Paintings of France, Italy and Beyond

Check out my new blog

2006-08-01T16:41:00.000-05:00

Just an announcement that I've set up a new blog on my own domain at www.jenniferyoung.com/blog . Please update your bookmarks, or, if you have been following my blog through a subscription, please update your subscriptions:

Subscribe to my blog feed

Get my blog updates by email

As of today all of my posts are at the new location but I am still formatting my links and fine-tuning the content. I haven't yet linked my new blog to the rest of my site, but I'll be working on that tonight.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Blogging woes

2006-07-28T09:20:00.000-05:00

Well, after at least a month of not being able to post pictures except through a time-consuming workaround, I have decided to search for another place to blog. Once I get my new location set up I will post it here (unless I am somehow prevented from doing so). In any event, my new blog will be linked from my website, so it will be easy to find, once I have everything in place.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Creativity

2006-07-25T10:13:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd write a little bit about creativity today since it has been on my mind a lot lately. Often times people will equate creativity with "production". But for me, a lot of things go on "below the surface" that I would equate with creativity, even if there is not a lot being produced as a result.

Right now I am involved in a lot of experimentation and exploration that doesn't necessarily result in a finished painting or drawing. It's possible that some of these "experiments" may find their way here on my blog if I feel particularly happy about them and want to share, but the real point is to always explore new ways to grow.

Sometimes I go through periods of high production followed by things taken at a much slower pace. I pay attention whenever I reach a certain comfort level with my work. Comfort can be a good thing--a really nice and in the flow feeling. But sometimes I feel so comfortable that it makes me downright uncomfortable, if that makes any sense! That is when I know it is time to regroup, branch out, take a break, experiment, or do a little bit of all of the above.

For example, today I have drawn out a new painting of Tuscany. I've also got an abstract painting underway. Who knows where that will lead me? And "on the side" I've been painting lamps and furniture, just for fun (and because I need some lamps and furniture!) Now I know that there are some art marketing gurus out there who may not like me doing so many different things. You should focus on one thing and do it well! I have heard that over and over again, and I can be, and have been a pretty good focuser. I do believe it is important for artists to develop their voice and a strong body of work. But I also know the value of experimentation, just for the sake of exploration.

So I'm playing with landscapes and different mediums. I'm playing with non-objective artwork. Temperatures have been in the high nineties here lately so not much playing en plein air, but when the weather breaks I'll probably play with that too. And I'm playing with furniture. Since the lamps are the only things I have pictures of right now, I'll post those here:

These were old seventies olive green lamps (the "old" olive, not the "new olive") that were tinted with bronze and had those brown speckles in them that you see in a lot of decor from this time period. I had a "before" picture of them somewhere, but I can't find it. I bought these at a yard sale ($5 for the pair) and painted them a metallic turquoise to match my turquoise pillows. I also applied a silver leaf to the base of the lamps and bought simple linen shades (since I figured there was enough going on with the lamps!) They may be a little too "Liberace" for some folks but I LOVE my lamps! Here is a close up:

The landscape shown in this photo is one I did of a Key West scene. I really need a larger painting to go here, but the colors were right so it will do for now (until it sells or I make a new painting ;-))

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

View from the Villa Monestero

2006-07-12T12:37:00.000-05:00

On another day at Lake Como we ventured out to another lakeside village called Varenna. Varenna is super charming; with very narrow streets and teetering stairways:

We actually considered staying in Varenna, but opted instead for Bellagio. In hindsight, Varenna would have probably been almost as good a choice, but Bellagio won out for me because it seemed to be somewhat sunnier and had more of an open feeling to it. I honestly don't think we could've gone wrong in either place though.

In keeping with the theme of this trip, in Varenna we did a TON of walking. One of the most beautiful places we visited was Villa Monestero. This villa used to be a convent but is now open for conferences and classes, and the gardens are open to the public. We spent a good deal of time checking out the gardens, which had an amazing array of plants and trees:

Here's Dave at the start of our tour:

This is a painting I completed of a scene we admired that day. This is a view looking out from the lakeside garden promenade. It's called "Lakeside View" and measures 24x30".

You can find out more about this painting by visiting the Italian landscapes section of my website.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air Italy travel

Evening Shadows on Pescallo

2006-07-02T13:44:00.000-05:00

That same evening after touring the beautiful villa, we walked back down to Pescallo and made a reservation for dinner at a local restaurant called La Pergola. It had outdoor seating (under a pergola!) that overlooked the lake and mountains. We were perched right over the water as we ate fresh lake fish, pasta, and vegetables cooked simply but with perfect finesse.

One of the most beautiful things about this area to me was the way the light played across the mountains and the water. As we ate, I kept looking at the evening light on the mountains and I observed such dazzling transformations. Every time I looked at them they would look totally different. "Look at them now!" I'd say to Dave. "Look at them now!" (to the point of being quite annoying, I'm sure.)

This painting is one I just completed using my photos, sketches, and notes from that evening. It is a canvas measuring 24x30" and is called "Evening Shadows on Pescallo".

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air Italy travel

More about the Bellagio trip

2006-06-20T14:21:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned, Lake Como was awash with beautiful lake front villas. In Bellagio there are two villas that have opened their gardens to the public. On our second day in Bellagio, we decided to stay in town and visit one of the them, Villa Melzi. Villa Melzi was owned by the Vice President of the Italian Republic under Napoleon.

The main house is closed, as it is a private residence, but visitors can still roam the stunning gardens, plus visit a small museum and chapel. The azaleas were finishing up when we were there in early June, but the gardens were still ablaze with all kinds of color and a beautiful variety of gorgeous trees. This is a painting I just completed of a gazebo in the gardens that sits right at the edge of the lake. It measures 24" high by 20" wide.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air Italy travel

Bellagio Trip Report, cont'd

2006-06-16T13:04:00.000-05:00

One of the nicest things about our room was that it looked out over an old fishing village called Pescallo. From where we sat we could see the rooftops and the fishing boats sitting on the glassy water. It was a beautiful scene from above, so I imagined that it would even be more beautiful up close!

The day after our arrival we followed a very long narrow, sloped stairway (a little street- Bellagio style) that led to the village of Pescallo.

It is my understanding that at one time Pescallo was the location where they held an open air fish market. Today it is a quaint, sleepy little lakeside town. We went down there several times to sketch and just contemplate the beauty and peacefulness of the place.

On two different occasions I was fortunate enough to meet a couple of the elderly villagers who were living out their golden years in Pescallo. They were so gracious and kind- and patient! They urged me to speak in my broken Italian and just smiled as I undoubtedly butchered their beautiful language.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air Italy travel

Back from Lake Como

2006-06-15T07:51:00.000-05:00

I have been back for a couple of days and it was a marvelous trip! I'm not holding out on telling about it; I have plans to discuss my trip here on my blog. Unfortunately this blogging program has been unable to post my pictures for weeks now. Apparently this is a problem with other users on this system too. Very frustrating. Hopefully this problem will resolve itself soon. Otherwise I may need to look elsewhere for a more permanent solution. It would be a pain to have to move everything to a different site, but what is an Art Blog without pictures??

To be continued....

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Bellagio Trip Report

2006-06-14T12:16:00.000-05:00

Well I've discovered a workaround to the picture posting problem, so on with the show:

What a magnificent trip! Arrived home a couple of days ago, but the jet lag hit me a bit harder this time. Still not feeling entirely "on my game", but it was worth the spent energy to be sure! I thought I'd share some of my wonderful experiences about our trip here on the blog, since for me, travel is such a huge part of what inspires me as a painter.

We based ourselves in the village of Bellagio, which is a beautifully situated hillside lake town that looks out over the three arms of Lake Como. If you look at the lake from an ariel viewpoint, it's shape forms an inverted "Y". Bellagio sits right in the middle of that Y, and it is truly the jewel of the lake.

The only difficulty with staying in Bellagio, for us, was getting there without a car. Even with the super-efficient public transportation systems in Italy, there is no direct route to this town. If one has a car (and arguably a lot of nerve), one can drive along the very winding roads and into the village of Bellagio itself. But we opted to be without a car for this trip, since the ferry systems, once there, are excellent. Also the streets in the village are tiny; in some places barely fitting one car, side mirror to side mirror!

So our route was to fly into Malpensa airport (outside of Milan) and then to take the Malpensa express train, change in Saronno (the town famous only because they make the Saronno amaretto cookies) and then arrive in Como. From Como we then took the "rapido" ferry to Bellagio. Even with all of that we still ended up arriving in Bellagio fairly early- around 12:30 local time.

Our hotel pick was Hotel Belvedere, which is situated on a hill at the top of the village. I was initially worried about it being too high up and too far out of reach from the center, but Bellagio is so small that there was no reason for such worries. My only word of caution for those of you who do not pack light, is that Bellagio is a hill town and some of it's "streets" are actually long flights of stairs. In order to get to the hotel from the pier where you are delivered by ferry, you have to either get a cab or lug your luggage up these steep streets.

We opted for the lugging, as we only had two carry on bags and purse and backpack. This way of packing is new to me, and frankly it was a miracle compared to how I have traveled before. But with a week-long trip, it was totally do-able, and I was incredibly grateful on the train, ferry, and stairs!

We were rewarded for our climb with a lovely hotel and a room with a marvelous view and balcony. We both really loved having the balcony. I would get dressed in the morning and go out and sketch and paint, and then Dave would have his time to perform his morning routine before going down for breakfast.

...No, we weren't drinking wine before breakfast! This photo was taken in the early evening before dinner, which was actually the best time to paint because I was completely in the shade. There were a few interesting views from our balcony. This little watercolor sketch is a view looking out to the left side of our balcony, over a marvelous terraced landscape. It is small- 6x8", pen & ink/ watercolor:

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air Italy travel

Leaving for Lake Como Today

2006-06-03T06:39:00.000-05:00

Today is the day! We will be heading out shortly for a most beautiful Italian destination. I plan to do some painting while I am there, but since we are going to be going to a lot of different little lake towns, I've decided to carry a minimum supply of art materials. I'd love to bring oils when I can stay for a longer period, but this trip I will bring my travel watercolor set, similar to the one shown here, (except mine has alot more pull-out palette space). In addition to the pan colors, I'm bringing a small selection of Windsor & Newton professional grade artists' colors in tubes.

