Two New Sedona Paintings

I tried a new palette with these two. I really like it a lot. The colors seem to be less muddy looking. The shadowed sides of the rocks, especially. Less brown, more violets.

-Zinc/Titanium White mix
-Cadmium Lemon (I have been using this color very sparingly in my mixes. I use it in some of the foreground green mixtures, as well as a very small amount in some of the areas of the rocks that are in sunlight).
-Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna (sometimes I will have both on my palette, sometimes just one or the other).
-Quinacridone Rose (This has affected my mixing the most, I think).
-Venetian Red (I use this color for convenience more than anything else, i suppose. I could easily mix it from the others. Perhaps I will go without it on the next painting, and see what kind of a difference that makes).
-French Ultramarine

"Silver Lining" 11x12

I've noticed that a lot of my landscapes have a lack of clouds and back-lit subjects. These two landscapes combine both of those. I enjoyed working on them. I think the clouds add a lot more interest to the piece. I think it helps accentuate the brightness of the sun.

"Standing Sentinel" 12x12

I used my palette knife to create most of the grassy texture in the foreground of Standing Sentinel. I'm pretty happy with the result. Grass is something that I find difficult at times. It can be hard to create interest in such a flat, bland area. I found that by using a brush to block in some darker shades first, I could go in with the palette knife to place the highlights and scratch through to the underpainting (The underpainting was a wash of Raw Sienna and Venetian Red over a white gesso. Warm and yellow-orange near the bottom, and more red near the top).

Sedona Plein Air Trip

I took a quick 3 day trip to Sedona last week. I was able to finally test out my Guerrilla painting box. It worked very well, and I'm happy with my purchase. It held the panels snugly when closed, so they didn't shift around or smear.

I believe this was one of the Thunder Mountain hiking trails. I also did some painting on one of the Schnebly Hill trails the next day. It was a good time. Though I did find out the hard way that I need to invest in an umbrella, a hat, and sunscreen.

Three new paintings

It's been a while since I've updated this. I've still been painting, though. Here's what I've been working on...

I posted some WIP shots of this painting a while back. I'm pretty happy with how the rocks came out in this one. I like the atmospheric perspective on the mountains in the background. The smaller pieces of rock (which are actually quite massive up close) near the base of the mountain can be tricky to paint with minimal brush strokes. For me, it's a matter of finding the fewest brushstrokes needed to give the impression of detail. It's something I am always learning.

This next one is the other side of the Superstitions. The foreground was good practice. I think that's one thing I need to work on the most right now.

Palette:
Cremnitz
Naples Yellow
Yellow Ochre
Cadmium Red
Burnt Sienna
Green Earth
Ultramarine

And finally we have a view of Canyon Lake in the afternoon, finished this morning.

In this painting I expanded my palette a little bit. Still mostly Old Holland. Though, I like to try something new in each painting. This time I added some Quinacridone Rose and Permanent Green. The permanent green is very artificial looking, especially in a desert landscape. I found it was helpful in very subtly tinting some of the greens as they came forward, making the closer greens slightly more vibrant. The Q Rose mixed with Naples Yellow made some nice oranges and pinks for the rocks.

What I'm listening to:



Johnny Cash's cover of U2's One. I like this a lot more than the original.

Superstition, take 2

Well I think it's just about finished. It took a bit longer, since this one is 24x24.I took photos of the in-progress painting each day. Perhaps you are curious to see how a painting evolves over the course of my painting process...

I made all the images the same size. So, if you click the "next" arrow, it should be like a flip book of sorts and you can see the painting go from start to completion.

I think I am going to put on some more glazes. I would like to dull down the blue rocks in the shadows. They are a little too light right now. The camera made them appear a little bit lighter than they actually are, but it's still something I need to address.

I also need to work more on foregrounds. Painting the desert can be tough. It's hard to get all the muted greens, along with the peach and pink colors of the dirt with minimal brushstrokes. I think my foreground looks a little too lush. I think it's effective in the middle to background hills, but there's still a lot I need to work on with the nearest hills.

