Tangled up in green

I may have gone off the deep end with this one. I'm trying to break down a tangle of vines without getting overwhelmed by the mass of potential details.

So I've resorted to masking fluid (didn't I recently write that I didn't like using it?) to assist me in my task.

I've painted lighter areas of leaves, masked out shapes within those areas, and returned (when dry) to add darker values. Mask again, wait, and repeat with a darker wash. And repeat again.

At this point, the painting reeks of latex and ammonia, and I'm wondering what things actually look like under all that gooey masking fluid.

Stay tuned!

Repetitions

As I mentioned in a post a while back, I was able to see the Van Gogh exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. called "Repetitions," which examined several series of Van Gogh paintings where he completed the same composition multiple times.

It was enlightening to see multiple versions of the same composition and to note the changes that he made in subsequent versions. In general, I found that I preferred the earliest versions of his "Repetitions" because they seemed fresher and more energetic.

My friends Roger and Clare took me the Van Gogh exhibition, and at one point while we were looking at a piece Clare asked if I had ever done multiple versions of the same composition. I replied that I had, but usually it was because I felt that the first attempt was a failure, and that I wanted to try again and improve upon it.

Well -  little did I know that I would have a chance to emulate the great Van Gogh -- and not because I thought my first painting was a failure.

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The painting I did before Christmas, "Winter Whites," was done in a single day (amazing) and I really liked how subtle, yet colorful, the painting was. My winter scenes are often very neutral or cool (all that ultramarine blue and burnt sienna!). This painting had wonderful touches of piney greens and hazy purples....I really enjoyed looking at it. I liked it so much that I used it on my Christmas cards.

"Winter Whites" - 12x12

On Christmas Eve, I returned from work to find a message on my answering machine from my friend Mary. She had received one of my cards, and she wanted to buy the painting.

This welcome news had a downside, however. I am working on paintings for my solo show this summer, and this was to be one of the pieces for the exhibit. But I also did not want to disappoint Mary, so I decided that I would do a second painting of the scene, at a different size, so she could have the first version, and I would still have a painting for my show.

Thus was born "Snowfall," which turned out to be a very different painting, and that divide intrigues me.

"Snowfall" - 15x15

Overall, I think this painting is much more lightly valued and cooler in tone. There is also a higher degree of finish in parts of the foreground, particularly in the foliage around the house.

I made a point of not looking at the first painting while working on the second. I wanted it to stand on its own merits, but the act of having painted the scene once before certainly affected me.

As was the case in the Van Gogh exhibit, I like the first version better. I think it's fresher and takes advantage of the impetuous and unexpected characteristics of the watercolor medium. The second feels more measured and quiet. I like it as well, but in style and atmosphere and mood it bears little resemblance to the first.

I would be interested to know what others think in comparing the two. And does anyone else engage in "Repetitions"?

Tamarack website

I am a member of the Dickirson Gallery at Tamarack in Beckley, and the Tamarack Artisan Foundation has recently unveiled its new website, www.TamarackFoundation.org.

An important feature of the new website is an interactive artisan directory that includes a search mechanism to find artists by name, geographic location, medium, open studio policy, county, town, etc.

Visit the website at www.TamarackFoundation.org.

Pink Sugar

"Pink Sugar" - 5"x5"

So here is the finished version of my annual commission for my friend. I did a lot of work to develop the details of the butterfly, and, even though I loved the hard contrasts in the Zinnia's petals, I decided that I had to knock it back a bit so it wouldn't compete with the butterfly too much. So I think the brightly lit area at the top of the wings is the point of entry now, with lots of places to explore within the composition.

The other significant change was the pink blob toward the bottom. It kept getting in the way, I decided. To fulfill one of the "rules" listed in my previous post (little to no detail beyond the subject) it had to go. So the area was scrubbed and dark greens dropped in. I think that change helped things immensely.

And I'm happy to report that my friend was pleased with her painting!

Butterfly commission

Each January I have a "commission" from a friend and co-worker. I put the word commission in quotation marks because she allows me to choose the subject of the painting, so I have freedom in this project that most commissions would not normally afford.

I keep her paintings within the parameters of floral subjects, with a couple of still life compositions thrown in. We counted up this year, and she now has six of my pieces, five of them being original paintings (one is a print because the original that she wanted had already sold by the time she saw it. Since then, I paint works just for her each January to ensure that she gets the original).

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I must give credit to my mother for the inspiration of this project. She grows many, many flowers around her house, through all seasons. She now has a nice camera that she's been using to capture the fleeting glory of her blooms.

In this case, a large Tiger Swallowtail had taken up residence among a group of pink Zinnias, and the butterfly had no intentions of leaving his post while mom snapped photographs. So she has several closeups of blooms with the butterfly hard at work extracting sweet gifts. I saw the images, and immediately thought of my commission project.

That said, I still had some lessons to learn from this project. I initially started out with another idea -- with an image that had multiple blooms and I liked the idea of using the blooms to lead the eye around the piece. However, this is a small painting (only 5x5), and once I got into it, I realized that there was more in the composition that the space could easily accommodate. So that painting was halted mid-stream, and I went back to the drawing board, literally.

I thought about the paintings that I see other accomplished floral painters create, and I decided there were essential elements to making these compositions work, particularly when the painting is quite small.

1. Tight focus on a primary subject
2. Little to no detail beyond the subject
3. Extreme value contrasts
4. Dramatic lighting

With these "rules" in mind, I settled on a new image, mostly because I liked the little shadows some petals cast on the petals below. I thought that, plus the glow of light through the butterfly's wing, added the "dramatic" element, as well as helped with the value contrasts. I then cropped tightly on the subject and ignored all the background elements.