Other supplies:

cotton rag
small selection of brushes
watercolor journal
watercolor papers
tape
small painting board
waterproof ink drawing pens
pencils, HB graphite and softer
eraser
sketch pad

Almost all of these supplies, plus my camera can fit in my big black tote (the same I took on my last trip to Italy). I am having trouble uploading images to the blog today, but you can see the bag in this picture. I couldn't fit my folding stool in my carry-on luggage, so I will just have to wing it and hope I can paint in areas where I'll be able to have a seat somewhere.

No blogging while we're gone, but I plan to post some pictures when we return. Ci vediamo!

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist

Countdown to Lake Como

2006-05-31T19:25:00.000-05:00

I have been so busy lately getting ready for the Atlanta art show and attending to some home and family matters that I find it hard to believe I will be in Italy in 3 days! On Saturday we will leave for a fabulous trip to visit the lovely hill towns of Lake Como. I will bring my paints and do my best to record my impressions of the splendor that will surround me.

Lake Como is the deepest lake in all of Italy. In terms of its expanse, however, it is the third largest, following Lakes Garda and Maggiore. The lake, framed by a ring of pre-alpine mountains, is blessed with beautiful Mediterranean flora and formal gardens, deep azure water, and gorgeous villas along its shoreline. It is no wonder that it was a magnet for the nobility of Lombardy ever since the 18th century.

There are numerous and frequent boat services that link the lake towns to one another, and this is how we plan to navigate the area. This area is known for its magnificent villas and gardens. It is a veritable dream come true for the landscape painter! I know I say that about a lot of places, but anyone who has seen pictures of this place knows in an instant that it is hard to beat in terms of beauty.

My task in the days ahead will be to try and pack all of my personal items into one carry-on bag, and my all of my art supplies into a satchel if possible.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist

Southern Landscape Show

2006-05-30T07:33:00.000-05:00

I spent the early part of last week preparing for a "Southern Landscape" show that will be opening soon in Atlanta. The gallery is a beautiful new gallery called Huff Harrington Fine Art. They will feature my work alongside a number of other landscape artists during the month of June. If you happen to be near the area, here are the details:

The Southern Landscape show runs from June 23rd to July 29th. The gallery is located at 4240 Rickenbacker Drive, Atlanta, GA 30342. Please call the gallery at 404.257.0511 for directions and additional information.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist

Beach Sunrise

2006-05-19T13:35:00.000-05:00

Today I finished a painting of a sunrise scene from last summer when I stayed at the beach in Nags Head North Carolina. For some reason I was intent on seeing the sunrise while we were there. We saw a number of gorgeous sunsets in the evenings but the sun sets over the sound and the sun rises over the ocean. So I nagged my husband to get up with me one morning and catch the sunrise over the ocean. Why I couldn't go alone is beyond me now; but for some reason, he HAD to come. Unfortunately in my exuberance we were about an hour early, so my romantic vision of togetherness under the morning sun soon turned to sitting on the beach in the dark and listening to Dave grumble and shuffle around, trying to find a spot to lie down and finish his night's sleep.

Eventually, however, we were rewarded with a beautiful soft misty sunrise over the clouds. Here is the painting inspired by that morning:

I painted this scene with a limited palette (alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow pale, ultramarine blue, and pthalo green, plus white.) This is a scene that called for using a lot of "colored grays". Colors that may even read as "mud" in other paintings, created the soft, barely there light that I was going for. At first I thought I'd have to dip into my arsenal of more vivid colors (like permanent rose and cadmium orange) to get the sunrise effect, but because so much of the painting is muted and soft, my crimson and yellow mixtures really popped. My favorite part of this scene is the way the light skips across the water.

I painted this little study en plein air, and since that time I have been wanting to create something similar, but larger and more dynamic.

I used a very limited palette on this one too, mainly because I was under such limited time constraints and didn't have time to squeeze out a bunch of tube colors. One thing I learned from this little painting is that when painting sun/sky paintings on location you really need to keep your brushes and turpentine clean. You also need to paint extremely fast. Screaming at the changing light doesn't really help, but it may possibly make you feel better.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Two new marsh paintings

2006-05-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

Here are two new water paintings I've just finished. These are scenes of St. Simons Island, Georgia, where I've visited a few times to paint en plein air. These are larger works though, so I did them in the studio:

"As Evening Falls", 30x36", oil on canvas

"Cloud Reflections", 30x40", oil on canvas

Additional information about these two paintings is available in the southern landscapes section of my website.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Traveling with oil paints

2006-05-15T12:09:00.000-05:00

From time to time I receive emails from other artists asking questions, and I thought it might be fun to try and post responses on my blog (the idea being that if there is one person asking, there may be more wondering also.)

Here's the question:

I am traveling to Tuscany in June, 2007 to paint for 2 weeks. I have always used either pastels or watercolors, but this time I plan to bring oils. What paints and mediums do you bring and how do you pack them for the airlines? I don't want my stuff held back! Thanks for your help, S.P.

Ever since the tightening of the airline regulations, I have battled with this same question. When I last painted in oils overseas, my solution was to pack my easel as a carry-on and everything else (brushes, panels, palette knife, empty containers for mediums, etc.) went into the suitcase clearly labeled as artist materials. I did not pack my paints, mediums, or solvents, however. Instead, I did a bit of inquiring prior to travel to find out if there were any art stores in the vicinity of my destination. Fortunately there were and I bought my paints, mediums and solvents overseas.

Shopping for art supplies overseas can be a lot of fun. There are things that are familiar and also some wonderful products that I hadn't had the opportunity of seeing before. I felt like a kid in a candy shop and I actually ended up delighted with my purchases. I found Rembrandt oil colors in tube sizes I hadn't seen in the U.S. They were small enough to make my load a little lighter, but large enough to last me the two weeks of my stay. When I was in France, I found that the art stores only had small, expensive containers of paint thinner, so I learned how to say "turpentine" in French, and then asked for it at a hardware store. So, it can really be a fun adventure if you're up for it. However, if you are limited on time, you may prefer to just take the chance and carry your paints overseas. With that in mind, I am including a couple of articles that do a good job of addressing some of the issues that might arise:

Advice from the Gamblin Website

Advice from Pochade.com

p.s. If you do decide to shop for supplies at your destination, keep in mind that European countries use the metric system, so their canvas sizes will differ from what our "standard" sizes are in the U.S. This is not an issue if you don't frame your work, but if you use only standard size frames, this will be a matter of concern.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Red Canvases

2006-05-07T09:11:00.000-05:00

Since I put my first painting demonstration up on my website a couple of years ago, I have had a number of people ask me about the red toned canvas I used.

That demo is a couple of years old. I should probably update that section of my site and add some newer demonstrations, but I just haven't had the time. I used to underpaint many of my landscapes with red (not architectural scenes, however). I rarely do this any more, except when I do my little minis. I used to feel some comfort in having something down on canvas besides the blank whiteness, and the red underpainting was kind of fun. But after a while I found it took too much time to apply the undercoat and I spent a lot of time trying to cover it up in the passages where I wanted it to be cool (such as in areas of far distance.) I think that the reason it still works on the little paintings is that the red undertone does make the colors pop, but with such a small surface I do not need to labor on covering it up for my cool distances.

I will still often tone my canvases with a rather opaque, neutral gray or a warm beige (a tone of raw sienna thinned and scrubbed in a translucent manner over the white of the canvas) when I paint out of doors. The neutral tone of the canvas reduces the bright glare. In the photo below you can see one of my gray-toned panels underneath the plain white ones.

Ideally your palette color should match the color of your canvas for accurate color mixing. In the studio I have a white palette and paint on white canvases. But outdoors my palette is either wood color or a neutral grey. It is not a "must" to match canvas and palette, but it does help to predict what the mixed color will look like when it's laid down on the canvas.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Thoughts on Cezanne in Provence

2006-05-05T06:55:00.000-05:00

This week I took an out of town trip up to Washington D.C. with a friend to catch the Cezanne landscape exhibit. It was the last week that the show was on view and I am SO glad I had a chance to see it! It was a magnificent representation of his work, with galleries that seemed to go on and on. The show was devoted primarily to his landscapes but also included portraits, some still life, and his Bather series.

Having seen (and been in awe of) his many still life paintings in previous exhibitions, the landscapes are what held my attention the most. I must say that no photo reproduction I've see does justice to his work. It was exciting to see the transition his paintings made when he began painting outside. His landscapes seemed completley transformed; going from heavy tonalist works to paintings full of light and color. But what was most striking to me was the incredible structure most of his paintings had. Many of his paintings were done from odd and unique perspectives, and his subject matter and compositional choices were not always typical of what the landscape painter might choose. And yet he had a way for line and composition that made the structure of his paintings feel almost sculputural.

Cezanne was interested in the formal elements of painting, and not really concerned with painting beautiful scenes, per se. For instance his paintings of the coast of L'Estaque did not depict an idealized harbor. Instead he chose to include an industrialized view of the smokestacks along the coast. He also did a number of paintings of the red rock quarries, which to me felt especially exploratory, as this subject lent itself very well to exploring his near cubist abstractions.

And yet there were so many paintings in that show that I found to be incredibly beautiful, both in the the choice of the subject and the handling of it. In particular the paintings of the countryside close to his home near Aix were so lovely. In addition to the well-known Mt. Saint Victoire series, there were many paintings of the rocky hillside villages and crumbling old farmhouses. In any event, I got the sense that he was always experimenting, exploring; perhaps sometimes frustrated (?), but never bored.