I tried out a couple new colors as well. Mars Violet from Williamsburg was one of them. When mixed with ultramarine and white it makes some nice muted purples. I used it a lot in the shadowed sides of the mountain.

I picked up a tube of W&N Cremnitz white (Lead white) and used that instead of Old Holland, since this canvas is pretty big and I can't afford to use up half a tube of that on one painting. I also used a little bit of Prussian Blue to get some of the greens.

My full palette
-Cremnitz (W&N)
-Naples Yellow (O.H.)
-Yellow Ochre (Rembrandt)
-Cad Red Medium (O.H.)
-Red Ochre (O.H.)
-Mars Violet (Williamsburg)
-Ultramarine (W&N)
-Prussian Blue (Gamblin)
-Sap Green (Rembrandt)
-Green Earth (O.H.)

Guerrilla Box and some painting progress

After reading some reviews online I decided to buy a Guerrilla Box. I bought the 9x12 Pochade  box at Utrecht today. I think it was around $169. A little pricey, but I have been really impressed with the quality. It has a piece on the bottom to be connected to a tripod. I'm using the ancient family camcorder tripod.

 It's nice and spacious inside. Plenty of room for tubes of paint and mediums. The enclosed leaflet says it can store multiple wet 9x12 panels inside. That's great for backpacking, which is something I plan on doing really soon. Can't wait to get outside and try it out.

I also have some work in progress shots of new paintings. First up is the Superstition one from last time. The color is now blocked in, so the next step is some dark glazes and highlight layers...

I decided to revisit the last Superstition mountains painting I did. This time it's on a 2 foot square canvas. I don't normally work much larger than one foot. I also decided to extend the foreground, and put it in shadow. I think it will help focus on the shapes in the rocks created by the sunlight.

The color has been lightly sketched in, over a reddish-brown toned canvas. Since there's no sky I think it makes the mountains seem much larger, and now that it's on a bigger canvas it should seem more towering than before.

"I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend." -Freddie Mercury

Done and on to the next one

Finished the latest Sedona painting. Things have been really busy lately at the gallery and I haven't had much time to paint. It feels good to mess around with oils again.

There was a cropped-off mountain on the right side, you can see it in the older photo from last week. I thought it would make the composition better by removing it. I'm happier with the result.

And on to the next one. I went to Lost Dutchman State Park a couple weeks ago and took some pictures from the hiking trails. Here's another view of the Superstition Mountains. There's something about the geology there that I really like painting.

I toned the canvas with some scrap paint (When I clean my palette after each painting session I mix a muddy mixture from the unused paint and save it for next time. It makes a good neutral color for mixing or simply for toning canvases).

Then I sketched with charcoal, followed by some sketching with thinner and the mud mixture.

Now it's time to begin adding color...

It seems like I forgot to post some music for the past couple of weeks. Here's what I'm listening to right now. A great cover of Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone by The Rolling Stones. Bob Dylan really is a master of lyrics. Check out Hurricane if you haven't heard it before. 

Sedona (in progress)

I started another painting a few days ago, and I made some good progress last night. I went to Sedona not too long ago and took tons of photos. This was taken early in the morning. It was cold, but thankfully the sun was out. It was a nice break from the clouds and rain the day before. Anyway, in this painting I'm trying to capture a crisp, cold morning with some warm light. That's my goal, at least.

I like to try something new/different on each painting. Lately I've been experimenting with dark glazes, and then building up highlights out of the dark shapes. The medium I seem to like is mostly thinner, with a little bit of stand oil. The thinner evaporates quickly, leaving a slightly tacky surface from the stand oil. Some painters like to coat the painting with a very thin layer of oil before each painting session (it helps colors flow better and provides a better surface to paint on, among other reasons). I think this method gets the best of both worlds.

My palette so far (Old Holland unless otherwise noted)

Canvas toned with scrap paint from previous painting session. Sketched in with charcoal, followed by burnt umber and thinner.

Flake white
Naples Yellow
Yellow Ochre (Rembrandt)
Cadmium Red Medium
Sedona Genuine (Daniel Smith) <This one is cool because it is made with iron oxide from Sedona.
Venetian Red
Alizarin Crimson
Ultramarine
Green Earth