Deciding on a Focal Point

A few weeks ago I was bicycling around Hull Massachusetts when I came upon this scene, right next door to my brother-in-law's house. The sun dappled stone steps leading up to the kayaks stored away for the winter intrigued me. I grabbed the camera and took a few shots. I had to wait another week before I had a chance to get back into the studio to paint that particular scene. I had just finished a very soft, subtle watercolor (actually the subject of the previous post: Painting the Mist) and as much as I loved working with the delicate colors, I was more than ready to get back to acrylics and indulge in my passion for pure, rich colors! I had taken several photos for reference, but the one I liked best captured the steps, the stone wall, the fall vegetation and the kayaks. The steps are cluttered with leaves and the fall garden is shouting its last hurrah before the first frost of the season. The fall colors have been somewhat subdued, a bit more golden, more burnished, but I loved the challenge of mixing just the right shade. Although the painting is very colorful, my palette consisted of just a few colors to begin with. New colors, shades, tints and lively neutrals, were created with the existing colors on my palette. A word about lively neutrals; I do like my whites, grays, browns and dark areas to have a bit of life in them. Grays and browns are always mixed by adding two complementary colors together, and then tweaking with another color to play up either the gray or brown undertones. My dark areas are always created by mixing dark red, blue, purple and green together. Color temperature is controlled by the amount of red (warm) or blue (cool)used. And white...is never really white. It reflects all of the colors around it, and the colors of the shadows on the white surfaces will depend on the surrounding colors. One of the hardest decisions to make with this painting was deciding on the focal point. To me it was obvious that the kayaks, nestled in for their long winter's nap were the focal point. But that might not be apparent to the viewer. As a kayak owner, I am familiar with the silhouette of the kayak in storage...upside down, piled on top of a bunch of other kayaks...I have always loved the contrasts of colors as they lay piled on top of each other. But the viewer would need more information. Another look at the scene told me that good luck and nature had solved the problem for me by providing a path of light from the bottom of the steps to the house at the top. And so my focal point shifted to include the stone steps, curving up the hill and leading our eyes to the area where the kayaks were stored. The light color of the steps and the stone wall draws our attention immediately. The light color, with a few subtle changes, is repeated in the trees and the house in the background, drawing our eyes through the entire painting. Areas of vivid color provided by the fall vegetation, weave in and around the path of light. Dark areas provide needed contrast. All of the trees, leaves and other vegetation are painted with a soft edge and no details which would distract our attention from the focal point. Although the focus on the kayaks has been minimized, I am still intrigued by them and plan to paint a close-up view...perhaps for my next painting! I titled this painting "Early November".

Painting the Morning Mist

What is it about mornings on the lake? Waking to the call of the loon, watching the mist rise off the lake as you wrap your hands around a steaming mug of coffee anticipating the day's adventures. A paddle to the far end of the lake? a swim? a hike to the rookery or perhaps to the waterfalls? The whole day lies ahead of you, but for those first few moments of the morning you give yourself over to those ethereal wisps lifting off the water, slowly exposing the lake, the trees, the land.

Two weeks ago I came across a photo that my husband had taken of the morning mist rising off of the lake. Trees, rocks, loons and water were swathed in a fog which was slowly burning off in the morning sun. Not much color, or form, but lots of atmosphere. I chose watercolor as my medium. Using the photo as reference, I began to paint using lots of water and letting all of my edges diffuse and flow into each other. A paper towel came in handy to blot excess water and color. I had chosen a few different greens and blues, a bit of yellow here and there, but was unsatisfied with my results. I wanted to feel as if I was in the middle of the mist viewing the scene in front of me. I began to experiment a bit more with color adding pinks and a bit more yellow. It worked! Although the overall palette is subdued to convey the misty atmosphere, the warmth of the pinks and yellows created the push/pull effect. Or in other words, the warm colors came forward, the cooler colors receded, creating movement in an otherwise very still scene. The veils of warm color seem to be on a different plane than the cooler colors which adds dimension to the painting, making the viewer feel as if they are a part of the scene. When the paint was dry, I painted in the bare tree branches to create a bit of definition and contrast.

You're painting WHAT????

You're Painting WHAT????

Well, they always say you never know where inspiration might strike and I guess this proves that "they",(whoever they are) are right.

Whenever I am painting a still life, I usually look for interesting objects to group together or objects that somehow tell a story. But every once in a while, a mundane object, something I don't usually consider as an item to paint will beckon me. In this case it was the combat boots. My son Ben had left them behind, when he was home on leave in summer 2011.

