Painting Low Tide

View in browser

*Never AI, always human. Any errors are my own.*

Here are some FREE tips on paniting at low tide! https://mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/painting-low-tide

Santa Fe Sketches: We Have Reached "Peak Color"

View in browser

*Never AI, always human. Any errors are my own.*

Here's some fall color for you: https://mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/santa-fe-sketches

Some Gouache Sketches from the Winter

View in browser

**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**

Winter's over...or is it?  Details on my Substack blog here! https://mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/some-gouache-sketches-from-the-winter

Some Sketches from the 10th Annual Plein Air Convention

View in browser

**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**

Here I am demonstrating at the Judson's booth.
Carl Judson is in the background.  And thank you
to the members of En Plein Air Texas (also pictured)
who took the photo.  Some visitors asked why I wasn't
standing to paint.  Carl asked me to paint this way
because he wanted to demonstrate how easy and
convenient the 8x10 Cigar Box is to use in this manner.
I think I may start painting this way much of the time.

While demonstrating at Judson's Art Outfitters booth during the recent plein air convention, folks asked me if I'd post images of the sketches after I'd finished.  Here are a few of them.  I wanted to get these up on my blog before I left my winter studio (New Mexico) for my summer studio (Campobello Island, off the coast of Maine.)  They are still a bit rough, and when I get back in the fall, I may do a bit more with them.  They were all made on the Judson's Guerrilla Painter 8x10 Cigar Box -- my new best friend.

Grand Canyon Illumination, 8x10 Oil
As with all of the demonstrations, this was
painted from a photo.  By the way, when I paint en
plein air, the enviroment has a tremendous effect
on me, pumping me up with energy and excitement:
The sound of rushing water, the smell of soil
baking under the sun, the wind on my cheek.
This energy is completely missing in the studio. 
For studio paintings (or when painting anywhere indoors),
I try to encourage that same energy by really pushing
the color.  

Grand Canyon Point, 8x10 Oil
Same approach as in the sketch above.

Eldorado Rapids, 8x10 Oil
I painted this one on-location at Eldorado Canyon
State Park on one of the afternoon paintouts.
There was so much beauty in the cliffs and the water,
I was overwhelmed and had to focus instead on this
simple, small rapid.

New Mexico Color, 8x10 Oil
Another demonstration from a photo,
again with exaggerated color.

Golden Cabins, Blue Air, 8x10 Oil
I painted this on-location in Golden, in the
historic museum.  This was the day we had
really terrible smoke, and even the closest hills
were tinted blue and nearly invisible.  In such
times, I focus on the nearby.

Now I really am off to Campobello Island.  I hope to have some paintings from that area to share soon.  In the meantime, I'll post some interesting art history for you.

Studio C Gallery in Los Angeles

View in browser

This week, Studio C Gallery in Los Angeles put out a wonderful blog post about me and my work with lots of images.  You can read the post here:

https://www.studiocgalleryla.com/post/michael-chesley-johnson-an-artist-whose-work-responds-to-the-landscape-in-a-personal-way

Peggy Nichols, who runs Studio C, took a workshop from me years ago.  It's nice to be remembered!

My Art History: Camille Corot

An Artist Painting in the Forest of Fountainebleau (1850-1855)
Camille Corot / Private Collection

At 26, frustrated with his career as a draper and weary of commercialism and what he called “business tricks,” Camille Corot (1796-1875) finally gained approval from his father to study as an artist.  Although he trained in the Neoclassical tradition, in which the artistic aim is to represent an ideal of Beauty in nature, often sacrificing scientific accuracy in the effort, Corot quickly merged that approach with another, Realism.  "I made my first landscape from nature...under the eye of this painter, whose only advice was to render with the greatest scrupulousness everything I saw before me. The lesson worked, and since then I have always treasured precision.” 

Quarry of the Chaise Marie at Fontainebleau (1830-1835)
Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent, Belgium

Early on, he began traveling widely to gather field studies for studio work.  When he was 33, he arrived in Barbizon—an event that would win him fame as a member of the Barbizon School.  There he discovered other artists painting Barbizon's Forest of Fontainebleau, including Daubigny, Rousseau and Millet.  Although he worked hard and even showed in the annual Salon, critics were slow to praise his work, which varied from landscapes to nudes to scenes of Italian architecture.  But the writer, Baudelaire, acclaimed Corot as the leader in the "modern school of landscape painting,” noting: "M. Corot is more a harmonist than a colorist, and his compositions, which are always entirely free of pedantry, are seductive just because of their simplicity of color."  After the Revolution of 1848, Corot was admitted to the Salon jury, which was quite a boost after years of struggle.

