The Color Wash Method, Explained

"Bus Lane"

Oil on Linen, 16x20" 

Color Wash Method

Here are the medium recipes for the Color Wash Method, as learned from Ovanes Berberian and Brigitte Curt. Please note that either of these recipes create the same effect. 

Ovanes Berberian Color Wash Formula

- I have studied with Ovanes quite a bit over the years. In his workshops he taught us how to use this medium. This has a very special effect on a painting that I love.

You can lay in the under painting using many pure transparent pigments to create a glossy wash of color. You then paint with the opaque paint as the final layer.  See more about this below.

The formula:  He uses approximately 2 parts Damar Varnish, 3 parts Gum Turpentine, and .25 parts Linseed Oil. 

Brigitte Curt's Non-Toxic Color Wash Formula

- I've used this formula for years and I love the effect it has on my works of art. It is basically a less toxic version of the Ovanes' Formula.

The Recipe:  To make this varnish you need to buy Damar Resin Crystals. I order them from Blick by Eco House.  The Eco House brand works best with this Varnish. Also you will need to order the Terpene Solvent and Extra Mild Citrus Thinner from Eco House. (Also at the Blick website, but you may find them else ware.)

Start by poring the varnish crystals into a glass jar that has a lid.  (A mayo jar works well) Pour the Natural Orange Terpene Solvent on top and stir. Put the lid on. Continue to stir and mix a couple of times a day for a few days until the crystals are completely dissolved.

Now add the Extra Mild Citrus Thinner. Stir and store in an airtight container. Use more Thinner for a thin wash or less for a heavier varnish (will be more sticky and shiny).

(The amounts are approximate)

1 part Eco House Damar Resin Crystals

3-4 parts Eco House Natural Orange Terpene Solvent

3-4 parts Eco House Extra Mild Citrus Thinner

*note - lately I have substituted Gamblin Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits for the Extra Mild Citrus Thinner for a less smelly varnish.

Use either one of these recipes for the Color Wash Method that came originally from Ovanes Berberian:

• Paint your wash on a clean white canvas using transparent oil colors only, no opaque or semi-opaque paints.
• Start to very loosely block in large shapes of wash, beginning with your darks. Go a shade to two shades darker than you think you should.
• Always compare one color area to another- allow warms and cools within each color shape - keep the values the same in the same shape.
• Always compare the values to one another.
• Sometimes for color harmony you can use the complementary color.
• Lay in warm next to cool and cool next to warm.
• Think ahead about what opaque color will come on top of the wash.
• Stay flat with your wash and use the brush without modeling, an up an down motion.
• The values will be at least one shade darker than the final painting, but the relationships must work in relation to each other.
• Focus on accurate values and color temperatures.
• Use the palette knife to scrape an area if it gets too dark. This will allow the transparency to come through.
• The idea is to allow some of these beautiful transparent colors to show through the finished painting.

Below is a photo of the earlier stage of the painting as I was beginning to add the opaque colors on top of the transparent wash...

Day Twenty Four - manger à l'extérieur

manger à l'extérieur      Oil on Linen Panel   8 x 10"

I loved walking in the villages where everybody was dining outside or "manger a l'exterieur". One of my favorite things about "All Things French".

Day Two - Chicks on a Plate

Chicks on a Plate
Oil on Panel  -  6 x 6"

While in France at the Ovanes Berberian workshop last May we stayed in a wonderful Chateau hosted by Eve's and Yvette. Every morning Yvette cooked our breakfast fresh from the farm. It was a delicious treat every day. (Yvette was under the impression that Americans eat eggs everyday) She would cook our eggs any way we desired. They are wonderful people who thoroughly enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed getting to know them. And I love eggs!

Day One - French Cows

"French Cows" Oil on Linen Panel
8 x 10"

Finished up my first piece for the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. My theme is "All Things French". Last summer I attended a workshop with Ovanes Berberian in France. We stayed at a chateau north of Cluny in the Burgandy area. 

Each time we went to Cluny to eat dinner we drove along a beautiful highway with a view of the valley below. It was so beautiful and changed every day with the weather and time of day. One evening I decided to turn off the highway and we drove through this countryside. 

The cows seemed to know we were American Tourists, because they just stared at us!

PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING.....

