Bernie Dellario tasked our zoom-based art group with painting a fairly complicated scene using only a palette knife. The idea was to force ourselves to simplify. I selected a photo that I’d taken at a Nats night game, courtesy of friends Doug and Toni. I loved the vibrant colors, the dramatic lighting, the sharp green grass, the movement of the crowd and vendors. . . .
Here’s the painting and references. A note for composition buffs: For a bit of extra drama and clarity, I combined positions of orange hands from the two photos. I also omitted the wonderful yellow foul marker because it would been too much for a small square painting. . . . Maybe I’ll do a larger version some time so I can add that color into the mix.
At the Nats. Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 10″ x 10″.
I did a study of some of my African violets yesterday, using a ‘split primary’ color palette (warm and cool red, yellow and blue tube colors + white). I found it virtually impossible to capture the near neon magenta of the flowers, but did my best with what I had, rather than digging for another tube color.
Our most recent Ed Praybe session called for considering types of compositions ~~ various ways to position the components of the painting so as to produce an intended effect on the viewer. We each selected two objects and then experimented moving them around to see how many different ‘stable’ or ‘dynamic’ compositions we could produce. We then painted one of them, using our primary triad of yellow, red and blue.
For homework, we had to paint three objects into a stable composition and then reposition them and paint a dynamic composition. Still using the primary triad color scheme.
Two object composition – avocado and cobalt olive oil bottle. Is it stable or dynamic? 7″ x 5″.
Stable composition of tea bag, tea cup and tea kettle. 6″ x 6″.
Dynamic composition of tea bag, tea cup and tea kettle. 8″ x 6″.
Recently our class with Ed Praybe focused on painting a wide range of hues using only 3 colors – a ‘primary triad’ of red, yellow and blue. As you may remember, I’ve used such severely limited palettes many times, but only in oil paints so far. It was fun to try it with watercolors.
We did a test painting, blending the three colors before applying them to the paper. Our homework was to paint three versions of a still life setup: one monochrome to analyze the value (light and dark) structure of the scene; a second in which we mixed the colors before applying them to the paper; and a third in which we applied single color washes; let them dry completely, and then painted additional single color washes on top. This last technique creates new colors as the several layers combine optically.
Test case, pre-mixng yellow, red & blue before painting. 7″ x 5″.
The set-up for the series of paintings. Note how the water in the glass distorts the shape of the apple behind. Neat.
1st version, a value study using only ultramarine blue. 5″ x7″.
2d version, pre-mixing the primary colors before applying. 5″ x 7″.
3rd version, applying successive washes of single colors to produce different colors. 5″ x 7″.
Ooof! I did one of these challenges not long ago, but here goes! Day 1 of my mission to share something from my art, my studio, or my life for ten consecutive days, no explanation needed, and nominate someone to do the same. I nominate Penny Smith to share some of her beautiful artwork and carry on the call. The idea is to promote positivity and bring art into each other’s lives.
Here’s what’s on my easel at the moment — inching toward a dual portrait of my deceased brother-in-law Albert ‘Terp’ Ward, and his widow, Donna Garnett.
Double Portrait – 2d session
Initial drawing, using Catherine Kehoe’s method of building a web of intersecting lines until features emerge.
Painters have a wide variety of ‘tube colors’ to use in trying to achieve their desired hues. I’ve got 30 or 40 tubes of almost every color you can imagine, most of them untouched. For quite awhile, I’ve opted to limit the number of tubes I use, challenging myself to mix a broad variety of colors from a handful of basic hues. Painters call this a ‘limited palette’. It lightens the load of what you have to carry around with you and it helps give a unity of color to your painting. Nice attributes.
There’s no specified set of colors for a limited palette. In the past, I’ve typically used a ‘split primary’ group, which includes two versions of each primary color, plus white and maybe black. Each of the two selected primaries ‘bends’ toward a different adjacent secondary color. For instance, cadmium red tends toward orange (yellow), while alizarin crimson tends toward a purple (blue). Blues may include phtalo or cerulean blue which tend toward green (yellow) and ultramarine blue which leans toward purple (red). Split yellows might include cadmium yellow light, which tends green (yellow), and cadmium yellow, which tends toward orange/red.
