Thoughts on Painting
Posted on 10/17/2012 6:38:15 AM
By Christine Marx
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Wick House Barn - Jockey Hollow State Park, New Jersey
I don't know about you but sometimes a painting will gnaw at me. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and go over and over in my mind what isn't working about whatever painting I am working on. Can you just see the little Lunesta butterfly from the commercial flying around my head?? This is the case with my recent plein air painting at the Wick House Barn in New Jersey. I have been still life painting for a few years now. Plein air and landscape is relatively new to me, and while some folks say "painting is painting" I have not found that to be the case. I think the approaches to landscape and still life vary greatly in some respects. The changing of the light on the subject matter is perpetually frustrating for me. In the studio, the set up is that same morning and night, due to the black out curtains and light set up.
It is good to have some tips under your belt before you go outside to paint, and to have a seasoned pro teach you things that you don't know. The Highlands Gallery in Bernardsville, New Jersey, is offering a series of really wonderful classes over the next few months with Kenn and some other amazing artists that I have admired for years. So when I had the chance to go paint with Kenn Backhaus, a favorite landscape painter of mine, I jumped at it.
I think that when attending a class, you can be so immersed in watching the demonstration, and then frantically trying to put what you learned into practice immediately, it can be a little overwhelming. I take copious notes, so that when I go home I can review and then practice some more of what I've learned. And it's then that I eyeball my painting and see what I hadn't seen in the excitement of initally creating the painting. And the words of the teacher come back in my head, especially the critique.
The name of the class was "Editing the Scene for a Stronger Painting." We covered a lot of material so I'll just recap with how I applied it to my own painting.
Here is the first painting:
When I started the painting the scene was not backlit, but I liked the effect so at the end of the session I focused more on the glow of the lowering sun coming from behind the barn. I loved what it did to the tree on the left. Kenn had me add some dead trees in the middle to push the trees behind it back, and to push the tree in front of it forward. And we decided that the dappled shade added interest to the grass in front.
So then, after my sleepless night and contemplation here are some more changes. They are subtle, but I think they really help the painting.
Here are the changes:
The first thing that drove me crazy, but I couldn't figure it out, was the line straight across that painting to the barn. The barn was actually on a slight hill. So I brought the sunlight down at an angle on the left and also brought the grass down on the right side of the barn, ever so slightly.
I darkened the inside of the barn and also the main wall of the barn. It's not coming across as dark in the photo as it looks in real life and I'm not sure why.
Then I really played up the backlighting. I took it up a notch on the tree right next to the barn, and then in the light cascading through the barn and the tree.
And lastly, I played some more with the dappled shade in the foreground. It was too mushy on the first painting. I wanted to see some shapes in the grass.
So, that does it for this painting for now. If you have a chance to take a plein air class with Kenn I would highly recommend it.
Happy painting!
Posted on 10/15/2012 8:01:18 AM
By Christine Marx
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Wick House - New Jersey
Yesterday I spent the day in New Jersey at Jockey Hollow Park plein air painting with the Fantastic, with a capital F, Kenn Backhaus. What an experience it was! He is an amazing teacher and I learned so much. I had to be up at the Highlands Gallery at 8:30 AM, so that meant leaving the house at 7:15 to accomodate my need to stop for a toasted garlic bagel and coffee from Wegman's on the way there. I was lucky enough to get lost on the way there, and drive through some of the most scenic areas of New Jersey! Fall is one of the times of the year when I love getting lost living here on the East Coast. It is the best way to find some good painting spots. So we all met at the gallery, where there was more coffee and delicious pumpkin and apple warm muffins waiting for us. How great does this day sound so far? We had a little meeting with Kenn, he gave us our maps, and we were off to find the Wick House at the State Park. I got lost again (those of you who know me know this is not exaggerated) and got to see more of lovely New Jersey. And then we followed Kenn through a lecture about editing the composition and choosing the best location for your plein air painting. It was a day full of learning and fun and painting, which I will share in another blog post later in the week.
The picture at the top is my finished piece from the day. We got to paint from 1 to 4, after listening to the lecture. It's not a finished piece, but it's enough information to take home to the studio and create another, bigger piece. Which is what I plan to do today.
Happy painting everyone!
