Plein Air and class work in Albuquerque

I had such a good time at IAPS in Albuquerque!!

I learned a lot about portraits in pastel from William Schneider and a lot more about landscapes in pastel from Lorenzo Chavez...take a minute to Google their names and you will see that I was learning from the best!

Every evening the clouds were spectacular at sunset - there was a lot of smoke in the air too, so the colors were muted near the ground.  Though it looks like rain, this is virga; rain that never reaches the ground.

We were very near the Sandia Mountains which were formed when tectonic plates collided.  In the foreground, is the ubiquitous Pinion Pine.

They haven't had even an inch of rain in 8 months and still the plants are alive - really amazing.  I painted in the shade of a pinion pine.

This piece was completed in class with Lorenzo Chavez, from a photo I took years ago.  I didn't have an enormous array of pastels, so some of the colors are a compromise.  I am happy with the looser, more painterly look to the piece though.

This is another class piece that is also from an old photo of mine - it came together quickly with all that I learned from Lorenzo.  Can't wait to get back in the studio....right after I mow the lawn!

Siberian Iris

I painted this colorful demonstration for the intermediate students yesterday, on such a gorgeous day we all resonated to the spring colors of this piece.    Please send me your name, email, and phone number if you would like to hear more about upcoming classes catherine@cuttinggarden.com   

After I had all my pre-mixed paints ready to go, I wet half the background with clear water and painted the distant iris wet-in-wet with intense, fairly thick (dry) paint. 
After the first half of the background was completely dry I painted the other half. 

Then, finally on to the "center of interest", the iris that's in focus in the foreground.  Each petal was painted separately, first wet-in-wet and then wet on dry to add the details.  To finish the painting I toned down some information in the background by lifting paint off some areas that had too much contrast and glazing over some bright areas with a neutralizing color. 
This piece is 7" x 8.5" and is available for $125 unframed or $250 framed.

Spring Blooms and Paperweight

Sometimes I just feel like fresh flowers and dichroic glass.

Here I have completed all the initial washes; I painted each object separately wet-in-wet, then painted the background and foreground wet-in-wet as well.  I am enjoy the bright pink color of a paint called Opera even though it's a fugitive color.  I will need to frame this painting with UV protective glass or plexiglass.

Here I have darkened some of the mid and dark values and begun to neutralize the background.

Finally I have darkened the darkest areas and stroked on colored pencil as needed to help some inadvertantly dulled areas sparkle again.  Your comments are always welcome.  This piece is 10" x 15" and is available for $285 unframed, or $450 framed.

Ball Jar and Wine Bottle

I couldn't wait to get to this painting!  Lots of juicy color and lots of glistening detail - perfect!  As always I started with a detailed drawing on 140# cold pressed Arches paper and reserved the lightest lights with Winsor & Newton colorless resist.

I laid in the wet in wet washes around the Ball jar first, trying to tie the large shapes together with soft edges between shapes.

Next I laid in the wet in wet washes in the Ball jar, indicating where the shadows and greens would be.

The wet on dry washes of darks and mid values were next.  I had to lay in the darkest dark of the wine bottle label in order to correctly gage the rest of the values.

Beginning to add mid size details to the jar and bottle.

Restating the darks in the background and the back of the table.

After I removed the resist, I spent quite a lot of time cleaning up the reserved light shapes so they weren't ragged or 'out of bounds'.  I apply the resist using a gutta applicator bottle with a #9 metal tip which I plug between applications with a corsage pin (find them here http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1708-AA.shtml ) 

I think I will buy a few more bottles and try the #5 tip which should be finer and may save clean up time.

Finally I restated the darks in the background, greyed out the reflections in the foreground and darkened some of the finest details in the jar.   Here's the finished piece, it's 9" x 14" and available $280 unframed or $480 framed.

The farmhouse near Waterville

Here is the drawing and the premixed colors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Port Townsend Garage

Just before sunset on a warm afternoon in late March we drove by this fabulous old garage 'nestled' in the brush just west of Port Townsend. 
Earlier we had taken some photos of a small lake nearby - I just love the rosy blush of twiggy bushes in spring.

I started with a fairly detailed drawing on 140# cold pressed paper and used frisket to reserve some of the lightest areas.

I premixed some of the watercolors I would use for the underpainting.

Here I am laying in the mid values....I forgot to photograph the first wash.

 

Here I have begun to overlay the watercolor with pastel.

And here is the finished piece.  I especially love the deciduous trees in the mid ground!