Inspired by the paintings of William Wendt, I decided to go a little bigger outside and tackle the painting with more of a broad brush approach than my usual medium brush approach. This is a 30 x 30 on a cradled wood panel (box) gessoed a couple of times and lightly sanded. It was a two tripper, about 7 hours of total work, maybe 8. And may I say that here in Florida it’s steamy hot even at 8 in the morning? Developing a painting on this scale is tough, if things go south they fail on a much bigger scale which means more time is wasted than in a smaller effort, so a little more thought has to go into the approach. I didn’t do any preliminary sketches but used my handy cropping tools (fingers) to arrive at the main idea of this piece, which was the sweeping curve of the shore going up to the main event of the lighted bushes and the rhythm of the upright trees. The mapping in of the main shapes was the key to establishing the compositional patterns, it’s a bit like taking an old fashioned camera and throwing it out of focus, slowly dialing in to a sharper view. With this approach sometimes things end up in the wrong place creating a improper rhythms that require wiping out and reworking. Moving in a thoughtful way, using light washes first to feel out the balance of the main shapes works best for me.
I painted with 3 friends from the studio; Don, Tim, and Lynn. We all stayed in a group so that we could move back and forth within our circle of wagons to see who was doing what and maybe borrow from one another. Lynn and I talked about color theory a bit and I had suggested that she try just working in the primaries instead of using all the tube colors to mix the multitudes of green that we are faced with. She asked why and I said, well, whatever color you mix is going to have some variation of the three components in it (and white as needed)… want gray? it’s a little blue, red and yellow and white. Want green it’s a lot of yellow, some blue and a little red, maybe some white. Want to make brown? and who doesn’t? It’s a lot of yellow, a lot of red and a little blue. But usually one color dominates. She said, you mean like two against one? And I said, yeah, like two against one. It was a good way to look at it.
(I just reposted the image after comparing it to the original, there was a bit more contrast and depth in the foreground.)
I love these conversations with artists. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful painting, Larry. It really takes you back in space and keeps you looking through the composition. You make me miss Florida!
Very nicely done! After my usual “wows,” I always enjoy enlarging your work to study the brushwork and subtle color shifts…amazing what YOU get from very few tubes of paint. My paint tubes don’t yet produce all those wonderful colors, but we’re working on it. I like Lynn’s analogy of “two against one.”
Painting with good friends is one of the most pleasurable experiences an artist can have and always energizes. Last winter was a bummer here, ice and snow for months. I thought about you guys and the studio you share and we started a small group. Anyone who could make it down the mountain painted every Friday morning at a local rec center. What a creative lift from the winter blues. We’ve continued it into the spring and summer’s plein air trips.
No offense Larry, but I think you’d fit right in. We’ve named our painting group after a favorite snack…Mixed Nuts.
John,
It always amazes me how consistent the colors stay throughout a painting and I think it’s because I’m mixing everything from the primaries and not throwing in a bunch of tube colors.
Mixed nuts. It is good to have a group of friends to paint with. I really enjoy our commarraderie… commaraderie… comradery… kommawradary.. friendship.
I wish I had been there to witness the genius. I need LOTS of surface space to mix a good variety of hues. Even if I’m doing it from the primaries (which I confess I can’t stick to…). If I’m too constrained, I just get lazy and just start using what’s there – whether it works or not. Especially if I’m outside and in a time crunch.
Phil and I are heading to NC tomorrow for a week long stay near the Asheville area. Should I take my paints, or focus on the ‘couple’s time’? He IS taking his rods and reels, after all.
Also – I met Dominic Avant by accident last week during a visit to Sarasota. I didn’t even know that’s where M gallery was! We talked for a long time and he told me about his time here in Orlando. He’s quite a talent, and a very nice guy. He said to say hello to you!
yeah he is quite the talent. my vote is to take the paints and only bust them out if he starts fishing. and you don’t need to worry about your palette, it’s fine.
Thanks for sharing this painting (and its influence), it’s really awesome, I love all that movement with those big strokes. They seem sloppy but intentional…Whatever the case may be, the result is fabulous and I’m with Durinda that all those marks keep your eye moving and just dig that light. Thanks!