Revisions

Pondering Degas 30 x 40

Original version

Sometimes you have to live with a painting for a long time before you can call it done.  That happened with "Pondering Degas".  

The original version was done in a flurry several months ago when I hired a model and set her up next to a sumptuous bouquet of flowers.  I was excited by the colour, the marks and the light and couldn't see the piece very rationally.  But I did know that it wasn't quite done.  So I put it up in the living room to examine every day.  

Over time, what I decided was that it wasn't as refined as I wanted and it was just too darned pink!  So last week I painted over the warm background with a cool, greenish gray and threaded neutrals throughout the flowers.  I refined the face, hand and table top and could finally call it done.  

She can leave the living room now and head out into the world.  I'm proud of her.

Car Painting

Winter Geometry
10 x 12

Kananaskis View 10 x 12  - Oil on paper

Seriously cold outside

The passenger seat

I've been doing a lot of painting in my car lately.  I don't know why I didn't attempt this before this year, but I'm certainly hooked now.  

The past few times I've used my new pochade box and I'll post the paintings from those trips another time (the box is a wonder!) But before I bought the box, I was using a simple artists' clipboard for my outings.  You can see it in the top photo.  It has a sturdy clamp at the top and a giant rubber band around the bottom to hold the painting in place.   I hold it on my lap against the steering wheel.

I've also been experimenting with different surfaces and have discovered that gessoed watercolour paper is a wonderful support for oil paints.  It allows me to achieve a variety of edges that are unlike those that I get on linen, canvas or board.   To prepare the paper, I coat it with several layers of acrylic gesso on both the front and back side.  After these have dried for several days to ensure that there is no moisture left in the surface, they are ready to use.  The nice thing about the paper is that it is light and easy to store.   Paper also doesn't feel as precious as a piece of linen and so I find that I experiment more and paint more spontaneously than I would on an expensive support.  If the painting works out, I let it dry thoroughly and then mount it on a panel and varnish it.  It can be framed like any other oil painting and it doesn't need glass over it.  If the painting doesn't work - no big loss.

Getting out of the studio is refreshing for the eyes and the creative spirit.  After a day of painting the landscape from life, I return to indoor painting with new inspiration and vigour.  If you've never tried it, load up your car and head out.  Don't be surprised if you get hooked, too.

Happy painting!

New Pochade Box

This week I received my new Alla Prima Pochade Box, handmade by Ben Haggett, a Montana painter.   I researched boxes thoroughly before making the decision to go with Ben’s box and all of them seemed a bit pedestrian in comparison.  Ben uses powerful magnets for tasks that, in other boxes, are filled by bolts and wing nuts.  For example, the support that holds up the panel can be moved around freely and stuck into new positions magnetically.  It can also act as a brush holder when there is no panel on the box.  Because I’m someone who gets ridiculously testy at having to make minute adjustments with nuts and bolts, the ease of magnetic repositioning was a big selling feature for me.  I also like that I can store my panels in the box, eliminating the need to carry an extra box to hold wet paintings and panels. 

I ordered the Bitterroot box which holds panels up to 10 x 12” within it.  I’ve been doing a lot of painting in my car lately and it seemed like a good size to perch on my lap while I sat behind the steering wheel.  It will be wonderful to get rid of the makeshift easel that I’ve been using to date and to get all of my paints and brushes under control in the compartments of the pochade box. 

I had the workshop in Mexico in mind when I ordered this box, but I’ll be breaking it in here in the chilly Calgary air.  I’ll let you know how it performs.

Happy painting!

Painting Workshop in Marvellous Mexico

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be teaching a one-week workshop in Mexico from April 4 to 11. Both oil and acrylic painters are welcome.

During this total-immersion, life-painting course, we'll explore a range of subjects from vibrant marketplaces and cobblestone streets to lush, untouched jungles. We will use these subjects to tackle the real challenges of plein air painting: massing and simplifying compositions; accurately judging colour and value; and rendering a fleeting moment with honesty and believability. Expect your eyes to become keener and your painting more intuitive as the week progresses.

The workshop will be based at Casa Buena Art Retreat in the Mexican back country near old Port San Blas. Untouched by mass tourism, it's the perfect place to relax, create, and learn. Casa Buena's marvellous hosts will see to the daily needs and comforts of your stay, allowing you to devote yourself to a week of pure painting and discovery. 

COST: $1400.00 plus GST. Includes: instruction, most art supplies, 7 days' accommodation, transportation from and to Puerta Vallarta airport, all breakfasts, lunches and some dinners, entertainment and a day trip to the jungle.

Contact me or the Retreat for registration and information. I hope you can join us!

Casa Buena Art Retreat:
Jane Romanishko

janerom@shaw.ca

Telephone in Canada:

1.403.560.0894

Painting Demos

Wayne - portrait demo

Lauren - portrait demo

I teach two classes a week at the Calgary School of Art and I do a demo of some sort in most of them.  And every demo is done on the same canvas board.  I call it the Lucky Demo Board now because, while countless studio paintings flop, the paintings that I produce to illustrate a lesson seem charmed.  Though I'm tempted to keep some of them and a model once asked to buy a portrait of himself, I've become superstitious: that board is the only one that I want to use for each class.  To get a new one is to tempt fate.  Besides, there's a touch of the Buddhist in creating something and then eradicating it twice a week, every week.  Everything is impermanent.

My students are currently working on painting alla prima portraits from life and we've had two excellent models to work from.  Wayne's dark skin was a challenge after weeks of painting fair-skinned models.  We discovered, however, that the same palette that we'd used on Caucasians worked for him; just the proportions of each colour changed.   Strong, pure ochres, blues and purples were believable in this painting.

Lauren was a challenge because her complexion has the creamy softness and opacity of children's skin.  She has few obvious colour and plane changes, though, as I studied her, I began to see tiny, subtle ones.  This demo was significantly slower because I struggled to describe the dimension of her face without exaggerating or inventing colour changes.  I had to keep the colour delicate and smoothly applied to avoid hardness in her expression and in the mood of the painting.

These two paintings don't exist anymore but the Lucky Demo Board is cleaned up and full of the promise of another painting.  The joy is in the creating, not the keeping!


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