Reflections on a Mississippi Sunset

One night a few weeks ago I sat on a pier in LaCrosse and watched light dance on the river in great multicolor flashes as the sun set. I took photos during the process and came home wanting to paint the nearly abstract water close-ups of those reflections…. this is the result. The photo colors aren’t quite right – I may try to photograph again in different lighting. I nearly finished it a few days after I watched the sunset, then let it sit until yesterday, when I quickly did a few adjustments and called it done.

“Reflections on a Mississippi Sunset”, pastel on Canson board, 16x20 in.

More Barns

I painted these in the last 2 weeks, but just photographed them today. I have another exciting painting in process – I should finish it tonight or tomorrow. The other pastel-related activity for me has been to purchase a new studio box and stock it. After much comparison, I bought the largest Heilman box, and kept it divided the way it came with 8 sections. I have SOOOOO loved the baby box I bought from Heilman last spring for my trip to the IAPS convention in June, that I knew I would be satisfied with another. I’ll post photos of it all filled up – just looking at it makes me happy.

Barn on the Hill, 9x12 inches, pastel on uArt600grit

Barn around the Bend, 9x13, pastel on Pastelmat

Another Bridge, Another Painting

Sparta has the coolest bridges for walking and biking. This one is over the LaCrosse River in the Park at the corner of highways 16 and 21, with the giant bicyclist, “Ben Bikin”.

Bike Bridge over the LaCrosse River, 9x12 in., pastel on uArt 600 grit

I did a sketch and took photos when I did this painting, done en plein air (in the outdoors) just a bit upriver of the bridge – Rushing Water on the LaCrosse River, 9x12, etc… 

There are 2 covered bridges in the network, and 2 like this with plans for more. I have like how they looked since each was built, but I never realized how heavily traveled they are until I painted plein air in the partk this summer. Kids and adults, on foot or bikes as well as strollers, abound in the parks and on the bridges. Kids stop to toss rocks, families wade in the water underneath them, people fish nearby. The waterways that flow through Sparta – the LaCrosse River and Beaver Creek – bring sparkle and music to our little city.

Rework, kinda like Reruns…

Since the July challenge ended I have reworked several of the one-day paintings. I also played with some handmade pastels, but that’s another blog…  Anyway, a major lesson for me confirms what I suspected: while I am capable of creating a complete and decent painting in a single day, my work benefits from thoughtful scrutiny which usually results in rework, ranging from major to minor. Here are the 4 paintings I reworked – “befores”, then “afters”.

Barn in the Valley

There is quite a difference in photo exposure, but the new (after, right) photo is also more accurate. Changes were made mainly to the bare tree behind the barn.

Round Barn and Shed in Autumn

Clarified shadows, redid sky color and texture, other minor changes. The color is a bit off in both, but more in the “before” which was taken in artificial yellow light.

Almost Home

Softened and corrected shadows, added highlights.

Farm in the Valley

On this painting, I deepened and corrected shadows, made the sky less uniform, pushed the background by cooling the colors, added warmer tones to the foreground.

I am pretty happy with all 4 of these now. What do you think?

July 31st, 2013 – Last Challenge Painting!

… but of course that doesn’t mean I am done painting!

This is not quite finished, and the photo is funky, but this is as done as it is going to be today… since it is now actually tomorrow. I really need to go to bed. But first I proclaim that I am quite proud of myself for completing 31 paintings in 31 days, many of them quite good.

“Farm in the Valley”, 16 by 20 inches on Canson board.

Here is the underpainting for this piece:

Goodnight and sweet dreams. Tomorrow is another day.

Day 30, Paintings 29 and 30! Yippee!!

I am so happy that I was able to finish 2 paintings today. I did the drawing and underpainting for “Almost Home” last night so I would be able to complete both. I painted “Rushing Water on the LaCrosse River” plein air this afternoon at one of our city parks, with a bit of finishing work at home tonight. As I look at both photos I can see areas that still need work- including correcting some shadows and angles – but for tonight let’s call them finished, okay?

“Almost Home”, 8x10 on Canson paper.

“Rushing Water on the LaCrosse River”, 9x12 in., pastel on uArt 600 grit

Day 29, Painting 28… just 2 days left!

Daylily in Coral, 9x12 in., pastel on pastelmat

I have never liked florals I have painted more than those I painted this month for the challenge, especially the 3 daylilies, the water lily and the sunflowers. Looking at a flower outdoors as a beautiful shape reflecting sunlight has changed how I approach the painting. I have grown artistically during July, and I hope to share some of that growth in words in the weeks to come. For now, the images speak for themselves!

Day 28, Painting 27. Yup, I am still painting daily!

