Monday, January 19, 2015

From Start to Finish

This past weekend, I met with a woman who's getting started on her art career and who wanted advice on how to take her artwork to a more professional level. She works full time in a computer career right now, and her time for working on her artwork is limited. One of the most valuable things that I tried to share with her is the importance of doing initial, preparatory studies before starting on an "actual" piece.

Before I had the luxury of devoting myself full time to my art career, I would often dive into an idea because I was just so excited and I wanted to get going right away. But then I got lost in the middle. And then the whole thing ended up in the proverbial vertical file. This was enormously frustrating, especially because my time was so limited and I wanted to maximize my results while holding down a different full time gig. Fortunately, over the past years of working full time on my art, I've become more disciplined about completing preparatory studies. In addition, I've done a lot of homework about the importance of starting things well.

To me, the characteristics of a good start to a new piece include strong shapes, bold color, and an unambiguous concept. As I work more with oil painting, the importance of a good start becomes even greater to me because I'm still relatively new to this medium. If I can get things off to a good, running start, then I find that all of the remaining details and flourished naturally fall into place.

Shown here is the progression, from start to finish, of a brand new cityscape, "Chicago Twilight." This is my first new cityscape in oil for 2015 and I'm pleased with the result. You can see the finished photograph of this piece on my web site under Golden Chicago. Enjoy!

The initial block-in This is the foundation for everything else that follows. While it can be loosely set in, the drawing and shapes need to be accurate.

Refinements: Here I built in darker colors and more details to set the composition in place.

Color Touches: After getting the initial details in place, I start to embellish the overall color in this piece. The whole motivation behind this subject was the juxtaposition of the warm light and cool blues and purples throughout the subject.

Almost Done: Here, the final details are pretty much in place, especially refinements to the street lights and the architectural details on the buildings.

Just for Fun: An action photo of my palette. I love playing around with these colors!

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

A Series of Small Studies

It's winter here in central Pennsylvania. Snow is gently falling outside my office window as I write this, and the temperatures are near single digits. Despite the fact that I can't hop on my bike for a relaxing ride through the beautiful countryside of Pennsylvania or get out in my garden right now, this is still one of my favorite times of year.

During these cold, desolate months I retreat to my studio, throw on all of the lights for a reasonable approximation of sunlight, and huddle around a steaming cup of hot tea while I work quietly. It's a great time of year for me to really focus, without the distraction of the great outdoors calling to me or of impending art show deadlines. The peaceful solitude is a perfect counterbalance to my more chaotic summer months of outdoor art shows and travel.

Study, Paris at Night

Study, Paris at Night

 

To kick off 2015, I'm working on a series of commissions. My first is for a client in Michigan, who wants several cityscapes from places that he frequents while traveling for work. Late last year, I prepared a series of small pastel studies on Canson paper for him to evaluate and use as his basis for the final selection of his commissioned pieces.

Study, Paris at Dusk

Study, Paris at Dusk

 

Study, Sunny Afternoon, Milan

Study, Sunny Afternoon, Milan

 

Study, Milan, Spring Rain

Study, Milan, Spring Rain

 

Study, Manhattan Lights

Study, Manhattan Lights

 

I don't typically work on Canson paper because I don't like its smoothness and lack of "tooth." Indeed, I make my own surfaces for most of my pastel works because I'm interested in the unique textural characteristics that I can create with this process. But in November, I took a painting workshop with artist Desmond O'Hagan in Maryland. I was somewhat surprised to learn that he works almost exclusively on this surface. I can't argue with his results; he's found a surface that is well suited to his expressive style of work.

Feeling inspired and more confident about the surface after that workshop, I returned from the workshop and made this series of urban studies for my client. I really enjoyed the process. Switching a surface like this is somewhat like getting an opportunity to drive a friend's car for a week. Everything is different even though you'll ultimately still get to your destination. I did some things differently here with flourishes of color and detail, and I plan to incorporate these subtleties in the final pieces, which will be on my own more textured surfaces. Enjoy!

Study, Winter Light, Lower Manhattan

Study, Winter Light, Lower Manhattan

 

Study, Black Cab Night

Study, Black Cab Night