The Whiteaker Train Tracks--Original Pastel Painting

The Whiteaker neighborhood in Eugene Oregon is filled with interesting sites and people.

An interesting site to an artist is called a motif.

I saw this motif as I was riding my bike towards home. I had just passed the mural at 4th and Monroe--the one painted by Kari Johnson--and as I crossed the railroad tracks I looked both ways for the possibility of oncoming trains, then I saw the sunset and stopped. It was like seeing a fireworks display!

Another bike rider looked over and saw the sunset and slowed down but continued riding. At that moment I was glad that I was an artist and could capture what will only be a dim, self-contained, memory in the other rider's mind.

I dug out my pastels and began scumbling away on pastel paper.

 Now, I can share with you the sunset over the train tracks in  "The Whit"--The Whiteaker neighborhood.

The Whiteaker

The Still Waters: A Printmaking Experience

I had a great printmaking adventure!

I went to Tukwila Washington--20 minutes outside of Seattle-- to Sidereal Fine Art Press, where I spent four days making a series of prints.
While there I worked with the printmaker Sheila Coppola--who is a skillful printmaker and a delight to work with.
Here are some photographs of the results.



From my sketchbook: the color and value study.



The thumbnail.

The value study.

The color study: a pastel.

Softground etching.

Monotype.

Print.

Monotype.

Monotype.




I had a wonderful time at Sidereal Fine Art Press and I learned a lot about sugarlift, monotype, and working in softground.

The Anatomy Of A Pastel Painting: A Sunflower

 

Ah, Sunflower! jigsaw puzzle

Ah, Sunflower! jigsaw puzzle

My Teachers: Monet, Cezanne, and Vincent van Gogh

I realized today--as I was looking at the works of two of my Teachers, Monet and Cezanne, that I need to add more dark blue into my greens, when I want them to be darker.
Of course I knew this because on the color wheel green darkens to blue-green and then goes to blue. I knew this and yet when painting I wasn't fully utilizing the theory.

I like Monet's (an Impressionist) use of the brush--his paint handling, and his use of optical mixing such as when he puts yellow and red next  to each other to make an orange. Optical mixing was one of the innovations of the Impressionists.



In this painting by Monet we can clearly see his use of blue to create shadow and model form.


What I like about Cezanne ( a Post-Impressionist) is his more formal structure in his paintings--the forms help the painting hold together and not become soupy. (Monet often creates a soup--but what beautiful soup he makes!)  There is an underlying strength in Cezanne's compositions. I also like how Cezanne blurs the edges of trees and rocks so that he is not creating those blasted outlines that Vincent van Gogh often used. Cezanne also softens his "outlines" by using dark blue rather than black and since blue is a cool color the edge recedes in the picture plane thus rounding the form. Cezanne is a Master of using warm colors to cause his forms to advance on the picture plane (the surface of the canvas) and cool colors to cause his forms to recede on that same picture plane.

Look at Cezanne's strong composition and his use of dark blue to create shadow!

Since I criticized Vincent's use of the black outline I will say that every painter can learn from him about the use of vibrant, complementary colors; the technique of impasto--which gives such a rich texture to a painting; and probably most important of all Vincent (a Post-Impressionist) put feeling into his works. Vincent--one of my favorite artists of all time--could make a flower look as though it was weeping or singing.





 Vincent van Gogh here uses a lighter, but still cool, blue to show the shadowed side of the willows and some shadow in the tall grasses at their base.

 These three, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, and Vincent van Gogh are my current teachers. I could add Mark Rothko but that will have to wait for another day.

In this painting I (Daniel Balter) used some blue in the shadowed areas of the trees but I could have used more.

In this painting I (Daniel Balter) almost completely forgot to use blue--I am still learning!

Extreme Painting!

Painting in the dark is a challenge!

                                                                       

This is my first plein-air (open-air) night painting. 

 I am wearing an Energizer 4 LED Headlight and used my Guerrilla Painter ThumBox to carry my paints, palette, and canvas boards.

The painting site was my spot along the Willamette River in Eugene Oregon.

I rode my bike along the bike trail to reach the site and passed a 1000 houses from which I could see emanating the blue-glow of TV and computer screens.

It felt good to be outside, on a special mission to capture a scene.

Sometimes I pretend that I live in a time where there are no cameras and the only way I can capture a scene is by creating, by hand, images.

