Plein Air Painting Challenges #43: The Changeable Landscape

"Sugarloaf Rock, High Tide" 16x20, oil

In my plein air workshops, I talk on the first day about some of the challenges of plein air painting.  Some are obvious - shadows move and the weather can shift, both of which will change the scene considerably.   Others are obvious only to people who've painted the Bay of Fundy - the tide goes up and down, which will change the scene, too.  But there are some challenges you just wouldn't expect.   Who'd have thought someone would cut the shrubbery?

I started the painting above a couple of days ago.  It was high tide, and I knew that when I got back to the scene, the tide would be different.  Sure enough, when I went out today, the tide had almost bottomed-out.  No problem, I thought, because I'd captured the water on the first day.  But as I began to paint, I noticed that the bush in the bottom left corner, a significant compositional element, was missing!   The Roosevelt-Campobello International Park has been working on the trails lately, and I guess someone decided this bush had to go.

And that's why we take reference photographs.  It's hard to anticipate every change to the scene.

The painting is one of several larger pieces I've been working on for my show in St Andrews.  As a reminder, the show is at Sunbury Shore Arts and Nature Centre in St Andrews, New Brunswick, and it runs from August 12 through September 7.  There's a reception on Friday evening, August 12, from 5-7 pm Atlantic Time.  I'll be there with photographer David Ogilvie, who will be sharing the exhibit space.  (For more on Sunbury Shores, visit the website, www.sunburyshores.org.)

Painting for a Show

"From the Bluff" 12x24, oil

I remember visiting Albert Handell in his Santa Fe studio a few years ago.  He was telling me how he gets ready for an exhibition.  This prolific painter has a vast selection to pull from.   He goes through it carefully, choosing the pieces that will work together best.   A great deal of thought goes into making a show that is cohesive and unified.

That's one approach.  Another approach is to paint "to" the show.  It's riskier, because you never know how a work-in-progress will turn out.  This is what I'm doing now, for a show at Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Centre in St Andrews, New Brunswick.  (The show opens August 12 and runs until September 7; I'm sharing the show space with Canadian photographer David Ogilvie.)   Normally, I have a good deal of inventory on hand, though maybe not as much as Albert, but this summer I have many pieces over in Lubec at the Laughing Raven Gallery.  So I have to paint.  And I'm enjoying it, as I have a very definite deadline for some larger pieces, and this makes for a fun challenge.

So, how am I painting "to" the show?  I have a quartet of large paintings of apple trees - what I consider the centerpiece of the show - that I painted back in June.  These apple trees, as I've mentioned in another blog post, are feral.  Once they were pruned each winter, but now they have returned to the wild.  They are a good example of how Man's influence on nature is still visible after he is long gone.  Even with Campobello Island's superb natural scenery, there is scarcely any painting spot that doesn't show the hand of Man.  Things once pruned and tamed have broken free, gone wild - but if you look closely, you'll still see the evidence.  I can't guarantee that all of my paintings will address this theme, but I'm working toward it!

The painting above shows a subtle intrusion - a fence.  Raccoon Beach, part of the Roosevelt-Campobello International Park, occupies a bluff overlooking the sea.  The bluff is being continually eaten away by strong winter storms, and the fence is there to keep you from toppling over the edge.  It's not much of a fence, so be careful!

By the way, I still have room in my St Andrews, New Brunswick, plein air painting workshop.  The workshop runs August 8-12.  The price is CA$ 335 for five full days.   If you're interested, contact Sunbury Shores Arts and Nature Center:  506-529-3386 or info@sunburyshores.org.

Three Fall Plein Air Painting Workshops

"Rainbow Harbour" oil/alkyd, 12x24

Above is a studio piece I completed this week.  I started with a bistre underpainting (detailed monochrome underpainting in browns) and added perhaps ten layers of transparent glazes.  I used alkyd paints for this.  If I'd used traditional oils, it would have taken ten weeks!  Alkyds dry much faster.

Even though summer has just barely hit its stride, I'm already thinking about the fall.  This fall, as I make my cross-country trip from Campobello Island, New Brunswick, to Sedona, Arizona, I'll teach three plein air painting workshops along the way.  I thought I'd mention them, as we are taking sign-ups even now.  They are:

October 1, Saturday:  Vermont, Middlebury.  A one-day oil-only workshop in historic Middlebury, home to Middlebury College.  I lived in or around Middlebury for nearly 30 years and have lots of great painting spots in mind.  Possible subject matter includes farms and fields, the falls at Otter Creek, or even some of the beautiful old homes in Middlebury.  Workshop will be held at Middlebury Studio School, beneath Edgewater Gallery in Frog Hollow (old Frog Hollow Art Center building.)  Workshop runs 9-4; bring a bag lunch.
Price:  $80, $40 deposit.
Contact me directly at mcj.painter@gmail.com.

