Time and Tide

After the Tide
16x20 Oil
Available - Email me if interested

"Time and tide wait for no man," the saying goes.  Here on the Bay of Fundy, the tides are tremendous.  They're the highest tides in the world.  Of course, that depends on where you are, exactly, in the Bay.  Here on Campobello Island, the tidal change averages around 28 feet.  So, if you're painting outdoors and typically paint for about two hours (as I do), there's a 10-foot change during that time.   This is significant, and the contour of the shore shifts drastically.

This week I went out to one of my favorite spots on the island to paint a particular rock outcrop that, at high tide, is isolated from the "mainland."  I wanted to paint from a low angle and looking up at the rock, which meant I had to do it from the beach.  I also wanted to make sure I had some water in the scene, which meant I had to do it as high tide approached.   And if I timed it wrong, I might get my feet wet.

But I'm very familiar with the way the tide behaves around this outcrop, so I set up near the wrack-line, which indicates the point the last high tide reached.  I wasn't in any danger.  Plus, I only spent a little over an hour on this 16x20.  Just so you can see the tidal change during that 80-minute period, here is a before and after shot of the scene:

8:38 AM

9:55 AM

By the way, it's gotten to be fashionable for plein air painters to shoot a photo of a painting in the field so it seems to merge with the background painted.  Here's my attempt at that.

Illusion?

Upcoming Exhibition: Plein Air Painters of the Bay of Fundy

Low Tide, Cranberry Point 12x24 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Later this summer, Plein Air Painters of the Bay of Fundy, a group of outdoor painters I organized over ten years ago, will be having its annual summer exhibition and sale.  Since our members are spread across the maritime area of two countries, the US and Canada, we try to alternate exhibits between the two.  This year, the exhibit and sale will be in Canada.

Rocky Point 9x12 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

I look forward to this show every year.  We always have a paintout.  This year, it'll be in the historic seaside resort town of St Andrews, New Brunswick.  I also enjoy seeing my painting friends again.  But perhaps best of all, the artwork displayed is superb!  I've included in this post

some of my paintings that are possibilities for the show this year.

Apple Tree Dance 16x20 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Exhibiting members this year include:  

Anne Johnston
Bruce Newman
Caren-Marie Michel
David Reeves
Helen Shideler
Matt Watkins
Michael Chesley Johnson
Poppy Balser
Theresa MacKnight 
Simone Ritter

Details on the exhibit:

Opening Reception: Friday, August 3, 5-7 pm Atlantic Time

Exhibition Dates: August 3-25, 2018 

at

Sunbury Shores Arts & Nature Centre

139 Water Street, St. Andrews NB  E5B 1A7

Phone: 506.529.3386 E-mail: info@sunburyshores.org

July/August Hours: Every day 9am-5pm

Closed Sundays & Holidays 

By the way, if you'd like me to share my techniques for creating paintings like this, and you are an experienced outdoor painter, please consider my workshop for experienced painters, August 28-31, 2018.  I have full details at www.PleinAirPaintingMaine.com

Castine Bay 12x16 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Fog Lifting, Dead Spruce 16x20 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Islands 6x8 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Lazy Light 11x14 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Ready to Sail 12x0 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Sugar Loaf Rock, High Tide 16x20 Oil by Michael Chesley Johnson
Available

Embarking on a Big Painting: The Finish

"Waterfall" 36x36 oil/canvas
Final State

In a recent post, I wrote about starting a large studio painting based on a variety of reference material.  The painting is now complete, and it's taken me six days to paint it.

First, I arranged all my reference material, as you see here.  The tablet holder is one of the best pieces of equipment I've bought lately.  It is very stable. By the way, one negative to using a tablet for photo references is that it's all too easy to check e-mail.  On the plus side, it's great for playing my Pandora playlist!

