Home Forums Explore Media Oil Painting Oil Painting – Hall of Fame Oil-from-life challenge, May 2018: optional plein air theme

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 54 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #455420
    Grotius
    Default

        It’s May, so let’s paint from life! As always, feel free to post whatever you like — landscapes, portraits, figures, still lifes, whatever — so long as your work is painted primarily from life. This month I’m suggesting an optional “plein air” (outdoors) theme. As always, the theme is just a suggestion; post whatever you like. Four guidelines:

        1. Please paint primarily from life — not from photographs or imagination. I would like to see your direct impressions of your subject, unmediated by cameras. (It’s okay to post finished studio works based on studies from life; in that case, please post the original study as well as the finished work.)

        2. Please submit something created either last month or this month, not something you’ve done in the more distant past.

        3. Please paint in oils. That said, please feel free to post studies in any other medium, so long as you also post your oil painting(s).

        4. Please list the size of your painting and support. E.g., ‘”8×10″, oil on panel.’

        Optional: Tell us the title of your painting!

        —————–

        Unfinished works, studies, and outright failures are all welcome. There’s no requirement that you invite comment & critique. If you’d rather post without being critiqued, just say so; that’s fine by me!

        You can find older oil-from-life threads in the “hall of fame” subforum of the Oil Painting forum.

        I hope you’ll all consider posting something! Thanks.

        - Geoff.
        My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

        #614431
        Grotius
        Default

            @Ronsu: You may wish to re-post your flower-in-vase painting here in this thread, as the old one is about to be archived. I want to make sure people see it! I hope you enjoyed your new Rosemary brushes. :)

            I did this quick oil study of a local mansion today. “Mansion study,” oil on panel, 12″ x 16.”

            Here’s the ink-and-wash sketch I did of it beforehand. I always do a few thumbnails before painting plein air, but now I’m doing them with ink wash rather than charcoal. I kinda like this sketch better than the oil! “Mansion sketch,” ink wash on paper, about 4″ x 6.”

            Also, I sketched the church I painted last week. I may return to the spot to turn this into a full painting, as I think this view was pretty dramatic. “Church sketch,” ink wash on paper, about 3″ x 5.”

            - Geoff.
            My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

            #614466
            ronsu18
            Default

                thank you, i will. hoping to correct the water though not the table :)

                you’ll receive a response partly anticipated – those sketches are beautiful. the immediacy, vibrancy of plein air is very tangible in them, the first one needs a frame and it will find a home quickly. the second needs a tree to the left then a frame and off it goes. there’s a wonderful playfulness in them, your ease in the medium comes through.

                the oil has intriguing cold/warm story, for some reason i’m very drawn to the shadow mass on the right. it brings the accent to the light, of course, but… i’m thinking there’s something there, hidden!

                C&C welcome

                #614432
                Grotius
                Default

                    Thanks, ronsu! I’m glad you like my little ink-wash sketches. I’ve actually never used a fountain pen to draw before this week. I got my pen Saturday and have been drawing with it madly since. I posted a few examples in the Pen and Ink forum here on WC.

                    Heh, once I finished sketching the mansion in oil, I was running short on time and had to fudge the foliage around the building. It’s not the greatest composition, but at least the building looks decent.

                    Take your time revising your painting! I look forward to seeing it.

                    - Geoff.
                    My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

                    #614467
                    ronsu18
                    Default

                        scooted over to pen&ink, congratulations!
                        if something you’ve done for the first time turns out that good, it’s a given. it’ll take marketing and research of course and those things will move. there’s humour (shoe shopper) and accurate rendering (shoulder of the seated surfer is amazing). the chess pieces need their vendor and they will really move! i like the size, it could be a factor. landscapes like that.. yum! enjoy doing them, keep them, in a year act on them.

                        someone over there already commented on the hand problems about the pen sleeves, like thick tubes, that help. they do influence your drawing though, and you still have to care for the tendon at the bottom of your palm, between the pillows (?) near wrist.

                        the tulip, pronouncing my devotion for Rosemary’s brushes, ivory long flats nr 4 and 8.
                        “Last of April” 30x40cm oil on paper
                        from life, with proof, due to extreme liberties taken, in two sessions = 3 hours :smug:

                        [ATTACH]856686[/ATTACH]

                        [ATTACH]856685[/ATTACH]

                        C&C welcome

                        #614452
                        carolkay
                        Default

                            Geoff

                            You certainly have some Interesting places to paint there!
                            Very nice and the pen ink studies are great and have good potential !

                            Ron

                            Your painting is lovely .Nice light in the vase !

                            [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Carol Sometime's failure is the opposite to success~ but sometimes failure can be the pathway to success
                            #614453
                            carolkay
                            Default

                                Can’t seem to post an image ..

                                [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Carol Sometime's failure is the opposite to success~ but sometimes failure can be the pathway to success
                                #614454
                                carolkay
                                Default

                                    I painted this Saturday – it’s oil on linen – 12×16 – allaprima from life!
                                    Got the flowers from Sprouts- and made a run ( as afterthought) for the ribbon!

                                    [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Carol Sometime's failure is the opposite to success~ but sometimes failure can be the pathway to success
                                    #614433
                                    Grotius
                                    Default

                                        Ronsu, nice job! Very lovely flowers indeed, and I enjoyed seeing the liberties you took with the drawing. Did you use the Ivory Flats exclusively? Of all the Rosemarys I’ve tried, the Ivory Flats and the Evergreens may be my favorites. I’m not as enamored of Rosemary’s bristle brushes, but then again I tend to prefer synthetics anyway. Thanks also for looking at my drawings over on the Pen & Ink forum! That was nice of you to stop by. And thanks for your thoughts on hand care. I’ll think about those tubes you and others have mentioned.

