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One of my many goals has been to paint larger pieces and to paint them well, feel happy with the result. I am not sure it will ever happen. I keep trying but wind up scraping most of them. I feel I do best with fresh ideas in my paintings, not repeating a painting that already happened. That being said, I kept wasting paint and surfaces so I thought I should try to repaint a scene that I felt was successful.  I know that the recreated painting will never be the same but, maybe it will have it's own success, in different ways than the original. 

So, I was painting a scene on location and I really liked the idea but, I felt I missed it with the painting I brought home. I decided to try a small version to see if I could improve on the idea. Here is the plein air version...

11x14 plein air

Once I looked at this painting at home, I saw that the format just did not do it justice, wasn't exciting enough. I also thought the colors were just too dull. It looked okay out in the field but, I thought I could do better.

10x10 studio

I decided to try to condense the scene to fit on a square format, I love squares for some reason. I also punched up the colors which I tried and thought I accomplished in the plein air version but, that was clearly not the case when I saw it out of daylight. I really liked how this version came out and decided to give it a try on a larger scale.

20x20 studio

I felt I kept the painting in the correct proportions to the smaller studio version which isn't something I am always able to pull off.  My issue with this painting are the colors, I struggled with my mixes and just never achieved the same feel as the smaller version. It is easy to see now that I was way cooler on the large version. Ah, the struggles continue. I think I will sit on this larger version and see what can be done after it dries. Maybe try something really new like a glaze?

My Workshop Idea

I have entertained the idea of offering a plein air workshop and now that the pandemic restrictions are easing up, this summer may be the right time. The workshop would be a two day event around my home base/studio in Northern Idaho. Ideally, I would like to have just 2-5 participants to keep it personal with demos and my thoughts on how to approach your painting. The cost would be $200 or $100 per day. Please let me know if you may have any interest in seeing my process and getting together to paint and talk art. 

I am trying something new, sharing my plein air experience. Please be patient with me, I am definitely a video novice but I had fun doing it. If you like seeing this sort of thing, please let me know. I will try it again and hopefully get a little better at filming. I'm looking at this as a dry run for more painting videos/demos. The painting is not great but it was the process that I was trying to convey. 

Since I was recording the steps of my painting process alone, I had to split the experience into four short videos. I also could not show me actually painting because it was just me, no camera person.  I am more than happy to answer any questions so feel free to send me a note. Thanks for taking the time to check this out.

Palette Colors

Titanium White

Cad Yellow Lemon

Cad Red Light

Ultramarine Blue

Transparent Earth Red

Yellow Ochre

Viridian

Cold Grey

Naples Yellow

I was painting on a wood cradled panel that had gesso applied to it (9x12). I tried a different texture with my gesso on this particular panel so it made it a little rougher than I usually use.

Thanks again for watching.

This is one of my recent small works that I think I got a little too detailed with but I like it anyway. I started it with a specific show in mind  and I know the competition will be steep so I put in more time than I usually do. Fingers crossed.

I did take a few progress shots in case anyone was interested. 

I do vary the color I use for toning my surface, depending on the scene or the time of year. Lately, I have been using alizarin crimson to tone my panel. I like the spots where it peaks through the painting, giving some good color variety. I then sketch out the scene, using the alizarin again with a little transparent red oxide mixed in(my favorite color on my palette). I don't always approach a painting the same way but very often, I work from back to foreground as I did here. These photos are not the best and the colors changed with the light. The sky in the first shot is probably the closest to what it actually looks like in person.

At this point, I am just trying to get the whole painting covered with color as close to what I will eventually have in the finished piece. Once again, I use a lot of paint and it is not thinned with turp, it is slathered on. My shoulder gets a pretty good work out when I paint and it only gets harder with larger paintings. 

Toward the end, I just fix edges and make sure things are defined enough. I don't like to get too detailed and I may have gone too far on this one. I just call it done and will look at it some more to see if anything jumps out at me that needs fixing. Time for a dog walk. ;-)

Happy Painting,

Denise

PS I know not all of my small works will be going to shows and I will be selling some of them on my website. I will probably offer a discount to my newsletter subscribers so if you are interested in any of my small works, sign up for my newsletter and get a discount. 

