Hot Time - Summer in the City - Not!

Still no closer to sidewalks, on a permanent basis. We've visited a few...lately in Vermont and Massachusetts, but only to slide into town and slide right back out, same day!

I have been keeping a little busy, reframing some art work and painting a bit...until I get back into the rhythm of writing more frequently, here are a few pieces of art work that have found their way out of storage and into new mats and frames:

Leaves, Leaves, Everywhere...

In the words of Carl Sagan, as you look across our yard, you'll see "billions and billions" of leaves during the Fall season.

Mostly, to start off with, it's the Maple, Birch and nut trees that drop their leaves around this time of year.

 Out back there are some Sassafras trees and small bushes that toss their leaves around with abandon.

The Pine trees way out back start pitching their cones in later summer, as the Oak trees start dropping those acorns, and it gets harder and harder to walk across the lawn without slipping and sliding on the nuts and cones.

Later in the season, seemingly the minute I've raked up the last leaf on the lawn, the Oaks start dropping their leaves.

Many hang on until the first snow so that I'm greeted in the Spring with the same activity...rake and toss, rake and toss.

One other use for the annual pile of soon-to-decay flora is to paint pictures with them.

So, here I present this year's Fall Collection.

Take a minute to write back and let me know what you think about them.

The ones I get onto paper will last long into the winter...maybe even for a bunch of years.

By hitting the word "comments" at the bottom of this post you can let me know your favorites or ask me questions, such as, "Don't you have anything better to do?"

 I have about 15 paintings represented here.

They are all watercolors, using just three primary colors...red, yellow and blue.

 Sometimes they come out on the first try.

Sometimes, they don't work at all and I end up throwing away a whole bunch of "mistakes."

Well, I don't actually get rid of them...they go into a big pile downstairs that my wife looks at saying, "Can't you just throw these away?"

My response is that I might see something in the painting later on that I'll like...can't take the chance of getting rid of a masterpiece!

 After about 15 years of painting these things, I do have quite the stash of saved mistakes.

Perhaps, someday, when historians reconstruct my studio to educate future artists they'll think they stumbled upon art treasures...might make a few bucks then!

Here and there you'll see:

Oak to the left.



Maple to the right.


Another Oak below to the left....




 And, another Oak here to the right.




My wife came up with the idea for the "Ghost Leaves"  below.


They take over our house just before Halloween...a fun leaf to have hanging around.  Maybe a little bit scary?

 Dark and spooky?

Surprised?

 

 Shocked?





                   A ghost, aghast?






The most scary thing of all?  I just looked out the window and another million leaves just dropped....looks like I've got a lot of painting to do!
                                 

A Brush With Fall

I like Fall.

I even like raking leaves...for a day or two.

We have more Oak trees in our yard than anyone else on the planet.  And, horticulturists will tell you, they hang on to many of their leaves until after the first snow.

That means that after I've grown sick and tired of raking and moving leaves to the woods in the Fall, for about six weeks straight, I am treated to the same program the following Spring.

After the last of the winter snows melts away, my yard is once again covered with leaves that were dragged down by snowfalls over the winter months. 

I start the Spring by cleaning up the Fall, year after year.  However, I have found one good artistic use for them.

Many years ago, I came up with some painting programs for first graders.  The school my boys attended had done away with art classes and I rounded up some friends to go into the classes to teach differing art forms. 

I decided to teach watercolor painting to 7 year old school-children, with much success.

Not only did they come up with some nice paintings, I discovered a way to capture Fall leaves on paper.  Now, I can't tell you all of my secrets, but I use paint, brushes, paper, and leaves.  Sometimes, I add waxed paper or paper towels to my tool kit and even a printing roller.

Those first graders? 

They used paint and brushes, too, and then they used their hands and their sleeves, they spilled paint on their pants and socks, and managed to smear it all over their faces and it even showed up on homework they turned in a week later.

More than once, they got some great effects on their foreheads...easy to do from their perspective, hard to frame.

At least it was watercolor, so the teacher, their parents and the janitor didn't hate me forever!

