The Village of Brantes

On a beautiful warm day we drove to the village of Brantes. It sits on a hill in the Luberon Valley, a little bit farther for us to drive. Before entering the village we stopped on a hairpin curve where Jim told us we were going to paint. Okay! After that, we earned our lunch and dinner just walking up into the village. The bell tower stood above it all. A very historic place with an old, old church that was open to the public. And then, as we get beyond the bell tower, an incredible view! The valley below with a few ranches and then the huge mountain range behind. We had lunch right there in a little restaurant/book store, outside looking at the view.

After lunch, it was time to take a historic tour by our walking encyclopedia/teacher. For the rest of the afternoon, we opened our sketch books to record some of the beauty inside the village. Finally, we had the opportunity to visit the local potter and his wife. Ooo la la!

To leave a comment on this blog click  onto the comment link at the bottom of the blog. I'd love to know what you think and we can reply to each other if you would like to discuss anything about painting or France!

BRANTES, PROVENCE

Brantes, France was one of the little villages up on the hill that we painted. I brought back several little studies as reference material for larger paintings.

This is the first one I've painted larger, 16x20 inches. Now that I've photographed it I can see a couple of things that could use a little adjustment. The tower is the star, so I'm gonna lower the tree next to it to help it shine. Also, I might still need to adjust the value of the shadow on the tower. Right now it's reading the same as the sky. The sky is a bigger issue, but I think it might work.

Art and Influence: Dean Cornwell

Art and Influence: Dean Cornwell

THE JOURNEY OF AN ARTIST

It's time for me to get real. This blog has been an account of my travels, my teaching journal, my paintings as they progress - but this is also a personal account of my journey as an artist. I don't know about you but I'm finding that the road that we "artists" travel has many turns and detours along the way, while we continue to try our best to stay on the bigger road. These "detours" are very possibly made of dirt, and when we find ourselves walking in the dirt, we might realize that we have strayed from the road. I'm not making much sense am I? Well, maybe I am to some.
First, you have to have found the road. This will take some time, at least for me it did. It took me 45 years before I decided to stay on this road. In my youth, I had crossed it many times, but I didn't know the value of it, or I didn't think I had what it took to stay on it.
So now I've found my road. It is long and can be challenging. This life of an artist is always interesting, but often a struggle. Just read about the past artists. (If you can't get to the library or afford the books right now - go to the side bar and read up! Stapleton Kerns and Underpaintings are wonderful resources!)
This road is also a wonderful gift from God to me.
Yesterday I was talking with my good friend Allison. She is one of those friends that listens, really listens. She has the gift of discernment, among many others. So, I was telling her about some of the things I learned while in France, and also filling her in on how things were going with me and my art. We speak the same language - so to speak - and she has always been a wonderful bouncing board for me. So I was explaining Jim Smyth's (1 of my instructors in France), theory about how we grow as artists. He says that we are either on the "seeing" side of learning as a painter - or we are on the side of "doing - or creating art". He called it "producing". While in France, I may have been producing, but now I'm "seeing" or learning to "see" more as an artist. We need to see, in order to create. Okay, the hard part about being on the "seeing" side of learning, is that the painting part really isn't working too well. Welcome to my world!!
I've had so many ideas, inspirations and paintings floating around in my head since I got back, that I can't hardly spit one out. On top of that, I'm learning to see so much more, that I'm struggling to paint. Don't get me wrong, this is all good. It's just not fitting into my little plan.
But I've decided to go along with it, and I'll keep you informed as to how it goes. I promise to post some work soon....

STEP 3 Mixing the Color You See

This is the third step in the color workshop. I will be holding another workshop in the future and will let you know when - I imagine it will be later this year. For now, you can get going on these exercises and go farther with your understanding of working with paint color and how to mix it.

Okay, in step 3 we will learn to name the color that we see:



Learning to name the colors you are looking at will help you mix, adjust and match the color you are seeing. This exercise will help you to break it down into the three descriptions listed below.

1. HUE The HUE is simply the common name of the color. (To name the hue, pick one of the Spectrum Colors - RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, VIOLET, - or you may include an intermediary such as RED-ORANGE, YELLOW-ORANGE, YELLOW-GREEN, BLUE-GREEN, BLUE-VIOLET, & RED-VIOLET. Use your color wheel to identify the closest hue.


2. VALUE The VALUE is the lightness or darkness of a color. It will simplify the process if you can identify one of three values. LIGHT VALUE (or high key) - MEDIUM VALUE (or middle key) - or DARK VALUE (low key).


