Palette Perceptions

I'm continuing with some palette ideas I started last winter and spring. You can see a couple more of them in this post from May. I'm interested in exploring how our perception of a scene changes with a warm or a cool palette, and the way a limited color range serves to harmonize a painting. This study was done 11x17" across a two page spread in a 8.5x11" Stillman and Birn Epsilon Hardbound sketchbook. I know it's not designed for wet media, but it works great. Their books will open completely flat if you break them in before you start using them, which makes it ideal for working across the spread. I used the new Golden High Flow acrylics, and just a bit of water instead of medium. I'm trying to arrange a setup that's easy to work with in the field at the same time, and hope to test drive that out on location tomorrow. I used six colors for this one. I'm very close to being happy with the selections, but I'm going to make a couple of palette changes today and try again.

Design Sketches for Palisade Memories

Click image for a larger, clearer view

Watercolor and acrylic on paper

(9x12" Stillman & Birn Beta Wirebound sketchbook)

This sheet of sketches was done to work out the major issues for an 8x16" painting of the Hudson River and Palisades. When I'm out painting on location, I don't usually have the time to plan to this degree. In my studio, however, time is on my side. I'm not having to drive long distances to locations and then try to make time stand still while the sun races across the sky and shadows change. Going through these planning stages yields a better painting in terms of composition, color, and overall design.

I began with the four tiny thumbnail sketches at the bottom of the page. Each is 1x2". I did them with black ink and a fountain pen, trying different places for the horizon, and scoping out where I wanted the boats to go. I sketched in a barge and tug for these thumbnails, but in doing so, I decided they detracted too much from the Palisades, which I wanted to keep as the main point of interest. When I went to do the larger study, I put in a small fleet of sailboats instead. They provide interest and break up the horizon line without stealing the show. Once I finished deciding what would go where, I pulled out some watercolors and played with color on the thumbnails. Then I did the larger study in acrylic, which would also be my medium for the finished painting.

Although I'd gone through all these stages, I still wasn't completely satisfied. I decided that when it came time to do the final painting, I'd shorten the foreground space so that the water and cliffs wouldn't mirror each other as much. I also wanted to scale back the tree on the left, so that it would break the horizon line, but not extend beyond the upper edge of the cliffs. You can click here to see the finished painting I did, based on this series of sketches.

Four Design Studies

Design Studies 3-6

Acrylics in a 9x12" Stillman & Birn Beta Wirebound Sketchbook

I'm going back to basics for awhile to revamp some things about my painting process. I've noticed some bad habits creeping into my paintings, and I'm really excited about correcting them and moving forward to make more of an artistic statement in my work. In order to accomplish these goals, I've dedicated this Stillman & Birn 9x12" wirebound sketchbook to the process, though I might do some of them on other supports too. This paper holds up really well to anything I throw at it, so here goes!

I'm planning to do at least one of these studies a day --- sometimes a full page, and sometimes just a portion of a page --- in addition to my regular paintings. Yesterday, I taped up a couple of pages into quarters so that I could do more of them faster. I'll do some of them in monochrome, but most in color. I may test drive different palettes too. The emphasis will be on design, and experimenting with how value, color, and composition work together in creating a painting that impacts the viewer.

These four studies were done with acrylics, using just Naphthol Crimson, Cadmium Yellow Light, Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White, and Carbon Black. I reverted to a red-yellow-blue simple palette in the interest of keeping my color clean and simplifying the process. (I usually do not use any Naphthol reds, but it's what I happened to have on hand, and whadaya know..... It worked!) I'm using acrylics because it dries quickly, doesn't lift, is opaque, and can be painted on paper. I'll probably do some of them in gouache and other water based mediums too, depending on what is convenient at the time.

In contrast to much of my work over the past few years, which builds on transparent layers, I am planning to work more directly with opaque paint on these. I'll work from life when I can, but I'll also work from photos. The two on the top of this page were done yesterday at the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site in Hyde Park, New York. The bottom two were painted today from photos. The study on the bottom left was done from a photo taken during my recent Adirondack trip. The lower right is from a photo taken at my property in the Catskills.

I started out this series working the full 9x12 pages, but after the first two, I saw problems which would be more quickly resolved by working smaller and faster, and then bumping the size back up again once I've worked through the issues that I'm seeing. I'll do at least a few more quartered pages before I go larger again with these.

Hudson River and Palisades Pastel Sketch

This pastel sketch is about 7x9", in my Stillman & Birn Alpha book. It was done on a page with a prepared border, but for the first time, I encountered something that I think looks a whole lot better without the border. I coated the inside part of the two-page spread with Golden Acrylic Ground for Pastels.

The sketch is based on these four sketches that I did on location plus photos I took there, as preparatory work for a large commissioned oil painting. When I was finished with the sketch, I was so glad that the pieces of glassine were already cut and tucked neatly into the book pocket! (Click here and then scroll down that page, to see the glassine pocket and instructions on making one.) That made it super easy to position them over the pages, glue down the edges with a glue stick, and close the book!

Here's what the sketch looks like with the full pages showing, including the border. You can see how the glassine covers get pulled aside to view the sketch. I had to glue the glassine down onto the side borders, so those became partially obscured .

Although I've done loads of pastel work, I don't think I've ever done it across a two page spread before. It was definitely a challenge getting those chunky sticks into the center, but it's a nice change of pace in leafing through the book. I was glad I gave it a try. I might try one on the plain paper too, without painting it first with the Pastel Ground.

Four Sketches of the Hudson River

Click image for a larger view.

I have a large oil painting commission to do of a scene along the Hudson. The other day, I grabbed my sketchbook and watercolors and headed down to the location to do some preliminary sketches to discuss with the client, before proceeding on the large piece. It was freezing cold along the river early in the morning, but I know from experience that the light on the cliffs of the Palisades leaves early. By the time the sun is well overhead, they are all in shadow. I bundled up with my warmest coat, hat, scarf and mittens, and worked as fast as I could! Word from the client: "I love them all!" So, I'll be combining some elements for the final painting.

I taped off the rectangles to do the sketches while I was out on location. That kept my borders clean. I already knew what the dimensions of the large painting would be, so I stuck to those proportions. Once I got home, I drew in the borders around each sketch with a calligraphy pen, and used acrylic paints on the outside border, mixing colors to match the inside border's ink color. When finished, I painted a layer of Golden Interference Gold Fluid Acrylic, diluted with gloss medium, over the outer brown border. Although it doesn't show in the photo, there is a beautifully subtle gold sheen on the outside edge of the page.