Thursday, August 02, 2007

Daily Painting Practice - progress painting

I wonder who the first person in history was to have started to practice... anything? He or she should at least have a college building or museum named after them.

I think two great aspects of practicing are experimentation and discovery. This train of thought all started after I laid out my palette of colors this morning. I have always admired artists that paint with very clean color and can control color temperature.(Timothy Horn is a good example). One of the first things I am learning in my plein air practice is the need to understand color.
I have read thousands of art magazines and art books and I have always skipped over the parts that deal with mixing colors and making color wheels. (I always wanted to get to the good stuff right away). I am convinced however that this is not a smart idea. Shortcuts in art only lead you in circles. (Check out Paul Foxton). He really puts the "P" in prepare and practice painting.
I started mixing and playing with the colors and quickly found myself getting overwhelmed with the possibilities. I need to approach this in a more...can he say it?.....O R G A N I Z E D manner. (gosh that hurts).
More on this later.
Gold Pitcher and Plate - Work in Progress
14"x18"
oil on masonite

Here's a sneak peek at one of the last five paintings I need to finish for my show. I will take a break from posting all next week to finish the paintings and the framing. (unless my grandson is born - and he will be). I'll post something for that when it happens.

7 comments:

Tracy Helgeson said...

Good lord, you can't be old enough to be a grandfather, can you?

Oh wait, I guess I could be also. When did that happen?:)

Nice painting, Peter.

Tracy

tlwest said...

yes I avoid the color charts too and then I come up with a mess I call a painting.. I guess I better get back to the books!
I love the plate in this painting :) Great painting too :)

Lisa said...

Just stunning Peter! really beautiful...Congrats on my a grand-dad!

Ed Terpening said...

The only color chart exercise I've found truly useful is Ted Goerschner's in his book, "The Workshop Experience". It shows the value of pre-mixed grays (warm, cool, violot, etc). I still keep that chart on my studio wall to remember how to harmonize color.

Speaking of Tim Horn, he's local here in Northern California, so I run into him often. He teaches workshops, so something to consider.

Donald Wienand said...

Hi Peter,
I like the "golden pitcher and plate" painting, quit nice.
Let me know what your progress is on color harmonys I think I need some of that stuff as well :)

Paul Foxton said...

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the kind words, and also for the link to Timothy Horn. I love those cars!

The pitcher and plate painting is looking strong to these eyes, nice feeling of light.

Paul

Mike said...

Congrats, Gramps! There is just no tellin what our children will do when we're not watchin em. ;-)

You are on to something about color, Peter. I have only been wrestling with it for 10 years or more.

Keep up the great work.

Mike