Looking Down

"By the Lake"
20x16 Oil - Available

I enjoy landscape paintings with unusual perspectives.  An unexpected viewpoint always gives me a little frisson of pleasure.

Recently, Trina and I took a hike to a favorite overlook.  I snapped several photos, hoping to make good on a promise I'd made to myself some time ago that I would paint that particular view.   I'd also promised myself—again, some time ago—that someday I would lug my plein air gear up there.  This hasn't happened yet.  Fortunately, though, I have a number of good color studies of the cliffs done from below, and I knew they would be helpful in getting the color my camera can't see.

With these references, I set up my studio easel and got to work.  For me, this became a standard “design it, paint it” piece with no experimentation.  I didn't try any exotic colors or mysterious mediums.  I just laid out my standard, modified split-primary palette and went at it.   Here are some progress photos for you to enjoy.

Blocking in general color...

...figuring out patterns of vegetation...

...completing shadow areas...

...adjusting shadowed side of cliff and
adding surface treatment to lake.

And again, the finished work.
"By the Lake"
20x16 Oil - Available

Three-Color Palette

In my previous post, I mentioned my three-color palette.  I'm really in love with these three colors—yellow ochre, burnt sienna and Prussian blue.  Together, they can mix a good range of muted colors, with the blue intense enough to punch things up a bit.  I thought I'd share a color wheel made from these colors and also a second painting made with them.  (I used Gamblin colors for this.)

It's hard to get into trouble with this palette.  Yellow ochre and burnt sienna harmonize so well.  And Prussian blue, when mixed with them, yields everything from an olivey green to an almost-neutral grey.  But better yet, if things start seeming too sleepy, you can let the Prussian blue sing a little louder.

Prussian blue, by the way, is a wonderful color for Southwestern skies.  Here's a Grand Canyon painting, done in the late afternoon as thunderstorms rolled in from the North Rim.   Reds, oranges and yellows dominate; and the little patches of blue add a welcome note.

Rain Over the River
14x18 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
A Grand Canyon Painting
Available at a Special Price for a Short Time

Foreground Design

Like these mountains?  Good luck with that foreground!

When painting the landscape, one encounters three situations:  vistas, where you couldn’t possibly throw a rock far enough to hit your subject; middle-ground scenes, where you stand a fair chance; and close-ups, where you don’t have enough room to even swing your arm.   Each of these situations has its own design problem.  In this post, let’s start with the vista.

In the vista, the foreground is the stumbling block.  We just want to step over it and get to the area we’re most interested in, such as the “purple mountains’ majesty.”  With the foreground, it’s tempting to treat it as an afterthought.  Maybe we just throw in a bush or rock and move on to the beauty of the mountains in the distance.  But unless you’re going to crop out the foreground altogether, its mere presence makes it part of the overall design, like it or not.  You have to give it as much care and consideration as you do the mountain view.

Different mountain range and better foreground.  But it's still pretty amorphous.

Some foregrounds design themselves.  You might have a road or a creek that provides a lead-in for the eye.  (Think of Edgar Payne’s “S” template.) Others have large, dark trees that make a pleasing arrangement.  (Think of his “steelyard” template, where dark shapes on the left balance dark shapes on the right.)  But some have just a seemingly-chaotic scattering of little clumps of weeds or rocks.  If you aren’t provided with a natural lead-in or a pleasing arrangement of trees, you must take charge and rearrange things to create a design the supports the painting.

This is a case where a value sketch can help—but make sure you figure out your design before committing it in paint.

I've painted that mountain ranges in the above two photos countless times.  The foreground is always challenging.  Sometimes, changing your viewpoint will help, but sometimes not.  In that case, you have to design the foreground.  Below are two paintings I did over time that show a couple of different possibilities.  Maybe it's still not perfect, but I will go back to paint them again!

Munds Mountain Morning 16x20 oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Munds Wagon Trail 12x24 oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Encounter: John Tenney Johnson, Master of the Nocturne

“Down the Moonlit Trail,” 1938. Oil on board.
Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming, USA. 

I've always been an admirer of nocturnes.  Although some artists paint them at night, many paint them in the studio, working from memory or sketches done on-site.  The ones done in the studio tend to “read” better, since the artist wasn't sacrificing craft by struggling under a portable lamp in the dark.  There are many good painters of nocturnes alive today, but for me, the ideal is a historic painter, John Tenney Johnson (1874-1939.)

Frank Tenney Johnson

I've been reading a biography of Johnson.  The Frank Tenney Johnson Book by Harold McCracken (Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1974) is a large volume filled with extracts from Johnson's letters to his wife, Vinnie.  In the early 1900s, although married and working in New York as an illustrator for Field & Stream, Johnson led a peripatetic life consisting of cowpunching, roundups and rodeos, all the while painting and sketching and shooting hundreds of rolls of film.  (Kodak had come out with a line of consumer cameras by this time.)  While traveling, he sent lengthy letters (as well as many rolls of film and sketches) back home.  These letters give us a good look at his travels in Colorado, New Mexico and beyond, and how he gathered his reference material for the studio.

