1. Successfully sold and completed my first commercial commission to a dental office.

2. Identified my current painting series subject entitled, “Window Within a Window;” Have stayed focused on this theme for the past 6 months.

3. Painted 12 “window” paintings; several others were not successful and found themselves under the sander. Average size was 24×30 and one was 36×48..

4. Attempted and painted 6 small/mini abstract paintings – this was an experiment to see if I could paint small – for my open house in Sept. Also learned a new contemporaty way to display these.

5. Painted one Memory Portrait commission of a black Labrador.

6. Painted 4 large abstract paintings.

7. Kept my website up to date – most of the time!

8. Revised and re-designed my blog ArtfulCatalyst.com

9. Began the process of hiring a VA (virtual assistant) in 2/2012; met the VA I want to hire in Sept.nand started a list of tasks she would do for me.

10. Commented regularly on the FASO newsletter blog.

11. Wrote and posted on my blog 14 times.

12. Ended the year in the BLACK.

13. Had a major Open House in September with an art garage sale included in our garage.

14. Learned how to bead — this is a new hobby – and made several earrings and necklaces.

15. Two paintings exhibited in regional juried show “Water, Water Everywhere!” in Salida, CO.

16. Attended Alyson Stanfields’s Social Media Course in Golden, CO.

17. Designed and started my Fan page on Facebook.

18. Learned how to use PageModo to create a landing page for my Fan Page.

19. Learned how to use Behance to provide a slide show of my paintings on my LinkedIn profile.

20. Learned how to use Hootsuite to learn how to organize tweets on Twitter.

21. Completed my LinkedIn profile page – of course one’s profile is never completed .

22. Two of my abstracts were accepted to be featured in a 2012 abstract e-book.

23. Presented (90-minute) “Painting My Passion: An Artist’s Journey with the Women of the West,” to the Pikes Peak Watercolor Society in October – it was great to get back on stage.

24. Wrote and published a monthly art newsletter every month.

25. Created a 30lb. butterfly for the local Butterfly Project which contributed $1,400.00 to the $40K raised for local school art programs.

26. Attended the large gala event for butterflies (#25) to network.

27. Traveled to Paris – I posted a blog about this trip – and visited 5 major art museums I have never seen!!

28. Stayed in our mountain cabin alone for a month in June-July where my window series gelled and became a reality.

29. Cabin was insulated, consequently, I painted interior walls of 3 rooms.

30. Began writing my color mixing book: “From Mud to Magic: Painting with Color Confidence.” 5 of the 7 chapters are ready for editing.

31. 4 people have volunteered so far to read and edit my book – more are welcome.

32. Continued to challenge myself artistically, particularly with new concept ideas and improving my use of values.

33. Made good connections with fellow artists, especially through A. Stanfield’s class and my open house.

34. Inspired by Birger Sandzen show I attended twice at the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center.

35. Traveled to New Orleans, visited galleries and made a good connection with a gallery owner.

36. Attended IAPS (International Assoc of Pastel Societies) convention in Santa Fe and re-connected with fellow artist/mentor Fred Sommers.

37. My sister (64) died Oct 11th and am helping her adult children process her sudden death.

38. Won the “People’s Choice” award in juried show for “Coming Up for Air;” – what a thrill and honor!

39. Learning about various resources available on the Internet.

40. Learned how to use GoogleDocs, sharing documents, presentations, etc.

41. Began graduate level Social Media on-line course with George Kao in Sept and completed 6 of 8 modules; attended Q&A calls regularly.

42. Began graduate level online course The Webinar Method with George Kao in Nov. and completed 2 of 8 modules; attended Q&A calls regularly.

43. Attended several other short social media webinars throughout the year.

44. Helped mentor 3 artists who contacted me.

45. Attended the Southern Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce in December and will join in 2012.

46. Attended the Pikes Peak Radar Meeting in June to learn about all of the various creative projects in this area and to network.

47. Featured artist on the Pikes Peak Radar website; this resulted from attending above meeting and networking.

48. Gained 125 fans on my Facebook Fan Page within a couple of months.

49. Read “The War of Art.”

50. Perused my art books on a regular basis for inspiration and instruction, such as, 100 Artists of New York, Escher, Chicago, Payne, etc.

