A Relaxing Work Day

"Mather Gorge" 16x20 oil on linen panel

       It is amazing how grateful we feel to be out of single digit and sub single digit temperatures and back to plain old below freezing :-) Those of you in more northern latitudes must think we are pretty wimpy. It is just that we are not accustomed to it and it requires some adjusting of habits. I spend part of everyday out at the barn with my horse and have continued to do so in spite of the cold. I have been calling it "defrosting my horse". Actually Gypsy has been quite comfortable. She has a full winter coat, a warm blanket to wear and a cozy stall out of the wind. She has her exercise in the large indoor arena which is a blessing because the ground is frozen like concrete. So, on such a day I am pleased to come home early have a cup of tea and get to work in the studio!
     
     I realized as I pulled up in front of the house that my shipment of frames had arrived. Perfect timing what with the upcoming exhibits at the Salmagundi Club. In the photo above you can see "Mather Gorge" a plein air piece from August that has just been varnished and ready to be framed. I put on an old movie and got to work. Two more paintings received varnish today and will be framed over the next day or so. I enjoy framing. I can let my mind drift to new paintings or just listen to the movie or music that is playing. In anticipation of the 12x24 inch snow painting I am eager to start I gessoed and toned a panel in preparation. Tomorrow I will do a sketch and then start the painting

     I like the pace I am going at right now. I can be more consistent and less frenetic. I hope I can keep that up!
       I will leave you with a cozy image of one of my dogs dealing with the cold day. He had the right idea!

   

A warm and comfortable Lucky

Sunlit Snow

"Sunlit Snow", 6x8'oil on panel

    Sunlit yesterday but not today! Today I painted "Rain On Snow", another Farmhouse mini that I have not yet photographed thanks to the dark and dreary day. But, back to the brilliant light of yesterday....
     We left the Outer Banks early yesterday morning and it was really hard to leave particularly due to the clear, strong light on the crashing surf at high tide. I should have been painting it, not leaving it. We had an easy drive home which was fortunate because what awaited us back in Virginia was a beautiful afternoon of sunlight shimmering on snow. Hence the inspiration for the painting above.  Besides adding to my mini series (that will draw to a close at the end of this month) this is a good study for a 12x24 inch painting that I will start in the next day or two which will be an extension of this view.  I will post images of that in progress unless I do it all in one session. I am really looking forward to it!

Watercolor study in my Moleskine watercolor sketchbook

       I will leave you with this watercolor study of surf that I painted from the window on Friday. I continue to enjoy finding my way with this medium and love the transparency.
www.jeanschwartzpaintinngs.com

A Beautiful End To "Hercules" On The Outer Banks

 

Hercules Visits the Outer Banks

      This morning we woke up to the sound of pounding surf. Looking out the window we could see there was plenty of the white stuff but happily it was not snow! Foamy white surf was airborn by 40 mile an hour winds. I bundled up and headed down to the beach where I was given quite a sandblasting but lasted long enough to get some good photos. Clearly, I would be painting from a window today. Winter storm Hercules came in hard and fast. I know we have snow waiting for us back in Virginia tomorrow so we will have some shoveling to do after all.

     In the afternoon I painted this study from one of the front windows. The tide was heading out but there was still plenty of action. I will add this one to my 6x8 inch mini series "Surf".You can see others I have done earlier in the year on the Minis page of my website www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com

"January Nor'Easter" 6x8 oil on panel
 

 

December's End Currituck Sound

"December's End Currituck Sound" 8x10 oil on panel

     Here is the completed painting from yesterday. I finished it this morning. This is not turning out to be the plein air vacation I had hoped it would be as there have only been brief periods of sun. The light has been flat and gray most of the time and while soft days like that can be beautiful to paint I have felt uninspired to get out and do so. The cold I am suffering has contributed to that reticence. Instead I have been working from the windows. I took out my mini watercolor set today and just sketched.

     You can see some of the dune peeking between the slats in the deck railing and beyond the dune is the Atlantic. A good portion of the day today has been the white out you see here. The weather reports are calling for a major snow event in the Northeast and the storm has been named Hercules :-(

Ugh! Here in North Carolina it will be a rain event with some flurries but back in Virginia snow is expected. We have decided to wait an extra day before heading home. I have no problem with that at all. On the rare occasions it snows here on the Outer Banks it can be quite beautiful. That would be worth painting. I may paint it whether it occurs or not.

We had some lovely visitors

The First Painting of 2014

In Progress, the first painting of the new year

     I woke up early this morning in the hope of capturing an inspiring sunrise to start off the new year. All was gray so I headed back to bed and hoped the weather would be more promising when I awoke. It was brighter but the light was flat until around 1:00 PM. The sun was out but I couldn't find inspiration on the beach nor the sound. I wanted color. Fortunately I had photographed some spectacular skies after the rain on Sunday so I uploaded some of the best ones, set my iPad next to my easel, did a rough sketch and got to work....

