Busy - busy - busy

 

This has been a busy week for me. I'm in the middle of preparations for the Rainbow Springs Art Festival that will be held this weekend in Dunnellon, FL. Also in the middle of teaching a class on colored pencil. This one will finish up on the 17th of November. And, I've just completed a commission - a Home Portrait of a beautiful historic house in Ocala, Florida. Consequently, I haven't gotten much done on the portrait of Peaches. I hope to get some of that done this week as other things wind down. I'm anxious to start the portrait.

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight, Update 15

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight Update 15

            This painting is complete! (except for some touchups here and there, and some minor changes).

            The birds didn’t take as long as I thought they would. The nearer, larger bird has the most detail, but the smaller, farther birds are simpler. Surprisingly, I used a large range of colored pencils to do the work. The pencils used were: white, French grey (10%, 20%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 90%), dark sepia (FC), Cadmium yellow (FC), Raw umber (FC), and Yellowed orange. I also used a bit of cloud blue and Sky Blue (FC).

            I worked on the largest bird first. I also used a magnifying glass to more easily work in the details. Yellowed orange and Raw umber were used on the beak, with a bit of Dark sepia for detail. The eye is Dark sepia, some Cadmium yellow and Yellowed orange. The legs are Dark sepia. All the French greys were used on the shading. I added cloud blue and Sky Blue to the greys for shading to liven it a bit.

            The moss in the trees was completed with Moss green (P) and 10% French grey.

            I will be looking over the painting here and there to see if any additional work is necessary. There is always a bit of touchup, something I forgot or something to go over.

            I’ll be taking a week off after this to get out into the mountains of the Southern Appalachians for some hiking and photography.  I’ll also be doing some thinking about my next project – and it may be a portrait. 

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight, Update 14

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight Update 14

            Using the same colors and technique, I completed the grasses across to the right side.

I say “completed”, but I always reserve the right to touch up or modify parts. As I said before, I work on areas until I’m satisfied at the time, but I always check back here and there, glancing at various areas of the painting to see if anything “jumps” out and needs work. Many times I do find something. I’ll have to eliminate or add to an area, or add more detail.  For instance, one place I worked on over the past week was the entire mid ground tree mass on the right side. There seemed to be still some white showing here and there, so I went back over it, burnishing with more color until it seemed denser and more solidly filled in. I’ll probably do this with other areas if they appear to need it.

So, what is left now are the birds – the subject of the painting. 

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight, Update 13

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight Update 13

            The grasses across the midground are one of the most complex areas of the painting. There’s a complex pattern of flower stalks, complexity in the bunches of grass in how they lay, and the line of pickerel weed that stretches across the lower third of the mass of grasses. I worked in a lot of colors as I tried to represent this vegetation.

            One technique that I used often to indicate the thin leaf blades was impressing thin lines with an embossing tool. The light colored leaf blades were achieved by first laying down irregular patches of chartreuse (P) and other light colors, such as cream (FC), cadmium yellow (FC), light ochre (FC) and naples yellow (FC). Then darker colors, chromium green opaque (FC), chrome oxide green (FC) and raw umber (FC) were used on their sides and stroked across the impressed lines. This produced darker shadows behind the lighter leaf blades.

The lines for the lighter leaf blades were put in with very light pressure with the embossing tool and the darker colors were used with care. Heavy pressure on the embossing tool would produce larger, wider lines that wouldn’t look real. The impressed lines can be done prior to any color being laid in, and this would leave white, sunstruck leaf blades. White lines have to be minimal in number or they become too noticeable. That’s why I did most of them after putting down some color first. The lines can also be colored in later with a sharp colored pencil.

The darker shaded areas behind the light leaf blades are the darker, deeper areas between clumps. They’re irregular in shape and transition into the lighter tops of the grasses. I also lightly impressed thin lines here and there before putting in the dark shadows to indicate stems of grasses rising out of the shadows.

The yellow flower heads and the leaf blades were set off against the dark shadows of the trees in the same manner. The flower heads were colored in with naples yellow and yellow ochre (FC) and then further burnished or impressed into the paper with cream. In most cases the stalks below the flowers were impressed in with an embossing tool. Then, the dark backdrop of the trees was colored in with chrome oxide green and Tuscan red (P). The pencils were used on their sides at first until the grasses were outlined well. Then I carefully worked around them until the background was dark enough. In drawing them in I tried to include variety in height and spacing.

The line of pickerel weed (the darker stretch of plants) was drawn in first with a graphite pencil, then colored in with chrome oxide green, chartreuse, naples yellow and chromium green opaque.

Some the darkest shadows and dark colors at the water’s edge were done with burnt umber (FC). A bit of orange here and there resulted from goldenrod (P) and mineral orange (P).

