work in progress, 20x20 in. oil on linen

This is the beginning of another in the Morristown series, the side street that the gallery is on, Community Place. I have a lot more to do on this as is obvious, I have the under painting and some color blocked in but that is about it. Would have liked to do the whole thing alla prima but did not have the free time, so I will continue with it working wet into wet in a second pass. I find alla prima is the best way for me to get the looseness I want in my new work, I really want to get away from layering as much as possible. Layering can create beautiful effects but for me the result is often too controlled in feeling. I like the loose, blurred edges of wet into wet, so hopefully I will have a bit more painting time in the near future to make the most of working alla prima on this current series.

drapery study, oil on canvas alla prima, 16x20 in.

I could do these all day, I love painting drapery. This was my demo from last night’s oil class, painted alla prima on unstretched canvas (canvas pad). Began with underpainting in burnt sienna and turpenoid. I start by blocking in the major shapes of the fabric, I look for geometric forms and simply place them where I see them starting with the largest ones first and working through the smaller ones to the level of detail needed to create the illusion of hanging fabric. Next, I begin adding in the values from dark to light, these are what will give the fabric a 3-dimensional quality. Fabric is no different than any other subject, it is just more complex. Don’t feel the need to recreate every wrinkle and other detail, get the big shapes established and place the values. The details are done at the end when you have an established solid form to work on.

Next, I added color beginning with the darks in alizarin + cobalt, tiny bit of turpenoid. When painting alla prima, it is important to let colors sit next to one another and just blend ever so gently at the edges. Overblending will kill the freshness of an alla prima very quickly. Putting paint on top of paint can result in mud, the key to keeping colors fresh is to place them adjacent with a slight overlap rather than layering. Once all the dark and medium value colors are in place, you can put the brightest brights and highlights on top, but you have to keep the paint very opaque and very thick in order to make it sit on top of what is already there. Quick, light brush strokes with a soft (not birstle) brush work best at this stage. Go for the most important details only, it will help to keep the bold, spontaneous alla prima look alive in the painting.

Note: I will be having a workshop on Drawing & Painting Fabric and Drapery at the NJ Visual Arts Center on March 6, 2010. All levels welcome, students may work in charcoal, acrylic, oil or pastel.

Morristown, oil on linen, 11x14 in.

Another in my series of urban paintings from New Jersey, I will have this piece featured in a future solo show at Gallery MacEgan of Morristown in March of 2010. I was attracted to the repeating shapes of the yellow ochre traffic lights and barricade barrels, they create color connections throughout the composition and a rhythm that mirrors the busy atmosphere of the area. I plan to start a square formatted piece that is larger (18×18 in.) of another part of the town, the goal being to present a unified body of work that explores the urban landscape of north central Jersey, particularly the commuter’s corridor of the NJ Transit Line that runs from Morristown to Hoboken/NYC. More to come, I will have about 15 paintings in the show.

still life study, alla prima, about 8x10 in.

 Just a quick little study I did in between classes for practice.

Palette = cobalt, alizarin,yellow ochre, burnt sienna, cadmium barium yellow, cadmium red, titanium white, burnt umber

Underpainting = burnt sienna + turpenoid

Surface = unstretched canvas in a canvas pad

I was very happy with the lightness and spontaneity this piece has as well as the color harmony. Grapes are a challenge, less in terms of detail works best for me, makes them more luminous. Am hoping to get more of this loose spontaneous feel into larger works, practice is the only way to get there.

study of bottle, alla prima oil on canvas pad

This is a quick little demo I did for my evening oil painting students last night. There is something intriguing about glass painted alla prima, it seems as if it should be impossible to depict a transparent, hard edged surface in a loose impressionistic way. When done right, this effect can be more eloquent than a tightly rendered, photo-realistic representation of the reflections and transparency. To achieve the desired result, it’s important to remember to place colors next to one another and not to overblend. Working wet-into-wet is challenging, dark values should be placed first, followed by mid-tones and brights, with highlights applied on top in the last pass. To get the highlights to lay on top of wet paint, be sure the paint is thick and opaque. I don’t use any medium for the highlights. I mix a bit of blue violet into titanium white for the cool highlights, and a bit of yellow ochre into the white for the warm ones. I prefer a soft, angled or flat brush and quickly stroke on the highlights in one pass.

fabric study, pastel on Wallis paper, 5x8 in.

Fabric that has a pattern such as stripes or other prints can be challenging. The best way to approach it is to ignore the pattern initially, and just draw/paint the basic forms of the folds in the appropriate values. For example, the cloth above is a white cloth with blue stripes. I began by blocking in the dark and light values of the cloth in burnt umber as an underpainting, I did not include the detail of the stripes, I focused on the shape of the major folds and their corresponding values. On top of the value study / underpainting, I began working in color. For the shadow areas of the cloth, I chose a yellow ochre, light lavendar and violet blue combination (NuPastels). For the light areas, I used a creamy white. On the background, I added additional yellow ochre. Once I had the white fabric defined with shadows on the folds, I added in the stripes, following the contours of the folds. In the shadow areas, there is less contrast and therefore the pattern is more subdued, in the areas that are fully lit, the reverse is true and the pattern is very distinct. When working with patterns, it is generally more effective to imply them rather than to try and capture every nuance with miniscule detail, otherwise they may become distracting and take away from the overall strength/spontaneity of the drawing.

Crossing at the Green, oil on canvas, alla prima, 9x12 in.

This is another in my series of paintings of Morristown, NJ. It was done alla prima on canvas, I hope to do the entire series in this manner, keeping them very loose and spontaneous. I’ve just ordered a supply of stretched linen on which I will produce the remainder of the paintings. I’m hoping the linen will give me the right surface treatment for retaining brushwork while not having to contend with the coarseness of canvas. Can’t wait to start on the next one.

Morning After, acrylic on canvas

Thinking of trying acrylics? I’ve got a one-day workshop coming up this Saturday, October 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the NJ Visual Arts Center in Summit. Acrylics are a highly versatile medium and this workshop focuses on using them to their best advantage on both canvas and paper. Registration fee is $100, call the art center at 908-273-9121 to register, be sure to request a materials list.

Gulf, oil on canvas, 30x40 in., feautred in traveling museum exhibit

Here is a You Tube video of this exhibit currently on display in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The exhibit has been traveling across the US since 2008 and will conclude in 2011.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xng4XnRAIJk