Cezanne had a light, feathery touch, and many of his oils were handled in a way that to me felt almost like watercolors. He had a masterful knowledge of color, though he used it in a subtle way. His greens were some of the richest I've seen, and within their shadows were hints of rose, blue, violet and lavender.

There was also an entire room devoted to his watercolors and drawings. These were light, sketchy things, but within them I could see the seeds of Modernism and the inspiration for the Cubists still to come.

It was our intention that day to catch the Cezanne show and then head over to the Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle to see the Degas and the Renior show. But we both agreed that we wanted some time to just absorb all of the great Cezannes we had just taken in. It's kind of like eating a meal. If it is a great one, you want time to just sit with the delicious experience before you move on to desert. And if it truly is great, maybe you don't even need desert at all!

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air Cezanne

Painting in the mountains- continued

2006-04-28T10:24:00.000-05:00

On that same mountain excursion I went back again to the beautiful orchard I had attempted capturing on that first afternoon. This time I selected a different view for my 9x12" canvas, using a great red barn as a focal point. I'm very happy with the way this one developed:

If I make any adjustments, they will be very little. I love this scene so much I decided to do a larger version in the studio. Here it is, still in the "blocking in" stage, using my little plein air as a reference:

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Painting in the mountains- day two

2006-04-25T15:29:00.000-05:00

The following morning is bright and beautiful. I decided to start out after breakfast by painting a little vignette right on the grounds where I was staying. I noticed a little whitewashed garden shed, (which I am told used to be a chicken coop) because it had some nice light and cast shadows from a neighboring tree. The light is soft and dewy and so this is the feeling I'd be going for. One thing I've learned from trial and error is to try and think in big shapes first. It is a good idea to lay in your darkest darks and lightest lights first, to help key the rest of the painting. With this subject and the small size of my canvas, that is a relatively easy task. Here is my little canvas, measuring 10"x8".

*Tip: I pretty much never use white paint directly out of the tube. It is too stark and too cool, even if the local color actually is white. The temperature of the light and the reflected light from other elements in the picture will effect the local color. Here I mix a tiny, tiny dab of cad. yellow and cad. red in with the white ( a little goes a long way) to warm it up a bit.

*Tip: There were other buildings behind this little "chicken coop" that I could see in the background, but the only thing that really interested me was the clothesline, so that's all I included. I don't put in everything I see, just because it's there! My highest priority is to make an interesting painting, and the other buildings in the distance on such a small canvas would have just distracted from my center of interest.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Painting in the mountains- first evening

2006-04-24T13:41:00.000-05:00

I got spring fever last week, and while I think the area where I live in Richmond is beautiful, I go the hankering for some wide open spaces and mountainous vistas. I took a chance that the break in the weather would hold by planning a little trip to the mountains for a few nights. The cabin where I stayed is located near Charlottesville, VA, so it is only a little over an hour from my home.

I arrive in the afternoon to find the cabin situated in the countryside with redbuds, dogwoods, azaleas, wisteria, and lilac still blooming. Needless to say, it is a beautiful area! The property sits among rolling hills, and is bordered by a pasture full of grazing cattle. Upon my arrival at the cabin, I see one of the proprietors busy mowing the grass. Judging by the size of the property, this appears to be at least a half-day affair, so I decide to take the car and explore the area a bit more.

Hooray! I have found a great spot to paint! It is a nearby park with a beautiful apple orchard next to it. There are still blossoms on the trees, and I'm excited because I can set up directly across from the orchard on park property. By this time it is about 4:30 p.m. and my thought is that there should still be plenty of light for a couple of hours, so I took out a 12x16" panel and set to work. I guess I was a bit too ambitious for the first go. 12x16" is admittedly a small painting if you are working under consistent lighting conditions. But it suddenly seemed huge to me, especially in the rapidly changing light.

The light changed sooo fast. I have been used to the morning light, which also, in fact, changes pretty quickly, but this was super quick because the sun was steadily going down behind the mountains even before sunset. I barely got my canvas covered before the dramatic light and shadows on the mountains went completely flat and dull. I did take photos, and thought, well, I can finish it in the studio or perhaps on the field on the following day. Here is a picture of the painting in its incomplete form:

*Tip: I highly recommend sticking to a smaller canvas to start (no larger than 11x14) if you are just getting started painting en plein air, or if you are painting in rapidly changing light conditions. Pochades are excellent sizes to capture scenes quickly and loosely. The aim for me is to capture the light conditions of that particular moment in time, as a scene can look very different at different times of day and under different weather conditions.

You can always work on a larger painting in the studio using your plein air reference if you want to make it bigger later. Of course if you really feel like you want to do a big painting, have at it, especially if you know you can return again and again at the same time of day until you complete it. As it is for me when traveling, I usually get just one shot to get it down. It is far better to have small victories that accurately capture the light, than larger canvases that are incomplete and leave me wanting.

I will post some additional pictures from my plein air painting mountain trip in future entries, so stay tuned!

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Painting in the mountains for a few days

2006-04-18T16:44:00.000-05:00

I'm heading out for a few days to do some plein air painting in the mountains. The weather is looking promising so I thought I'd go for it while the dogwoods are still going strong. I'll be staying in a cabin with only dial up internet access in the proprietor's main house. So needless to say I doubt I'll be blogging while I'm gone. Will bring the laptop though and continue to journal in the evenings so that I can post entries when I return.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Two more reasons to go to DC

2006-04-17T12:53:00.000-05:00

The other day I mentioned a Cezanne exhibit nearing its close at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. Now, here are two more wonderful exhibits that appear to overlap this show:

Degas, Sickert and Toulouse-Lautrec: London and Paris, 1870–1910. This show focuses on the creative dialogue between the French and British artist and their contemporaries during the turn of the century. According to the Phillips Collection website the show arrived "directly from Tate Britain in London, the exhibition includes over 100 works—many never before on public view." The show closes on May 18th, 2006.

The Renoir Returns: A Celebration of Masterworks at The Phillips Collection
April 15–July 30, 2006.
"The Renoir" they are referring to is one of my all-time favorite Renoirs, "The Luncheon of the Boating Party". In celebration of its return from an extended loan, the Phillps is putting on a special exhibition from its collection that features this painting but also includes Bonnard, Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Gogh, Kandinsky, Matisse, Monet, Picasso and others.

I wonder if I can see them all in one road trip? Or is that overkill? My head just might explode or something.

Oh, and upcoming shows at the Phillips seem equally enthralling to me, including one on Paul Klee this year, the Society Anonyme in '07, and Impressionists by the Sea in '08. (Woo-hoo!)

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting Cezanne artist Provence Degas Renoir Impressionists impressionism

Pochade box

2006-04-13T09:42:00.000-05:00

Clouds and rain have been rolling in, so no plein air these last couple of mornings. I have plenty to do in my studio as I'm getting some new work together for a show, so it works out fine.

In the meantime I thought I'd focus this morning's post on my one of my plein air setups. There are TON of options out there for plein air painters--everything from pochade boxes to classic French easels and beyond. Early on I had a full size French easel, but I found it to be too heavy for me, and I hated all of the wingnuts. Inevitably one would end up falling off during transport and without that wingnut to secure the easel leg, you're pretty much out of luck. If I ever did get another French easel, I would probably go for something like the Julian half box which is much lighter weight and not so cumbersome, in my opinion.

I currently work with two plein air setups for oils. One of them, my pochade box, I use quite often. Here is a picture of my pochade box:

I hang a roll of paper towels from a bungee cord on the front handle, and a grocery bag also to hold my spent paper towels. My paints, thinner, and medium store below the sliding palette, and my canvas stores in the lid.

A pochade is a French term meaning "quick sketch" and refers to the color studies that artists would create in the open air often for later reference in the studio. Original pochades were popular with 18th and 19th century landscape painters. They were small "cigar boxes" with hinged lids. Like my pochade box pictured above, the lid served as an area to hold the canvas or panel, and the bottom part of the box was used to store paints and a palette. It was a very simple affair and small enough to hold in your hand, sometimes with the use of a little thumb hole cut into the bottom of the box.

Currently pochade boxes range in sizes from 6x8" to 12x16". Prices for pochade boxes range widely, but if you are handy it is possible to make your own, as the design is really very simple. As for me, I am NOT handy like that!

I bought this little 9x12" pochade box online and I like it quite a lot. It weighs about 5 1/2 pounds, and with optional accessories can hold canvas panels from 6x8" on up to about 16x20". It has a tripod mounting plate on the bottom side to mount onto a camera tripod. My brand is a Bogen Jr. Manfrotto tripod, which is lightweight but sturdy.

I am constantly trying to find ways to compact and lighten my setup, but right now I carry all of my supplies in a large tote bag that I purchased from LL Bean (shown just behind my tripod). It works okay for short distances and for flat areas where you can just strap it onto a rolling luggage cart, but if I'm hiking in the mountains, probably not. In that case, I'd probably benefit from paring things down a bit.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

Plein air outing (04/11/06)

2006-04-11T06:52:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning to a perfect, cool spring day so I set out early to do a little plein air painting. I experimented with a very limited palette, which was definitely challenging for me, especially when painting outdoors. My colors were three versions of the primary colors, (yellow red and blue, appearing as cadmium yellow pale, alizarin crimson, and ultramarine blue on my palette) plus white. I also added a fourth paint color, pthalo green, which is a very intense, cool green that can be used to mix a variety of colors beyond just green. My aim is to do some smaller paintings (pochades) as often as I can this spring and summer.

On a sunny day, I find that I can only work on one scene for about two hours a session because beyond that the light has changed too drastically. By staying small I can do studies and cover the canvas within a limited amount of time. Small paintings also require you to paint loosely, as they cannot take a lot of detail unless you use a tiny brush. The whole idea for me though is to paint loosely and sharpen my ability to capture accurate color notes and the light effects in nature, not to render everything in a precise manner.