3. SATURATION or CHROMA SATURATION is the brightness or dullness of a color. The intensity of saturation will describe how brilliant the color is, or how grayed a color is. To describe a colors SATURATION it will be easier to keep it broken into three categories, as we did when we identified the value, such as: HIGH SATURATION, or bright; MIDDLE SATURATION, or middle, or LOW SATURATION, dull.

So, to describe a color simply, we bring the three above terms together. (HUE, VALUE & SATURATION). FOR EXAMPLE: You could describe a red-orange of high saturation & high value, or you could say it more briefly by describing the color as a light, bright red-orange. Another example for a color such as blue-green of low value & low saturation could be described more simply as a dark dull blue-green.

MIXING THE COLOR YOU SEE:

To mix the color you are looking at, use a spot screen to isolate the color. Now describe what you are seeing using what we've discussed.

What is its HUE? (common name of local color)

What is its VALUE? (light, medium or dark?)

What is the SATURATION? (brighter or duller?)

EXAMPLE: To mix a dark dull blue-green you would use what you learned from our color wheel in step 1, and then what you learned about mixing neutrals using complements in step 2. So, blue-green is a mixture of Pthalo Blue and Pthalo Green plus a hint of white. This is your HUE. Now you need to match the SATURATION or CHROMA, of what you see by mixing the COMPLEMENT into the mix. (This will reduce the saturation of your color mix. Using your color wheel you would discover the complement of blue-green is red-orange. We also learned that red-orange is the same as the tube color Cadmium Red Light. After adding this to the mix, you would then adjust the VALUE to what you think you see. You can lighten the mix by adding white or darken it by adding a darker hue. Keep in mind that at the point when you add white, you are making your mix lighter but you are also making it cooler. You will need to consider this anytime you add white to a mix.

** If you are mixing and comparing and you are close, but it's not there yet, then consider that what you see may be warmer of cooler than your mix. If it looks warmer, add a warm hue. Depending on what colors you are working with go with yellow ocher or orange, or something on the warm side of the color wheel. If it is cooler, go to the cool side of the color wheelI

I believe that if you take the time to get through this exercise you will have made progress toward your understanding of color. It will allow you to find the color you are searching for and it will give you the tools to mix the colors you need for your painting.

Next, step 4. After I finish sharing the exercises for our color workshop, I will get back to Provence. I have more photos to share and some more learning experiences. I also will post a couple of paintings I'm working on. First of all, I am learning more about painting the figure, and have gone back to that since I've been home from France. I'm really wanting to get it! I have a painting going that is driving me crazy. I might toss it before I get it posted. We'll just have to wait and see. Secondly, I have about finished a new landscape taken from a study I brought back from Provence. It's okay. I'm not sure if it is finished. But I do want to share it with you. I'm having a tough time though, because I have all these ideas going on in my head at once, and not much to show for it. Hopefully I will get going on a bit of a flow. Meanwhile - well, I'm just gonna keep at it as best I can.

Thanks for checking in.

STEP TWO: Mixing Neutrals using Complements

You will need another canvas sheet, gessoed board or stretched canvas for this exercise. Draw a grid on your canvas, (see photo). Keep your new color wheel (that you made in step one), in front of you and put plenty of paint on your pallet. The colors you will need are:

Cadmium Red Light

Alizarin Crimson

Cadmium Orange (Or mix or own orange with Cadmium Light Red and Cadmium Yellow Pale)

Cadmium Yellow Pale (or Light)

Phthalo Green

Phthalo Blue

Ultramarine Blue

Titanium White

Before you begin step one, on your grid - paint in the colors from the color wheel. One the top row paint Blue, Blue Violet, Red Violet, Red, Red Orange. On the bottom paint the complement of the color above it: Orange, Yellow Orange, Yellow, Yellow Green, Green, Blue Green.

1. Mix the two complements to produce a color that seems to fall midway between the two - a NEUTRAL or GRAY. (You cannot just use equal amounts.) Now paint this neutral "color" in the center box on your grid, between the complements. Leave a slot on each side between the neutral and the complementary color for the next step.

2. Mix the Neutral with the first Complement. (If the first complement is Red, you'll then produce a duller or "grayer" Red.

3. Mix the same Neutral again (the color you made in step one), with the second complement. (Let's say Green, then you will be creating a "grayer" Green.

4. REPEAT this series of three steps with each pair of complements on your color wheel.

When you have finished your eyes will be open to all kinds of beautiful new "neutralized" or "grayed down" color. This will be very useful when you want to tone down a color in your next painting. These grayed colors can be used in many other ways also. It will help keep harmony in your paintings, while keeping beautiful color in it at the same time. Grayed down color can make the color next to it or around it really sing! Try it next time you paint. Keep your color grid handy so you can refer to it often.

