A 60th Anniversary: Roosevelt Campobello International Park

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**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**

It's the Roosevelt Campobello International Park's 60th anniversary this week! (Or at least, this is the week it's being celebrated.) I'm opening my studio this week so you can see (and/or buy!) some of the paintings I've made of the park's cottages and natural landscape. Details here - https://mchesleyjohnson.substack.com/p/a-60th-anniversary-roosevelt-campobello

"Somewhere in the Cuillin" 16x20 Oil

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Here's a new painting I want to introduce to you.  You can read about it over on my Substack.

Canyon Abstraction: Crevice

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**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**

"Crevice" 16x20 Oil
Available

Not long ago, I sold a large painting from my Canyon Abstraction series.  It was one of a trio that I had hung in the bedroom, and I have been missing it like an old friend.  This past month, I had some free time and decided to paint it again.

I pulled out my pandemic gouache journals, which had most of the color studies I needed.  I also printed out a copy of the painting I sold, plus a few photos of this particular part of the canyon.  Interestingly, the only reference I ended up using was the photo of the original, and I used that just for the composition, not for color or form – all this other information was conveniently held in memory, thanks to having spent much time sketching in the canyon over the last few years.

I started off by toning my 16x20 panel with Gamblin's Transparent Earth Yellow.  This is a beautiful, luminous yellow that served well as a base color for the canyon wall.  After that, I used Burnt Sienna and Viridian to create a warm dark for the shadows and cracks, and Cerulean Blue Hue for reflected skylight.  Finally, I used touches of Naphthol Scarlet and Cadmium Orange to indicate hot spots of reflected canyon light in the shadows.

After my first pass at color, I shot a photo of the panel and used my photoediting app (Krita) and a Wacom Intuous tablet to do a little digital painting.  I wanted to experiment with color and get a sense of where I might go in the next stage.  I liked the result, and I used some of it in the finished painting, such as the cool pinks in the edges of the wall and the cool, blue-green stains on the rock.  But as much as I enjoyed my digital painting session, my preference is for using a real brush to push around thick oil paint.  Even so, I found the detour useful, and I'll probably do it again.

Another tool I used was the new "gesso and ground blade" from Gamblin.  Neat tool, which I also used in this painting for spreading paint over large areas and also scraping back areas.

Gamblin's Transparent Earth Yellow

Initial Drawing

Blocking in Darks plus a Few Lines

Adding Some Color

Wacom Tablet and Digital Painting

The "Digital Version" of the Painting
(Note that in the final version of the oil, I
departed slightly from this.)

Scraping with the Gamblin Tool

The Gamblin "Gesso and Ground Blade"

Fall Studio Sale

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**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**

It's that time of year again.  Twice a year, I offer a 50% sale on paintings.  Now it's time for 50% off on any Southwest painting over $300!  I've got a huge inventory of work, some studio paintings but many plein air pieces from New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.  Go here to see the Southwest paintings. 

Details:

• Paintings are shipped unframed
• Shipped free to the continental US (I'll contact you for extra shipping if you're out of this area)
• You can pay by personal check, but I will also take Zelle and Paypal (contact me for payment details)
• Coupon code (important!) is "fallishere" (all lower case, no spaces)
• Coupon good until December 31, 2023

I'm sorry to see any of these paintings go, as they represent so many beautiful places I've painted in and so many wonderful times I've had.  But the walls and racks are a bit crowded, and I am still painting, and I need somewhere to put all the new ones!

Realism Live: Paintings up for Auction

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Once again, as an "artist emeritus" of PleinAir magazine's online conventions, for Realism Live I've been asked to put up some recent paintings for auction.  The auction starts Monday, November 6th, and ends on Saturday, November 11th.

The paintings I'm offering are from the Pagosa Springs fall painting retreat that I led in October.  (Well, there is one extra painting that's not from that trip--instead, it's a view of the lake near my studio.)  They are all 8x10 unframed oils, and sure to please!  Above are thumbnail images of the five paintings.

You can get to the auction here.  

