Fall Colors, and studio skies - pastel landscapes

The Green Shed - 12x12"
 pastel on black cardstock

Saturday afternoon's painting, from one of my favorite locations along the river, which of course, isn't visible in this piece.  Each year at this time, I'm reminded of what a fleeting season fall is, or at least as it pertains to fall color and painting.  

The cottonwoods, both narrow leaf, and Fremont, are rapidly fading and dumping their leaves, and I am sort of bummed I wasn't able to make the most of this season.  But, it was peaking in the high country when we were in Escalante, and here in town when we were in Moab, so I can at least bandy that around as an excuse, right?

I had plans to go up to Baker's Bridge and paint there, which I did last year around this time, but I think the window for that is shut; tomorrow, the 4C group has a paint-out in northern NM, and after that, the temperatures are supposed to drop precipitously as the storm hitting CA moves east to our region.  By the time things warm up again, no color will likely remain anywhere in our area.

Here's a small piece I did during the 4CPAP's recent outing the Wildflower Ranch in La Plata Canyon a couple of weeks ago.  This paint-out fell between the Escalante and Moab trips, and was the only painting I got done that week. The larger morning piece, of aspen, I worked on for about two hours before deciding I didn't like the direction it was going, and became bored with it.  I know from experience that it's best to just quit and move on, rather than keep pounding away at it, hoping I can make it work.  This was done after lunch, about 1/2 mile down the road on this property, and the first "keeper" painting I've done of the La Plata river.

Cottonwood Shadows Across the La Plata
8x6", pastel on black paper

And, finally - two studio pieces, small, both done for this week's DailyPaintworks challenge - "The Sky's the Challenge". 

Both reminded me that painting skies/clouds is always a challenge, and that I find it increasingly difficult to work from photographs, probably because it is so easy to overwork the clouds.  You just don't that as an option when painting them in real time.

Burr Trail Sunset - 9x12"
pastel on Strathmore 400-series paper

Monsoon on the Mesa - 6x12"
pastel on black cardstock

Two plein air landscapes - waterfall and clouds, and a studio sunset - pastel

Lime Creek Falls - 16x8", plein air
pastel on black cardstock

Today's painting, from our hike up Lime Creek.  I had this piece and a 6" square piece of paper taped to my board, and decided to try a vertical format for this set of falls, rather than my usual square.

Cumulonimbus to the North - 12x12", plein air
pastel on black cardstock

Yesterday's painting, from Pastorius.  The gray Unisons I used to do most of the cloud weren't really that keen on adhering to the surface, but what can you do?  It's an occasional consequence of working on smooth paper.

Monsoon Sunset - 12x12", studio
pastel on brown cardstock

I haven't done a studio painting in months.  But, on the late afternoon of the full moon, the monsoon clouds were spectacular, so I drove south of town to get reference photos.  This one I just couldn't resist painting, so I started it yesterday after I got home from painting at Pastorius.  

Sunsets are one of those subjects I don't have a problem painting from photos; to be honest, the light changes so rapidly from "wow" to "meh" that I'm not sure how effective it would be.  I do know other painters can do it successfully.

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Full moon, taken further up this road after it turns to the left (east) and goes up a hill:

View to the north along the same road:

Sunset along Florida Mesa in photos

No painting today...so I thought I'd share some photos taken yesterday evening at my favorite location on Florida Mesa before I head off to tonight's photography club meeting.

All:  tripod-mount, with Nikkor 18-70mm DX lens.

Enjoy!

Horses and the lone ponderosa 

Making her way 

The barn along Hwy 550 

Field and fencepost

Skies to the north

Heading east on CR 220

Final light along CR 220

Tree against sunset virga

Riverside Cottonwood - pastel, plein air, 12x12

Riverside Cottonwood

12x12 inches - pastel on Strathmore

©2011, Sonya Johnson

So, this is the 5th painting I've done since my last post, but the only one that I've actually finished.   Well, it clearly could use some more work, but I'm calling it done.  It's from a new location along the Animas river that I discovered last week during a walk along the river trail and a really short walk from the Albertson's parking lot, which is nice when I'm lugging the french easel along.  The view faces west, and in the morning, the painting location is in complete shade.  I'll likely return then.

I loved the tree and its interesting branches.  The trunks (there are 4 of them), though...I just couldn't make them work.  Despite this, I really got into a zone while painting, and enjoyed the process of just losing myself in the moment and really losing track of passing time.  

I was sitting about 3' off the heavily used urban trail, so more people than usual stopped to comment.  It's funny to me when people come up and say "wow - that's beautiful!", and I'm thinking:  "eh...not so much."  I thank them anyway, because that is the gracious thing to do.  