51. Designed and marketed my 2012 desk calendar (30 of 50 sold).

52. I think the writing of my book should get another line because of all of the painting exercises I have to create for it.

53. Replaced over 15 plants in my garden that were eaten by the voles during the winter and maintained it all year – gardening keeps me grounded (pun intended!).

54. Painted regularly in my studio – almost daily.

55. Got together 4 times with a fellow artist to paint and critique one another – invaluable.

56. Coaching my 30-something nephew as he battles alcoholism and near homelessness.

57. Fully recovered from double jaw surgery (Aug 2010) around mid-summer.

58. Survived one root canal and 4 new crowns.

59. Braces removed in Feb and hosted a huge party in March to celebrate!

60. Walked my wonder dog 1-3 times weekly.

61. Read several brain candy novels for entertainment.

62. Assisted my husband with his home-based consulting business.

63. Assisted good friend in painting, electrical work and fixing up the interior/exterior of her new home.

64. Wrote the features & benefits of my color mixing webinar to be offered in 2012.

65. Wrote my sales page and course outline for my upcoming color webinar/online course.

66. Researched Santa Fe galleries and spent 2 days exploring these galleries in person.

67. Work accepted in a Long Beach, CA, gallery; this happened via LinkedIn.

68. 3 paintings shipped to Gina MW Gallery in Nov.

69. Identified 4 people I would like to partner with in 2012 to initiate my color mixing course.

70. Through several physical therapy sessions, learned exercises to strengthen my back, stomach and thighs.

71. My nearly twice a month drive to Ft Collins (2.5 hours each way) for dental work and follow-up, ended in October!!

72. Researched several competitors in the color mixing field and reviewed their books and DVD’s.

73. Defined how my color mixing course is different, particularly since it describes HOW to mix color, not just WHAT to do.

74. Learned how to use my new iPhone – argh!

75. Purchased a Flip camera and learned how to operate.

76. Learned how to use the calendar features on my Mac and iPhone.

77. Perused and read 3 major monthly art magazines.

78. Attended art exhibition in the Golden, CO, art center.

79. Designed and purchased bookmarks to be marketing give-aways; I hand them out freely.

80. Kept 7×5 photo album of artworks up to date and carried with me regularly.

81. Began establishing several good friendships who have become supportive in my art endeavors; ended two toxic relationships.

82. An invited artist (5 artists) to participate in abstract show at Palmer Park Art Center.

83. Participated in Kimberly Conrad’s painting group show at Brushstrokes Gallery in Denver.

84. Learned how to use FineArtAmerica.com and uploaded 30 images onto this site.

85. Took Brene Brown’s online course about shame – Ordinary Courage – in July/August.

86. Read biographies of Susan B. Konen and Howard Hughes – inspirational.

87. Took regular photos of my paintings as they evolved and uploaded them for future blogs and resources for me.

88. Met with Philadelphia artist who was visiting in CO, to share ideas, work and stay connected.

89. Attended the Rocky Moutain’s Film Festival in Colorado Springs – fascinating and enlightening.

90. Designed and painted small logo for my color mixing course and began using it in my newsletter.

91. Discovered a new water mixable oil paint, Cobra, and began using a couple of new tubes, particularly their Cad red light since I love using orange as a mixing color.

92. Donated two paintings to the Pikes Peak Humane Society for their auction.

93. Experimented and figured out how to paint the edges of my gallery canvases – this took some time – and wrote a blog with photos about it.

94. Attended the off Broadway production of “West Side Story,” in Denver, but a snowstorm prevented us from visiting the new Still Museum.

95. Submitted a painting monthly to an online juried exhibition.

Approaching this challenge was accompanied by a full range of emotions – from angst to let’s see what happens. First, I realized that writing out 10 at a time was made the task more feasible because 100 was daunting, then I used Alyson Stanfield’s categorizing to help me remember what I did during the year. The first 40-50 rattled off fairly quickly, which really surprised me – pleasantly!! Then I went to my studio and bookcase to spark a few more memories. Lisa’s list was a role model and like her, I decided to include a few personal events. Then I sneaked up to 80 accomplishments, walked the dog, and remembered a few more. 95 was a HUGE surprise and cause for some back slapping.

