Palette Journey

Choosing a color palette is a funny business.  I've been on this journey recently and finding it exciting and frustrating at the same time.  I LOVE COLOR but that can sometimes get in the way to picking a new palette.  I'm a little unsure about where my palette has settled, so I'm still tweaking away.  I thought I'd share some questions to ask yourself if you are looking to change up your palette.

• What are your reasons for changing your palette?  For me it was a move to the west coast.  As I discussed in last week's post, I felt the need for a new language to describe my new home and surroundings.  For you, maybe you're bored with your palette, lack of harmony in your work, you have no set palette (just randomly placing color each time your paint) or constantly making mud (making mud means you don't have a solid understanding of how your colors interact).
• Do I want a limited or expanded palette? - I'm a big fan of a limited palette but see advantages to a more expanded palette.  I highly suggest a limited palette if you are struggling with color or you lack color harmony in your work.  Understanding color is simpler if you limit your choices. Limiting your choices does not mean limiting your color.  When I went to a limited palette my understanding of color mixing jumped exponentially.  I found I could mix any color I needed because I understood how my colors worked together.  If your palette contains 10 to 20 tubes, it is more unlikely that you understand how each of those colors interact with each other.  An expanded palette works if you are someone who doesn't like to constantly mix color, time is issue and cost doesn't factor into the equation.  But keep in mind that if you are struggling with understanding color, an expanded palette will be more challenging. 
• One palette does not suit all - I have my "basic" palette but when I switch to figurative work, I will add a few additional colors.  I know many artists that have slightly different palettes when they paint florals versus landscapes or a different palette for plein air.  It all about understanding the different needs for given situations.  
• How to decide hues for your palette - My previous palette included a "warm" & "cool" version of the primary colors plus white.  My new palette has been scaled down to the 3 primary colors with an additional "specialty color. I quite enjoy mixing color and making my own black because I can adjust them as needed for each painting.  Some people just want to dip into Cad. Orange and not have to mix it.  Do you mix your colors on your palette or let them mix on the canvas?  It comes down to what works best for you. Just don't get complacent and stick to a routine just because it's what you've always done.

In the end, a color palette must suit the artist.  If you can't express yourself with your color choices than it's time for a change.  I do believe that students should have a good understanding of a limited palette before adding additional hues.  Regardless of the number of colors on your palette, doing color charts (Yuck, I know) really is a great way to understand your particular palette.  I did similar color charts like Richard Schmid's. Invaluable. 

As promised, I will share my palette once the kinks are worked out.  No need for you to see the sausage being made.

Developing a New Language

Hard to believe that my last post was the end of October.  Since then I've moved to California, started to teach drawing & oil painting classes and settling into life here.  I'd like to say that I have some fabulous insights to share but not quiet yet.  What has become obvious is that I needed to slow down and take in my new surroundings.  I haven't painted very much but I've been observing like a crazy person.

I've discussed in earlier blogs about my limited palette and have since gone to a more limited palette.  I'm happy with my progress but still working out the kinks.  I'm will share my new palette when I'm a little more comfortable with it.  One of the first things that I realized when I got here was that I wanted a different language to describe my new surroundings.  Surprisingly my blues weren't up to the task and so I have embarked on mixing a different range of blues than before. Mixing blues weren't a problem but now I seem to be struggling a little. Best remedy for that is to spend time looking, then experiment with mixing new colors.

It isn't that I don't know how to mix color, it's more of trying to express myself in a different manner.  It's like I've had to rearrange my words to accurately describe this new world. To communicate how intrigued and excited I am by the beauty.  I could have stayed with my old palette but it felt like I was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Part of the reason for moving was to push myself as an artist, challenge the way I looked at a subject and to try to say something new besides subject matter to my work.  I've given myself permission to explore and change.  To challenge myself by working in a different manner, trying new techniques and palettes.   I'm excited to see where this journey leads.

So my tip for today is to challenge yourself to slow down and observe.  Don't be in such a rush to jump to the canvas.  Learning to describe something takes a bit of time to look and then digest it before pronouncing your viewpoint.  In the end, what you say on the canvas will have more impact if you truly understand what you are trying to convey.

Guest Contributor - Kim VanDerHoek Art Tip

It's been a little crazy at my house as of late, so I'm grateful to have such wonderful artists willing to share their art tips with me.  Today's tip is from a wonderful California painter, Kim VanDerHoek.  Kim is an avid plein air painter & she has some great tips for “How to Nail Down Things That Move When Plein Air Painting”.  Thanks, Kim and Happy Painting.