Summer on Campobello Island...and Affordable Paintings

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**Authentically Human! Not Written by AI**

A sampling of the Maritime paintings I have

My senses, so accustomed to the high desert of New Mexico, have come alive again here by the ocean.  The sea air, misty and cool, brushes softly against my skin.  The slightest of breezes pushes ashore the iron smell of seaweed.  Round pebbles the size of my thumb roll beneath my step.  Sea birds cry before me and jump into the air, only to descend a dozen feet ahead and to then rise again as I approach.  

There are many islands in the world, but none of them are like Campobello Island, where I find myself now.  I'm eager to spend the summer exploring the trails and painting my way through the season.

This year, to make room for the new paintings, I am offering 50% off any Maritime painting priced at $300 or higher.  I will ship the paintings unframed, and the price includes free shipping to the US or Canada. (US dollars only and offer good only through August 15.)

You can see the paintings at this link.  (I have over 70 paintings on the website, so make sure you go through all the pages!)  When you checkout, use the code “summerdays”.  I prefer payment by check, but I will also take Zelle or Paypal.  After your purchase, I will contact you with the payment information.

Here's an even better deal:  If you come to Campobello Island to see my studio and buy a painting, I will give you 60% off the purchase price.  Contact me at mchesleyjohnson@gmail.com if you'd like a visit.  I'm more than happy to show you my studio.  I have many, many sketches that are not on the website, and you can only see them in my studio.

Friar's Bay, where I live

Get It Now: Plein Air Live Auction

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Even though I'm not on the faculty of Plein Air Live this year, I was invited to submit some paintings for the auction that is held in conjunction with the event.  I thought I'd share with you the link to the auction.  You can see my paintings at the auction through this link.   (If you like to see the other 100+ paintings up for auction, simply clear the search field.)

The auction goes live today (Monday, March 6) at 1 pm ET and runs through March 11.

Happy bidding!

Escalante Roundup

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"Along the Burr Trail" 9x12 Oil
This and other paintings in this post are for sale!  Contact me if interested.

I just finished up a fantastic week of painting and hiking in Escalante, Utah. My premise for coming was the Escalante Canyons Art Festival, which has a plein air competition component. But really, I just wanted to come and explore canyon country. I wasn’t disappointed, as the town sits on the edge of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument which, along with the Bryce Canyon and Capital Reef parks, provides nearly 3,000 square miles of painting and hiking opportunities.

It’s hard to cover all that in just a week. On my way up from New Mexico, we stopped first at Red Canyon in the Dixie National Forest near Panguitch. We’d heard that Bryce Canyon wasn’t very dog-friendly as it allows dogs only on paved areas. But the Bryce website very helpfully suggested Red Canyon as an option for hikers with dogs. Arriving just shortly after dawn, we were pleased at how nice the trails were. (They made Raku happy, too.) After doing a hike there, we headed on up to Bryce to explore a bit and, where possible, to give Raku a break.

Bryce, for a painter, can be overwhelming. All those complicated towers! Although I didn’t paint at either location, I felt that Red Canyon offered more paintable scenes. Even so, Bryce was a fantasy land of red and yellow marzipan spires and spun sugar, cunningly shaped into confusing and surprising shapes–a delight for the eye, if not for the paint brush. We got to Bryce about mid-morning when there was little traffic; our immediate goal was a picnic lunch at the end of the road, at Rainbow Point. We took our time on working our way back out, and I was surprised at how the traffic had increased in just a couple of hours. Our last stop, at Sunset Point, reminded me so much of Grand Canyon with the crowds at Mather Point during high season. (Our parks are just getting busier and busier–perhaps we plein air painters are doing too good a job of promoting them.)

Then it was on to Escalante. We’d rented a historic home for our time there right at the edge of town but just a few blocks from the town park, where most of the festival events would be happening. Once again, Trina had proved herself by selecting a location that gave us the best of everything: not just in-town walks, but walks into the rural ranch land, too. One of our favorite evening walks took us on a quiet road with views of hayfields and white cliffs.

