Simple Pleasures

Simple Pleasures                                          6 x 6" oil

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With this painting, I focused on creating a very simplified interpretation of the vase and flowers.   When I painted it about one year ago, it didn't turn out at all like I had wanted and I tossed it into my "reject pile."  Last week, I was cleaning up in my studio and ran across it.  My first reaction was "Where did I get this great painting?"  It wasn't until I looked at the signature that I remembered painting it.  When I judged the work on its own merit, versus what I had wanted it to look like, I realized that it worked very well.  Lesson learned: don't scrape off every painting that doesn't please me.    I need to put it in my reject pile and look at it again down the road.

Copying a Master: Edgar Payne Part 2

It turns out that this blog post is my 100th!  I'm not sure how that happened so quickly.

The Edgar Payne exhibit blew my socks off!  I found the Eucalypti painting and was stunned to see that none of the values (lights and darks) in the painting were as dark as those in the photo from which I was working.  The darkest foreground trees were no darker than the tree on the left that you see below.  I took six pages of notes such as: "the trees are entirely blue green with only a small amount of yellow greens where the light hits,"  "dark warm brown underpainting for the trees and ground, even under the lightest values,"  "paint is as thick in the sky and background as it is in the foreground," "the grass green is the awful yellowy pea green that is popular in women's clothing right now."  Anything that would give me total recall of what I'd seen!

When I got back to my studio, I began lightening all the values in my painting starting in the background and continued correcting shapes as I went.   As I moved forward, I decided that I really liked having the contrast and depth of the range of light values in the back to the dark values in front and decided to stick with the more contrasty version that I had created...

Another very helpful tip came from an artist friend smarter than I, she suggested that I would be able to see the brushwork in the original more clearly if I blew up sections of the photo, like this:

Such an obvious solution, but it hadn't occurred to me!  I decided that I was happy with the brushwork I'd already done in the sky, but continued from there paying close attention to Edgar's techniques.  At this point, I was unable to continue painting for over a month, but when I resumed, I began making real progress.

Please forgive any difference in lighting and color in my photographs.  I shot the photos on different days with different weather outside the window and at different times of day, so there is naturally some discrepancy. This last progress shot is a little anemic, despite my editing attempts.

The painting is nearly completed, but still needs some tweaking here and there, and some additional work in the foreground.  Stay tuned.

Copying a Master: Edgar Payne

A couple of months ago, I mentioned in a post that I went through my first spell of artist's block this winter.  I tried everything I could think of to pop myself out of it:  painting a different subject matter, using a different palette of colors, a different style, etc. and finally decided that since nothing seemed to coming out of me that I was happy with, I should take a break from trying to come up with something on my own and use the time to learn something by copying a master painting.  I've never tried this before and the idea was very intimidating!

The painting I picked was one of Edgar Payne's landscapes, "Eucalypti."  I'd always loved this painting because it reminded me of the eucalyptus trees that I grew up near.  I was also planning to see the Edgar Payne exhibit and knew that I'd see the original when it arrived in Tulsa.  Before I saw the original, I started working from a photo of the painting I found in a collection of Payne's work.

I began by deciding that he had basically started with a white canvas and drew directly on the canvas with a brush and burnt sienna.  The canvas is 20 x 24," the same size as the original painting and I did color that canvas (toning it) with a pale wash of the burnt sienna to prevent any unpainted slivers of the glaring white canvas from showing.

After drawing it, I could see that my shapes were "off."  I took a photo of my canvas, and then drew on it in Photoshop to make corrections.  

Having drawn out the necessary changes on the photograph, it was much easier for me to make the corrections in the studio the next day.  You can see that I also starting indicating where the darks and lights would be in the painting.

Then, it was time to start painting!  I had done some research online to learn what colors Edgar generally used on his palette.  Most of them are the basics that most artists use, but there was one that I wasn't familiar with, Van Dyke Brown, and one that I didn't want to run out and buy (Hooker's Green), so I did some research to figure out how to mix those colors using paint that I already had in the studio.  After that, I read that Payne made grays that he mixed in with all his colors and that the grays consisted of different proportions of Ultramarine Blue and Indian Red, with a little Cadmium Yellow added.  

With everything laid out on my palette, I started by blocking in the shapes with the colors and values that I saw peeking out from the paint strokes applied over them.  I discovered that I wasn't able to really see Edgar's brushwork in the photo I was working from, so I was kind of on my own with the sky.  I just did the best I could to get the colors, values and cloud shapes correct.

