Now that my gardens are right outside my studio doors, I’m finding it far too easy to get distracted with gardening instead of painting–especially now that spring is here. I did do some more work on the painting of the garden passage in St. Cirq Lapopie started earlier in the week though, so I thought I’d continue to post the progression. It’s almost there, but I will probably do a bit more work on it before it’s all said and done :
I’ve learned something from the last few oils I’ve done and I’ll share it in case it may be of help to other painters. As odd as it seems, I am finding it is actually easier to manipulate the paint and have better effects with my edges if I use a lot more of it. I’ve never considered myself to be terribly stingy with paint to begin with, (and it may not be all that obvious in this picture,) but lately I’ve been laying it on pretty thickly and it’s like, “Wow, that makes things so much easier!”
When I’ve taught workshops, I’ve definitely noticed a certain “stinginess” in beginning painters, both in terms of the amount of the paint colors they’ll mix up on their palette, and in the application of the paint onto the canvas. This usually stems from just being uncertain, tentative, and maybe even a little intimidated. But what I try to get across is that in alla prima painting, Â they are actually creating a lot more work for themselves by mixing up flat little puddles of paint and using skinny, dabby little strokes.
There is a caveat, though (isn’t there always when it comes to any kind of painting “rules”?) It helps to have a certain amount of confidence in your drawing and compositional skills if you’re going to lay it on thickly (and in fact, this may be part of what’s going on with beginners who are feeling tentative and intimidated). Otherwise when painting thickly, you may find yourself needing to do more scraping to make significant changes.
But over all for the kind of direct painting I’m doing, using a lot more paint is helping me to actually have better control AND keep it looser at the same time (if that makes any sense.) Manipulating thicker paint to soften edges and refine shapes does require a light touch though. You aren’t moving it around to such an extent that you’re smearing it or picking up too much of the underneath and surrounding paint layers. If you do that, there’s a danger of having a mud-fest on your hands.
Jennifer
Young; Vibrant LandscapesOil Paintings and Art Prints Online
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What a lovely scene. I could tell from the first stage that you shared with us that it would be successful painting. The composition is strong and the subject inviting. Your color harmony is right on. All of these things come together for another beautiful and thoughtful painting.
Thanks for the encouragement to use more paint! After all my years of painting with watercolor and using oils in a more glazing way, I do find it hard to squeeze out enough paint. Because I have “little” blobs of paint from the tubes, I tend to pick up “little” amounts on my brush. Just lately I have tried to use more paint and find myself much more expressive and looser with my brushwork. I’m still working small, but using larger brushes too. But I know what you mean about the paint being more manageable when you have more to work with. It’s true!
I live the mudfest, and I wear it.
Hi Jennifer; love this scene….and especially the comments on using more paint- sooo true! I recommend your readers find K. Macpherson’s book, “Landscape Painting Inside & Out”. On page 70 there’s an exercise he calls ‘paint by the pound’ (using a LOT of paint on one 9×12 panel). I had come across that exercise two or three years ago & wow – it made all the difference. Once in a while, old habits creep in (usually if I’m working small) but they usually don’t last through to the next painting…once you find that love of really using more paint- oh boy, it’s like freedom!
Thanks for the kind comments about the painting y’all. Glad too, that there seems to be a consensus- mo’ paint, mo’ better! Roxanne, good point about Macpherson’s book. It and his first book are a couple of my favorite art books in my personal collection. I’ve blogged about it in the past, and while I remember the “painting by the pound” passage I don’t think I mentioned it in my prior post. Still, I don’t think it really sunk in with me just how much paint Macpherson uses until I saw him paint in one of his DVDs (also the subject of a prior blog post.)
P.S. Rick- Colored grays have a beauty all their own–very different from mud, I think. While you use a lot of color, some of my favorite pieces of yours are done in harmonious colored grays. If that’s mud, embrace the mud! BE the mud!
In all seriousness. LOL. I don’t know if this is relevant, but I give my canvas a coat of linseed oil and then wipe off all I can before I add a reddish background. I know you do the blonding thing first. Do you coat the canvas with oil first. For me it makes the paint application a lot smoother. In all seriousness.
Rick- I’ve toned my canvas before, and often still do. I almost always do so en plein air so that the white of the canvas doesn’t blind me on a bright, sunny day. Back in the studio I sometimes leave out that step, though a bit of toning effect does occur when I am sketching in my drawing and making changes (with paint.)
I’ve gotten to where I am often not using any medium at all lately–just a bit of Gamsol in the very early part of the thinly painted sketching in stage. But only very early on. Otherwise it’s just paint, full-on, applied in progressively thicker layers. This is especially true when I’m painting on linen canvas. I find I don’t really need any kind of other prep or medium because the paint application on linen is so yum-yum good.
When I do feel the need or inclination to tone my canvas, my favorite toning color (of the moment) is Transparent Red Oxide, which is sort of a transparent reddish-brown. I like the the fact that the color doesn’t “bleed” into the other colors the way alizarin or cad red can, and that it adds a nice warm but neutral base. Seriously.