"Studio" Work

Flowers on Pleasant Valley Road, 8×10, Gouache

Trying to get back to some little studio paintings.  The flowers are not my usual subject matter, but I kept noticing these clusters of pink, white and purpleish flowers growing along the side of the road.  This tree provided a good composition for them, and the house down the road was a bonus.

At The Edge of Town, 9×12, Gouache

At The Edge of Town is from a photo shot while travelling from Mount Vernon to Spencerville, Ohio last Sunday.

The Outdoor Studio (Ohio Version)

I’ve been able to work in the “outdoor studio” the last few days.  One drawback is that gouache, which dries quickly on the palette anyway, dries even faster when working outdoors.  There’s that old tendency to work wetter and thinner because one hates to waste paint that’s drying on the palette.  Gouache can be revived with a wet brushe, but it never reverts to the same consistency as when it came from the tube.  I tend to try to make it go farther by working a wet brush into it, but the result is not the same.

Back Doors at Winkelmann, Texas, 8×10, Gouache

Back Doors at Winkelmann is a work in progress.  It’s an example of spending too much time working wet on wet.  Yes, gouache dries quickly, but continuous work lets the paint stay wet, somethimes all the way down to the board.  Since illustration board is basically just paper, it does retain some moisture for a few minutes.  This means paint applied on top of wet paint needs to be thick, almost straight from the tube, which I normally do.  White tends to “melt” into the other paint unless the previous layer is thoroughly dry, and the white is applied at almost tube consistency.

I’m not sure where this piece is headed.  I’m trying to stay loose with it, but I love detailing old wood, so there has to be a compromise somewhere.

We’ll see.

About these ads