Studio Notes and Reflections

Part Plein Air, Part Studio

I’m not an experienced plein air painter, but I value the merits of going outside to paint.  I agree with the view that you are never going to learn what light can feel like, what real color and atmosphere is by working from a photograph.  Nothing will force you to ‘get on with it’ than racing against a sinking afternoon sun.  Volume and shape are not distorted by a ‘flattening’ photograph.  Besides, it is great to be outside.

Last fall, full of 'plein-air'  ambition, I set off into the wilds of my central Texas neighborhood green belt to paint.  It was mid November, and getting on to be pretty cold.  I hunkered down and got in a drawing and some indications of color.  But I was not fast enough, and had to come back the next day.  The cold was much sharper the next day, but I actually managed a segment of the composition. 

I took several photographs.  I was sorely disappointed with the photographs when I displayed them on my computer back home.  What I had been looking at was in no way what I saw in the photo.  Did I mention to you before that I’m a poor photographer?

I went back again, and spent a lot of time soaking in the scene.  I tested some color on my paper, made some notes.   Alas, I figured I’d better do a studio rendition.  I was in love with the low light and the dramatic pattern of the shadows.  I wanted to get to work before I lost that ‘feeling’ of the woods and creek on a cold November day.   

Getting to Work

I started off by painting two layers of Winsor & Newton Artists’ Acrylic White Gesso onto a 12”H x 24” W   gatorboard.  I then started preparing my ground, and I got to thinking, and I stopped. 

I was enthralled with the light coming in from behind the trees and the pattern of shadow cast across the sloping foreground.  To get the effect I wanted, I planned on working over a vibrant under-painting, with many layers of pastel, but that posed problems.   

In the past, I’d make a very delicate line drawing of my shapes, only to lose it when I applied an under-painting.  This time I did NOT want to lose my under-drawing.   

Figuring It Out

A good under-painting provides a great foundation for establishing value.  A good ground provides a great foundation for mark making, especially for layering of color.  A standard approach of mine is to apply different colors of pastel to major areas or shapes of the composition.  I do this by applying pastel and dissolving it with either Gamsol or Alcohol.   However, when one does this, you also dissolve the under-drawing.  Any ‘guide post’ created by the drawing is lost.  And I like my guide posts.

This time I decided to draw my shapes directly onto the gesso surface.  I would then cover the surface with Liquitex Clear Acrylic Gesso thereby ‘sealing’ my drawing.  This way I retained my ‘guide posts’ even after I applied the gritty tinted pastel ground I had planned on using.  By the way, Liquitex Clear Acrylic Gesso offers another way to create a ‘toothy’ surface.  The Liquitex Clear Acrylic creates a fine toothy surface for working on all by itself, especially if you do not need a whole lot of rough tooth.

Above:  Here is the board with my under-drawing and pastel ground applied.  Because I sealed the under drawing with the clear gesso, I can still see my line drawing after I apply my semi-transparent, tinted ground.   You can’t see it here, but I’ve put the ground first with a paint brush, then I went over it with a sponge to give it somewhat, heavy, but even texture.  I avoid the area of the ‘creek, I don’t want a lot of texture in the creek area.

As the painting progresses, these lines were covered up, and I ended up making additional changes not in the original drawing.  I just felt more secure starting off by having my key outlines set up.  Note that this is just a light line drawing.  It is not detailed drawing, like I might do for a building with architectural detail.

A new way to add an underpainting  

Above:  Here you see the power of the Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold liquid acrylic in providing a luminescent ground to work from.    The painting looks “lit up” because the color is in a suspension of acrylic, and the light is reflecting from the white board.

Because I have my Liquitex set out, and I have other colors of Golden Liquid acrylic, I decided to make some washes using the Liquitex to establish my shadow areas.

I mix some dioxide purple with the Liquitex and paint in my shadows.  I pretty much follow the lines of the under drawing that have been sealed previously with clear Liquitex.  This sure makes it easy to move along quickly and confidently.  I use Paynes Grey mixed into the Liquitex for the foliage.

Laying in broad areas of color

Above: Here you see where I’ve begun to lay in broad areas of color.  The underpainting is a brownish maroon color, and I’m beginning to scumble Ludwig V100 purple on top to establish the shadows.  I want to get a feel for the sunlit areas, and I add, perhaps mistakenly, a cool pink.  Wait a minute, is pink EVER cool?  This is an intuitive choice.  It was cold that day, and the sky seemed pinkish white and yet cool to me.   Eventually I will cover these shadow areas with a lot of the V100 purple and then scumble a dark cool green on top.