I would be happy to hear any comments or questions. 

It's been a while since I posted... here is what I have been thinking about.

Late last fall I was asked to participate in a group show. I was thrilled and very surprised at the invitation. It was an honor and I accepted. The show guidelines were very clear, four paintings inspired by Glacier National Park. Two of the paintings were to be on the smaller side and two on the larger side. I mainly paint works that are on the small side so that did not scare me but the large, that scared me. I have been encouraged to go large for a while but I have had this fear about it. I don't know what it is. I painted all winter for this show, unhappy with most of what I came up with. Fear had me and I felt I couldn't paint anything, even my small paintings were not hitting the place where I feel good. When I feel this way, down about my work, I often look at other artists that I admire for inspiration.  I see how they approach a subject and it gets me going, gives me courage to try something new or just get loose and throw paint around. 

I recently read something by a wonderful artist but I can't remember who it was. That artist said something to the effect that you cannot be afraid of your painting. That person, whoever it was, was so right. Taking chances is one of my mottos and how I have made progress in my art, I know not to be afraid. Those large paintings are a lot of work, a lot of money goes into making them, in paint and surface. I was afraid of messing up, wasting paint, wasting an expensive large surface. It took a long time; I finally came out of my funk but it wasn't easy. I don't really know how I came out except I kept painting.  Eventually, I did try a subject that I rarely paint and just approached it with the idea that it was just an experiment. All of a sudden, I wasn't afraid anymore. I wish I knew how I got my 'try anything' attitude back but I don't. I must say encouragement from friends & family also is helpful. 

I can't give any advice on being fearful of your paintings but I know that I don't grow when I have fear.  I don't feel good about a painting if I had fear while I painted it and my wish for myself and my art is to feel good about the paintings I produce, above all else. I can’t say that the large paintings for the group show are my best but they are done and I can’t worry about them anymore. Thankfully, I am feeling better.

So, in the theme of trying something new, I will be participating in a plein air event this fall in Colorado. From what I understand, most of our painting subjects will be architecture in this cute mountain town. I never paint structures so things need to change. Below is a recent plein air attempt. I know it is not like painting a village but it's a start, more architecture paintings to come.  The best thing about this painting is, I had no fear.

I wish happy painting for everyone, free of fear.

Thanks for reading,

Denise

In the past year, I have been asked if I give classes, workshops or online mentoring. It is a great compliment to have anybody interested in how I paint and I am very grateful for those inquiries, they help boost my confidence which is always a bit shaky. I still think of myself as a student of painting and the idea that somebody thinks I know what I am doing is a surprise. Anyway, I finally took on one student for private plein air painting lessons at a very affordable rate since I am new to teaching. I was very honest with the student, that I had never taught painting before and I would be open to a critique on my teaching skills. One thing I realized right away is that there are many important practices that were strongly stressed by my previous instructors that I do not do. The other thing I realized, which is related to those good practices, is that the student wanted to see how I approach painting, not the methodology of other painters. So I went with it, bad habits and all.  I must say that I really enjoyed our two days together. I have no problem talking painting, it is my favorite subject but, I was exhausted at the end of each day. Although I do talk to myself while painting, I am a person of few words and being "ON" all day is hard work, who knew?!  All in all, after three demos in two days, I think the student got a good feel for my method of painting and went home with few things to bring to his own painting. I learned that I have a lot to learn about teaching but I think I would like to take that on and teach more and get better. Maybe it will also help me drop some of my bad habits too.

My student was very generous and sent me a few gifts to show his appreciation. These palette knives are super cool, they have become my new favorites. They have a finish on them to prevent reflecting in the sunlight, a big plus. I can't even paint with my old knives any longer, they just don't feel as good or put the paint on as well. As you can see, I am already wearing one out.

I will be working on having a workshop next summer if anyone is interested, send me an email.

