Home Forums Explore Media Oil Painting Oil Painting – Hall of Fame Oil-from-life challenge, Feb. 2018: optional "red" theme

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  • #450571
    Grotius
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        Happy February! 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 “red” theme, partly in honor of Valentine’s Day, but also simply because red often grabs attention in a painting. As always, the theme is optional; 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!

        At the end of the month, I will sum up the proceedings with a written awards ceremony in which every artist will receive at least one written commendation from me, in the form of a post here in this forum. If you’d rather opt out of receiving such a commendation, just let me know. (Incidentally, you can find older oil-from-life threads in the “hall of fame” subforum of the Oil Painting forum.) I’m still working on the January awards; I’ll probably post them tomorrow.

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

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

        #557446
        moscatel
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            What a coincidence, I painted something little red today. Will photograph it tomorrow.

            #557473
            Grotius
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                Good deal!

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

                #557474
                Grotius
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                    I haven’t finished the awards yet — hectic weekend! — but I did have time for life class today.

                    My Friday life instructor emphasizes massing in over contour lines. She wants us to start from the inside and work out, making shading decisions from the outset, using fuzzy edges so that we’re not afraid to push and pull things to refine the drawing. She likes to see curvy, gestural strokes at start.

                    By contrast, my Saturday instructor emphasizes getting a sketch-drawing down (with straight lines) first, and only then shading. He’s all about getting the drawing right first — and he emphasizes straight lines and angles at the start, not curvy gestural strokes.

                    Anyway, I’m not sure which approach is best; I find merit in both. But the massing-in approach seems like more fun!

                    Here’s today’s effort. Sorry, it doesn’t have much red in it — except maybe her lips (which I didn’t have time to refine). It took about 1 hour and 45 minutes; from life, of course. I had only a canvas pad handy, so I guess this will never be framed, unless some future art historian decides to mount it on stretcher bars and donate it to the Met. “Mallina,” oil on canvas pad, 12″ x 16.”

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

                    #557447
                    moscatel
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                        — hectic weekend! — but I did have time for life class today.

                        That’s most important. :thumbsup:

                        Thank you for starting posting with your wonderful life painting, I like the light and shapes, excellent work on canvas pad. Did you apply additional gesso on canvas pad before painting?

                        Anyway, I’m not sure which approach is best; I find merit in both. But the massing-in approach seems like more fun!

                        I think what ever suits you best. I like big masses/shapes, no curves but straight lines. I seem to get better work done like that. But I hear and see curves working out well too, my last teacher worked like that and he was taught by Aristides Atelier and the russian school (Repin). When I do daily paintings or still lifes from life I use straight lines, articulation in the end only .. or at least I try, sometimes loose the track. Except for plein airs, like the following, I paint what ever my frozen brain allows in a limited time with icy fingers. Most times I even can’t think anything out there on the field. :cool: Plein air from yesterday, oil on wood, 20×30 cm, ” Little trees by the river”. Temp. near 0 Celcius so very warm and enjoyable painting weather outside. Glad I went to the forest.

                        #557448
                        moscatel
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                            This is the picture on location. The tree I painted is there but just part behind the painting in this photo but this picture shows the atmosphere well. It wasn’t raining but since I was under the trees standing there was water and little drops of snow dropping down from the trees. Even a dab of snow fell to my cafe cup! I couldn’t choose easily other spot to paint because there are pathways everywhere and people walking around with their dogs so it had to be this place. I don’t mind dogs while painting, they are fun to watch but it’s the people .. :D :lol:

                            #557506
                            maryinasia
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                                these are beautiful!

                                #557504
                                carolkay
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                                    Both are very nice .. you have more stamina than i do .. to get out in that weather to paint !!

                                    [FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Carol Sometime's failure is the opposite to success~ but sometimes failure can be the pathway to success
                                    #557472
                                    Grotius
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                                        Moscatel, bravo for getting outside in the snow to paint! I like the clumps of snow in the tree; you can almost feel it. I also like the contrast of dark values and the snow around the center of the tree. The piece has a nice mood to it. Well done! How long were you outside? I can’t imagine painting for more than an hour or so before my hands would get too cold. But I haven’t braved anything colder than about 40 degrees F.

