repost of plien aire from last fall

[Wyobud]

I posted this last fall in landscapes, but I would enjoy some input from other plien aire painters.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/21-Mar-2002/Rock_outcrop_plienair_1.jpg

This is oil on board, maybe 12 x 18 paint time about 3 and 1/2 hours.

BUD

[bluochre]

oh yes, i like it a lot. didn't see it before but pleased to now. it's sometimes tough getting the green values to work. . .but i think you have !

i appreciate knowing how long it took, though i sometimes wonder why someone chooses to record it for others. understand i find no fault in such a choice. sometimes we work more slowly or more quickly than at other times. there are simply too many variables to be able to make any association between the finished piece and the time taken to produce. IMHO anyway !!

thanks for posting......my best



:cat:

[Wyobud]

Thanks for the look and the comment ........bluocher

I agree totally with your take on the listing of time taken, maybe its a subconcieous defense, if it won't stand on its own we can call it a study.

I have to work hard on the greens, as I've got that red-green color blindness and I have a tendency to make the greens extremely vivid.

Glad you like it................BUD

[Wayne Gaudon]

.. would like to see more blues and reds in the shadows ..

Agreed, the time may be important to the artist but not to anyone else. If you spend 10 years painting landscapes then you should be able to put one down in a very limited time. If you are just starting out it may take a considerable time.

Imagine the thoughts provoked by time
..... like, geesh, he only took 3 hours to do this and it takes me 6 hours .. I must be out to lunch, I'd better quit ..... or of course the other side of the coin .. 3 hours for this .. ha, could have done it in 30 minuites ...

There is a story in the art circles of a man who asked a famous painter to paint his portrait. The painter agreed. The man showed up at the studio and the artist sat down and in 10 minuites had a lovely portrait of the man. He gave the man a very costyl price which he said was based on time.

The man said that it was of top notch quality but questioned why he should have to pay so much for something that took so little time.
The artist told him that it took him 10 years to learn how to paint it in 10 minuites so he therefore was paying for the actual amount of time.

:D

[LarrySeiler]

I've had those conversations at shows, Wayne! Someone will ask how long a painting took. In the old days, with my wildlife art, I'd be able to say, "over 200 hours!" of which case they wouldn't even bother to ask what I was asking for the painting.

Now, people ask "how long did that take to paint?" and if I can sense some attitude in their voice because of works I have priced, I'll tell them, "my whole life!"

If they want a more specific answer, I tell them, "couldn't have done this piece last year. It took all of about 25 years of painting to produce this one last month, and thank goodness too...because of that experience, I can do the one I'm working on now!"
- - -

Nice work Wyobud!

I guess for my good, the bottom area of the painting is stunning! Really! However, it loses interest because there is no connection to the sky. You have no color note rhythm happening to pull the eye naturally into the sky and then naturally back down to the foreground. With so much yellows and greens...a sky that showed the effect of a stronger sun pushing a yellow'er spectrum through its atmosphere would go a longer way to pulling the work together. IMO....

Larry

[Wyobud]

Thanks Wayne..........I see where you are comming from with the blues and reds in the shadows, they are there in the original, but maybe I should exagerate them some more.

Larry.............I can do what you say in watercolor with graded washes, but when I try to bring the yellows up from the ground with oils it seems to get away from me before I see the color and it gives me a green. If I do a water scene I have no problem bringing the sky colors down. No problem in the studio where there is time for the paint to dry. Any solution for me?

Thanks for the input.................BUD

[LarrySeiler]

Originally posted by Wyobud
Larry.............I can do what you say in watercolor with graded washes, but when I try to bring the yellows up from the ground with oils it seems to get away from me before I see the color and it gives me a green. If I do a water scene I have no problem bringing the sky colors down. No problem in the studio where there is time for the paint to dry. Any solution for me?
Thanks for the input.................BUD

I know what you mean.

The studio can be a place to work these things out, so that next time you can be a bit more prepared. Singer Sargent was known for scraping off paint, and repainting...yet his work looks spontaneous and easily done. So, don't discourage over having to work changes to get a thing right. Just comes with the territory.

One thing that has helped me of late in this area of greens in the sky is I have been mixing my Viridian or Grumbacher Permanent Green...into my phtalo blue plus white. The green has a warm side to it...and very pleasant. I use enough white...yet, one has to be somewhat mindful that white technically is a cold color.

Here is where introducing clouds into the sky becomes a nice device to warm things up without coming off unnatural. Bits of yellows and reds there...with touches of greens in shadows.

Otherwise...you have to introduce the blues of the sky into your shadows and spots on the ground. If you can't pull the ground up into the sky....pull the sky down into the ground.

The other thing I would recommend is...go to the thread I just initiated as a "sticky" and check out the plein air sites of PAPA or NAPPAP....and sometimes, you find the boldness and courage AFTER seeing something that worked/works for another artist.

I really advocate looking at a lot of work of other artists. If you see something that does not work...then you are spared from having to make those mistakes yourself. If you see something that works, and endeavor to reason it out and understand why... then you can build upon that understanding for yourself. Its like attending painter's workshops without paying for them or traveling.

Larry

[Wyobud]

Thanks Larry.................some good common sense, which sometimes eludes me. I really appreciate the comeback and advise.

BUD