Here's an excerpt from one letter:

In the morning, I saw an emigrant outfit that stopped in town for supplies.  I rode out to the west ahead of it and when they came along I made some photos.  I think they are a valuable addition to those I have already sent back to you to develop.  Let me know how they turn out.  I'll keep getting photos of things that will add to the sketches I make and will help to make up fine pictures.  My photos are going to be the most value to  me.  But the first thing to do to get real good pictures of cowboys is to get right out where they are working and be on the right side of them.  Incidentally, I'm about strapped—only 50 cts left.  I'm saving that for a rainy day.

Reference photo shot by Frank Tenney Johnson

Although the train west was paid by his editor, on the promise that Johnson would reimburse him on his return, Johnson was responsible for buying horse tack, meals and lodging, and of course, film and art supplies.  Every letter from him to Vinnie seems to include a plea for another money order to be sent.

One interesting thing about Johnson's nocturnes, especially the moonlit scenes.  They don't present the muted, almost-grey colors that one sees in an actual moonlit scene.  The foregrounds and clothing often have very rich color, almost as if lit by a spotlight rather than a full moon.

You can see more nocturnes by Johnson at this link.

Workshop Report: Sedona and Tucson

River Study, 9x12 pastel (studio) by Michael Chesley Johnson

Bobcat!  A visitor at the Tucson workshop. (Photo by Trina)

It's been a busy fall so far—and with no end in sight!  Following the Doug Dawson workshop in Sedona and a weekend trip to Chiricahua National Monument, last week I drove all the way back to Sedona to teach my own workshop, and then I went south to teach another for the Tucson Pastel Society.  Now I have a few days to catch up on paperwork (and the blog) before flying off to visit family back east for Thanksgiving.  December, thankfully, looks to be a little slower.

The Sedona workshop was so successful that I've scheduled another for next spring, March 27-30, 2018.  Like my previous workshops there, this one will run Tuesday through Friday with plenty of painting opportunities.  Late March is always a pleasant time to visit Sedona.  The trees will be just putting out their spring foliage, and the chill of winter will be replaced by a sunny warmth.  If you haven't taken one of my Sedona plein air painting workshops before, here's your opportunity.  And if you have already done so, I encourage you to join me again, since I have new thoughts and techniques to share with you.  Sometimes students think, “Well, I've already taken a workshop with that particular artist,” not understanding that all of us—even we teachers—constantly learn new things and always have something new to give.  You can find details on the program at www.PaintTheSouthwest.com.

Red Rock Study, 6x8 oil (plein air) by Michael Chesley Johnson

Verde River Study, 9x12 oil (plein air) by Michael Chesley Johnson

The Tucson workshop was a one-day affair sponsored by the Tucson Pastel Society.  It was a free workshop for members—a nice perk that the society offers twice a year.  I counted at least 20 attendees, which sounds like a lot, but because the workshop took place indoors, I had plenty of time to go from easel to easel.  The second day, we had an optional outdoor painting session, which was held among the palms and cattails at a nearby wetlands.  Mallards, coots, egrets and even a bobcat joined us for the morning.  I had a great time with this group, and several students told me how much they enjoyed the program, which concerned limited palettes and “making your best guess” with regards to color choices.

Shadowed Rock Study, 9x12 pastel (studio) by Michael Chesley Johnson
For this piece I used only 14 sticks of pastel, as seen below.

That's my 14-stick limited pastel palette in the little box

Tucson Light 9x12 pastel (plein air) by Michael Chesley Johnson

I've included with the post some of the demonstration paintings plus a few snapshots.  If you're interested in any of these studies or paintings, please let me know.  Have a great Thanksgiving!

Solo Exhibit at Sedona City Hall

Mayor Sandy Moriarty meets with me to install a few of my paintings in her office.

I'm proud to announce that you can now see a solo exhibit of twenty of my landscape paintings at City Hall in Sedona, Arizona.  These oil and pastel paintings of the Southwest are on display in the Vultee Conference Room until April 15.  Four additional paintings decorate the walls of Mayor Sandy Moriarty's office.  City Hall is at 102 Road Runner Drive.

All the paintings are for sale, including the ones in the Mayor's office.

Because the paintings are in a much-used conference room, you will need to contact Arts & Culture Coordinator Nancy Lattanzi to view the works.  She will gladly schedule a time to let you in.  (If you are interested in buying a painting, please contact me directly via e-mail.) You may contact Nancy at 928-203-5078 or NLattanzi@sedonaaz.gov.  If you're in town, I hope you'll have a look!

Below are some photos of the exhibit.  To see the paintings online, please visit http://www.michaelchesleyjohnson.com/city_hall_paintings/.