       I have a half box French easel that I keep here at the beach but since I had intended to be out with my pochade box I only brought 6x8 and 8x10 inch panels with me. It was easier to just set the pochade box on a table and use my palette box instead of the smaller one that comes with it. I worked for an hour and a half and stopped when I reached the point you see in the photo above as the skies had become heavy and gray. I needed to turn on some lights and that was going to change the colors. Better to get back into it tomorrow. I want to thicken up the paint a bit as the surface is uninteresting to me as it is.
      By the way, when I work from photos I tend not to work from the best ones. I mean best in the sense of a photo which stands on its own as a finished work.When I do I use fragments of them and combine with fragments from another photo. I do a quick sketch like you see above that serves as a rough road map. When a photo is really good and doesn't need improving I find it hard to see the point of painting it. Copying a painting is boring. To me it is like paint by numbers. When I paint plein air I almost always change things around and edit. When working from photos I think it best to
do the same.

     I thought you might like to see some of the materials I work with. I use water mixable oils rather than traditional oils as they are versatile and free me from solvents. It took me a while to find what works for me as there are vast differences in the various brands. I think the very best is Holbein Aqua Duo. The paints are vibrant, well mixed ( none of the separation that I found with some brands) and they pull like traditional oils. Drying time is almost the same, just slightly faster. If you use water as your medium, which I never do, they will dry more quickly. I only use water to clean my brushes. Cleanup is a breeze with water and Master's brush cleaner. I prefer hog bristle brushes and they have much longer lives with these paints and that cleaner/ conditioner. My mediums are Winsor Newton Artisan thinner and painting medium. I use them just as you would use traditional mediums. The more medium the more shine. You can get some beautiful glazes with the painting medium. If you use water as your medium you will find that the paint dries quite flat and you will have to work before it sets up because it can get gummy. People who complain that these paints feel gooey are most likely using water as the medium.
     In the photo are clear primed linen panels two of which (those lying down) I have toned and have applied another layer of clear primer to. These take the paint beautifully. Sadly, they are being discontinued and these are all I have.

Last Painting for 2013

"Rain In The City", 8x10 oil on panel

      It is New Years Eve and I have just completed this little 8x10 inch painting for the "Black and White" exhibit at the Salmagundi Club in NYC.  I had to take a break from painting in preparation for Christmas but I am not complaining because we had a wonderful time with family and truly enjoyed the holiday! We are now on the Outer Banks of North Carolina to ring in the New Year and I am catching up on painting and look forward to getting out for a little plein air work. First, however, I wanted to paint this scene I had sketched before leaving home. It will accompany the painting from
my last post. When I get home I will upload an image of that one so I can share the completed piece.

     I have commented in the past about how much I enjoy working in black and white. For those of you just starting out I highly recommend this as an excellent exercise in seeing relative values and concentrating on composition. It is easier to do so when you are not making color decisions and mixing paint.
      The painting above is painted on a Panelli Telati panel covered with very fine canvas. Although already gessoed I like to add a thick layer of my own. I let the brush marks show. When dry I toned the entire canvas with a medium gray, about # 5 or 6 on the gray scale. If you don't have one of those you can easily find one at an art supply store or use an app such as "The Artist's Eye".  Sometimes when I tone a canvas I like the color to be even. Other times, as with this painting I like to get a painterly, uneven effect with the under painting and let those brush marks come through as well. I do this when I know I want parts of the under painting to come through. You can see this around the legs of the main figure. This is a particularly useful technique when painting rain and reflections. The
painting was completed in one session yesterday and I did some minor tweaking this morning. I left
my signing brush at home and the paint had set up too rapidly for me to scratch in a signature.  It will have to wait.

     I hope I will have some work worth sharing over the next couple of days. Until then I wish you a very Happy New Year!

ON EXHIBIT:  "The Thumb Box Exhibit" at the Salmagundi Club, 47 5th Ave., NYC www.salmagundi.org
                           "Small Treasures" at American Painting Gallery, MacArthur Blvd., Washington DC
www.classicamericanpainting.com

Getting Ready for the Black and White Show

"24 Hour Cafe", 11x14 oil on panel

       I just finished this small cityscape as a possible entry for the annual, Black and White exhibit at the Salmagundi Club in NYC. This is the most historic show at SCNY and I believe this January will be the 136th. I would like to have two entries ready to submit on January 3rd. Christmas and a trip to the Outer Banks afterward will make that a challenge. This year the Black and White show will be held at the same time as the Annual Members Exhibit which will celebrate the grand opening of the newly renovated Main Gallery. I really want to be a part of that!  This past year we have had to hold exhibits online and some of the smaller shows in the Lower Gallery next door to the restaurant. It will be great to be back upstairs in that wonderful large space. www.salmagundi.org
     This painting which I have titled "24 Hour Cafe" was inspired by buildings here in DC along H Street. I used a lot of artist's license to create a scene that could be in Greenwich Village as easily as in DC. I am heeding the saying " know your audience". Since we have been enjoying our first couple of snows I decided to add that to the scene.

     I have been using my small tabletop easel a lot lately instead of my large one with the work station.  I stand when I use that one working on larger paintings. I am finding that uncomfortable because I tore two muscles in my left thigh and I need to rest my leg a lot. This is a good time to be doing small works! Speaking of which ......The Small Treasures exhibit at American Paintings Gallery is still up and will be until January 26th. The reception on December 7th was very well attended and I am happy to say I sold two paintings that evening. www.classicamericanpaintings.org
Also still on exhibit is The Thumb Box Exhibit at the Salmagundi Club. That too will be up until January. You can catch that one online if you go to the Salmagundi link I gave you above.  The photo
Below was taken at the American Paintings reception for Small Treasures.