Dark Red Daylily, 9x12 in on pastelmat

Day 27, Painting 26… just 4 days, 5 paintings to go!

“Barn with a Corn Crib”, 9x12 in, pastel on Wallis

Day 26, Painting 25

“Bearly Relaxing”, 9x12 in., pastel on colorfix

Day 25 and this is Painting 24

“Waterlily on the Mississippi”, 10x13 in., pastel on colorfix surface

This time of year, or a bit earlier, waterlilies crowd the backwaters of the Mississippi. In masses they are a majestic site, singularly they are exquisite.

Day 24, Painting 23

“Bridge Over Beaver Creek”, 10x13 inches on Wallis sanded paper

I spent the last hour or more screwing around with my computer before I could download this photo, crop and rename it, and get it posted. Painting this was so relaxing with the gurgle of the creek and the wind in the trees, that I didn’t really let myself see how ugly the willow (yes, that is supposed to be a willow!) had become. I apologize to the willow and I realize this means I will have to paint this again. Soon.

Day 23, Painting 22, but whose counting? Me, I guess!

“The Old Power Shed”, 9x12 in, pastel on pastelmat

What better way to spend the afternoon than painting outdoors by the LaCrosse River Dam with the sounds of the water, birds, and wind? Joined by Pat, later by Betsy, and still later by Betsy’s kids just made painting even more fun. A few onlookers offered encouragement, and I hope at least one of them looks at this to see the finished product!

Day2, Painting 21

“Sunnies”, 9x12 in. on Wallis

The lighting is not correct on this photo, but it will do for now! We have several groups of sunflowers in our yard that were planted by the birds or squirrels that I left to grow. This is one clump and they are really beauties.

Day 21, Painting 20–a Very Special Painting!

This is special for many reasons: it is my granddaughter Annabell, it is a birthday gift for her dad- my son Arlo, and it is my VERY FIRST PORTRAIT EVER. I don’t know how portrait painters do it. This may have been the hardest painting I ever did.

“Annabell, Wrapped in a Rainbow”, 8X10 inches, pastel on canson board.

Yesterday’s Painting

“Lauren’s Bears on Grandma’s Chair”, 9x12in, pastel on colorfix surface

Last night I had a visit from the computer boogey-woogey monster, leaving me without a means to post this painting to this blog or- more importantly- to the challenge blog. But here it is. I feel very sentimental about it. Lauren- here for the night while Sally relived her teen years at a concert in Minneapolis with Jamie- set up her bears and we both painted with pastels. The rocking chair has been used since Sally and Arlo were wee ones for baby-soothing. I tried in vain to give it to both of them, but they weren’t interested, so for now it rocks teddy bears.

Day 19, Painting 18

“After the Flood”, 12 x 15 inches, pastel on Wallis sanded surface

Day 18, Painting 17

Reflections on Angelo Pond, 9x12in, pastel on uArt500 grit surface

Day 17, Painting 16

Female Cardinal on Fencepost, 9x9 in., Pastel on colorfix

Isn’t Summer Beautiful?

Day 16, Painting 15 - Meadow Frolic, 9x12 in, pastel on colorfix

16x20 in a Day… what was I thinking?

Today’s painting – 14th in 15 days- is “Round Barn and Shed in Autumn”, 16 x 20 on Canson board. Here is what I learned: 16 by 20 inches is too d&^* big for a one-day painting. I worked on it for 10 –11 hours, and though I took a few breaks, I never stepped away from it – I used the breaks to eat and critique and decide what came next. I am pretty pleased with it, but heck it’s almost midnight and I need to post it on the  challenge site real soon. Let’s see how much I like it tomorrow!

Day 14, Painting 13

This was painted with a gouache underpainting, pastel overpainting – the technique I learned from Frank Federico at his IAPS workshop in New Mexico in June.

“Barn, Shed and Wildflowers”, 9x12 in., pastel over gouache on uArt 500 grit surface.

Besides finishing this painting today, we went to Racine to celebrate the 90th birthday of my Auntie Frannie – my dad’s only surviving sib. Aunt Fran is a character and story teller – fiercely loyal to her family, including me. This party honored who she is/was to all of us – her daughter, grandkids, nieces and nephews, brother, and more. My camera battery died so I couldn’t take photos, but my mental images will live on for a long time.

Serious Rework of an Old Painting

Day 13, Painting 12 - Lighthouse at the Day's End, 16 by 20 inches, pastel on canson paper. This is a major rework of a painting I was never crazy about but wasn’t sure how to rework…. until we hung it in the living room and I determined several fixes.

For comparison, here is the “before” painting:

I think this is a significant improvement, changing a blah painting into a wow painting that tells a story. What do you think?