Here is the resulting 8x10" painting I did:

This is a redbud tree sitting along the banks of a little pond at a park near my house. It is definitely loose, but I will need to practice more with the limited palette as I did not get the contrast in the values, nor the colors quite as vibrant as I would have liked. Even so I think it is worthwhile to experiment with the limited palette as a way of really learning more about color mixing.

I think this is probably about 1 1/2 hrs. worth of work. It may have taken a little less time if some of the park attendants had not come by wanting to chat. It was probably around 10 a.m. by the time I really got into it, and the light moved very quickly. I started out with my easel in full shade and ended with up with my canvas sitting entirely in the glaring sun, which made it hard to see anything. For this reason I decided it was time to pack up. Many people erect an umbrella over their work space to deal with this problem of moving light and shadow. With both the canvas and the palette in the shade, it is easier to see your colors. Dappled light or direct sunlight on the canvas and/or palette makes it very difficult to see and mix anything. I do have an umbrella but I was too lazy to bother with it today. That'll teach me!

I haven't decided if I will do any more with this painting, or if I will just keep it as a reference and as a learning exercise. I don't want to do too much, but I may see if I can push the values (the lights and darks) a little more. In any event, even if some of my plein air paintings never reach the "finished" stage, they are worthwhile for the experience of honing my observation skills.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air

New stuff for my blog

2006-04-10T07:16:00.000-05:00

Posts have been a little more sporadic lately because things have really started to rev up at the studio. I'm preparing to work with two new galleries soon so lots going on trying to get some new pieces under way in between existing commissions.

In the meantime I have done a bit of maintenance on the blog, and have selected a new design that I hope is cleaner in appearance and easier to read. I've also added a new feature for those of you who would like to be notified of blog updates without having to keep checking back in on this blog site.

A while back I mentioned adding an RSS Feed to my blog. RSS feeds are designed to feed new blog entries into a feed reader so that users don't have to go out and visit individual blog sites in order to read what's new. Of course, you need to have a feed reader downloaded to your desktop in order to take advantage of this feature.

Well for those of you who don't care what the heck an RSS feed reader is, this new feature might be a little more appealing. Readers can now choose to be notified by email whenever the blog is updated with new entries. Just look at my signature line at the end of my post, or check over to the right of this screen under the "Links" section. There you will see "Subscribe to my blog by email". If you follow that link, it will take you to "FeedBlitz" which is a service that notifies you of my new blog entry updates. Pretty cool!

Okay, switching the computer geek hat back to the artist's hat again....It is gorgeous here in Richmond, VA. Azaleas are almost at their peak and the dogwoods have blossomed overnight. It is also finally supposed to be warm and sunny this week, so I will be spending mornings painting en plein air. I will be sure to share some of my experiences here on the blog as I go along.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact
Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist

Cezanne exhibit at the National Gallery, D.C.

2006-04-03T11:54:00.000-05:00

Many have likely already known about the fabulous exhibit running through May 7th featuring the masterful paintings of Paul Cezanne. The show is entitled "Cezanne in Provence", and will focus on his paintings reflecting the love of the landscape surrounding his birthplace. I've known about this show for a while but exhibits like this never seem to emerge to the surface of my awareness until they are almost over.

I saw a fabulous Cezanne exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art some years back, and while it did have a number of landscapes, there were a lot of still life and figurative paintings in that show. I am very excited about this most recent exhibit because the focus seems to be on the landscape and local people surrounding the village of Aix. I did not get into Aix on my visits to Provence (though I do hope to do so at some point!) but I have been all around that gorgeous countryside and can certainly understand why Cezanne was so passionate about it.

I missed out on a terrific Alice Neel (one of my favorite modern figurative painters) show up in D.C. recently, so I am extra-determined not to miss the Cezanne show and miss out on another opportunity.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Receive blog updates by email
Subscribe to the RSS Feed

Tags: art painting landscape painting Cezanne artist Provence

New art greeting cards now available

2006-03-29T08:02:00.000-05:00

I am pleased to announce that I now have a new line of greeting cards available for purchase online. These cards are offered in packages of 6, with white envelopes included. They are printed in full color on heavy stock and have a blank inside, so they are perfect for including your own personal message.

The cards are produced by a company called Cafe Press. I have ordered some samples for myself and was very impressed with the printing quality. Right now I have a small selection of images available, but I plan to offer more in the future. Please visit the greeting cards page on my website for more information.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Tags: art painting landscape painting note cards artist greeting cards

Watching the weather

2006-03-28T07:46:00.000-05:00

When Dave and I first married, I used to joke to him that he was a closet weather man. I'd come out to breakfast each morning and he'd be there with the newspaper at the ready, quoting the weather forecast for the day.

In those days I'd scoff at the idea of such preparedness, but once I started painting landscapes, I came to depend on those weather forecasts. There's nothing worse than setting up all of your painting gear and seeing those black clouds roll in when you've only just begun your work! This painting of the Georgia wetlands was created under such circumstances. It is actually named "The Clouds Roll In" and measures 12"x12". Additional details about the painting are available here. Since we were on the road, we weren't able to come back to this site on another day, so I had no choice but to finish it in the studio:

It has still really been either too cold or too rainy for me to paint outside yet, so I've been getting some new studio paintings under way. But my weather man informs me that there are some warm days ahead, so I'm getting my painting gear together in anticipation. I want to grab it and go out in the early morning at the first opportunity.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Digital Cameras

2006-03-23T07:10:00.000-05:00

I had some inquiries at my recent workshop about the kind of digital camera I use, so I thought I would post that information here:

What I use is a Canon G5 Digital Camera. I am no expert on these kinds of things, but I did a lot of research before purchasing, and this is a good 5 mega-pixel camera. At the time of purchase it was NOT cheap, but it had the highest number of mega-pixels on the market in an attainable price range. This is no longer so. There are many other very good cameras on the market, but the G-5 is still very good, so I will have to stick with this one for a while longer.

It is not compact, but more like a traditional body single lens reflex camera. This is something I will need to reconsider in the future because I travel so much and now long for something more compact. It does have a good zoom and can shoot macros (for close up shots) which were the two criteria that were high on my list of priorities. But it is not good at all for action shots (something I don't really need for landscapes and city shots).

The only thing I really don't like about my camera is the lens cap. It would be much better if it had an automatic retractable lens, as the cap can sometimes fall off and you end up needing to clean the lens a lot. (I had a time when I was in Italy trying to figure out how to say, "do you have any lens paper?" in Italian. I think I ended up saying like "Do you have anything for to clean this?" pointing at my lens.) This problem may have been remedied in the next generation of this camera though. There is a newer version out now (the Canon G6 ) that has 7 megapixels. There are also other cameras that have 8 MP and more, so one has a lot of choices, depending on the budget of course. Basically the more MP's you have the higher resolution images you can shoot. The G5 has been discontinued, but is still sold through various outlets. Here is a VERY detailed review of the G5.

You can read more about newer Canon cameras, including the next release of my model (the G6) here.

If you have an opinion about a good digital camera with good zoom and macros, feel free to post a comment about it!

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Planning a painting

2006-03-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

One might assume that if an artist already has a photo of the scene, no further planning is needed. However, I always find it helpful to plan out my composition a little bit in advance before I dive right into painting. This saves consistent editing to the composition on my canvas, though editing and refining are still a part of the painting process.

A sketch need not be overly detailed, but it is still helpful in order to figure out the placement of things. Where is my horizon line? Where is my center of interest? Where is the sun in relation to my subject, and where will the shadows fall? What from the scene do I feel is important, and what may I want to edit out completely?

A sketch is also helpful because my canvas proportions may be different from the proportions in my photo. Therefore, I have to think about how to crop a scene to make it most interesting. Here is a photo of a scene in the Luberon valley of Provence that I took when I was there painting on location. A lovely little church served as a backdrop for a beautiful cherry orchard strewn with pink and white wildflowers. The photo does not do justice to the gorgeous wildflowers that were in this scene, but since I was there and painted and sketched in this area, memory can serve me well here:

Here is my very quick sketch. I plan to eliminate one of the middle ground trees, and use the two foreground trees to frame the scene. I establish where my horizon line will fall. At this point I am thinking it will be more interesting to have the horizon line a little higher up in my scene, rather than right smack in the middle of my canvas. Having my center of interest (the church) just off to the left of center creates a more dynamic composition as well. I also establish my light source and determine shadows.

Here is the painting, pretty well laid out. It is 12x16". It's been snowing here so the lighting coming in my studio windows has not been great for photography and this photograph has dulled my colors somewhat. I'm still working out the distant trees and the grasses and wildflowers in the foreground. I will post the completed painting on my website in the Provence Paintings section when it is complete.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Studio Work

2006-03-21T08:40:00.000-05:00

Even though yesterday was the first day of spring, it is still pretty cold here. The days are actually varying wildly in temperature, which is typical for March in Richmond. Today temperatures will top out in the mid 30's, but by the weekend it is supposed to be in the upper 60's. Anemones, daffodils, cherry blossoms and forsythia are everywhere, and yet weather reports are actually calling for snow.

So, for a while longer I rely on my sketches and photos to inform my work. I work in the summer months in the studio too, but in warmer weather I can also break out for mornings painting and sketching in the open air. There is nothing quite like working from life. But when conditions are not ideal (or when you have long departed from your subject matter), I have devised (with my husband Dave's computer help and expertise) a way of working in the studio that exceeds working from printed photos.

When I travel to my painting destinations, I take literally thousands of digital pictures. I take shots both up close and far away, and I also shoot the same scene from several different angles if possible. The benefit of shooting digital is that I don't need to buy loads of film, and then worry about whether it will survive going through the x-ray machines at the airports. I can also see my images immediately and delete the ones that are clearly deficient.

When I get home I save my images onto a CD and work directly from a computer monitor that sits next to my easel. As it is, even digital photography is still one generation removed from nature. When an image is then printed off onto photo paper, the scene is even further removed. Printed photos tend to further wash out light areas and blacken out the darkest shadows, so a lot of detail is lost.