A couple of the other paintings hold promise, I think.  Lime creek, Haviland Lake, the Colorado Trail and the Animas river make up each of the other four.  Why don't I just sit down and finish them?  I don't know.  But, I will.  Each has a story to tell with it.

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Here is a pano of the sunset from July 13.  The multiple colors fascinate me:

Deck sunset

Hollyhocks with sky - oil painting, 12x9

Hollyhocks Know No Bounds

12 x 9 inches

oil on board

Finally, a new painting to post after a much longer than expected absence from blogging and the studio.

Actually, I shouldn't say that I haven't been painting...I have, but not much and it's not been a noteworthy showing.  We moved last Friday, and I always underestimate how out of sorts I am after any relocation.  Unpacking and the general clutter and disorganization that accompany a move make it difficult for me to sit down and paint, even though I got my studio set up rather quickly.  

I did manage to do four more ACEO's of The Tree series earlier in the week.  However, I just couldn't get around to photographing or posting them.  Perhaps because of all the amazing work I'm seeing other bloggers post lately just made me take a pass on that.  I did finally take photos, and may post them at some point, simply because this blog also serves as a journal and documentation of my work - good and not so good.

And, I even attempted a plein air pastel painting of one of the tulips in the raised garden right across from our new place.  It went straight into the trash, and I learned that my Nupastel set isn't coming with me the next time on the next flower plein air trip.  It's been far too windy and cold recently to consider a dedicated trip outside to paint, but hopefully this dry cold front delivered to us by the pacific northwest will leave and give warmer temps and calm air very soon!

This painting is today's keeper after yesterday's "three strikes and you're out" studio effort to paint a group of tulips on an 11x14 panel.  If you have to wipe something three times because it isn't working, it's time to move on.   Unlike the smaller surrealist-edged florals I've done, this one is based on two photos.  The beautiful crimson hollyhocks just needed to be freed from their ho-hum garden existence and visit the sky.  

Does it work?  I hope so.  Maybe it's hard to tell with this photo, which is just awful.  The camera sensor just doesn't take kindly to these bright colors and has created a variety of unsavory optical effects, not helped at all by the glare of wet paint.  Just believe me that it really does look much better in person.  I also hope it is dry by Monday.  A new frame awaits.  

To push the drying on this (nothing like waiting until the last minute to get something done), I broke out my unopened jar of Liquin.  I got hooked on using Liquin back during my equine art days, but since I'm not painting in thin layers and glazes anymore, I haven't used it for landscape painting until today.   I don't think I'll make a habit of using it unless I do decide to try glazing techniques.  

I'm hoping my studio dry spell is over, because I have tons of ideas bouncing around to work on.

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Some random photos taken recently:

My beautiful Easter cactus posing on our deck today.  I've thought of painting it, but it's so busy that I'm sure I'd just end up wiping the result

Nelson performs his daily sunbeam meditation on the guest bed

April 26 sunset from our new deck.  Perins Peak and Smelter Mtn. are no longer in the view, but Twin Butte is

Comb Ridge, revisited - pastel painting

"Passage"

9x12 inches

pastel on Strathmore

Another quick piece, done this evening, based on a photo up on Comb Ridge itself taken along the hike to the Procession panel petroglyph.  I was drawn to the sweeping curves of the sandstone and the line of juniper leading up the wash.  The challenge was to try and capture the direction of the rock and avoid a flat appearance by use of pastel stroke and subtle variations of gray of the same value.

I had to rely on a flash for the photo, so the color nuances aren't as clear as they are on the actual piece.  However, I won't have access to the computer or the internet for most of the day tomorrow due to our move, so it was either now or another day or possibly two before anything was going to surface here.  

The green of the junipers becomes a key element in this painting by adding both an area of contrasting value as well as a non-linear visual path into the painting.  These are things I keep in mind when I'm composing the photo.

I'm into these green skies; they seem to harmonize better with the pale grays of the land, and of course the shrubs, than blue.

It has a more abstract feel to it than the painting from a few days ago, and is more of what I was aiming for.  

I hope to be back online tomorrow evening from our new condo!  

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A few final deck photos from our current place...

Sunset, April 19 - stratocumulus

April 20 afternoon - altocumulus and Smelter Mtn. in the spotlight

April 20 sunset - bands of cumulus mediocris 

Sunsets Across the Land - Quartet Miniseries in pastel

Sunset #1 - Acapulco
3x9 inches
pastel on reclaimed Colourfix

Sunset #2 - Across the Poquonock River, CT
SOLD

Sunset #3 - Bluff, UT

Sunset #4 - West of Tucson

A return to these 1:3 ratio small pastels that I've enjoyed doing, with some landscape-format sunsets for this series.  Nothing like some bright, over-the-top reds and oranges or warm pinks and muted corals to help with a creative slump, right?


