Moab Sunset

I finished the painting that I mentioned in my last post. I took a bunch of pictures outside of Moab, Utah just as the sun was going down. I liked the light in them and decided I had to paint it.


This kind of composition was new for me. I placed the horizon fairly low, leaving a very large, open sky. Sky and clouds have been rather neglected in many of my other paintings, so I figured it was about time that I dedicated more time to them. 


One of the techniques that I found especially helpful for the rock face was glazing. I suppose one might call it more of an opaque glaze. Anyway, I began by sketching in the large rock with a slightly darker/more purple version of the local color. After that was dry, I went in with a darker warm purple and glazed over the entire rock. I was using Liquin and mineral spirits to thin it down. That glaze became the shadow in the recesses. When that became tacky (only an hour or so, as the Liquin sets up quickly), I went in with the orange highlight colors. I've found this technique gives a great sense of light, and I've done it on a number of my mountain paintings.


My palette:


flake white
yellow ochre
raw sienna
cadmium orange (just a tiny bit in the final highlights)
cadmium scarlet
quinacridone rose
burnt sienna
raw umber
ivory black (just a touch to help neutralize some of the greens)
French ultramarine
Prussian blue
viridian

Camelback landscape done

I'm happy to say that this 24x30 painting is finished. I brought cadmium lemon into some of the highlight mixtures in the foreground plants, and a touch in the mountain highlights. The highlights really make it look "finished".

The shadowed side of the mountain wasn't reading very well, so I extended some of the highlighted faces of rock downward.

Now I just need to pick out a frame. I'm thinking a dark mahogany frame will suit the painting well.

I was flipping through some photos I took on a road trip last year, and a couple pictures taken outside of Moab, Utah caught my eye. And on that note, I think I have a new painting in the works.

More work with a limited palette, and the start of a new landscape.

First up is a quick study of a plaster cast that I did last week. I was experimenting with an earth-tone "student" palette.

Titanium/zinc white, yellow ochre, Venetian red, raw umber, and ivory black.


I took a photo of the cast from a couple different angles, so I think I will take another shot or two at it, and maybe spend a little more time refining the paintings as well.


Next up is the start of a commissioned painting of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. It measures 24x30 inches.

My palette (usually very minimal) is somewhat expanded for this painting. 


flake white
yellow ochre 
raw sienna
cadmium scarlet
quinacridone rose
burnt sienna
raw umber
ultramarine
viridian


I'm waiting on throwing in the cadmium yellow until near the end. I want to restrict the vibrancy of my greens for right now, and then use cadmium in some of the mixes for only the closest bushes. That will help convey a sense of atmosphere/distance.

Zorn Palette

Continuing with the last post regarding limited palettes, here is a painting I just finished which used a "Zorn Palette".

Titanium white/zinc white mix (Gamblin)
Yellow ochre (Gamblin)
Cadmium scarlet (W&N)
Ivory black

Painting with a limited palette

This 6x8 painting of a bottle of clove oil was a study using a favorite limited palette of mine. The colors are:

-Titanium/Zinc white mix
-Cadmium Lemon
-Quinacridone Rose
-Prussian Blue

I enjoy working with this palette a lot. You can mix a really amazing range of color with it. I've always preferred to work with a limited palette for a few reasons, though the main benefit has to be gaining a better eye for color. Not only does it teach you to mix color better than anything else, but it helps you learn to see color better. Not to mention it makes the painting look much more harmonious. It's also cheaper to buy just a few tubes of paint compared to a couple dozen... I could go on.

Another great limited palette (which is used by Scott Christensen) is:
-Titanium white
-Cadmium Lemon
-Permanent Red (Winsor & Newton "Bright Red" is good, or any sort of pyrrole pigmented red)
-Ultramarine Blue

I find this second palette better for landscapes. Colors are a little more subdued compared to the first.

I also realized the perspective is a little off in this one. I need to check my ellipses more. That's what I get for painting so many landscapes and forgetting how to paint cylinders.

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.