 

 

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight, Update 12

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight Update 12

            The water is now pretty much complete. I continued to add layer upon layer to the roughed in reflection pattern in the lower right. Doing so intensified the colors. For the most part I kept the margins of the light and dark colors quite sharp. Within the lighter color patterns I did mix some colors, chromium green opaque (FC) and chartreuse (P), to mimic the gradations in value seen in the tree foliage.

            The water near the shoreline takes its blue color from the sky overhead because the surface seems to be disturbed by wind. The blue color was achieved by combining sky blue (FC), cloud blue (P) and a bit of cobalt blue (FC). Further to the right, beyond the wing of the egret, where there is an area of dark shadow close to the water’s edge, I added indigo blue (P) and chrome oxide green (FC) to the mix.

            The blue sky reflections in the middle were further strengthened with sky blue.

            I’ll be tackling the strip of grasses across the midground next.

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight, Update 10

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight Update 10

            I know said I was going to work the grasses after doing the palm tree reflections but I couldn’t resist continuing the reflections across the painting. Once I completed the reflections below the palms I wanted to see how the rest of the water would be integrated in. So, although I added an undercoat of chartreuse (P) to the grasses stretching across, I decided to continue work on the reflections.

            The palms were taken from another reference photo, one that did not have any water, so the reflections had to be completely fabricated. I basically produced a mirror image – of sorts – roughly, only roughly. The water is moving, so there are lots of small waves. The wind is also creating some ripples here and there. The waves would break up the images considerably. Part of the wave would be reflecting the trees and part the sky, depending on the angle of the wave. I referred to the reflections on the right side as a guide to what the reflections under the palms might look like. Only the reflections of the trunks would bear a near resemblance to the real trees because they were light colored against a dark background.

            When I finished the reflections under the palms they appeared a little too detailed, especially judging from reflections on the right side. So, I went back over it and scratched out more breaks in the images and further broke up the reflections until I felt they looked better. As can be seen from the photos, the reflections were just roughly sketched in at first to get the shapes and colors in, then I went back in to further refine them.

            After completing the palm reflections I worked toward the right. Here, I had photos to follow. However, I decided that I didn’t need to copy the reflections exactly as they appeared in the photo. I merely had to study the wave and reflection patterns and then paint my own in. I copied some of the main wave and reflection patterns shown in the photos and then added more to maintain the same feel. Once again, I roughed in the wave and reflection patterns lightly. Now I’m starting back over, adding heavier layers, intensifying the colors and refining the shapes.

            The colored pencils used to do the reflections were the same ones that were used to do the trees and sky.

            After the reflections are completed, I’ll start work on the grasses.

           

Still trying to solve the problem of uploading pics. Until then, check my website for photos. Thanks

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight, Update 9

Work In Progress: Withlacoochee Flight Update 9

            After getting all the palm trees in I thought next of doing the grasses that stretch across the scene, but I was anxious to put some water in, especially in the lower left. The palm trees were taken from another photo, pasted in, and weren’t on the bank of a river or lake, so there were no reflections. I had to create them. All I did there was to very roughly mirror the trees above, taking into account moving water. I estimated how much the reflections needed to be broken up by the reflections on the right side of the original photo. I also used other photos of similar reflections as reference. The reflections were very generally indicated to get the shapes and size, then detail was gradually worked in.

            The colors used were the very same ones used to do the trees and sky. For the tree trunks: ginger root (P), 50% French grey (P), and a bit of dark sepia (FC); for the foliage: chrome oxide green (FC), chromium green opaque (FC), chartreuse, limepeel (P); for the grasses: charteuse (P), limepeel (P), raw umber (FC), burnt umber (FC); and for the sky reflections: cloud blue (P) and sky blue (FC).

            Since the water is not still there was no need to match the reflections to the trees exactly, just give the illusion of being the same. I did try to match up the tree trunks a little more accurately because they stood out against the dark background behind them. The foliage masses of the trees were just roughed in. I made sure of breaking up the tree trunks because the wind was creating small waves that alternately reflected the tree trunks and background. Near the bottom, where the tops of the trees ended, the sky started to be reflected by the water surface but, because of the rising and falling water surface, the reflection of trees and sky were mixed. The science behind reflections is interesting and might be a good subject for a future post. There is a lot of information out there and it’s important for the artist to have an understanding of it to portray it with some accuracy – especially in this case, where there is no photo to copy and it has to be made up.

            This area is nearly complete. I’ll work my way across to get the rest of the reflections of the palm trees in, then go back to the line of grasses. I may work alternately on the grass and the water reflections below. The birds will come last.

Sorry, still can't get photos on this site. Check my google site or my website for photos.