BMF Art

Tree Reflections 2 -Process Video

2011-03-31T09:34:00.000-04:00

under-painting

painting in process

Tree Reflections 2, oil/canvas 11x14 inches

This is the last video (for now) in my landscape series. These videos are part of my Master's thesis research in Art Education at Concordia University. My research topic centres on tacit knowledge, or how a painter can learn to articulate and verbalise and experience gained through practice. The ability to do this, in my opinion, is a fundamental element to developing a teaching practice for the visual arts studio. It has been a wonderful experience making and sharing these videos with my students and anyone else interested in looking at them. I will be taking a bit of a break for now so that I can finally write my thesis and finish my degree.

You can see the video in high definition at You Tube:

Tree Reflections 2

2011-03-30T23:19:00.000-04:00

oil/canvas 11x14 inches

Often a subject inspired by a photo will be an interesting composition but I may want to express it using different colours. The challenge of this oil painting done in my landscape class was to use two source images, one for the composition and another for the colour inspiration. My next post will demonstrate the painting and thinking process that went into this work.

detail

Tree Reflections

2011-03-28T09:09:00.000-04:00


Acrylic/canvas 11x14 inches

underpainting: acrylic/canvas 11x 14 inches

This is an acrylic landscape study of trees reflected in water. The video talks about how to simplify shapes and interpret colour and composition using different source images.

You can see the video in HD at You Tube.

Cloud Study in Oil: Part 2

2011-03-08T21:56:00.000-05:00


oil/canvas, 12 x 16 inches

Tonal Under painting

In Part 2 of the cloud study in oil, I am examining the different types of thinking process that go on when working through a painting. Although there are some aspects of painting that can be rationalized through color theory and concepts about form and composition, personal opinions, experiences and feelings are the driving force behind any good painting.

You can see this video in high definition on You Tube.

Cloud Study in Acrylic

2011-03-01T13:48:00.000-05:00

11x14 inches, acrylic/canvas


11x 14 inches, acrylic, canvas

This is the acrylic counterpart of my cloud study in oil. In the accompanying video I have focused on the same concept of using positive and negative space to allow the shapes to evolve and change throughout the painting process. Acrylic however, is a different material than oil and so I have used an approach that takes advantage of these differences.

You can see this video in high definition at You Tube.

Cloud Study in Oil Part 1

2011-03-01T08:30:00.000-05:00

11 x 14, oil/canvas

This is an underpainting for a cloud study done in my landscape painting class. I have chosen a burnt sienna ground because it will create a striking contrast for the blues of the sky and will warm the whites of the clouds. The The accompanying video looks at the important characteristics of clouds that one should be aware of when wanting to paint them, as well as painting concepts such as the use of positive and negative space.

You can see the video in high definition at You Tube.

Painting as Problem Solving

2011-02-13T10:45:00.001-05:00

Winter light, 11 x 14 inches, oil/canvas

When I stand in front of a painting, I will think about different things as I react to what I am seeing. I may find the work poetic, vibrant, disturbing, melancholy....

When I stand in front of my canvas and I have to determine my colour palette,my thinking is quite different. What I think about is how to translate the complexity of the colours that I see into pigments and how to get them all to work together. I have a difficult problem that I have to solve. This is the challenge of any and every painting.

study, 8 x 10 inches, oil/canvas

A good way to tackle this problem is to do a colour study. It is like a rough draft or the calculations one makes on a scrap of paper. Part 2 of the Winter landscape is a colour study that takes a look at how solve the colour problem issue.
You can see it in high definition at You Tube.

Winter Landscape Part 1

2011-02-02T23:23:00.001-05:00

oil, 11 x 14 inches

I will generally start a landscape with an underpainting, especially if the subject has a complex colour structure or composition. This is short video describing one method for making a tonal underpainting in preparation for a winter landscape.

You can see this video in high definition on You Tube.

Atmospheric Perspective Part 2

2011-02-02T07:13:00.001-05:00

This is a continuation of the last video Atmospheric Perspective. I demonstrate how to paint wet on wet over a coloured ground using complementary colours. I shy away from blending colours with my brush. By progressively adding more paint, colours blend naturally together on the canvas.

