Uncle Bud's Art Colony

Sunday, August 7, 2016

Do you always paint what you see? I would try to paint every blade of grass but then it just wouldn't look right.

This is "Burnside's" bridge over Antietam creek, during the civil war this bridge was a key rebel fortification. It's near Sharpsburg, Maryland.

I wanted to paint every thing I saw and felt, the whole struggle, but I realized less is more.

This bridge has been painted many times before because of what happen here. I wanted to paint it all. (Not the scaffolding) My first sketch was a bust, so I painted it again, just catching the essence of what I saw. That was much better.

This is looking from the East side, the tree in the foreground was there 154 years ago, although its much bigger. Today this is a very peaceful place. Back then it was a place of great turmoil.

When we paint the "feeling" or the essence of what we see we do our subject and our audience an honor. Try this week to paint what you feel and you will be happier with the finish product.
Ask yourself "What do I see." Or "What do I feel." What does the subject bring to you?

We don't have to paint everything we see. Sometimes I want to though. Van Gogh said don't paint the obvious.
Let's keep our brushes wet.

Paint What We See ?

10:17 AM

Kathy

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Really look at this picture.
No really look. Can you see the patterns of the serpentine in the water against the water lilies? There are no hard edges. Only interlocking color and flowers and pads. It's the "S" design.

This reminds me so much of someone else's water lilies. The negative space of water versus the green lily pad. The reflections of the trees and sky the floating pads.

In the foreground the grasses seem to blend into waters edge,

If you create an "S" shape with clouds or your roads or even the water in a picture it's way more interesting.

One of the first lessons I learned in art class was to look and find the serpentine shape. So I would say learn to really see, and find more "S" in the paintings and designs we create.

I hope this helps with better compositions, Uncle Bud.

Find the "S" the Serpentine Design

1:24 PM

Kathy

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Monet captured a moment in time. This picture is (ready for a long title?) The church of Varengeville and the Gorge of Montiers Pass. Painted in 1882 it still holds up today! The colors, the light, and the composition.

Monet painted this scene several times and in different light and from different angles in fact in the other painting you can see he left out a tree or added a bush here and there.

This painting is the epitome of "plein air" done out of doors on the windy knoll of the gorge. His style is called "tache" in French it means to spot, stain, freckle, splosh, mottle, blotch, and speck.
( I looked it up, I don't know or speak French.) In art school I thought I heard the word as "touch" or "touche" meaning small touches of color and dabs of paint through out the painting. building a whole scene with dabs of color.

I believe he would have caught the color notes and the finished the painting his local studio. My understanding is Monet would have several paintings going at one time in different locations and times of day.

Until recently I was a bigger fan fan of some of the other Impressionist until I really began to discover Monet's style and dedication to his art. I always loved the waterlilies but I really didn't dig deep enough in to his pure style. Love it now though!!!

Lets see if we can catch a moment in time with our art this week.

A Moment in Time with Monet!

9:44 AM

Kathy

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You can tell I'm a painter I have paint on almost every pair of pants, shoes, and shirts I own. The apron is just to catch the big stuff.

This is another canvas of the Point Betsie Lighthouse. This is done in acrylics on stretched 16 x 20 canvas then glazed over with a clear coat.

I did the sky and sand dune area in relationship to one another, and I used yellow tinted white for the actual lighthouse. The roof is a mix or alizarin crimson and burnt sienna with white trim.

This was from a photograph I took about 1993 or '94. This picture flew off my shelf as several family members wanted it.
I have done a dozen watercolors of the the same scene and every time some one wants it. That is okay, that's why I paint it, to bring enjoyment to others and myself.

Every time I paint I want to get better, that's my goal. get a little bit better day by day. It is one of the reasons I paint almost everyday.

So your challenge for today is to paint, draw, or watercolor some little project for 30 days. Lets all raise our brushes in salute!

Sorry I got carried away.....

Proud Poppa

2:33 PM

Kathy

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This place knocked me out the first time I saw it! I had read about it and studied it in school and though I knew what it was, but until I saw it with my own eyes I finally understood. The men charged over one mile in the face of cannons and rifles.
This is the place where General George Picket attacked the whole Union army on the afternoon of the third day in the battle of Gettysburg, Pa. July 3, 1863. ( Yes I've drawn and painted this place.)

It's been called the High-water mark of the Confederacy. I believe it broke the back of the rebellion even though they lasted another two years.

Art is a lot like that, until you get the bigger picture your understanding is limited. Paintings seen in books or heard about you think you know, but until you go see them or stand under their spell you can't know their power.

In 1965 (almost 100 years later) I got to see Vincent Van Gogh's drawings in Columbus. His power with charcoal and paper the crude dashed off lines awoke in me a desire to draw and paint forever!
The power of the visual is crazy, many of us need to touch or hear something to be moved by it. I need to see it. Both of those two moments moved me. I love the history of the Civil War and am completely overcome by the Pieces of Art I've seen!

If you live in the Midwest or Great Lakes states, go to every museum in the surrounding area! ( We have some great ones.)
Look at the old masters, the early pieces of our collective history when man first drew a buffalo or woolly mammoth on a cave wall. Look at the Impressionist look at Klee or Jackson Pollock or Mary Cassatt. Look at the modern painters enjoy what they teach us.

Where is your high-water mark? When will you charge into glory for your art? Well at least go to a museum.

Gettysburg and Pickets Charge

10:01 AM

Kathy

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Three, five and seven these numbers mean something in art. Three primary colors, red, yellow, and blue, from these we can make almost any other color. (I understand about the chemical colors) I'm just talking about the beginning of color!

Five is just a good way to create interest in your painting. For example in a landscape you need sky, horizon, background, middle ground, and foreground.

Seven is the way we can create depth in a painting progressing from light to dark, and from back to front.

Now with all rules in art they are made to be broken. Some of the great works of art have no background, or foreground. In Fact they are just color or substance.
What I am referring to is most landscapes and a style of painting. These are of the late 17th century until the 20th century. That was when we started to put painting in the home as decor. The artist was more than a servant of Nobles, Kings, and Popes.

I not a big math person but, a canvas can be divided into thirds, and for that matter fifths or sevenths. There is also a "golden equation" 1:1.614 check out the Mona Lisa Da Vinci painted her in that special equation for dramatic effect! I sure there are many more ways to cut, divide and layout a painting that I don't know but maybe this will help you look into some of them and get you started on a path to painting and discovery!

Well today I going to divide up my canvas, maybe into fifths... or more!

3,5,and 7 and Golden Ratio

9:59 AM

Kathy

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If you have any artistic talent and know one person they will ask you if you can help with their project.
Be careful you will be tempted to say:" Yes! I'll help you, "

Now that is fine but remember help me means you will do all the work. LOL
Now don't misunderstand I love to do this stuff!!!!! and have for over 40 years. I've done countless High School Musicals and plays, my wife has me every season do a new "team
theme" for her baton squads (love to do it) but you can get in a corner real easy. Just saying. learn to say No at the right time.

Now I do impressionistic scenery because lighting and distance is involved you don't have to paint every line and twig, or pole, or whatever. Let the viewer get their impression and the actors have a place to play. I always design either with pen and ink or watercolors first and then layout what is important and build on that. This won an award for best scenery in 2014. My team and I had a blast doing this one and we have done some crazy stuff!

Painting on a larger scale takes some planning but it is very rewarding!!!

So Yes or No that is up to you but if you do, stick to it and try an impressionistic style!
Give me the saw and a paint brush.......