Other than for the Quick Draw, I painted in town only once, making a portrait of our lodging. Mostly, though, I painted out in the GSENM area, looking for interesting washes, cliffs, hills–well, my readers will know the kind of landscapes I like. Mornings were a combination of hiking and painting, and then afternoons were a bit different, with painting and hiking. We had rain, some of it quite heavy, for a day and half, but we did have periods when we could get out. I liked the clouds and drizzle, as it provided a new filter for me to see this landscape through.

Unlike most of plein air events I’ve attended, this one didn’t seem to have many opportunities for artists–or artists and collectors–to get together. I did arrive a day late and missed a meet-and-greet of artists, volunteers and other interested parties, but there wasn’t much else. Everyone was still, however, a little nervous about COVID, so perhaps this was just an unusual year. I saw some pretty good paintings once the competition pieces were hung. I think I saw the most people during the Quick Draw on Friday.

Besides the painting component, the festival hosted arts and craft vendors and musicians for the final two days. I thought the craft fair had a high level of vendors–not something I expected in a small town like Escalante.

Now we are on our way to the east side of the GSENM to hike a bit and spend the night before heading home. (And in a week, we’ll be on our way to Taos for a painting retreat!)

Here are a few photos–mostly of me, painting. (You can do a Google search for photos of the landscape.) Also, images of the paintings, all of which are for sale! Contact me if you’re interested.

Just finished a quick block-in before the thunder began 
and I had to pack up

Painting in a wash along the Burr Trail

"Morning Hike" 12x24 Oil
Available!

Painting our lodging, a historic home

Still smiling

A couple of rainy days forced me onto the 
sheltered porch to tweak paintings

"Pioneer Home" 9x12 Oil
Available!

"Storms at Dawn" 12x24 Oil
Available!

"Get Lost" 9x12 Oil
Available!

I Had a Frame

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I had a frame.

Sometimes, that's how a painting starts—with a frame. A couple of years ago, a patron made me a deal.  He offered to purchase some paintings and to pay part of the bill by trading a frame.  It was a very nice frame—solid wood, gold leaf, enough scrollwork so it looked classy but not gaudy—and even though it was for a large size (24x30) of painting I rarely work in, I took it.  It was a frame I couldn't have afforded to buy, not without a specific painting and a committed collector, but with the trade I thought it was a good deal.

The frame then sat in my studio, getting moved from corner to corner as I puttered around and tried to avoid it because I had no idea what kind of painting I'd make for it.

One day, while on a misty hike along our island's rarely-visited shoreline, I spied a beautiful arrangement of rocks sitting at the edge of the water.  The mist had made the rocks silvery with moisture, and the seaweed, at mid-tide, trailed gracefully about them.  The water was glassy-calm, as it often is on foggy days.  After snapping a few photos, I wondered if I should run off to get my gear and come back to paint my usual 9x12 plein air piece.  But I realized a 9x12 simply would not do it justice.  I felt it called for something bigger.

I then remembered my frame and immediately knew I had found my subject.  I took my photos home and got to work on some design ideas.  I pulled out a couple of plein air sketches I'd made under similar weather conditions to use as color references.  I gessoed some etching paper and got to work on figuring out a color scheme.  I ordered a panel large enough to fit the frame. (Its arrival was delayed for a few weeks, which was too bad, as I had wanted to put this new painting in a show as a centerpiece but the panel came too late.  But that tale is for a future post.)

Once I'd settled on design and color, I got to work.  I used a mid-value grey pastel to place the major shapes on the panel.  I like to use pastel for this step, as I can draw with it more easily than with a brush, and the pastel, being pure pigment, gets more or less eaten up by the following layer of paint.  Next, I used a large brush and blocked in the main dark shapes in raw umber, following this with greys, primarily cool reds, greens and blues.  For this, I made heavy use of Gamblin's Portland Greys, tinting them as needed with color.  I then moved on to sky and water, using the same color palette.  Once completed, I put down the brush and took up a large knife, blocking in first the rock cracks, using nothing but Ivory Black.  (I don't know why we artists are told that black is taboo, but there's nothing like it for the kind of dark you see in the crevices between maritime rocks.)   From here, I continued with the rock shadows, the lit parts of the rocks and seaweed and, finally, sky and water.

