Plein Air Convention 2014 - Another Demo

FogLights

8x10"

Oil on Linen on Panel
DPW

Notes on the

DEMOS GALORE

and all the great words of wisdom...starting with:

 Joseph McGurl

"Nature is a mix of order and chaos"

Order to make it real and chaos to make it natural.

 

 Joseph started his demo with a warm undertone on the canvas.  

He explained that part of creating that wonderful effect of sun light for this painting is making the white warmer and slightly darker as you go back in space and cooler as it comes forward.

(Great tips, because I wouldn't have instinctively thought that the light would get warmer moving back in space.)

 The effect is also enhanced by showing the light reflecting on the cliffs around the lightest areas, lighter at the lower end of the cliffs.

A tree is either in light or in shadow, very little in the middle.

Change your methods - you'll get different results
You can't solve every problem the same way.

When it comes to making the color work, ask yourself:

Is it too light or too dark?

Does it need to be cooler or warmer? 

Tools to try:

A Wallpaper plastic painting scraper - for making straight horizon lines

 Liquin - impasto

longer flexible palette knives - good for introducing that chaos.

Gamblin Flake White Replacement - Stiff Paint good to use on top

Fan brushes

Hansen Yellow - holds the yellow punch

I learned a lot and it is always fascinating to hear other artists' view on their individual approach, as I'm in the quest of finding my own way - or perhaps accepting my own way:-)
Joseph considers himself a Contemporary Luminist and I appreciate what he said about his technique in regards to the surface.   He doesn't want people to know about how he did something so he obscures the brush marks.  That way he continued: "It's not about me and my marks, more about the meaning of life - existence - nature and physics."

As he said that I realized that I do like to see the brush marks, showing the confident commitment to the process, a sense of the fresh impression of something...haha... I don't always achieve it....but I want to!

Day 8 - Hiding

8x10

oil on linen on panel

DPW

I had fun with this piece.  Did an orange (complimentary color) under painting and then put my darks in loosely and kept some of the orange...well a lot, of the orange peeking through:-)  I see something I need to fix though...isn't that always the case?   One of the side mirrors needs to move...no way they'd be at two totally different levels...oops/

Saw a great demo at WVAG this evening with Vadim Zanginian.

He's an extremely talented artist I recently studied with who really knows how to simplify, develop great values and say a lot with a limited color palette.

Vadim was trained in the Russian Academic tradition at the Art and Teatre Institute in Russia and in his art Vadim tries to make his brush depend on his first impression, and tell a long story in a few words, just like a limited palette can give you 100's of colors.

Vadim used a limited palette of Zink White, Lemon Yellow, Cad Red Light and Ivory Black to create all the colors he needed in this demo.

Here are the pictures I promised, I'm sorry they are not the sharpest as they were taken with my IPhone and of the screen, as we project the process up on a big screen ..but I hope it still shows you 

a master at his craft!

After deciding on his composition and vantage point Vadim toned his canvas with a gray mixture, leaving the area with most light - lighter and going darker away from the light source. 

He lightly put in the top and bottom of the figure, added the figure in silhouette, then put in his dark values and connected the dark shapes.

In the next step he used a paper towel and a nifty little tool called a clay shaper to create his lightest lights by erasing to reveal the white of the canvas...

Vadim then worked very methodically adding values within values, always being careful to go from cool to warm to cool as you can see in the figure and the arm for example.

Here's the final picture of the night's demo and Vadim then took it home to put some final details on it for the lucky winner of the raffle.   Note the beautiful painting below on his easel as well:)
Guess who wishes she could have won it?....yep, me!

For those of you in the L.A. area:   Vadim has worked out a fast learning program for Academical drawing and painting and he teaches classes at his studio in Glendale and at LAAFA