                                        Carolkay, I’m glad you sprung for the ribbon, as it adds a wonderful touch to an already wonderful painting! Your handling of the pitcher is (as always) masterful. I’m curious — do you buy canvas shaped like your frame, or do you cut canvas to fit the frame and then stretch it? I’d also be curious whether you sell your work. I imagine that beautiful frame costs a fare bit.

                                        Thanks to both of you for pitching in to contribute to the thread! We’re off to a good start for May.

                                        - Geoff.
                                        My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

                                        #614425
                                        AnnieA
                                        Default

                                            Hi everybody! I Don’t’t have any plein air work, but I do have a couple of paintings from life. I intend to keep working but they’re 90% done.

                                            The first is an oil 11×14, Gaylene’s Flowers:

                                            And the second is from a recent life painting session:

                                            I’m now on the bus – impossible to type – back to comment soon!

                                            [FONT=Arial]C&C always welcome ©[/I] [/font]
                                            [FONT=Palatino]
                                            “Life is a pure flame and we live by an invisible sun within us.” ― Sir Thomas Browne [/size][/font]

                                            http://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/29-Jul-2007/85002-sig-thumbnail_composite_2.jpg]/img]

                                            #614455
                                            carolkay
                                            Default

                                                Annie- yr flowers are gorgious ! So well done ❤️

                                                Geoff… that is 12×16 panel — the frame is for a 12×16 – but it has the arch !
                                                I get frames from – masterworkframes-based in Utah !

                                                [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Carol Sometime's failure is the opposite to success~ but sometimes failure can be the pathway to success
                                                #614434
                                                Grotius
                                                Default

                                                    Annie, great to see you here! I really enjoyed both paintings. The pink flowers really glow against the green background. Did you choose the color complement of pink deliberately, to highlight the pink flowers? Nice job on the figure, too. How much time did you have?

                                                    Carol, I see — the frame just covers the top corners of the rectangular panel. Neat!

                                                    - Geoff.
                                                    My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

                                                    #614426
                                                    AnnieA
                                                    Default

                                                        Carol, thanks!

                                                        Geoff, thank you too. The life drawing session was 3.5 hours, but I lost a half hour because I didn’t know that was the start time when the model went on the clock, but everyone comes in about a half hour earlier to set up. Because there wasn’t a lot of room by the time I got there, I ended up setting up in a spot that really wasn’t too good because of glare from a window.

                                                        And, I spent a bunch of time struggling with the foreshortening of the legs. There’s an excellent figure painter that runs the sessions. He isn’t really acting as an instructor but he gave me some good advice: when there’s significant foreshortening, it helps to make the near parts somewhat larger than they actually are as sight measured. He said the viewer expects to see items that are closer a bit larger.

                                                        So anyway, it’s not a perfect oil sketch, but at this point, I’m still happy with it since I can see a lot of progress (although since the image I posted is so dark there’s no way to judge that on the WC end!). I played around with it some today, but I’m not certain I really improved it, as I didn’t have the model to look at. Next time, I’ll get there earlier!

                                                        And yes, I actually selected green paper to put behind the flowers, because I knew the pink ones would be the focus. I thought I’d be able to post a better photo of the figure, but the one I just spent a bunch of time editing also has problems. I’ll have to try again later.

                                                        [FONT=Arial]C&C always welcome ©[/I] [/font]
                                                        [FONT=Palatino]
                                                        “Life is a pure flame and we live by an invisible sun within us.” ― Sir Thomas Browne [/size][/font]

                                                        http://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/29-Jul-2007/85002-sig-thumbnail_composite_2.jpg]/img]

                                                        #614468
                                                        ronsu18
                                                        Default

                                                            @Grotius
                                                            ordered ivories, bristles, evergreen filbert 0 and 5 and a tiny eclipse; only tried the two ivory long flats. i love the length of them and how that affects paint behaviour. the brushes are distinct separate characters, i’m really happy and looking forward to “getting to know them”.

                                                            @Carol
                                                            it’s surprising to see a frame that serves the painting so well. i really like the colors and shapes, the cool red in the middle flower, the shapes left and up middle; quiet extras that make the sunflowers look different. i like the weight of the table top, it’s temperature.

                                                            @AnnieA
                                                            my eye was drawn to the same color behaviour; how relatively simple color planes transform into space while looking. i always enjoy your work but i’m grateful you post the unfinished class assignment. those are the bee’s knees for learning, observing where eye goes and why, how it starts to fill in and with what. thank you!

                                                            C&C welcome

                                                            #614435
                                                            Grotius
                                                            Default

                                                                This was the first session of a three-session pose. It was a bit frustrating. The lay-in of shadows looked great — and then I messed up the drawing when I added lights. I wish I’d taken a picture of the lay-in! Fortunately, I get a couple sessions to fix things.

                                                                Here’s what sometimes happens to me, and what happened today. I make my shadows too dark, and then add a midtone light that’s too light. Then I panic because my nice drawing suddenly looks like a ghost or a cartoon, and I stop attending to the drawing while I try to correct the color trouble. In the future, I need the initial values to be closer together — a mild dark, a mild light — and then gradually deepen the values in the darks and lighten the values in the lights.

                                                                Anyway, “Natalya,” work in progress, oil on panel, 11″ x 14.”

                                                                - Geoff.
                                                                My website and blog: https://www.geoffwatsonart.com/

                                                              Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 54 total)
                                                              • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.