Draw Where You Live

The other evening, I was inspired greatly while watching several YouTube videos on the subject of plien air painting.  Both of the artists featured in these videos are extremely successful and skilled artists. They are  Lori McNee and Jim McVicker.  I have signed up to take an online webinar with Lori McNee on the "Secrets of Social Media" and am very much looking forward to all that she has to share on that topic since I love blogging and FaceBook.

The video that Lori had filmed showed her painting a river scene that is just a couple miles from her home in Idaho.  She is there quickly catching the colors and lighting with her paints.    You can really see the scene unfolding as she works.  Right in the middle of her filming session, a moose comes wondering up the river like he wants to be a part of the painting.  I have experienced the thrill of seeing wildlife up close and seeing a moose while camping in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming was certainly a thrill.  I was immediately jealous of her ability to be surround my such amazing scenery with such a minimal effort."A Day in the Life of Lori McNee"

The video on Jim McVickers is actually a documentary on him as an artist.  It showed him traveling all over the rugged Northern California countryside painting from a variety of landscapes.  He never uses a reference photo but rather will return to the same location several days in a row or even up to a year later to capture the same lighting conditions.  The film showed several pieces as he started with just sketching roughly in paint and then immediately blocking in the canvas with vibrant colors.  The painting rapidly took shape as the camera man captured Jim working.  Jim McVicker "A Way of Seeing"

Being thoroughly inspired, I was determined to have a positive plein air experience of my own when yesterday when we decided to head out to the desert to do some 4x4 exploring.  I usually paint in acrylics but the air is so dry here that I struggle the whole time trying to keep my paints wet enough to even get it applied to the canvas so I packed my sketching box that includes my travel watercolor kit.    

With our lunch packed and some folding chairs thrown into the back of our old Toyota 4 Runner, my husband and I headed out to the hills.  The day was absolutely amazing.  We had an overcast sky and pleasant mild temperatures.  Usually the afternoon sun wears me out but there was a perfect blanket of clouds that allowed plenty of light but not the glare and radiation that you usually experience whenever you are out in the Southern Nevada desert.  

We did some exploring of some roads out near the area of Coyote Springs and while the scenery wasn't breathtaking and the wildlife we saw wasn't anything as impressive as having a moose walk past there was still something satisfying about sketching in nature.  I did see a couple lizards and a fuzzy tarantula spider that I guess can count as wildlife.  Now that it has finally cooled off enough here I will be heading out more often with my watercolor and pens to practice some plein air of my own.

My plein air sketch of some driftwood I found in the wash

Impressive desert wildlife

I always want to know what is at the end of every road I see.  Well this was the end of the road.

In my adventures that day we had to pass through a barbed wire fence.  My shirt didn't quite make it as you can see.

Learning to Paint Sea Foam

"The Little Shell Seekers"  18 x 24 Acrylic

About a month ago I was extended an invitation to paint along with a dozen or so other very talented local artists at the Springs Preserve on May 10th as part of their O'Hana Festival event.  My friend Jeffrey Oldham just through out there that I should gather up all my pieces that were tropical or ocean themed to bring along.  Did I ever mention that I'm originally from Missouri and have lived in the Nevada desert for over 35 years.  Oceans are something I just don't understand and have stayed away from so far....

Well this past couple of weeks I've pulled out all the different shades of blues greens that are in my acrylic paint drawer and bravely began painting in uncharted territories or water to be more accurate.  

I flipped through my photo inspiration file and settled on this amazing photo taken by a fellow artist and my Facebook friend of her precious granddaughters picking up shells.  As always, when considering using photos taken by others, I obtained permission to use the photo before I began painting.  Holly Kallie has so much artistic talent and only has to step out her front door to view amazing sunsets and frozen winter lake scenes.  Her granddaughters are so cute and provide endless adorable painting materials.  Holly actually painted this exact same scene and released it this week also.  It is so much fun to see how two artist handle the same subject.   Check out Holly's artwork at  Holly Kallie 

  

Reference Photo taken by artist Holly Kallie

My first attempt at the composition can be seen with this work in progress shot.  I tried to show each wave and catch the water reflections but knew I was falling short.  I viewed numerous videos on YouTube trying to understand the nature of painting of waves.  So I asked for a bit of help and from my artist friend and mentor, Lily Adamczyk.  Lily has amazing talent and proficient at all types of landscapes but one thing that she is well known for is her ability to paint beautiful ocean scenes.

Work in Progress

To achieve the final result, I had to smooth out the ocean so the girl's dresses stand out better against the background.  Lily also gave me instruction on the proper technique to paint realistic sea foam.  I finished off the detail on the dresses and reduced the size of the sun hat.  I'm really pleased with the end results and am excited to bring this piece with me next weekend along with a few other "Tropical" pieces I've managed to finish during this past month.  This piece will be displayed on May 10th at the Springs preserve and will be available in the next few days on my website at Julie Townsend Studio (You can click the link above also) and you can follow the link to order prints or view my other works if you are interested.

"Awkward" Is The Word That Comes to Mind

The moment I pop  the cellophane wrapper off a new canvas, my artist mind begins what can only be described as a journey.  That white canvas contains unlimited possibilities and my list of things I want to eventual paint continues to grow.  Of course I consider myself a landscape artist so most likely my new painting will be a landscape of either mountains or the desert... two environments things that are dear to my heart.  There might be a dramatic sunrise or a collapsing ruin built by some long forgotten miner or rancher.  No matter the focal point that I eventually decide upon I have to do my research.  I gather up inspirational photos and reference materials that I use to inspire my final piece.  I work up a mental image of what I'm trying to accomplish before I lay out the paint colors on my palette.