Happy painting!

Color Workshop

I held a one day color workshop at the Capital Art Center at 1200 S Street in Sacramento last year, and have decided to post it for any of you who might like to give it a go. It's a great little review for those who have studied color, but also for beginners who need to learn more about mixing color on the palette.

Some of the information I got out of the book, "How to See Color and Paint it" by Arthur Stern. The rest I have picked up while working with Anita Wolff, Brigitte Curt and Jim Smyth. http://www.anitawolff.net/ http://www.classart.org/



STEP ONE: THE COLOR WHEEL

Making a color wheel may seem like a waste of time, but it is far from that. While making your own color wheel, you gain the experience of learning for yourself how the color wheel works. It is an amazing tool, when you understand it, and will serve you well if you want to master the art of painting.
In the workshop we used canvas (with gesso), and I used a black marker to draw the wheel before we painted the colors that we mixed onto the wheel. This worked great. Otherwise just use a canvas tablet that is large enough to get a good amount of mixed paint into each piece of pie or just a regular stretched canvas. Paper will not work well and absorb your beautiful colors!

• paint tubes



• palette set up



• mixing colors



• spectrum - The range or scale of colors on the Color Wheel (red, orange, green, blue and violet.

Making a Color Wheel (Spectrum Colors)

*Keep in mind when mixing two colors, you do not use the same amount of paint for each color, you must mix the two until you get the correct hue.

1. RED Mix Cadmium Red Light & Alizarin Crimson



2. RED-ORANGE Cadmium Red Light



3. ORANGE Cadmium Red Orange



4. YELLOW-ORANGE Mix Cadmium Orange & Cadmium Yellow Pale



5. YELLOW Cadmium Yellow Pale (or light)



6. YELLOW-GREEN Mix Cadmium Yellow Pale and Phthalo Green



7. GREEN Mix Phthalo Green & a lot of Cadmium Yellow Pale



8. BLUE-GREEN Mix Phthalo Green & Phthalo Blue + a touch of Alizarin Crimson + a hint of White



9. BLUE Mix Phthalo Blue & Ultramarine Blue + a hint of White



10. BLUE-VIOLET Mix Ultramarine Blue + a touch of Alizarin Crimson + a hint of White



11. VIOLET Mix Ultramarine Blue & Alizarin Crimson + a hint of White



12. RED-VIOLET Mix Alizarin Crimson + a hint of White

Next, we will learn to mix Neutrals and Complements to create beautiful grays in our paintings!

I will also continue to give an account of my time spent with Jim Smyth and Brigitte Curt at the Plein Air painting workshop in Provence, so stay tuned!

Wednesday Afternoon, Market Day

Jim told us a story about Leonard Bernstein. The story is that if he missed practice for three days his audience would know the difference, if he missed practice for two days, his manager would know the difference and if he missed it one day, he would know the difference. Isn't this true? We really need to sketch and/or paint every single day to stay on top of our game, just as Leonard Bernstein - who was one of the best musicians of modern day - needed to practice every day. What makes us think we can just jump right in and paint a wonderful painting on occasion? It just makes me realize how difficult this really is. If it were easy, we wouldn't appreciate good art, we'd just expect it.

It's market day, after lunch and Jim is going to paint a demonstration painting for us before we get started. He pointed out to us that when you are trying to figure out which way the sun is going, look at the shadows - notice that the sun is always vertical to the cast shadows of the trees. This helps with our paintings as well, to get a better feel for the light. Another tip - if you trace the shadow with your finger it will point directly to the sun.

In his demo, he begins with the most easily identifiable color and value first, starting to paint the middle darks first. Once you identify this first color/value shape, use it to compare your other color/value shapes. Now he moves to the shadows and does the same thing - by looking around you can find the color that is kinda what you think - what is it most like? Keep it general at this point. When you finish with the darker values, move into the lights (not the highlights and accents but general lights) of the painting. When you start a painting with the large value/color shapes, it is like a 50 cent coin, then as you move into the smaller shapes, think of putting a quarter on top of the 50 cent coin. Later, you paint the smaller shapes, think of a nickel on top of that quarter, and so on, then would come the highlights and accents, the dime. The darks get darker, the lights get lighter. That's why you stay general in color in the beginning. Jim is full of insightful ideas about painting!

