Testing new ideas and painting Monet’s boat.

Every so often I come across a new idea which in principal will make both life and plein air painting simpler. Recently I came across two ideas and so decided to give them a trial run in the studio to see if I liked them and how easy they would be to transfer to the great outdoors. Here’s what I discovered (and what I painted!).

Idea 1: keeping oil paints fresh

I thought this was a great little idea – until I tried it! I’d seen someone putting their oil paints into those little plastic containers you get for pills, thus keeping your palette cleaner, keeping the paint wetter and fresher, and having less to take with you on a painting trip.

However, I found the paint quite tricky to access with a brush from these little pots. It all soon became quite fussy, the paint blobs became contaminated with other colours as I dipped the brush into them, and some colours ran out faster than others and so would need to be refilled with a tube anyway. So, I’m not really sure of the value of this. I don’t think I would save any paint, and I would still need to carry tubes with me.

Not great.

Idea 2: painting on oil paper instead of boards

I came across this idea watching this video by Patrick Okrasinski. He travelled through Europe and painted on paper instead of panels as they took up less room in his case and weighed less. Great idea, I thought. However, as I soon found out, painting on paper is not quite as straightforward as painting on gessoed panels.

I used oil/acrylic paper from an Arches 140lb block that I had bought years ago. It said you could use it just as it was and so I did, fixing it to a board with four tiny clips. My inspiration was a photo I took in Monet’s gardens in Giverney, France. I’d seen his boats (well, they looked very much like his boats!) moored up in one of the ponds there and I thought they would make a good subject, along with all that green vegetation and the reflections in the water.

But as soon as I began to paint in my usual way, starting with a thinned dark purple for the drawing, I realised I was in trouble. The paint just didn’t act the same way. It sunk straight into the paper and refused to flow.

scrubbing in paint

more scrubbing in…

I scrubbed in more, then more. The paint seemed to simply disappear into the thirsty paper. It was only when the whole surface had been covered that the oil paint began to sit there and behave. Finally I was able to complete the painting, but it had felt like a struggle.

finally to the block in

Monet’s boats 9″ x 12″ oil on paper

The conclusion…

On the first count, I don’t think I’ll be using the pill containers. For the paper – well, I still think it is a good lightweight option for plein air, so I’m going to try two things which may help. 1. I’ve gessoed some of my Arches paper so we’ll see if that helps the paint flow better and not sink in. 2. I’m going to buy some Canson paper (recommended by Patrick Okrasinski), to see if that is any better. I’ll let you know!

Paintings for sale

Just to let you know that I am putting some of my paintings up for sale on this website, especially the ones I have featured in my blogposts, including this one. So keep an eye out for them and get in quick if there is anything you would like to purchase. I’ll send to anywhere in the world 🙂

I’d love to read your comments if you have tried either of these things above (pill boxes or paper) or if you have any other handy tools or materials which you use for your painting. And please also click below if you have found this content interesting.

#Monet #oilpainting #oilpaper

Plein air adventure – painting loose and fast

It’s been incredibly hot here in southern Spain this summer and so I’ve not had many opportunities to get out and about painting en plein air. But the other day there was a sort of misty haze and I decided to make the most of it and try to get a painting done.

So, I grabbed my bag which was ready to go and headed off to the valley below where the olive trees are. Eli the dog came with me, as she always does, and spent the time chasing rabbits (unsuccessfully, I might add. She’s getting older and slower but is ever hopeful and still gives it a go).

I made a short video of the trip which you can see below.

As I headed down the dusty track I saw that some of the olive trees had been watered and there was a large puddle around them that reflected the sky. I’ve painted this before as the water connects the land to the sky and brings some blue into the sandy brown of the landscape. “Aha!”, I thought, “that’s my subject.”

Challenges

But when I got up close I realised that the water was murky with a scum floating on the surface. It just didn’t inspire me, so I needed to find another subject. And quickly.

This is one of the many challenges of plein air painting. It is not always easy to find something to paint. We can spend far too long searching for the perfect subject (which usually doesn’t exist) and then when we finally come across it we find we do not have enough time to paint it!

