The Painter A monthly newsletter from Christopher Leeper

Transcription

1 The Painter A monthly newsletter from Christopher Leeper April 2011 Upcoming Events/Workshops/News: 5 day workshop - Watercolor Monday - Friday, April 4-8 4:30-9 p.m. Botkins, Ohio Contact: Dan Knepper: stillandforever@yahoo.com 4 day workshop: Landscape Painting in Watermedia Tuesday - Friday, May a.m. - 4 p.m. Kettering, Ohio Contact: Leonard Williams: leonard@brokenantlerstudio.com Upcoming Exhibition: Riverside Art Center 3 W. Auglaize St. Wapakoneta, OH April 3-15 Opening Reception: Sunday, April 3rd 6-8 p.m. News: I am now represented by Charlotte Fine Art Gallery in Charlotte, NC. My work was juried in as a member of the Oil Painters of America. This has been a very busy month. Several demos, a workshop and preparations for a solo exhibition. The calendar says spring but the temperature is all winter. I enjoyed a bit of a break by spending a view days in Naples. I ve included a couple demos from the workshop. This issue has more watercolor than usual since that is what I have been interested in doing. Each year flows like this and March thru June is my most active watercolor phase. I think the YSU class is the reason. Speaking of the university class, the students have shown amazing progress. I have included a few examples. I have an opening April 3 at the Riverside Art Center in Wapakoneta. I hope if you are in that area you get a chance to see the show. It will only be up till April 15. Think spring. Warm weather is bound to come sooner or later. Happy Painting Chris Contact: leepart@zoominternet.net Visit my website:

2 In the Studio A New Watercolor Under the Bridge-Crayfish Hunters, 28x28, watercolor on 300 lb. Arches cold-pressed paper. I have continued to scan through the thousands of photos that I have stored on my computer. Actually, an external hard drive dedicated just to my digital images. I have been looking for summer and spring photos that I haven t painted yet. This painting was based on a summer excursion to Yellow Creek in Poland, Ohio. My friend Dave and his daughter Adele helped the boys catch crayfish. A new and thrilling experience for Jack and Brian. My goal for the painting was the rich, dense atmosphere of a hot summer day. I pushed the colors a bit and made some compositional changes to improve the painting s design. The stars of the show are Adele and her pink boots and the interesting pattern of ripples on the water.

3 Step by Step Under the Bridge-Crayfish Hunters The process for this painting was very straight-forward. Large washes of warmer tones were painted on wet paper. After these washes dried. The darker and cooler colors were put in. I took particular care when painting the water. The ripples were drawn carefully and painted with attention to each shape and stroke. It was the make or break section of the painting. I decided to bring it to completion ahead of everything else. If it didn t work, then I would have trashed the painting and saved my time in painting everything else. I saved the background for last since it was the most fun to paint. The detail shows the myriad of small brushwork that makes up the bushes and trees. I was careful to use clean color mixes. I often wiped my palette clean and remixed my greens to keep the washes fresh.

4 Demos Watercolor Landscape Workshop - Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts I had an enjoyable few days in Naples, Florida--sunny weather and 85 degrees! The workshop was a sellout with 23 participants. That is a lot of people and I tried to make sure each student was given attention. That is a difficult task but it seemed like everyone enjoyed the class. My demos were about direct painting and mixing clean, fresh colors using a split-primary palette. Since The Phil didn t have a demo mirror, they were painted vertically. This is always a challenge since you have to deal with drips and runs and loss of color intensity. The color runs to the bottom of the wash. Because of the speed in which they were painted, they are looser and more painterly then my studio work.

5 Demos Mahoning Valley Watercolor Society, Boardman, Ohio I usually do a demo each year for MVWS. I have many friends in the organization and I have such a good time. This painting was a mixed media piece using watercolor and acrylic. Ohio Plein Air Society Annual Meeting - Westerville, Ohio I was honored to be asked along with Vivian Ripley to be the member artists who demo at the OPAS Annual Meeting. Vivian did a beautiful mixed media painting using watercolor and pastel. My demo was in oils. It was a large group of knowledgeable painters. I was actually a bit nervous. I had two hours to work and was fairly pleased with the results.

6 Off the Easel Here are the finished paintings from the On the Easel feature last month. Derelict Yard-Shadows is the third one in the series about an abandoned house in Zanesville, Ohio. Cathedral of Snow (next page) is my most recent finished acrylic. Perhaps the last snow of the season. Derelict Yard-Shadows, 24x30, acrylic on linen mounted on MDF The detail below shows the myriad of brushstrokes that make up the yard. Notice how the color temperature gradually gets cooler as the yard slopes toward the viewer and away from the direct rays of the sun. The most challenging part was the darker and cooler brush work in the shadows. I repainted it several times before I got the proper amount of value contrast and texture. The mixes for the greens were yellow/blue mixes. Bismuth Vanadate Yellow or Hansa Yellow Medium mixed with Brilliant Blue or Ultramarine or Pthalo Blue. Each blue gives a particular green. More blue was used for cooler greens and more yellow for the warmer tones.