As for my ongoing attempts at home, the effects differ based on time of year (leaves used after the first frost are much better), the humidity of the day, and the texture of each leaf, and my mood.  Sometimes a trip to the winery makes the watercolor flow better!  That's another story.

As with all watercolors, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.  You can't go back and fix mistakes easily and I end up ripping up a lot of paper.

I am reminded of producing these annually.  My wife, who loves the leaf paintings, routinely collects interesting leaves and throws them at me by the score, but the other ingredient that's hard to express, to her and to others, is that I have to feel like painting.  Some years, Fall has come and gone and I haven't touched a single leaf for the purpose of capturing it before its demise.

Last year, my wife spotted a leaf that reminded her of a ghost.  "Try this one," only put a face on it. 

I stared at the leaf for weeks.  Not the same one, of course, as each few days when she discovered the wilting leave she'd bring in another.  Finally, I caved to the pressure and did the deed.

Colors weren't working for it.  Unlike a real "Fall" leaf, these "Ghost" leaves had to be dark and sinister.

Then, I felt that the eyes weren't strong....painted in after the watercolor was done, they faded into the picture.

My son, watching me with one of the set, said "Why don't you put holes in the leaves first?"  So, I did...worked much better.  The eyes "belong" to the ghost.  Wow, a family project!

So, this year, all of the trees delivered another two seasons worth of leaves.  And, my wife saw a new batch of ghosts.

Oh, and don't tell her.  When she's not home, I paint on the dining room table.  And, much like those first-graders, I tend to throw those brushes and that paint around a bit. 

Fortunately, my wife's eyesight isn't what it used to be so she rarely spots the colors of Fall on the furniture and walls.  If she does lean in to something for a closer look, "What's that spot on the wall?" I point quickly out the window and say, "Look at that leaf!  What do you think I could make that look like in a painting?"

Another close brush with Fall!

Going To Pieces, or How To Do Twelve Paintings At One Time

I wasn't exactly telling you the truth the other day when I wrote that I don't use white or black paint in a watercolor.

What I should have said is that I don't use white or black when mixing colors.  I will use black paint to sign a painting and I have used white paint to recapture white spaces that got away.

And, white spaces can disappear quickly.  Unprotected, they are subject to errant washes or mindless brush strokes.

Such was the case with the recent painting I was working on.

When I left you last with this subject, I was going to put the painting away and look at it a day later.

When I pulled it out, I saw that I had to work on the branches of the trees some more.  They needed better definition and shadows had to be put in place around the snow that had fallen on them.  I wasn't pleased with the foreground...too much shadow was causing too much distraction from the trees (we say it's "too busy").

So, I went to work on the branches and trees and, when I had finished, I had pretty much killed all of the snow on the trees!   Yikes.  And, there was nothing to do to fix that, and get rid of the shadows in the bottom of the picture, except bring out the white paint.

I pulled out a tube of white watercolor paint and started repainting snow.  However, the paint was not completely opaque, so I was getting a dirty white...not the crisp, clean white that one would expect for glistening snow on trees.  Not to worry, I've used something else in the past and reached for my jar of gesso.  A white, acrylic based substance used generally for preparing painting surfaces, it stays bright white and covers other colors well.

Now, of course, I don't have a pure watercolor, but I've moved into the genre of mixed media!

At this point, I could have glued some things on top and thrown glitter on it (Grandma Moses used glitter in her paintings at times) and really explored mixing up the art world.  But, I tend towards purism, so....

...I stood back and looked at it and, well, it was okay.  I thought I had made it better, but not great.

I did manage to clean up the foreground nicely and put some substance into the snow on the trees, but something was bothering me.

Many years ago, when a painting was just "okay," I might put it away on my pile of "Almost paintings" or toss it all together.

Again, I refer to my Monhegan Island days when Fred Wiley had once again critiqued a painting I was working on.  As I was complaining about a watercolor at hand, Fred took out a small mat of about 5 by 7 inches and started moving it about the painting.  His words to me were, "In every disaster there's a great postcard!"  Voila, he found it and to this day I apply that activity to many paintings.

