Finished- Long Slide Falls 28"x 22" oil on linen

Callin' er done I think...

Today I wrestled with the water...bit more shadows on the left, and at the whitewater applied a good amount of white pigment.

Learned some time ago...that if you want a pigment to appear its brightest, best to use a paint knife and lay it on thick and flat.  The minute ruts left behind of a bristle brush actually invites the play of shadows each rut casts upon another...and a color appears a tad dull.  So, I applied the pigment quite heavy...smooth with the paint knife, but where I think the eye should pick up on more turbulence of the water...I mixed up another batch of white pigment, used a wide bristle...and laid in very thick strokes...

Here is a smaller view, as if standing 4-5 paces back...(and all images clicked on show up bigger)

4th Session...Long Slide Falls...28"x 22" oil on linen

Perked up the chroma intensity of purer pigments, warmer in color temperature along the upper right foliage and rock faces.  Deepened the values of water in shadow just a bit more...and brought the more center/right rock to a greater rendered finishing...

This area is left to be more abstract, looser in brushwork...a tease on the eye...but being less finished than the other rock by virtue of compare and contrast, is designed peripherally to call less attention to itself.  A fun thing really when you consider how front and center the rock is.

Also...breaking a fundamental rule in the landscape where purer color, darker darks, crisp edges should all define that which is closer...opting to trust the peripheral pan of the work by the eye to find the interest in the area above...or, this area more-

I'll look it over for a few days now before deciding if it satisfies what I set out to do...

On the same subject...I labored to put a good explanation together on the direction I'm trying to push as a painter, sharing examples of some fine painters, their influence and inspiration...as well as a few examples how I'm taking such things to experiment with the landscape...here is the detailed post taken from a thread of mine at Wetcanvas.com

Quinnesec, Michigan's Fumee Falls...12"x 9" oil Plein Air

Such a gorgeous day, and needed to do our

monthly grocery shopping...so headed toward

Iron Mountain, MI...this afternoon. That's how

it is living in the north woods, about an hour to

shop a decent grocery store...so, figured I'd

take my gear, stop and paint a plein air of

Fumee Falls, check out other possible paint

sites on the way.

This time of year, winter's snow melt adds to

the volume of run off or water supply, and

creeks, rivers are swollen. Best time to visit

the falls one is familiar with to paint.

My painting was photographed outdoors in light

and unfortunately I have glare, so will reshoot

it tomorrow during the day and repost...but I

think turned out pretty good.

Here was my set up...and the falls I was

looking at when I started out-

...and of course, what makes plein air fun

and challenging is that in short time, the

light shifts, moves...and you have a

completely different scene there in front

of you that now works as a reference

only, but the impression has to be locked

in the mind to finish up...

I started with a midgray mother color or

pigment soup...mixing up a gray and then

dragging a bit of that gray into each of my

colors to imbue a common color harmony.

Yellow Dog Falls...5"x 9" gouache...

 

5"x 9" gouache on black drawing paper (heavy)

Painted tonight, and you'll see my set up here which 

is making my foree into gouache convenient and 

enjoyable, (clicking on image brings up larger view)-

I've painted with oils predominantly the past 15 years, 

acrylics the 17 years before that...but what makes 

gouache nice is the casual setting up...no mess to speak  

of, ease to clean up, and no smells.  Ordinarily I'd be  

painting outdoors with oils or in my art classroom...here  

I can spend time with my wife, and enjoy some television  

or movie...though I more or less listen and see little by 

comparison of my painting, naturally.

The paintbox is one of several Guerrilla plein air boxes 

I have...

and...if you'd like to see a three second interval gif 

animation of this painting start to finish, follow my link to 

my thread at Wetcanvas.com ... Yellow Dog Falls...

Gooseberry Falls...7"x 9" gouache

Inspired from a plein air trip a couple years ago to NW Wisconsin and a couple hours north of Duluth, Minnesota...Gooseberry Falls...

