Renaissance Techniques Create a Mountain Scene

The fog rolls in on a misty morning walk around Mt. Si, in the Snoqualmie Valley, WA.     Last blog post I showed you the underpainting for this painting done with one color, Shale, from Vasari.  It's purplish umber color is neutral enough that it can go either warm or cool.  For this painting I chose a cool color harmony. 

Let me describe the steps to create this painting.  To start out,  I glazed in a very light blue layer for the mountains and let it dry.  Then, I laid in an opaque layer  for the sky, using white and naples yellow, with a touch of transparent orange.   Next,  I painted the trees with transparent paints, glazing layer over dry layer.  After that, I adjusted colors and temperatures with velaturas and scumbles.  The last step was brushing the sky color over the tops of the trees, shrouding them in fog.

The many layers of transparent and translucent paint help to create a luminous quality that I like.  As the light passes through the transparent layers it hits the white canvas panel and refracts back out.  The refraction creates a "vibration" between the colors. 

This technique of laying down many layers of transparent and translucent paint is not a new technique.  During the 14th century many artists used the techniques of Master artist, Titian, known to apply as many as 30 or more layers of paint.

( Yet Unnamed ), 12" x12", oil on linen

Underpainting of Mt. Si - Ready for Color!

Here is what an underpainting looks like before I add the color.   I paint it a little bit lighter because as the transparent glazes are added it darkens the value.

When I saw this scene the clouds practically covered all of Mt. Si (Snoqualmie Valley, WA).  I plan to bring the clouds all the way down to the trees and then some.  A typical foggy Northwest day.

I'll post the finished painting soon!

Drawing trees

I'm taking an online class with Deborah Paris on drawing and painting trees.  We're learning about how a tree trunks tapers as it grows, starting out really big at the base and narrowing in girth as it reaches into the sky.  Here are a few samples of my studies this week.

First, a copy of a drawing by JD Harding, from the book, On Drawing Trees In Nature, A Classic Victorian Manual, published in 1846. 

This is a copy of a drawing after John. F. Kensett

And finally, a drawing from life, a big old oak in Jackson Square, New Orleans.  This was fun to draw because I sat basically underneath this huge tree while a jazz band played in the square.  People walking by, tarot card readers, artists displaying their works.  Lots going on in NO!

Moving studio to Fall City, WA! Out in the country!

Back from Texas, waiting for my paint supplies to arrive.  I shipped a box Fed Ex home from Clarksville - it should arrive tomorrow.  There are four paintings from that workshop that I plan to continue working on.  Deborah Paris taught a painting technique inspired by painters from the Renaissance which consists of applying thin glazes of oil paint, building up the layers and creating a luminosity like nothing I've seen before.  As I work my way through the painting process I'm learning how to plan ahead which areas will be transparent and which will be opaque.  Very challenging and it's a lot of fun! I'll post some of that work soon.  I'm still working it.  

The real reason I'm writing is to announce that I will be moving back to my studio in Fall City, WA beginning May 1st.  On my property is a wonderful, small, intimate space in the trees.  I work in a treehouse studio.  It is designed after a fire lookout like the ones we have on mountaintops in the Cascades.  There are windows on all sides, so being in the trees it's nice to have all the natural light.  I'm super excited to get moved and get working. 

Here is a master copy I did of a drawing by Ashur B. Durand: 

Deborah Paris Landscape Atelier

Down here in Clarksville, Texas, studying landscape painting with master tonalist painter, Deborah Paris!  What a beautiful part of the country to be in this month as the trees turn green and frogs are croaking (It's especially sweet to be outside in the sunshine when I hear it's raining buckets back home in Washington).

  Here's a picture of Deborah's underpainting demo.  I'll post some pictures of my work from this week soon.

This is the B&B where I'm staying - built in 1880!  Lots of history around here.  Went on the Ghost Walk last Saturday night.  One of the members of the Historical Society took us on a walking tour of town to all the haunted houses!  I was freaked out at the last house.  People on the tour had ghost apps and their phones went wild!   Have you ever heard of a ghost app?


By the way, they have red cardinals down here, which I love, because they're cousins to the blue jay back home.  Love the red!  Well, it just so happens that I have acquired a recently deceased cardinal (that hit the house by accident) and I'm trying to figure out a way to bring it home so I can do a painting.  Anybody have ideas on how to get this lovely creature home?  Taxidermist?

From thumbnail to color study

I recently did some sketching of the water reflections on the Snoqualmie River and I decided to turn one of my ideas into a painting.  Well, I'm about half way there.  Let me show you the process from thumbnail to color study.

First of all, it was freezing outside, so I sat in my car and pulled out the thumbnail sketchbook.  A thumbnail drawing is about half the size of a post-it, or 1.5"x2".  All I'm trying to do is see if my design idea works as a small black and white image.  I drew this one quickly with 6B pencil and added white chalk for the light areas.  As soon as I had something down I had to decide if I liked the flat, graphic image.  Was it an interesting design?  Was it simple enough or too complicated?  Were the darks clumped together or spread all apart.  The simpler the design the stronger it is.  It's really hard to uncomplicate the landscape because there's so much to look at!  I decided I liked the design.


Here is the thumbnail drawing

Later on I decided to make a larger, more complete value study, this time about 4"x6".  Because I was in my studio I had to imagine the tree because I wasn't working from a photo, just memory and the thumbnail to look at.

Here is the 4x6 value study

I liked it but something bothered me and I wasn't sure what it was.  I showed it to my landscape teacher, Deborah Paris, and she said it's not a good idea to put the trunk of the tree right next to the edge, as it pulls the eye right out of the picture.  I agreed and I also remembered that Edgar Payne mentioned the same thing in his book, Composition of Outdoor Painting.  So I decided to do another value study and move the tree trunk in. 

This time I made the drawing an 8x10 because that's the same size I wanted for the color study. 

Here is the 8x10 value study (graphite and white chalk on gray toned paper):

As you can see the drawing is more developed and I have moved the tree in from the edge.  I think it looks better.  What do you think?  The tree is pretty dark because it's close up and it's a gray day in the Pacific Northwest which makes all the values pretty close together.

Now it was time to do the color study.  Working from memory of the day I did the thumbnail I painted this 8x10 study.  As I worked I looked at the 8x10 value study as a reference.  It was really interesting how I remembered the colors from that day just looking at the black and white drawing.  I think it's fascinating how much we record in our minds without knowing!

Here is the color study.

I'm pretty happy with the colors, but I think some of my values are off and I made it into a sunny morning type feel rather than a gray day.  What do you think?  I plan to do another study to attempt to match the value study above.  If I can do that then I'll go for a larger studio painting.

Master copy of George Inness

This is a master copy of George Inness.  I really liked the orange sky.