"Quiet Day at the Cove"

"Maritime Reflections"

When painting outdoors everything is in a constant state of change and it’s part of your job as an artist to capture the essence of what is there while doing your best to create a successful painting.

It’s challenging trying to paint a view that changes every 15 minutes; here are some tips to help you overcome that challenge.

1. Observe the scene when you are setting up your easel. Often artists are drawn to a view because of a beautiful light condition, a shadow pattern, a bold color note or other dramatic element. By the time your easel is set up and you have a brush in your hand the element that initially caught your eye might have already moved or lost some of its drama. Paying attention to the scene, thinking about how you want to paint it, carefully observing it before you get started will help you remember what that fleeting element looked like when it first grabbed your attention and before it started changing.

2. Have a plan of attack. If there is an element or lighting condition, like a shadow, reflection, cloud, etc., in your painting that will move as you are working it’s a good idea to draw that element onto your canvas as part of your sketch or, if there is time, create a thumbnail value sketch on paper before you begin mixing color. That way you have a guide that will help keep you on track even as the view changes.

3. Paint it right now. Don’t wait until you are 3/4 of the way through your painting to start working on that fleeting element. Paint it in while it is still fresh in your mind and before it’s changed so much that you’ve forgotten why you wanted to include it in your painting in the first place. This is especially important for things that are key elements in your painting that are a focal point. How devastating would it be if you had a boat as the focal point in your painting and you spent most of your working time painting in the water under the boat only to have the boat owner hop in and sail your focal point away before you could get around to painting it?

4. 4. Don’t chase the light. Highlights and shadows are elements that always change in plein air landscape painting. For example, if you’ve been working for several hours the shadow underneath a tree could move from one side of the tree to the other during that time. Be mindful of where the highlight needs to be on the tree casting the shadow in relation to it. It’s your job to make sure the light is consistent in your painting. If a tree has a shadow on one side, then the highlight needs to be on the other. Don’t get caught up painting in every changing lighting condition you see or you might end up with a tree that has a highlight and shadow on the same side, which won’t make visual sense to anyone viewing your painting.

"Have a Seat"

For more about Kim & her work:

Kim lives in Orange, California with her husband and two children. She has a BFA in 

Illustration from the California College of the Arts in Oakland, California. She began 

painting en plein air because it combined her love of being outside and creating art. "I 

enjoy the challenges plein air painting poses. Dealing with the weather, changing light 

and the other hurdles of outdoor painting has forced me to learn to make decisions 

quickly, to paint with commitment and above all, to have a plan for each painting." Kim 

feels that her plein air work has, in turn, strengthened her studio paintings.

Kim’s website – www.KimVanDerHoek.com

Kim’s Blog - http://vanderhoekart.blogspot.com

Guest Contributor - Carrie Waller Art Tip

Carrie Waller is a fabulous watercolorist.  I've been following her blog for a long time & she always has such fascinating paintings.   

Carrie's Art Tip

I've been participating in 30 paintings in 30 days challenge and I think that this has been the best experience.  Having that goal and the deadline of having a painting due each day has really pushed me.  I have produced a lot in a short time and I'm so thankful that I signed up to participate.  So my biggest tip would be to set a goal for yourself that you think is inconceivable, like 30 paintings in 30 days and see what happens.  I've heard from other painters that it has made them work through some problems in their paintings that they would usually start over but because they have a deadline to finish a painting that day they have pushed through and been successful.

To see more of her work:

website     www.carriewallerfineart.com

blog          http://carriewaller.blogspot.com

facebook   https://www.facebook.com/carriewallerfineart

Carrie Waller is an award winning, Internationally recognized watercolor artist, military wife, and mother to two young sons.  Her unique works are bold, dramatic, vibrant, and  full of light and color. "I've always had a fascination with watercolor.  The difficulty of the medium challenges me  and the transparent layering can not be replicated with any other medium.  I challenge myself to push the medium by creating saturated colors and let the white of the paper sparkle through to create my dramatic lights.  I love the process of being a still life painter.  Conceptualizing the painting in my head, the hunt for the props, setting up my finds in the perfect dramatic, natural lighting and seeing my idea come to life.  I love to make every day objects come to life in a new and creative way.  My intention is for the viewer to be captivated by the beauty and light of the piece and for it to give them an amazing visual experience."  Carrie is a guest co-host and contributor Artists Helping Artists the art blog radio show.  She is also signature member of the Louisiana Watercolor Society and has paintings in collections around the world. 