So the challenge for me was to find something else that would inspire me, and as I wandered around the trees I came across this view:

Now this may not seem too exciting to you, but what caught my attention was the dark line of trees against the distant hills, and there was also a natural lead in to this with the olive trees that were in the foreground.

van Gogh said: “I devour nature ceaselessly. I exaggerate, sometimes I make changes to the subject; but I still don’t invent the whole picture. On the contrary, I find it already there. It’s a question of picking out what one wants from nature”. Vincent van Gogh

So that’s what I decided I would do – take what was there and exaggerate it a bit.

Take a look at the 5 minute video below to see how I got on.

Please give a thumbs up if you have enjoyed this post. It makes me happy :))

ps here are 3 other ways to find inspiration in the landscape. Enjoy!

#enpleinair #learningtopaint #oilpainting

The art of the mark – why photorealism just doesn’t do it for me!

I spend just a few moments most days scrolling through Instagram looking at the artists that I follow, those that inspire me to make art. And every now and again Instagram tries to entice me to follow others by highlighting their work. Now, this is great when you get excited about a new artist (and I want to share three of my favourites with you today), but it also acts as a filter to show you what doesn’t work for you. Those styles that do not interest you.

So that got me thinking about why I like some art and why some of it just doesn’t hit the mark.

I read this quote last week:

“I firmly believe that it is our vocation to make people feel and not just see.” Mike Barr – The Artist Magazine September 2023

And that for me sums it up. I need to feel something when I look at a painting, and not just see something. For me photorealism (that is making a painting look exactly like a photo) is extremely clever. I am awestruck by the technical prowess of painters who can paint like this. But I don’t feel anything when I look at these paintings.

What makes me feel, what awakes emotion in me, is often something about the way a painting has been painted – the raw brushstrokes, the looseness, the way that I need to interpret what is going on and interact with the painting. Often this is subtle, something going on subconsciously. But it is happening, even when I am not aware of it. It goes beyond the cerebral (that’s very clever) and touches the soul (aaaaaah!).

Let’s take a look

Let me share three artists with you who use juicy brush marks to bring emotion to their paintings.

1. Colley Whisson

Here are three of his oil paintings which show that looseness and that expression of brush marks that I aspire to. Check out his website here to see more paintings.

Here is his philosophy, which echoes what I am trying to convey in this blogpost. He says, “I have long believed “It’s not what you paint but how you paint it”. With this in the fore-front of my mind I’ve dedicated myself to developing my skills to the highest level possible. I’m aiming to tell a visual story with clarity and sophistication but I am also driven to distort and abstract the image as much as possible while still maintaining a realistic image.”

2. Pavel Shumov

I love this guy’s paintings. They go to the extreme of looseness and bold juicy brushwork and they really do make you interact and feel your way through the picture. You have to study them to see what they are, and you find surprises along the way. You, as the viewer, have to interpret the paintings your way. That involves emotions. Feelings. See more of his paintings on his website here.

3. Maggie Siner

This artist also uses bold brush strokes to express the subject in front of her, and makes us work for the reward and therefore to feel something. She often paints simple subjects – pillows and sheets on a bed, clothes draped on a hanger, even some toilet rolls on a shelf! – but by the way she paints these mundane articles she brings life and excitement to them. Any subject can be made exciting, no matter how simple, proving that it is the way the painting is done rather than the subject matter that is ultimately more important. To see more of Maggie Siner’s paintings visit her website .

Finally…

Here are some of my plein air paintings from my recent holiday in England and France. They are all 5″ x 7″ water-mixable oil on MDF panels, and most were completed in under an hour. I have tried to paint loose and with nice brush strokes and to capture the feel of the scene in front of me.

Abingdon and the Thames

The Old Mill, Vernon

Castle Duingt, Lake Annecy

If you have enjoyed this article, then please give it a thumbs up. And also comment if you would like to share your thoughts with us all. Thanks.

#ColleyWhisson #oilpainting #brushmarks #paintingtips #MaggieSiner #brushstrokes #PavelShumov