Day 1

Next, after toning my canvas with Gamblin's FastMatte transparent earth red and letting it dry, I blocked in the darks with a soft, three-inch brush, using raw umber thinned with Gamsol.   Where necessary, I "pushed" the raw umber toward the cool with ultramarine blue and toward the warm with cadmium red light.  As to the design of the block-in, I spliced together two different views made at two different times of year.  For the upper half, I used the waterfall pencil sketch I'd made in the winter; for the bottom, the 9x12 plein air sketch I made last spring.  You'll note that the composition is split in half at the waterline.  I did this intentionally because I wanted to give equal importance to what was above and below the surface.

Day 2

After the block-in, I went to work on the waterfall with a painting knife.  To me, this was the primary center of interest, and if I couldn't get it correct right from the start, there'd be no point continuing.  For this, I used only my pencil sketch for form and my 6x8 color sketch for color notes.

This would be a good point to mention the colors I used.  My palette consisted of all Gamblin paints:  ivory black, yellow ochre, raw umber, cadmium yellow light, cadmium red light, permanent alizarin, ultramarine blue and titanium-zinc white.  I also used a little Solvent-Free Gel for my  medium when I required a little extra looseness in the paint.

Day 3

Next, I brushed in the hillside to the right of the waterfall.  This is a more distant area in the scene, so I kept the painting more abstract; the contrast, low; and the color, cool.

Day 4

As I continued to paint other areas, I kept in mind how I wanted to lead the eye around.  In a way, I was working backwards from my center of interest along this path for the eye.  The next step was the little area of sunlit rocks and grasses on the left, connected to the waterfall by a warm, green passage; and this was followed by the submerged but warm rocks in the foreground.

Day 5

The area I saved for last was the upper left quadrant.  For much of the time, I honestly didn't know what needed to go there.  What's interesting is that the painting really worked with nothing there but the underpainting, so I knew whatever I added had to be dark with little contrast.  Shadowy trees and bushes were the obvious solution, and I used my photo references for that.  I added a transition between the waterfall and the clump of rocks and weeds on the left with a few highlit branches.

Day 6

After addressing that area, I felt the painting was nearing closure.  But as much as I liked the quiet feeling of the water,  it needed a little more interest.  I added some very soft reflections and ripples.  As a final touch, I added floating bubbles—tiny bits of pure white, applied by a knife just barely touching the surface.  The irregular bumps in the weave were just enough to pull the paint off the knife.

Below are some details shots, followed by the finished painting again.

"Waterfall" 36x36 oil/canvas, finished state

Embarking on a Big Painting

For me, a big painting is anything over 12x16.  This week, I'm starting one that is 36x36.  Just getting the canvas toned and up on the easel is a project!  I had to use the largest brush I have to tone it.  Then, because I needed the workbench for another task, I had to move the canvas to the carport to get it out of the way.  Finally, when I brought it back in, I had to raise the mast on my H-frame easel to hold it.  I'm a tall painter, so the mast is just tickling the ceiling.

This painting will be created from plein air sketches, photo references and pencil sketches.  Earlier in the year, I hiked out to a waterfall location on Oak Creek that has always fascinated me and took a series of photos and made some pencil sketches.  Here are the sketches:

I had meant to go back the next day and make some color sketches, too, but time got away.  Then we had heavy rain and a significant flood that made the location inaccessible.  Now that the water has receded, I decided yesterday to see if I could hike out there.  The flood had pushed around and piled up a great deal of debris—the usual logs and branches, but also a good deal of charred wood.  Much of the debris had come from up-canyon, north of Sedona, from areas that had been devasted by last summer's Slide Fire.  Because I knew I'd be doing some scrambling, I decided to travel lightly.

I packed up my 6x8 Guerrilla Painter ThumBox with a prepped palette, one brush, two 6x8 panels and a little container of Gamsol.  I also took a bottle of water and my portable stool.  Normally, I don't like working in my lap, but I didn't want to drag a tripod through the debris.  The stool was lighter and less bulky.

I was pleased to find that the hike wasn't as tough as I'd expected, and although the terrain had changed somewhat, my view of my waterfall was still there.  In fact, I think my chosen perch was a little more open than before, and now there was a mound of sand to set up on.

