Thoughts on Painting
Posted on 6/23/2012 7:19:17 AM
By Christine Marx - christinemarxoriginals.com
3 Comments
Karen's Poppies - oil on panel 11 x 14"
I started painting almost four years ago. It is something I fell in love with from the moment I picked up a paintbrush. There is something comforting to me about the smell of oil paints in my studio. I love the weekends but there is nothing like Monday morning when I head out to my studio, coffee cup in hand with ideas swirling through my head.
My head spins at how much I have learned in four years but my head spins more when I realize how much I don't know about art and painting! I am an avid reader and have accumulated quite a collection of art instruction books, American Artist magazines, Plein Air Magazine, and any other periodical that says "Still Life" on the cover. I took lessons every Tuesday, all day, faithfully, for two years with a man who is a modern master painting still lifes. I could take lessons for another 100 years and still learn something new every time. He gave me a fantastic foundation to then go off on my own and paint and learn and paint and learn. I think lessons with a GOOD teacher are invaluable. I went to the American Artists Weekend with the Master in Monterey last year and loved it and learned so much.But I think going off by yourself is as important. You have to learn to correct your own mistakes, which I think is a huge turning point for any artist. It's why people use a big mirror to look at the painting in reverse. It makes you see the painting in a different way, like through another set of eyes and makes the mistakes just jump out at you.
Which is what leads me to today's topic....the benefits of painting the same painting more than once. I don't do this with still lifes, which I paint meticulously and very deliberately. I find that I only have done it with landscapes, which I have been basically teaching myself aside from a two month stint with an artist/teacher who gave me a few pointers. For me, painting a landscape demands a more free flowing, loose style. It's about the big shapes and composition, which is in most cases made up of millions of individual flowers in a field, but should read as one piece of a large beautiful composition. It was a difficult concept for me at first but I am evolving. One of the tools that has helped me immensely is painting the same painting more than once. Sometimes I change important things like the palette or canvas vs. board. It amazes me how much differently paint moves, or actually doesn't move, on board compared to a triple primed canvas. I suppose, because it's oil, I could just layer over what I don't like. But I like to have a comparison, side by side, when I'm done. I keep meticulous notes in my notebook on each painting so I can reference it later if need be. Here is an example of my latest experiment:
First painting:
This was done on canvas with an old master's palette of colors. It was big brush, super loose (too loose). I love the overall composition but wasn't thrilled with the colors and how they didn't seem to harmonize the way I wanted them to. I couldn't really pinpoint why so I did the painting again, this time with a limited palette of six colors. Two reds, yellows, blues, one warm and cool of each and white. I had read a lot about this and hadn't tried it so no time like the present!
And now onto the 2nd attempt:
This is oil on board, which is always a struggle for me compared to a canvas but it seems most plein air painters use board in their travels so I thought I should get the hang of this, in case it's something I choose to do later in my career. You know, so one day I can teach those really cool classes for a week in Italy, a week in the Caribbean every year alla Georgia Mansur (one of my painting heroes).....sorry, I was daydreaming there. I learned many things doing the second painting. The first thing is I don't hate painting on board as much as I thought I did. I actually enjoyed the results this time. Also, sometimes reducing the number of colors makes for a more pleasing result. My natural inclination is to throw more color at something that's not working, and that's not always what needs to be done. I also cooled off the shadows in the foreground and put some nice bright greens in the foreground. More contrast in the foreground.
Art is often compared to a musical piece, which makes perfect sense to me. I have two versions of Coldplay's Fix You on my itunes. The first is by Coldplay, you've heard it on the radio. It's a beautiful song. I also have Fix You as performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It is also a heartgrabbing song, the same notes and composition, but performed in a different way, different instruments, no vocals, but the same song! It is like changing your palette. My subject is my sheet music. How I choose to play the song, with what instrument, how loud or soft is up to me. So my recommendation, if you haven't done so, is to try painting something twice making a few small changes: palette knife vs brushes, board vs. canvas, total palette change. You will be amazed at the difference!
Happy painting!
Chris
Posted on 6/6/2012 9:29:24 AM
By Christine Marx - christinemarxoriginals.com
1 Comment
Framing Is So Important
I learned a very important lesson in framing last week. If you are out of a certain size of frame that you usually use, don't use a fill in frame that is not of the same or better quality than what you usually use. I have always framed my paintings in very good quality, well made frames since day one of painting. My theory was, if you are going to spend a lot of time and effort on painting something beautiful, and work so hard to get it perfect, then why in the world would you put it in a less than perfect frame?
I was in a pickle last week and rushing to get some new paintings up to a high profile show. I thought I had the sizes that I needed to frame the pieces and I did not. So, I went to a store locally and bought two less than desirable frames. The right frame can really make a painting shine. The wrong frame can detract from a beautiful piece. They actually looked okay from the front, but the back was not up to my framing standards. I got the paintings to the show, but will be spending another full day driving back up there to switch out the frames, now that my order has arrived. Framing is that important!
Case in point in the picture above of my new frames. These picture are the same size. Note, there is extra detail on the frame on the right. I didn't know when I ordered the frame but the decoration around the still life looks like joined tulips! It really makes the painting look amazing. On the left is a peaceful, serene painting of a sailboat. The frame is also peaceful, with nothing to detract from or compete with the ripples in the water.
When I started painting four years ago I thought all I had to do was paint. Honestly, it's probably what I spend the least time doing!
I hope you liked this short lesson in framing.
Happy painting!
