Tag: underpainting
In 2009, I took a family trip with my husband, mom, sister, mother-in-law, father-in-law, and two close family friends, Collin and Kathy Staley to Glacier National Park. It was a bittersweet trip-the last one we were able to take with Collin, who was undergoing chemo at the time, but the first of many we were able to take with my father-in-law who was recovering from colon cancer. Taking an Amtrak train along the northern US, we arrived in Glacier National Park and spent our first few nights in Many Glacier Lodge. The first morning we awoke to a fresh couple of inches of snow–in June! It was magical and breathtaking and cemented my love of the national parks. I dug into some of my old photographs of that first morning at sunrise and did this little oil painting.
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Generous Solace
I created this painting as a gift for my mom in memory of my late father. Sunflowers and Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings were favorites of his. Dad, also a landscape artist, put the first paint brush in my hands as a baby, took me to my first museum when I was five, and continues to be an inspiration to me.
The title, “Generous Solace”, originated with help from my aunt and uncle. Nicole Sholly, better at expressing with words than me, suggested words associated with meaning of Dad’s Germanic name, Frank, including “free”, “open-hearted”, and “generous”, all of which were apt descriptions of Dad’s personality. Solace was the word I chose to symbolize the passing or at least lightening of the sorrow and grief of his passing.
The idea for this painting has been in my thoughts for years. I wanted to use my own photos for reference and so did not get an opportunity to photograph and sketch a sunflower field for awhile. Then last summer, my neighbor serendipitously planted his garden with sunflowers. While jogging past one evening after a storm, I noticed the field, went home to get my camera, and was able to start my painting. The mood of the storm passing and the flowers lifting their faces once again to the light expresses the hope and strength in our recovery from sorrow. Mom’s strength, loyalty, and exquisiteness are reflected in the raw beauty of the sunflowers who faithfully lift their heads to the sun each morning–which is likely the reason Dad loved Mom so dearly.
The corn field in front of our house has a lone cedar tree on its edge, and when the winter sun sets in the valley, one strip of sunlight illuminates it and the golden field right before dusk. I started this painting at a workshop I taught at the French Lick Artisan Gallery this past winter. I really happy with the final result of muted blues and yellows. It is a good to branch out from the very green paintings of summer. When teaching the workshop, we started with the traditional monochromatic underpainting-this one in burnt sienna. Then, I blocked in the large areas of color (bottom image) and continued to add detail on top. When composing the painting, I was intrigued and played around with the overlapping diagonal curves.
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Meadow Creek
This is another painting from Yosemite National Park. I tried a violet underpainting this time. In an effort to become more efficient at starting paintings, I used a larger brush to block in colors within a couple of hours. Details and reworking took considerable time after that though.
Snow Creek, 2014, oil, 36 x 48 in
During an evening walk, my husband and I wandered up this small creek with exposed bedrock. The setting sun warmed the snow with an orange glow, and the remaining beech leaves shone as if fragments of stained glass hung in the air.
The work starts with graphite sketches where I find I can more easily design compositions using the small scale and a pencil. Using a grid helps me to transfer the lines that I want to the large canvas and not lose the the grace of the sketch.