Viewing the images directly in digital form on my monitor allows me to see them in a truer light than if I had to print them off. Another advantage is that I can zoom in on a segment of the photo to see more detail--something not possible with printed photos. Of course you have to have taken the picture at a high enough image resolution in the first place, so I have a number of flash cards that hold a lot of large pictures. If traveling for extended periods it is even a good idea to download images along the way to CD or laptop, if possible, so that you have more room on your flash card (or memory stick) to take more pictures!

Here is my monitor/easel setup:

My monitor doesn't photograph well, but rest assured there is not a dark band running across my picture in the studio!

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

New art note cards in development

2006-03-16T08:36:00.000-05:00

I have been looking for a way to offer a new line of note cards to sell on my website. Up to now I have been offering ones that are hand assembled with images on Arches deckled edge paper. They are really nice looking, but not the most practical in terms of the time and cost required to produce them.

I believe I have found an alternative that will enable me to offer some new images at a reduced cost to the customer. I've just ordered some "test cards" to get an idea of the product quality, and they look mighty good! Now I just have to go about picking out some more images that I think might appeal. I should be offering these new cards very soon on my website.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Back from the Workshop

2006-03-13T09:24:00.000-05:00

The Friday workshop was a lot of fun. I was impressed by the talent and friendliness of the entire group, and it sure made my experience a real joy. I look forward to giving more workshops in the future! I will post more pictures of the class on in my "photo journal" on my website when I have time, but here are a few images in the meantime. The class began with a little talk and a demonstration. Here is a shot of the classroom. I'm standing in the front of the room (wearing a black shirt and green apron).

Giving the demo...

An action shot of the painting process; I'm laying in my lightest and darkest areas first to establish my values.

I got about half way done with this little painting before the participants broke out and started working on their own projects. I should have the finished painting up on my website soon.

-Jennifer Young, Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Multi-tasking

2006-03-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

I have a lot going on this week so I have kind of hit the ground running since my trip. I am working on two commissions and also preparing for the oil painting workshop I am conducting this Friday in Greenville, North Carolina. I'm also doing some sketches to plan for a number of new paintings, but they will wait until I get these other things finished (or at least well under way.) I am looking forward to the workshop! It's focus: Painting the Landscape in Oils.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Postcards from the Southernmost Point

2006-03-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

Well, we're back from our Key West trip now and I am getting my bearings again--getting acclimated to waking up to 30 degree mornings again. However, the daffodils are blooming in Richmond, and so we have the promise of spring. In a few more weeks all will be abloom here, so I think I can sustain myself with some Key West memories until then. ;-)

The trip was so inspiring and so much fun! I took about 800 pictures and spent my days exploring the island on bicycle with Dave, stopping often to photograph and sketch. I didn't get on the Internet as much as I thought I would, so not much opportunity to blog. But that is okay...I had to make the most of the time I had there, which was much too brief in my opinion (though I can hardly complain!)

Here are a couple of sketches I did on my trip. Along with my photos, the sketches will act as "memory triggers" for larger oil paintings I look forward to creating. This first "postcard" is a view of the courtyard and some of the beautiful gardens in our hotel. Just a quick pen and ink sketch embellished with watercolors:

This next image is a scene I painted in one of the little hidden residential alleys in Old Town, Key West. I visited this alley a couple of times and was drawn to this little scene. The structure looked like a little garden shed but it was maintained so prettily with flowers and tropical foliage. As it turned out this building was actually an artist's studio. No wonder I was attracted to it! I met the artist/owner who was kind enough to show me inside. She is a nice retired lady who lives next door and paints for her own enjoyment, mostly outside on the patio adjacent to this little studio. Don't let the modest exterior fool you...it was a wonderful space!

I will be working on a couple of commissions immediately upon returning home, but be looking for some new Key West oil paintings on my website in the near future!

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Key West Conch Houses

2006-03-01T12:46:00.000-05:00

I'm finally figuring out how to post pictures! Here is a shot of some "conch houses" near where we are staying:

Ever since our first trip to Key West, I have really admired the colorful "conch house" architecture. These structures have diverse architectural roots, hailing from New England, the Caribbean, and even some New Orleans/Creole influences. I just love the colors, simplicity and tropical influence of these houses, and especially the little shotgun cottages. More sketching today, with a focus on these structures.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Fun in the Sun

2006-02-28T17:44:00.000-05:00

I wish I could figure out how to post images more easily while I am away but the wireless connection is pretty low at the hotel. We are having a great time though and spent the day riding bikes and exploring some more. It is still windy here which makes watermedia difficult for me outdoors, so I am mainly sticking to sketching. I am gathering lots of reference material though and taking a ton of photos for further development back home in the studio. Next time I will definitely want to bring my entire oil setup (I will take my chances with the airlines!) as the oils stay open and workable so much better than watermedia, especially in the wind. Other than that the weather is terrific. Clear blue skies and very little humidity at present. We've rented bikes to get around and it's been fun cruising through some of the lesser known side streets. I could get used to the pace of life here! Here I am sketching in one of the hidden alleys:

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Exploring Key West

2006-02-27T09:48:00.000-05:00

We have arrived! We left Richmond on Saturday with temperatures in the 30's and arrived in a warm Key West topping out at 80 degrees! After stopping off at the hotel we went by the Wave Gallery to visit with the owner.

I was a little worried that with the recent hurricanes a lot of the flora would have been destroyed. Key West did receive it's share of destruction from the salt water storm surges, but it appears that the old section has largely been spared. It is beautiful here!

I spent yesterday morning doing some gouache studies of the various plants while Dave conducted important business largely involving lounging in the hot tub. By afternoon thunderstorms rolled in, so no painting.

Weather today is sunny but very windy. I may be able to bring a modified setup to do some sketching, but with these winds I might be limited to taking a lot of digital photos.

As soon as I can figure out how to get my photos downloaded remotely I will try and post some pictures.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Off to Key West

2006-02-24T23:15:00.000-05:00

I'm off for a few days to bask in some Florida sunshine! I have determined to bring my gouaches and watercolors to make for a very portable plein air setup. Sometimes it is good to experiment and move beyond the comfort zone. I was extremely tempted just to bring my oils, but the compactness of watermedia is hard to beat. I managed to fit almost all of my art supplies into a small 9x12" pack. If I can get my ducks in a row, I hope to post to the blog while traveling.

Best wishes,
Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Fun with Gouache

2006-02-22T09:35:00.000-05:00

I spent some time yesterday playing with gouache paints so that I could see how I liked working with them as a possible candidate for my portable studio. Gouache is a water based medium; basically it is an opaque watercolor. While as an oil painter I wouldn't exactly call it opaque, it is more so than traditional watercolor. I've worked with many different water media before, including gouache, but it has been some time. Here's what I discovered:

My "oops" moments:

Some of the colors don't behave at all like either watercolor or oils. In general the gouache colors were somewhat darker and took some experimenting to get the mix I wanted.
The paint dries very quickly! In the future I may rethink squeezing out big blobs on my palette all at once (an overzealous oil painter's habit.) If I painted with these outdoors, I'd definitely need a spray bottle or drying retardant to keep my paints moist and fluid while working in the open air.

My "hey, cool!" moments:

A very forgiving medium that is easy to work with. Most mistakes can be "lifted off" with water and brush. The opaqueness allows you to paint over certain passages and change the composition (something not so easily done with watercolor.)
Versatile- can be mixed with watercolor and pen and ink. Acts as a watercolor for washes, but can also be laid down more opaquely and mixed with white.
Easy cleanup. Like watercolor, just a little soap and water does the trick.

Gouache paintings are treated the same as watercolors in terms of care and framing. They should be displayed under glass and kept out of direct sunlight for best longevity. Gouaches tend to like a rigid surface, so a heavy paper or mat board is a good substrate for this medium. Here is a little painting I did of the Provincial countryside:

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Preparing for Travel

2006-02-21T09:39:00.000-05:00

House guests kept my pretty busy during President's day weekend, so not much time for blogging until now. It has snowed off and on here for the past few days, but nothing really lingers too long. The Key West trip coming up this weekend is seeming even sweeter as I look out my window and see yesterday's cold weather remnants on the ground. All I ask is to just keep the roads and airplane wings clear of ice until I can get down south!

Today I am playing with some art supplies so that I can determine what to bring with me down to Key West. If I had no limitations I would just bring my oils and easel, because in my opinion there is just nothing like them! But a plein air painter or sketcher has to consider the most portable and lightweight options when traveling, and especially when dealing with the airlines, and oils don't always fit the bill.

Typical plein air travel gear can include:
Easel or pochade box with attached tripod
Paints
Painting medium
Paint Thinner (for oils- best to buy this at the destination if possible)
Brushes and palette knives
Hat and rubber gloves (optional but I am a messy painter)
Canister for paint thinner (for oils) or water (for other water media)
Small spray bottle filled with water (for water media)
Paper towels
Plastic bag for trash
Bug spray and sunscreen
Bottled water
Small sketchbook and pencils (for working out compositions)
Camera
Painting surfaces (canvas, panels, papers, etc.)
Wet panel carrier (for oils)

Other optional supplies might be:
View finder (a little tool for determining your composition on the fly)
Portable chair or stool
Extra bungees and weights (for weighting your easel on a windy day)
Umbrella
A rolling case or dolly to cart all of this stuff around!

By no means am I saying that all of these supplies are required. Some watercolorists get by with two brushes, a watercolor block, sketch pad, a small container, some pens and pencils, and 3 to 5 paint colors, all stashed in a backpack. I think it is all what one feels comfortable with. A studio painter usually has more "stuff" within arms length, and paring down requires some effort and acclimation. I have done both studio and plein air painting, so I feel pretty comfortable with both. Even so the temptation is to bring more (maybe too much) stuff "just in case I need it". I'll try and post my painting kit here once I've figured it out.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Painting of Venice

2006-02-15T21:31:00.000-05:00

I was bad today. I cut out of finishing my taxes to work on my painting of Venice. Dave (my husband) is going to be so exasperated because I promised to have all of my tax info done and ready to go by Thursday. Well...he didn't say what time on Thursday now, did he?