The boots were probably left behind intentionally because they didn't fit well. Ask any military person about their boots and you are likely to get a long story about the trials and tribulations of finding just the right boot. The right boot is usually never the one they were issued; nearly always the one they had to pay for later. But...I digress. Somehow I kept looking at those boots, deciding; acrylic? watercolor? pencil? And why? Why do I want to paint the boots? They really hadn't gotten to the point of being beaten down and grubby...artists always love that stuff. But they did appeal to me.

Maybe because it would force my left brain to pay attention to a right brained activity as I made sure I painted every turn of the laces as they wove in and out of the eyelets. Hmmm. Maybe... But most likely I was intrigued by the universal symbolism of the combat boot. The boots, more than any other part of the uniform, show the wear and tear of the daily routine of the soldier. I had read an article written by a soldier's wife who lived in military housing. She mentioned the eerie stillness of the housing development when the troops were deployed. One of the things you miss is the sound of their boots on the stairs in the early morning hours as they left for work.

So with all of those thoughts circling around in my mind, I painted the boots in watercolor and my left brain was intrigued by the laces and the eyelets and my right brain was just happy to paint.

I later used the boots in two of my greeting card designs, adding a stylized patriotic background.

The traditional Irish verse (below) was later added in a graphic design program to create a poster.
May the road is up to greet you, may all your days be bright,
May love walk by your side by day and keep you warm by night,
May all you meet along the way be glad to call you friend
And may the road rise up to greet you, and bring you home again.

Along Cottage Hill Road

I have often heard writers say of their work, "Well it seems like the piece just wrote itself". I have had that experience with a painting many times. The last time was just a few weeks ago. In early October I was traveling throughout the countryside of Northern New York with my husband. He had business in Canton and Watertown, and since I also had business in Watertown, and our final destination for the day was our camp,in the Indian River Lakes, I was along for the ride. And was it ever a stunning trip! The Fall foliage was at peak in the North Country. Trees were gorgeous shades of gold, orange and red accented by the dark green pines against a sky that varied in color from shades of light blue to heavy gray. The clouds were massive and many times opened up to a shower, which only made the colors more intense when the rain cleared and the sun came back out. So of course all I could think of was, I've got to paint...NOW. Unfortunately, I did not have my painting supplies at camp... aka Windy Hill Studio North. My painting had to wait, but my head was full of the images I had seen and I was itching to paint! On Sunday night, when I finally returned to my studio I immediately began work on a painting based on a photo taken a few years ago. The photo however was just a starting point. The intense colors and shapes that I had seen while driving through the countryside (now known as my North Country Road Odyssey)all made their way into the painting. The photo was cast aside, and the painting took over. Many of the details in the trees were eliminated. Too much clutter and detail takes away from the emotion of the painting. The figure in the foreground is my husband; the colors of his clothing were changed to create a more unified composition with the colors in the painting. The figure gives a sense of scale to the painting, but does not become the focal point. The red hat calls our attention to the figure, but we tend to see the figure as secondary to the surroundings. The painting was about 3/4 of the way done when I brought it to my Tuesday night painting class. I usually have at least two or three paintings that I am working on and use as demos for my class. One of the topics I was addressing that evening was Hans Hoffman's push/pull theory of colors seeming to create movement as they either came forward or receded. Warm colors come forward, cool colors recede. Fall foliage against a cool blue sky, on a crisp autumn day certainly provided a good visual for the push pull theory. But as I looked at the painting in its nearly finished state, it seemed to be missing something. It seemed too calm and too orderly to be a portrayal of all that I had seen and felt during my North Country Road Odyssey. There was something that I needed to add. I grabbed a palette knife and began adding slashes and blops (my word...not a real art term) of color. It worked! I needed texture and movement and the slashes of paint in intense warm colors provided that. After a few minutes of adding slashes and adjusting intensities of colors, I was done. And happy. This painting, along with four of my other landscapes, will be part of the North Country Art Council's Juried

Fall Show, Nov. 3rd to 17th. The exhibit will be held at Dulles State Office Building, 317 Washington St., Watertown NY., and open 9am to 6pm daily.