The next day 

Instead of studying my progress 10 inches from the painting's surface, I step back and ponder.    I take this photograph to compare the work to the reference photo displayed on my computer terminal.   I realize I need to make my foreground much cooler.  The trees on the upper left are too dark, they don’t recede.

I lay in the cool green.  I then realize that my dark brownish maroon in the foreground is not working.  I blow off the green and really work that Terry Ludwig V100 over the shadow areas, I fix it with SpectraFix, and THEN I lay on the cool green over the cool purple pastel. 

NOTE:  SpectraFix allows me to 'fix' the pastel, and to not change the color, or "sink" the color.  When it dries, it is near perfect to the original state.  One thing you have to be aware of, if you "soak" the surface you can actually dissolve the pastel.  Sometimes you may want this, say for example, you want to create an underpainting.  In this case, I spray lightly, let it dry and go back.  The good thing about this technique is that after the SpectraFix is dried, you can run the pastel over the area previously worked and you will have tooth, and you will not "smear" or blend.  The effect of having the underlayer peak through is achieved. 

(I use SpectraFix Degas Spray Fixative a great deal in my work.  You can find this product at www.spectrafix.com)

One thing leads to another.  I darken the foreground, I add light to the background.  I begin defining the reflections in the creek.

Artistic License Makes Art 

Above:  Enlarged detail

By now you've probably noticed, I've departed from the photograph, and for that fact "reality."  Some refer to this as artistic license. 

This brilliant cobalt blue area as shown in the circled area above  is used only in the focal point of the painting.  This color is NOT in the reference photo.  I’ve used it here to ‘intensify’ the lighting.  Because the brown and the purple are the exact same value, the colors don’t really show an edge when placed side by side, and when viewed by the naked eye sort of ‘vibrate’ lending a luminosity to the image.

Why did I begin with the cobalt blue?  Well, it was giving me the feeling I had, the mood I felt of the place.  I am not a slave to a photograph, and I'm certainly not a slave to what I see in front of me.  This is what you call an "interpretation."    

Back to technically speaking, the placement of equal value colors side by side or over one another (one warm, one cool) provide a luminosity usually only seen in person.  Photographs of pastel paintings can rarely capture this effect.  All art is better enjoyed in person.

Almost done…. But, there is a problem

I don’t like the upper left-hand corner.  I want to put in some ‘foliage’ that ties with the right side of the painting.  Besides, this area looks over worked to me.  I decide to add texture and repaint it ‘fresh.’

'Resurfacing' with SpectraFix

Adding ground or "re-grounding" your support AFTER you've been laying several layers of pastel should not be done routinely, or casually.  You need to stop and think about your materials, and  how they work together.

This is a small area on my painting, and I feel that I can add more acrylic ground, mostly because I'm working on gatorboard.  After thinking it over, I've decided to 'perform restorative resurfacing' to my support.  To begin with, I want to ‘set up’ the pastel.  In other words, I want to use the SpectraFix to harden the surface.  Before I spray the fixative, I mask off the area with some paper towel.  Always apply SpectraFix with the image flat on a table.  Spray very lightly.  Wait about ten to twenty minutes, then spray very lightly again.  Only spray using the Aerosol spray bottle, not the pump bottle mistakenly shown here.   Wait a good 15 to 20 minutes.  If the surface feels cool to the touch, it is not dry.

Ninety percent of the time I only use SpectraFix to ‘set’ an area for more work.  Nothing more.  For my 'surface restoration' procedure, I am using SpectraFix in conjunction with Liquitex Clear Gesso.  

To give myself a surface with fresh tooth, I’ve decided to use the Clear Gesso, tinted with some Golden Liquid Acrylic to actually add grit OVER the existing fixed pastel.  Although the Liquitex appears white, it will dry clear.  The casein in the SpectraFix makes for a strong bond to the gator board, which in turn allows you to actually paint acrylic ground over fixed pastel.  There will come a point when you cannot do this, but I’ve not found it.  The mediums work together to lock the pastel particles to the board.

I paint in the slightly tinted Liquitex, and then add just the plain clear Liquitex across the surface.  I’m just basically lightly laying it down, hardly touching the surface.   I ‘tamp down’ the ridges of the brush stroke, very lightly with my finger.   I don’t want it to dry with horizontal ridges.  Just a light tap, tap. 

I’ve added foliage, lightened the trees so they recede back and don’t compete with the focal point.  The strokes appear fresh and not over worked.  There isn’t any smearing or ‘mud.’  I’m happier.  

Ready to be signed