Summertime Sketchbook Tour

 Summertime and I can never get enough of sunlight shining through the various types of green leaves, whether it be flowers or trees, I'm always looking for those glorious, glowing moments. 

Here's a quick look at a few "stop me in my tracks" inspirations which have made it into my July sketchbook pages so far...

Early morning in a nearby park and the blossoming Russian sage is captivating, I took so many photos!! I love the soft purple surrounded by all that green.

 

 Photographing into the sun, hoping to get a balanced image of the brilliant sun rays and dappled shadow below pine and deciduous trees.

 

The formal arrangement of repeating sprinkler arches and strategically placed trees is satisfying to me. It feels balanced, serene.

One of my favorite trees to photograph, I always find it's twisty branches so interesting.

 

 A reminder that all of these little gems are truly small, only 2.50 by 3.50 inches, it takes me about an hour to paint each one. My goal is to choose my favorite ones, then paint them larger and try to capture that same fresh brushwork.

I haven't been successful yet, but I keep trying. I find it's often helpful to have an inspiration and goal to keep me focused and moving forward to improve my skills. 

 What type of creative journey calls to your heart? Decide on one small step you can take on that path and begin.

Happy Creating! 

>^-^< 

Tina

Beware The Reference Photo Trap!

 

"Shades of Pink"

 

Question: What does that blue diagonal section on the right side of the painting above look like to you? 

Is it a river with a mountain range behind in the distance? 

Is it a sidewalk in shadow, speckled with sunlight? 

Here is the original photo I took for reference to give you the answer.

Beauty behind bars.

 

When I put the photo and painting side by side, you can see I actually painted what I saw fairly accurately, minus the fence bars, of course. 

Original photo and "Shades of Pink" painting

 

I painted "Shades of Pink" in 2021 and it never felt quite right to me and I couldn't quite put my finger on "why" exactly. 

This spring, I decided to try again to figure out the problem. When I asked for input from my husband, and my cousin, both of them with great artistic sensibilities, it finally became clear that they were visually confused by the sidewalk in shadow and they both thought they were seeing a river with green mountains in the distance.

My problem suddenly became obvious, I had been trapped by one of the biggest pitfalls of painting from photos! 

I've known for over 30 years that sometimes what you see in a photo may not translate well into a painting, even if you paint what you see accurately, it may not look right no matter what you do.

Both of them gave me some useful advice on how I could clear up the confusion. My cousin in particular had this excellent insight to share:

Essentially, the sidewalk lacks context, there are no visual clues to suggest what it actually is, there is no grass growing in the sidewalk cracks, and we can't see the tree that is casting the dark shadow. So I could either add more detail to the sidewalk or I could emphasize the cast shadow. 

"Shades of Pink" with more shadow, less "river."

I didn't want more details in the background pulling the focus away from the poppies, so I chose to increase the shadow. It only took a little bit of time and paint and like magic, a painting that has puzzled me for years already looked so much better!

Now, that one lonely poppy bud really looks odd and I think the painting needs a few more buds to balance it out. Since they don't exist in the original photo, I used a little digital "copy and paste" to test out where to place them.
 

The One has become Five.

I think it is an improvement! It is these kinds of visual puzzles that make the art of painting both frustrating and very exhilarating when you finally solve them. Now it's time to get out the brushes and paint those buds in for real.

Happy creating!

>^-^<

Tina

An Unpredictable Journey

 

  Often the first question someone asks an artist is "how much time did it take to paint that?" One of the most true answers I have heard is "a life time" but I honestly don't think that is satisfying or makes sense to anyone except other artists!

I do keep a log of my art making time because it helps me judge how long a project is going to take, and even then I still get surprised. Sometimes it just takes extra time to solve the painting puzzle, no matter how much planning and previous experience I have invested.

Here is an example, I have had this painting on my easel since September 2024 and am just finishing it now in February of 2025. No, I haven't been working on it every day over that time, but in short painting sessions between other projects that took priority. Even at that, I seriously thought I would have it done in November! 

Here's a sample of that journey...

On a rare solo hike on a local trail in September, I stopped and attempted a quick color sketch of that beautiful fall day.

Back in the studio, I chose a 9x12 inch canvas and began my favorite part, which is sketching out the basic arrangement and color scheme of the landscape. I chose to do an orange under-painting because it adds some "sunny day" warmth to the following layers of paint.

October, I was cruising happily along until I realized the rock on the left is placed too high, so the tree trunk looks too short! I am really bummed to lose that rock, I painted it so nicely. Also, the blue sky is too bright and needs softer graduation in color to add depth, the mountain range also needed a greyed down purple to add more atmospheric distance, so some of those nice tree branches had to go as I repainted most of the background.

January, I'm back on track, but now I'm not getting the shadow over the rock to look right, I knew I was going to miss that original rock! Solution, just put the whole rock in the sun and forget that pesky shadow, which means I must remove it from the trail too.

Early in February, the painting is starting to look finished, one last important detail was realizing the tree trunk on the left needed a sunny side to match the sunny rock. Okay, fixed that, now it feels essentially "done," but honestly, that foreground shadow still bothers me! Is it too dark? Is the shape the problem? Ugh, do I just let it be and move on? Knowing when a painting is completed isn't always clear.

If you have read this far, you get the reward of an answer to the question, "how much time?" Actual painting time so far, 46 hours, spread over 5 months and this could change if I decide to rework that shadow. 

I hope that helps explain why the "how much time" question can be a complicated one for an artist to answer!

Happy Creating,

>^-^<

Tina