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Wings Over Winecountry, Colleen's place (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter colleenc
- Start date
colleenc
Well-known member
can't believe it, I fell off the first page first time in a year...I've been doing a lot of plein air, which I'm really making a mess of, and landscape, deep in my obsessional studies like when I started birds...I am still drawing them when I can and have so many paintings I'd like to do, but my landscape skills need a lot more to do them justice.
Yesterday went to a local patch and had a sunset picnic with a friend...and lucked into a sight at the very end that was so magical....one one side was a great blue, see sketches....and about 100yds up was a flock of over 50 snowys
not up drawing that so see photos, and right at the last light they all took off, now one day I will paint that...tk heavens for cameras could not have sketched this, maybe Busby could
I have 4 commissions right now,( dogs and cats, which I love and this is what I want to have, some paid work that will help support me) the most I've ever had at one time....so won't be doing birds or landscapes for a bit, except to keep warmed up.
I still check in tho and drool over all the great art here...
Yesterday went to a local patch and had a sunset picnic with a friend...and lucked into a sight at the very end that was so magical....one one side was a great blue, see sketches....and about 100yds up was a flock of over 50 snowys
not up drawing that so see photos, and right at the last light they all took off, now one day I will paint that...tk heavens for cameras could not have sketched this, maybe Busby could
I have 4 commissions right now,( dogs and cats, which I love and this is what I want to have, some paid work that will help support me) the most I've ever had at one time....so won't be doing birds or landscapes for a bit, except to keep warmed up.
I still check in tho and drool over all the great art here...
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RussB
Going for Gold
Mmmmm, Great Blue Heron captured marvellously, here, Colleen. If there anything like Grey Heron, which they are, but bigger, they throw all sorts of weird and wonderful shapes with that neck. The preening bird is doing such, and this has been very accurately rendered. Lovely.
Russ
Russ
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Lively herons and a beautiful photo.
timwootton
Well-known member
Smart work, as usual, Colleen. Do we get to see any of the plein airs at all?????? (especially as I don't 'do' WC anymore, since they decided to cut down the subforum original view down to about three threads)
Woody
Well-known member
Oh go on Colleen! I posted my meagre efforts and, as I said before, I'll bet yours out do mine by a long strip.
For me the plein air landscapes are about the process, not the result, in much the same way as the flash paintings. I enjoy doing them and I'm not trying to please anyone but myself with the results, that's very liberating.
Mike
colleenc
Well-known member
OK Mike, hope you can give me some hints too if I post this stuff....
Someone good landscape painter said "you have to do at least a 120 bad paintings before you start to get the hang of plein air " so I'm on my way...here are a few, most are gone either binned or painted over, but the last few have started to look like something....it seems the big thing is to leave out most everything that distracts from whatever caught your eye, and to mass the values in the right place and keep it simple...
John Carlson's little book written in 1910 was the biggest help, his maxim is
the first one is 2 cedar trees right outside my cottage...the rest are all from the place I've been going lately Laguna de Santa Rosa, a flood plain for the Russian River. I kept painting the same places over and over, trying to figure out all the stuff I read and apply it..
Also did some in oil, some pastel and some in acrylics, trying to get something that felt right and was simple...Just got a small set of Golden Opens...and think that might be the way to go...Interactives dry too fast and get dull when dry...tried watercolor too.
I've done about 45 small works so far so that leaves 75 to go:eat: Most of these are 20min, the golden one is about an hour...I premixed my main color before I went out, that helped a lot as this light only lasts about 20 min.
Someone good landscape painter said "you have to do at least a 120 bad paintings before you start to get the hang of plein air " so I'm on my way...here are a few, most are gone either binned or painted over, but the last few have started to look like something....it seems the big thing is to leave out most everything that distracts from whatever caught your eye, and to mass the values in the right place and keep it simple...
John Carlson's little book written in 1910 was the biggest help, his maxim is
( except for unusual conditons) all based on how they stand in relation to light, trees darkest cause they are upright, mts next they slant and catch more light, ground next lightest to sky. Seeing things in this way helps to figure out the vaules which was really throwing me off....his book is really good and cheap too, is the thing that gave me some direction to start.
the first one is 2 cedar trees right outside my cottage...the rest are all from the place I've been going lately Laguna de Santa Rosa, a flood plain for the Russian River. I kept painting the same places over and over, trying to figure out all the stuff I read and apply it..
Also did some in oil, some pastel and some in acrylics, trying to get something that felt right and was simple...Just got a small set of Golden Opens...and think that might be the way to go...Interactives dry too fast and get dull when dry...tried watercolor too.
I've done about 45 small works so far so that leaves 75 to go:eat: Most of these are 20min, the golden one is about an hour...I premixed my main color before I went out, that helped a lot as this light only lasts about 20 min.
