Adding texture at the ground level

In recent pastel and acrylic lessons, we have been examining how to create texture in our paintings. While there are a variety of visual illusion techniques that can be used in both media, another option is to actually create 3-D texture at the ground or support level.  This technique can be used on both card/paper supports for pastel and on panel/canvas supports for acrylic. First, sketch the main shapes of your design onto your support in light pencil lines so that you can create different textures in different areas (grasses, mountains, water, trees, sky etc.). Use white gesso at its full strength (i.e. undiluted, out of the jar or bucket, not the thinner pourable kind) and a cheap paintbrush of an appropriate size for your size of support. Brush on a small area of gesso at a time, keeping your eventual subject matter in mind in each area: in the sky area, you might stroke on the gesso fairly thinly and in flat horizontal strokes, blending well to avoid obvious texture; in a mountainous area, you might use thick random brushstrokes to indicate tumbled rocks and rough texture; for trees, brush the gesso into shapes resembling the direction and texture of the eventual foliage--you can create quite believable conifer foliage with upward flicks of the brush in a branching pattern. In grassy areas, consider using a wood-graining tool or a stiff comb to pull vertical strokes throughout the area--shorter in the background, longer as you move forward to create depth.  The wood-graining tool can be found in decorating stores--it's a small rubber triangle with different patterns of teeth formed into each of its three sides--wider, finer etc.. Nice to have, but a couple of cheap dollar store hair combs with thick and thin teeth--or even a fork!-- will also work. The trick is to apply the gesso with one hand (your dominant hand) and pull the comb through with your non-dominant hand before the gesso sets up.  This method will create somewhat random, natural-looking grassy texture. Using your dominant hand to do it tends to create more regular, stiff looking textures. Either way, remember to turn your wrist and hand to create strokes at varied angles, not all the same orientation. The thick gesso takes awhile to dry, but this can be sped up with a hairdryer if you are impatient! Don't start painting until it is completely dry in the thickest passages.

Once your textured support is totally dry, you can begin applying the first layer of paint.  Use a thin layer in the darkest value you expect to have in each area first.  In pastel, you can apply a very thin layer of pigment (you'll note that this rough-textured surface sands your pastel down quickly, so use a light pressure and a thin coat), then wash it down with rubbing alcohol or water to stain the surface.  With acrylic, thin this base coat with water and scrub it into the textures with a stiff brush.

Once the first staining layer is down, you can begin layering other colours on top, either brushing them deep into the textures or letting them sit on top of the raised parts. Just as when doing a rubbing of a 3-D object such as a brass rubbing, you'll see the textures emerging as you add layers.  Make use of them to create the illusion (and the actuality) of a three-dimensional object.

This technique is fun and effective, but shouldn't be overdone. Keep the textures subtle and let them work for you to enhance, not overwhelm, your subject.

Here are the two demo paintings I did for these lessons:

Waving Hello and "Goodbye"

While at the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) conference in Albuquerque N.M. in early June, I attended a wonderful hands-on workshop taught by Jeanne Rosier Smith ( http://www.jeannesmithart.com/gallery5.htm), an artist whom I have admired for some time for her fresh, evocative paintings of waves. I was delighted to discover that Jeanne is also an articulate and skilled instructor, and even more pleased to find that, following her demo and directions, I was able to create two lovely pastels of waves myself, this being my first one...

Ever since, I've become obsessed with painting waves in both pastel and acrylic, and am now in the process of trying one in "thread painting" (a technique similar to quilting that substitutes finely cut textiles for paint).  In fact, I've decided to focus my fall solo show at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery (opening Oct 15, 2015) on depictions of water, including lots of waves. Some of them can already be seen at The Landing Gallery in Gibsons Landing, B.C.

Here are some samples so far:

On another note, I will soon be moving my website to another platform. The address will stay the same, but the hope is that it will be cleaner, easier to navigate and manage, and, of course, more attractive!  I'll let you know when the move is coming--stay tuned.

Pastels in the Landing

Three of us enjoyed a wonderfully peaceful but productive time last weekend in the spacious and well-equipped Arts Building in Gibsons Landing. My students Camilla and Valerie each completed two beautiful works, and were indulgent with me as I did a couple of small paintings myself!  The sun shone, the breezes blew, and we were happily and fully engaged in the creative process--heaven! Thanks also to Lauren Hemnes for her administrative help, and Georgina Brandon for inviting me to teach in this location.

Revisiting a painting

Sometimes you finish a painting and you are "okay" with it, but something just isn't...quite...right, but you can't figure out what it is that's bothering you.  Around the Bend (below) was one of those paintings. I did it just before last year's Art Crawl, framed it, and hung it on the gallery wall in the studio.  There it sat, garnering no attention, and as the months went by it irritated me more and more. What the heck was wrong with it?

Then, last week I visited an exhibition by west coast artist Renato Muccillo at the White Rock Art Gallery (http://renatomuccillo.com/home.html) . I was extremely impressed with the works, noting that the subject matter and compositions were similar to my own.  Although I don't aspire to the technical polish evident in Muccillo's pieces, I do think I can learn a lot from his approach. One of the differences I noted  was Muccillo's level of foreground detail, and I came home determined to take another look at my own paintings with this in mind. As a result, I completed The Green Fuse, which includes much more fine detail up front than my usual work.

As I was standing back and contemplating this piece as it neared completion, I happened to glimpse Around the Bend out of the corner of my eye and had a flash of insight...its foreground needed work!  Off the wall and onto the easel it came, and I started in on the foreground details.

