Mid October Hues

20" x 20" Oil on Panel

Here's a square painting for once. I kind of like the format, so I might just paint a few more of them. Who knows, I could start trying other non-standard formats also.

This painting shows the subtle, earthy colors of a mid October rural landscape. It's days like this that make me want to outfit one of my paintboxes with only earth tone oil colors, just for scenes like this. This painting could have been made using mainly earth colors, such as yellow ochre, burnt umber and burnt sienna, but I used my usual split primary plus viridian palette instead, because that's what I have. Such a bright palette can be used to create earth tone colors just fine, it's just a little more expensive to do it that way. It would be interesting to see how a scene like this could be painted with a Zorn-ish palette, such as yellow ochre, cadmium red, and ivory black or ultramarine blue, plus titanium white. I'll be sure to give that a try sometime soon.

This painting will be in a show early next year. I'll explain more about the show later, as we get closer to it.

A Brunette and a Redhead

8" x 6" Oil on Panel

Two more recent portrait sketches from live models. Both were painted alla prima in oil in two and a half to three hours each at the weekly portrait sessions. The first one was painted with my usual "Zorn (ish)" palette of yellow ochre, cadmium red, ivory black, and titanium white.

8" x 6" Oil on Panel

For the second painting, I did something very different, at least for me. I usually keep my oil color choices for portraits much simpler than when I work in pastel. This time the model wore a turquoise colored blouse, and I really didn't want to miss getting the color contrast between her orange hair and the blouse. So I put blue on my palette. Not only one, but two different blues. The palette for the second painting was cadmium yellow, cadmium red, sevres blue, ultramarine blue, ivory black and titanium white. Sevres blue is an unusual color for me, and I only have it in the particular pochade box I used that evening. There are other blues which also would have served the purpose, but this one worked fine. Who knows, I may become more adventurous on portrait night and start putting more colors on my palette!

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing".

Phthaloranosaurus Rex, or How to paint with Phthalo Green

9" x 12" Oil on Panel

Well meaning people can sometimes cause problems.

A friend of mine owned some oil paints from a while ago when he had an interest in painting. Apparently, the muse wandered away from him years ago, and he no longer had interest in, nor use for the paints. He knows I oil paint, so he just dropped those waif-like paints off at my place. Now, there were among those paints some colors I use, like white, black, yellow ochre, and a couple cadmiums. There were a few colors I don't normally use, but can find a place for, such as thio violet. There were a few I don't know what to do with (Dioxazine purple - what the heck?) But red flags went up when I saw those two trouble-making colors, phthalo green and phthalo blue.

I've tried phthalocyanine (phthalo) paints before, years ago. They're inexpensive, lightfast, and strong colors. But "strong" might not be the right word for them. More like obnoxious, overbearing, overpowering, even totalitarian. They can overrun and conquer your entire painting, giving an acidic blue-green cast to the entire work. I've spent a lot of time knocking back the strength of phthalos to get them to the earth tones typical of landscapes instead of the overly assertive colors phthalos want to be. After trying phthalo green and phthalo blue once, I've replaced them with viridian green and cobalt blue.

But now, here they were again. Phthalos. Try saying that out loud without spitting all over your computer screen. I didn't want them. I wanted to throw them away. I thought about taking the caps off the paint tubes and tossing them out the car window as I sped down a busy highway. Then later I might go back to see what color the highway had become. But no, I decided to give those two annoyingly brilliant colors one more try.

A palette which includes phthalos needs strong checks and balances, and I already had a good counter color - cadmium red. Not only is red the complementary color to green, but cadmium red is a dirty mixer, and can even be useful in toning down phthalo blue. In the painting shown at the top of this post, the sky was painted with phthalo blue and titanium white, toned down with cadmium red, ultramarine blue, and maybe touches of a few other colors. The trees in the painting were done using phthalo green, with cadmium red - a lot of it - and cadmium yellow to tone down and warm up the greens. A mix of thio violet* and ultramarine blue, with a little yellow, were added to phthalo green for the darkest parts of the trees. Again, small amounts of other colors made their way into the painting's trees, but I don't remember all the details.

I was happy with how phthalo green and phthalo blue worked in this painting. A few more examples of paintings I've made using phthalo colors can be seen in this post and this post. I think I'll keep those two tubes of paint and use them. At least until they're done - then I'll happily go back to viridian and cobalt!

As I drove away from my painting spot, I saw in another direction a huge plume of smoke from a wildfire in the mountains. It kind of reminded me of what can happen to a painting if you don't keep your phthalocyanine under control!

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*Instead of alizarin crimson or quinacridone red.

A New Model and a New Paint Color

8" x 6" Oil on Panel

It's been either too cold (5° F) or way too wet to paint outdoors. Haven't been to any portrait sessions for a few weeks and I'm eager to start painting from life again. The picture shown above is of my painting from last Wednesdays session.