It was at this point that I was able to see the original painting, and came back from Tulsa with all kinds of information that I needed.  I'll start with that in my next post.

 If you attended the April Art Walk, you may have seen the painting in my studio at just about this stage.  I'll have the completed piece on display at my next open studio, Friday June 7th, from 5 to 8 pm.

Le Danse Study

Nymph Study, 6 x 6 Inches                         Oil

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Starting Bid $40

I visited Paris in 2009 and came down with an awful virus on our second day there.  Seven days in Paris eating saltine crackers and chicken broth. I was sick as a dog, and my wonderful husband dragged me (at my insistence) to all of the art museums that I had dreamed of visiting.  Every museum twice.  My vision was bleary and my mind was mush and I knew at the time it would be a miracle if I remembered anything I saw at all, so I took hundreds of pictures.  I've been sorting through them recently and found some that I took of the sculpture "La Danse" the Musee d'Orsay. 

One of my photos that I'd like to paint includes a grouping of the dancers' faces.  Here is a monochromatic study of one dancer's face.  I'm picturing the future painting as a study in whites.

Devotion

Devotion, 8 x 10 inch, oil on panel        $240

Every time I look at this scruffy face, I laugh!

Arise

Arise, 6 x 6 inch oil                                              $100

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It was a holy moment to see this great bird rise off the water when I was out walking.  Because everything was so blue, it was a challenge to differentiate the blue shadows on the bird from the blue of the water beneath it.

Me and My Shadow

Me and My Shadow             6x8" oil  $150 unframed

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I'm not sure which delighted me more:  seeing the leaves through the glass or discovering the shadow on the wall!

Gentle Nosegay

  

Gentle Nosegay                          5 x 5 oil on canvas panel

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The palette for this piece was chosen based on Edgar Payne's color exploration of the yellow/purple compliments.  In this painting, I used predominantly purple, with yellow mixed into everything, plus white, orange and blue.  I painted it on a red ground.  This painting has a lovely, gentle feeling to it.

Color Relationships

Predominantly Yellow               Predominantly Purple

After  my inspiring trip to the Edgar Payne exhibit in Tulsa, I returned to the studio and cracked open my Payne book on composition.  The book shows some sample exercises on color relationships, particularly on the use of complementary colors.  The first one I've done is Yellow/Purple.  Both of these small studies use the same colors, but in different proportions.  As you can hopefully see above, the study on the left uses more yellow than purple and the study on the right is the reverse, more purple than yellow.  All of the colors contain yellow and purple, with the addition of some orange, white and green.  I then took the same colors and did a floral using more purple than yellow.  My next post will show the result.

A Reason to Smile

 "A Reason to Smile," 8 x 6 in.          Oil on canvas panel.

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http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/127191

My favorite flowers are the simple ones, daisies, daffodils and tulips.  Year after year they return to brighten the world.  My father had a stroke last week and  I've been at a hospital with my mother for several days.  We're far from home in an unfamiliar city and even though my father will recover with lots of hard work, seeing this daffodil reminded me that there are still plenty of reasons to smile.  I hope this brings a smile to you as well.

Happy Spring,   Julie
(For those of you in the Rockies, spring really will arrive, and if not spring, it will be summer!)

Afternoon Blossoms

Afternoon Blossoms, 6 x 6 oil                   $125 framed

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Continuing to think about simplifying my subject, I painted this with my usual palette:  titanium white, cad lemon yellow, cad yellow pale, cad orange, cad red medium, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and pthalo blue.

Morning Bouquet

Morning Bouquet, 6x6" oil                                          $125 framed

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My upcoming posts, starting with this one, will all touch on the experimentation I did during my winter hibernation. 

 I greatly admire the small paintings of Lisa Daria Kennedy and so I spent some time exploring how she works.  She has very strong value patterns, highly simplified forms and mixes soft luminous grays.  I've successfully mixed a lot of her colors, but when I sit down to paint in her style, my own habits and inclinations become part of the mix as well (that's a good thing).  I set this little bouquet in my studio one morning and tried to keep her simplification and grays in mind as I painted it.  It definitely produced a much softer feeling.

Starting bid is $40 for the unframed painting.

It's Spring and the Return of ArtWalk!