And then my husband came in and commented that the perspective on the grass heights was off, so I fixed that.  And then I realized that the focal point was being divided by the presence of the TWO trees (even though the original scene had both trees, it just wasn't working), so down came the evergreen...which then allowed me to notice that the remaining tree needed re-shaping and adjustment of the values to make it more visible against the sky and background trees, using counterchange. (dark against the light sky/lighter against the dark trees behind it).

Ok, it was improving. Then I sat down with a cup of tea to judge my changes, and had the BIG realization.  At some point in the painting's evolution, I had changed the sky from a pale blue to a pale pink--and I had forgotten to change the water surface (reflecting the sky) to match!  Duh!!  Yup, THAT is what had been irritating me all along.  Can't believe I didn't catch the error in my usual final "logic check" (where I check things like angles of reflections, cast shadows etc.)!

So, I abandoned the tea and immediately repainted the water surface.  More noodling with the detail, more fixing of the grass levels. Final check revealed my usual crooked horizon (I often drop slightly as I go from left to right, and have learned to use a T-square to check, as I don't trust my eye).  Ok, fixed that..and I think I am finally satisfied! But the painting has changed so much that it needs a new name: presenting Rosy Dawn. I won't be grieving the loss of Around the Bend, as that painting nearly drove me there!  In the end, however, it was a good lesson. Given enough time, I eventually figure out what the problems are--good idea to give "near-misses" an aging period!

On the Beach: a commissioned painting

Late last summer I was asked to take on a commission painting by a patron who had admired my recent paintings of beach scenes. She requested that I undertake a double figure portrait of her two granddaughters in acrylic. We discussed the approach and style, agreeing that an informal setting such as the beach, and an impressionistic style, would suit both the patron and the subjects. The resulting painting was to be a Christmas gift to the patron's daughter (and her family), so obviously the children knew about it--but would not see the finished work until Christmas. As a result, I spent a very enjoyable hour a few weeks later photographing the young sisters as they interacted with each other and some props I had provided (buckets, umbrellas, beach towels etc.) in the small cove just below their grandparents' house. The sisters (10 and 8 in age) were utterly charming and obviously the best of friends. They interacted imaginatively and naturally with the props, and I just circled them, listening in, watching, and snapping away, as they played. None of the poses were "directed," as I wanted to observe how they related to each other without my intervention. One of the hardest things about commissioned portraits of people with whom you aren't familiar is capturing not only a likeness but the person's character. Long "from life" sessions were not an option here (the girls do not live locally), so I did my best to maximize my photo shoot and got about a hundred shots within the time frame we had available.

I reviewed the photos and selected several that I felt represented the girls' characters and the relationship between them best. One of the shots was a great pose for the older sister, but I liked a pose from a different photo for the younger sister. Happily, both shots were taken from the same angle, within seconds of each other, so I could combine the shots without worrying about a different perspective or light effect. I printed out both photos in black and white on regular printer paper (11 x 14), and then folded, cut,  and adjusted them to fit the selected parts together. Once I was happy with the fit, I sketched a thumbnail to finalize the value pattern and composition. The shots involved both girls holding umbrellas--but the older sister had her parasol over her shoulder while the younger one had creatively up-ended hers to spin it on the surface of the water. I liked this "bookending" design of the two umbrella domes, and positioned them to move the viewer's eye in a circular motion that enclosed both girls. While the girls' faces are indistinct, given the hats, the poses, and the size of the figures, their distinctive postures, expressions, and gestures identify them at once.

Next I gave consideration to the colour scheme of the painting. I wanted it to be light, sparkling, and suited to the youthful subjects  and summer atmosphere. The cove's shallow waters gave me lots of blues, greens, and yellows to play with, and the evergreen trees behind provided a pleasant mid-dark background to the scene. I adjusted the colours of the girls' clothing and the props to provide warm whites and pinks for a feminine and youthful but not saccharine effect.

Once I had transferred my basic composition to the hardboard (which had been cut to size and gessoed in white), I took quite a lot of time to draw the figures accurately on a separate piece of sketch paper, being especially attentive to their relative scale and size. Once I was fully satisfied with them, I transferred them as simplified outlines (using transfer paper) onto the painting board. I sealed the sketch with a thin wash of clear acrylic painting medium, and then toned the board with a warm midtone yellow to impart a feeling of sunlight underneath the whole scene. Next I washed in a few of the large dark areas to establish the composition, using a transparent dark green and some blues and purples, with splashes of orange and yellow to keep some sunlight in the background.

I tackled the figures next, thinking that I needed to ensure that they were going to be successful before spending a lot of time on the rest of the scene. Happily, both figures came together well right from the start, and I was able to maintain a nice transparency in the acrylic paint by limiting the number of layers. I maintained this technique as I moved to painting the water, enjoying the depth and sparkle that resulted from my use of various blues, greens, purples, and golds to depict the ripples surrounding the girls as they played, along with the broken reflections of the pink umbrellas. I completed the work with simple colour/value shapes for the beach, rocks, and background trees, keeping these suggestive only, to avoid competing with the figures that were the obvious subject of the work.

I let the work sit for a week or so, to ensure that I was truly happy with it, but apart from from very small adjustments, I left it alone to maintain its freshness and feeling of spontaneity. Although my patron intended to frame the work herself, I placed the piece into a suitable plein air frame just to show it to best effect when it was presented. My patron and her husband were well pleased with the result, but I had to help keep the finished work secret for some months until it was finally given as a Christmas gift, as planned.  Now that the family has received it (and, I am told, been thrilled by it), I can include it here.

Here is the finished work, which I called Summer Circus (16 x 20)--but which my patron no doubt titles in her own mind with the names of her granddaughters! Completing this commission was a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and I hope to have the opportunity to do more of these figure portraits.