I did two 6x8 studies in an hour:

Top of the Falls, 6x8 oil
(You'll note the waterfall has diminished since I made my pencil sketch)

Below the Falls, 6x8 oil

In addition to these references, I have one more, created last year.  It's a 9x12 painting of the water.  In some ways, I prefer this water view to what I sketched yesterday—it's a little further downstream—and I may use it instead.  Once I make some progress on this painting, I'll post more photos.

Spring Shallows, 9x12 oil

A Large-Format Plein Air Painting Workshop

(News flash! I have openings in my March 18-21 Paint Sedona plein air painting workshop. I have just one student that week, and I'd love to get at least one more! You'll get lots of personal attention in this one.  Workshop runs Tue-Fri, 9-1, and is $300. For details and to register: www.PaintSedona.com.)

Every once in a while, I like to spice up the workshop season by hosting a special topic.  This not only gives me something different to teach, but it also gives my repeat students a new skill to learn.  This past week, I conducted a large-format plein air workshop.  Typically, my students work in sizes that are fairly small, such as 9x12.  The reason for this is time.   As most plein air painters know, we only have a couple of hours to start and perhaps finish a piece.

But for this workshop, in which were to visit each location twice, we would have twice the time to work on a single canvas.  You can do that in the Southwest - usually - because the weather and light are reasonably consistent from day to day.  In my supply list, I recommended that students bring paper or panels that were at least 16x20.  To some plein air painters, even a 16x20 is small.  If memory serves, Emile Gruppe in one of his books said that beginners should start out with nothing smaller than a 24x30!  But I figured 16x20 would get the point across.

Did I mention consistent weather and light?  Well, we had an absolutely beautiful January.  But the forecast for this early February workshop looked rather iffy - rain showers, snow showers, low clouds.  Weather always makes for some good painting in Sedona, but not necessarily when you are going out repeatedly, hoping to find the same lighting conditions.  But we rolled with the punches.  Despite some nighttime snow and rain and clouds, even a bit of early-morning fog, we got out there every day!  We even visited each of our two locations twice.

Fleeting Weather, 16x20 pastel

Still, the weather challenged us, since we were never really sure if we'd have to dash back to the studio, or if tomorrow's weather was going to be the same as today's.  The first two days were better, and we all worked on a single large piece each.  Above is mine, a 16x20 pastel.  You can see the fleeting sun at work.  The last two days, because the weather was increasingly uncertain, we assumed our fallback position, and went back to painting smaller, one-session pieces.  Despite the weather, we were all very happy we each got at least one large painting out of the workshop plus a couple of smaller, pochade-style pieces.

If you're thinking of painting in a larger format, here are some other issues that you will need to consider:

Easel.  Those cheap, lightweight easels you can find at discount art supply stores aren't any good for large-format painting.  They are unstable in the wind, and if you are inspired to add that final bravura stroke, you may end up unintentionally giving the painting a coup-de-grace instead.  Instead, you need a very stable easel that can handle a large size.  When I taught a pastel workshop on Cape Cod several years ago, we had enormous wind, and out of the dozen different styles of easel, only two held up:  the standard French easel, and the Gloucester-style easel (Take-It-Easel.)  My preference today for large-format painting is the Take-It-Easel.  It is American-made, easy to set up, take down and transport, and will stand up to a gale.

Palette.  Large canvases require a large mixing area or some system for mixing large batches of paint.  I sometimes paint as large as 24x30 these days, and for my palette I use an earlier version of Artwork Essential's EasyL Classic.  The mixing area is about 12x16, and that is just big enough for my six colors plus white.  Another painter I know uses a standard French easel palette for large paintings, but only puts out the one or two colors he is using at any given moment.

Pastel painters will want larger pastel sticks in addition to a set of small sticks.  When I painted the pastel above, I started with my usual Heilman "backpack" box, using small hard pastels to get the drawing started and a few color notes laid in.  As I moved further into the painting process, I opened up a bigger box that has bigger, softer sticks.  (Mine is a brand that is no longer made, but you can find similar.)