You can see this in highdefinition at You Tube

Atmospheric Perspective Part 1

2011-01-30T21:47:00.001-05:00

This is the first part of my video on Atmospheric Perspective. This part is about planning out the painting and includes ideas such as toning the canvas, creating a colour structure, complementary colours, and palette organization.

You can see it in high definition at YouTube .

Atmospheric Annecy

2011-01-28T21:32:00.000-05:00

This painting study and its accompanying video (coming up soon) are part of a thesis research project that I am doing for a Master's degree in Art Education at Concordia University. They are also part of the curriculum of my Landscape painting class. The aim of the videos is to articulate both verbally and visually the different aspects of the painting process as well as the underlying theoretical concepts that are embedded in the thinking that goes on when caught up in the act of painting. For an experienced painter this thinking seems almost intuitive, but for those of you who want to learn more about how to paint, it is not all that obvious. I hope these videos will be useful to you.

On a personal note, I have a particular fondness for misty landscapes, especially after having live in France for several years. I would like to thank Marcel Moré for permitting me to use his photo of Mount Semnoz near the french city of Annecy.

Tonal Landscape Study

2011-01-20T10:35:00.001-05:00

11 x 14, oil

This is a tonal landscape painting exploring how to mass in the three important planes of the landscape: the foreground. middle ground and background. By focusing on the abstract shapes rather than the small details, the composition is more spontaneous and painterly.

You can watch the video in high definition at You Tube.

Painting Glass in Oil

2010-12-01T02:39:00.000-05:00

This is a video of my previous post called ''Crazy Juice''. In it, I describe how to paint glass on a white background. I talk about complementary colours, painting white and the first rule of thumb in painting, which is learning how to observe your subject.

You can also see it on You Tube in HD:
Crazy Straw: Painting Glass in Oil

Crazy Juice

2010-11-29T00:46:00.001-05:00

11x14 inches, oil/canvas

When composing a subject with glass, I try to find ways to enhance the special quality of glass which is its transparency. In this case I chose to add juice and a straw. The crazy straw is in homage to my daughter who would not drink anything without a crazy straw when she was younger.

Coming up next is a video describing how to observe and paint glass.

Introduction to Oil Painting

2010-10-19T02:29:00.001-04:00

This is a still life study similar to one done in my introductory oil painting class at the Visual Arts Centre in Montreal. In the accompanying video I focus on simplifying the subject first into basic relationships of light and shadow and then go on to explain how I finish the painting. The goal is to help inexperienced painters understand the thinking process that goes into the making of a painting.

Here is the video:

Since I am never completely satisfied with the way colour gets translated into the video during production, I thought it might be useful to see some of the slides from the process:

Field Study

2010-07-12T18:21:00.000-04:00

oil/canvas, 11x14 inches

This is a quick study done with my Impressionist class last week. The aim of the exercise was to create a tonal gradation in the sky with varying tones of blue and to get the sense of trees and fields with differing tones and hues of green.

Impressionist Painting Tutorial

2010-07-09T09:40:00.000-04:00

Painting is a dynamic relationship between the mind, hand and materials. Words are not a natural part of this process. As a studio instructor, I am always searching for ways to make painting more accessible to people. This is a short video explaining the painting process used to make the painting Mes Deux Macs. I have added a speech to text audio voice (not mine) to briefly explain the different steps. Which do you prefer, a video of this sort or static images with written explanations?

Mes Deux Macs....My Two Macs

2010-07-07T01:31:00.001-04:00

11x 14, oil/canvas

I had to give this painting its title in French because of the double entente. In France, the word Mac is slang for guy or boyfriend. In Quebec the term is chum. The rest is up to you...

Seriously though, sometimes its a good idea to go back to the basics and paint something which is deceivingly simple, like a couple of apples. It can be a humbling experience because they are always a challenge. Here is a detail:

When I was a kid, macs were my favorite apples, in fact they were the only apples I would eat. When my daughter was little, she only ate delicious apples. I wonder where she got that from!

