Photographs Are 99% Wrong

Photography is certainly a necessary part of painting but we need to be aware of certain limitations. My students remember the small sign in my studio that reads "Photographs Are 99% Wrong".

The mechanical camera has no emotional response to the subject matter. Depending on your exposure settings, colors in shadows may be too dark and light areas may be bleached out. The visual depth of field is altered, flattening the perspective and putting everything in focus, often distorting shapes at the edges of the picture frame. Colors shift according to the camera's digital interpretation. Colors and values are further shifted by viewing on a computer monitor or having the photograph printed. 

So what are your options? We do need the photograph as a reference for the general scene. Remember all the photographs you took on vacation - and how many of them were a disappointment? Paintings that adhere too closely to a photograph often are a disappointment too, lacking emotion and having a stiff, overworked appearance, a poor composition and lacking color harmony.

Your Breakfast is Ready 9x12, oil SOLD

Reference Photo

First, and most importantly, use your own photographs. You already have an emotional connection to the scene - to what was happening at that time, the people you were with, the sounds and the smells and your own response. The camera can't register any of this. Emotion is what you need to incorporate into your painting.  

Begin by looking closely at the photograph, asking yourself what impressed you about this scene. This will tell you what is important and what objects were “just there” and need to be omitted. Lightly sketch in your composition, moving or eliminating objects and modifying shapes.

Before you begin to paint, indicate the extremes - the darkest dark, lightest light, most intense color and the sharpest edge. Most of these extremes will be in the center of interest. These are your boundaries.

Once you have the basic composition and the extremes in place, put the photo down. Now paint, incorporating your emotional response and artistic knowledge. Employ all the concepts you have learned – aerial perspective, color harmony, correcting compositional errors, modifying boring shapes and eliminating distracting objects.

Don’t put in something “just because it was there”. Paint the way the eye sees by enhancing the center of interest and downplaying the edges. Think about the actual scene and how it impressed you at the time and paint your interpretation. Your painting will be so much better than the photograph.


Thanks for visiting.
Celene

July 2014 Newsletter

July Newsletter

I hope you are enjoying your summer.  Here in Maine the weather has been gorgeous with lots of sunshine, warm days, comfortable nights and only a few days of steamy summer heat.  Great weather to work outside and we have been very busy here!  My art classes are on hold for the summer and I am using this extra time to paint and study.

I have been reading a fascinating book by James Gurney, “ Color and Light”.  A very in-depth study by a talented illustrator and teacher.  I am especially intrigued by his chapter on “Gamut Masking”.  This concept uses the color wheel to chart a selection of harmonious colors to create mood and drama.  The gamut mask shows what colors, and their chroma (intensity), are included.  All other colors are excluded. The gamut mask can be moved around the color wheel to choose different combinations to create various moods and effects.

This was a difficult concept to grasp at first but the more I read and thought about it, the more intrigued I became.  I searched out his blog for more information and found a treasure trove of information on more than just gamut masking and color.  Definitely worth reading.  Here is the link – www.GurneyJourney.blogspot.com.

Then yesterday I received a note from Leslie Saeta saying that she was organizing another 30/30 painting challenge for September.  Perfect timing!  I can experiment with Gamut Masking for the challenge.  I will have enough time to study a bit more and to purchase a color wheel that shows the full range of color chroma from pure color on the outer edge to neutral gray in the center.  I will purchase both the standard wheel and the Munsell wheel for comparison.  The more I read about the Munsell color wheel the more interesting it becomes.  It differs from the standard color wheel by shifting the colors a bit more to the blue side and is supposedly a more accurate color wheel.

I hope you will consider joining Leslie’s “30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge”.  There are no rules except to have fun.  You can paint as many as you like and she lets you post them on her website.  Any subject, any size.  I enjoyed the January 30/30 challenge and painted 24 – 5x7 paintings.  I noticed a definite increase in energy in my studio and it was fun to join over 400 artists from all over the world in this adventure.  I met many nice artists along the way.  Here is the link - http://30paintingsin30days.weebly.com/. Leslie also has a great blog about her free radio talk show called “Artists Helping Artists” that you can access through your computer at - http://artistshelpingartistsblog.blogspot.com/.

I will be talking more about these topics in my future blog posts. You can sign up to automatically receive my new posts in your email mailbox here or in the special box located in the right hand column. There are over 70 previous posts that I hope you will enjoy.