Fontainebleau, the Bas Breau Road (1830-1835)
Private Collection

Over the years, many painters came to him for instruction, including Camille Pissaro, Eugène Boudin and Berthe Morisot.  He also contributed to many charities for artists and their families.  In 1872, he purchased a house for Honoré Daumier, who was blind and penniless.  Not long after that, he gave 10,000 francs to the widow of Millet for the support of her children.  Despite the successes which enabled this generosity, many of his fellow artists and collectors felt he had been neglected, and in 1874, one year before his death, they awarded him with a gold medal.

Corot is often considered a parent of Impressionism.  Yet, unlike the Impressionists, Corot used more traditional, muted colors in his palette.  And whereas the Impressionists focused more on color and light than on form, which resulted in “loose” brush strokes, Corot laid down the paint with careful placement and control.  So what is it really that makes him one of Impressionism's progenitors?  I think it was his attention to noting accurate color relationships in his landscapes,  which allowed him to create a realistic sense of light and shadow.  Despite their sloppy brush work, the Impressionists were all about these color relationships, and that is what they learned from Corot.

Now, here's one of my works, an oil-on-paper that has a peculiarly Corot feeling:

"Towering Cottonwood"
12x9, oil on paper
Michael Chesley Johnson

The 2020 Calendar is Here!

The 2020 calendar is here!

Every year, I go through last year's paintings and pick out my thirteen favorite to put into a calendar.  This year, I'm a little early on this project--so you have plenty of time to order them for yourself and other loved ones for the holidays.  (WalMart already has Christmas decorations out!)

The calendar also notes the major US, UK and Canadian holidays and offers plenty of space for scribbling down appointments.  You can get it for $11.99 here, at Lulu:

Calendar Specifications:
• 11” wide x 8.5” high (closed), 11” wide x 17” high (open)
• 100# unlaminated white cover stock
• 100# white gloss interior text stock
• White wire-o binding covers .375” at the top of the cover image and bottom of interior images
• Hole punched in photo .25” from top edge

More 1980 Oil Colors by Gamblin

Overrun 12x14 Oil - Available (includes frame, shipping to lower 48 states)

I wanted to create a companion piece to "The River in Autumn," which I featured in my last post, using Gamblin's 1980 Oil Colors.  I had two nice matching gold frames, and I thought it'd be nice to use the same color palette in a second painting.  With that in mind, I created "Overrun."

First, I put "The River in Autumn" in a frame and created some design sketches.  I also pulled out some pastel sketches I'd made of a similar scene, from which I planned to pull some details as well as color notes:

I found myself especially enjoying the following mixtures:

Yellow ochre + phthalo green (a deep cool green for shadows)
Yellow ochre + ivory black (a deep warm green for sunlit areas)
Ultramarine blue + ivory black (a dulled-down blue for reflections)

and if I wanted an even lighter, warmer and richer note in the water:

Yellow ochre + cadmium yellow light

Here is the first painting again:

The River in Autumn 12x14 oil - Available - (includes frame, shipping to lower 48 states)

And now,  here is how they look together, framed:

Separately, the paintings are $1200 each (includes frame, shipping to the lower 48 states).  But I would like to keep them together as a pair, since they share color palettes and theme.  I'd sell them as a pair for $2000.  Let me know if you can give this nice pair a good home!

I had a great time painting these variations on a theme.  Now I am off on family business for a week, and then I will be back for the winter to paint, write and play with Raku the Firecloud Rez Dog.

Early Morning Fog 9x12 Oil

"Early Morning Fog"
9x12 Oil
by Michael Chesley Johnson
SOLD

On Campobello Island, where I have my summer studio, there is an old lobster pound.  A lobster pound is an area where fishermen store live lobsters when the lobstering season has ended; this keeps them fresh for the table.  One very foggy morning, I stopped to paint this one.  I loved the softening effect of the fog -- it created the perfect mood.  This little shack vanished a few years ago.