Back to the painting: It's not quite done yet but I thought I'd post my progress here. One day while we were in Venice we took a long stroll and got lost in the neighborhood of Castello....Or at least we started out in Castello. Somehow things went awry and we wandered and wandered. We finally ended up in Canareggio, caught in a thunderstorm, at the end of the little peninsula. It was the best day ever! I got tons of pictures, we ditched the maps and just walked where our will would take us.

I think we finally figured out that we could take a vaporetto to Santa Croce, and then on to our hotel in Dorsoduro, but that was late in the day after much, much walking. Any way, I recorded this scene on our Castello to Canareggio to Santa Croce to Dorsoduro afternoon:

This photo is kind of on the dark side because I snapped it in the late afternoon in my studio. I'll post a better, more complete photo on my website when I am officially finished with the painting.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Winter Chores

2006-02-13T07:51:00.000-05:00

This year one of my main goals is to get organized and streamline my office and studio. There is a great book called Organizing From The Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern that is very helpful in this respect. This book is especially appealing to me because her approach is both creative and accessible. One of her techniques is to set up your environment in stations, according to task. So, for instance, in my studio I have a painting station, a framing station, a storage area, a cleaning station, and so on. Within those stations, every tool or supply has a "home" so that you always know where to find it. That is the idea, any way, and when you set it up like that from the start, it really does work!

But when I moved to the new studio I kind of got away from that, and instead just set up as quickly as possible to get started with my painting. This worked for a while, but now my calendar is filling up with travel plans, (Key West countdown: 2 weeks!!), the upcoming workshop and the outdoor art show. Organization is not an option, it really is a requirement. It is worth taking that extra bit of time to set things up systematically so that I can work smarter, not harder.

This week is also tax week, which I always rather dread even though I have an okay system and can usually get through just fine. I guess it's just that I already do a lot of desk and computer work with my website design and maintenance. It's a challenge to focus my left brain on papers, reports, and numbers when I have a painting of Venice sitting on my easel calling me.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

New Italian landscape painting

2006-02-10T08:07:00.000-05:00

Here is another painting of the olive groves in Tuscany. Just finished and still wet, it is a gallery wrapped painting with finished edges on all sides:

It measures 24"x24". Here is a side view:

This is a substantial 1 1/2- inch thick canvas that is smooth on the perimeter. Staples are attached to the back of the frame rather than the sides, which allows the artist to paint to the edge.

Most often landscapes paintings are done in, well, landscape format. But every so often there is a scene that lends itself just as well to a square orientation. To me the square is a nice surprise, and a bit more playful and informal. I really enjoyed painting this. I loved the layers of information, and the way the olive groves just went on forever. The light is that of a crisp afternoon in springtime. This is another scene from that beautiful region called La Crete, located in the province of Siena.

I'm titling this painting "Olives Without End". You can see the details about this painting in the Italian Landscapes section of my website.

-Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

New workshop forming in Greenville, NC

2006-02-09T07:38:00.000-05:00

I'm delighted to announce that I will be conducting a day-long workshop in Greenville, North Carolina on March the 10th.

Painting the Landscape in Oils-
The workshop will focus on the following topics:

*Materials and techniques for the unique challenges of landscape painting

*How to take and work from your own photo references

*A discussion on taking the next step (painting en plein air!)

*Painting demonstration

*Time for participants to work on their own paintings

The workshop is forming now. For more information, please check my website link here.

- Jennifer Young, Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

New Italian landscape painting

2006-02-08T10:37:00.000-05:00

I mentioned the other day that I was working on developing a much larger version of a painting I had created in mini form. Well, here is the larger painting. It is called "The Secluded Farmhouse" and the canvas measures 30"x40". You can see more details about the painting at my website in the Italian Landscape section.

Sometimes I get the feeling that people think I am kidding about the wildflowers in the springtime scenes of Tuscany and also Provence, but during the Spring, and especially in May, there are wildflowers blanketing the countryside everywhere. It is a magnificent time to be there!

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
My website: www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Back from Greenville

2006-02-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

The art opening was a great time. I don't think I blew anyone away with my "artist's remarks" but I don't think I did too badly either. Honestly I don't remember what I said...it's all kind of a blur. I hope I was at least able to convey my feelings about my work, my motivations and passions. I do remember several people nodding as I spoke, so unless they were just being nice (or nodding off!), it seemed as if they got the gist.

As per usual my husband Dave got a number of shots early on in the show, but not a lot as the evening progressed. He often ends up working the show as much as I do, so the photography kind of wanes, the busier we get. I really enjoyed myself and delighted meeting both new collectors and many other gracious attendees.

I showed with two other artists/painters; Karen Lawrence who does interiors and still life pieces, and Margo Balcerek who paints abstracted still life and landscape. I thought the work as a show was complimentary but created an interesting contrast in styles and approaches. Here is a shot of the installation looking shiny and pristine before the show. My work was installed at the left - on partitions and around perimeter walls, and on the back wall. There is work on both sides of these partitions:

As is the case with most parties, people seem to congregate around the refreshments. I am in the background (in black and red, back to the camera) talking with some of the guests about my work.

It was a really enjoyable opening night. Several pieces sold, and I send out a special thanks to those patrons (if you are reading this, you know who you are) for making the evening so gratifying and memorable.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Art opening in Greenville, NC today

2006-02-02T08:58:00.000-05:00

My husband Dave and I are heading out of town today to attend my art opening in Greenville, NC at City Art Gallery. I'll try to post some pictures of the show after I return. The gallery owners (really sweet ladies who maintain a smart gallery) asked if I will make a few remarks. Eek. I am much more comfortable painting and writing than speaking, but I told them I will do my best. I'm showing with two other artists so at least I will not be alone in that respect.

Outdoor Art Show this May

2006-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

I just found out last night that I have been accepted into my first outdoor Art Festival. I'll be participating in Arts in the Park in Richmond, VA in early May:

Location: Byrd Park, Richmond Virginia
Saturday, May 6, .....11AM to 6PM

Sunday, May 7,.....11AM to 5PM

I will be posting more information about this show as the time draws a little closer. This is my first ever outdoor art exhibit, as I normally show in art galleries. But since I live in Richmond I thought it would be a way to meet more of the local audience here and test the waters to see if I liked showing in this kind of venue.

I don't have my tent or panels or anything yet. I figured I would worry about that if I got accepted. Time to start shopping!

2006-01-30T20:14:00.000-05:00

...And speaking of smaller works, sometimes they are a great way for me to work out some interesting compositions. Many of my mini paintings are great in a small format, but the compositions might be too simple to translate into a larger work. Others, however, could work well on a larger scale.

I painted this little mini just before my autumn open studio:

The little painting sold on opening night, but I really liked the composition and have been wanting to see how it would work in a more developed fashion on a larger canvas. I started the larger one today, so we shall see if it holds up as well on a grander scale.

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

2006-01-28T04:12:00.000-05:00

Smaller works:
Here are a couple of smaller paintings I did recently to include in my upcoming show. They are each 12x12" gallery wrapped:

"Early Lavender"

"Golden Valley"

Often times when collectors are interested in my smaller works, they are looking for pairs or multiples to use in a grouping. So I do try to keep that in mind when I am creating the smaller ones-- especially my minis. I don't go about creating "matching sets", but as I am working I think about compliments.

Because there are so many ways to hang art, I created a little sampling of ideas on my website that addresses some of the possibilities. It can really be a fun endeavor in itself, and an expression of one's own personal style and creativity as a collector. Some people like a very formal, symmetrical presentation, while others like to mix it up. Some people prefer that all frames match, but I'm one of those who enjoys an eclectic presentation and think that variety of frame styles presented together can look pretty neat, so long as they compliment each other (and of course the room's decor.) I've even seen both framed and unframed work hanging together to great effect.

While sometimes there is a perfect small spot to display a single painting, these smaller paintings can be shown in so many other ways. They can be stacked one over another on a narrow wall, or presented in groupings over a larger piece of furniture like a sofa or console. They can be used instead of sconces to flank a nice mirror over a buffet or hutch (I've done this in my dining room before). They can even be displayed more informally, and sit atop a mantle or book shelf.

Here are a couple of snapshots from my last open studio that shows how I displayed smaller works as part of a larger grouping:

Jennifer Young; Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

2006-01-25T08:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I put the finishing touches on the painting below. Sometimes they come together so nicely that they seem to paint themselves. I love when that happens! This is a scene of the countryside just south of Siena that we explored one fine day. I have been wanting to paint this scene for a while but haven't gotten around to it before now. It is soaking wet, but if it dries in time I may include it in my show in Greenville. I love this scene so much that I may even paint another version of it even larger. It measures 24" x 30" and is done with gallery wrap:

Here is a shot from the side:

For more information about this painting, check out my website under the Italian Landscapes section.

Jennifer Young, Vibrant Landscapes
www.jenniferyoung.com
Contact

Older Work

2006-01-24T09:50:00.000-05:00

I've been pretty busy getting ready for a show in Greenville, NC next week, so have not had much opportunity to upload new images to the website. I added a couple of new ones this morning though, and will add more as time and weather permits me to photograph them.

Meanwhile, since I've mentioned my older work a couple of times, I thought I'd share a few of my older, very different paintings. I was heavily into symbolism and archetypes when I did these. Some of my influences were Chagall, Kahlo, the German expressionists, Klimt, Schiele, and others in the symbolist and figurative traditions. I also went bananas (and still do) over the early renaissance paintings I saw in Italy and Belgium. So, lots of imagery, and lots of "mood"! These pieces are all fairly large. I no longer display these on my official website, because they are so different from what I am doing now:

"Flora" (oil on gallery wrapped canvas, approx. 52" high x 36" wide). Those are bees flying out of her mouth. Represents spring renewal (possibly after a hard winter?)

