Amarante, Portugal

Amarante Cathedral, 18 x 24

One of the most beautiful cities visited on my recent European trip was the town of Amarante, Portugal, built in 1790. This painting is a study piece of Amarante's main church and bridge. To obtain the photo, I walked into the middle of the river on a small cement drainage platform. Although a few onlookers thought I was crazy, as an artist, I knew it was worth the risk to obtain the right photo.  

Douro Valley, Portugal

Vintage House View, 6 x 8

I just returned from a European painting trip. I plan on a making several posts on the experience. For port wine lovers, the Douro Valley in Portugal is a must see trip. This plein air piece was painted one morning from the balcony of my CS Vintage House hotel room which I recommend wholeheartedly.

As you can see from the photo of me painting this scene, it was a true paradise. As I've mentioned in other posts, a scene is open to interpretation and artist license. In this instance, I changed the pillars in the pool house to an arch and made the pool into a garden area.

French Paintings

I have made two paint trips to France. This video is of some of the plein air and studio oil paintings of Paris, Normandy and the Loire Valley.

Rain's Reward

Creamer, 5 x 7

It has been raining for a few days with more to come. Luckily, I love my art studio and have enjoyed pushing myself with various still life compositions. This creamer is from my china collection and I picked this red blossom from my garden. A combination of broken color and soft edges makes for a gem of a painting. 

Application of Paint

Kathryn emailed me in response to my last post and is interested in information about application of paint. Thanks Kathryn and hopefully others will find the following information helpful too. 

Over time, paint can crack when a thin layer is applied over thick paint. To avoid cracking, begin your painting with a thin application of paint and layer thick paint on top towards the end. Not only does this method help preserve a painting longterm, it also adds interest as well.

Chiaroscuro is the method of applying value to a two-dimensional piece of artwork to create an illusion of a three-dimensional solid form. These strong contrasts between light and dark create interest in a painting. Shadows and dark areas are usually applied with thin paint and left to contrast against lighter areas which are layered with thicker paint.

When I am concerned about thick paint taking too long to dry, I prefer to use a quick drying white by Graham. I mix this quick dry white with my other regular paint colors. Using this approach, I find that instead of taking three days for a painting to dry,  it will dry in a day and a half.

To maintain an even viscosity with my paints,  I mix a solution of half turpentine and half linseed oil. When painting, I dip my clean brush into the mixture, then apply is to my colors and repeat throughout the painting.

John Carlson's book Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting is reference material I refer to often and a must-have for any serious artist. Pages 25-29 specifically address this topic of application of paint. 

Here is a Youtube video demonstration of a 20 x 24 studio painting I completed today. I narrate throughout the video and illustrate what is discussed in this post.

Interests?

When I look at my blog statistics, I am amazed at the number of people who visit my blog worldwide. While I attempt to be both educational and informative, I wonder if there are topics or examples of interest to you which I have yet to address. I am happy to share my thoughts and experiences, but want to assure I am on track with my posts. So, please don't be shy. Send me your comments or personal emails and let me know what you hope I address in the future on my blog.

Reflections

I've been asked how I paint reflections. Ducks on a Pond is a 16 x 20 studio piece I painted after my recent visit to Connolly Ranch.

The viewer's eyes are meant to fill in painting details. Too many details robs the viewer of the opportunity to interpret a painting as they see it. Executing loose brush strokes keeps a painting interesting and fresh even after years of daily viewing. In this close up, you see how the duck bill is one brush stroke without hard edges. The combination of thick and thin paint on the duck itself adds depth.  

Reflections are the opposite of what they are on the surface. A dark image is lighter in a reflection.

Another way to create water interest is to vary the paint between horizontal and verticals strokes as demonstrated below in this close up.