Guest Contributor - Carol Marine Art Tip

This is the first of an ongoing series of guest contributors.  At least once a month, I will have guest post an art tip.  It won't always be an artist but it will be related to art.  I'm so honored to have Carol Marine be the first Contributor.

               

Carol's Tip 

"Getting the Most out of a Workshop"

1.      Leave your ego at the door. It is completely normal to worry at a workshop what other people are going to think about your work, especially the teacher. You only have a limited amount of time in which to impress them, right?! “What if I screw up?! What if the person sitting next to me is much better?!” If you can ignore those voices in your head and focus instead on simply learning, you will be much better off. Forget about how others might judge you (they’re just as worried about what you think). And believe me, the teacher is consumed with teaching, not judging!

2.      Be willing to let go of everything you learned before. Every teacher has opinions about the best ways to paint. Often these opinions collide. It could be that something you heard from a teacher years before and took as fact, doesn’t indeed work for you now. Be willing to let go of those things that don’t work and hear an alternate way of doing something. Take everything you hear with a grain of salt.

3.    Let yourself be uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable in a workshop means you are trying something new; experimenting. You may fail, and that’s ok. You may fail lots of times. But eventually you will have a breakthrough, and you would have never gotten there had you not allowed yourself to be uncomfortable.

4.    Follow up! The absolute best way to get the most out of a workshop, is to keep working when you get home. If you put away your tools for a month (or more) when you get home, you will likely forget what you learned, and lose the momentum and inspiration from the workshop. Carve out time for it. You invested time and money in the workshop, don’t waste that!

Thanks Carol for taking time & sharing some good information.

If you're unfamiliar with Carol, here's a little about her...

Carol lives in Eugene. Oregon with her family.  She has a BFA in Studio Arts from the University of Texas, Austin & since 2006, she has been creating one small painting almost everyday.  A popular teacher, Carol conducts several workshops a year across the country.  To find out more about Carol & her work, visit her blog & website listed below.

Carol's Painting a Day Blog -http://carolmarine.blogspot.com/

Carol's Website - http://www.carolmarine.com/

Art Tip #129

Familiarity

   

A few years ago I did a 10 Minute challenge for class.  As many times as I've painted an apple, I still learned & improved with each painting. Becoming familiar with my subject allowed color temperature, edge quality & brushwork to improve. Confidence in the understanding of the subject builds stronger paintings. Set a timer, chose a subject, paint at least 6 versions and focus for 10 minutes on each one. You'll be surprised a what you learn.

Art Tip #128

Decisions, Decisions by Robert Genn

I'm late to post today because I've been battling a flu.  Urghhhh.  Fever, headache & writing a post just aren't compatible.   However, I did read an interesting post by Robert Genn and thought it was worth sharing.  Just click on the Decisions title to read.  Thanks to Mr. Genn for inadvertently helping out with an great Art Tip   He always has something insightful to say.  

Art Tip #123

Shake It Up

I'm getting out of my comfort zone this afternoon & teaching a new student how to use pastels.  I've done them in the past but it's been awhile.  While preparing for class, I got that wonderful creative feeling.  You know the one where the juices were flowing & you're itching to dive in. I even pulled out my watercolors.  I think it's good to step out of our comfort zones every once in awhile. 

You don't have to try different mediums to shake things up.  Try something you've never tackled.  Anything from a subject you've never painted, or a new brush, or a different technique. Just do it for yourself.  Don't do it with the idea of having to share it with the world.  Rather approach it as playtime.  Pushing yourself is a good thing.  

Art Tip #118

Tools for Seeing Values

Use a Value Finder -  Using a red value finder will help you start to "see" values.  It removes the color which can confuse determining value.  There are a few different Value Finders.  This one can be found here at Dick Blick.

Accuview App - Great app that is primarily an app for composition but it has the ability to be used as a value finder.  Just take your photo and use the value scale to remove color. Easy to use. For iPhone, click here.

Value Sketches - A tried & true method.  It's not an app and maybe not "sexy" but I think it's still the best way to be a good artist.  Learning to see as an artist requires training your eyes.  Using tools and apps can be good but there's no substitute for seeing it for yourself.  So grab your sketchbook, look, look again, judge one value against another & soon it will become a valuable skill that will carry you along your journey of becoming a better artist.