Transport.  Sure, maybe you could throw that wet, 4-foot-by-5-foot stretched canvas in the back of your rental car, but how will you get it on the plane?   (I once had a student who painted this large, and he solved the problem by finding a local gallery to take all the paintings he did in my workshop; unfortunately, the gallery closed its doors just before my student was about to deliver the paintings, and I ended up storing them until they were dry enough to take to a shipper.)  If you're flying, very large stretched canvases simply may not be practical.

You will also need to consider how to carry a wet painting back from the field to your car.  If you can't find a wet canvas carrier large enough (Guerrilla Painter's Plein Air Porter will carry up to a 20x24 panel), you may have to invest in special clips that clip two stretched canvases together, front-to-front.  Or,  you can make two trips from the field, one with your painting, a second with your gear.    If you're a pastel painter, you won't have to worry as much, but you still might want to protect the painting with a sheet of glassine.

Large-format outdoor painting isn't for the weak of heart, but it can be very rewarding.  By taking the time to really observe a scene and record my response to it makes me feel a little more part of the natural world - and a little more alive.

(By the way, in the July/August 2013 issue of The Artist's Magazine, I gave more detail on large-format painting.  Click this link for a free article from The Artists' Magazine on my process.)

Five Boats

During my continuing exploration of panoramic diptychs, I wanted to paint a piece that included a number of boats from Head Harbour, one of Campobello Island's little inlets.  Because I wanted to get a good composition, I chose to work from photographs mostly.  Boats, even ones tied up to the wharf, are notorious for moving.  Moored boats swing in the tide and wind, and boats at the wharf are likely to be taken out to fish.  So, I combined a series of three photographs into a 1:2 panorama with Corel Photo-Paint.  (I'm finding the Corel product a bit easier to use than Adobe's Photoshop.)

After I printed out my new design, I felt that I needed to move the blue boat elsewhere, so rather than go through the complexity of digitally cutting it out, flipping it around and pasting it in another location - and  possibly with perspective errors - I changed the boat position when I made my full-size sketch on a 12x24 panel.  The observant reader will note that even so, I still got the perspective a little wrong on the blue boat.  I didn't notice that until near the end of the painting process.

You'll note that the photos show a sunny day, but I wanted a moody, Maritime feeling to the painting.  So, I softened the light, choosing to add some spotty sunlight at the end.  In addition to the photos, I also used a plein air color reference, which was itself painted on a moody, Maritime day.  You'll note that this reference has an odd shape.  It is a narrow piece I sliced off a larger painting that needed cropping.  (I ended up selling the other portion.  I'll sell this narrow piece for $50+shipping if anyone's interested.)

Along the way, I felt that the painting needed something else.  An astute student, who in the past has helped with chicken-wrangling at some of more rural workshops, suggested a chicken.  Before actually painting one in, though, I decided to Photoshop it in first (or rather, Photo-Paint it in) to see how it'd look.  I really liked the surreal feeling the chicken added to the piece, but decided the painting would be a hard sell to tourists who might want a chicken-free scene.  So, I added some floats instead.

In the process of making adjustments, I corrected some perspective problems and added a little soft sunlight spilling down on the blue boat.  What makes this panorama a "natural divider" diptych?  The little island rock in the center serves to split the painting; each half could be a complete painting on its own.  It's much more subtle a divider than in some of the earlier paintings.

"Five Boats" (finished) 12x24 oil/panel
$1500 - contact me

Outdoor Painting Sizes

Last week I ran an informal poll among my blog readers and WetCanvas forum participants.  The question was, What size do you most typically paint in outdoors?  I was curious, because I'm in the process of writing an article for The Artist's Magazine on large format outdoor painting.

I limited the poll to certain sizes.  I suggested to participants that they find a size that is close if they didn't see theirs listed.  Over 130 painters responded, and if you're one of them, thank you!

