The Green Leaves of Summer

16x20 oil on canvas

I've had a good run the past few days, with plenty of time for painting, few distractions, and the turn into autumn to spur me on to capture what I can of this fading light.  I've decided to name this painting "The Green Leaves of Summer" because when I shared it with a friend in Carmel Valley, he said it made him think of this: http://youtu.be/1BRqA3DSmpc  Now I can't get it out of my head!

In analyzing this one, I find that there is something about it that appeals to me, and I think it might be that cobalt in the sky in conjunction with the soft greens of the field.  The photo distorts the values somewhat, and the copse of trees on the right is not quite that dark, but the composition does seem to be off balance, though that may be part of what gives the rest of the painting the sense of space.  There is nothing unique about the thing; in fact it feels like I am turning back to old habits of painting what I think a landscape should look like.  But it is honest, too, and came from a quick snapshot I took while driving through the Oregon countryside on my way somewhere in the Willamette Valley.

I spent a little time in the garage yesterday cutting up some scrap 1/4" plywood to make painting panels, and now I have about forty of them in various smaller sizes up to 11x14.  I feel like I am storing up for a continued onslaught, a siege on the World of Art, banging my head against the wall, trying to get in.  Sometimes it feels like trying to do the impossible, like teaching a dog how to use a toilet, but then when I look back at what my work used to be like a couple of years ago, I can definitely see that I have made progress.  Here is a quick study of a Rembrandt from yesterday.  (I need to do some correcting around his eyes, etc. but it was just an attempt to squeak out another sketch for the day):

8x10 oil on panel

And here is something from two years back:

I think this last one is a pastel, but it is obvious I was focused on trying to get some sort of likeness and not concerned about the overall look of the painting.  Why does it seem to take so long to pound these things into my head?  Maybe an old dog can learn new tricks, but it takes a boatload of patience.

Ackerman Island

Ackerman Island, 12x24 oil on canvas

I've been playing with different methods of laying down the paint lately, more smearing around and wiping out, more tonalist in color range, and the finished work above (it's so hard to get good photos with my meager set-up) is moody in much the same way the Columbia River seems to me to be at certain times of the year.  The water is wide and slow and powerful.  The light is clean and soul-piercing, the setting is timeless, and one feels somewhat insignificant in the presence of relentless Nature.  Or at least that is what I was trying to paint here.  I'd settle for moderately interesting.

I was drawn to the light coming through the trees and being reflected in the near branch of the river, and the slender sandy island, dependent on the water levels of the river, and the narrow band of trees strung out down the length of the island.  I drive past this place a dozen times a year, and I am always interested to see its changing moods.

Young Woman in Green

12x16 oil on canvas

Having been working in a style very different from what I am accustomed to, and having wiped a number of canvases in a row, I felt it was time to use one of those canvases for a portrait, going back to the familiar, just throwing it down to get past discouragement, which is invading from other areas in my life, as well.  This young woman is from an old black and white photo; she is likely long since dead.  But she once was young and beautiful and full of hope.

I guess I'm ready for some rain, for a change.  Bring on the grey.

Summer at the Cabin

24"x24" oil

Not content with a single portrait at a time, I try for the group pose, arranging the elements in an "arc of friendship" curving from upper left to lower right, and I don't know if the composition works all that well, but the intent was to get the eye going in a clockwise circle, following the hands.  This is still a work in progress, though I doubt there will be any major changes at this point, perhaps a few alterations and some glazing to make the colors richer.  

One Last Hot Day

After dropping off in temperature and raining a bit, the weather turned and climbed back into the 90's again, if only for a couple of days.  I took advantage of the heat to sit out on the deck and do a plein air painting (within a few steps of a cold pitcher of iced tea!)  Frequently when I try painting outdoors, I am frustrated that I don't capture what I am after; the brushwork is sloppy and the values seem off.  I find that if I bring it back to the studio, I can sometimes do another piece using the color information from the sketch, and that redeems it somewhat.  But this time, for whatever reason, the value and color shifts seemed more accurate, lending a depth to the painting, which was what I was focusing on, and the trees in the foreground do seem to be closer and shaded.  

Poul Webb, over at Art & Artists, is a great source for in-depth study of various artists.  Currently he is doing a 13 part series on Fantin-Latour, someone I have not paid much attention to over the years.  But when I saw some of his portraits and lithographs, I was utterly charmed.

Storm Warnings

A Long Cold Winter

11x14 oil on canvas

The seemingly endless summer is at last giving signs of running its course; the winds and rains of the past two days here instantly remind us that we live in a gray and soggy land, something that had slipped our minds in the suspended disbelief of summer's long reign.  Some among us long for the return of the soft and muted grays of winter, easier somehow to lace with emotion on the canvas.  And the fires in the mountains are begging for rain.  Just give us, please, this one last month of sun, this glorious September that frequently combines the best of all worlds: children returning to school and dry, colorful days of leisure, souls uplifted and comforted before the harsh turn of season.

For The Time Being, As Good As It Gets

9x12 acrylic on canvas

I have been using the excuse of dashing off sketches in order to convince myself that they didn't need to be "perfect" and that my scratchy brushwork was acceptable.  But I decided it was time to try for a more finished portrait, and I chose for a subject my youngest son, Zach.  Back from a trip to France, I picked up acrylics for a change, trying to find my sea legs after the hiatus, and they do dry faster, making blending a little harder, so maybe oils might have been a better choice for putting my skills to a real test.  And I wasn't about to spend days and days on this; it took about four hours.  I might dab at it some more, blending away some of the grosser shortcomings, but I think I really need to admit that this is about my skill level at this point: it's not a painting that will hang in a gallery, but it is a damn fair likeness, and that's been my goal all along, so I'm going to declare victory and move on about my business.

Summer on the Lake

The heat is unrelenting, no rain for weeks on end, and the algae bloom is thick.  But at certain times of day, when the warm sun is bouncing off the rock cliff, the water takes on a warm glow and contrasts nicely with the cool cobalt blue of the reflected sky.  The colors are quite different from just a couple of months ago, though different times of day will yield different results.

Dark Profile

Continuing to investigate the use of darks in oil paint, I mix thalo green with alizarin crimson to get the dark for the background, and then lighten some thalo for the green of the cap.  The photo snap does not do justice to the richness of the combination, but I think I like this dark as much as the dark from combining ultramarine blue with burnt sienna.

Transparent Darks, Opaque Lights

I find that the application of the dark undertones first - in this case a mix of ultramarine blue and transparent red oxide - in a thin wash, and then an overlay of cerulean and white for the lighter areas works wonders in creating the look of sun-washed skin.  I see that the symmetry is off a bit in the eyes and nostrils, but rather than muck with the transparencies I will move on to another painting.

Endless days of heat and sun and projects to do has left little time for making headway in the painting game, but I find myself curiously looking forward to winter.  That's a first!