Meeting Notes, Feb 13, 2020

Today’s topic: tips and suggestions for capturing the light

Celeste: I read an article about the Boston School of Painting and Frank Benson’s lectures. We often (mistakenly) paint the object instead of the light upon the object. Paint color, shapes not “things”. Both Za Vue and Yong Hong Zhong recommend doing value studies. If we plan our paintings with distinct values we have a good better chance of painting the effect of light.

Loretta: My recommendation, look at Sorolla!

Geri: I yield my time to Thomas Kitts. (Laughter)! (Thomas Kitts is not here today).
I make up stuff and so I make up light, but I do pay attention to what light does.  I am showing something from my archives that I call “Tall Drink of Water”

Susan: I’m always drawn to dappled light. It is not the object that thrills me –instead it is the pattern of the light upon the object(s) that captures my attention. I teach children and so I break it down for them. I tell them when they see the light on a tree that they like, “Go for that”! Put that in, or you’ll forget. I tell both my young students and my adult students: “You are the boss of your painting. You are the light fairy, you sprinkle it around”! (Laughter)! I encourage them to take the viewer where they want them to go. I am showing a recent painting I did from an old family slide. That is my sister in the very front of this dance recital. She is now 55 years old. When I shared this with her she said: “Could you make me look a little less clueless? (Laughter)! I told her, “No, that was the whole point”. (Laughter)!

Tim: I took the paint that was on my palette and I painted this…”Light”! I painted this recently plein air (Chinook Landing)
I also painted these (and found these quotes that I wrote on the reverse):
 “In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present” —Frances Bacon
“An increase in light gives an increase in darkness” —Sam Francis
“How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun”. —Vincent van Gogh
“There is a sun, a light that for want of another word I can only call yellow, pale sulphur yellow, pale golden citron, how lovely yellow is!” —Vincent van Gogh 
(Applause)!

Chris: I brought this book that I especially like. This is one of my favorite quotes: “An artist is drawn to the light like a moth to a flame”. I visited Maine and every single sunrise in Maine is colorful! I painted this sunrise there.  Light doesn’t always mean bright yellow sunshine...like this winter scene. This is a value study from Grant Park. Finally, this is a portrait I did of a friend who only recently passed away. I’m making this a gift to her family. (I painted it on the other side of this tree painting).

Raphael: I was a black and white photographer when I was in the Navy. A black and white photo gives you the straight story! Being a B&W photographer trained my eye for clear values. Last time I was here I talked about my charcoal (“Siberian”). It is different from other charcoal. I am also showing drawings I did at Hipbone. Drawing from life is so good for me because I’ll get my whole arm into it! It’s so easy to forget and get all “small” when drawing or painting. I’m pleased with both of these drawings. I remembered not to just draw the figure in the center of the page and leave it at that…instead I added some of the room and the environment.

Mike: We watercolorists have an advantage. The light is…..here! (Mike shows his example). (Laughter)! Watercolorists (usually) use the white of the paper as our light. Like Tim mentioned, Frances Bacon said that if you want something to look white you must put dark next to it. I am showing two watercolors. I favor this one where I saved more of the white. It shows restraint.

Sharman: I brought some paintings. One is a stylized hummingbird that was not meant to depict realistic light. This version does employ “light”. I am also showing this winter solstice painting.

Steven: When I think of light it usually has to do with how to light my (3D) paintings. They are challenging to photograph. This lighthouse painting is a commission. The title is: “Light”!

Tracie: I have not finished this painting yet. For me the story is always "first". I worked from a (1930s) black and white photo. The location is Saba Island. My quandary is the river rock. They are in the bright sun, but their local color is dark. If If I dull them, if I brighten them…well, it can all just lead to colossal disappointment. (Laughter)!

Serena: I started up my painting career about 10 years ago. I took classes and I struggled with the use of white. Then someone told me about Naples yellow. It is my main weapon against chalkiness now. I brought in a recent figure study.

Greg: I took a recent workshop that was all about how to paint light. We all painted blocks out in the sunshine. The biggest thing to learn was that white in shadow is darker than black in light. If you grasp that everything you paint will look real. I brought in a tool that I thought you’d like to see (for making frames). You can sink a nail and hide it.

Mike: I will echo the tip about Naples yellow. I would add that Indian yellow is like liquid sunshine. I learned from Aimee Erickson (who I think learned it from David Leffel) that objects in light generate kind of a “glow”. You’ll see this effect in their paintings. I went to Joanne’s Friday session a while back and the model there was just stunning! I couldn’t stay, so I took some photos and then I painted this. (Mike turns over the painting to reveal that the stunning model was Tim Young) (Laughter)!

Becky: I did the Strada challenge recently and heard from so many of my relatives (on facebook). I have lots and lots of relatives! They would ask me…”How did you paint that light”?? I told them…”It depends”.  It does depend! There are many different ways and reasons to paint the light effect. I love looking at the paintings of others. I try to figure out how they managed their version of light. What technique are they using? Sometimes, you know, a painting is not about a strong light.

Annie: I had an illustration assignment. It was a burrowing owl and a mouse. I completed it and took it to the art director. He said “ This could be better if you used a single source of light”. I left his office and I thought to myself….”but….I thought I had” (Laughter)!

Sheila: (Welcome back, Sheila!) There is so much that goes into a painting. Temperature, light and shadow…all of it, you have to think two steps ahead. Light is “married” to dark. I am showing a recent painting.

Stephanie: My career was in lighting. I was considered a lighting expert and when I did a job I always thought like an artist. Light is magic! Light, of course, has everything to do with angles. It can be low, high, diffused, unfiltered, on and on. Unlike watercolor, in oil the brightest light is often the thickest paint. I am showing recent paintings.

