Gathering Reference Material

Recently, the Nature Trust of New Brunswick commissioned me to paint two pieces of property it is trying to purchase for protection. Although I'd like to present the organization with two strictly plein-air pieces, time and weather may not permit this approach. Since yesterday looked to be the only sunny day in the near future, I decided to gather reference material on-location. Yesterday, I drove up to St Andrews-by-the-Sea to take photos and to paint 5x7s. In the event I decide to do studio paintings, the photos will help with details and the 5x7s, with colors.

The first piece of land adjoins the Caughey-Taylor Nature Preserve. I headed for a lookout over Sam Orr's Pond. The lookout, about 20 minutes in by foot with a steep climb at the end, gazes over the Pond to the prospective purchase on the other side. (A bronze plaque on the summit commemorates Thom Washburn.)

From here, I took several dozen photos of the property, followed by a 5x7 to capture the morning light. Here is the 5x7 along with a photo of me at the site. (Pardon the glare on the painting; some of the still-wet brushstrokes catch the light.)


By the time I descended, low tide had passed and the water was starting to roll back in. I wanted to photo and paint the next property, Navy Island, as close to low tide as possible. Navy Island, 150 acres of undeveloped coastal habitat, lies just offshore from St Andrews. From Pottery Creek, I had a remarkable view of Niger Reef in the foreground with Navy Island not too far away. Here's the 5x7:

Now, should the weather remain fickle, I can take my color studies and photos and enjoy creating a larger piece in the comfort of my studio.

Three-Color Oil Palette, III

For my final version of a three-color palette, I removed the Ivory Black and the Cadmium Yellow Deep and replaced them with other colors. The new palette is:

• Cadmium Yellow Light
• Cadmium Red Light
• Ultramarine Blue
• Titanium White

The Cadmium Yellow Light is cooler than the Cadmium Yellow Deep I had on the last palette. The Ultramarine Blue is a richer and, to my eyes, warmer blue than Ivory Black. Here's a painting I did this morning.

"Mossy Maples"
5x7, oil, en plein air

The lights in this painting contain a good deal of Cadmium Yellow Light. If I'd used Cadmium Yellow Deep, they would have been too warm. Since the darks are already very warm with the Cadmium Red Light and Ultramarine Blue, a warm light wouldn't have provided enough interesting contrast.

Or so I'd like to think. Thoughts, anyone?

Three-Color Oil Palette, II

In response to my last post, someone pointed out that this three-color palette is very similar to the warm palette used by Anders Zorn. I'm familiar with Zorn, but not with his palette. The commentor noted that Zorn used Yellow Ochre, Vermilion, and black and white.

I did a little research, and came up with the following in an American Artist article:

Many artists mention the concept of the "Zorn palette," especially in regard to portraiture. This warm palette, which is often said to include simply a yellow, black, red, and a white—but no blue—may be a very useful tool, but it is a mistake to attribute it to Anders Zorn. A few portraits and other paintings by Zorn seem to show a definite warmth and a lack of tube blues and greens—and Sandström confirms that the painter was proud of saying he mixed all of the hues on a canvas from just a handful of colors—but many Zorn paintings utilize blues. In fact, in Sweden Zorn is celebrated for his depictions of water, which required blue paint. Sandström had difficulty even comprehending the assumption that Zorn worked with the specialized palette associated with him. She reports that 17 tubes of cobalt alone are represented among the 243 tubes of paint left by Zorn in his studio in Mora. Laine, of Stockholm's Nationalmuseum, concurs that the notion of a Zorn palette is a bit of a misnomer. Still, portraits such as Miss Constance Morris show that he was adept at using grays to suggest blues. Many of Zorn's portraits—and his nudes—exhibit a compelling warmth, providing inspiration for today's painters regardless of what the Swedish artist may have actually squeezed onto his palette.

(http://americanartist.typepad.com/american_artist/2006/06/swedens_sargent.html)

At any rate, I am not using blue, but I am, as Zorn may have done, trying to push the "blueness" of the Ivory Black with orange. Last night I decided to see just how far I could go. The evening light was perfect -- it had lots of orange in it so I could test the idea.

