Improving on my figures

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Since last winter I have kept in the back of mind my desire to improve the figures that I paint in my watercolors. It has taken a while but I think I may have found a watercolor sketchbook that I can take with me to places such as a cafe or the library where I can capture on the spot, people and their postures. 

Most little watercolor journals from my experience are too cheap as the paper will buckle once you get it wet. This mixed media sketchbook by Stillman & Birn has much thicker paper which can absorb more moisture and lays flat with it's ringed binder which I find essential. In addition, my approach is to paint wet on dry as this seems to be the quickest drying method that I know of.

As I have mentioned in prior posts, once you put a person in the picture they become the focal point so it really is important to get the figure right. This requires getting the scale correct along with positioning the figure so that it reveals the activity they are doing within the atmospheric qualities of the time in question.

Still life oil painting

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

This is the second oil painting I did at Qiang Huang's workshop at the Village Arts in Putney, Vermont. It has been a challenge painting in oil this time in part because I am following someone else's process. However, I figured I may improve greatly over these four days if I persevere. 

There are many inaccuracies such as in the perspective, development of values and the shape of the tin creamer, but I am beginning to embrace the greater use of color. 

Once home in the evening, I have continued to work on a watercolor I began last weekend of the mist lifting off the local river valley. Beneath the rising mist are the lingering fall colors of umbers and ochres.

Qiang Huang's Oil Workshop

2016 Photograph of Mary Cassatt painting

This week I will be attending Qiang Huang's oil painting workshop with the Village Arts in Putney, Vermont. Qiang paints impressive still life's which are characterized as having a freshness to them. Of the paintings I have seen of his work, which have all been online, none seem overworked. As in most media it seems quite easy to end up overdoing it. He admires Richard Schmidt's work as most of us do, so perhaps we will luck out and get a visit from the master.

When my wife and I were at the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine this summer, we checked to see if some of our favorite paintings were still to be found hanging on the walls as we often do. I would say that this Mary Cassatt(1844-1926) painting, Anne and Her Nurse circa 1897 is one of my favorites. This was proudly exhibited in one of the main galleries.

This photograph was posted because I need to be thinking in an oil painting mindset for the next four days. I particularly like the warmth of the colors Cassatt used and more specifically the child's skin tone.

The sound of music

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

The local farmers market offers great subject matter for a studio composition or even plein air painting. It is good to run in to people you know and meet new folks. It is also a good spot to people watch. In general, I enjoy trying to capture the postures and characteristics of people, as we are such a diverse population. There are often musicians playing in the summer under one of the big maple trees as on this particular day.

This painting was a challenge because I do not usually paint facing into the sun. When painting into the sun there are opportunities to paint backlit subjects such as the light coming through the foliage. However, I didn't capitalize on those qualities even though I am proud that I was able to achieve some depth in the canopy through layering the foliage. In many ways this is a totally new experience for me as the shadows project in different directions from my typical late afternoon timeframe.

There is a charming quality with the two men standing under the protective element of the tree in the shade. I think the informal layout, posture of the musicians and soft ground give this picture an overall warm feeling.

Sign-of-the-times

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

In a recent post I mentioned that I have been considering updating how I sign my finished paintings. Usually I sign a painting in sepia or black in a discreet fashion on the bottom of the picture in from the corner so once it is framed it is still visible. I have been using popular micron pens, which come in a wide range of colors. I have been using my first initial followed by my last name to keep it simple and not take up too much space. Up to this point I have hand lettered my name rather than signing it in cursive.

Since reading master watercolor painter Joseph Zbukvic's book on painting where he mentions signing his pictures in red, I have taken to experimenting with his approach. In the above practice run, I practiced using cadmium red right out of the tube with no water. I like that it adds some flair yet does not overwhelm the other colors. I find the red really gives life to the grays and blues so often used in watercolor painting. I also gave a try at putting my first initial within the first letter of my last name to create overlapping D's.

New products & materials

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

These are some of the new paints I have acquired since the end of summer. I always seem to be experimenting with new color combinations to acquire greater effects.

Recently, I have been experimenting with new pigments to portray distant mountains. For a while I have used a combination of Payne's gray and ultramarine. Lately, I have introduced a touch of permanent magenta to ultramarine to get a more dynamic color. For overcast skies I have introduced some raw umber and and a touch of quinacridone rose, which give the sky some dimension and a cool atmospheric affect.

When on vacation in Maine I picked up a small spray bottle in one of Portland's art supply stores. I believe the manufacturer is Holbein. I use this spray bottle everyday to moisten the paints in my palette before use. It is light weight with a good quality spray mechanism useful for travel and plein air painting.

A Simple Sketch

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Many may recognize this as a portrait of Carson Daly, the host of the television show the Voice.

I drew this portrait from a magazine with many photographs of celebrities in it. Most of the time I find the head on shot to be a rather uninspiring angle. However, in this case the facial features seem to have a degree of warmth and simplicity to them. Personally, I prefer the three-quarter view, which conveys a sense of depth pictorially in addition to potentially displaying more emotional content. 

In this situation, the proportions seem to be relatively accurate, yet there is a simple quality to the image as it is relatively large in scale. To add a wash of watercolor would make this image come alive as it would provide temperature and atmosphere; however, since I drew this drawing on thin sketch paper and not watercolor paper, I have held off. Some master artists such as Andrew Wyeth would say a particular drawing says all that it can say. In essence, adding color may not improve upon the drawing.

On the Farm

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Recently, when I was in Maryland, we came upon this structure, in one of the state parks,  full of history. There seem to be some ventilation openings on the left side of the structure which perhaps were used for drying tobacco or some other crop. The fact that the structure is elevated above the ground suggests the farmers did not want their product to get wet.

I have been eager to do a landscape painting on a full sheet of paper(22" x 30")with a structure in the scene. This image just spoke to me with this sense of history, the big tree and a southern setting. I also was excited because the overcast sky and moody light gives the picture some weight. 

Clearly there is a ways to go as the tree is enormous, even dwarfing the structure. Unconsciously, I have made the landscape more lush than it actually is as Maryland has had a very dry summer.

Joseph Zbukvic

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Recently, I signed out a book through our local library's inter-library loan program. This book, Mastering Atmosphere & Mood in Watercolor: The Critical Ingredients That Turn Paintings into Art, by Joseph Zbukvic, is a gem. It really is for intermediate or advanced watercolorists, as the author is a master of his approach. The book is in such high demand that it is virtually unavailable. It was first printed in 2002, however it sells for around $ 250.00 on Amazon. Yikes! Who says artists don't make any money!

When reading any of these art books that are authored by a master, I jot down any juicy nugget whether it is a color combination they prefer or how they stretch their paper, etc. In this little study I tried Joseph Zbukvic's color combination of ultramarine with a touch of permanent magenta for distant mountains. This paint is the purplish color you see behind the tree, which I do like for it's richness. I will continue to experiment and adjust the color ratio's to my liking. It is always fun to try new colors or combinations of colors as they really impact what you paint and how it is perceived.