Provence, Continued

Wednesday, it's market day in Sault. The village of Sault is the largest of the little villages around here and we went to the market! Our schedule called for shopping at the market in the morning and then lunch at Brigitte and Jim's and then painting this afternoon in the lavender fields. No biggie!? We all met at the Promenade, a park overlooking a beautiful view of the valley. The vendors are all locals, selling everything from straw baskets and leather goods, to organic roast duck and lavender honey from the local bee hives. What a treat. We wondered around and tasted some of the goodies, bought some chicken, duck and fresh organic vegetables for our lunch, and I even bought a little French summer dress for myself. It was good place to buy authentic french linens and pottery and a few gifts for loved ones back home.

This village has held the Wednesday Market in their square every Wednesday since 1550! Seriously! This was a serious market experience.

Lesson One, Simiane la Rotande

We arrived in Simiane after a couple of hours on the road Monday after leaving Avignon. Jim drove my car and gave me a very thorough history and agricultural lesson on the area while we were driving through. We stopped at the top of the hill before heading down into the Luberon Valley to take some pics. Amazing!

We unloaded the three artists who were staying at the B & B and got them settled in (Ellen, Elizabeth and Diane). We were served a nice French dinner by the caretakers of the Inn, Carolyn and Dedieah'. They were set to serve us a total of 6 dinners and all of our breakfasts during the two week workshop. They also made us some wonderful picnic lunches on those days when we were out in the field painting all day. Anyway, they have a wonderful little store with a catering service for the village. The food was amazing. I think they were a little bit offended, as the French are, because some things I just could not eat. Not because I didn't want to, but because of my intolerance of wheat. Eventually, Ellen explained and they were not quite as hurt!

After dinner, it was time to go to Aurel, where Anni and I would be staying. Wow, what a long day! Brigitte and Jim showed us to our rooms in their little house on the hill in the village of Aurel. I had a beautiful room at the top of the stairs complete with a view and all the French antiques that came with it, not to mention the fresh lavender hanging around the room. We quickly unpacked and got our painting and sketching supplies ready for the next day. I was ready for bed!

The next morning we were up and out the door to meet the students in Simiane for our first lesson. Jim gave a lecture about perspective and gave us an exercise to practice, before painting a demo before lunch. After lunch we painted the village.

Division of Space:

Exercise One: Sketch three and only three shapes within your boundaries. Do this to simplify what you are looking at.

Exercise Two:

Draw the buildings again as simply as before, but this time add light and shadow using only 3 values.

The exercise was a good one. He talked about the difference in our motor skills (used to draw) and our visual skills (used to see). Bust and boom- after developing your motor skills at a certain
level, you begin to grow in visual skill. Then you become over whelmed because your eye is seeing more but your drawing (motor) skills are not good (relatively speaking).

Perspective principles: The tactile world is very different than the visual world. Our hand wants to be tactile but we must learn to deal with the visual world.
Far and distant: While drawing compare but don't try to be too accurate. Be consistent with the general principles that we will learn, but no more rules than this. Don't get mechanical.

When he did the painting he said he looks at what he is going to paint and then he chooses his palette colors. He started with a thumbnail sketch, 3 values, very simple. Now he considered what his painting will be about, after which he decides if the painting will be mainly warm or cool, dark or light. He started simply, just like our sketches with only 3 or 4 values. It is not easy to start simply, it seems like we all want to jump right in with the details. He considered the value of the colors he was laying in. He used a lot of color for this demo. He didn't spend more than 30 or 40 minutes, and then it was our turn to paint!

Two Weeks in PROVENCE, FRANCE

Before anything else, I have to give a big thank you to Liz Hoffman, at CWT Vacations. She is a wonderful travel advisor and has spent a lot of time in France. She put a whole package together for me, and it all went so smooth! I would recommend her highly for a trip like this and I will definitely call her for my next trip. lhoffman@cwtvacations.com

Okay, when I landed in Avignon, I taxied over to the hotel. It was a nice little room next to an Old Catholic Church. This was the first church of many that I would hear from for the next two weeks. It was beautiful. It was the beginning of the church bells. The bells in all the churches would ring one bell for each hour on the hour and one ring on the half hour. There was a church in every village in Provence that we visited or stayed in.

I met my friend Anni that evening and we stayed in Avignon the first night, and had plans to meet up with the rest of the group the next day. We were to meet at the train station, rent our cars, and caravan to Aurel and Simiane. Sunday evening we took a stroll through the little city of Avignon as we learned a little bit about the history and took in some sights. We had a wonderful dinner out in the courtyard while listening to live piano music nearby. Their were tons of people walking around enjoying the evening.