Spring is here and while some days don't exemplify the season, it is generally warmer and much more hospitable to outdoor painting. I have been trying to get out as much as possible to get rid of all the winter cobwebs in my head and see some fresh ideas for paintings. Although grey is the dominant color this time of year, you can still find some snow to brighten up a scene or fresh greens & reds in the ground cover, all fun to paint. 

I live in a beautiful spot and decided to paint from my backyard a scene that I see everyday. I took pictures of my progress for those who may be interested. The progress photos were shot outside so the colors vary along the way due to the changing light.

I used a 12x16 panel, canvas mounted on to birch for this piece. I will also show a photo of the scene I was painting so you can see what I used and what I left out of the painting. Photos never show all the colors you see in real life so keep that in mind too.

After sketching out the scene with Transparent Red Oxide, I usually block in my paintings using a large brush, in this case a #12 flat. I try to cover most of the canvas only leaving spots that will have highlights untouched.

Using my palette knife and working back to front, I start to refine the big shapes with color and some detail. I felt that my block in of the sky was too green so I went a bit more blue. I always play with the color of elements as I progress. I also mix my paints as I go so the colors are never exactly the same throughout the shape.

Adding some light to the tree shapes in the foreground and detail to the background trees. Starting to give the ground some texture too.

Here I have added most of the ground cover and starting on the reflection in the water. I decided to use my brush instead of a palette knife to finish the water to keep that paint thin to help with the muted feeling of reflections.

After using my brush for the water, I used my palette knife to add some blue texture to the water. We have many ducks and geese in our pond so they leave wakes behind them like that. I also lightened up the sky a bit, it was still too dark. 

Here is the finished painting. This shot was taken in my studio so the colors are a little more true than the progression shots. 

Please feel free to comment or ask any questions.

Thanks for checking out my process.

In response to several requests, I wanted to share an example of my process for a painting. I admit right away that photographing my work is one of my biggest challenges and so I apologize for the quality of these pictures but I thought they are better than nothing. While I approach every painting in a unique way, I will try to describe my usual practices for painting and this painting in particular.

I paint using a couple of different techniques, using a brush or using a knife. In the past year I have been painting with the knife much more. I like that a knife keeps me from getting too caught up in detail,  I can't control it nearly as much as a brush. That could be due to my lack of experience with the knife (or a brush), maybe others feel the same way? One benefit of the knife for me has been laying down color. With a brush, the colors often get muted by the paint underneath that stroke but a knife lays in on thick and clean. I feel it gives a much more impressionist feel to the piece and I am enjoying the challenge.

I start with a toned canvas. In this case, canvas mounted on to a cradled panel. I found that using a knife on a stretched canvas doesn't work very well, too much give in the surface and I like to get a little rough. I very often use Transparent Red Oxide as my toner. It gives a nice warmth as a base.

This painting was done using a palette knife although I usually block in all my paintings with a larger brush, very often a #12 flat.   Initially, I try to get the whole surface covered. The first layer can be a little darker than the colors that will be used in the painting so the darker colors can pop through and give some depth to the shapes.

Very often parts of the lay in get covered over and will need to get more defined at a later stage. I generally like to work back to front with the knife but I always seem to have to go over parts before I am done.

One thing I loved about this scene, and many mountain scenes, is the warmth of the trees against the cool blues of the mountains. I wanted to keep the lower trees dark but I added some warm darks to help that contrast. 

I tried to vary the spacing of the trees to show depth and avoid creating things in a line. I did scrape the snow covered trees on the right, I just didn't like them and came back later to finish them off as you will see in the final piece. Due to so much texture on a palette knife painting, I find that once I start applying heavy paint with a knife it needs to be done alla prima or wet on wet. If I don't finish the piece in one day, I must finish it the next day while the paint is still wet. 

This was the final outcome. It's always a bit of give and take. I went back into the sky to make it a little cooler and to define the cottonwoods a bit more. I also added a punch of a brighter blue mixture to the mountains for more of that contrast. 

I hope this progression has helped some in spite of the poor photos. Would love to hear any questions or comments so please feel free to email me.

Thanks for listening to me (I could talk painting all day, every day) and happy painting.

Denise