Sometimes I pretend that I was born without the ability to speak words and the only way I can communicate is through images.

I love painting and I love being outside and this is what drives me to go outside in the open-air to paint--

even in the dark!

Cezanne's Carrot

Paul Cezanne, one of the great Post-Impressionist painters, once said, "With an apple I will astonish Paris."

He is also reported to have said,“The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.”

Cezanne did indeed astonish Paris and set off a revolution; and he is now considered the Father of Modern art.

I used Cezanne's methods of using warm and cool colors to create form (warm colors advance on the picture plane and cool colors recede), when I painted this tomato.

For example, instead of using black to create shadow, I used cool greens, cool dark blue; and a cool red for a complementary color in the green shadow.

Also, I also used a violet (a cool color) under the edge of the tomato to push back the bottom edge.

See Impressionist color theory online for more information of this fascinating topic.

I am no Paul Cezanne and I painted a tomato rather than an apple, but I think that my painting is better off for having been painted in a Post-Impressionist manner.

Thank you,Paul Cezanne for your contribution to art.

You can purchase this painting by direct email to me at mailto:dkbalter@comcast.net or on my Etsy shop account:.net

http://www.etsy.com/people/danielbalter1?ref=si_pr

The Double Primaries Palette

 I am a plein-air (open-air) painter and usually find my "Painting Stations" while on bike. Consequently I need to travel lightly. I use a Guerrilla Painter ThumBox, a pochade box.  See the photo below:

Pochade box in action



Pochade box folded



I can carry only a minimal amount of tubes of paint. This compactness of the pochade box has led me in an ongoing search for the minimal amount of tubes of paint to take with me.

At first I tried a so-called Beginners, or Basic Palette which consisted of Thalo Green, Ultramarine Blue, Thalo Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red Light, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, and Titanium White. However that was 11 tubes of paint--too much; my little pochade box was packed!

Furthermore, I am a  fan of the Impressionists and wanted to paint in a Neo or Post-Impressionist manner.

So, I looked up Monet's palette and it is said that he used these colors: Chrome yellow (the modern equivalent is Cadmium Yellow Light) ,Cadmium Yellow ,Viridian Green, Emerald Green, French Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Madder Red (modern equivalent is Alizarin Crimson), Vermilion (or Cadmium Red Light) and Ivory Black (Black only if you're copying a Monet from before 1886--he later banished the black).

That is 9 tubes--not bad!

The following link is to Monet's palette info and his painting techniques, etc.

http://painting.about.com/od/oldmastertechniques/a/Techs_Monet.htm 



Monet's palette



So, to sum up Monet's palette, he used a light and dark version of the primaries of red, yellow and blue as well as a light and dark green; with the addition of white.

With these colors one can make every color that is found in nature. These are the rainbow colors that are found in refracted light.

Yet, I found I could cut even more tubes of paint if I used what is called The Double Primaries Palette.

The double Primaries Palette consists of a warm and cool version of each of the primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. One can make their own greens, dark and light, as well as browns and oranges and purple.

The Double Primaries Palette

Simply click on this thumbnail to see the colors listed.



All the tubes I need for The Double Primaries Palette.



 Instead of Thalo Blue Tint I can use a Cobalt Blue and make it into a tint by adding a little white.

The Double Primaries Palette that I am now using is, RED: Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, YELLOW: Cadmium Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Medium, BLUE: Cobalt Blue (tint), and French Ultramarine Blue. Plus Titanium white.

That is 7 tubes of paint!

As I experiment and learn more about color I will share it here. To see my paintings one can go to my Flickr photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/43692916@N03/

Now, let's go paint!

Guerrilla Painter ThumBox

I used to carry, out into the field, the wild open-air, a French Easel, which is as heavy as carrying a Toyota Prius on one's back.

Here is a photograph of me using the French Easel:

Since I already have a bad back this was unendurable.

Consequently, I felt empathy for Vincent van Gogh and Monet and Pissarro and the rest of the herioc Masters of En Plein-air--the painters of the open-air.

