James Whistler and the Memory Color Sketch

James Whistler (1870's) was famous for his memory work - particularly his nocturnes.  He used to have a friend row him in a boat out on the Thames and he would sit for hours looking and memorizing the scene.  It was too dark to draw or make notes so he would speak out loud to his companion and ask him to verify what he was seeing.  When he returned to the studio he would rush in and slap thin coats of paint on the canvas as fast as he could before the memory faded.

I've been working up at Rattlesnake Lake on a couple of motifs.  This one caught my eye right off the bat and I sat down to draw - immediately - before the light changed.  Instead of snapping a picture (which would be a whole heck of a lot faster and easier) I sat and drew the scene before me.  A couple of days later I sat down at the easel in my studio to do this color sketch.  Having drawn the image already I was familiar with it and it didn't take much to conjure up the scene in my mind's eye.  As I put down my impression on canvas the painting began to appear - looking much like the drawing, but in color.   Soon enough the painting began to make its own aesthetic demands.  There is an "alchemy" that takes place when I swing back and forth between the memory and the image on canvas.

 

Painting From Visual Memory and Imagination

Have you ever looked at something for a long time and then closed your eyes and tried to see the image in your mind's eye?  That's your visual memory.  It's a muscle that can be developed to aide in the creation of paintings! 

Athletes use it all the time when they try to "imagine" themselves performing a trick or move with precision.  If they can see themselves doing it in their imagination, chances are they can execute it when they try it for real. 

I use my visual memory all the time when I create thumbnail sketches for future paintings and sometimes to create a whole new painting - like this one!

I haven't named it yet.  It's part of a series I'm doing of the Pacific Northwest.  It's about 16"x12"

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?