It just dawned on me that Fred called that painting a "Disaster."  Hmmmm...sounds like another blog topic!

Anyway, this painting needed Fred's help.  I took out my small mat and a pair of scissors and got to work.

When I started this painting, I was working on an 18 by 24 inch piece of watercolor paper.

It's a great size to work on, although expensive to frame and then hard to find a place to hang it without taking down several other pieces.

But, when you decide that surgery is the only option you become excited with the fact that you are no longer looking at matting and framing a large piece, starting out to make one painting, and ending up with a dozen where one can handle the smaller mat and framing details easier!


My wife will cringe, at times, as I look to start the cutting and tell me to "Leave it alone!  It looks okay like it is!"  I tell her it doesn't hurt the painting, at least not in terms of it feeling any pain.

Then, when I point out to her that she might end up with several framed pieces that she can gift to family and friends, she'll cover her eyes as she moves away and tells me to let her know when it's over.

More times than not the pieces are better than the whole, in quality.

They can be easier on the eye as there's less to look at in any one of them.

One painting can focus on trees, another on snow...a third might be of something that was completely unintended, but there it is after having a bunch of other stuff cut away from it.

What was that famous saying about how to sculpt an elephant?  Just cut away anything that doesn't look like elephant!

In my case, I didn't have an elephant in mind, but I did end up with a bunch of studies that I thought were appealing.

And, as I know that size does not denote quality, why should I try to sell one painting for $100.00 when I take that same one piece, do some trimming and try to sell the twelve from the one for $100.00 each!  Math is a good thing!  I especially like multiplication!

Of course, now I have a dozen framed pictures that I have to try to find spaces for! 


You see, that's another dilemma facing artists...the creative process does not take into consideration the fact that we're not creating wall space!!!

Oh well, I'll figure that out and then get on to my next masterpiece...I mean masterpieces!

Keeping My Whites White!

I got inspired by a few comments that I received in regards to yesterday's blog and decided to try a watercolor of trees in winter.

As we live in the country, there's no shortage of material for this type of endeavor.  I also looked at a couple of pictures in some magazines we received and then took out a blank piece of watercolor paper.  No doubt you remember blank spaces from my previous post.

There are two methods for keeping white spaces white when doing a watercolor.

The first is to paint around all of the spaces that you want to remain white (not as easy as it sounds); the second is to apply something called Maskoid to protect the white spaces.  Maskoid is a masking fluid that dries so you can paint over it and not worry about dirtying the white spaces.

On the right here you'll see my white paper with Maskoid applied where I want to save all of the snow highlights I decided that I wanted in my picture.

I didn't do a drawing ahead of time (don't tell anyone).  I sort of drew the places where the highlights would be on the trees and ground with the Maskoid, so I guess you could say I Maskoid-ed a drawing!  It's not cheating...it's being creative!

I had actually given some thought to stopping right here, framing it and calling it "Winter Study."  Always a good thing to stop before you ruin a good thing, but my friend Guy would say, "Take a chance and make it better."

I've taken many chances in the past and have a stack of rejects to prove that I tried!

Anyway, on to the next step.

For this, I mixed some colors in my little tray that my friend Carol from New Paltz gave me and made a dark wash to lay out where the trees will be.

The nice thing is that you can paint right over the Maskoid after it dries (it's like plastic on a sofa) and the highlights are still there.  Really!  They're under the Maskoid.  You're going to have to trust me on this!

Two things about watercolor.  First, you have to remember to give the Maskoid and subsequent painting steps time to dry before you go on to the next step.

Secondly, the time allowed for drying is just about the right amount of time to make a batch of margaritas or to put together some cheese and crackers and aerate a nice Shiraz!

Here, on the right, I thought I would share what my paint tray looks like at this point.

I generally only use three colors, primaries of course, and love cobalt blue!  Along with that blue, a cadmium red and a cadmium yellow.

The three combined will make just about any color you might need.  I don't use black or white, but have been known to eat half a dozen black and white cookies!  They're the best.