This little portrait was painted with a three color palette, plus white. Colors used were: titanium white, ivory black, yellow ochre, and a new color - cadmium red purple.

"Cadmium red purple? Was ist das cadmium red purple?" you might ask. Well, let me explain. For plein air paintings I generally use a split primary palette, with one or two additional colors. Every once in a while I'll search for new colors to substitute for others in the split primary palette. In my search for a cool red alternative to alizarin crimson, I came across cadmium red purple. It sounded like it should work, but it didn't. Alizarin crimson is dark and "transparent" - qualities I need in that part of my plein air palette. Cadmium red purple is neither. So cad red purple became one of those unused tubes of paint that just took up space in my paintbox. That is, until last Wednesday. On that day the lighting, setting and model all had cool tones, so instead of using regular cadmium red, I saw the previously unappreciated cad red purple in my box and thought to try it. I think it worked.

I'm not saying cadmium red purple should be a permanent part of my palette. I probably could have gotten another red to work just as well at last Wednesday's session. But painters should step outside the box they're used to working in and try new things. When something new doesn't work as intended, you might later find it works just right for something unexpected.

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing."

Woman in a White Fur Hat

10" x 8" Oil on Panel

Yesterday evening was the annual Christmas Party at Casey Child's studio, which was well attended. Last year we got to paint someone dressed as Santa Claus, whose outfit seemed to be mostly polyester beard. This year was better. Our model was a woman with long brown hair. She wore a wintry looking outfit of blue and white with gold accents, and bright silvery bling. 

The picture shown above is of the painting I made of the model yesterday evening. The oil colors I used were cadmium yellow, cadmium red, alizarin crimson permanent, ultramarine blue, ivory black, and titanium white. That's a couple colors more than I usually put out on my palette for a portrait study session, but I wanted to push the colors a little more and get some blue/violet tones in the painting.

I also want to wish everyone a...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing."

Two More Portrait Sketches

8" x 6" Oil on Panel

The portrait studies continue. May they always continue. That's how new things are learned and skills are honed. The first picture in this post was painted at the portrait session last Wednesday. 

8" x 6" Oil on Panel

The second picture was painted at last Thursday's portrait session. The colors chosen for these two studies are my usual limited palette when I paint in oils at the portait sessions: yellow ochre, cadmium red, ivory black, and titanium white.

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing."

Pink Hair

7" x 5" Oil on Panel

I don't know if Albrecht Durer, Rembrandt, or John Singer Sargent ever got to paint a model whose hair wasn't a natural color. These days, however, those who practice the old craft of oil painting from life have plenty of opportunities for the challenge of painting from models who's hair (or even skin) is an artificial hue. Of course it's irrelevant to the quality of the painting, but it is different, and can throw a little fun into a painting session. The model for yesterday's portrait session had pink hair. An unnatural color, but one I could still approximate with a modified "Zorn" palette of cadmium yellow, cadmium red, ivory black, and white. Such a limited palette works for me at these sessions, but if one day a model shows up with neon green or electric blue locks, I'll have to break out another color or two for the ol' palette!

For more about portrait sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "portrait", "sketching" or "drawing."

Painting on Decker Road

11" x 14" Oil on Panel

When I did this painting for Midway's plein air competition this year, I took some in-process photographs of it. These photos not only show some of my painting process, but also give an idea of some of the challenges of painting outdoors. You can click on any of the pictures to see a larger image.

At the Trailhead

The day of the painting, skies were partly cloudy. I parked at the gated trailhead in the Wasatch Back and proceeded to walk down the trail to a spot I knew of from previous hikes.

Headed Down the Trail

Some of the Wildflowers Along the Way

Upon arriving at the place I wanted to paint, a mile or so down the trail, I set up an easel with an 11" x 14" panel on it. That's when I discovered I had forgotten paints and brushes! There was nothing to do but march a mile back up the trail to the car and return to the easel with the previously forgotten items.

Headed Back Down the Trail

Might As Well Enjoy More of the Wildflowers

My Set Up

Finally I could get to painting! With everything needed at hand this time, I laid out the colors on my palette and mixed up the dark purple I like to use in place of black. I use a "split primary" palette, and add a cool green. You can read more about the paints and palette I use here. 

The panel is toned with a thinned film of the dark purple mix, then wiped. Before that layer can dry, the painting is sketched onto the panel with a brush, and general areas are painted in with the approximate color and value I want. The darks are placed first, then I work progressively towards the lights, generally - but not always - from front to back. Once that is done, I begin to refine the painting, working from back to front.

In the next photo, you can see that the sky and the mountains have been developed further. You can also see something else. Tiny dark specks. This was the beginning of ...

