Flower Study #6 Yellow Daisies

Today I decided to do a closer in study of just the flowers from the larger painting in study 5.

 Here is the study where I focused more on brushwork and a variety of yellows.

Flower Study #6
Oil Painting by Pat Fiorello
6 x8

$200

Here is the photo I  was working from, credited to Daniel Edmondson

Here is the first stage where I laid in the flower shapes with the darkest colors I saw, using transparent paints only.

Here is the next stage with the background laid in, again with transparent paints.

From this point, I  started adding more opaque colors to indicate light and shadow of the flowers and refine the shapes of the petals etc.. till I completed the painting with the first image noted above.

Impressionist approach

Earlier this year I took  a workshop on painting in an impressionistic/ colorist style. The approach is very different than traditional oil painting and I haven't quite figured out how to fully integrate it into my painting process, but occasionally I come across a subject which inspires me to try that approach again. This still life of a glass bottle seemed well suited since it was really all about the light on that transparent bottle.

A main premise is to distinguish early on the major shapes and what's in light( and paint that in a warm color) and what's in shadow( and paint that in a cool color). The initial step looks very harsh since you are using fairly intense colors( straight out of the tube with some white to adjust values). All of this is done with a palette knife to keep the colors as clean as possible.

 Then you go thru a series of steps adjusting the intensity( dullness or brightness) and adding subtle color bands seen within in each major shape. Lastly, you refine any shapes or details for finishing touches. Here's the result of that process. I find the paintings done in this manner do have a luminosity that I like. There's a vibration that comes from putting opposite temperatures next to one another during the latter stages that I like.  But I do miss using the brushes so I need to experiment a bit and see if it's possible to incorporate brushwork at the finishing stages without over blending or dulling things down too much.

Impressionism- Painting Color & Light continued

Here's another example of  the transformation of a painting using the method I have been studying with Susan Sarback. From stage 1- the initial block in of warm (sunlit) and cool(shadow) masses. Then refining the colors by adding a bit of the opposite temperature( but still retaining the dominance of the initial block in temperature) and adding bands of color within each mass and then final refinements. Like any new approach it takes a bit of getting used to- but I do like the way it sets things up to read that they are in sunlight or shadow in the final painting.This one was done the other morning plein air on a street in downtown Charleston SC.

Painting Color & Light - Day 1

 In my last post,  I shared about my experience at the Susan Sarback workshop on color and light. The approach is in the spirit of the impressionist study of the effects of light and atmospheric conditions on color and what we see. Here are some photo's from my first day trying out this approach-it's radically different than anything I've ever done- and I painted only with a knife- no brushes.It's a 4 step process, starting with bright colors for large shapes in either shadow( cool) or light(warm), then refining to mute colors down,  adding the effect of light on color and then touching up final details and edges. Here are some of the stages from start to final study( sorry about the sun glare on the photo) . Done on location in Charleston SC Monday afternoon. It was fun and I'm learning a lot . More to come.
                                      

Painting Color & Light

This week, I've been studying painting light in the impressionist style with Susan Sarback, author of Capturing Radiant Color and Light and founder of the School of Light and Color                          (www.lightandcolor.com).


Her approach is very different from anything I've ever done with oil paints, but it is surprisingly natural and yields results that are very atmospheric. She has adapted the impressionistic approach that she learned from Henry Hensche and made it more user friendly. She is an excellent instructor and clearly explains what she is doing and why during her demo's. She advocates a 4 step process, which really works. In the first stage, you establish color temperature ( light vs shadow) and value. This stage looks awkward, but is a necessary underpainting to eventually get realistic atmosphere. It is so bright it's hard to look at, but it is quickly dulled down in stage 2.

Here's a look at the steps from the underpainting to the final painting in this 4 stage process. These are examples that Susan painted to show the evolution of a painting and shared with the class. They are also in her book.

 Quite a transformation, don't you agree? More to come on this approach later this week...