After a glass of wine and some snacks...I mean after the first tree layout has dried, I go back and paint in a few more smaller trees, such as those that would be in the background, and put in some shadowing to represent folds in the snowbanks up front, shadows in front of trees, and start to show some differences between tree types.

Here you'll see Hemlock, Spruce and White Pine, Sassafras, Maple, Ash, Oak, and Elm trees.  

Trust me!  I know trees.

Under the snow, there is grass, acorns by the ton (of course), ferns, moss, trees that fell and are rotting, and many leaves that I didn't bother to rake up this Fall.  I gave up.

Oh, by the way, the third tree on the right, the big one?  There's a squirrel climbing up the backside!  

Can't see it? 

Sorry.  Maybe next time I'll paint facing the other side of the trees.

Now we'll start to add some character to the thing and add some color.  As shown on the right just below here, I do a wash of blue where the sky would be, add a little blue to the trees, for contrast and then some blue in the snow at the bottom where I've dripped paint across by mistake.  Trying to hold a brush and a wine glass at the same time, while mixing paint and thinking about the drawing can be very complicated...but, we always make the best of our mistakes and snow shadows do have a blue tint to them, no?

 

You can see here that the white spaces are still protected from the paint (and from the wine and the cracker crumbs).

The shiny stuff you see is the Maskoid that's still in place.  You have to imagine what the painting will look like when the Maskoid is taken off.  

Many times, I have to imagine that my painting isn't going to look anything like what I intended.  It hurts less if you're flexible.

You see, there have been times when I've been asked what I was painting and pointing straight ahead at the subject have still had the inquirer say, "I don't see that!"   I keep painting.

The nice thing about nature landscapes is that a they don't have to be exact representations...unless you're painting Mount Rushmore (and if you do, please use exterior paint and check with the park rangers first)...and we're not doing portrait work here, so most will buy the fact that this is titled "Winter Trees" and that there's snow here and there, even if it's not exactly as it is in my backyard.

The next part is the fun part!  I get to take the Maskoid off!  I do it by rubbing my fingers across the dried Maskoid.  There is a removal tool, something akin to a hard sponge, but I like the feel of the stuff peeling away and I get some exercise doing it.  

As a result, I have very, very strong fingertips!  I can tap so that it sounds like thunder!

When you get all of the Maskoid off, as pictured here on the left, you have exposed the white paper (it's not illegal, so don't worry), and can now think about what you're going to do next.  

Usually, a second margarita or a vino refill may come to mind, and that may give you more time to contemplate your next move.

I might mention here that it's important to keep your drink away from the water you use to clean off your brushes.  I only learned this one day working on an oil painting when I found myself reaching for what I thought was my drink and realized, from the smell, that I was about to take a swig of turpentine and my brushes were resting in a gin and tonic!  I can tell you that mixed drinks don't clean brushes well, and there's some sort of lead and other chemical poisoning information on paints in general that are important to heed.

Some people won't eat or drink while they're painting.  I say, why bother painting?

I digress.

Once the Maskoid is off, I paint branches below the white spaces where I want branches to be, put some blueish hues here and there to show shadows on the branches and play in the snow, adding things that I hope will make the painting better.

The next steps are very important.  At least, to me.

When I think I'm close to done, I put the painting away in another room and I don't look at it for 24 hours.  

Sometimes, I'm surprised with what I find.  

Once, I came back to a painting to find out my mother had tipped over the easel and put a hole through the canvas.  

Another time, I had left a watercolor standing up and some of the paint was still wet and it ran down the paper.  Several times I was certain someone had taken my beautiful work and left their reject!

On those wonderful occasions, you see a work that needs one or two things to be "people ready." 

So that's what I'm going to do with this one.  

We'll look at it again tomorrow.

As you can see by my little tray, on the left, I still have a bit of blue left and the darn stuff costs a bundle so I'll see what I can do to get it back in that little tube!  

 

Actually, it's okay if the colors dry a bit.  They can be re-wet and used again.

Wash your brushes, put the caps back on your paints and be sure your wine glass is empty...if that stuff dries up, all is lost!

A Break In The Code

I've been watching the news about Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," where some are speculating that there are codes embedded in the painting and that, due to these hidden clues, there is a secret waiting to be divulged!