Chickadee, 8 x 10," oil                                               $390

I seemed to have gone into hibernation this winter. I've spent lots of time studying and experimenting, but with the advent of Spring, I'm excited to take on some new subjects, colors and styles. One of my study activities was taking a 3 day workshop with Lani Vlaanderen on birds. I've enjoyed painting birds before, but really benefited from Lani's instruction on bird anatomy and colors. I highly recommend taking any course from Lani as she's a terrific artist, teacher and person. I painted "Chickadee" above in her class, and am still working on on a barn owl that I began there.

You can see "Chickadee" (above) at Colorado Expressions here in Colorado Springs. They began representing my work in January, and with their downtown location and stable of excellent artists, I'm very excited to work with them. Stop in to see the big, beautiful gallery. If you can't make it during the week, you can also see them during the Downtown's 1st Friday Art Walks. If you happen to be flying out of Colorado Springs in the near future, you can also see my work in the exhibit that Colorado Expressions has installed there.

And speaking of Art Walk, this Friday, April 5th, Old Colorado City's 2013 season begins. I'll be in my studio from 5 to 8 pm and am looking forward to seeing you after all these months!

David in Sunlight

"David in Sunlight,"  6 x 6 in. oil on canvas     $85

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This small bust of David was a gift from an artist friend, Tim Deibler, who consistently challenges me in my artistic growth.  The bust has been sitting on the sill of my studio window for a year now.  It often begged me to paint it when the sun streamed in, but as a new subject for me, I wasn't sure that I was ready to tackle it.  I finally worked up my courage last week!  I'm happy with the results and plan to try it on a larger scale.

2013: The Early Bird

                                     "The Early Bird," 6 x 6 in.   Oil on canvas panel    $85 

  

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For the first time in many years, I took a painting sabbatical to rest my "art muscles" and to enjoy the holidays with my family.  I've been working steadily and with intense focus for several years now, and after the Studio Tour last November, I realized that my brain and my body needed a break.  Last week, I returned to the studio rested and refreshed and have some fun paintings that I'll be sharing with you.  Here's "The Early Bird" that started me off bright and early!

I'd like to remind everyone that there are two ways to purchase my paintings online:  

Buy It Now   or    Click to Bid

1)  The "Buy It Now" price is posted beneath the painting's photo.  You can either contact me by email, or click on "Buy it Now"  to purchase with PayPal.  When you use "Buy It Now,"  you instantly guarantee that the painting is yours.

2)  The majority of my posted paintings are also available by online auction.  The "Click to Bid" link will take you to Daily Paintworks, an online auction site for artists.  The starting bid on my paintings is currently $35 (unless otherwise noted).  Bidding is in $2 increments.  I'm still building my online following, so these auctions are often a great way to obtain my work at below retail prices.  

Please note that once a bid has been placed on a painting, "Buy It Now" is no longer an option and bidding in the auction becomes the only avenue to purchase that painting.

If you'd like to take a look at my Daily Paintworks gallery and investigate my current auctions on the site, click here.  

Enjoy!

Donut Holes

Donut Holes                   5 x 5 inch oil

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No donut painting series can be complete without donut holes...  At first, painting the glaze of icing on these and the other glazed donuts seemed daunting, but when it came down to it was pretty simple.  The secret is to just paint thinly and only in areas where the glaze was thickest.

Purple, With Sprinkles

Purple, With Sprinkles                  5 x 5 inches

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Donut 5 seemed so out of place at the donut counter--all pastel and purply in the midst of the Christmas reds and greens.  All "Island of Misfit Toys" like...I had to claim her!

Boston Creme

Boston Creme                            5 x 5 in., oil

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The Boston Creme.   Chocolate.  Custard.   Need I say more?

I loved painting the warm browns and highlights of the chocolate frosting.

Jelly Donut

Jelly Donut, oil, 5 x 5 inches

Donut number 3 in the series is a jelly donut.  Looks delicious doesn't it?  Well, let me tell you, it tasted even better than it looks!  5 x 5" may seem like an odd size, but both Hobby Lobby and Aaron Brothers sell 5 x 5" frames.

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White Icing

"White Icing," 5x5 inches         oil

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I'm rolling out the donuts starting this week, so be on the look out for your personal favorite!  These will be great gifts for the donut lovers that you know and also look great framed in sets for yourself.  I have a baker's dozen, and today's offering is a classic white iced donut!  Bidding starts at $30, so don't miss out!