While working, I kept my color study, with was about a quarter the size of the final painting, right beside my easel so I could refer to it constantly.  I'd worked hard to come up with a palette that worked, and I didn't want to depart too much from that.  Occasionally, I found myself getting excited by adding some odd bit of color that lay outside my pre-chosen palette, but when I stepped back, I always saw it hurt the overall mood, and so I would scrape it off and go back to my color study, which had the mood just right.

Toward the end of the painting, I found that it was helpful to have a second pair of eyes.  Despite all the tricks of turning a painting upside down or viewing a photo of it to uncover hidden problems, there are some issues that only fresh eyes can see.  Trina pointed out a few that, once corrected, helped the painting immeasurably.  The lesson here:  Don't be afraid to show a work-in-progress to another artist.  You don't have to take the advice, but at least it gives you another perspective and, in the end, might improve the piece.

And don't turn down a frame just because you don't have a painting for it.  Someday, maybe, you will.

Here a few photos of my process.  Not pictured is my palette:  Portland Grey (Light, Medium, Deep), Phthalo Green, Olive Green, Permanent Green Light, Green Gold, Raw Umber, Ivory Black, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Titanium-Zinc White.  (All Gamblin.)

Block-in with raw umber

Restating the drawing with pastel

Block-in over the Raw Umber with tinted
Portland Greys

Restating the drawing with paint,
correcting the drawing

Working here and there

Done with the brush

My set-up.  Color study and value sketch on right.

Now the knife and some richer color

More knife work

Finished painting.
Adjusted shape of two rocks in the foreground.
Can you find them?
"Littoral"
24x30 Oil
Available, frame included - details here

Art by Committee?

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"Lake Ice" 12x36 oil/panel
Available Here

“Art by committee” has never worked for me.  I dislike getting other people too involved in my creative decisions.  Of course, that doesn't mean I won't ask for advice at a critical point.  If I'm uncertain, I may seek out one of the master artists I know.  And in workshops, if a demonstration is veering into the ditch, I'll ask my students for input.  But as the artist, I feel that, ultimately, all decisions are mine.

But once in awhile, I like to ask a larger audience, one that includes people who might say: “I don't know much about art, but I know what I like.”  I'm interested to see what appeals to people who aren't artists but who like art, especially if I feel I have multiple options for a problem, and each option seems an equally worthy solution.  Sure, I could toss a coin—but I think that asking a larger audience can give me valuable insight.

Not far from my studio, there's a ridge that overlooks the lake.  I like to hike up to it for the view.  One morning this winter, I went out when the sun was still quite low in the sky.  Shadowy blues covered the snowy ridge, but the ice-covered lake and a distant ridge glowed with an incandescent, warm light.  I instantly knew I had to paint the scene—but how best to evoke the feeling I had felt on that ridge?

The easiest part of the answer was color harmony—dominant cool blues and greens with a punch of hot red-orange.  Nothing else would work.  The harder part was design.  Design sets the stage for color, and I needed to address that first.  How could I give the viewer a sense of scale and the feeling of being up high?

In the studio, I always take my time exploring design options.  This time was no different.  I put a big sheet of newsprint up on the easel and began sketching out some ideas in vine charcoal.  These explorations gave me some exciting possibilities—but I didn't believe any one rose above the others.  I felt each could make a good painting, yet I couldn't decide.  The only thing I could decide on was a long format, a 12x36 (1:3 aspect ratio.)  So, I put the question to my followers on Facebook and Instagram and asked them to vote:

Design "A" got many votes and seemed to appeal to people without question.

Design "B" got a few more votes than “A."   However, the tree in the bottom left was a problem for some.  It obstructed their visual journey into the distance.  Because of this, one person remarked that, if the distant view of the lake was my subject, “A” would be the right choice; but if I wanted to keep the viewer in the foreground cliff area, then “B” was the right choice.  (The lone tree and the foreground cliff together serve as a fence for the eye.)

