Truckee Winter Wonderland (Woes?)

"Afternoon Light Show" 

Oil on Linen   36x24"

Available here

"Afternoon Light Show" is a new piece that I painted in the studio. It was painted using the color wash method. I took the photo at Christmas, when we got a few inches of snow, just about all there has been this season.

We've been busy in the studio though. We started out with  a few changes that seem to have been a good idea. First, by going to weekly classes, everybody is very much more focused. The class time is shorter and I am giving out homework. We are beginning with a very limited palette to see where it takes us.

First we began by painting complimentary color charts. Then we used what we learned there to paint some little studies. It is amazing how much you learn from painting with two compliments plus white.

At this time we have moved into the primaries plus black and white. The homework assignment this week is to paint one or two small studies using this palette, but also to chose a dominant, secondary and little value plan. That means that the real estate or square inches used on the canvas by the "largest value" will be the dominant value. In other words, if the dominant value is a "middle" value, the secondary value might be the "light" value and the "little" would be a "dark". This would be considered a "middle key" painting. A high key painting would have a large amount of the canvas painted with the "light' value. A low key painting would have the largest amount of canvas painted in a darker value.

In class, we name our values: L - "light", ML - "middle light", M - "middle", MD - "middle dark", or D - "dark". It really helps to start your paintings with 3 to 5 large value shapes at most. We sketch out a quick notan to nail down this design idea, making sure to try and identify the largest dominant value.

Maybe a few photos will help this make sense.

The above painting is a low key painting, with the middle-dark/dark dominant value plan, a secondary mid-light value and a small amount of light value.

 From our exercise this week, this painting is a high key painting with a dominant light value, a secondary mid-value and a small amount of dark value.

If you can, come on up to the studio next Monday Night, I'd love to show you around!

Day Eight - French Birdie?

Value Study on Linen   8 x 8"

No I did not paint a French subject today. And my day is done so it isn't going to happen. But paint I did!
I painted this little demonstration in my Oil Painting Class at the School of Light and Color today. We mixed grays and made a value scale, then we used our piles to paint a study. This was very quick and fun.

My belief is that if we learn to identify values first and then to see the value of color, we are half way there. I love having mixed grays on my palette. Just look at some of the old Russian masters, especially Nicolai Fechin. He used many grays in a dominant manner while using some vibrant color and WOW!
I am reading "The Art and the Life of Nicolai Fechin, by Galina P. Tuluzakova.

So get out the black and white, mix some grays and have at it. You can't go wrong.

Also, you don't want to miss Leslie Saeta's Blog Talk Radio Show tomorrow morning. She will be talking about the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge with Lisa Daria. Lisa has been painting a painting every day for four years.....! Leslie posted about it on her blog at  http://www.lesliesaeta.blogspot.com/

See ya tomorrow....

Value is Everything

"Fun With Shoes" Oil on Linen
20 x 20" by Randy BlasquezAvailable   $975

This week in both of my classes I set up a few new still lifes for the students to chose from. I chose my new shoes. I painted most of this in class while demonstrating my technique. It took me another couple of hours at home however, because it wasn't a simple painting and I needed some time to live with it and I took my time to add the finishing touches.
The big struggle with this painting was the value. In a painting, value is everything. You might think I am exaggerating but I am not. I always look for the value pattern, large shapes of value that are a simple design so that 4 or 5 shapes make the painting. Simplicity is another big one. I want a simple design that doesn't distract from the focal point.
These concepts in painting are the ones that every artist, seasoned or beginner, has to think about.
So, when I got home and looked at the painting the next day, it was a matter of adjusting the values until I was satisfied with them. Of course, if they had been spot on the first time around, I wouldn't need to adjust. But that rarely happens for me. Most often, I am struggling to the end with getting them right. When one large value shape changes in value (because you adjusted it), then everything else that is related to it might need an adjustment as well. It is a matter of comparing one to the other. Then, step back and look at the whole.
My studio is not so large that I can step back very far, so sometimes I will bring it downstairs and look at it. Sometimes when I'm feeling lazy I'll take a photo. Just looking at it through the photo will tell me if something is off. It really works.
Another thing we are working on in class is preparation. Preparation is so, so important. I will talk about preparation in my next post.