Planning a painting

One might assume that if an artist already has a photo of the scene, no further planning is needed. However, I always find it helpful to plan out my composition a little bit in advance before I dive right into painting. This saves consistent editing to the composition on my canvas, though editing and refining are still a part of the painting process. A sketch need not be overly detailed, but it is still helpful in order to figure out the placement of things. Where is my horizon line? Where is my center of interest? Where is the sun in relation to my subject, and where will the shadows fall? What from the scene do I feel is important, and what may I want to edit out completely?

A sketch is also helpful because my canvas proportions may be different from the proportions in my photo. Therefore, I have to think about how to crop a scene to make it most interesting. Here is a photo of a scene in the Luberon valley of Provence that I took when I was there painting on location. A lovely little church served as a backdrop for a beautiful cherry orchard strewn with pink and white wildflowers. The photo does not do justice to the gorgeous wildflowers that were in this scene, but since I was there and painted and sketched in this area, memory can serve me well here:

Here is my very quick sketch. I plan to eliminate one of the middle ground trees, and use the two foreground trees to frame the scene. I establish where my horizon line will fall. At this point I am thinking it will be more interesting to have the horizon line a little higher up in my scene, rather than right smack in the middle of my canvas. Having my center of interest (the church) just off to the left of center creates a more dynamic composition as well. I also establish my light source and determine shadows.

Here is the painting, pretty well laid out. It is 12x16". It's been snowing here so the lighting coming in my studio windows has not been great for photography and this photograph has dulled my colors somewhat. I'm still working out the distant trees and the grasses and wildflowers in the foreground. I will post the completed painting on my website in the Provence Paintings section when it is complete.

Studio Work

Even though yesterday was the first day of spring, it is still pretty cold here. The days are actually varying wildly in temperature, which is typical for March in Richmond. Today temperatures will top out in the mid 30's, but by the weekend it is supposed to be in the upper 60's. Anemones, daffodils, cherry blossoms and forsythia are everywhere, and yet weather reports are actually calling for snow.

So, for a while longer I rely on my sketches and photos to inform my work. I work in the summer months in the studio too, but in warmer weather I can also break out for mornings painting and sketching in the open air. There is nothing quite like working from life. But when conditions are not ideal (or when you have long departed from your subject matter), I have devised (with my husband Dave's computer help and expertise) a way of working in the studio that exceeds working from printed photos.

When I travel to my painting destinations, I take literally thousands of digital pictures. I take shots both up close and far away, and I also shoot the same scene from several different angles if possible. The benefit of shooting digital is that I don't need to buy loads of film, and then worry about whether it will survive going through the x-ray machines at the airports. I can also see my images immediately and delete the ones that are clearly deficient.

When I get home I save my images onto a CD and work directly from a computer monitor that sits next to my easel. As it is, even digital photography is still one generation removed from nature. When an image is then printed off onto photo paper, the scene is even further removed. Printed photos tend to further wash out light areas and blacken out the darkest shadows, so a lot of detail is lost.

Viewing the images directly in digital form on my monitor allows me to see them in a truer light than if I had to print them off. Another advantage is that I can zoom in on a segment of the photo to see more detail--something not possible with printed photos. Of course you have to have taken the picture at a high enough image resolution in the first place, so I have a number of flash cards that hold a lot of large pictures. If traveling for extended periods it is even a good idea to download images along the way to CD or laptop, if possible, so that you have more room on your flash card (or memory stick) to take more pictures!

Here is my monitor/easel setup:

 

New art note cards in development

I have been looking for a way to offer a new line of note cards to sell on my website. Up to now I have been offering ones that are hand assembled with images on Arches deckled edge paper. They are really nice looking, but not the most practical in terms of the time and cost required to produce them. I believe I have found an alternative that will enable me to offer some new images at a reduced cost to the customer. I've just ordered some "test cards" to get an idea of the product quality, and they look mighty good! Now I just have to go about picking out some more images that I think might appeal. I should be offering these new cards very soon on my website.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes www.jenniferyoung.com Contact

Back from the Workshop

The Friday workshop was a lot of fun. I was impressed by the talent and friendliness of the entire group, and it sure made my experience a real joy. I look forward to giving more workshops in the future! I will post more pictures of the class on in my "photo journal" on my website when I have time, but here are a few images in the meantime. The class began with a little talk and a demonstration. Here is a shot of the classroom. I'm standing in the front of the room (wearing a black shirt and green apron).

Giving the demo... 

An action shot of the painting process; I'm laying in my lightest and darkest areas first to establish my values. 

I got about half way done with this little painting before the participants broke out and started working on their own projects. I should have the finished painting up on my website soon.

Read about Jennifer's current and upcoming workshops here!

Multi-tasking

I have a lot going on this week so I have kind of hit the ground running since my trip. I am working on two commissions and also preparing for the oil painting workshop I am conducting this Friday in Greenville, North Carolina. I'm also doing some sketches to plan for a number of new paintings, but they will wait until I get these other things finished (or at least well under way.) I am looking forward to the workshop! It's focus: Painting the Landscape in Oils. Read about Jennifer's current and upcoming workshops here!