Painting Glass

2010-06-17T11:24:00.000-04:00

There are no special tricks or techniques when it comes to painting a still life other than a good sense of observation. Study your subject and try to focus on important visual elements that characterise it. In the case of glass, it is transparency. The most important thing to keep in mind when painting any subject is to let the work evolve. Here are some process images from my last post that show how the glass bottles came into being.

1. The basic forms are drawn with paint and mineral spirits and colours are blocked in. The focus is on getting the right shapes and tonal relationships.

2. I continue to block in the colour and focus on tonal relationships. The interesting thing about coloured glass is that the cast shadows take on the colours of the subject which they would not do with opaque objects. The shadows are also seen through the subject. This is what creates the sense of transparency.

3. At this point, all of the colours are blocked in and I can start to refine the tonal structure. I will also apply paint in a thicker fashion.

4. The rest of the painting is constant refinement of colour relationships and tonal structure. The background and foreground colours become more contrasted as I start to darken the edges and lighten the centre. The bottles have all of their essential details. All that is left is to strengthen the contrasts of the edges and internal shadows. I consider this to be detail work and it can be very time consuming.

5. The very last detail to be added is the highlight on the bottles. This painting was done wet on wet, which means that I did not wait for the surface to dry before adding more paint. Please feel free to post comments or questions. BMF

He Just Doesn't Get It

2010-06-15T23:11:00.001-04:00

oil/canvas, 10 x 12 inches

There are many reasons to paint the still life which is why I think artists have been drawn to it for such a long time. Personally, I will sometimes paint them for the challenge of trying to depict a specific form, colour or sense of light. Sometimes I go back to them because I get tired of working with photos and I need to work from direct observation. What is fascinating however, is how these inanimate objects take on a life of their own and start to communicate their own raison d'être.

The opposing directions of these two little bottles made me think of an argument or a breakdown in communication. Funny how simple studio props start to personify the ideas that we are trying to express without intentionally starting out that way.

Contact Portrait Project

2010-06-04T14:18:00.000-04:00

Melancholy Smile, oil/canvas, 11x 14 inches

Portrait painting was a great passion when I was in art school and I have often wanted to revisit it. My teaching practice has reopened that doorway and inspired me to try my hand at it again. I have decided to post these images on a different blog. If you are interested you can visit it at Contact Portrait Project.

White Teapot #2

2010-06-02T22:23:00.000-04:00

oil/canvas, 9x12 inches

There are some paintings that just happen, they just paint themselves and then there are those that don't. This one emerged with a bit of reluctance, but it emerged none the less. It is another study in white, this time using the complementary pair of violet and yellow (with a touch of ultramarine and magenta).

White Teapot #1

2010-05-26T01:02:00.003-04:00

oil/canvas 9x12 inches, 2010

White is a fun challenge for a painter. Since white is not a colour, but a value, it can be rendered with any colour. What is important is a good tonal structure. Another great challenge is to paint using a limited palette. I painted this old teapot using just ultramarine blue and orange with white of course and a small touch of yellow. I structured the colour using the concept of warm versus cool.

Here is a detail:

Scherzo in Blue and Green

2010-05-10T14:40:00.001-04:00

This is a study in analogous colours for my Impressionism class. The cool colours and the misty atmosphere seem quite appropriate for the rainy week-end that we have had in Montreal. It is often difficult to completely finish a painting demo when I am teaching a class so I thought it would be interesting to show how the colours and composition evolve when I work in my studio. See the video below.

Still Life: Scherzo in Yellow

2010-05-08T16:46:00.003-04:00

11 x 14'', oil/canvas, 2010

I love to work with yellow. It is the colour that I most associate with light. This is a study using the yellow family of analogous colours. It was done with my Impressionism class.

When I studied art history at University of Toronto, one of my professors described Van Gogh's Sunflowers painting as a mastery of the colour yellow. According to him, yellow was a difficult colour to work with. Does anybody have a particular colour that they find hard to work with?