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solitaryVSong
Well-known member
These strike me as great! I know from my few attempts at landscapes that it's easy for them to become muddy messes of amorphous color and shape. These have distinct colors and values, recognizable shapes, the sense of space and interesting composition. I'd say all in all that they are tremendously successful for plein air being so new to you.
They are also fresh and free, two things that can disappear so quickly. I was reminded of this recently when I passed some plein air students near where I often bird. All of their paintings were stiff. These aren't at all. And I think I've seen the largest color range I think I've ever seen in your work, esp. #s 3 and 4.
If this is just the beginning we should all be in for a treat when they get more developed.
They are also fresh and free, two things that can disappear so quickly. I was reminded of this recently when I passed some plein air students near where I often bird. All of their paintings were stiff. These aren't at all. And I think I've seen the largest color range I think I've ever seen in your work, esp. #s 3 and 4.
If this is just the beginning we should all be in for a treat when they get more developed.
Woody
Well-known member
The first and the last are the winners here.
The first one, of the cedars, is simple and direct, without unnecessary detail, just concentrates on the shape and form of the trees, love it.
The second, the pastel one, I think is probably the weakest of the four. Perhaps it's the medium which doesn't appeal to me personally but it's certainly valid to have a crack at all avenues that way you get to know what does and doesn't work and it's a learning process after all.
The third one falls somewhere between the two stools.To me there's not enough detail to be a detailed piece but too much to be a simplified piece. It's always tempting to put in a bit more detail if you have the time and real estate but it looks like you've fallen into the same trap that I do somethimes and used one size brush for the whole thing and where you've gone for individual leaves or grass it hasn't quite hit the mark. Also the trees feel as though they're lacking a bit of authenticity? Could be a case of painting more of what you think and less of what you see?
The fourth, 'golden' one is the best of the bunch. It's got colour, depth and, most importantly, atmosphere. You've caught the light by realising that the shadows are not too strong in the diffuse light but they are still darker in the foreground and the distance is knocked back a tone or three. I really like this one and I suspect you feel it's the strongest too.
What size are you working with? I deliberately use smaller sized boards (6"x4") for the quicker ones and I use a half inch brush which forces me to simplify things down to the basics and it's my smallest ones that I think work the best for me.
I'll bet you're like me in that you get really frustrated with the whole process and wonder how other artists get the results they do but then once in a while you see a brush stroke or an effect in your own stuff and think 'that's what I wanted'. And that's the fun of discovery and learning that comes with a new challenge which is why we challenge ourselves in the first place!
Keep on plugging away, from the look of these it's going to be worth it!
Mike
The first one, of the cedars, is simple and direct, without unnecessary detail, just concentrates on the shape and form of the trees, love it.
The second, the pastel one, I think is probably the weakest of the four. Perhaps it's the medium which doesn't appeal to me personally but it's certainly valid to have a crack at all avenues that way you get to know what does and doesn't work and it's a learning process after all.
The third one falls somewhere between the two stools.To me there's not enough detail to be a detailed piece but too much to be a simplified piece. It's always tempting to put in a bit more detail if you have the time and real estate but it looks like you've fallen into the same trap that I do somethimes and used one size brush for the whole thing and where you've gone for individual leaves or grass it hasn't quite hit the mark. Also the trees feel as though they're lacking a bit of authenticity? Could be a case of painting more of what you think and less of what you see?
The fourth, 'golden' one is the best of the bunch. It's got colour, depth and, most importantly, atmosphere. You've caught the light by realising that the shadows are not too strong in the diffuse light but they are still darker in the foreground and the distance is knocked back a tone or three. I really like this one and I suspect you feel it's the strongest too.
What size are you working with? I deliberately use smaller sized boards (6"x4") for the quicker ones and I use a half inch brush which forces me to simplify things down to the basics and it's my smallest ones that I think work the best for me.
I'll bet you're like me in that you get really frustrated with the whole process and wonder how other artists get the results they do but then once in a while you see a brush stroke or an effect in your own stuff and think 'that's what I wanted'. And that's the fun of discovery and learning that comes with a new challenge which is why we challenge ourselves in the first place!
Keep on plugging away, from the look of these it's going to be worth it!
Mike
colleenc
Well-known member
First, thanks for the encouragement...and in a way there is a cheat here....these are the 4th or 5th try at the same place at the same time of day....the only way I could figure out to practice....the last one is the best, because I finally got the" simplify" thing right and left out a bunch of stuff that is in the previous one which is exactly the same spot! ...Also by now I've done abut 40 trees( working on 100) and they are starting to come a bit.
I always thought if I learned to paint I could paint anything...what I find is each sub genre, birds, landscsape, figure, even each animal takes separate study, and each has it's own kind of special knowledge needed. Most of this is not taught anymore, so that's why I keep going back to the last of the great skilled teachers of the eras past.
