Glazing and scumbling

 

Before: wet on wet painting with dark clouds and graded sky

After: glazing to strengthen the sky colors, and darken the bottom of the clouds, and scumbling to lighten the clouds

In the Deborah Paris Painted Sky class we are learning the indirect painting techniques of glazing and scumbling. Usually I paint in a direct manner, i.e., wet-on-wet, also called a la prima. This is the most common approach to plein air painting. In indirect painting, multiple layers of paint are used. When some of the layers are transparent or semi-transparent, you can get some wonderful effects. Here's a post by Deborah that explains how it works.

Glazing uses transparent paint layers. Scumbling is similar, but a little white or light value color is added to the glaze. Glazing darkens the existing surface, scumbling lightens it. I'm finding it very difficult to take realistic before and after pictures of this, believe me, the pink in the bottom painting is darker than that in the top painting! And, I think I'm doing the glazing properly, but my scumbling needs work.

Stratus Clouds

 Stratus Clouds

5"x7" oil on linen panel

Value study for Stratus Clouds

This is my final study of cloud types for the Painted Sky class. On to glazing and scumbling next.

Ocean Hues

Ocean Hues 

18"x18" acrylic on canvas

Sold

I'm showing a painting today that I did a couple of months ago but never posted. It's part of an exploration of abstraction using acrylics, rags, and a knife. The idea of using these tools for acrylic abstracts came from Leslie Saeta, when I took her palette knife painting workshop in March. See Leslie's beautiful abstracts here.

In preparing "Ocean Hues" for the buyer, I learned a bit about varnishing acrylics, which I'd like to share. I generally varnish my oil paintings, either using an archival varinish applied with a brush (Winsor Newton Conserv-Art Gloss Varnish), if the painting has been dry for months, or a spray retouch varnish (Blair Retouch Spray Varnish), if the painting is just dry to the touch. The reason for this is as much to even out the gloss as it is to protect the painting. I plan to also try Gamvar (Gamblin) for both of these uses. 

It turns out that varnishing acrylics is even more important than varnishing an oil painting. In addition to the need to even out the gloss and protect the painting, acrylic paint attracts dirt, and varnish can protect from this. I took a look at several websites (references below) and realized it could be a pretty complicated process. I read about isolation layers, and the need to practice varnishing techniques before using them on a painting. I tried an isolation layer of Golden Regular Gloss Medium (2 coats), brushed on. Once dry, I applied Golden MSA spray, because I thought the UV protection would be useful in the environment where the painting would be going. My mistake was in buying gloss MSA spray. The result was a painting that was so shiny it looked like there was a piece of glass in front of it! Fortunately I wasn't practicing on the already sold painting.

At this point Leslie recommended Bob Burridge's approach (see last reference below), which is to brush on Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish (satin). It's very easy to use, since it's water based. The only tricky bit, is to not over brush. Meaning, don't go back over what you've already brushed on, even a few minutes later. I learned this the hard way. The good news is that the final coat is what matters, in terms of sheen, so if you mess it up, just put on another coat. I was also able to fix the test painting that was too shiny, by adding a few coats of the Minwax. Thank you, Leslie!

References:

http://willkempartschool.com/how-you-can-charge-more-for-a-varnished-painting/

    Referenced in the above:

      http://www.goldenpaints.com/technicalinfo_varnapp

      http://willkempartschool.com/adding-an-isolation-coat-to-an-acrylic-painting/

http://www.robertburridge.com/Weekly_BobBlast/Issue_46/VarnishHandout2013.pdf

Cumulus Clouds

Cumulus Clouds

5"x7" oil on linen panel

After laying in the graded sky

Cumulus value study

Back to clouds again. Deborah suggested that the sky values could have been graded more (lighter at the bottom). I agree.

Islands

Islands
8"x10" pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

This may seem strange, but despite the tonalist approach to skies that I'm currently studying, I really love color and abstraction. So here's a little escape into that world, loosely based on an oil painting of the islands in Maquoit Bay.

Cirrus Clouds

Cirrus Cloud Study

5"x7" oil on linen panel
click here for purchase information

Value Study for Cirrus Clouds

5"x7" oil on linen panel

In the second lesson in the Painted Sky class with Deborah Paris, we are observing and painting clouds. Most of my observations for the workshop are clouds over water or over the shore at the water's edge. I started with the cirrus, which are usually easy to find in the summer on the Maine coast. We begin with a value study using a mid tone paper, charcoal and white-ish pastel, followed by the painting using the value study as a reference. Note the color gradation in the painting, not visible in the value study.