After the personal (and hubby’s) accolades, I began processing my list – What does it tell me? What is missing? What gives in 2012? How does this coincide with my 2012 goals?

I noticed that 2011 was full of expanding my technical knowledge, getting out there on the Internet, and whole lot more face-to-face networking (in comparison to previous years). At first I was disappointed that I only had 14 blog posts, but then I gave myself a break because I did get all of my monthly newsletters out and I did get fairly far writing my color mixing book. Now I have to decide how I can up my number of blog posts and consistently. Putting all of this in writing is very useful and I will spend more time evaluating it. A special thank you to Lisa Call and Alyson Stanfield!

Are you ready to take on the challenge! I certainly cheer you on! Go ahead, what are your Top 10?

There is a well known art instruction story that bears repeating and goes something like this:  A ceramic professor gave different instructions to two different classes for their semester assignment. Class Y was assigned to present their best pot at the end of the semester while explaining their process and why they thought it was their best. Class Z was told to create as 100 pots during the semester. From those pots they were to make the same presentation as in Class Y.

Which class produced the best and most creative pots? You are correct, it was Class Z. Why? Because of the 10 secrets listed above, but applied to creating with clay.

When I as an associate professor, I presented a similar assignment with a twist. I told the class to pick a favorite simple subject and to paint ten, 9″x12″ watercolor paintings of it. Very few completed all 10 paintings, but the ones that did produced the most interesting and their skills significantly improved. I asked them if they “hit a wall” during the process and they all said, “Yes!” It is important to hit those walls in order to become a better painter, because breaking through these walls forces you to test your creativity and your mettle.

Have you ever painted the same subject 10, 25 or 40 times? What was the result? What did you learn?

Or let’s say you return to your studio having had a great time at the farmer’s market filling up your basket with fresh green peppers, cabbage, kale, green beans and lettuce. These nutritious and gleaming vegetables were hand picked specifically for a still life. Again, the question leaps up about which colors to use to mix your greens.

Do you dread mixing greens? Why do you think greens are so difficult to mix and convey accurately in painting?

In my “From Mud to Magic” color classes, I love to teach how to mix greens. Why? Because students unlock a mental and technical block to mixing green. It is also fun for me to see light bulbs turn on with smiles as the green ‘problem’ disappears.

Where to begin? First, remove ALL of the tubes of green from your palette because you are going to be using a yellow and a blue to mix your greens.

Second, now pick out a very lemon yellow tube of paint. This could be cadmium yellow light or aureolin or hansa yellow or simply lemon yellow. It is important that it is the one yellow you have that appears almost greenish. The other way to determine the correct yellow is to NOT choose a yellow with any orange or red in it, such as cadmium yellow.

Cool or green yellow sample

Third, for your blue, choose a blue with a lot of  green in it or a cool blue. This could be Prussian blue, thalo blue or Winsor blue. You do NOT want to choose a blue with red in it, such as French ultramarine blue. Another characteristic of your green-blue, is that it must be of a dark value. Hence, cerulean blue would not be a good choice because it does not create a dark value.

Cool or green blue sample

Fourth action is to begin mixing the yellow and blue in various ratios. In other words, add a little blue to a larger quantity of yellow, then add more blue, etc. Then mix an equal amount of yellow and blue to find the middle green. Below is an example if a green scale I mixed.

Yellow (cool) and blue (cool) make spring greens.

Why do you think the greens you have mixed are so bright and spring-like? When you mix a green-yellow with a green-blue you will notice that neither pigment is contaminated with red. Since red is the color complement/opposite of green, the lack of it creates a bright spring-like green. If you mix a green with a blue or yellow with some red in the pigment, the green will be dulled.

Now, how do you use these same two tubes of paint to generate warmer greens for your painting? Take out your orange tube of paint, such as cadmium red light or cadmium orange. Now mix a little of this orange with your original mixtures of greens. Below is an example of the greens I created after mixing a little orange. Aren’t they nice warm greens? Notice that using a blue with a dark value allows you to mix dark greens. Can you begin to see why you do not need tubes of greens in your palette?

First mixtures of greens mixed with an orange. (clidk to enlarge)

To warm your original greens up even more, try mixing them with burnt sienna.

First mixtures of greens mixed with burnt sienna. (click to enlarge)

Do you see how easy this is to do?