Four sunset moments from four very different locations.  There are plenty of art critics that believe sunset paintings are a cliche (did I mention this in the last post?  I believe I may have) and border on kitsch, especially those with the sun in a setting position.  


Sunset paintings are one of my guilty pleasures, kitsch or not.  


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And, here are a few recent photos of sunsets taken from our deck:

April 11 - Altostratus

Kelvin-Helmholtz cloud - April 11

April 5 - Altocumulus

April 4 - Altostratus

The Tree x 4 - ACEO pastel landscape studies

Labels:  ACEO, original art, pastel painting, southwest landscape, tree, sunset

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Tree #1 - Yellow Sky & Red Wildflowers

 I seem to be in a bit of an indecisive artistic lull lately.  Can't decide what to do as far as larger works go; the idea of doing something big just seems daunting for whatever reason.

But yet, I still want to paint something.

So, I find myself coming back again to these little mini-paintings.  Not much to dedicate in the way of time or materials, which seems about right for me, at least today.

Tree #2 - Stormy Skies

South of Durango, along Hwy 550, is Florida Mesa.

And, along the highway is some farm or ranch land upon which resides a lone ponderosa pine in an open field.  I really dig this tree, and have photographed it on different occasions.

So, I decided to paint it and vary the background in each version.  This would actually be a great subject for a "Multiple Variations" challenge, similar to what jump-started me back to pastel painting 1 1/2 years ago with this series.

Tree #3 - Overcast Sky Sunset

 I may do more of The Tree, or not.  But, for tonight, it was good.

Tree #1 has maybe a bit of Tonalism to it?  All warm colors.

Tree #2 is similar to this one, based on a summer monsoon storm.

Tree #3 sports one of those intense sunsets with high-chroma colors, of which we have plenty of here.




Tree #4 was what tonight's sky looked like, sunset-wise.  Semi-plein air, I guess.

I guess until I have further inspiration to do a larger piece, these minis will tide me over.

I decided to add the black border around them using GIMP.  Looks neat, I think.

And, on an unrelated note, Blogger's formatting continues to confound me.  The text in Preview mode looks nothing like the actual blog post - large gaps between photos that I can't seem to fix.  So, sorry about that.

Redbud Tree - pastel, 11x14

Here's the bigger version of the ACEO:

Redbud Tree Along the Road

11x14 inches

pastel on 140# w/c paper with Golden pumice ground

I started this later in the afternoon, and worked on it for a few hours.  If nothing else, it was a good exercise in blocking in shapes and drawing trees.  The background?  Completely made up, evolving as things went along.  The original reference had a house and some other building maybe 50 ft. behind the tree, which wasn't at all what the painting is about, so they had to go. 

Simplifying it into a large meadow seems to work to keep the detail on the tree, and even more - its shadow.  I'm fascinated by the shadows cast by trees - they are always intriguing abstract shapes that are fun to look at and always a challenge to paint.   The road just got extended from a totally uninteresting driveway to something that perhaps leads to...the beach?  You, the viewer, get to decide where you go from here.  

I used warm, saturated vs. cool, grayed greens to manipulate the sense of distance here - one of the beauties of working in pastel is the scumbling and layering one can employ to obtain such effects.

Tomorrow, the road traveled will be a radical departure from this:  we are heading out early morning on an overnight trip in Bluff, UT.  Destination:  Butler Wash and Cedar Mesa - to spend 2 solid days hiking the area and see a tiny sampling of the hundreds of Anasazi cliff dwellings and rock art panels in the region.  One could literally spend a lifetime exploring the area, which is remote and literally off the beaten path.  This is a special trip, and I'm hauling my tripod along, which I normally don't do.  

Hopefully, I'll be able to get back to posting on Sunday.  Everyone enjoy your weekend!

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Last night's sunset; photos taken approximately 3 min. apart:

Small landscape studies - ACEO original art

Tags:  pastel painting - abstract landscape - fall colors - cloud painting - sunset

More experimentation...

ACEO trio #1

each  2.5 x 3.5 inches

pastel on Strathmore black paper

New ideas come about in any number of ways, I've found.  In this case, I had recently purchased a new pad of the black Strathmore Artagain paper I enjoy working on.  The local art store only had a 12x12" pad rather than the 9x12 I usually get.  Wanting to keep the size consistent for the Ancient Architecture series I've been doing on this paper, I trimmed up a few pieces to have available.

