mountains – Page 3 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Somewhere in Ventura County

I have been taking classes from a local teacher and artist, Harvey Cusworth, through a seminar and adult ed classes in oil painting. He is an experienced teacher and one who pays attention to each student, gives good suggestions and advice. Additionally, he is an experienced teacher which, in my opinion, adds a lot of value to a class as he is very aware of how a classroom of unruly kids or adults can act!

In the seminar we started landscapes, but because of getting sick, I missed two of the classes along with a number of adult ed classes. I decided to continue into the adult ed class the landscape I had started in the seminar just because I thought it challenging but also something I wanted to paint – a landscape from the back country here in Ventura County.

First: my final (as of this writing) version of the painting.

And now, it’s evolution. First, Harvey’s photo which was the subject matter – in color and then reduced to black and white to get a sense of values.

Next, my own rather goofy value study, painted in color and then reduced into black and white.

This painting is done in oils, and has taken me several hours over several days to complete it. Even now, I have to let it sit and dry and regard it a bit more carefully to see what I think of it. As it is still wet I took a photo of it, and in places there is some glare, seen more clearly when enlarged. 11×14 on a cotton canvas panel.

As above, I like to see what my work looks like when turned to black and white – for values. Also, it is just fun to do! I just use the sliders in LR to reduce vibrancy and saturation reduced to -100. Doing this is really a good way fro me to evaluate contrast and such.

*Final painting in color and black and white*

So, there we are. In general, I am pretty pleased with this painting. The goal is to lead the eye along the creek to the small stand of tree at the top of the creek. I wanted to show the brightness of the barren mountains in the distance, but did not want them to become overwhelming. The BW image of the final painting shows that the mountains are very similar in value as the sky. Is this an issue? Not sure. Things like this are to be considered in a few days when it is no longer in front of me.

Now, on to other things, like cleaning my brushes . . .

Big Sur, Looking South

Big Sur along the California coast is an incredibly beautiful bit of the state – at once wildly beautiful, in many ways easily accessible along Hwy 1, but delicate, too, as it is easily destroyed by heavy rains creating mudslides. Parts of it are rugged with mountains rising up and coming down into the Pacific Ocean. Hwy 1 skirts along, and it is always best to be the passenger so you can enjoy the wonderful views.

From where I live, you drive north, past Santa Barbara and then veer off on the 101 in an area marked on the map as Las Cruces. You could continue up the 101 up to San Luis Obispo, cutting west toward Morro Bay and then along the coast. Before you get deep into Big Sur, the mountains are toward the east, and there is a coastal plain. Slowly the landscape changes as the flatter areas disappear and the mountains move ever closer.

The entire drive is a delight. Coastal fog may drift in and out, and no matter where you look, the beauty is breathtaking. I have tried to catch this in the distance and along the horizon. The Canson XL paper is nice to paint on, and I used Gamblin Galkyd gel to speed up the drying time, but it sat in the garage this past week so I could ignore it and look at life away from the studio. Getting some time away from a painting is always a good thing as eyes are fresh upon the return. I was pleased with what I saw, and so scanned it, and present it to you for your viewing.

Painted on 11×14 Canson XL Acrylic / Oil Paper, about 10×10.

Snowy Pines Road – Rectangular or Square?

Another afternoon, another bit of time, another gouache. Today, since we are in December, it is time to visit mythological scenes of snow and cold as today we had 70+ F, and tomorrow more of the same with the possibility of fires because of the winds.

I am also in a bit of a dilemma – are the trees too heavy on the left hand side of the painting, or should they be reduced a bit in volume? The only way to do this is to crop the picture, so I did it in Lightroom.

Or is the square one a better painting?

I am rather torn. So, a slide show to compare them side by side. Drag the <> as far as you can left to right if you want to see them . . .

Your thoughts??

Sunflower Field

Yesterday I posted some of my paintings and a master copy of Khan’s Ground Fog to practice using large, simplified swaths of color to create abstractions of landscapes.

I like abstraction and simplification of things in paintings, but pure abstraction seldom attracts me. Recognition of whatever a painting is trying to depict seems to be essential for me to want to look at a painting, but as I study colorism / colorfield / abstract expressionism more, I find that sometimes pure color by itself can be enticing. I used to detest Rothko’s work, but now I am finding it quite entrancing as I appreciate the subtle qualities of color, and colors adjacent to one another, a lot more.

With this in mind, along with observing the work of Wolf Kahn, Richard Mayhew, Hashim Akib, and Andrew Faulkner, I painted this field of sunflowers.

I started out with big color fields for the sky, trees, and sunflower field using the basic colors of blue (sky), dark green (trees), and yellow and green (sunflower field). From there, I really worked to keep the foreground simple enough as the treeline, mountains, and sky do not beg for detail.

Initially I wanted to paint dots to represent the center of the sunflowers, but in the mindset of color planes, I didn’t. It paid off, but I was still not happy with how the sunflowers and foreground areas looked. Thus, some dabs – but bigger ones, brush strokes instead of dabs to be more accurate. Negative painting, too, and straight lines to represent the sunflower stalks. The buildings and poles were added at the end to add interest to a very horizontally oriented painting.

I am quite pleased with this painting. Goals were accomplished and my own style emerged here. I also did a lot of thinking about colors, how to paint a straight telephone pole (put a card down and run the paint brush along the edge), atmospheric perspective. Simplifying was difficult, but the broad swaths of color with variations within worked. In short, I have a bit of an abstract landscape in which the subject matter is recognizable, but not realistic. If I want a photographic rendition of something, I’ll just take a picture with my camera!

Haystack Rock

More of the northern coast along the Pacific Ocean. Here, Cannon Beach in Oregon, possibly one of the most dramatic beaches I have ever seen. Sea stacks, tide pools, sand, mist and fog. When the fog lifts and the sky brightens, there is a glare that cannot be explained. It’s not a summer day brightness as we have in SoCal, but a brightness that is cold but not like on a snowy day. There is a lot of moisture in the air, from sea and fog, and perhaps that is what magnifies the light to such a degree.

If you look closely, you will see some of my ink bled into the paint. I used my iron gall in, not my waterproof micron pens, and a stub nib to draw. From there, I wet the sky, dropped in colors, and then let things dry to dampness. I wanted to create soft edges for the mist in the distance which blurs and softens edges. The rocks themselves were painted wet-in-wet initially, and then other colors applied to either dry or damp paper. The sand and the rivulets were painted in the same manner. In the end, I drew again with my iron gall ink to add texture or detail.

Keeping this sketchbook is so much fun! I have room to paint as the sheets are big, the paper is strong so I can use both sides, and I can paint with a lot of water should I wish. It is proving to be one of the best decisions I have made of late!