Here is an example of a green chart I created just using FOUR tubes of paint. I call them green chromatic scales because the steps in the color changes remind me of musical scales. Let’s see you paint one using your own pigments. Enjoy!

Green chart showing mixtures using only 4 tubes of paint.

]]> http://www.artfulcatalyst.com/can-you-mix-a-full-range-of-greens-with-4-tubes-of-paint-color-mixing-art-tips/feed/ 2 http://www.artfulcatalyst.com/how-do-you-paint-your-canvas-edges-a-step-by-step-process/ http://www.artfulcatalyst.com/how-do-you-paint-your-canvas-edges-a-step-by-step-process/#comments Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:00:05 +0000 carolmac2 http://www.artfulcatalyst.com/?p=1003 Have you noticed the increased popularity of wrapped canvases during the past couple of years? Though the deeper canvases, commonly called gallery wrapped canvases, are slightly more expensive for the artist, they do save us the expense of a frame. Also, as the styles of painting trend toward more abstract, mixed media and contemporary, the gallery wrapped – sometimes called ‘gallery wrap’ – canvas conveys a more modern design that works well.

During the past year, I have learned that the expense is less, however, the time involved in ‘framing’ these canvases is no less than that of presenting the painting in a conventional frame. As I have wandered through galleries inspecting the painted edges of numerous paintings, I have been quite surprised by the wide range of care – from poor to exquisite – artists have taken in painting the edges of their gallery wrapped canvases.

Edges are painted a gray after 1 layer of gesso (click to enlarge)

After some  unsatisfactory research, I embarked on my own trial and error journey to figure out how to achieve the quality of presentation I wanted.  Because I do not like the manufactured texture of canvas, I gesso my canvases. After I applied the first layer of gesso with a brush and it has dried, I then paint the edges and overlap the front of the canvas with an acrylic middle-gray paint. See photo above. By the way, this middle gray makes it easier to paint the final color of the edges after the painting is finished, be it darker or lighter.

Drawing guide for tape (click to enlarge)

For this particular canvas, I wanted the edge to literally ‘frame’ the painting, so I wanted the gray to overlap the edge about 3/8th of an inch. To give my eye a guide, I drew a pencil line 5/16th of an inch from the edge using a favorite matting tool I have. See photo above. Why is the space wider than my desired 3/8th? Pencil lines do not always erase easily, so I wanted the line to get covered up with the next layer of gesso.

Here I am applying the tape. (click to enlarge)

Slowly, I apply the tape – a thin tape made by Nichiban – just inside of the pencil line. Once I know it is nice and straight, I rub the tape down several times to make sure it has a good grip on the painted canvas.

The canvas taped. (click to enlarge)

To protect the outer edges from extraneous paint and finger prints, I tape it with a wider tape. I am sure masking tape would work for this task, but I forgot about using it. When the painting is about completed, all of this tape needs to be removed and I don’t want the tape to take off any of the gray paint; this is why I use an artist tape or low tack tape.

Light layer of gesso applied where tape meets canvas. (click to enlarge)

To assure that no gesso or paint sneaks up under the tape, I apply a light layer of gesso where the tape meets the painted canvas. You could think of this as being a sealer. Once this dies, which does not take long, I then apply at least two layers of more gesso with large palette knives. These layers of gesso are due to my personal preference to create an organic texture and because I do not like to paint on the texture of canvas. Otherwise, if you do not want more gesso applied, proceed to paint!

Gessoed canvas ready for paint! (click to enlarge)

By the way, I have used this process for both wrapped canvases and deep panel boards.

Slowly and carefully remove the tape (click to enlarge)

Once you reach the stage when you think it is a good time to remove the tape, do so v-e-r-y slowly and carefully, because you do not want to rip the tape or paint. I prefer to do this when the paint is dry. As you can see above, a tiny white edge may appear between the painting and the painted edge. It is up to the artist to decide whether he/she wants to do deal with this  line. My line is more evident because of the layers of paint I apply. An added feature with my work, is that the painted ‘frame’ is a different texture from my painting and creates a soft contrast.

Now, I must determine if this middle gray is appropriate for my painting. In this example, it is. I will then go around the edges to do any necessary touch-up.