Plein Air Exercises

Exercises from the Tidewater plein air class

I'm loving teaching plein air at Tidewater Farm in Falmouth, Maine. We've got a great group, and it's fun putting together exercises to help them get to the next level. Ten minute paintings are a good warm up (top left and right), and a four value under painting is a great foundation for color (bottom left). Examples of mixing browns (bottom right).

 Enjoying the cool under the shady white pine tree

Thanks to Carol Marine for introducing me to 10 minute paintings, and to Marc Hanson for the color over values exercise.

The Cloudless Sky

 

Before Sunrise (about 60 degrees north of where the sun will rise)

8"x6" oil on Raymar panel

 

Sky from Maynard Dixon

7"x5" oil on linen panel

Another Sky from Maynard Dixon

5"x7" oil on linen panel

 Yet another sky from Maynard Dixon

5"x7" oil on linen panel

Have you ever taken a painting class online? I've taken quite a few art marketing and business classes that way, but The Painted Sky from Deborah Paris' Landscape Atelier is the first class I've taken online where we actually paint. It's hard work, but well worth it.

These are some of my studies from the first lesson, which was on gradations in the cloudless sky. Note that some of them are graded top to bottom and some include a side to side gradation related to the location of the sun. The top painting is from my own observations just before sunrise in Seal Bay on Vinalhaven. Deborah suggested a little more blending on that one. The others are from paintings by Maynard Dixon, where I copied only the sky. You'd be surprised how gray these skies are compared to out-of-the-tube paints mixed with white (my pre-class approach).

Little Red Truck

Little Red Truck

oil on Canvapaper

~7"x8"

It's lovely to paint boats in the harbor in Yarmouth, Maine. But on a hot afternoon, finding a place to stand in the shade becomes a priority, even if it means looking in the other direction. And a lobsterman's red pickup makes a good subject too!

It's September tomorrow, and time for another 30 paintings in 30 days. Thanks to Leslie Saeta, who once again has signed up hundreds of artists to participate in this fun event. Take a look at Leslie's blog each evening to see all the paintings.

A Visit to Castine

Castine Class

9"x12" oil

Sold

Castine Style

8"x10"

Sold

Visiting Castine, Maine, as part of their plein air festival is a real treat. It's a lovely town, with lots of sea captain's houses, a busy waterfront, boats, coves and bays, Maine Maritime, and a lot of natural beauty. This year, I was pleased with the reception of my paintings above, showcasing the Castine Class sailboats, of which there are many at the local yacht club. As I sat and worked on my paintings, people stopped by and gave me all sorts of interesting detail about the history of the boats. They were designed by Mace Eaton, grandfather of Kenny Eaton, who runs Eaton's Marine on the harbor. As you can see, they're quite stylish!

Dyce Head Lighthouse is also pretty stylish. This is a view from the ocean side, but it's also very paintable from the street side, and there are usually several painters there every day during the festival.

Let's Go Boating
(view from the Maine Maritime waterfront towards Camden)
6"x12" oil

Available here

 

Wadsworth Cove is one of my favorite places at the festival, and I'm not alone in that. There's always a nice breeze in the cove, even if it's hot in town. Above is a view of a visiting sailboat, the northern tip of Isleboro, and the western shore seen from the cove.

Seaside Garden 

9"x12" oil

Available at Yarmouth Frame and Gallery

Above is view from a backyard on the cove. Another nice thing about the festival is that the artists are hosted by local families. I've been fortunate enough to stay at the cove both of the last two years.

There's a lot to do in Castine in addition to the plein air festival. We enjoyed sea kayaking with a superb teacher from Castine Kayak and a tour of the Maine Maritime training ship, the State of Maine. The rich history of the area can be followed from numerous historical markers, pre-revolutionary war historic sites, and a visit to the town museum. Castine is also home of one of the marvelous Schoodic Sculptures, located on the museum grounds. Lodging is a treat with three highly rated and historic inns that serve wonderful food.

Each year the Castine Plein Air Festival is held Thursday through Saturday of the third weekend in July. With 40 juried artists from the US and Canada turning in 6 paintings each, there is a lovely range of mediums and styles. It's a great place to visit for collectors, with several art galleries in addition to the art available at the festival; Adam Gallery,  Gallery B, and Lucky Hill, showing the work of Josh Adam, Susan Parish Adam, Dan Graziano, and other local artists. And if you're a painter, this is a festival to consider participating in.