Design "C" got the least number of votes.  But here, the subject was clearly the foreground or middle ground.

My personal choice was “B,” the result of which you can see at the top of this post.  Although I understood what people were saying about the tree on the left, I was looking at the design in a larger version—4x12—than what most were seeing on their computer screens.  At that size, the tree was less significant and, in my mind, wasn't an obstacle.  For me, it served to keep the viewer's eye from wandering out the bottom left corner and also helped with the feeling of the viewer being high up.

Once I scaled up my 4x12 design to my 12x36 cradled panel, the tree became even less of an obstacle.  Lightening the tree a bit in the painting and darkening the ice behind it reduced the contrast slightly, which further reduced the tree's prominence.  The eye could now follow the little accents of light in the shadows out to the ice and beyond, settling finally on the distant cliff.  I also chose to tone down the “incandescence” of that cliff, allowing the viewer to enjoy the closer cliff a little longer.

After painting “B,” I decided to tackle a version of the view without the tree.  I wanted to emphasize the lake this time, so rather than trying for a long format and including much of the foreground cliff, I narrowed the view, going with a 14x18 (7:9 aspect ratio) and leaving out the tree. I think it works well, too.  

"Lake Ice 2" 14x18 oil/canvas
Available Here

Input from my larger audience helped with making sure in “B” that the left-corner tree was “tweaked” to serve my purpose correctly, and it also encouraged me to try a version of “A.”  Without that input, I would forever be second-guessing myself on this project.

Some Wee Scottish Paintings

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"Skye Sheep" 6x8 oil - Available

I recently needed to paint a few small pieces and to have them dry quickly so I could ship them.  This need arises occasionally, and when it does, I switch from traditional oil paints to alkyds.  For these paintings, I used Gamblin FastMatte colors.  I like these because paintings made with them dry to the touch in about 24 hours, and after a couple of days, they are completely dry.  (I do not paint in very thick layers.)

The paint dries to a matte finish, so I varnish them with Gamblin's Gamvar Gloss, which brings back some of the glossiness one expects from oil paint.  Because the FastMatte dries matte, a single coat doesn't give you a super-glossy effect, but it does bring back the proper value relationships and color saturation (as a varnish will do with traditional oil paints.) 

The paintings are all based on photos, field sketches and memories from previous trips to Scotland.  Because I had to cancel this summer's painting retreat on the Isle of Skye, it was good to revisit Scotland in my mind.  Most are sold, but there are a few left if you are interested.

"Beneath Buachaille" 6x8 Oil - Available

"Birsay Cliff" 6x8 Oil - Available

"Bridge over the Burn" 6x8 Oil - SOLD

"Highland Bridge" 6x8 Oil - SOLD

"Rousay Fish Houses" 6x8 Oil - SOLD

Giving Suggestions for the Holidays

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The New Book!

It doesn't hurt to mention this again.  I figure if you'd prefer not to hear about my painting sale and my new book, you can either skip this blog post or stop following me.  But I do hope you don't stop following me, as I still have a great deal to share with you about plein air painting.

Painting Sale!

Use the coupon code “holiday2021” on check out to get 50% off for any of my Southwest paintings.  (Sorry, no Canadian Maritime, coastal Maine or seascapes — they are all in my Canadian studio.  I will run a summer sale once I am there.) Zelle or check accepted.  You can see the Southwest paintings here.

• Paintings will be unframed (even if they say they come with a frame — this makes it easier for us to ship quickly)
• Free shipping only to the lower 48 states  in the United States.  For other countries, we’ll contact you for the shipping.  For most paintings, shipping will be via US Postal Service with insurance and tracking.
• We can’t guarantee delivery dates, but we’ll do our best. 

The New Book!

My new book, BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE PAINTING OUTDOORS: MASTERING PLEIN AIR, is now available for pre-order from Amazon.  The book shares tips and techniques from 15 of today’s master plein air painters and covers all major media—oil, pastel, watercolor, gouache and acrylic. 160 pages and hundreds of beautiful images!  The book will be released March 1, 2022.  You can get it here.