Day 12, Painting 11

Yes, you read it correctly… I missed a day of painting yesterday. Actually I did the drawing and underpainting of this, but it was slow going as I hurt my upper arm and shoulder (weeding?) and I decided to give it a rest.  Today it is sore but not as much, and I took it pretty slow today, too. I also painted with my left hand as much as I could. It’s weird that I am pretty klutzy with my left hand for almost everything, but I pass the pastel back & forth without really noticing it.

Dragonfly on Water's Edge, 8x10 inches, pastel on canson board

I am using a non-lap computer until my syruppy mess gets fixed or replaced (thank the Goddess I bought the warranty!). This is how lazy I am- I don’t feel like writing a thing if I am not sitting in my recliner with my confuser on my lap. So- that’s the explanation for my sparse postings recently.

Day 10, Painting 10

Reflections on the Backwater, 9x12

too tired too explain…

On a Windy Afternoon, 9x12

Day 8 is Reflective

Day 8 painting: Good Morning, Sandy Lake, 8x10, pastel on canson board.

Lily in Scarlet

Day 7 - Lily in Scarlet, 8x10 inches on Canson board

this entry is brief since I have to use our backup computer…. I spilled maple syrup into the keyboard of my laptop. don’t ask. unless you are asking, “could this bizarre story be true?”  in which case the answer, sadly, is yes. so short blog post, long excuse, sad Debbie (sort of, since I have a backup computer).

Barn in the Valley, Day 6

For the 6th day of the challenge, I painted from a photo- Barn in the Valley, 12 x 16 in, pastel on UArt 500 grit.

Something I experience in plein air vs. photo reference painting: I find it far easier to determine composition elements from a photo, than from outdoor observation. Maybe this is a no-sh*t-Sherlock to everyone else, maybe this is something I read, but this is the first time I get it at a gut level…. the borders of a photo help me to envision painting borders. In outdoor spaces, I struggle and see infinite possibilities and no edges. I guess I need to work on this.

I finished another painting yesterday – one I started a while ago. Here it is:

 

Daisies in the Wind

Day 5, Daisies in the Wind, 9x12in., pastel on Wallis

I sat near the flowers and did the layout and underpainting on my lap. Somehow without an easel, and with only a few pastels, it seemed more honest, fresh.  I used a turpenoid wash over the hard pastels underpainting. The final layer – done with soft pastels indoors – lost some of that freshness, in my eyes. But I can still see the wind.

Happy Independence Day!

In honor of the holiday, I completed a painting I had begun plein air back in May when I was the guest of Mary’s cousins Sue and Pete Betts for 3 days. This is the view from their sunroom window. It was an amazing that while I worked on this, leaves changed from bud to open leaf; ferns from bump to unfurled fronds; and the water level receded so the water in this painting was mere mud. While I stayed there, I visited daily with my mom and dad – that was my mom’s mother’s day gift- me!

Betts’ Marsh in Early May, 9x12

I also worked some of the problem areas out on yesterday’s still life:

I wish everyone a safe and happy day!

Give us this day our daily veggies

Harvest! We will have radish slivers in our July 4th potato salad, thanks to today’s harvest which is the subject of Day 3 painting….. which I can tell needs a little work yet. I am not fond of still-lifes. And yes, I know it is now Day 4. Very early in Day 4.

“Early Harvest”, 12x15 on canson mi-tientes paper, dots and all.

Happy Independence Day to all of you!

Day 2–Bridge in Evans Park

The city of Sparta has been adding these great bridges – one a year or so for the last couple years- and I keep saying I am going to paint them… what better time than when I am painting daily? Today I spent FIVE HOURS in the park working on this, and another hour at home tonight. Actually, there were 2 false starts before I narrowed my scope a bit and focussed on the front view. This was extra fun today, as 2 other pastelists – members of the class I taught in Spring – met me there and painted, too. We hope to make that a weekly thing. Without additional blah blah, here is DAy 2 painting: Bridge in Evans Park, 9x12 on pastelmat.

Day 1 of 30 paintings in 30 days!

So here I am, painting plein air in my own garden on Day 1 of the challenge to do a painting a day for 30 days, sponsored by the Arizona Pastel Society (no I’m not a member).

So here is another reason for starting this blog yesterday. I consider artistic goals, and sometimes I even whisper them to myself… I actually don’t wonder why I seldom meet those goals, but I WOULD like to change that pattern. So, I am saying it out loud – I am doing the 30-paintings-in-30-days challenge. Here is my first painting:

In the last couple days, lilies have begun to open.. as the yellow lilies on the left, and the pink Lollipop Lillies in the center. Hello Lillies! Thanks for showing up just now.