This step-by-step process of painting the edges of your wrapped canvases will work if you only want to paint the sides of your canvas and not overlap onto the painting surface.

How do you paint the edges of your canvases? Do you take the image around the edges?

Despite those that prefer to live on the side of “I don’t think when mixing colors, I let my intuition decide my colors in a painting,” I believe that language or WORDS are important in understanding color and how to mix colors. Just as Eliza learned how words impacted her life.

The four most important color words are: Hue, Value, Chroma and Placement.

1. Hue distinguishes one color family from another. In terms of hue, we describe color as red, orange, yellow, green, blue or purple, etc.

2. Value is the lightness or darkness of any color. In terms of value, we describe all colors as light, medium or dark.  For example, pink has a lighter value than a rose red. Some artists use the word ‘tone,’ which means the same thing as value.

Value is often spoken in terms of a scale and you will hear artists state, “I sketch using 4 values.” Or, instructors will talk about a 0 to 9 value scale or 0 to 7 scale etc. Values provide contrast or no contrast in a painting, and they help set the mood of a painting.

In the chart, you can see a sample of the gray scale on the far left, followed by value scales of major colors. Note that a few colors do not become dark. For example, yellow and orange cannot be dark in value, they can only become duller.

3. Chroma is the brightness or dullness of a color. There are two other words that artists use to convey the same meaning: they are saturation and intensity. Each word conveys how pure or how dull a color is. For example, the yellow of a blooming sunflower would be considered highly saturated whereas the yellow of a natural sponge would be de-saturated. The blue on a sunny day in the southwest would be bright, whereas the blue in jeans is not intense.

You will artists refer to colors as being de-saturated or low in intensity or low in chroma. It is important that you use the word that is easiest for you to remember that colors reside on a continuum from bright to dull.

The example above shows a bright green next to a dull green.

4. Placement is how a color is impacted by the color next to it. Its neighbor influences how we see that color, hence we need to be aware of where we place a color within our paintings.

It is a bit difficult to see on the computer, but the same blue has been painted in this example. It  looks more reddish blue when it is surrounded by pink-purple and it looks more greenish blue when surrounded by lime green.

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There are many more color terms, but I don’t want you yelling like Eliza Doolittle quite yet!

Remembering and using these four words will facilitate your ability to communicate about your artwork, particularly in a critique or learning situation. At first these four important words may seem easy to comprehend, but in reality it takes several paintings to begin to fully understand how well you do understand and implement their meanings.

What other color words do you know?

1. Underpainting for "Crenulated." (click to enlarge)

1.  Before I applied paint, I had textured my 24×30 canvas with gesso. I used a large palette knife – about 8″ x 1″ – and applied 3 layers allowing each layer to dry.

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2. With a palette knife, I began texturing the old stone blocks. (click to enlarge)

2.  Since I knew that I needed some dark crevices in the old stones, I added dark colors with my palette knife first. The circular shapes were created by applying paint to bubble wrap which I then pressed onto the canvas. I felt I needed some different textures in those areas. I call this the toddler period as I have lots of questions spinning in my head because there are many artistic decisions yet to be made. This kind of problem solving revs my engine.

3. Stones are softened and background begins. (click to enlarge)

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3.  At this stage I began toning down the darker values as well as the round shapes. I am not sure I like the round shapes.

The wood beam was also toned down and I am wondering what I might paint above it.

4. Window content added. (click to enlarge)

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4.  I finally decided upon the landscape to paint within the window. Because this wall was inspired by a visit to southern France, a castle scene seemed appropriate.

Note that I have begun to add stones above the wooden beam and I could not resist putting that one stone out on the tip.

5. Second window added. (click to enlarge)

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5.  Those implied stone steps going down to the right now lead to an old castle window. Why? Oh, for a little humor and to entice the viewer to ask more questions. From a composition stand point, the larger window needed something from which to balance it.

6. Background if more fully developed. (click to enlarge)

6.  Glazing various colors like stained glass, serve to develop the background. I like the other ‘window’ created in the beam and add clouds up above it. This creates more depth in the painting.

You may not be able to see it, but I had to move the castle from being smack in the middle of the hill in the landscape.

I gradated colors at this stage. With various layers of paint, I made the bottom corners darker while lightening the values toward the larger window. The upper part of the painting has fewer layers.