7 Off the Easel I think Cathedral of Snow is one of my favorite snow scenes that I have done. It captures that brief moment when the sun hits the fresh snow. In minutes the snow starts breaking away from the limbs, loosened by the heat of the sun. This painting was done on primed MDF. I chose this surface because of the variety of small shapes that make up the snow-covered branches. It is a very smooth surface and acrylics dry much faster on this surface compared to canvas. This creates distinct, crisp brush work. However, colors can look flat and somewaht plastic when painted on board. Acrylics have little body compared to oils and flatten out as they dry. To combat this, I created a bit of texture to make the surface more interesting. I used undiluted paint and globbed it on and then manipultaed it on the board. I kept the brushwork minimal since too much brushing flattens the texture. Similar to Derelict Yard-Shadows, Cathedral of Snow, 18x24, acrylic on board the correct color temperature and value contrast was a challenge.

8 Off the Table A couple new watercolors As a homage to the 44x44 unfinished painting (above), I did this watercolor version. It is a backlit subject which is my favorite lighting situation. The painting below is from a photo I took this past fall at a pumpkin farm. The owners allowed me to roam around. This was the view looking back to the farm buildings. The big challenge here was to keep the warm colors of the foliage and crab apples against a blue sky. I have an intense dislike for masking fluid so instead, I painted the warm colors first before I reverse painted the sky. Autumn Crabs, 15x22, watercolor on 140 lb. Arches cold-pressed paper

9 A Fresh Look at Watercolor My watercolor class at Youngstown State University has been doing some remarkable work Every spring I teach a watercolor class at Youngstown State University. I am always amazed at the speed in which these students learn the medium. Many have never painted with watercolor before this class. Maybe they haven t developed any bad habits. Anyhow, they always have fresh and original solutions to the assignments I give them. I thought you would enjoy seeing some of their work. The pieces that are on this page are work that they have done after just 7 weeks. Clockwise from the top left: Emily Negro, Bruce Stepan, Nicole Zreliak, Ashley Swinehart and Lisa Sayer.

10 Workshop Landscape Painting in Watermedia May 17-20, 2011 Town & Country Fine Art Center Kettering, Ohio Fee: $325 This workshop explores a variety of landscape themes using watermedia (watercolor, acrylic, gouache and mixed media). Through demonstration, lecture and one-on-one instruction, attendees are taught the importance of value relationships, proper color mixing and sound design. A variety of techniques will be explored. Attendees will be encouraged to try a variety of surfaces from canvas to paper. The paintings on this page are mixed media using acrylic, watercolor and gouache. Contact: leonard@brokenantlerstudio.com To register fill out form below and send to: Leonard Williams 4573 O Neal Drive Waynesville, OH Checks payable to: Town & Country Fine Art Center Landscape Painting in Watermedia Christopher Leeper Name Address City State/Zip Phone

11 The Watercolor Page No More Wimpy Watercolors! We often put a great deal of energy and thinking towards color mixing. Color is sexy! Value is well, rather mundane and boring. However, most times great color with bad values makes for an unsuccessful painting. Good value relationships with boring color will still make a solid painting. Look at Andrew Wyeth s work. A colorist he was not. But his paintings were rich and memorable statements. I understand the hesitancy of to over commit to value. Watercolor doesn t lend it self to easy corrections. However, there is no reason to stop short of your value goals. If your paintings are lacking dynamic color and value, ask yourself these four questions: 1) Have I provided enough paint on my palette? Tiny pea-sized lumps of color are not enough. 2) Is the color on my palette fresh or old and dry? Fresh color can make a huge difference. 3) Am I being direct? If you see a dark value then paint it dark. Building up layer by layer is a safe way to work but too many layers create gray, lifeless color. I often use the analogy of an oil painter painting a still life that has a dark blue vase. Would the oil painter start by mixing blue with white to get a light blue color to paint the vase? Of course not, they would directly paint it with a dark blue. So why do we start with a light value on a shape or form when we know it should be dark? 4) What is the ratio of dark, medium and light values in my painting? If the ratios are too even the painting may lack dynamic value. Notice the ratios of the paintings on this page. Always remember: The choice on how a medium is handled should be dictated by the artist-not the medium. The landscape to the right is an example of the kind of limited palette exercise I have my students try. When you take away the color component you can concentrate on value. Try painting several value studies and see if doesn t help improve your work. Use colors with broad value ranges like Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber or even Lamp Black. The example is done with Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue Violet.

12 About my studio classes One of the quickest and most efficient ways to improve your painting is to study privately with a qualified instructor. It is also a great way to learn a new medium. If you are a watercolor painter and you always wanted to try oils or acrylics or vice versa, starting with solid instruction makes for a much more enjoyable learning experience. I work with teens to adults and with beginning to advanced painters and tailor my instruction to the specific needs of the student. My instruction is about traditional, representational painting. I draw and paint along with students and offer advice on such things as materials, technique, color mixing, and design. Students can select the type of subjects that they want to paint. I also have a large library of art instruction books and magazines that are always available for extra inspiration. If the student chooses and the weather allows, lessons can be done plein air at locations like Mill Creek Park. For cost savings, you can take lessons with a friend, or with a small group of four or less. Areas of study include: oil, acrylic, watercolor (traditional and on Yupo), drawing and pastel. Figure drawing/ painting is also available, however there is an additional model fee. Fees: Individual: 2 hour class - $50 per class 3 hour class - $75 per class 2 students: 2 hour class - $40 per class/per student 3 hour class - $55 per class/per student 3-4 students: 2 hour class - $35 per class/per student 3 hour class - $45 per class/per student 2011 schedule (Jan-May): I will be scheduling classes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Times: 9 AM - 3 PM and from 6-9 evenings. Call or me if you have any questions or to schedule classes. Christopher Leeper Studio 4411 Mellinger Road / Canfi eld, OH leepart@zoominternet.net