Read The Fine Print

**Paintings shipped unframed
**Free postage to continental US
**Prices in US Dollars
**Check preferred, but Paypal payment OK.  Contact me at info@mchesleyjohnson.com to purchase.
**First come, first served!
**PRICES GOOD UNTIL AUGUST 31, 2018
**View more of these paintings at https://mchesleyjohnson.blogspot.com/search/label/2018%20Sale

Some New Small Plein Air Paintings

Contrary to popular belief, I've been painting.  Yes, I've been designing my new web site, creating my new online course plus working on a dozen other projects, but I have indeed been painting.  With that in mind, I thought I'd share with you some of my recent small plein air paintings.

"Group Portrait: Sycamores"

12x9 oil

I love the dancer-like quality of Arizona's creekside sycamores.  Degas

would have wanted to paint these.  Purchase it here.

"Portrait: Thunder Mountain"
9x12 oil
Also known as Capitol Butte and Greyback, this mountain dominates the Sedona area.
I can even see it from the hilltop behind my house, ten miles south of Sedona. Purchase it here.

"Spring Creek Rush"

9x12 oil

The creek is up due to recent rains and snowmelt.  I love the way the water

glows with olive green and yellow ochre.  Purchase it here.

"The Light that Envelopes"

12x9 pastel

Oak Creek passes near where I live.  Springtime, it possesses this beautiful

olive color.  The sycamore seems to enjoy the creek as much

as I do.  Purchase it here.

Paintings for Acadia Inviational III at Argosy Gallery, Bar Harbor, Maine

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I took some time off from teaching workshops this winter to work on a few special projects.  One of these projects was painting for the upcoming Acadia Invitational III exhibit.  It's a little strange, painting maritime scenes while in Arizona, but with a little music* and the right reference material, I found it easy to transport myself to Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park.  I had a wonderful time re-visiting Maine this season, in a virtual sort of way.  Besides my plein air sketches and photos, I possess a vast internal library of memories of the hikes I've taken there over the decades.  You can't paint these scenes in the studio without them.

Before I go further, I should explain what Acadia Invitational III is.  Every few years, Argosy Gallery in Bar Harbor, Maine, invites 30 artists to be in this show.  The show runs for over a year, giving the public plenty of time to view and buy some really fine paintings of MDI and the Park.  It's rare to see this quality of work, and so much of it, in one place.  This year marks the third event, and it will run from July 29th, 2017, through October 2018. (Yes, you read that right – 2018.) Other artists invited include T.M. Nicholas, Kathleen Dunphy, John Cogan and joe Anna Arnett. I am delighted to be invited to display my work at this prestigious gallery and in such good company.

Each artist is allowed three paintings in the show; one large painting, and two smaller ones.  For my biggest piece, I chose a well-known but still beautiful view of Otter Point.  I particularly enjoyed painting the foreground rocks and ledges.  For my next piece, I decided the feature the schooner Margaret Todd, the only four-masted schooner still sailing the east coast.  (I've actually sailed on that ship – what an experience!)  For my smallest piece, I featured a quiet, little-visited part of the island.  I won't tell you where it is, but if you enroll in one of my workshops on Mount Desert Island, I may take you there.

I wanted to share these three paintings with you and to give you an idea of the relative sizes of each.  The image at the top of this post will give you that.  Below, I show you the images that you can then click on for a bigger view.

Acadian Summer 12x24 Oil

The Schooner Margaret Todd 12x16 Oil

On the Edge 9x12 Oil

---

* I have eclectic musical tastes.  Soundtrack this winter by Sigur Rós.

Looking Back at 2016

Behind Sand Beach 6x8 oil

I thought I'd share a selection of my paintings from this past year for your enjoyment.  Some you might have missed, others you might have already seen, a few might be new to you.  Here's my offering.  Don't forget you can always see more at my website, www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com Happy holidays!

A Place to Stand 24x12 oil

Autumn's Turn 24x36 oil

 

Canyon Trails 12x24 oil

Condor's Realm 9x12 oil

Gatehouse 6x8 oil

Evening Clouds 6x8 oil

High Desert Juniper 12x18 pastel

Highlands Cottage 16x20 oil

Late Spring Snow 9x12 oil

Lifting Fog 12x16 oil

Lighthouse 8x10 oil

Days of Umber 9x12 oil (self-portrait)

Reaching Up 20x16 oil

Ready to Sail 12x9 oil

Red Butte 8x16 oil

Rocks & Foam 6x8 oil

Seawall Sunset 6x8 oil

Secret Mountain Wilderness 12x36

Out of the Shadows 9x12 oil

Sunday Brunch 16x8 oil

Surge 6x8 oil

Toward Otter Point 16x20 oil