Tom: A lot has already been said. I would only add that light is our “stock and trade”! We have to know how to orchestrate our lights and darks. I painted this at Rocky Butte. It has always looked like a fortress to me and I played that up with this shaft of light. This is a recent street scene.

Wendy: I didn’t think I had anything to say on this subject, but I’ve been sitting here thinking about when I went skiing recently. Every time I went up on the ski lift I’d look at the mountain and the light was significantly different every time. It’s just an observation… (before I became interested in painting I might not have noticed the differences).

Lisa: I did the Strada Challenge, so I did a lot of still life and my favorite thing was aiming a light at what I was painting. I did this painting and gave myself the challenge of putting the orange part in light and part in shadow. I’m pretty happy with it. I always have a mix of white with a small amount of Indian yellow in it on my palette.

Jim: I am looking forward to going outside to paint again. Meanwhile, I’ve been painting in my studio. I took a photo at Sauvie Island of apples and I painted from it. I brought the painting because it seemed to fit today’s topic. I made the apples and the light on them most important. I was careful not to make anything overly dark.
I de-saturated colors and made sure the leaves didn’t compete with the main story ...of apples.

Sarah: I am just back from Paris! I am jet-lagged. I took thousands of photos and only drew two drawings while I was there. We went to the Louvre and D’ Mussay. While I was there I experienced serious sensory overload. I felt too inspired and then I had an existential crisis about what I am doing with my life! (Laughter)! I cried when I saw so many wonderful ink drawings…I had to buy this book. I also bought a lot of French comic/cartoon books.

Dianna: This is a timely topic for me. I am just back from teaching three workshops on the color of light. It’s too long to give you all the workshop right now, so I brought these handouts. When I was in Italy (in a vineyard) I saw how the light was yellow and how the shadows were purple. When the light was blue the shadows were a brown/orange. We all have a disconnect when looking at things. You can look at a lemon that is bathed in green light, but still paint it yellow…because we are convinced that lemons are yellow! We must stand quietly with the scene and observe. I painted this from my photo reference and I used Levitan’s colors! I painted this other painting last night with a rag and a scraper. I may go further..or I may leave it as it is.

Jeanie: Since I am a studio painter I get my light from Dick Blick! Here is a recent painting.

Eunice: I want to add to the suggestion about adding a yellow to the white on your palette to warm it. Jennifer Diehl also does this with orange. It is good to have a couple different warming colors to add to white.  (Eunice adds: remember when you are considering the highlight that it will change position if you change your position).

Yong: I count on my values. Black and white shows the effect of contrast. I am trained to be able to see things in clear values. I rely also on my feeling about the subject. I painted this sitting in my car! It’s a parking lot! (Laughter)! I had to wait for my son who was in a swimming event. The advantage to painting in your car is that you can use the heater to blast it dry! (Laughter)!

Announcements:

Congratulations, Bhavani Krishnan, accepted into Plein Air Easton!

Mike Sowers is interested in giving a Procreate workshop...(an app that will help you make design decisions for painting). Are you interested? email celesteobergin@gmail.com

Yong Hong Zhong has two workshops coming up in May https://www.instagram.com/yonghong.zhong.9/?hl=en Hillsboro and Astoria

Susan Kuznitsky 11-1 Sunday March 22 Demo at Artist and Craftsman 2906 N Lombard

Dianna Shyne 
has filmed instructional videos for Acrylic University
https://www.acrylicuniversity.com/  Dianna is also the 2020 organizer for the Lavender Festival (and she will need some volunteers: dianna@diannashyne.com) Sign up early for Lavender Festival, it always fills up quickly.

OMSI Exquisite Creatures 

Michael Lindstrom, Solo Show, Feb and March Art on the Boulevard  http://www.artontheboulevard.org/

Pittock Mansion Mt. Hood Exhibit begins Feb 1 and runs through July http://pittockmansion.org/events/

Za Vue Fundamentals of Portrait class at PNCA Feb 23- March 1 (sign up asap if you are interested)
https://cereg.pnca.edu/p/adult/s/1963

Pacific NW Plein Air (at Maryhill Museum) submit via online juried shows (Deadline March 15)
https://www.onlinejuriedshows.com/Default.aspx?OJSID=43182&fbclid=IwAR3xZeT75GZNU3IR-dAVT31zlNGfBunEQZPKPSGwSTuIl0vV7GPUDr92Jrk
https://pacificnwpa.com/

Oregon Society of Artists Joanne Kollman, classes Friday am and pm
+ Saturday ongoing portrait class
https://public.osartists.org/public/adultclasses

Oregon Society of Artists Susan Kuznitsky classes Saturdays and Thursdays
https://public.osartists.org/public/adultclasses

Thomas Kitts Techniques of Sargent DVD is available beginning Jan 31.
https://streamlineartvideo.com/products/thomas-jefferson-kitts-sargent-techniques-of-a-master?_pos=1&_sid=28248fa33&_ss=r

Thomas Kitts workshops (Sicily, Maine France and others): https://thokitts.wixsite.com/pleinaireverywhere
http://www.thomaskitts.com/

The Hiatus Drawing Club https://www.facebook.com/groups/333152383542909/

Our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/groups/222304114527014/ (put news about you and or announcements of your own directly on our page)

Plein air event website:  https://www.paintouts.com

Next art discussion meeting: Thursday Feb 20, 9am*, Table topic: "I thought it was a good idea at the time"! Describe something, as it pertains to art, that seemed positive, but turned out not-so-good! ie: A workshop that misfired, hopeful new product that wasn't worth it, any waste of time and effort and why....(you get the idea).

(*Try your best to be early or on time and thank you for supporting the food cart).

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