7.  What questions does this painting generate for you? “Crenulated,” is complete and the what in the heck does crenulated mean? Click here to find out. I love painting my window concept series because windows tend to ask questions.

What additional  questions do you have about my painting process? Please  send me a message/question or comment. I love receiving feedback.

7. "Crenulated" completed! 24x30x2 (click to enlarge)

This sign is posted in my studio.

As a reminder, this sign is posted on my studio wall visible just beyond my easel; it has been there for months.  Then several weeks ago, a friend of my husband’s walked in an wanted to know what it meant – what did yelling have to do with art?  Ever since then, Bob has been checking on my paintings to see if my “50 foot voice” is evident – which I think is pretty cool and I need that kind of support.  Since Bob is a regular contributor to my monthly newsletter, read past newsletters by clicking here, he decided to write about it in his article for the month of July.  I have copied it below.

Where is Your Fifty-Foot Voice? by Bob North, Husband of the Artist
“There is a sign in Carol’s studio that says “where is your fifty foot voice?”  No, she’s not practicing for American Idol, and this doesn’t mean vocal projection or being heard at the back of the lecture hall.

It’s all about the visual dimension, creating art that grabs your attention and starts speaking to the heart and the mind even before you can see the brushstrokes on the canvas.  At a distance, a painting is the sum of all the individual parts the human eye can’t resolve.  How does the artist create this sense of voice at a distance?  Carol’s recent use of the “window” – creating a sense of multiple paintings on one canvas – is one way.

The window creates an immediate sense of intrigue and mystery that asks you questions. What’s going on in the painting? How are the windowed segments related to the rest of the composition?  Color is another means of getting your attention across the room.  It’s not just bright and vibrant hues, but combinations, contrasts and color harmony.  You see much of this in her featured painting here, Breaking Free!.

"Breaking Free!" - 24x30 oil on board (click for larger view)

Finally, it’s a sense of depth that can compel you to walk up to the painting and see where a path leads.  That also happens with Breaking Free! when I want to go peek out that window at the landscape to catch a glimpse of who escaped. Oops! You may interpret the painting differently..?  We’ll see a lot more of this effect in Carol’s work soon and I will be making sure her 50 foot voice continues to show up.”

Do you ever look at your work and ask yourself this question? Or how about, what am I trying to say? Why am I trying to say it?

Artist Interpretation of the CO Hairstreak Butterfly (click to enlarge)

What is Your State Insect? Is it the mosquito? The cockroach? Or perhaps the cricket?

Did you even know that states had designated insects? Most of us know about the State bird, animal and flower, but an insect? In fact, 41 states honor an insect. For example the Alaskan State Insect is the 4-Spotted Skinner Dragonfly, Delaware’s is the 7-spotted lady bug and several, including Minnesota, list the Monarch butterfly as their State Insect.

Two years ago, some of you may remember, I volunteered in a community wide arts fund-raising program sponsored by the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs and the local arts organization Imagination Celebration – this is their fourth year.  This year 30 artists were chosen to paint on large metal butterflies that are ultimately stationed throughout the area during the summer. They are then auctioned at a marvelous event on Sept. 17th at the upscale Cheyenne Mountain Resort of Colorado Springs. The proceeds fund various arts programs for children in an attempt to help make-up for school budget cuts in the arts. In 2009 we raised over $40,000!

When I decided to apply to paint a butterfly, I started by looking up butterflies native to Colorado. Lo and behold I discovered we had a State Insect and it is the Colorado Hairstreak Butterfly. My research ended quickly, particularly after I read that efforts for Colorado to even have a State Insect was due almost entirely to 4th graders led by Melinda Terry, a Wheeling Elementary teacher in Aurora. Way to go kids!

Large Metal Butterfly on Colo. Ave

Recently, the 32 butterflies were placed all around the city. Mine is in Old Colorado City on Colorado Avenue between 25th and 26th Streets on the north side; it is near the Dat’s Italian! restaurant and the Hunter-Wolff Art Gallery. Stop by if you are in the area! (If you look real close, you can see Pikes Peak in the background of my photograph.)

To check out the other artists, their butterflies and locations, click here. Should there be a contest to see how many people visit every butterfly??