Here's the result. I love working with this palette!

"Sunset with Low Clouds"
5x7, oil, en plein air

SOLD

Three-Color Oil Palette

As I work on my new book, I've been experimenting with limited oil palettes. At the moment, I'm working without blue. Without blue? Indeed. The palette consists of the following colors:

• Cadmium Yellow Deep
• Cadmium Red Light
• Ivory Black
• Titanium White

Surprisingly, Ivory Black makes some beautiful greens when mixed with Cadmium Yellow Deep. The blues are more subtle, but they can be enhanced by surrounding them with orange. (Thanks to the principle of simultaneous contrast, in which a large field of one color can "push" its complement into adjacent areas, the orange "pushes" the bluish cast of Ivory Black so it seems a richer blue of higher chroma.) I'm waiting for one of those "severe clear" Maritime days when the blues are deep and dark to see how this limited palette can really perform!

In the meantime, here are two little pieces done without blue.

"May Firs" 5x7, oil, en plein air

SOLD

"Early Garlic" 5x7, oil, en plein air
SOLD

May Newsletter

I send a newsletter once every two months to folks on my e-mail list. Some of it may be old news for my blog readers, and I apologize if so. - MCJ

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"Weybridge, Wet Spring"
9x12, pastel, en plein air
Winner, Outstanding Genre Award
4th Annual Northeast National Pastel Exhibition, Old Forge NY

1 May 2008

Welshpool, Campobello Island

I'm fresh back from Goffstown, New Hampshire, where I gave a four-day workshop for New Hampshire Plein Air. Spring really hit hard that week! Our first day of painting saw 84 degrees, and the spring peepers that night were thunderous. Now I'm back on the island, where spring looks a few weeks late. The forsythia hasn't even started to bloom yet.

I've also had lots of good news in recent weeks:

• My painting "Weybridge Wet Spring" was given the "Outstanding Genre Award" at the 2008 Fourth Annual Northeast National Pastel Exhibition at Arts Center/Old Forge in Old Forge, NY. The exhibit runs from May 10-June 8.
• Nature Trust of New Brunswick has commissioned me to paint two endangered natural areas, the Caughey-Taylor Nature Preserve and Navy Island, both near St Andrews, NB. One of the paintings will be used for promotional materials; the other will be sold at auction later this summer.
• Oil Painters of America awarded me a Shirl Smithson Scholarship for 2008. I'll be using this to take a workshop with Lois Griffel. I've always admired Lois' work, and I'm looking forward to studying with someone who learned from Henry Hensche and, through Hensche, Charles Hawthorne.
• The Sedona Plein Air Festival has invited me back for a third year, an invitation which I have gladly accepted. The Festival runs from October 19-26.

Besides the exhibition in Old Forge, I have works in two more shows running at the moment. These are:

• Two oil paintings in the "Something Fishy" show at the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset, Maine. The show runs from May 1 to June 2.
• Two oil paintings in the "Far & Near Horizons" World Tour of Contemporary Artists show. The show is currently at the Link Gallery in Door County, Wisconsin. The show runs through May 21.

Work on the next book continues. I've finished writing Backpacker Painting: Outdoors with Pastel & Oil, and now I am doing photography and demonstrations. You can get the latest news on the book by visiting www.backpackerpainting.com. I'll be posting excerpts and photos and video clips there.

By the way, I want to mention a special season of workshops coming up next winter. These will be "mentoring" workshops for the advanced student in oil or pastel, which I will hold in Sedona, Arizona, from January through March 2009. The workshops will be based on my popular Campobello Island format of five half-days. We work for half a day, which leaves you the rest of the day to either paint on your own or explore Sedona. What's more, in addition to mentoring, you'll get lodging and two meals a day! Cost of the workshop is a very reasonable $1000 for one person and only $250 for a second sharing the same room. For more information, please visit www.paintsedona.com. Size of the classes will be very small, and I expect them to fill quickly.

That's enough for now. Please see my website for other upcoming events and workshops. Have a great May!

Michael