An earlier work, like all beginners thinking I have to paint what's in front of me, so too much stuff, earlier in my tree work too, stiff and havent' figured out sky holes and edges. Yes one brush, so I'll take two next time.
yes, this one is after my reading Carlson Landscape book, and being at that spot 4-5 times and watching the light....I think this is a key for me...I don't seem to really "see" until I've been there a few times....guess that will leave me out of the current trend for Paint Out competitions. The other element in this is my study of the Tonalist painters....and to achieve this I premixed one pile of paint that was the color of the light, and used that color in every part, making it cooler or warmer lighter or darker as needed....that way there is instant harmony, and I could just really concentrate on value, the key to it all
exactly right! Thanks Mike that's a help
after another 75 bad paintings I should have a handle on this, even if I'm never a total plein air person, my backgrounds should work better, and capturing something on site will add loads to my studio work...esp to see the amazing light effects that no camera can capture. Not to mention it's just nice to be out there...
I always thought if I learned to paint I could paint anything...what I find is each sub genre, birds, landscsape, figure, even each animal takes separate study, and each has it's own kind of special knowledge needed. Most of this is not taught anymore, so that's why I keep going back to the last of the great skilled teachers of the eras past.
right, so many binned on those trees until this one...they are in a line across the back of the pasture, planted the same time, and all the same size, standing like soldiers next to each other.
I will have to really try on the pastel, it is harder because you have to have the right color and can't mix like oils or acrylic....I dont, have a big box with me in the field so it's even worse. Also this is a strange scene, that red weed is really that red at sunset, but no one would believe it....learning to stay away from the really different things right now.. I think the pastel will work for quick sketches, but watercolor is just as good and easier to take...Probably after I learn from painting I'll be able to apply to pastel, and I will need a "landscape" set.
An earlier work, like all beginners thinking I have to paint what's in front of me, so too much stuff, earlier in my tree work too, stiff and havent' figured out sky holes and edges. Yes one brush, so I'll take two next time.
yes, this one is after my reading Carlson Landscape book, and being at that spot 4-5 times and watching the light....I think this is a key for me...I don't seem to really "see" until I've been there a few times....guess that will leave me out of the current trend for Paint Out competitions. The other element in this is my study of the Tonalist painters....and to achieve this I premixed one pile of paint that was the color of the light, and used that color in every part, making it cooler or warmer lighter or darker as needed....that way there is instant harmony, and I could just really concentrate on value, the key to it all
6x8 and 8x10 1/2"brush
exactly right! Thanks Mike that's a help
after another 75 bad paintings I should have a handle on this, even if I'm never a total plein air person, my backgrounds should work better, and capturing something on site will add loads to my studio work...esp to see the amazing light effects that no camera can capture. Not to mention it's just nice to be out there...
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colleenc
Well-known member
played hookey from one of the commissions today to do this....still plein air stuff but from a sketch at home and a photo I took...the egrets flying at this last light seem to glow they are almost neon against the dark brush and trees...no way did I get that...but did get one wing warm and one cool...tress are still a mess...but the trunks are looking better. Bird is only 1" in size....should leave that stuff to Matty.
6x9 pastel on sanded surface. photographed on the ground, a bit of weed sticking up in front.
6x9 pastel on sanded surface. photographed on the ground, a bit of weed sticking up in front.
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phil baber
artist for birds
Monet and Renoir would have been best pleased!
Beautiful and lovely Colleen!
Beautiful and lovely Colleen!
solitaryVSong
Well-known member
Looks good Colleen, though I have to say I thought the weeds were painted in! I think that the periwinkle blue in lower left that has minor echoes throughout really helps it sparkle. Personally I'd like to see more of these.
colleenc
Well-known member
Every night at the laguna, a huge group of egrets come to rest and get the last of the sun...this is a plein air, I fixed a bit at home 6x8....so no room to do birds just white blobs....couldn't figure out the water colors ...and didn't get the fog bank and sky the right values either.
sorry forgot the pic
oil 6x8
sorry forgot the pic
oil 6x8
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timwootton
Well-known member
These are terrific Colleen - very exciting indeed.
I know you probably already know of Bill Cone, but just in case here's a link to his blog which features on my own 'inspirational' list;
http://billcone.blogspot.com/
He is also a fellow pastelphile and I thought you may enjoy his approach.
Anyone who's seen Shrek, ToyStory etc will also be pretty familiar with his work and his influence . . .
I know you probably already know of Bill Cone, but just in case here's a link to his blog which features on my own 'inspirational' list;
http://billcone.blogspot.com/
He is also a fellow pastelphile and I thought you may enjoy his approach.
Anyone who's seen Shrek, ToyStory etc will also be pretty familiar with his work and his influence . . .