Here are the percentages:

Remember that these are what respondents typically paint in.

Here are some observations:

• Nearly three-quarters of the respondents typically paint either 8x10 or 9x12
• All but 4% typically paint 12x16 or smaller

I suppose a follow-up poll might ask, What do you consider to be a large format?  But, if one were to postulate that a large format is anything that most people don't paint in, anything over 12x16 would be large.

By the way, there are still several shopping days left till Christmas!  The studio sale continues a bit longer.

Achieving Harmonious Color

Today, I took the workshop out to one of my favorite spots on Campobello Island to paint.  It's quiet, remote and very few tourists find it.  The only sound was the surf and the ringing of cobble on cobble as the waves came and went.  You can see the view above.

I started a 16x20 oil of beach roses, pictured below.  I wanted primarily to get a sense of strong sunlight and then have the rose blossoms as accent colors.  I had just started putting in a few roses to see how they'd look when the clouds rolled in, changing the lighting.  I know better than to fight with the clouds, so I packed it up.  (It was lunchtime, anyway.)  I'll go back to this same spot the next sunny day and tighten up the piece.

One question we had today was, How do you keep from using too many colors?  For those of you who like a lot of color, you need to know that too many colors can give a carnival-like look to your paintings.  If you are, in fact, painting a carnival, that's fine; but if it's a quiet little oceanside scene filled with green and blue, you don't want your painting to end up looking like a gaudy sideshow.

It's easy with oil - just don't take out very many tubes!  Six colors is plenty, and I know some very successful painters who use just three.  (I also know one who takes out forty, but he knows what he's doing.)  Pastels are more troublesome, since you can't paint a proper pastel unless you have 200 or more sticks to choose from.  The trick is to pick out a few to start, and then keep using them until you just can't make them work anymore - and then pick out one more, and use that until you can't use that one anymore, either.  Pretend that every choice from your pastel box will cost you $20, and you'll keep your choices down to just a few.  I sometimes paint an entire piece with only 20 or so sticks.

Lupines! And an Update on Self-Publishing for the Painter

This is prime lupine season now, and after two days of rain, I have been eager to get out and paint.  Today was the day.  I spent a couple of hours blocking in and adjusting shape relationships on a 12x24, above.  Tomorrow morning I'll go out again and hopefully finish up.   The weather forecasters are cautiously offering, as they do here, with a dollop of disclaimer and a dash of uncertainty, that it will be sunny again.

The panel is Ampersand Hardbord to which I've applied a coat of Golden's GAC 100 followed by a coat of Golden Acrylic Gesso and then toned with yellow ochre acrylic paint.  The yellow gives the piece a nice, sunny feeling.  If you are able to zoom in on the image, you'll note that my brush strokes barely cover it.  I'll need to go in and add more paint; some collectors like to buy their paintings by the pound, and not by the how effectively a teaspoon of paint has been used to paint three acres of canvas.  Also,  the lupines are still subtle, but I'll hit those a little harder in the next go-round.

I want to update my readers on a new development at Lulu.com.  As I mentioned in a post of only a few days ago, I have had good luck with Lulu.  But no sooner than I hit the "enter" button than did Lulu announce that they are abandoning digital video and audio content.  This includes the mini-videos I have for sale.  As of September 19th, they will no longer be available through Lulu.  So if you've been thinking about getting the videos, now is the time!  (You can, of course, still get my full-length video demonstrations from Northlightshop.com.)

For the mini-videos, we'd like to stick with Lulu, since it has an easy ordering system, and I've already gone through the learning curve.  Doing so,  however, will require another learning curve, how to create an e-book in ePub format.  Although it's called a book, it can also serve up video.  There are some other options, too, but they will require research and coffee.  In the meantime, I'd love to hear from any of  you who have suggestions.  Basically, I want to upload a video to a third party who will handle sales and allow the customer to download it.  Fire away!

