Paintings of France, Italy and Beyond

French pastoral complete, and another in progress

jennifereyoung — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:13:16 +0000

We’ve had a lot of rain here this fall, and when it’s not been raining, I’ve been trying to manage the parade of contractors who are working on the new studio . Unfortunately this means I’ve mostly missed the chance to capture the gorgeous fall colors en plein air. Well, it’s a worthwhile tradeoff, I think. Meanwhile, I have the consolation of finally having finished a painting:

Pastoral, St. Germain de Bel Air
Oil on Canvas, 20×24″
Click here for more info.

I’m also just beginning to lay out a new composition, again of the beautiful part of Southwestern France I visited last spring. To you it may just look like a bunch of scribbles. But trust me, I’m sketching out a street view of Frayssinet, the village where I stayed. I’m attracted to the scene for the sheer beauty of the place, but also by the interesting cast shadow pattern of the afternoon light:

WIP- Frayssinet, 24×30″

What I have done here is just a pretty transparent wash to figure out my composition and the rythm of the shadows. To do this I’ve used a mixture of Transparent Red Oxide and just a little Ultramarine Blue. Transparent Red Oxide is the one earth color that has consistently made itself at home on my palette of late, and I’m finding it such a useful addition. For an underpainting it adds a warm glow, but unlike Cadmium Red light, it is beautifully transparent. It also lacks the high staining properties that Alizarin Crimson does so it is easier to make adjustments in the preliminary stages.

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WIP- Pasture at dusk, southern France (continued)

jennifereyoung — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:00:48 +0000

The progression continues. Yesterday I developed the painting further, focusing on the foreground cows and building.

Why is it my four-legged friends always start out looking like pigs? Maybe I should attempt to paint pigs and see if they look like cows or dogs? Any way, I think I finally got the hang of it and produced some semblance of “cowness”.

I’m facing a couple of challenges right now because I’m in between homes and my computer is in a different location from my easel, so timely blogging is a bit impossible. These photos were taken inside earlier in the evening so they are looking a little dark and grainy on my computer. I continued to work on the sky and surrounding trees, pulling it all together. Just a finishing touch or two at the studio today and I’m done, so if I can get a good shot of it outdoors, I should be able to post a final tonight or tomorrow a.m. when I’m back at home.

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Back in the saddle (WIP)

jennifereyoung — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:16:55 +0000

Or rather, I’m back at the easel (I think.) At the risk of jinxing myself I’ll say I’m painting again. It’s pretty slow going though, as I’ve been fighting a cold and sore throat. For me, painting is a bit like exercising. Get out of the habit for too long and I start to feel a bit like a (flabby) fish out of water.

It’s also been a while since I’ve done any kind of painting indoors, so I’d thought I’d get started by just having fun with lots of color and a manageable sized canvas (20×24″). Because this is a scene attempting to evoke a pasture (southern France) struck by the golden glow of late afternoon, I started with warm colors right from the get-go:

It has been too long. It’s not that it’s really taking me forever to paint this, just that I’m still pretty easily distracted. The shell of the studio is pretty much complete, save for a few adjustments (photos to come). But we’ve a long way to go before the inside is in move-in condition, and I’m anxious to get it DONE.

To whoever suggested that angst is good for creativity– sorry, I didn’t get the memo! (Obviously I didn’t get the memo about patience being a virtue either.) But since it looks like it will be at least December before I can move in, I might as well try and get a little painting done in between all the hand wringing, eh?

I’m off to IKEA for most of tomorrow (Monday) to see what they have in the way of sinks and shelving, but I hope to have this piece completed by Tuesday or Wednesday. Here’s where I’ve left off:

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Today’s Itinerary

jennifereyoung — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 13:21:35 +0000

Vote
Paint

Both welcome tasks, and a long time coming! I think all of the activity of moving and rebuilding my business has been the only thing that’s saved me from being completely glued to the news, the blogs, and the polls these last few months. So this is a very welcome day. Finally, it’s time to vote. Finally (providing I’m not in line for hours on end at the polls) I will also stand in front of the easel again for the first time in a while. Here’s hoping and praying that both go smoothly!

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Studio progress; moving right along!

jennifereyoung — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:52:53 +0000

We are aiming to largely be out of my current studio by the end of this weekend, so I’m afraid both the blog and the easel may be neglected for the next week or so. I do have a few pictures to post of the progress on my studio though. The builders had a bit of a rough start in the beginning slogging around in the mud due to the pretty heavy rain we had just prior to their arrival. But once the ground started to firm up, things moved much quicker. Here’s the way it came along over the weekend:

By Monday I was able to take a peek inside. Here is the framing for the high windows on the wall of my painting area:

One of the builders, Gene, after a hard day’s work. Gene felt my picture needed a center of interest, so he kindly obliged:

This is the portico side as it looked this morning. This side faces the back porch. This area will be my future office area. There is some loft space for storage in the portico above the door.

When I looked outside this A.M. they had pulled out the siding, roofing, doors and windows. Not sure how far they’ll get with all of that, but based on the progress so far, I imagine things will look very different by evening’s end.

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