If you want to mix a bright saturated orange using such a palette, you’d combine cadmium red and cadmium yellow, rather than alizarin red and/or cadmium yellow light – a combo that produces duller, less saturated oranges. And so on.
Here are a few of my paintings using the split primary palette.
Great Falls, Virginia. Oil on Linen. 20×16.
After the Wedding. Oil on Linen. SOLD
The End. Oil on Arches Huile Paper.
Patient Reader. Oil on Arches Huile Paper.
Two Shells, Three Pearls. Oil on ARches Huile Paper.
More recently, as a result of a zoom class with Bernie Dellario and a number of painting buddies, I’ve been working with an even MORE limited palette — just three primaries + white & a neutral earth red: Hansa yellow; pyrole red; ultramarine blue; transparent red oxide and Titanium white. What a challenge, but I think I’m getting the hang of mixing a broad range of colors from these meager starting points. Here are some recent paintings using this palette.
Breakfront. 6×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper
Goldfish from Above. 6×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
Cuban Flamenco Dancers. 10×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
On the Dock. 10×8. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
Oakleaf Hydrangea Leaf in Fall. 9×12. Oil on Arches Huile paper.
Day 5 brings another experiment off my beaten path. We were told in a workshop to draw a wandering line around our canvas without looking — and then turn it one way and another to see what it might suggest. We developed and painted expressive compositions out of our simple lines. I like how this turned out. I imagined the figure on the right as a mother and the other figures her sons, heading outside. She’s saying ‘Be Safe, My Sons!’ Now she’d probably be saying: ‘WEAR YOUR MASKS — and be EXTRA CAREFUL!!’
Be Safe, My Sons! Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 15 x 11.5
I’m currently taking a class on mixed media and was intrigued when teacher Susan Hostetler mentioned “mock frescoes”, made by painting gouache into still-damp spackle or joint compound slathered onto cardboard or other heavy substrate. Â I decided to try it. Â My first attempt was a simplistic sugar bowl sitting on our kitchen table. Â My quick contour was misshapen, so I touched it up with some water-soluble pencils, moistening the marks to blend them into the gouache.
I then plopped down a seashell (interesting shape though dull colors) and tried again. Â I was happier with that one, though disappointed when a little flake popped out sometime later. Â Maybe a fixative would deter this type of defect — will have to research it. . . .
Seashell. Gouache on Damp Joint Compound on Cardboard. 7.25″ x 6″.
Sugar Bowl. Gouache on Damp Joint Compound on Cardboard. 7.25″ x 9″.
Post painting mess! Didn’t manage to get the shell into the picture.
Sometimes it’s fun to challenge yourself: Â can you make a painting in a very limited number of strokes? Â Say, 15? Â I decided to try it the other day. Â I placed three shells from my beach-combing stash on a sheet of paper and attacked, carefully plotting color and placement of each stroke. Â At 15, I was itching to do ‘just a few more’ to beef it up ‘just a bit’, but gritted my teeth and concluded the effort. Â Here it is, along with a snap of the shell subject.
In keeping with the spirit of the test, I made only a few light guidelines for size and placement, before constructing the design via ‘color-shapes’.
15 Stroke Shells. Oil on primed Arches Oil Paper. 10″ x 8″.
My most recent small painting features some bright cardinals showing off among their Plain Jane pals. Â It was based on photos taken last year. Â Our feeder is empty and there are few birds to watch now. Â (Our neighborhood has been encouraged not to use feeders so birds won’t gather and spread a new virus among themselves.)
For the artists who are reading, this painting was an experiment in “cmyk” colors — a very limited palette of cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Â This group of colors is used with great success in color printing, but it’s pretty rare to see it underpinning an oil painting or water-based art.
For this attempt, I used the closest hues in my paint stash:  manganese phthalo, quinacridone violet, azo yellow and ivory black.  I managed to mix everything in the painting without resorting to additional colors ~~ other than the male cardinals, for which I dipped into cad red.  I can’t say I enjoyed the experience or like the outcome!  I’m not sure whether I’ll try it again!
#22. Birds in the Backyard. Oil on Primed Arches Oil Paper. 8″ x 10″