"Abundance" (oil and gold metal leaf on gallery wrapped canvas, 36"h x 48"w). This is "Flora" after she gained some weight. Just kidding! Represents the abundance in life, fertility, nurturing, etc.

"The Fool" (oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 48"h x 36"w). This is based on the first card in the archetypical journey of the Tarot. Represents new beginnings, adventure, hopefulness, but tendencies toward being a bit fool hardy too (note, the parachute is not open!)

"The Night Sea Journey" (oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 48"h x 60"w). All about the dark night of the soul.

"The Marriage Contract" (oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 36"h x 48" w)

These kinds of paintings garnered some shows in places like Purdue University and the Hofstra museum. The photography isn't great so some are very dark (literally and figuratively, I guess!) There are a few more, but these give an idea of what I was doing before I started painting landscapes (you can see my current landscape work online at www.jenniferyoung.com).

2006-01-18T13:03:00.000-05:00

Starting and finishing:

Nowadays, the beginning stage is definitely one of my favorite parts of the painting process. I used to hate starting something new. Well, not hate, but I did feel a certain sense of intimidation staring at a big white, blank canvas. This was probably due to the fact that some years ago when I painted in my figurative/abstract style, I was creating work without reference to much of anything, other than my own thoughts and ideas. I also used to stretch my own canvases, which were pretty darn large!! It took me so much energy and effort to build the stretchers, stretch the canvas, and then apply at least two layers of gesso, that by the time I was ready to paint, well, I'd better not mess up! Intimidating.

Now, with my landscapes, I always start with a beautiful, archival ready made canvas, and an idea or inspiration that is based on the natural world (photo or actual). With so much around me to observe, my ideas seem endless. The beginning stages are fun because, while I have a fairly well established starting point, I am constantly designing, tweaking, abstracting, and then bringing my design back into focus. I can imagine what it will look like, but not exactly, so there is a bit of surprise and excitement as I make the painting unfold.

I paint with large brushes for as long as possible and really get things going. As the painting advances, I continue to flesh out the values and colors, leaving the finer details until the very end. The details are necessary of course, but the challenge is to make them just enough so that they enhance the piece (a line here, a stroke of highlight there) but not enough so that it looks over-worked.

Often with smaller paintings, I can paint wet into wet, "alla prima" (all at once,) so finishing is really just the final note in a natural progression of observations and decisions. But when I have a large canvas, I can sometimes paint on it over a series of days. I may take it off of the easel for a while and just stare at it. Start another painting and then stare at the nearly-completed canvas again, throughout the day. What needs to be addressed? When is it finished? Often I can answer these questions pretty quickly, but not always.

So, any way, this week I have been so into starting paintings and I haven't done much finishing. I keep starting and starting. (I guess whatever keeps you motivated and working.) I think I have 4 or so going right now. Well, the time has come to start finishing some of the darned things. That's what I'll be doing today. Hopefully at the day's end I can emerge with the accomplishment of completion.

2006-01-18T08:13:00.000-05:00

Travel plans:

Travel is one of the most joyful parts of my life as an artist. I love traveling to new and beautiful places to paint and gather inspiration, and I feel so fortunate that my business is able to support my adventures.

This February we will be taking a much welcomed trip down to sunny Key West. We were supposed to go last Spring, but bad weather caused us to cancel those plans. Here's a scene I painted from photos I took on our last trip to Key West. It's called "Sunset Celebration". It measures 11x14", oil on canvas. For more details about the painting, check out my scenes of the American South section on my website:

I've also started planning for a June trip to Lake Como, Italy! I think the scenic views of the lake regions in Northern Italy are some of the most striking and beautiful in the country. The uniqueness of Lake Como is that it is distinctively Mediterranean, with lush flora, palm trees and cypresses, but set against a stunning backdrop of the Alpine mountains. I am so excited to be returning to this area, since the last time I went was many years ago and my camera broke on day two! Here is a scene I painted after returning from that trip, called "Around the Bend". The oil painting has long since sold, but I offer small reproductions of it for sale on my website:

I will be painting on location both in Key West and in Como. I am primarily an oil painter but I'm considering bringing watercolors instead, since they allow for easier cleanup and are more portable. Plus, with the new airline regulations I have heard many instances where other artists have had their oil paints confiscated by the airlines. That's quite a setback to experience, considering the painter has to buy a whole new set of expensive paints at the destination site. Supposedly you can bring a letter from the paint manufacturer insisting that the oil paints are made with vegetable oils and do not contain but a trace of ingredients that would be considered "flammable".

But in past trips since 9/11 I have not wanted to take the chance. If I wanted to paint in oils overseas I ended up just shopping for small tubes of paint in the destination country. This can actually be a really fun experience, because there are so many fine products in the art stores of France and Italy. But it does take a bit of extra planning and time if one is going to be staying primarily out in the country.

2006-01-13T09:54:00.000-05:00

Gallery wrap-
This week I'm working on some landscapes done with gallery wrapped canvas. It is a more time consuming because I am extending the painting to the edges, but I am really liking the effect. Here is a a small 12x12" work in progress. I'll be posting more work to my website this weekend.

Okay, so the fast has been a little harder than I thought- energy wise. May have been a better choice to start this after my next art opening, but oh well. I think I can still get the work done in plenty of time. I'll just need to manage my time wisely.

In some instances the fast is easier than I would have imagined, but it is still not for the faint of heart. I am doing the "Master Cleanse," a modified juice fast and am on day 7. Haven't blogged before now because I am at the studio during the day and like milktoast by 8 p.m. every evening. Supposedly it gets better in respect to energy level and other things too. We will see. It might help if I stopped fantasizing about Pad Thai and garlicky spaghettini! I've not been all that hungry, but am having outrageous cravings. Still, I've gotten this far (with no coffee!) and am aiming for 10 days or more.

2006-01-02T22:28:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

Just back from the holidays and about recovered from 2 weeks of travel to Texas to see family. The time between just before Christmas and just after New Years Day are typically slow for my art business, so I try to take advantage of the lull and take a little break for myself as well. However, I am returning to the studio this week so I'll be brushing off the cobwebs and getting back in gear to get ready for an upcoming February show at City Art Gallery in North Carolina. It was really good to have a break, but I have missed painting. Hopefully I won't be too rusty. Sometimes I find the short breaks can actually help my work though.

Next week should be interesting because I am starting a 10 day juice fast to try and give my mind and body some clarity. I've struggled with some headaches and other health issues of late. I first thought the paint fumes might be the culprit, but I've been away from them for a while and the symptoms persist, though they come and go.

As it is with so many folks, the days leading up to the holidays were full of deadlines for me and I'd not been eating or exercising properly, which I think affected my overall energy level and sense of wellbeing. A detox seems in order. I will be interested to see if the paint fumes in my studio affect me or seem more acute during the fast. I have been so used to that smell that normally I can barely smell anything at all!

2005-12-16T17:46:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays! I'm taking a brief hiatus to be with family over Christmas. Will continue blogging when I return. Here is the painting I did for my collectors Christmas card this year. It's a little 5x7 acrylic on canvas called "Memory of a Winter Evening".

2005-12-13T08:35:00.000-05:00

I've created an RSS feed for my blog! This is for people who may want to subscribe to a feed and view it in a newsreader without having to visit the individual blog site. With a feed, new posts will pop up automatically in the newsreader. It is a great way to be notified of your favorite blogs without having to visit each one individually. Of course, you will need a newsreader to do this, but you can download many for free. If you are unfamiliar with how it all works, you can read more about it here.

2005-12-12T03:19:00.000-05:00

Painting Demo Part III:
***Click here to view the demo from the beginning

Things are really starting to take shape now. I've started to add more of the "local" color greens to the highlight side of my distant trees, allowing the deep blues and blue grays to act as the shadowed underside. I also begin to indicate the lines of the vineyards and the silvery olive trees that dot the distant countryside.

The painting is looking close to being finished (at least in my mind). Just a few details to address now. I've given more dimension to the olive trees in front and have begun to restate the trunks, adding some of the bluish highlights just in places where the sun hits the gnarled forms. I keep my distant buildings soft and sketchy because they are farther away. Highlights on the distant trees are duller than the richer green colors that I put on the highlights in the foreground. I also add detail strokes to my cypresses. Now I take a nice long look at the painting to see what adjustments need to be made before I start finishing. Placing a mirror on the wall just opposite of your painting is an excellent tool for this purpose. It reflects the painting back in reverse, giving you a fresh viewpoint from which to see the painting anew. Sometimes when you've been staring at a painting for hours it's hard to see what needs to be changed.

Viola! Here is the painting in its finished (or nearly so) form. I've touched in the slight suggestion of windows on some of the buildings, taking care not to do too much of that in the distant ones. I've also developed my vineyards a little more and restated my tree branches. One adjustment I made with my reverse viewing/mirror technique was in the foreground trees. I didn't like how the tree line stopped just short of the edge of the picture plane. It made the composition feel too boxed in. So I extended the tree line out to the edge, which I think gives it a nicer sense of fluidity.

"Gli Olivi della Crete," Oil on Canvas, 30 x 40"

As you may have surmised that "Gli Olivi" means olive trees, and La Crete is the region in Tuscany that is depicted. Over the next week as I work on other paintings, I will prop this painting up in a visible spot in my studio and just keep looking at it. I may make minor adjustments to it if something really jumps out at me after a while, or I may deem it "finished" and put a coat of retouch varnish on it when it dries to the touch for protection.

Thanks for tuning in! If you'd like to see the entire demo again, please view the following links:

Part I
Part II

Also be sure to visit my website to see a lot more of my work!

2005-12-10T12:10:00.000-05:00

Painting Demo, Part Deux (or Due in Italiano!):
**Missed part I? Start at the beginning here.