A three second interval .gif animation of this painting can be viewed clicking my Gooseberry Falls Gouache 

And, clicking on image above brings up a larger view...

Quinnesec, Michigan's Fumee Falls...6"x 8" gouache

Finished this afternoon...one of my favorite snow on the way out sites to visit to set up and paint on location, as the volume of water makes this falls impressive...

This one done in the comfort of my home however...and early signs of spring yet a long way off...

clicking on image brings up larger view, and...for those interested, you can see a stage by stage animation of this one from start to finish at Wetcanvas... Fumee Falls...gouach animation

Two Plein air Oils Today...Fumee Falls and Piers Gorge

Beautiful and interesting day. See, the thing about a
waterfalls is that everyone connects to them. The power
of reflection and muse, a very spiritual time...but as I
would discover today....a falls also makes for a very
interesting backdrop for high school prom pictures!!!!

I was set up down nearer to the main falls, about half
done perhaps when teens dressed up began to show
up...and then more, and still more. Soon parents and
grandparents...uncles, and ...er, well you get it!









































I pulled my paintbox set up back thinkin' these
photo ops would sure be weird with some guy at the
base of the falls painting! Here, I'm just about
done when this group of girls gather in front for
some pics...



















Here's the result of my painting anyway, and had
chance to meet and talk with some nice folks. One
turned out to be a painter as well, and referred to
what I was doing as "plein air!"

8"x 10" Fumee Falls...


















To finish off the day, I drove past the Piers Gorge, which
is an exciting part of the Menomonee River that divides
northern Wisconsin from Upper Michigan...and painted
this 10"x 8" oil...























available to purchase...(Contact me...)

Near Finished...12"x 24" oil Bull Falls...Upper Michigan

Intensified the color a bit this afternoon, and
paint is getting also thicker as things come to
a greater finishing.

The closeup should show some of that. *note-
clicking on images shows larger view.

12"x 24" oil...expanded color version Bull Falls

Having worked on the monotone painting of Bull
Falls, I thought it would be intriguing for me
to do another (albeit a bit larger) with the few
more colors of my usual limited palette. I'll
think of the monotone version as a good prep for
this one...

Here are the beginning stages of the work I
started tonight...

I will focus on keeping the distant mass and
action of water lighter in values from the nearer
masses, for one, and will post progress pics....

Progress...10"x 20" Bull Falls w/Zorn Palette in oil

A bit more opportunity to work at this. Strikes me
strange after so much painting outdoors, to be paint
this one in studio almost at leisure. As a moment
allows.

Its been interesting thus far to be cognizant of a
gamut of possibilities, and choosing what to heighten
and what to keep more subdued...

Getting there...and, here too is a closeup..


















Please note that the images are quite larger if you click
on them...and a chance to observe brushwork and more subtle
color...

Another Zorn Palette waterfalls... 10"x 20" oil

In the mood to play with values, subtleties, and an
oft played with falls I love to visit and paint at
in upper Michigan...off the Yellow Dog River, Bull
Falls...

Hard to photograph at this stage, the darks...the
paint wet and wanting to glare...but you'll get a
chance I hope to see what I'm up to...

the Zorn palette I'm playing with on this one, is
Anders Zorn...and is black, yellow ocre, red and
white.

This started last night covering the board with
paint and medium, then a rag to wipe out the path
of the falls and water, some hint of rocks. Today
I painted some variation in values and stronger
highlights of water.

I'll post as this develops...

here is a closeup thus far...

Playing around with Fumee Falls...

Today, I took the 7"x 5" quick study of Fumee Falls
I did Sunday, and set up a 12"x 9" panel...with the
aim of pushing depth by varying values to a greater
degree from near to far, warmer colors near...grayed
or cooled down a bit going back, and also paying
particular attention to the edges...

























...note in the 2nd & 3rd image closeups...how edges
of rock contours in the distance have been made
more obscure by scumbling...using a paint knife.