"Patterns in Light"

 by Randy Blasquez
Oil on Linen, 16 x 20"
Available $1200

Let's talk about preparation. Do you know what I'm talking about? Well, many things really. First I want to say that preparation is work, it's an investment of time and effort. Is there anything in life worth doing that doesn't take time and effort in preparing for a good result? Okay enough with the questions, let's get to the point.
I touched on this topic a few posts back when I shared some tips with you from the classroom. Now let's dig a little deeper.
I think this began to hit home with me last year when I went to Idaho to study for a week with Ovanes Berberian. I went with my dear friend Renee'. It was conversation outside the classroom that I was part of, well I was kinda listening in. But anyway I heard Ovanes tell Renee that it was important to make a date with your canvas. He was talking about the time he invested in setting up his still life that morning and that he was looking forward to coming back to it at another time to paint it.
He must have spent hours setting this up and he told us how much goes into something like that. Creating the still life set up is part of the creative process and it has to come from the artist within. This takes time. I know that because I learned it the hard way while painting live flowers for my gallery in Carmel. By the time I was content with what I set up I was exhausted! So anyway, Ovanes was telling us that he finished his set up (with about 30 objects!), and was looking forward with anticipation to beginning his painting. That is a date!
So what I'm saying is that we must take time before we begin. Let me tell you the ways.......

  

• Notan - The painting above was the first of two paintings I demonstrated last month at the Gallerie Amsterdam. The night before I picked what I was going to paint from a photograph. I didn't want to copy the photo, I wanted to paint my idea from the moment that I took the photo.  I then started with my notans. It took me three tries before I was happy with the abstract design and value pattern.  I have posted about notans in previous posts. It is simply a quick thumbnail value sketch. I am using these wonderful little brush pens from Faber Castell that work great and save time. They come in different values of gray. Or use a Prismacolor dark colored pencil. What is important is that it is a 3 or 4 value sketch in a simple design. I have talked before about the importance of design in a painting and this is the most important step in beginning a painting. A painting without a strong abstract design is most often unsuccessful. Take the time to design your painting before you ever pick up the brush. 

• Concept. The above illustration establishes the design and the value pattern. It also demonstrates the concept. Concept is the original idea that you want to express. It is usually what you like most about the scene, what attracted you to it and made you want to paint it. 

• Materials - This tip includes materials as well as a mindset when you walk into the classroom. I hear this one a lot from Ovanes Berberian. He can't stand it when you are not prepared. I don't really blame him. If you are going to spend the money and make the trip to take a class for learning purposes, doesn't it make sense to come prepared? What does preparation entail? For me it means investing in the best materials that I can afford. In my opinion paint brushes and oil paint are the two most important tools of an oil painter. After that, a sturdy easel. The surface you will be painting on is very important. When you have a supply list from a teacher, do yourself a favor and go out and buy as much as you can.

• Packing - Now, you have the materials. Pack them up in your car the night before class. This will save you having to try and remember everything when you are in a rush in the morning. Try to organize things so that you have a compact bag that will carry what you need. One of the first things I do when I get a new student in my class is to help them with their materials. As a beginner I think it can be very intimidating when you walk into an art supply store and see all those materials. Most people end up buying the wrong thing and wasting money. I've set up a basket on the ASW website for my students for this reason. It's in the Teachers Cart under Randy Blasquez School of Light and Color.

Concept, large value shapes, dark and light patterns - these are the things that matter. When you walk into a gallery or museum and see a painting from across the room that pulls you to it, this is why. You cannot paint that kind of painting without preparation. That is why it is everything!

More Bourgogne, France Photos and some Studies.....

 

 This painting is from a photo I took inside the Musee' du Louvre in  Paris. My friend Joan is at the left, Ovanes Berberian, (my teacher), center and the tall one Nancy on the right. This is just the under painting. I loved the figures, the way they are so involved in the paintings. I hope I can convey this with the finished piece. At this point it truly is all an experiment!

 

This is a study of my daughter, Lindsay.I loved the reflected light in the mirror and how it tells the story of her stance and emotion.

Now as promised, more photos from France. On our first workshop day we traveled a few miles to a nearby village in the Bourgogne Region to paint with watercolors.

 Renee

 Alison and Laurie

Susan with Ovanes's quick sketch of the area. 

Kathryn

The Bell Tower in Beaune, France

This past month I have been in France. I went with a couple of friends and to begin our trip, we staying in a little village in the heart of Burgandy called Beaune. In French it is pronounced "bone". Or something like that. We went to take a 2 week plein air painting workshop with painter Ovanes Berberian. I have studied with him over the years, but this was his first workshop in France and I just couldn't pass it up.
We started our trip with a 3 day stay in Beaune. I am hoping this little video of the Bell Tower outside our bedroom window where we stayed, in an old Abbey built in 1500, will give you an idea of the beauty of the area.
I will follow with pictures from our trip and share some of what we learned and experienced. It was truly life changing. I just returned home last night so I will post as I settle in and get organized. Can't wait to share more!

A Week With Ovanes Berberian - continued

I kept notes from the workshop and I wanted to post them. It's just not the same as being there! But what Ovanes instructed us to do is something I didn't want to forget. Most importantly though, I came home started painting - with difficulty - to get more comfortable with using more paint.
Ovanes uses tons of paint on his paintings. When he demonstrated on my canvas, I began to understand just how much paint he loads onto his brush. But before he begins painting, he uses linseed oil to loosen the paint to make sure it is all the same consistency. He calls it "juicy paint".

