. I've just done some pastels and more or less by chance there was a thumbnail for that I did during the course.

And here's the pastel result.

18 x 13cm