October 3-7:  New York, Old Forge.  A five-day oil-only workshop in the western Adirondacks of New York State.  The Old Forge Arts Center has a brand-new facility, which is where we'll meet in the mornings for a talk before heading to our location each day.  I'm sure we'll get some good fall foliage.
Price:  $450 for members for the Old Forge Arts Center, $500 non-members.
Contact:  (315) 369-6411, bgetty@artscenteroldforge.org , www.artscenteroldforge.org

October 14-16:  Texas, New Braunfels.  A three-day workshop in Texas Hill Country.  I'll be demonstrating in both oil and pastel.  Hill Country is a lovely place with lots of live oaks and rolling hills.  The workshop will be based at the 1863 Farmers Road Bed & Breakfast.  There is limited room at the B&B, so don't wait too long to sign up!
Price:  $375
Contact:  Mary McIntosh, 1863farmroad@sbcglobal.net, 830-625-0132

I hope to see you on the road!

Michael Chesley Johnson PSA MPAC
www.MichaelChesleyJohnson.com
www.PaintSedona.com
www.PaintCampobello.com
www.PleinAirEssentials.com

The Problem of Tides

"Beachside Roses" 16x20, oil

I went back out to finish the 16x20 oil painting of beach roses I started on Wednesday.  As you recall, I had to stop working on it because the clouds rolled in, changing the light.  But I was determined to head out again on the first cloudless morning, and that was today.  Above is the finished piece.  If you compare it with what I posted on Wednesday, you can see the adjustments I made.

Trina took a picture of me while I was working this morning.  Look closely at the painting on the easel and note the water level.  Now look at the water level in the distance behind me.  They are very different.   That's because the tide shifts about 50 minutes each day.  If high tide is at 10 am one day, it's not going to be at 10 am the next day.  If you're working on a piece over multiple sessions, and you're going out the same time each day to capture the same lighting effects, the tide won't be there for you.  You'll have to wait about two weeks for things to get back to where they were.

But the problem of tides gets worse.  Here in the  Bay of Fundy, the tides are significant.  In Welshpool, they average 24 feet.  That is, they go from one extreme to the other - a 24-foot rise or drop - in about 6 hours.  If you do the math, that's almost an inch a minute!  How bad can that be over a typical plein air painting session?  Well, if you're out there for two hours, the tide will move about 8 feet.   The contour of the shore will be radically different in two hours.  And if you're painting boats, they'll be either 8 feet higher or 8 feet lower, which will play havoc with your perspective.

If you go up to Wolfville, Nova Scotia, the tides are even bigger - 53 feet.  I think I'll stay home.

Advice for the Sorcerer's Apprentice: Making Successful Greys

"Morning at Raccoon Beach" 5x7, oil - $60 - contact Michael

Greys are both easy and difficult to conjure up.  Easy, because there's nothing like a dirty brush to work its magic in creating rather ugly greys.  Difficult, because a pretty grey takes a certain amount of apprenticeship in mixing color.

First, let's make sure we've got reasonably clean brushes.  That will keep you from summoning grey without meaning to.  Now, let's think about how greys are made.

They say you can make a grey by mixing a color with its complement.  This is true, but it can be a very muddy grey.  A prettier grey can be made by mixing a color with its near-complement instead.  This is because the grey is closer in character to the color being greyed.  Try it.  Use a color wheel to help you identify the near-complement.    If you want to grey down a green, don't use red - instead, use red-violet or red-orange.

Let's take this a step farther.  Look at the color you want to grey and decide if it is a cool or warm version of its base color.  To grey it, add the same temperature of its complement.  If it's a cool red, use a cool green.  If you use a warm green with a cool red, this will make mud.  Using a cool with a cool will make a more beautiful grey.  As an example, I paint a lot of fog, and many times I'll start off with a light pink - that's cadmium red light with lots of white, and very cool - and then scumble on a light cool green, such as viridian with lots of white.  This combination gives me a mudless fog.

In the little 5x7 sketch above, I use this approach, but for a sunny scene.  The scene had a lot of grey in it.  I painted all the major shapes with the complement of the correct value and correct color temperature, and then overlaid them with the local color.

By the way, here's a picture (12x24) I'm working on.  This is not plein air.  I'm showing it to you because I'm having fun in the studio with it.  I am painting indirectly, with a bistre underpainting followed by a series of glazes.  I think I'm about half way done.  I'll write a blog on it when it's finished.