PS I want to mention that the Rotary Club and Imagination Celebration have treated the artists very well, which is one of the main reasons that I participate. We are given a stipend for materials, they host a separate reception for all of the artists, we can attend the auction at no charge and we receive 10% of the auction price. It is refreshing to be a part of an event that is gratifying and the artists are recognized.

"Ascend" - 20x15 oil (click to enlarge)

Do purple and orange mix together well? Don’t they make mud? Why would I mix or layer these two colors?

Living in the land of red rocks  – the Garden of the Gods – and awe striking outcroppings all over the region, I feel challenged to paint these marvels. They shoot up out of the ground showing off their shapes, shadows, colors and size, tantalizing us all. It is almost a Grand Canyon in reverse.

So how do we artists paint these rocks with the beauty that they deserve? The terra cotta reds and oranges are more of a challenge to mix and convey versus the greens of trees or blues of the sky, and then there are the cast shadows to capture.

As most of us know, orange and purple are secondaries on the color wheel – the primaries of red and yellow make orange, and the primaries blue and red make purple, but most artists do not know that orange and purple mix into a lovely burnt sienna. When I started to paint “Ascend,” I did not want to use the more typical blue for my shadows because blue greys the orange and makes the orange dull versus vibrant.

Underpainting for "Ascend"

This second image (step 1) shows the first layer of paint, or underpainting, for “Ascend.” It was a warm, sunny afternoon, with the sun light coming from the right and fairly high. My sunny skies are always underpainted with a warm color – yellow, salmon or pink – and the sun is slightly cooler when it is mid-day, so I used a pale yellow.

Notice that the shadow shapes are either a cool blue purple or a warm red purple. The darker valued shadows are painted using a blue purple. All of the sunlight shapes are either yellow or orange.

A detour for a moment: I had never painted a tall rock from this perspective and I wanted to take on that challenge as well. It was important that the drawing accurately convey that the viewer is looking up into the sky.

Step two of "Ascend" (click to enlarge)

Here (step 2) you can see that I have started to paint using local colors; I have gradated the sky and started to paint the rocks. In the shadows in the lower part of the outcropping, I have added a blue purple. The dark blue purple shadow color in the higher part of the rock are layered with orange. Notice the rich burnt sienna-like colors I get. To me, this is more appealing than using an ultramarine blue. And if you look real close, you can see that I added a ‘hat’ to the outcropping because I wanted the outcropping to project further up into the sky.

Would you have stopped painting at this point? Some artists might have.

Step three of "Ascend" (click to enlarge)

At this stage (step 3) of the painting, I am beginning to model the rock, define the cast shadows and deciding how I am going to paint the highlights.

This composition is a bit tricky because my focal area is top of the outcropping where the warmest colors are. How to I give the viewer the feeling that it is very high up in the sky and yet use warm orange which tends to make the subject come forward in a painting?

Another challenge is that this outcropping has two ‘layers’ of colors. The top third is orange while the lower two-thirds is a white sand.

Step four of "Ascend" (click to enlarge)

I decided to darken the sky (step 4)  and make the gradation of it more dramatic; this I believe helps to give the feeling that you are looking up. The darker sky is also more purple, though it is not evident in this digital image, which harmonizes the colors in painting.

Some aqua blues are added to the white areas in the lower part of the outcropping. Again, this is for color harmony.

Also, I am having to take notice of the lines my shadows and rock shapes are making; their direction  assists in the perspective I want to achieve. The white part of the outcropping is forcing me to  use several light valued colors, which is fun to do.

Does this painting need clouds? I am not sure. There were wispy clouds that day.

"Ascend" completed painting (click to enlarge)

To finish the painting (step 5), I softened many of the edges, particularly the left side of the outcropping and the lower right. Why? Because I want you to focus most of your attention to the upper part of the rock.

What do you think of the clouds? My local critic – my hubby – thought the painting needed clouds. What do you think they add or do they detract?

For a little more color and drama, I added a line of light orange on the edge of the shadows; this is the first time I have tried this technique. You can see that the highlighted edges of the upper part of the outcropping are more yellow, whereas I allowed more pure whites in the middle.

There is not an ounce of ultramarine or cobalt blue anywhere in the outcropping. Have I convinced you to try out your purples with orange subjects?

