another Sargent copy

I'm not sure of the title of this one, one of his paintings of Tommies bathing. Really interesting to see how expressive his brushwork is. And in the original--a bit too much color bleeding in my copy--jow the pale blue violet shadows on the bodies enhance their whiteness amid all the green.

Sargent was not afraid of strong greens!

Sargent copy

                   10x12

A copy of one of my favorite Sargent paintings, A Tent in the Rockies.

This took me three sittings to complete and I regret 1) that, for some reason, probably because my sketchbook was right there, I painted this on hot press paper and 2) I now see that the left hand tent pole isn't as long as it should be ...

But I was delighted as I worked on this to notice that one of the things inside the tent, on the lower left, appears to be a French easel. 

I also found looking at Sargent's trees very interesting: there seems to be a blue underpainting; then greens are added on top, some passages of sienna and of violet; topped off with red where he wanted them darkest.

arya

                      8x8

Had time this morning to take my time and relax while painting one of my cats, Arya. She's my tiny cat and she remains the most kitten-like, even though she's about ten now.

monochrome

Monochrome studies for a class I'm in.

After trying with Payne's gray and indigo, I wanted to paint this cluster of leaves I picked up with transparent orange but quickly found I couldn't get a range of values with such a light color. So I added a little Prussian blue.

more littles

So busy with work and end-of-summer tasks and work on the house that I haven't had time to really "work" on something, so I'm just knocking out these little studies.

I have a project or two in mind and hope I have time for more sustained effort soon.

small studies

These were all painted from the same reference photo 

marshes

                     5x7

I have a small pile of photos I've taken of the marshes here in southern NJ. They're endlessly interesting, like clouds--different colors, changing shapes.

Maybe I'll try to devise a marsh challenge for myself ... 100 marshes in 100 days!

a challenge

                     9x12

Someone in one of the online groups I paint with took a photo at a farmers market and shared it with us all so we could all paint it, and will get together, online, later in October to show and tell.

If I have time I may try this once again, just to see how it comes out differently, if it does.

Two tiny studies, just to fill the sheet of paper.

ron ranson copy

Copied a little snow sketch from a Ron Ranson book.

I'm really enjoying his alla prima approach.

I can see, after photographing it, how much more color there is in Ranson's sketch than I saw at first.

paint-along

                    12x14

Painted these this morning with an Eric Weigardt paint-along video. I've done a couple of online classes with Eric and usually come away pretty frustrated despite the fact that he's a good teacher. 

He uses a lot of water and a lot of color and he paints big, usually a full sheet. His paintings are "loose" and colorful. 

I think I finally accepted that for me to get similar results, or to get the things I like about his painting into my painting, I'm going to have to try more than once! 

So I do wish I had left more white and lights in the sky and in the water, but the wet paint got away from me.

It's okay though I'll do it again and try to get the result I want.

classwork

                   3x4 studies

.                        8x10

From tonight's class with SaltyWaterArt.

Studies really are helpful ... As I discover everytime I make them. But I still haven't made a practice of it!

Painted this on my color-testing paper.

classwork

Painting along with a replay of Birgit O'Connor's ethereal landscapes workshop. No photo reference but Iyou can see I was thinking of Scotland!

A good way to start a Saturday morning on a beautiful fall day when I'll have to stay inside and work.

Charles Reid copies

                      9x12

The third and final class copying and learning from Charles Reid, using his book on flowers, with Megan Swoyer.

Some tightness, some overworking but the class was fun and the other students did some really beautiful work which was great to see. 

I hope I can remember to use pure color and plenty of it like Charles Reid did.

classwork

.                    8x8

Practice for my birds in flight class with Ian de Hoog. 

I've painted birds for a while now but it's funny don't often paint them in flight. This class is opening up a whole new view!

Two birds I see around my house: House Sparrow which is quite plentiful all year long. And the titmouse which has returned to Southern New Jersey for the winter. 

Saw my first yellow rumped warbler at one of my bird baths yesterday; they migrate through here in terrific numbers 

bluejay

I got this reference photo from one of the sites that offers reference photos to artists--maybe, probably, Paint My ) Photo-- but so long ago I've forgotten where. I'll have to do some investigating ... I really love the photo and have painted it a few times.

limited palette

                    8x10

A very wet limited palette painting: cobalt, rose madder genuine, and aureolin. Amazing how many pretty colors you can get, and lovely grays.

Fun mixing, even if the painting is blah.

classwork

Class #2 of painting like Charles Reid with Megan Swoyer: one of my dahlias painted a la CR and a copy of a small still life of his where I swapped out his mustard jar for something taller. A little annoyed at myself for being too tight and trying too hard on the still life.

As my mom used to say, every day can't be a winner.

classwork

Took a class with Paul Talbot-Greaves through Artefacto yesterday. I love his work--the greens he makes are astounding: strong but still natural--and I love his subjects-- he lives in Yorkshire.

I took a class with him previously, a couple of years ago, and I think we did four paintings ... All of which I really struggled with. For some reason I always had trouble figuring out the reference photo. And I made some mistakes with this one too. But you don't know what they are so I'm not going to tell you!

ldg: hockney sketchbooks

                  1 minute each

                  2 minutes each

Watched the video of a class with Frances Stanfield of London Drawing Group today. They offer a variety of classes. This is the third one lately focusing on David Hockney. 

We started with some quick drawings, something I always enjoy.

Then a 2 minute drawing, which we then painted. Was not keen on doing this one, but because I wasn't enthused I just kept adding to it ... Not making any claims for the painting itself, but I began to enjoy the process.

.                       9x10

I did this after class, maybe as the beginning of a Hockney-inspired sketchbook. The same scene, one near, one far.

It's kind of nice to draw with a crayon--its so soft.

classwork

                        9x12
Drawings for the Ian de Hoog class I'm taking. Having difficulties with the heads, especially the titmouse's! His head is quite large.

                      7.5x11

These are all drawn on watercolor paper--Hahnemuhle and Fabriano--and may be value studies.

Still have to draw one a bit larger, 11x15, to paint.

snowscape

                     10x15

Attempting to paint a Ron Ranson style landscape ... Broke one of the cardinal rules though and fussed over the frozen river too much. So I went back and worked it even more! The final version is above.