The flies and gnats were pretty bad that day. The flies were big enough that when they landed on the painting or palette, they usually stuck only momentarily before freeing themselves from the gooey colors. The gnats, however, stuck to the painting like iron filings to a magnet. I was beginning to worry I would have another experience like one I wrote about in one of my earliest blog posts. The little winged pestilences affected my painting rhythm, too. My rhythm was like: paint, paint swat swat swat, paint, paint swat swat swat, This went on for most of the painting. One big horse fly was particularly bothersome. Surprisingly, none of the flies bit me, but the gnats did. Plenty.

The next photo shows how the foliage on the trees was built up. You can also see more gnats stuck to the painting.

In the next photo, the foreground begins to be developed. I've also removed most of the gnats and repaired the damage. That was done two or three times during the course of this painting. 

At this point, the weather had gone from partly cloudy to completely overcast. That caused a shadow across the top of the painting from the easel. There was no way to avoid the shadow, so it shows up in most of the remaining photographs. Hopefully, the shadow won't hinder your ability to see the painting process.

The foreground and other areas continue to be developed, as seen in the next picture. The painting is almost finished. Also, more gnats have stuck themselves all over the painting.

The wind began to increase. I braced the easel to keep it from blowing over. The painting was finished, the final gnats removed (well, most of them), and their damage undone. The painting and equipment was packed up for the hike back. The sky grew darker and the wind increased dramatically. I was sandblasted by blowing dust as I walked back up the trail to the car, but the painting made it home safe and sound. The last photo shows the painting after it had been photographed a day or two later in good lighting, and a gnat-free environment. The painting sold that Saturday at the show.

Decker Road, 11" x 14" Oil on Panel

Merry Christmas 2015!

12" x 12" Oil on Canvas Panel

Last week Santa Claus modeled for us at  Casey Childs studio! For this oil sketch I used a three color palette: cadmium yellow, cadmium red, and ivory black, plus titanium white.

It was fun in spite of the challenges. I set up at a spot that had flat lighting and no shape-defining shadows. I absolutely love drawing and painting faces, but so little of the jolly guy's face was visible. The portrait is dominated by a shapeless red suit and a mile-long polyester beard. But maybe that's not important because, after all, I got to paint Santa!

Besides that, there was lots of cookies and chocolate for us to enjoy during breaks!

_________

Here's a Christmas Video I enjoyed on YouTube. If you haven't had a chance to see it, here's your opportunity:

Merry Christmas everyone!

Cemetery Statuary

12" x 9" Oil on Panel

This is a painting I made at a local cemetery in October. The plan was to use it for a Halloween post on this blog but that didn't happen. Maybe it just wasn't Halloweeny enough, but I think it's worth a spot on this blog. 

Besides being an experience painting something I haven't before, in a place I haven't painted before, this was also another practice using only three colors. This time those colors were cadmium lemon yellow, cadmium red, and ivory black, plus white.

The Day's Palette

I started by toning the panel gray and wiping out the light areas of the statue. Those areas were kept basic and kind of rough at this point. The focus was on keeping general shapes in correct proportion to each other. Details would come later.

Then I worked on building up the dark tones. 

As you can see in the previous two photos, the background is bright behind the statue. I wanted that dark evergreen on the right to be behind the statue in the painting. That would make the lighter statue stand out more, but I wanted the angle of the statue from this viewpoint. So - I moved the tree!

The last image shows some more progress on the painting.

The finished painting is shown at the top of this post.

This was a fun opportunity to paint something different. It was kind of a combination of plein air painting with figure painting. Hope you enjoy seeing the painting and the process!

Three Color Palette, Part 2

8" x 10" Oil on Panel

Here's another experiment using a very limited palette. You can read the first post about a three color palette here. In the earlier post the three colors I used were cadmium yellow, permanent alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue, plus titanium white. In the painting shown above, my palette was cadmium yellow, permanent alizarin crimson, and ivory black, plus white. No blue. I had read about using black instead of blue for cool tones and wanted to try it. My understanding is that ivory black has a slightly bluish cast when mixed with titanium white. When lightened and placed alongside very warm tones (yellow and red), ivory black appears rather blue.

This painting was made on a hazy, mostly overcast winter day in Heber Valley, using cad. yellow, alizarin crimson and ivory black (plus white). That palette fit the day perfectly. I'm not about to give up my split primary palette, but becoming familiar with other palette combinations increases the "tools" I have in my "painter's toolbox". That allows greater variety in the overall body of work. It also enables me to say what I want to about particular landscapes in different ways.

Incidentally, a couple who live close to where I made the painting shown above (and many other paintings) have stopped to visit me as I've painted a couple of times. On the wintry day I painted this they invited me into their home for hot chocolate (dairy free) and homemade apple pie! That was a good day!