Shipwrecked by Ovanes Berberian

Peonies by Ovanes Berberian

Ovanes Berberian notes….

Being an Artist~

Lose your sleep over this!

Have a mentor.

If you find your mentor you will know it.

Go to Museums and sketch what you love, then go home and paint a piece of it.

You’ve got to be a sensitive person.

You’ve got to have results.

Classic painting never dies.

Theodore Lucas was one of Ovanes's mentors.

The hungrier your get the better it tastes.

So be hungry – don’t get satisfied by other things.

On painting ~

Steps to a better painting,

Draw

Wash

Redraw

Paint

Clean Everything

Flat Large Shapes

Simplify

One Value when washing, not so dark to start.

When you use dark, scrape to keep dark = no texture.

Use a wash with beautiful color using pure pigment or tone your canvas with a wash of pthalo blue and paynes gray (1/4 to ¾)

You can also use a warmer wash.

For your wash use turpentine and Damar varnish, about ½ and ½.

Look for the “key” when you do your wash.

When you do your wash every square inch should be clean….even your grays.

Do not mix your family colors in your wash, only pure pigment in the same “family”

Design~

Design is number one- If you don’t have a beautiful design don’t bother to paint it.

Value is most important.

RGH paint is very good.

Begin with flat shapes and two values for each object.

Middle key paintings- Overcast days make you paint in middle key.

Sunny days- You paint light and shadow.

Remember the light source, the sky color.

You must feel it.

Lilac flower – use burnt umber with a touch of Alizarin in your wash for the warm shadow of the flower.

If you learn to see it then you can paint it.

Use temperature to turn the vase.

Better to stop before you ruin it.

Do quick studies, small- 6x8 and 8x10.

Tone your boards and staple them on a board, go out and paint.

The shadow is effected by the blue in the sky.

No Fear- Be brave and make mistakes.

The name of the business is frustration.

Correct Temperature = Good Harmony

IMAGINE

Paint beautiful shapes with beautiful outlines.

Paint flat and blend.

Don’t be timid.

What matters is what is happening on the canvas, don’t copy everything you see but make the painting work.

Design your light pattern.

Build on your darks.

Paint the flat large shapes. Use your palette knife to lay in Large Flat Shapes – it helps you get the dark rich value – then Scrape Lightly.

Blend to soften your edges.

Use brush control.

Simplify

When you start with the washes, not so dark to start.

Medium key to start.

When you start with a palette knife start with dark then scrape it, no texture yet.

In the finish use only two values, and finish with a highlight, that is all.

No detail for the first year.

Stay flat then get warm and cool.

In the daylight don’t forget your cool colors.

The best areas are simplified.

Get the contrast and color in the colors.

It takes a lifetime to get color.

Start with composition.

Balance light with shadow on the table top.

Painting Inside~

Put your lights in the foreground when you set up your still life.

Also some lights at the top to make the middle (table) come forward.

Have tones to 8 at most for flowers and lilacs.

Hold back on your lights.

Be very selective with your final brush strokes.

Blend up and down.

Try going two values lighter on your palette using whites.

(or) Start with raw colors for your wash.

Make white your thinnest paint, very lose.

Black makes true nature colors, try starting with black and white, then add color

After you design your painting go away and come back, look again.

Don’t forget to push the background back.

A Week With Ovanes Berberian

I first met Ovanes Berberian in the summer of 2006. He is a good friend and mentor of Brigitte Curt whom I have known and studied with for several years. She and her husband Jim had spent many hours working with him through the years.
Before this I discovered his work and was in love with it so when they suggested to their classes that they should join them in Idaho for a couple of weeks I jumped on board. It was an amazing experience that changed me. It also was overwhelming and the weeks were intense. I hated my paintings, and felt like a baby learning to walk. Jim and Brigitte told me this going in, but they also told me that what I would hear and see at the workshop would continue to guide my painting for many years to come.
Last November I posted about my trip to Pacific Grove for a weekend of plein air painting with Ovanes. He was much more verbal in his teaching and my brain somehow was able to comprehend it better this time, so I decided to go back to Idaho.
Idaho is beautiful. The vast countryside and skies were begging for me to paint them. However we stayed in Ovanes's yard for a week of plein air painting of these amazing floral arrangements. If I could have I would have stayed another week or two. I was just getting started.
I returned last night from the twelve hour drive. My artist buddy Renee and I took two days and it wasn't all that bad. We decided it was better to drive so we could pack our supplies and it was the right thing to do. I'm ready to do it again!