I begin to block in some of the color here, laying in the foreground so that I can gauge the values and temperature of the rest of the color. I want to emphasize these wonderful olive trees and the sloping hill. The olive trees are so distinctive in the Tuscan countryside. At different distances and in different light they take on shades of green, silver, and even blue/violet. But back to the painting; the ground is too dark. The light from the sky is shining directly on the places that are not in shadow from the trees, so I will try to bring out some more highlights as I progress with the painting.

Here I am giving a little more form to the foreground trees, and I lay down the color for where I will show some of the bare land. All of the ground is still too dark in my opinion, but I begin to lighten it up a little.

Blocking in more of the painting, the distance is starting to take shape. I lay in very cool colors in the far distance, using blues and cool greens. In general warm colors come forward and cool colors recede, so I will start with relatively cooler, lighter colors in the distance and stronger, warmer colors as the eye moves forward in the painting. I still use slightly darker blues, (ultramarine, plus a dab of cad red light and white/ or ultramarine plus a dab each of cad. orange and alizarin crimson and white) even in the middle ground, as I can always add more local color later. I've also lightened up the ochre ground colors throughout the painting, which I think looks better and more convincing.

I start to feel more comfortable once the canvas is covered with paint and there aren't any unaddressed areas. Even if the value or color isn't quite right, it helps me to "see" the painting better if I can have everything more or less laid out. I have now indicated the buildings, more of the distant trees, and have added detail to the olive trees in the foreground, including giving them some more shadow areas. As I have worked in more color, you can see I've painted out some of the tree trunks and branches that were indicated before, so I will have to restate them again at some point.

As you can see, this is very much a push and pull exercise for me. Some artists start with the distance and work forward, and I used to try and do that too, but I always tend to want to lay in some of the foreground so that I can better determine what the distance will need.

Advance to Part III.

2005-12-10T12:04:00.000-05:00

Have been completely knocked out with a sinus/migrane situation ('tis the season, right?) but I'm working on the next installment of the demo now....stay tuned!

2005-12-08T11:09:00.000-05:00

Painting demonstration; Part 1:

I thought I'd share some information here about my painting process in the studio. It has been raining and snowing for what has seemed like weeks here, so the photography may not be the best. The colors may not appear exact but hopefully these pictures will be sufficient to give you some idea of how the image looks.

Here is my inspiration photo. This is a picture I took with my digital camera when I was in Tuscany in the springtime. We stayed in Montalcino, in the southern part of Tuscany, and we drove all over this and neighboring areas. I think I must have taken about 1000 photos in all. I like using digital pictures because you can delete on site and don't need to worry about film. Plus, back home I can zoom in on details and see them directly in my computer monitor without having to go through the expense of printing the images unless I really want to. My photos are pretty amateurish, but I use them more as digital records to jog my memory of what I saw and sketched while I was there. The actual digital file for this photo is much larger, allowing me much more detail in the studio:

What I like about this scene: I love the lines and the layers of textures. What I want to emphasize. The buildings on the right and the olive trees in the foreground. What I will want to change: I'll reverse the direction of the lines in the front vineyard so that they don't lead your eye straight out of the painting. I will also simplify the buildings, both in the foreground and in the distance; leaving in what I feel to be important and taking out what I feel is distracting.

Here is a quick sketch of the scene that I will use to work out what I'm thinking about:

Okay, before you say anything, I can draw better than this! This is just a quickie sketch - a throw away drawing to cement in my mind what I want to focus on in the painting. It would be better if I had drawn a more rectangular shape, as this is the format I will use for my painting, but I just grabbed what was on hand at the moment of inspiration. As you can see from this drawing, I am still working out the composition. That grouping of cypress trees is right in the middle of the photo, but I will experiment with some other placements. My objective is to make an interesting painting that expresses my impressions and feelings about this beautiful land that I visited, not to make an exact copy of a photograph. While I want to be true to the subject, my first commitment is to paint a dynamic and harmonious landscape.

Starting: Nowadays I mostly paint on white canvases, though some times I still tone them with a quick wash of raw sienna or alizarin crimson. I mix alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue, and with this I draw with a round bristle brush just a quick layout of my composition.

I'll lay in the sky because this is usually the lightest/brightest part of the picture. I don't get into a lot of detail here because I want to keep it loose and things are still subject to change. However, I do want to have a road map in place, so to speak. My next step will be to start blocking in the painting and laying out my color. In the coming days I will post my progress on this painting...stay tuned!

Advance to Part II.

2005-12-02T09:10:00.000-05:00

Scenes from the open studio:

I'm Christmas shopping today, so I thought I'd share some scenes of my recent holiday events. My holiday events came early this year. I held my 2nd annual open studio in mid- October. This may have been a tad too early in the fall, but it was still very successful. Normally I am not able to keep a huge inventory of artwork on hand at the studio, but for one brief weekend I hang my studio work space like a small gallery and open it to visitors. I may eventually hold this event more often- perhaps bi-annually, but we'll see.

This year's event was held on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. By far the evening events seem to have the heaviest attendance, but the daytime can often bring in people who want to look at the art without distractions. For this reason I feel it's important to do both days. Here are a couple of shots of the studio before this year's event:

This is a wall shot of the front room as you enter the studio. This wall would be to your right as you walk in the door. I use the front room as a display area for visitors:

Here is the large second room, which is normally my work area.

Here is a shot as visitors are starting to arrive. We didn't get many of these pictures this year as things got a little bit busy.

The work doesn't tend to stay in the studio long after the show. I will normally ship unsold works off to other shows or consignments. These shows are a lot of work and don't last long, but they offer a nice opportunity to display a larger body of my work in a cohesive way.

Here is a view of my studio work area as it looks today. My easel stands just opposite of the walls that have the large boxes on them. Looks like I had better get to work!

2005-12-01T09:31:00.000-05:00

Even during this time of commission work, I am getting some studio painting done. I have a larger work on the easel right now, and I will be putting together a painting demo on that to post here soon. Meanwhile, here is a 20x24" painting I just finished of the Tuscan countryside. It is an area called "La Crete". I'm very happy with the way this turned out. I like the softness and the composition. The title is "Beckoning Pathway".

2005-11-30T10:11:00.000-05:00

I've spent a lot of time lately doing commission work, so I haven't added as many new works to my website recently. Since I've been doing so much packing and shipping, I'd thought I'd share a bit about the less "glamorous" aspects of the art 'biz; preparing a painting for shipment.

I start out by using cardboard corner protectors on my framed paintings:
Then I sandwich this configuration between two pieces of cardboard cut to size.

I'll tape all of this together carefully, making sure only to tape cardboard to cardboard and not to tape any exposed frame! Then I will wrap this up in bubble wrap, much in the way I'd wrap a gift:

When boxing a painting, I make sure to have at least two inches of padding around all four edges of the painting, as well as front and back. Some people use peanuts, which are lightweight and great for filling, but I tend to steer away from that because they can be messy. Often times I will use foam sheets or bubble wrap for filling. My shipper, who I will sometimes use for larger framed paintings, once told me that when packing the piece in the box, you need to make sure that when closed, you cannot feel the painting moving in the box at all. Don't over stuff, but just make sure that there is no sloshing or shifting ability.

All of this gets boxed up in a heavy or double-ply cardboard shipping box. (My shipper will most often build sturdy boxes fit to size when I ship the large paintings.) Then I use strapping tape and clear wide shipping tape to seal. My shipper says I don't need the strapping tape if I'm using the shipping tape, but when I have it available I like to use it because it seems stronger to me.

That's it! Now it's ready to go off to its new home.

2005-11-24T02:51:00.000-05:00

Oil painting substrates:
I thought I'd write a little here about some of the oil painting substrates I use on a regular basis.

Canvas: The canvas I use most often for anything over 16x20 inches in size is one that has staples only on the back side of the stretcher bars. Small metal tacks are nailed into the sides of the stretcher to hold the canvas secure. This is a very sturdy, fine canvas with an old world look to it, primed with acrylic gesso. The surface is smooth enough so that it is not absorbent, but not so smooth that there is no canvas "tooth".

The stretched canvases I have been using for my landscapes are standard-depth canvas (around 3/4" deep), so generally the finished paintings are finished off with a frame for display. The great benefit to these canvases is that their depth allows them to easily fit into any variety of frame styles and mouldings, from the very traditional to the very contemporary.

I have lately been considering trying some gallery wrapped canvases for my landscapes. I used to use them in my older work, like the painting shown here. The gallery wrapped canvases are deeper than the standard canvas and have no staples around the perimeter, allowing the canvas edges to be painted as well. They offer a clean contemporary look, and have the benefit of being lightweight and versatile. While these canvases can be framed, one needs to find frames that have very deep rabbet depths so that the canvas edge (which is around 1 1/2" deep) does not extend beyond the frame when you look at it in profile. In general these canvases are meant to have painted edges and are displayed unframed.

Panels: Often times for smaller works I will use birchboard panels or gessoed canvas that is mounted on a hardboard or wood panel. (I never use the canvases that are mounted on cardboard. They are too cheap and flimsy and don't hold up for professional use. In any event they are not archival and I use archival materials for my work.)

The panels are great for painting out of doors (painting "en plein air") because they are flat and can be packed and carried more easily than stretched canvas. Sometimes I will prime these panels with a neutral base coat of gray or raw sienna. I use these when I travel and for smaller works no larger than 16x20". After a while they do get heavy, however, so I am always in search of the most lightweight option available! The lightest I've found is the birchboard panels, but these are not commercially available. The birchboard (shown here, bottom gray panel) can be purchased at the hardware store in larger sheets that I have cut down to size. They have a smooth side (for painting) and a rough side. However, I prime them on both sides to seal them and prevent warping.

2005-11-23T15:11:00.000-05:00

I'm going to enter quietly into the world of blogging until I get the hang of this thing....so I'll start out a painting I finished this past week. It is titled "Off the Beaten Path". This is a scene of poppies and wildflowers in the Provincial countryside. This painting was done in oils on canvas. It measures 24"x30". The little building or shed is called a "cabanon", and they are seen all over the Provincial farmlands.