(Can't see the video? Go here.)

On the Road: Downeast Maine Plein Air Painting Workshop and Retreat

End of Bar Road, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Lubec, Maine, where I taught a workshop one week and then ran a retreat the next. Normally, I'd be there for the entire summer, but because the Canadian border was closed to me, I was unable to occupy our family home on Campobello Island, my usual base camp for workshops.  Having rescheduled these two events from last summer because of the pandemic, I didn't want to disappoint anyone yet again, so I decided to fly up and rent car and lodging.  Despite the extra expense and trouble, I had a fantastic time and enjoyed working with everyone.

Because of the unusual heat wave baking New England, a good deal of moisture pushed toward Lubec and the cold waters of the Grand Manan Channel, making for some foggy mornings and drizzly afternoons.  Even so, we had some stunningly brilliant hours.  Of course, one of the charms of Downeast Maine is the fickle weather, and as plein air painters, we are all used to rolling with whatever comes along.  We painted at a variety of locations, including West Quoddy Head, where the cliffs and the ocean swells are most dramatic; in Lubec itself, where we enjoyed a bounty of ramshackle fish buildings and fishing boats; and in spots nearby, where we lingered on quiet beaches or near tidal streams that created interesting patterns among the seaweed-cloaked rocks.

For the workshop, students lodged where they pleased, but for the retreat, we all lodged at West Quoddy Station, just a mile from the lighthouse on West Quoddy Head.  A beautifully-renovated US Coast Guard campus, it gave us immediate access to some of the best scenery and provided a comfortable place where we could be together and build the friendships that are so important to the retreat concept.  I am scheduling this retreat again for next summer.

I wrote that the Canadian border was closed.  This is not entirely true, as it did open up while I was at the retreat.  Fortunately, I was able to fulfill the requirements for entry, and I went over for an afternoon, which was all I had time for.  (The border agent asked, “You went through all that trouble just for a few hours?”)  I checked on house and studio—it'd been two years since our last departure—and I'm happy to say all is in good order.  I hope next year will be better for international travel.

In this post, I'm sharing some of the work I created while in Maine.  They are all for sale at $200 each, shipping included to the lower 48 US states

By the way, if you are interested in my plein air painting retreats, here are two coming soon that I still have space in.  Please let me know if you would like to join us!

Taos, New Mexico.  September 26-October 1, 2021.  $300, lodging and meals not included.  Join me for some of northern New Mexico's best scenery!  We'll paint at such beautiful locations as the Rio Grande Gorge, the scenic village of Arroyo Seco, the aspen-clad slopes near the ski area and, of course, in Taos itself.  Our retreat will include visits to such historic sites as the Mabel Dodge Luhan House, the Nicolai Fechin House and the Couse-Sharp Studio.

Sedona, Arizona.  November 2-5, 2021.  $300, lodging and meals not included.  I lived and painted in the Sedona area for over ten years, and I'm eager to share some of my very special painting spots with you.  We'll paint among Sedona's stunning red cliffs and explore its rich riparian areas.  At this time of year, we should have some good color in the cottonwood trees, which make for a beautiful pairing with the red rocks.

Unlike my all-level workshops, the retreats have no formal instruction.  However, we'll have daily critique sessions, informal art talk, and I'll demonstrate my painting methods in both oil and pastel.  The retreats are a great way to connect with the other participants and to learn from them.  And, of course, I will be your in-house expert and happy to answer any questions!  (You can learn more about my retreats here.)  The retreats will be held entirely outdoors, and we will follow CDC guidelines for masking and distancing.  Let me know if you're interested in any of these retreats.

Fog in Purples and Greens, 9x12 pastel/paper

Fog in Greys and Greens, 9x12 pastel/paper

Low Tide, 9x12 pastel/paper

Bay View, 9x12 pastel/paper

Fish Buildings, 9x12 pastel/paper

Standing Tall, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

The Village, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

Fog and Rocks, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

Staying Put, 5x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

Reaching Out, 9x12 oil/Multimedia Artboard

Pirate Cove in Fog, 9x12 pastel/paper