                                        Thanks also for the thoughts on technique. There’s more than one way to go about it, it seems. I’ll keep experimenting.

                                        Did you apply additional gesso on canvas pad before painting?

                                        Nope, I just opened up the pad and went for it. Should I be adding gesso?

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

                                        #557449
                                        moscatel
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                                            Maryinasia, thank you.

                                            Carol, not that much stamina, these days I only go painting outside when it’s warm and this time it was raining (water). So, it was actually close to what Grotius mentioned about 40 F. I regretted not having umbrella. Oh, you gave me excellent idea about tiny snowman paintings that they could function as Christmas cards. I don’t have a place for this many paintings and have no one to sell any of these so to avoid bin .. Thanks Carol!

                                            Grotius, I have lately added gesso so that they are smoother to move brush abound. It helps me in painting process. I was outside painting 1.5 hours which is surprisingly little time for me. Plus, of course, walking to the location which was a bit far from parking place but so beautiful snow paths there along the river.
                                            To answer your earlier question about the 30 min challenge, I learned about 30 min paintings somewhere on Internet decided to try. If youdo it, don’t count color mixing time for that because then it comes impossible. Yes, 30 min painting are good way to improve. You really need to know what to do in 30 min only.

                                            DMArtist, thank you for being so polite for my snowmen. I do like your painting style and your brush strokes are wonderful.

                                            #557475
                                            Grotius
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                                                Hey Moscatel, I just noticed the vase you posted earlier. Somehow I missed it the first time I looked at your post. I am delighted to see the ‘red’ theme already popping up! More importantly, it’s a really nice piece of work.

                                                I’ve actually been doing some 5- and 10-minute paintings in life class, so Why not try a w0-minute paining too! I won’t count mixing time. I rarely pre-mix colors, though. I suppose I should. It would be nice to have 5 values of each color ready to go!

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

                                                #557450
                                                moscatel
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                                                    Oh dear, the plein air tree picture has changed to the “Red tulip vase”. This is quite a mess because there are two threads under same ol painting forum: this life challenge and daily painting. Some I do from photos and some life like plein airs and these vases. Maybe too many challenges under same forum. I mostly paint from life so where should I post: to both threads or in turns! :rolleyes:

                                                    Anyway, I meant to post both vases here as well but the red one, actually both of them, need a bit more work.

                                                    “Vase with Tulips”, oil on wood board, 15×22 cm

                                                    #557451
                                                    moscatel
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                                                        “Ceramic vase”, 15×22 cm, oil on wood. 30 minutes painting (color mixing not counted) – this one needs some fixing maybe to make it more straight. I will continue with the 30 min and hopefully 10 minute sketches. When I started doing 30 min paintings, I didn’t understand the meaning of them, I was only wondering ‘why am I doing these’ and ‘what am I suppose to do here in 30 min only’ until I had done few and then returned to my big landscape that I’m working on besides these quick ones and then it hit, how useful these are!

                                                        setup:

                                                        Sorry guys, the pictures are quite blur because I’m painting these during the day and photographing at night under desk lamp light so it’s challenging besides paintings are still wet when photographing after all they are daily paintings .. I’ll try to wait from now on till the next day for photographing.

                                                        #557476
                                                        Grotius
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                                                            Wow, Moscatel, those vases are terrific, especially considering how little time you had. Marvelous! I’m always reluctant to paint things that have designs on them, but you painted that bird on the white vase with confidence. Good stuff!

                                                            We can still see a small version of your snowy tree, in the photo of the scene. I hope you kept the other photo of just the tree painting! Maybe you’ll have time to repost it later.

                                                            I often paint better when I’m painting with urgency. Later today I’ll post a figure that is from the first of two sessions. I think it’d have been better if I hadn’t known a second session was coming.

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

                                                            #557452
                                                            moscatel
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                                                                We can still see a small version of your snowy tree, in the photo of the scene. I hope you kept the other photo of just the tree painting! Maybe you’ll have time to repost it later.

                                                                Thank you for your kind comments.
                                                                I post the tree again here. It must be the renaming or something similar that went wrong.

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