At this point, the painting is close to finished, but I have work yet to do with the butterfly. Stay tuned for the final product!

Turn of Fortune

"Turn of Fortune" - 15"x15"

I finally finished my painting in progress, so with two completed works, I set up the umbrella lights to photograph "Turn of Fortune." I'm so glad to finally share this one since I am still pleased with how it came out.

The subject, as you might be able to tell now, is part of the impressive mechanism that makes up a massive bank vault door. This vault was installed decades ago, when it was still important to visually impress the banking public. Vault doors in more modern bank buildings are downright boring in comparison...so I'm glad to see this shiny monster in action.

As I explained in an earlier blog post, the hard work with this painting was in the early going....huge wet washes running all over the place and every time I would try to adjust something I'd end up with blooms and backruns intruding in areas that I thought were finished. Stressful indeed.

I understand why there is so much movement toward the "pouring" concept in watercolor -- huge areas can be evenly covered with pigment with little worry about blooms and backruns because large sections are methodically protected by sections and layers of masking fluid. To see the final results of the pouring method, check out a section of Leslie Redhead's blog that features her poured watercolor works: http://leslieredheadart.blogspot.com/p/poured-watercolors.html

As you can see from Leslie's work, the results can be stunning, with deep contrasts and luminous passages. I considered that method as a way of attacking this subject, in fact. But I really don't like using masking fluid - mostly because I'm lazy and I don't like the mess. So after much thought,  I only used masking for the bright little highlights in this painting, and took my rubs as I fought to keep my washes in check with large flat brushes.

In this case, I think the fight was worth it.

Our Wheel of Fortune

Since this painting is too large for me to easily scan and assemble on my little flatbed scanner (scan area of 8.5x11), I have to photograph it, which requires setting up umbrella light stands, etc. And that requires moving most of the furniture in my small room. So the final image for this painting will have to wait for a while....hopefully when I have another painting or so finished, so I can make the most of the elaborate lighting setup.

So, I snapped some really awful photos with my cell phone camera, and tried to do a rough color adjustment on them...but the tones are really off and are washed out. So I'll have to content myself with posting these little snippets of the final painting for now. Let's say that I am pleased with the final product.

Progress

Things are still developing with the new painting. I think I will have to take a lot of time to develop the reflections in a realistic manner.

Most of my attention at the moment is focused on balancing the overall values. There are lots of areas in this composition that have the potential to attract too much attention, especially with all the bright, reflective highlights. So I'm working on tamping down the contrasts in the less important areas.

I've got an army of brushes at work....I'm using the RS White Sable flats, and my usual synthetic rounds, but I've also got three Princeton Neptune brushes at work. They are made with "synthetic squirrel," and they allow me to go back into areas without disturbing the underlying washes. They also are a huge help in blending.

Heavy metal

I am steadily working on my current project. I'll hold off identifying the subject right now, but I think it might be familiar to some. I think it's an unusual subject, and it's one that I've contemplated doing for some time. The demands of the Wardensville series has finally pushed me to it!

This is my largest painting this year...15x15...and doing these big, wet washes has been a challenge. I think that's why I avoid larger works. It takes a lot of concentration to keep things under control when you have washes running all over the place. This size requires the use of large, flat brushes, which hold more pigment (and more water!).

That's where I often make a mess of things, because I'll try to "fix" something, and then a massive bloom will erupt, and then I'll mess up all sorts of other areas to "fix" the solution to my first "fix," and then it spirals out of control. Agh! Then I swear off big brushes and return to my little paintings for a while.

But, in this case, so far so good. I'm finished with the big areas, so I can concentrate on developing the forms.

I'm working essentially with three colors - a cool blue and cool yellow, and a warm red. I like the neutrals produced by this mix.

"Winter Whites"

"Winter Whites" - 12"x12"

Merry Christmas!

I am pleased with the painting that I used for my Christmas cards this year. Normally I use a tiny little painting that's no larger than the image size that ends up on my 5x7 cards. This year, I tried something very different, and painted a large painting, 12x12.

I also used some different techniques - namely in reserving some of the whites. I have done a very limited experiment in the past with white crayons to reserve an area of whites, and I don't think it worked very well because of the opaque nature of the white crayon.

This time, I got a pack of clear wax crayons specifically designed for use with artists' materials, and that's what's reserving most of the white areas of the snow-covered foliage on the embankment above the roadway. There's a bit of that treatment in the background trees above the house as well.

Most of the foreground snowbank is made of areas that I painted around with a large brush, as is the snow-covered roof of the house. In fact, I used no masking fluid anywhere on this painting, which is a first for any of my snowy scenes.

Other lighter areas were created by dropping water into fresh paint, which created lovely blossom effects (good for lacy bits of vegetation). I really wanted a loose feel with this painting, and I think I managed that. I really feel that I am fussing far too much on some paintings, and it's sapping vitality from the final product.

I felt reinforced in that belief a few weeks ago after seeing the new Van Gogh exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. called "Repetitions," which examines Van Gogh paintings where he completed the same composition multiple times. Generally, I always felt that I preferred the earliest versions of these series because they seemed fresher and more energetic.

I'm also pleased that multiple people have correctly recognized the location of this painting, even though I have changed elements to improve the composition. That indicates that I've got the essence of the scene, with minimal hand-wringing. I'll call that a success!