Hangin' With the Buoys, no.2

Hangin' with the Buoys, no. 2 is the acrylic version of a subject I have painted three times so far. And, I can probably paint them again and again because this little still life at the end of the lake never seems to change much from year to year. The first two paintings were done in watercolor, one from a distance and the other a close-up view very similar to this painting. In the watercolor version of Hangin' with the Buoys, much of the detail is left out and some subject matter such as the rocks and water are implied, rather than painted. My goal in that painting was to paint the path of light that flowed through the trees and over the buoys. In painting the watercolor, I often painted the negative space around the main subject matter, allowing the focal point to emerge in the unpainted or lightly washed areas. The acrylic painting has a completely different approach to the very same scene. Again, the path of light is important, but the emphasis is on the whole scene rather than just the buoys. And the shadows in this painting play a much more important role than they did in the watercolor. Our eyes are led to the shadows which create a strong contrast to the light colored buoys, and they emphasize the focal point. In this painting, trees, rocks and water are more clearly defined; we are more able to picture ourselves in this scene where more information has been given to us. The emphasis however, is on the buoys and they have been given more detail than the surrounding trees, rocks and water. The white buoys reflect so many of the colors in their surroundings. I have to admit, I loved adding the shadows and sun-dappled effect on the buoys, adding bits of yellow, magenta, blues and greens. Looking at this scene and especially concentrating on the large buoy, full of blue/purple shadows and subtle streaks of yellow, I feel like I am back at the lake, sitting in my kayak, watching the sun and water send bits of reflected light onto the shoreline. Sometimes we have a goal which we hope to achieve in a painting; sometimes the painting just takes on a life of it's own. I had planned a more impressionistic look for this painting, but somehow, the painting took over and a more realistic look emerged. Perhaps it is because I am painting this scene in Autumn, usually a time of reflection for me. As the summer weather dwindles down to a few warm days here and there and the chill of winter approaches, I need to hold onto the memories of the sun on my back, the splash of my paddle in the water, the loon calling in the distance and the ever present still life at the end of the lake.

Painting the Path of Light

Painting the Path of Light One of the things that attracts me most to watercolor is the so called "path of light" created by leaving spaces either unpainted or with minimal washes of color. In the painting Hangin' with the Buoys, I have created a sun dappled scene not so much by painting, but by leaving areas unpainted. Some subject matter, such as the rocks and water are implied, rather than articulated. The rocks and water have very little detail; a soft wash of color here and there. Because their detail has been minimized, we are drawn to the collection of buoys hanging from the trees, which is the focal point of the painting. In painting the buoys, I relied more on painting the trees and foliage around them (negative space) and letting the shapes of the buoys emerge from that space. I later added soft washes of color on the buoys to create form and shadows. When we first bought our camp in 2007, I saw this scene at the end of the lake and knew that eventually I would paint it. I have taken several photos over the last few years and it's always a challenge when you are sitting in a kayak. As soon as you get your kayak into the correct position for the best shot, you float away as you are retrieving the camera from the camera bag. It usually takes me several attempts to get it just right, but I enjoy the process! This is the second painting done from this scene. The first painting was also done in watercolor, but included a much broader expanse of space. I like the tight, close-up version here, where the subject matter becomes more important than the entire scene. The third version of this painting is in acrylic paint and I am currently using that to demonstrate techniques to my Tuesday night painting class. It is interesting how our choice of medium can determine the outcome of the painting. The acrylic painting has a completely different mood and will be the subject of the next post.

One Day at the Art Park

One of the best parts of my job as the Arts Studio Coordinator at the East Area Family YMCA is teaching the summer Art Camps at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park. The next best thing is documenting the camps by taking photos our art camps in each of our locations: the Arts Studio, Camp Iroquois and of course Stone Quarry. Although I am there to take photos of the campers, teachers and the art projects, sometimes I get lucky enough to find subject matter for my own work. For instance, one day back at the beginning of August, I arrived at Stone Quarry when all of the campers were out for a hike around the park, so I took a little walk myself. Walking along the Ridge Trail I came upon the scene of two painters set up in the shade of the trees looking over the valley. A couple of people had stopped to talk to them...and probably inspect their artwork as well. I loved the setting, and the lighting created by the dappled sunlight, so I took a few photos. I wandered off in the opposite direction, then came back a few minutes later, and decided to take a closer look at the artists and their paintings. I was delighted to discover that I knew both of the artists, Wendy Harris and Linda Cohen. And of course, their work was lovely. A few days later I began a painting based on that scene, using the photos for reference. I was scheduled to teach a landscape painting class that week to adults, so that painting became my demo piece. Most of the painting was done in the Arts Studio as part of the class. I painted along with the students and used the painting to help each of them work out issues of under-painting using complementary colors, color harmony, atmospheric perspective, glazing and handling foliage. I finished the painting at home in my studio, found a great frame which sets off the colors very well. I plan to return to the Art Park to do some plein air painting, probably in September as the colors start to change for Fall.