In her eyes, they see letters and numbers; elsewhere in the painting, other letters and numbers.  Given the never-ending questions about the famous "non-smile" in this painting, questions about "who this really is," and the recent works of Dan Brown, including "The Da Vinci Code," "The Lost Symbol," and others, it's no surprise that people are still trying to figure out what important secret Da Vinci was hiding or what message he intended to leave us.

If you're not familiar with Dan Brown and what he puts forth about the hidden secrets, check out his website:

http://www.danbrown.com/

I should get right to the point of the matter here and let you know that I have solved the mystery of the letters and numbers, that seemingly appear within the painting, and what Da Vinci was up to with the "Mona Lisa."

However, I'll give you another glimpse of Mr. Brown's deduction processes before I proceed.  Check out this video...




Now, the answers to the eternal questions!

I did not come to this glibly...I am an artist, so I have some experience in putting forth meaning and messages on canvas, and I have listened to and heard some of the "evidence" put forth by others.

1.  It has been touted that Da Vinci toted this treasure to Tuscany and back, from the moment he started it until he finished it just before he died. 

2.  The picture has many elements of painting types...portrait, landscape, seascape, and still life.

3.  There's the "enigmatic" smile.  No fun, no emotion, straightforward.

4.  Numbers and letters, such as "D," and "L," and "7", to name a few, appear in various spots within the painting.

5.  According to records, it was never finished while Da Vinci was moving around...he didn't put the last brush stroke on it until after he couldn't travel anymore.

What does this all mean?

Simple!

Da Vinci was a traveling salesman.  "Mona Lisa" was his "sales kit."  He took it everywhere.

In order to be able to sell canvas, paints and brushes, he had to be able to show that you could use his stuff to paint any kind of picture!  Portrait?  No prob.  Seascape, landscape, still life?  Go ahead, knock yourself out...do them all at once!

He couldn't paint someone smiling or laughing.  This was business.  People like to know they're spending their money on serious objects that they, in turn, can use to make money.

The numbers and letters? His "cheat sheet!"  While he's showing what the  stuff can do, people ask questions...what color did you use, what size brush, what kind of canvas?

Luigi asks, "Leo, che spazzolla (brush)?  Che colori (color)?"

Leonardo sees "V" and "7" that he wrote into the painting..."Verde" (green), he responds..."Spazzolla numero 7."  It's like  PowerPoint!

And it was something he painted on as he showed his wares.  As he traveled the cities and towns, carrying it about, he would paint on it showing people how his supplies would be the best for them.

When did he finish it?  When he didn't need to use it for sales promotions anymore.  In fact, one day after he retired, while having a cappuccino, he looked at it and said, "Not bad.  I could probably just paint over the numbers and letters and sell this thing...could use a few lire!"  And then he thought, "Probably some day someone will see those numbers and letters and think that I have a great secret or it's some mystic code!  That would be funny!"

And, as for the mystical triangles and squares...they sell protractors, don't they?

It's not that there aren't "things" in paintings.  A good friend of mine gave me a painting years ago.  A very nice watercolor, he handed it to me with the comments, "I hope you appreciate the fact that I broke the tip off my favorite palette knife doing this for you!"   I did.

After framing it, I looked closely one day as there appeared to be something 3D in the picture.  Right there in the painting?  The tip of his palette knife.

The painting is here, above, on the left.

The knife tip is on the right side of the painting, above the top rock on the right...the dark spot in the base of the tree/weed.  Of course, generations in the future will, no doubt, be sure that we were smuggling precious metals via artwork or setting up magnetic codes that, once all paintings with metal tips in them are lined up with magnets, would lead the world to Atlantis.  Whatever!

And, the secret in the painting that I did, below here on the right?

I was trying to paint something that I could put in the hotel gift shop that I thought someone would buy!

The other secret?  It worked...the painting was only in the shop three days. 

There are many things in paintings.  Dust, dirt, sand (see Monet), oil, water, bad chemicals, and many other things, including things we don't want to think about.