Three Color Palette

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

It isn't shaping up to be much of a white Christmas around here, at least not here in the valley. The general appearance of the landscape is of various grays and tans. Nothing in the way of the brighter colors of summer or fall. The first image in this post is of a little painting made on a mostly sunny day in late November. It shows a little more chroma than the next image, which was painted on a very overcast day and is much more subdued.

5" x 7" Oil on Panel

For these paintings, instead of laying out the usual split primary palette, I thought I'd try a very limited palette of just three colors, plus white. Those colors were yellow, red, and blue.

The third picture shows the colors laid out on the palette board in the 5 x 7 pochade box. Although the painting shown at the top of this post was painted on a traditional white panel, the second painting was made on a dark panel.

Here's the colors used for these paintings:

1. Titanium White
2. Cadmium Yellow
3. Permanent Alizarin Crimson
4. Ultramarine Blue
5. Mix of Alizarin and Ultramarine, with a touch of yellow.

Cadmium lemon yellow would have provided cleaner, brighter mixes than cadmium yellow, but I wanted the dirtier mixing qualities of cad. yellow for more subdued colors. Perhaps earth tone paints such as yellow ocher and transparent red oxide could be used in place of more expensive cadmium and Anthraquinone (perm. alizarin crimson), but there's no room in the little paintbox for two more tubes of paint!

Here's the second painting still in the box:

As I was finishing up the painting shown directly above, someone with the COOLEST pickup drove into the parking area where I was set up. I asked him if I could photograph his truck and he happily agreed.

This restored model T pickup would be so much fun to go painting in, even if it would probably also be necessary to bring along tools and spare parts! It's almost Christmas. Maybe I could write Santa and ask for one...

Merry Christmas everyone, Model T or no.

My Palette

Probably what most people imagine a painter's palette to look like is an oval or kidney shaped thin board with a thumb hole in it. I don't have one of those. While the traditional palette might work well in a studio, that's not where I do most of my painting. I paint outdoors. Rectangular palettes are more packable and easier to transport. The palette board in my biggest paint box does have a thumb hole, but I sometimes wish it didn't. I rarely use the thumb hole, but when I do I usually end up with a painted thumb.

The color palette I use is a basic split primary. Of course it's arguable what "primary" colors are, but for all practical purposes here, I mean yellow, red and blue. By split primaries I mean a "warm" and a "cool" version of  yellow, red, and blue - with an extra color or two thrown on the palette. A generous pile of white is always a part of my color palette.

I don't think I'm too much of a stickler concerning paint brands. M Graham, Utrecht, Holbein, Gamblin, and Grumbacher are some of the brands I use, but I'm not adverse to trying other brands. Anything with good color, good strength, and lightfast works for me. I avoid "student" or "studio" grade paints, also any cheap, obscure paint brands. By the same token, exorbitantly priced paints - such as those made with exotic pigments like lapis lazuli - aren't likely to find their way into my paintbox, either. 

Below is a diagram of the colors I use for plein air painting.

1. Titanium white, made with safflower or walnut oil - not linseed oil. I like linseed oil in all colors except white because it yellows white in a relatively short time.
2. Cadmium lemon yellow. A slightly greenish yellow.
3. Cadmium yellow, cad. yellow medium, or cad. yellow deep. A more orangey yellow.
4. Cadmium red, or medium, or deep. A red on the yellowish side.
5. Permanent alizarin crimson, or quinacridone red, or another apropriate quinacridone. Dark, semi-transparent, and on the purplish side.
6. Cobalt blue. It's about as blue as paint pigments get, I think. I used to use cerulean blue, but found I can do everything with cobalt that I used to do with more expensive, but less strong cerulean. Cobalt blue is expensive enough.
7. Ultramarine blue. Dark, semi-transparent, and a touch violet.
8. Viridian green. A dark, cool green. Not a primary color, as oil paints go, but very useful.
9. Mixed dark purple. This is what I usually use for "black", or rather instead of black. It's a mix of alizarin and ultramarine, plus a touch of yellow to tone it down a little. This color can be made more blue or red as needed.

Other colors I occasionally add to the palette are:

• Ivory black. Mixed with yellow makes a wonderful earthy green like that found in high desert junipers.
• Yellow ochre. A good color for things like winter marsh grasses.

Colors I no longer allow on my palette: 

• Anything that starts with thalo. Thalo blue and thalo green are good strong colors. Overpowering, in fact. I've been unable to always control them. Thalo colors tend to take over any painting I've ever tried with them. Thalos also take over my hands, clothes, and anything I touch or walk on. The only way I've been able to control thalos is to tone them down with so much complementary color that I spend more time mixing paint than I do painting. But thalo colors are clear, strong, permanent, and inexpensive, so if you can learn how to use them successfully, more power to you!
• Any color with the term "hue" in it. Honestly, I won't rule out hues entirely, They can sometimes be convenient. But hues are just mixes. Generally, a painter should be able to easily mix whatever's needed.

.....

All this, of course, is subject to change.