Issues from the Workshop

One thing we didn't have enought time to discuss (more deeply) was "Sir Joshua Reynold's Riddle" which posed the contradiction between the particular and the universal in landscape painting.

One way to "resolve" the riddle is by bring the universal elements into one's painting -- what can be called "the undifferentiated aesthetic continuum" or what th Chinese call Tao. You can see this, at least in part, in this work:



Several things to note: The "macchia" in this painting is very simple:



The 2-value pattern consists in a small light area at the top and a bigger, dark area below. Capturing this simplifies 2-value macchia is the critical first step. But beyond that, only the simplest depiction of light areas from flower blossoms inside of the dark area creates an "aesthetic atmosphere" wherein the focus is the aesthetic field or continuum itself, not any particular object or objects.

The Workshop emphaized ideas in landscape painting: macchia, 2-value studies, 4-value studies, color and line macchie, and "grand theory" in the British tradition. We linked to Japanese and Chinese ideas about landscapes, especially via Zen and Taoism and we did some T'ai Chi, QiGong, and "pushing hands."

Saturday was "tree day" and we studies approaches to painting trees. starting with the 2-value macchia:



Then adding darks:



Elaborating:



Adding color:





Then the all important "scrape out" stage:



Note: trees-as-a-mass are treated as one large shape. Also abstract elements are not sacrificed. Trees remain gestural and still reveal their individual personalities, a bit.

Seeing the Macchia

Both art and science is about pattern recognition and discovery.



Seeing or "discovering" patterns in nature is the most fundamental practice in the visual arts, especially painting, that seeks to combine nature with one's imagination.



In this Madonna by Raphael, the macchia is meant to convey the essence of the madonna and child, in the foreground, mostly through gesture, but also the landscape elements in the background.

Perhaps there is no better place to practice the art of seeing macchie (pl) than the ocean. The rapidly changing circumstances of sea and rocks provides ample opportunity for new compositions each second.



A landscape:



This exemplifies "Reynold's Riddle" in that "how far can a landscape painter move towards generalization, when the depiction requires representation of the particular location and scene." -- or something to that effect.

As Buddhism states, mostly in its Ch'an manifestation (Zen) as noted in the Platform Sutra, emptiness is the realm of the Dharma. The macchia must have the element of emptiness and spontaneity. That is its conjunction with abstract expressionism as well:



This Eastern point of view combines with Western European ideas of macchia, the notion that grand manner history painting showing individuals and social relationships in the context of landscape:



This very European notion of pastoral beauty and the ideas of Jonathan Richardson the elder regarding composition are important to landscape painters. But the "undifferentiated aesthetic continuum" is the more powerful idea, more deeply articulated in the East by Buddhists and Taoists and picked up by the impressionists, that provides the big idea behind paintings that sing of light, life, and natural surroundings.



Perhaps as one gets older one wants to pull more into this "emptiness" of the Dharma and "pure realm" in the Taoist sense, that is into the vast realms of the poetics of nature. The Tao is always depicted as dark and feminine and mysterious in the East:



While in the West, this is usually flip flopped with scenes of light-filled warmth symbolizing the goodness and sensuous aspects of nature:



This is the "valley spirit" of the Taoists but with the lights turned on. The floating clouds symbolize impermenance and the valley and its warm grasses are the feminine aspect of things, the receptive.

Preparing for Workshop

Doing a little painting at Angels Flight to get ready for the upcoming workshop.




Note use of a large brush (painting over an old canvas in this case) to establish the "macchia" with attention to chiaroscuro from the very beginning.




Adding more darks, still working with the same (largest) brush available.



Now paying attention to the sky, working in large areas of light, indicating some cloud formations.



Almost done now, establishing distant blue and mauve areas of mountains. Adding in some line to define the horizen.



Defining shapes of trees better, enhancing darks with thalo green and raw umber combo to deepen dark greens.

Note that painting doesn't "pop" into existence until this last step because without deep enough darks and more work on expressive brushstroikes the overall effect remains weak.

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.