Still Standing II (6"x6")

It seems that both my dd Kim and sil Stephanie each left a bit of her heart on the West Coast of the West Coast. So, to keep the family peace, I agreed to paint another little scraggly tree as viewed from Pacific Rim National Park. Kim gets to pick which she wants.... She was, as she pointed out, with me when we spotted this tree. The other I will mail to Stephanie in Wausau, Wisconsin (home of the Woodson Art Museum).
Here's my second try at the little twisted pine. This time I toned down the sky by using warm ultramarine blue instead of cool pthalo blue. The tree has just a bit less foliage and I like that. However, my first attempt is, in my opinion, wilder and reflects the mood I was in when I painted it (see July 23rd post). Six of one, half dozen of the other.... Enjoy!

Still Standing (6"x6")

Late this afternoon I was driving home from a meeting that I found very... long. For some reason the memory of this "survivor" tree came to mind and I decided to make a quick painting of it for a bit of an outlet tonight. This particular tree grew way up high on the west coast of the west coast... Ucluelet, British Columbia to be exact. The winds howl, the rain beats down, and this little tree just goes about the business of growing. It's growing where it's planted... which is all we're asked to do. Often we don't chose the place and circumstances that we find ourselves in and we just have to do the best we can and keep growing. Painting this was a good little exercise for me tonight.

Have a great night!

Sheep and negatve painting

The painting of the sheep is done... for now. I’ll be tweaking a few things on this painting before I sign it. This is normal for me – most of my paintings are at about 90% done when I park them on the wall or my table. If I knew what I wanted to do it would be simple. Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and I’ll know, but probably not. I used to push until I finished TOTALLY – something I learned to do as an accountant. But, I don’t have to do that with paintings. I can let the back of my brain think about this while I do something else. This has been a huge learning for me – it’s true about paintings (for me anyways) and it’s true about life. I’m much more relaxed knowing that everything does not have to be finished today. And it’s a good thing too because sometimes life isn’t predictable, is it?

As I said yesterday, I want to make a bigger version of this painting sometime soon. I’ll take what I’ve learned on this little painting and, I hope, apply it on the larger one. Look for it here over the next weeks.

For those interested in the “how-to” this is what I did today... I painted the backs and rumps of the sheep by painting either the grass or the dark bits of the sheep body behind them. This is called negative painting... There are a few terms that I use in my posts that require definition. “Negative painting” is one of them. And no, it does NOT mean painting with a bad attitude. I had a hard time with this concept (maybe just me?). It’s as simple as this: the leaves on the left are positive and those on the right are negative. I painted the left leaves positively. Those on the right I painted around and I defined them by what I left white. We end up painting around lots of things to make them show up. Today I painted around grass and around sheep. I also dry brushed (dry paint onto dry paper) some grass areas in front of the sheep. And, that’s a wrap... I'll be sure to post the absolute final painting... but now I must get back to trees.

Plein Aire painting & Sorrento III (12"x12")

This afternoon I met Sharon Williams (see http://sharonlynnwilliams.blogspot.com/) at Lloyd Park just south of Calgary and we painted. I learned something very important... there is no substitute for painting outside or, as painters say, en plein aire! No books, photos, magnifying glass, etc. Just your own eyes to take in all the shapes and colors of the great outdoors. What to paint? Good question - at Lloyd park you could go every day and paint something new. Trees, water, reeds, birds, farm yard and/or fields in bright greens and yellows, rolling foothill slopes... and more.

It was a gorgeous day with enough breeze and repellant to keep the bugs at bay. The birds number in the thousands there and they made a lovely, relaxing din for background music. This was all good... and then I realized that I can't paint trees! Furthermore, when I look back on my paintings I think I have actually been avoiding trees as subjects. So you can guess what I'm going to be working on - trees, trees, trees. And from life too... not photos.

If you are interested in learning more about plein aire painting click on the link below and/or check back here over the summer and follow my progress up close and personal. I plan to paint lots of real life trees and landscape in general this summer and fall.
http://painting.about.com/od/landscapes/a/plein_air_paint.htm


Now for today's painting - as promised yesterday I finished Sorrento III (aka "The Last"). This has been a tough painting to work on because it has been 15 months since I took the reference photo and, as discussed above, painting en plein aire provides more energy and more information. I know I'll have another chance to paint this view and I'm excited to do that - some day. For now, this is it... movin' on, etc.

I like this painting better than the one I posted yesterday because it reminds me strongly of the 3 days I spent there with Elaine in April 2007. The values (dark to light) are close to what we saw that day. It was a day from heaven (if you don't count the contractor woes). The sky swirled above and reflected deeper color on the water-mirror of Shuswap Lake. It was a GORGEOUS April day!!! I'm willing to bet there would be at least 20 boats in the photo if you snapped it today - maybe more. It's a busy place in the summer but April was very, very quiet. I felt like painting it on the spot but unfortunately we were heading home to Calgary and the photo had to suffice. Paintings are successes if they bring you back immediately to that day in your life, to the light on the lake and the company of friends. This one does that for me... I hope it does it for Elaine too.

I leave you with a favourite quote: "Happy are the painters, for they shall not be lonely. Light and colour, peace and hope, will keep them company to the end, or almost to the end, of the day." Sir Winston Churchill, from his essay "Painting as a Pastime" which he published in his book Amid These Storms in 1932.

Sorrento II (12"x12")

I snapped the reference photo for this painting in April 2007. What a gorgeous view over the lake that day!!! Absolutely no waves, nothing breaking up the huge heavenly mirror that morning. I was surprised at the brilliance of the color reflected in the water. That said, I don't think it was quite this bright. So, I'm half done Sorrento III and I should have that for your comparison tomorrow. I do believe I will like it better as it is just a bit calmer and less hectic than this one.

Speaking of less hectic, my daughter Candice and her girls Kiera (4) and Kalista (2) are off on their Japanese adventure tomorrow. I wish them well and we will miss being in the same time zone and within 4 hours travel time - sigh. They visited last week and things around this house have definitely been less hectic since then. I've had time to paint and read and think about the fact that the girls and I got in only one painting session.

Until next time...