I think it has something of a NC Wyeth look, though
that was not my intention. More an after thought.
What do you think?
































Painting on location, doing a number of paintings
frees you up to experiment a bit instudio, as you
become something of an expert of this setting and
have some confidence in playing. I find such things
quite amusing...

Callin' it Finished....Anutha' mood of Strong Falls

callin' it done...40"x 48" oil

Took a FIRST PLACE...in competition

My wife called me just awhile ago to let me know that
this painting of Strong Falls completed just a few weeks
ago has taken a first place in the northern midwest
regional competition sponsored by the Veteran's
Administrations Hospitals for Disabled Veterans, and
now is entered in the national competition to be held
this summer in Missouri.

I consider it a privilege to represent disabled veterans
and I believe that waterfalls are that consumate call for
healing, the transcendent...pointing to that which we
hope for all of mankind- peace and tranquility.

I'll have to build a shipping crate for this...which at
40"x 50" will be fun!!! haha..but, no regrets!

Landscape Painting- Quanticum Falls...study

this is a 5"x 7" study...a reddish brown
toning of the panel, then wiping out. I wanted
my values of the darker areas of water to be
close to the undertone values...to assure some
mystery and greater drama of the light...

Painted a few more...and touched up one....

This one was painted in NE Wisconsin's
Marinette County, Goodman Park. Much
of the river and falls yet covered by
ice, but near this wall of rock, the
turbulent churning waters were open...
and ice beginning to break up.

9"x 12"


















12"x 9" oil

This one was of Big Bull Falls on upper
Michigan's Yellow Dog river...an experiment
in-studio, possibly for a larger canvas

Landscape Painting- Gooseberry Falls...traditional style

Not quite finished yet, but figured I better
update folks what I'm working on at the
moment. I undertoned my board a reddish
brown...used a limited palette (three colors
plus white and black- split comp strategy).

Gettn' near finishing though...

















9"x 12" oil

Nutha Day on Strong Falls- Oil

Found a bit (though short) more time to
work on this for myself. This here and
there chance working is a bit new for me
of late. My methods are more alla prima
(all in one session)...but its been kind
of interesting pouring myself into
something a bit larger and demanding of
time...

for your interest, here is a time lapse
YouTube video of this painting start to
finish. Enjoy!!!

40x50 oil Waterfalls Painting- Strong Falls- done!

To see this work larger-
(Click Here)

40"x 50" oil

Well...I've arrived at that time when an
artist should look behind him to see if his
partner has that large mallet raised.

See, it takes two persons to make a good
painting...one, the artist to paint...and two,
someone to stand there with a mallet and
hit the artist over the head before he
ruins it.

Some ask...how do you know when you're
finished with the painting? ...and you rub
your head feeling no lumps, pinch yourself
and indeed you're still alive. "Gee...not
rightly sure!"

I'm itching already to do another...but now
I've got to resolve this cutting of my stretcher
frame issue. I need to invest in a left tilt
table saw to cut more 2"x 4"s lengthwise in
a cross diagonal. Makes a great strong
stretcher frame for large works.

I have a few larger Fredrix stretcher frames
but they'll need special bracing. Not too keen
on those.

Well...thanks to everyone that followed along
on this one.

Oh...and mentioned in responding to a comment
the other that one part of the painting had
bothered me...wasn't able at the time to quite
put my finger on it...but I know now, and
really it was quite simple.

This painting evolved with cools representing
more the light, though yes there are warm
areas...but yet on the cooler side. I had some
darks in the lower corner...but lost focus when
I rendered them on a cooler side.

If the light is warm, shadows should be cool...
(typically and in principle), and the opposite
is true..if the light is cool shadows should be
warm. So, after I warmed those darker areas up
a bit...it all fell together rather nicely.

End 4th Session- 40"x 50" Strong Falls oil

Ending my fourth session...working mostly
the upper background. Trying to allow more
of the undertone to work for me there,
scumbling in thinner passages of paint.
Coming together I think...