Since I have only been seriously painting for the past two years, I'm still working out my exact methods and styles when  it comes to approaching a new piece.  At this point I really start by painting my sky in.  Many artists sketch detailed renderings to consider composition and values before they ever grab a brush.  This is a discipline that I haven't gotten  into but I know that I really need to add this step into my painting process.  I know that I will be a better artist if I slow down and really plan out each piece instead of just hoping it works.

Sky is in, so I then lightly paint in my main focal points such as the trees, stream or that old building.  Often the composition will change and thankfully it isn't difficult to paint out mistakes.  There is a whole period from the first brush stroke to the point that you start painting in the fine details that I refer to as the "Awkward" stage.  Only you as the artist can see the final result in your minds eye and as you bring your piece to life you have to start top to bottom, back to front and so this takes time to create.  I'm sure that it is a similar creative process that a musician uses composing a musical score, an author writing a novel or an architect drawing the blueprints for a towering skyscraper.  There will be a trash can filled with composition paper, writing paper or long pieces of drafting paper.  It takes a while to get it right and painting has that same process.  

After painting over or adding elements, there is a point where the piece begins to emerge from the "Awkward" stage to a "Bonding" stage.  Your heart begins to feel the excitement as your piece  begins to emerge literally in front of your eyes.  I find myself walking past my studio just so I can catch another glimpse.  I take frequent photos as I work because I find it very helpful to study the composition whenever I find that I have a few minutes.

Yes, there is a love-hate process that you go through as you're creating a new piece and you just hope the end result will bring feelings of more love than hate.

Everyone Needs a Critic

I have one friend that I can depend on that will always tell me the truth about my artist endeavors. She will always tell me what she likes about my creation but equally she doesn't hold back with truthful criticism and since she has nearly 40 years of painting experience, I know that she knows what she is talking about. Sometimes it is hard to hear but it is EXACTLY what I need if I want to grow as an artist.

Right now, my week has been consumed with working on my very first commission piece and last night my friend had a great deal of sound advice regarding my progress. The issue with this commission piece is that the buyer has requested a combination of two of my existing paintings on one canvas. Both of these pieces were featured in the Mar/April 2013 edition of "Gold Prospectors Magazine". Now with many paintings that might not be a problem per say but in this case we are talking about two completely different landscapes; one is of a mining shack that I painted near Tonopah, Nevada and is smack dab in the heart of the Mojave Desert and the other one is of a prospector panning for gold in a mountain stream. The focus of both is gold mining but blending the two together is proving difficult.

I had followed her previous council and had created a rendering by doing a pencil sketch of the layout based upon the conversation I had with the buyer. The buyer said he loved the idea and so I proceeded to start my painting. Visually, I worked to combine the sky and mountains between the two scenes and then my plan was to separate the two scenes by using tall pines trees and shrub pine in the center as a division. When I was about 3/4 of the way complete, I sent a progress picture to my friend and she had a great deal to say about it.

First, she told me that it was breaking a huge compositional rule by having large trees in the center of my canvas and that these trees are the focal point when they shouldn't be. No matter if the buyer agreed, it was my job as the artist to direct him to a composition that works and while they may be buying the piece upon completion, I still owned this work. They will probably be in awe at anything you paint because they don't possess the artistic skill to paint anything and that is why they hired me. She didn't want me putting something out there that I might later regret. All I can say about this is that I sure have a lot to learn about this art business.

Then she gave me some helpful advise to consider a correction. She advised me to take a heavy bristol paper and to tape it on to the canvas in the problem area. Then re-paint the scene that better brings the two paintings together and that will minimize the center pine trees. This way I can visually see the correction before I start laying waste to my piece and deciding this wasn't going to work. Wise advice to be sure.

I have included the pictures of my original works and the current piece in progression so that you as the reader might learn along with me. After all, the purpose of this blog is to hopefully help other aspiring artists like myself by sharing my journey.

Lurking Just Around the Corner

Yesterday, rather late in the afternoon, we decided that a walk was in order...Brad and I are the type that appreciate the rugged desert to the urban jungle we call home.  So we grabbed the dog and Laura, a couple bottles of water and headed out just to stretch our legs.  Our favorite quick get away is about a 20 minute drive to a rugged area, towards Lake Mead, that we call Pabco Road.  For years we have run out there to visit Gypsum Cave or explore the Old Spanish Trail area, but this time I simply wanted to look at rocky cliffs and get some exercise.  I have been painting a number of pieces lately that have rocks as a main focal point and felt that what I really needed was to get some first hand inspiration.

The area was more rugged and beautiful than I remembered from my past visits.  I was completely absorbed in the surroundings.  The jagged cliffs, the shadows and caves high above my head, the sounds of the birds that build their nests high in the cliffs, the colorful flowers and the dry desert breeze. A number of ideas for future paintings flooded my thoughts.   Reality was quick to take over, when a strange sound broke the magic of the moment.  This was a sound that I had never heard in the past, but it was a sound I will never forget and I knew instantly what it's source was.  It was the angry sound that a rattlesnake makes to warn you of his close proximity.    This experience has made me mindful all day how we can go along...business as usual..and yet danger lurks just around the corner.

I have no idea how Laura and the dog make it past that spot without running into the danger that waited there.  They were about 100 feet in front of us and yet in her inexperience she didn't know of the creature that lay on the rocks just a few feet away.  Our dog Cookie, with all her energy and reckless playfulness, didn't notice either.  Surely any sound or motion would have drawn her attention.  Yet, they were protected and for that I am thankful.

My lesson here is that you can never take Nevada for granted.  A simple walk can be treacherous and caution needs to be the norm...  Water, a first aid kit, sturdy boots, a gun and the dog leash need to be present at every outing.  I also need to remember who my Protector is and give thanks daily for His mercy...especially to little red headed girls and spotted rat terriers.