Colors of late Winter

Here is a scene near our place that caught my eye.  Working on the edge of a field is always rewarding in that there are clear shadows and large open areas without too much complication.  Many Oak trees still have their dried leaves hanging on, these warm trees made a nice contrast with the lavender looking bushes.  The side light set up layers of light against dark in the bushes with long cast shadows on the field.

kind of dull looking in this photo

the umbrella helped

getting started

Things went fast because I didn't have to spend a lot of time on the drawing.  I was a bit scared of all those branches everywhere, but it came down to putting down layers of color and trying to get the value right. The foreground was easy to simplify, just eliminate trees and add green grass. The hills had a nice purple cast. There was not a lot of green there - spots of brown, orange and lavender.

progress

Fine Inverno  o/panel  8x10in   - for sale  $175.00

Winter Sunset

I decided to do a large sunset painting near our place.  My goal was to capture the look of the sky just after the sun disappeared below the horizon. I knew that I would have to try on a couple of nights, so I first picked the spot and then I started with a pencil sketch.  I thought that by having the land already drawn in on the canvas I could then concentrate on the sky and not loose time struggling with the land drawing - instead I lost time with the ground color and values. Below is the pencil sketch.

The grid pattern helped me transfer the land shapes to the canvas.  I was able to pencil in the outlines of the basic land shapes and then start blocking in at home.  With the land roughed in I was ready to start.  There was not much time to get everything down before it was too dark to see, but since I could paint easily on more than one night, I didn't have to panic as everything disappeared into darkness that first night.

never enough time

It took 2 nights and a lot of re-touching at home.  The sky was mostly done in one go, but the land colors and values took some work.  I was determined to keep the land dark, and I was happy to finally paint green grass in a dark value.  That curving driveway made a nice foreground lead- in.

When painting clouds it is important to think of them as 3D forms, especially the close clouds. In this way your sky will have some depth.  Cloud shapes way back there in your sky can be more flat.  With this large cloud I used a finger and cotton cloth to soften the edges here and there. 

 cloud detail

Poggio Corno  o/c  40x50cm

Secret beach

OK - this is not really a secret beach, but Monica and I found it by accident.  We were determined to eat our lunch (focaccia and pizza slices) by the beach on this sunny but cold December day.  Our destination was Marina di Alberese.  Upon arriving we found the access road to the regional park closed for some sort of repair so we continued down the coast toward Talamone.  The winter parking situation by the bay was confusing, so we kept heading South on the coast road.  When we were passing the stretch of pine forest that is full of summer campgrounds, we decided to park and take the short walk to the hidden beach.  What a surprise to emerge from the pines and see this view.

Underway - where is everybody?

I tried the usual approach keeping the sky extra  light and the near pine tree shadows extra dark.  The value of the water and the value of the distant blue mountains were tricky.  I remembered that I usually paint water too light so I tried to keep it darker initially.  Later I brushed lighter values here and there over the water, and also some color with reduced chroma.  I knocked down the high chroma of phthalo blue/white with orange. I really enjoy painting coastlines.

Note that I angled the support against the sun so I didn't have to use the wind catching, disaster making umbrella.  Perhaps it is uncomfortable to paint looking across your arm , but it is worth it when there is a breeze and lots of sand ready to stick to your wet painting that blew over when you were watching a gull fly by.  This was a dream to paint so close to the waters edge because there are not big tidal changes in the Mediterranean.

Lots of layers of clothing against the cold, but no sunscreen needed in December

Torre di Talamonaccio, Toscana  o/c  30x40cm

Painting small on a big hill

Here is a view of a great valley that is always a pleasure to walk to.  I was drawn by the large Oak tree that dominates this part of the hill.  It was a warm and windless day - a perfect morning for painting.

This is a simple subject, should be easy...I just have to remember everything.  Small doesn't mean easy, I had a struggle with the value of the far hill, and I had to remind myself not use too much cad yellow in the foreground grass.

Getting the masonite covered

I made some changes on the front porch the next day,  I enjoy re-touching outdoors with indirect sunlight.  Also easier to breath. If I could just keep the neighborhood cats from walking on my palette - hey! don't lick the Burnt Sienna.

Tre Querce, Toscana  oil/panel  8x10in -  available at the Stage Door Gallery

Upcoming show

I want to tell you that I have a show coming up in January, it is a three person show entitled WINTER WALLS along with artists Tim Gorman and Dorothy Hudgins at the Stage Door Gallery in Cape Charles Virginia, USA.  The Show opens on Jan 11 and there is a reception that starts at 6 pm.   I will be far away in Italy at that time, but please stop by the gallery if you can.  Here is a link to the the Stage Door gallery  www.stagedoorgallery.com

It is difficult to post without a new image so here is a photo of the neighborhood in the Maremma region of Tuscany.  I will be posting a couple of new paintings soon.

Painting a house in Tuscany

This house is quite close to our place and I was able to visit it frequently.  It took a while to find the angle and also the time of day to paint.  I was drawn to this position because of the shadows on the stairs and on the little greenhouse. The driveway served as a nice entrance.

The house in morning light

Since I could visit this house often, I took some time to do a pencil sketch and take some notes.  I think that the sketch helped a lot when it was time to touch the canvas with a wet brush - I had some experience with the lines and the vanishing point.

Underway

After the the final drawing was on the canvas I could relax (sort of) and paint,  I had to try to fit the values together like a puzzle - when they fit the light "appears" on the canvas.  The shadows changed position in about 10 minutes.  So I came back the next day and was ready for the moment that the light made the diagonal shadow across the greenhouse roof.  I had to note the position of all the shadows on the canvas at that point in time.  Once the light changes it can be difficult to remember which potted plants were in light etc. at the chosen painting "moment".

 I did some retouching at home - calming the yellow grass for one thing, and below is the finished painting.

Podere Monte Merazzano  o/c  30x40cm  SOLD

Scouting the neighborhood

Sometimes it is a good idea to leave the paint at home and explore by foot or car a new area. My wife Monica and I took an afternoon to drive around the neighborhood.  With a simple digital camera one can record the sites that might be worth painting.  So the following are some pictures from that afternoon.

A new friend in the neighborhood

The wife

Is Tuscany great or what?  There are subjects everywhere.  I ended up going back the next day to a spot with a few trees and a beautiful dry field.  I heard some guys working nearby, so I had to approach the country boys with my limited Italian to ask permission.  They thought I was crazy to even ask, and were happy to let me set up nearby.  They were splitting fire wood, and the smell of the saw dust and split wood was pleasant on that hot afternoon.  Things were fine until they cranked up the chain saw.  Oh well, I was well into the sketch by then.

Getting started - kind of late, but there is always tomorrow

I really liked the simplicity of this site, with the long shadows, the spacing of the trees, the broad flat foreground.  I had seen the side view of this spot many times driving down the hill, but never got out of the car to check out the possibilities. 

 I had to try to get the shadows down quickly, because things were changing fast, there are always a few shadows I forget to record and then much later  I try to remember their angle and it's too late.  Just a thin blue or brown without any white will do to position the shadows on the canvas.  

Day two - why was I so late getting out yesterday?

You can see the red-orange underpainting of the tree foliage

Fine Estate, Toscana  o/c  30x40cm