"Patches"-14x11 oil with brush (click to enlarge)

My preferred tool is the palette knife because I like the physicality of it, the ease of cleaning it and the textures I can achieve with it. Brushes are my secondary tool (and I hate cleaning them!).  Michelle used a 3/4″ filbert brush for her demo on a small canvas – approximately 16×8.  Since our approaches are quite different, why did I want to watch Torrez paint?

Viewing how another artist paints has always been fascinating to me. I believe, Differences are what makes the world goes around, and I like to experience another perspective. There is always something to gain and life long learning is one of my values.

As a result of watching Torrez hold onto her brush at the very end of the brush and essentially dance across the canvas, I thought I should give it the old college try. Just as my ease of using the palette knife is due to painting only with the knife for an entire year (no brushes allowed!), I know I cannot pick up the brush and paint as Michelle paints. She is efficient with her tool much as a concert pianist moves her fingers up and down the key board.

I decided to try painting a portrait of Patches, a dog owned by a friend of ours. Granted the dog is not moving – I need photos of dogs running, jumping, toy in mouth, different angles, etc. – I figured it was a place to start.  It was important that I keep my hand off of my palette knife the entire time.

Below I show the painting stages of Patches:

Drawing of Patches on canvas

1. This is the drawing on a 14×11 canvas – which was not textured with gesso and I do that on almost all of my canvases. I used a pastel pencil.

I decided to paint a frame around Patches to give it a more contemporary design. There is no plan at this stage as to how well this will work or not; these are the kinds of challenges I like to present to myself.

First layer of paint

2. Here is the first layer of paint. Yellow was applied in most of the highlighted areas because it is a warm color. It is also a good base for the butterscotch hair color. Also, Patches’ dog tag is bright yellow and I knew I had to incorporate this color in the painting. Purples were used because they are the opposite of yellow on the color wheel. I wanted to get the darkest darks – purple – painted at this stage.

I have been diligent in using a brush, but I am finding it difficult to hold it at the very end.

You can see that I am experimenting with the color of the frame. As I started painting the frame, I decided that it would be fun to have some of Patches hair flow over the edge of the bottom. Who would’ve thought?

Second layer of paint

3. Because Patches is basically a light colored dog, I painted the immediate background a dark warm purple to make her pop. The entire eyeball is painted black and this is the ONLY place I use black in a painting. I much prefer to mix my blacks because those are richer colors.

Unlike Michelle, I am not able to use only one large brush on this small canvas. It will take practice and I think if I had a moving subject to paint, my strokes would be more gestural.

Patches still looks a little scary at this point! By the way, she is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Making Patches feel more 3-D

4. In all of my pet portraits, I want you feel like you could go in and pet the animal, hence I want it to be as three-dimensional as possible. You can see various colors of “white” to give Patches a round head, nose, etc. I am staying away from the eyes because that is dessert for me!

The frame is a mix of many of the colors I have been using in my palette, but staying a mid-gray. I cannot seem to get an much paint on my brush as Torrez does. Hmmmm, what to do?

Patches eyes painted - I love painting a dog's eyes

5. Patches’ eyes are nearly finished. Eyes to me are like marbles and that is what I think of as I paint them.

I am trying to incorporate many different colors into Patches’ hair. Note that the shadows are a pale blue-purple versus a boring gray.

The yellow tag is bugging me because it is standing out too much even though I have softened the edges.  I need to integrate more yellow into the rest of the painting.

One of the key techniques I learned from Michelle, was watching her use hard and soft edges throughout her painting. I see that there are some edges I want to soften; this will also make Patches seem softer and more real because dogs are soft!

"Patches" finished and ready to be signed. (click to enlarge)

“Patches” is completed. The frame has more painterly strokes and I incorporated more colors in it as well as in her hair. Doesn’t the frame also have a ‘patchy’ look? Yellow is integrated throughout but that is difficult to see in this digital image. I was going to paint cast shadows of Patches’ hair hanging over the frame, but decided that that was not necessary.

The finished product is not a Michelle Torrez – and I don’t want it to be – but I enjoyed the process and learned a lot.

Now I need to find out what Patches’ mom, Pat, thinks of the painting and if Patches needs any tweaks.  She does not know that I am immortalizing her beloved pet.

Stay tuned…