Normally, I save these left-over pieces for trying out color combinations for the paintings.  However, as I got to thinking, it occurred to me that I could instead use them as small color thumbnails for larger paintings, or even do them as miniature paintings in their own right.  For those not familiar with ACEO, it is the acronym for "Art Cards, Editions and Originals".   ACEO's are a spin-off of the original Art Trading Cards that have been popular for years:  artists creating small works of art and trading them with other artists.  The only criteria for both ATC's and ACEO's is that they must be 2.5 x 3.5 inches.  Otherwise, anything goes!

I've seen an increasing number of artists working in this size, in everything from mixed media collage to highly-detailed paintings in oil, and I've always been intrigued by the whole ACEO/ATC movement.  They are also popular on Etsy and eBay.

I did the first three yesterday, and here's what they look like in a wood mini-frame ($1.50 at Walmart):

Cloudscape #1, framed

Honestly, how cool is that?  The display and presentation options are endless.  

Today, I worked on another set, all from memory/imagination, and meant to be abstract fields of flowers:

ACEO trio - #2

It was so fun working on these little nuggets of soft pastel goodness, having fun with color and ideas - I think I'm hooked!   After working on these, I had another idea to do a series of Colorado wildflowers on these cards.  Two are done, and I'll be posting those tomorrow along with others I finish.  They will dovetail nicely with the surreal florals I'm doing in oils.  Working in soft pastel in such a small size limits the detail I can get, especially since I don't have any pastel pencils.  But, I love the simplicity.  

Because of the small size, these don't look as good when they are enlarged to more than 100%, so I used GIMP to create these montages.   

Coneflower, Approaching Sunset - floral series - SOLD

Coneflower, Approaching Sunset

6x6 

oil on wood panel

SOLD

I'm really enjoying this informal floral series, I must say.  Flowers are much trickier than landscapes to paint (for me, anyway) because of their distinct shapes and structure, and they allow me to dig into my collection of oils and use colors not found in the arid landscapes, and challenge my color-mixing and matching skills.

And, I like paring these essentially realistic flowers with simple, abstract backgrounds.  A good balance for the direction I'm trying to head with my work.  Purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpura) are a popular perennial found throughout the east and midwest, but they don't grow out here.   

The palette for this was cadmium orange, cadmium yellow, thalo violet, alizarin crimson, Van Gogh cobalt blue and white.  I mixed most of these colors together for the "mother color" to use in the background.  Creating a mother color is one of the easiest ways to harmonize a painting.

On an unrelated note, I recently set up a shop on Etsy to sell some of my work.  I don't think that many viewers and followers are buyers, but I thought I'd mention it, or if other artists like to do trades.  There is a widget for the store in the links column.  

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On the theme of sunsets, here is a photo from one of last week's sunsets.  The sky has been cloud-covered since Saturday, so nothing since then.  

March 18

New miniseries - Sunset Strip Quartet

tags:  original pastel painting - landscape painting - sunset - original art for sale - impressionist landscape - southwestern landscape - cumulus clouds

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Here is something completely different, and just the thing I've been looking for to break up the traditional landscapes I've been doing lately.  I was inspired by my blogger friend Jala's recent series of small pastel abstracts she calls "Strata".  They are mostly narrow vertical-format pieces of pure color.  I love them!  


I spent part of last night experimenting with a 1:3 aspect ratio crop with photos in my various folders on my computer, and realized I had just come up with a fun new idea.


I'm calling them "Miniseries", and it's a double-entendre of sorts, as it refers both to the size and the number.  My plan or goal is to do a quartet of paintings for each theme.


[Note:  Blogger seems to have some text formatting issues...the edited page says that the text is the same size and the same font but the "preview" page shows smaller font size for some text...not sure what to do about that]


First quartet:  Sunset Strips

Road Reflections 9x3 inches
pastel on white Colourfix
Available for purchase

I have this ever-expanding collection of sunset photos I've taken in various locations.  Some are good as stand-alone photos, some are good for reference material only and most fall somewhere in between.  Somehow, cropping them to this unexpected portrait format adds some level of uncertainty - an abbreviated glimpse into the landscape, but with enough information to tell a story...a short story.

Connecticut Cumulus
Available for purchase

These also seemed like a good way to use up the remaining pieces of Colorfix paper I have; each piece makes a quartet of paintings. For #1 and #4, I used an alcohol wash underpainting, which is really the best way to use this paper, I've found.  For #2 and #3, it was just finger blending to get rid of the white surface, with additional scumbling.

Sunset Virga
Available for purchase

In addition, these small paintings are a great way to experiment with palettes for future full-sized paintings.  In addition to these "strip" paintings, I've also done some in landscape format, which I have been referring to as "bands".  

Saguaro Silhouette
SOLD

These were fun to do, even on the marginal surface, and I could see them becoming a regular part of my pastel repertoire.  I already have several more quartets lined up, of all different themes.  Thus far, it's only landscapes, but I can see this application for still life and even portraits.