painting trees and a distant vista

Registrations for Annual workshop now in progress:




Painting today on a hill overlooking the city

1. begin with macchia in sienna establishing chiaroscuro
2. add color right into wet sienna underpainting



3. looking for distinct shapes in painting's objects, establishing composition
4. establishing movement of light throughout scene using macchia strokes



5. establish foreground and shadows on road, grass
6. weather conditions suddenly change
7. postpone additional work until later (in studio or back to site)

Painting with Calligraphic Brushstrokes

The grand startegy (ideas) used in this case are



1. macchia --> pattern --> chiaroscuro

2. calligraphic brush strokes -- moving "spots" of color

3. creating spaces through distinct shapes --> linear perspectve





Note: macchoa is created with burnt sienna using some ultra marine blue mixed in for darker areas (or just more sienna paint) plus some titanium white mixed in (for ligher areas). The pount is to create the macchia with chiaroscuro from the very beginning. This also provides a reddish underpainting.





Begin to add color immediately. Note that the underpainting combines and interacts wit the color paint, both transparent glazes and opaque pigments, giving interesting chiaroscuro effects that you need to pay attention to as you go forward.

Here I have added calligraphic brush strokes in titanium white (ranging from pure white to slightly off-white) . Here is the "big idea" : Any painting, no matter how complex, is basically a sequence of applied calligraphic brushstrokes. call this "Ross' Theorem" !!

This simply means that the light moving through the composition is established in this manner. More soon...

Sloshing it out

"View From Rest Haven", oil on canvas, 2011

Getting outside again. The day was sunny yet cold with a strong breeze coming in from the coast. I am beginning to prepare for my plein air workshop in August by painting small landscapes each day, looking for that magic ingredient known as "structure."




"View From Mount Baldy"

Painting today from Mount Blady. Some great linear perspective to figure out, namely, how to create a large space behind the near hill that integartes with a distant vista of mountains and farmland.

The Next Step

Ron Ford playing his guitar at the opening of my current exhibit at "The Moon Upstairs." The exhibit opened June 7th and will continue until June 30th at the Springfield location.

Current painting promotions:

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View From Janiculum Hill, Rome

Between these two different paintings (each in its own stage of development) exists the "next step", namely going from the oil sketch to the finished work. Maintaining freshness and sponteneity.



Coburg Hills

So what is this "Next Step?." Frankly, I would like to know. Mostly it is hard work and painting, paying close attention to value: very subtle changes in value within the same hue is the challenge, namely, how to make these changes visible so they provide structure, texture, and glue (cohesion) to the composition.

Moreover, this is the subject of an upcoming workshop in August. As I prepare for that workshop, I will be posting notes on this blog.