So enough for now.  Lots to think about.  Enjoy!

Celene

Summer Gold, 8x10, oil

Our neighboring farmer just finished haying our front field.  The air is filled with the sweet smell of newly cut hay and the sun shines on the golden hay rolls.  I just had to paint this scene before he came back to pick up the rolls.

Ginger watched the whole procedure very closely.

Summer Gold, 8x10, oil.  Plein air

This painting is available on my ebay page.

Thank you for visiting.
Celene

Sunday at Saturday Cove, Maine

Last Sunday afternoon my student and I painted at Saturday Cove, a secluded beach just south of Belfast, adjacent to the charming Victorian village of Bayside, Maine.  It was a hot day and the sea breezes were a welcome relief from the heat. 

It was a beautiful day. The tide was going out and the only sounds were the children's laughter and the occasional scolding seagull.  I thought, "How wonderful to see these children running freely, laughing and calling out to each other to come and look at that special rock that looks like a giant shark's tooth or to see that odd creature living in the seaweed.  And, oh, the excitement of finding a piece of seaglass!  If only all children could be so happy and feel so free and safe."

I decided to capture that intimate scene of the children playing.

My student hard at work.

Sunday at Saturday Cove, 9x12, oil.  Plein Air SOLD

This painting has a new home in New Jersey.

Thanks for visiting.  Hope you are having a great summer.

Celene

My Homemade Plein Air Kit

If you've ever wished that you had a small painting kit that you could just grab and take with you, this might interest you.  I wanted a small kit that I could take with me when I drove into town to run errands, etc.  I can even paint sitting in my car if I see something that catches my attention. When my painting is finished I close the lid and everything is contained - safe and tidy.

This 8x12 plastic box was just the perfect size to hold everything I needed.

• Paint brushes with the handles shortened.
• An empty Liquin bottle is just the right shape for turps and seals well.
• A small plastic box holds my five colors of paint.
• A plastic lid stored in a freezer bag serves as my palette.
• A packet of tissues and a zip top bag with a few Handi-wipes for cleanup.
• Three 5x7 canvas panels.
• Plastic clips and a small plastic knife for scraping.
• Another small freezer bag for trash.

A clip holds my canvas to the lid as I paint.  

Another clip keeps the wet canvases separate.

When I get home I give the kit a cleaning and restock my supplies but I don't add fresh paint until needed.  I wrote myself a note on the cover to remind me to add the paint.

My kit stores neatly in a small canvas tote.  Just give me two minutes to refill the paint and I am ready to go.

You can easily modify this kit to fit larger canvases - just get a bigger box.  Happy painting.

Thanks for visiting.
Celene

May

I didn't have much time to blog in May. It was an eventful month. We lost two of our dear friends and they will be sadly missed.

And spring means lots of yardwork, cleaning up the debris of winter, working in the gardens and trying to stay ahead of the weeds. Our dog was spayed and that required keeping her on a leash for 10 days and going for long walks. No running through the fields and climbing over stone walls chasing chipmunks and squirrels. She patiently put up with the leash and now is free to run and play again.

There wasn't much time to paint outside so I have been working in my studio, experimenting with limited palettes and color harmony. I have worked with several combinations of the three primaries, with and without an earth color. Even though all the colors can be mixed from these primaries (and they will vary slightly depending on the primaries chosen), I found that the mixing time broke the rhythm of my painting.

After much experimentation, I am now working with the six basic colors of the color wheel in their brightest, cleanest hue. I may add an earth color or two, but only if necessary.

Below are two paintings that were done with my earlier primary palettes. As I continue to work with my new six color palette, I will share the results with you.

Summer Hay 8x10, oil.
Available on my Ebay page.  Click here to view.

Your Breakfast is Ready 9x12, oil.
Available on my Ebay page.  Click here to view.

Thanks for visiting.

Celene

Spring Rain Over the Mountains, 9x12, oil

Spring Rain Over the Mountains, 9x12, oil SOLD

It was a great day to paint outside and I was able to finish this painting before the showers came. This is looking out across our front fields. I love to watch the rain come in over the mountains.   

I'm working with a limited palette - Indian Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and White. I like the color harmony.  I'm going to experiment with other limited palettes this spring and I'll share my results with you. 

What colors do you like to work with?  Share with us, it'll be an interesting discussion.


Thanks for visiting.
Celene