Art Tip #117

Sargent Knows Best

Students want to their paintings to have pretty brushwork.  I teach students to first learn to make their paintings read from a distance and then spend a lifetime perfecting how it looks up close. Value is the key.  Painting detail can give you a sense that you've capture the subject but without the correct values, your painting will be flat and uninviting.  If you don't catch a viewer's eye from a distance, they won't get close enough to enjoy the brushwork.

John Singer Sargent was the first painter to inspire me & I seek out his work for guidance. Viewing his paintings in person, I'm always struck at how he disguises detail with a few strokes of the brush. As wonderful as his brushwork is, it's value that carries a painting.   No matter how beautiful the strokes or color, if the values aren't correct, then it will fail. In JSS's painting "Head Study of a Capri Girl" from a distance, you think that the earrings would be described in detail until you are a few inches away from the painting.  In fact, it's 2 to 3 very well placed, value correct strokes.   I'm drawn to those beautiful strokes for the earrings but realize that if the values of the entire painting aren't correct...the earrings won't matter.

Those who watched Sargent painting in his studio were reminded of his habit of stepping backwards after almost every stroke of the brush on the canvas, and the tracks of his paces so worn on the carpet that it suggested a sheep run through the heather.   

In stepping back, JSS was mainly judging the how his painting read, not his brushwork.

                                   

My goal is to paint the "essence" of my subject, not the exactness of it. Value allows me that. Stepping back helps you judge how little you can get away with and still convey it.
 

Art Tip #113

Finding the Abstraction

"Caribbean Storm"

I've been toying with trying my hand at an abstract but couldn't seem to find a jumping off point until now.  I find a small percentage of abstracts compelling. Why?  Because a small amount of artists understand & can communicate the "rules" of painting. Good abstracts aren't about "wiping" paint onto a canvas & throwing a few words in for good measure.  You hear "Learn the rules, then you can break them".  I feel like I now have a decent handle on the foundations & that's why I have some confidence to attempt a few.

I've been studying art (in one form or another) almost all my life.  My tastes have evolved by viewing artists who have honed their craft & place an emphasis on quality.  With this observation, I have tried to set my own bar high. By that, I mean to strive to produce  quality work.  Will I fail?  Most definitely.  More times than I'll succeed but hopefully most failures won't end up for public consumption, rather, for me to evaluate why it didn't work & incorporate those lessons into the next painting.

I see some students jump to abstracts because they've grown frustrated & impatient with learning the foundations of painting.  It's a kind of a short cut.  Can't draw a figure, no problem, I'll just abstract it.  Except abstraction comes from reality.  There are no short cuts in life or art.  Being good at something doesn't happen overnight.  When I first started painting, a very wise person told me that in 10 years, I'd really start to get it.  They were so right.  I feel like I'm at the beginning of my journey & it's a glorious journey.  

Bad abstracts are like the Kardashians' of the art world.  All glitz, no substance.  Not to say there isn't a place for them but being known for glitz isn't what I'm striving for. But remember good art will stand the test of time.

Whatever your painting style is, set some personal standards & goals. It's a great feeling when you achieve them and don't forget to have some fun along with way.

Jumping off my soapbox now, hopefully, I won't sprain anything.  ;)

Here are a few of favorite abstract/expressionist painters:

Dan McCaw  

Richard Diebenkorn

Robert Langford

Rod Wimer

Brian Rutenberg

Art Tip #111

Favorite Art Sites

With social media what it is, there is an abundance of information at our fingertips.  I thought I'd share just a few of my favorite sites.  

Painters:

John Singer Sargent - I found one of his paintings in an art book at age 9. He got my

artistic juices flowing & they haven't stopped.  This site has his complete works. 

   

Sergei Bongart -  One of just many Russian impressionists that inspire me.

Tibor Nagy - When I grow up, I want my art to bring the depth & language that his work 

does.  If you don't know him, you should.

Drawing:

Sketchaway - A sketchbook traveler.  When I visit other artists' it's their sketchbooks that I'm most interested in.  It tells a lot about the artist.  

Urban Sketchers - A blog that features more than 100 artists from around the world. 

It's just fun to visit.

   

Misc. Sites

Underpaintings - Matthew Innis' blog that as he says...celebrates excellence

in Representational Art. A cornucopia of fabulous art & exhibits are highlighted.

Painting Perceptions - A blog that invites discussion & ideas on exploring painting done from life.  It includes interviews & information written from an artist's point of view. It takes time to explore but well worth it.  A large variety of styles.  

Painting Resource

Gamblin - I use Gamblin paint, their site is full of great information.  If you have question, 

I've always gotten a timely & useful response.