BIG Painting Redux

"December Morning in the Desert" 24x30, oil

Awhile back, I was making some adjustments to a 24x30 plein air oil that I had done on-location over three sessions.  I've had a chance to look at it a bit more, and I spent some time yesterday making the finishing adjustments.  Based on other pieces I've done in the same location, I realized that my values were too dark in the distant mountains.  I lightened these and made them a bit cooler to push them back.  In addition, I lightened some of the sunlit trees at the bottom edge of the shadowed mountains.  I lightened the sky, too. I used damar retouch varnish to bring back the "wet" look of the paint before making adjustments.

 Above is the finished piece.  (If you compare it with the older version, the older one looks lighter; it isn't.  That is an artifact of trying to increase the exposure so it would "read" properly.  The latest image seems to read like the real thing.)

By the way, for those of you looking for a mentoring-style plein air painting workshop, I still have space in my March 29-April 1 workshop here in Sedona.  Let me know if you're interested!  It'll be springtime, and we should have some nice, early spring greens in the cottonwoods and aspens.

Getting the Big Picture: Large-Format

"December Morning in the Desert" 24x30, oil/canvas - Finished Version

Followers of my blog will remember that, about two weeks ago, I dragged a 24x30 canvas, along with my Beauport easel, a bag of paints and my Classic EasyL box, up to the Schnebly Hill parking lot. In the field, I worked on the piece over two separate three-hour sessions, and then I posted a photo of "our story so far."

Since then, I have gone back up to Schnebly Hill, but to do an 8x10 study of the scene. I wanted to zoom in on the terminator between light and shadow at the foot of the distant mountain. I needed to refresh my memory of how dark the shadow was in relationship to the light and of the quality of temperature contrast between the two.

I also invited a friend over to take a look and give me some feedback. M.L. Coleman (www.mlcolemanart.com) suggested I break up the large, green area of vegetation between the chasm and the mountains a bit more. He said, "The painting is more about rock than about greenery." I completely agreed with him.

So, over a couple of afternoons this week, I made my adjustments. Using my study as a reference, I increased the contrast between light and dark along the distant terminator; pushed the mountains farther away with lighter blues and purples; and dug up some shrubs in the middle ground and exposed more rock. I also added highlights here and there to "punch up" the center of interest and pathway for the eye.

Now, as you know, I'm a committed plein air painter. Most of what I do is outside, and to be outside is always my preference. I'd say this piece, even though about one-third of my time was spent in the studio, still qualifies as plein air. What do you think?

More Large-Format Oil

We had beautiful weather again yesterday - it hit nearly 70 by mid-afternoon - so I went out again at the same time to work on my big Munds Mountain painting. I didn't show you my setup, so here it is.

I'm using a Beauport easel, translated from the Chinese per Dan Corey's instructions so it works properly. On the crossbars is an Artwork Essentials EasyL "Classic." The 12x16 "Classic" not only serves as a big palette for the easel, but it's also a good pochade box when used with a tripod. What I like about it in this case is that the lid also serves as a sunshade. A bungee cord keeps it securely in place. By the way, I found that the peg holes in the Beauport legs are excellent brush holders - just watch out for them when you bend over! (In the second photo you can see a #12 flat jutting out.)

I spent another two hours on the piece. I continued to make adjustments in value and temperature relationships and tried to improve the foreground patterning so it makes a better lead-in for the eye. I finished by adding a few foreground details in the way of a couple of dead snags and some bunch grasses. I held back doing more because I wasn't sure where to go next. Today, it's in the studio, and now that we have some clouds moving in, I'll spend some time indoors pondering it before making my next move. That's what I love about these multi-session plein air pieces - you don't have to rush.

Munds Mountain - 24x20, Work-in-Progress, Stage 2

In case you missed my announcement, I've been invited to lead a New Zealand workshop March 7-14, 2012. (That's 16 months from now.) Cost is about $2500, not including air fare. The price includes accomodations, most meals and transportation to painting spots. We'll also have land and sea sightseeing trips plus some great dining! I need 16-20 people. If you're interested, e-mail me at mcj.painter@gmail.com.