I finally broke down and bought a small, modern day version of the pochade box.The pochade box according to Wetcanvas.com, "...is a compact, portable painting studio in a small box. "Pochade" is a French word meaning "quick (color) sketch...Traditional pochade boxes were characterized by three simple elements: A hinged lid which functions as an easel and wet painting carrier, a palette which slides out to one side, and the lower portion of the box which contains paints and brushes...These ingenious, old-fashioned devices were used extensively by 18th and 19th century landscape painters...The pochade box...was originally designed to be used for performing plein air 'studies', which are smaller, and less detailed than a finished painting...."http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/5946/234/

I bought a Guerilla Painter ThumBox which is a pochade box. It is an awesome implement in the plein-air painter's repertoire.

Here are some photos of my Guerilla Painter Thumbox:

And my Guerilla Painter ThumBox in action, in the open-air:

And the resulting painting from that day:

 I am grateful to have the lightweight equiptment that is available to today's plein-air painters.

If you are a plien-air painter and are interested in purchasing a Guerilla Painter Thumbox or some the larger pochade boxes and painting supplies here is a good link.

I have used them to order my stuff and have only good things to say about the products and service: http://www.cheapjoes.com/

Cezanne's Apples and the Tree-Forms of The Forest

I like painting trees because they are such strong forms. I painted these trees while visiting my parents on their woodland estate.

About.com, under the heading of art history, defines form as "Form is an element of art. At its most basic, a form is a three-dimensional geometrical figure (i.e.: sphere, cube, cylinder, cone, etc.), as opposed to a shape, which is two-dimensional, or flat." http://arthistory.about.com/cs/glossaries/g/f_form.htm

The About.com definition is a basic and well accepted one, but creating form in art has been approached from a couple of different angles.

As an example of one method, I used to create form by painting each object, in a painting, a local color ( e.g., a red apple), then I  highlighted  and shaded the object by lightening and darkening that local color: making light red for the highlight and dark red for the shadow. Often I lightened the red by adding white and darkened the red by adding black.

However, there is another way to create form; rreferring to this way, Lois Griffel, in her enlightening book, Painting The Impressionistic Landscape: Lessons In Interpreting Light And Color quotes her teacher Charles Hawthorne. He says, "Let color make form, do not make form and color it in. Work with your color as if you were creating mass--like a sculptor with his clay." ( Charles Hawthorne was the founder of the Cape Cod School of Art which taught the Impressionist methods.)

To see--perhaps the best-- examples of this technique of creating form, I suggest looking at Paul Cezanne's still lifes that contain apples. You will see how Cezanne sculpts the apple by using warm colors such as red and yellow to advance the form toward the viewer and cool colors such as violet, green, and blue to cause the form to move away from the viewer. No wonder Cezanne once declared "With an apple I will astonish Paris!" http://thinkexist.com/quotation/with_an_apple_i_will_astonish_paris/259340.html

In the trees and shadows of my tree painting above I use a cool version of  red, blue, and a muddy purple to push them back a bit and distinguish their forms from the bright yellow light. I like the painting but realize that I still have a lot to learn.

I will go now and peer at Cezanne's apples, hoping to learn from the Master.

The Willamette River Series

A Haiku Painting

I raced down to the river on my bike so that I could catch the sun before it ducked behind the trees.

As I pedalled toward the Willamette River I reminded myself not to get lost in the details as I painted.

; there are so many trees and bushes along the river that it is easy to feel overwhelmed.

How can I remember to keep the painting simple?, I wondered. The thought of Japanese Haiku came to my mind. A Haiku is a short simple poem with a limited amount of syllables.

I even took out a pen and wrote the word Haiku on my hand so that I wouldn't forget.

Once I got to the river I had to hurry to set up and mix my paint on the palette. I was just in time because the sun saw me and went fugitive: hurrying like a hermit crab to hide in the cracks of underwater rocks.

I began to paint.

Haiku, I said to myself as I painted. Don't overwork it, just put the paint down and don't move it around, just put it down and leave it!

Here are the results for Sunday, 08-08-2011:





The first painting

The second painting.

Abstract-Impressionist Tree

Today, I had fun painting this tree. I could've gotten up and danced I was enjoying myself so much, but I didn't want to just fling the paint anywhere.

I love painting and I hope it shows in this artwork of the tree.

The Summer Painting Campaign!

Here are photos of some of the paintings I have done this summer. I didn't here include works in progress or the mentor paintings (copies I made, in order to learn, from the old and modern Masters).

Please leave comments here on my blog if you can--I love to hear from others and when I find a comment on my blog I am surprised by the gift and encouraged. Thank you!