Clouds Over the Iowa River,
16″ x 12″, UART 320

Underpainting

Here is one more painting–done this weekend in anticipation of my Cloud Workshop.  I decided I really needed to get some more practice and this picture just jumped out at me to be painted!  I spent a lovely time on Saturday afternoon with this, ignoring all of the technical details I have to worry about to do a virtual workshop!

I did a very simple underpainting after roughly drawing in cloud shapes.  I used three shades of pinks.  Used three greens for the sky with a yellow green at the bottom.  I’m finding the greens work so beautifully.

For a painting like this the first challenge is the sky itself.  I used Ludwig blues and blue greens.  Then added more light blue over the blue greens.  I’m finding it impossible to find the right blue!  The Ludwigs are all either really cool or violet or really warm green blues. Great American “beacon” used to be just the right color but it got changed. However, in hopes that they might have been changed back, I ordered some from Rochester Fine Art.  We’ll see!

For the clouds, I used a mix of grayed violets, blues and blue greens all in very soft varieties, such as Great American.  This painting was done at home. My Blue Earths have resided in my other studio but today I brought them home too!  For clouds, the softer the better.  It’s probably why I like painting them!

For the light areas, I used a Ludwig pink with a soft yellow in the brightest part.  The light pinks work really nicely and allow more room for sunlight to be added.

I kept the land very simple. There was a bridge going over the river that I got rid of.  I took this picture on a walk on the “high line” north of Des Moines last September.  It afforded beautiful views of the sky.  Iowa has GREAT clouds!!!  (In case you are wondering, my husband’s daughter lives in Des Moines).

The Potomac at Nolands Ferry, 12″ x 16″, UART 320

Underpainting using yellow and a variety of reds

Here is the second painting completed today, this one done on my own.  It’s a very peaceful painting of the Potomac from a spot we explored for the first time last weekend.  Noland’s Ferry is on the C&O Canal near Point of Rocks in Tuscarora, Frederick County, MD.  The river is wide and peaceful, making it  a perfect spot for boating.  I took this shot from the landing to get a clear view of the river without bushes and trees obscuring it.

I knew this was going to be a blue/green painting–hard to escape it!  So I started with lots of reds and pinks and with yellow green in the sky and water.  You really don’t see any of that in the finished painting, but I find it so much easier to paint over colors like this.  Underpaintings are really for me, I’ve decided!

I began the painting last week and was afraid that I was getting too fussy with it.  I did the sky and left side of the painting.  The sky was a clear blue.  I used a very light yellow Schmincke and layed some of it at the base of the sky then decided to add a cloud shape and was really happy I did.  It gives the painting a lot more interest, I think.

Today I was at the studio without my glasses!  So I couldn’t be quite as fussy.  For the trees and reflections, its all greens, dark blues and a few violets. I was able to insert small pieces of “orange” for the bank, which are a welcome change.  I thought about trying to add some oranges or pinks but decided not to fool with it.  What I really enjoyed was “sculpting” the trees with dark against light.

One of the reasons for the photo and painting is the ripples of light crossing the still water.  I thought this really made the composition.  In the photo, the sky and water are “white” even though it was a deep blue sky day. So I had to wing it.

It was nice to paint this very calm and cool painting on a very hot day during turbulent times.

Rocky Mountain Path, 16″ x 12″, UART 320

I’ve been painting 12 x 16 size paintings in the last few weeks and find it’s a nice size for doing some cloud and water work.  This painting was done as a “paint along” for a student who I work with in my studio.  The photo is from our June 2019 trip to Estes Park for the wedding of my nephew.  Seems like a loooong time ago!

In the photo the central tree is much larger and obscures some of the mountains. I decided I wanted  them to be more prominent so I lowered the tree into a bush and made a little more of the path, leading it around behind the bush.  You can see from the underpainting that I used some pretty bright colors.  I’ve been favoring green under blue in my skies lately and it worked nicely.  The red under the green also worked well.  I made a number of changes to the composition after the underpainting. But that is the nature of a painting like this and it makes them fun to do.  You can add various colors and shapes or change what’s there.

The sky was the first challenge with bright blues and lots of puffy clouds.  In the photo the mountains are surrounded by clouds, but I wanted to have blue sky to set off the snow ridges.  I used my Blue Earth blue and cerulean sets for the clouds, using a number of their grayed colors.  Having been focused on clouds lately, I realize how important it is to have SOFT pastels to do them.  Blue Earth, Great American, Schmincke are all really great for these.  They go on like butter and make it SO much fun to do. Just remember to use a light touch!

Having done this painting in stages, while my student worked on his, I was rather anxious today to get it done.  I really enjoyed putting in the path and the various rocks, bushes and colors of greens in the landscape.  I particularly liked a light grayed green that I stuck behind the bush.  I thought it might look like a band of flowers.  I did add some small pieces of orange to denote flowers in the foreground but they aren’t really obvious.

This painting was fun to do and having a path like this with a beautiful backdrop made it all the easier.