Anyway, I wanted to post during the week but I couldn't get an Internet connection. The little motel we stayed in, the  South Fork Inn, did have it, but it was down for several days. I want to tell you about my week while it is still fresh in my mind.
The most important realization for me was what I learned about Ovanes. He was so passionate about sharing his love for making art with us it really touched me in a way I don't think I can describe. But somehow I felt that we share that passion. Only he has been able to disconnect from our crazy business that is such a part of our lives. I am right in the middle of it.
Just being in Idaho and away from the computer and the daily obligations of life gave me a taste of what it takes to really be in touch with creating art. It is something close to worshipping our God. I have never before been able to slow down long enough to understand this. I have read about it. I understand it and believe it, but today I get the connection. A wonderful book about this walk with God through creating art is written by a Pastor at my church, "Imagine That" by Manuel Luz.
http://manuelluz.wordpress.com/book/

I'll post more photos and my experience that last week very soon!

new one just started, from Pacific Grove....

This is a large one, 30 x 40 I think. I am enjoying the use of color and am somewhat letting the design come along as I go. I have so many pics from my trip to Pacific Grove last November to study with Ovanes Berberian. He really stressed the use of "juicy color". That doesn't mean that he didn't use grays. I think the use of grays in his work is his genius. This day was overcast, but with some clearing later in the morning. I wanted to start with plenty of color though, and then decide how much to leave in. I still have some major decisions to make here, one being how much light to bring into it. That is the challenge with the cloudy weather. The rocks on the right had some light on them, so I will try to keep the water beyond them nice and rich in color. The rocks on the left are darker, so the water beyond will be lighter. At least that is my thinking right now.
I took the picture because I needed to break away from it for a while, and see it from another viewpoint. Most of the time when I take a photograph at first glance I will see glaring problem. It is the same concept as using a mirror. Just taking a break works well too.
I'm excited to take another trip with a friend of mine next weekend to paint in this area again plein air. I fell in love with the Pacific Grove. It is a little sleepy town near Monterey with an amazing coastline walking distance from the little hotels in the area. Much less expensive than Carmel, but close enough to drop in for some gallery visits and shopping. I'll come back with some painting studies for some more larger pieces. I just got some new 36 x 48 inch canvases so here goes!
Have a nice Valentine's Day weekend.....

TODAY'S PAINTING

Today I took my small piece that Ovanes worked on the first day at the workshop in Pacific Grove last weekend. I re-painted it using similar colors. I tried to keep it simple and create the same kind of light. I think it is still a little dark. It looked the same up in my studio, but when I brought it downstairs and put the two side by side, the little one was quite a bit lighter. Oh well, back to the easel as they say.... if I do decide to lighten it up I will post it again.
Have a nice weekend......

OVANES WORKSHOP DAY TWO

before Ovanes painted on it...



and after!

 Well, I got home on Monday evening and have been catching up here. I had to give myself a day at home on Tuesday and had one of those headaches - so I got somewhat unpacked, did some laundry and had to do some preparations for yesterday's class at Capital Art Center.
I've been dying to paint my studies in a larger format, or just repaint them while the lessons I learned with Ovanes are still fresh in my head. But, well - life just gets in the way. This morning it was a dental appointment, grocery shopping and so on....you know what I mean. Perhaps tonight? If only I had a live in cook and housekeeper!
I can't really call this day two because I did not finish with that post, so maybe I should do that first.
Pacific Grove was the most beautiful place, I could not get enough of it. The weather on Friday was cool, cloudy in the morning with the sun peeking through in the afternoon.
Ovanes arrived and walked up to me, as I was freezing and said, "It's a beautiful day to paint!" Okay. And it turned out that he was right. The colors in the water and the sky were amazing and as he painted his demo I could see more and more. It took some time for me to adjust to just staring out at the ocean. It's not something I get to do and I have never painted plein air at the sea.
I froze up some when it was time to paint. I am showing the before and after painting when Ovanes made some adjustments. I quit working on my piece and began to follow Ovanes around as he coached the other students. It is a great way to get the most out of a workshop or class. He looked at my piece and said it was a little busy and needed warm shadows, contrasts of cool and warm. He asked if he could paint on it and I said of course!
I will continue with a demo that Ovanes did that first day.

 



He started with a very thin wash using warm colors.

  

He gave it a few minutes to dry and then started with lots of paint and plenty of color - juicy paint.

  

You want a fairly absorbent surface so the paint will adhere.  Your under painting is very important
Preparation is very important. I think he stresses this because people don't understand that painting is hard enough without having a wobbly unstable set up. He wants your easel and table to be stable and clear of clutter so it will be comfortable. Otherwise it will get in the way of creating....

 

Take your white paper towel and hold it up to the canvas so you don't get the value of the foam too light. Compare it!Remember to consider the "key."

 



Don't think "too much" about local color. Create harmony, "Make it sing."
Compare the value of the water to the rock in the foreground and then compare the water to the rock in the distance. It is  much lighter in value. Value comes first and color comes second...


www.ovanesberberian.com