Remind me to tell you about the time I sneezed during a watercolor demonstration.

Oh, before I forget.  The biggest idea an artist puts into a piece of art?  A keen desire to sell!

Our Halloween Holi-daze

Just this morning, as covered in our local paper, I reviewed the A-Z list of things trick 'n treaters should do to have a safe Halloween.

Based on what I read, I'm lucky I survived the Halloweens of my childhood and wonder what my mother was thinking when she sent us out there to possible doom!

Evidently, she didn't love us as much as she professed. I present some of today's reading as evidence:

"Always carry a flashlight:" We didn't own one, but if we did my mother wouldn't let us take it as we'd leave it on way too long and run down the batteries and then she wouldn't have it to use.

"Buy costumes that are made of flame retardant material:" My mother made our costumes. Out of paper. Then she'd paint on them with highly flammable spray paint and then add things to them, like the year I went as a matchbook and she glued (again highly flammable) actual matchsticks in neat rows, about thirty of them, up and down the front and back of the costume. What I remember her saying to me as I went out the door, worrying no doubt, was "Make sure you keep an eye on your brother and watch that he doesn't spill any of that kerosene on his shoes!" (Can't remember if he was a train conductor or a night watchman, but every time he swung that lantern around I got a dose of the stuff!)

"Costumes shouldn't drag on the ground:" Yeah, right! Did you read the part where my mother made our costumes? Well, she was always rushing at the last minute, and we got pinned into them. She was a great seamstress, until it came to Halloween. At that time of the year, it was grab what was available, make it look like something, and it was always too big and too long. Her fine instructions were, "Oh just tuck it in, stop whining, and be careful. If you fall and rip it I can't fix it and you won't have anything for next year and Santa won't bring you any presents." Oh, and after she got us all pinned in and ready to go out the door? Had to go to the bathroom! Did I mention "fine seamstress?" No zippers!

"Dont' cut across yards or driveways:" How are you supposed to get to all of the candy before everyone else does? And half of the fun was running into bushes and trees and tripping over other trick 'n treaters who were laying the driveway, run over not by cars but other trick 'n treaters!

"Jackets should be worn over costumes:" What? Hide the costume? Are you crazy? I didn't get made up to look like this to hide it. We'd rather risk pneumonia. I did take a jacket one year and only because it was snowing and I needed something to cover my candy bag so my collection wouldn't get ruined.

"Know how and where to contact your parents:" If you've read past posts, you know that my grandfather was always "in town" and on Halloween night they served free beer with paid shots...he was easy to find...and if my mother went out, the apartment was always unlocked so we, and anyone else who came along, could get in easily.

"Light your pumpkin with a battery powered light:" I just mentioned that my mother wouldn't let us use a flashlight if we had one and it glowed so much better with an actual candle. The only words from Mom, don't stand too close to that thing when you light it...I don't want you to ruin your costume!

"Only eat candy after your parents have checked it:" Upon return from a night of candy collecting we would hear the following: "Be careful taking that costume off. I worked on it for hours. Here, let me take the pins out. Stop twitching. I am not pricking you with the pins. Hold still. (We, "ouch, ouch, ouch"). Okay, go to bed." Off we'd go, pour out the contents on the bed, sort out the "good from the bad," also known as sugar drenched and chocolate as opposed to fruit. Eat about half of the bag, go to sleep, wake up in the morning and finish off the balance before school. Okay, when is the next Halloween?

"Quarters are a good thing to carry in case you need to call home:" Several points here. When I was a kid a call was a dime, but most likely there wasn't anyone there to answer. These days, with the plethora of cell phones, try to find a payphone! And I guarantee you the only person who's going to let you into their house to use their phone, whether you offer the quarter or not, are covered by two other A-Z tips: "Never enter a strangers home and Visit only houses that are lit." (I could always visit my grandfather...he was lit regularly!)

"Stay on sidewalks:" We didn't have sidewalks! So, we'd have to run between yards and driveways...otherwise, no trick 'n treating! Our instructions from Mom, "Try not to get yourself killed." Note who was to blame if we tried to call her from a dark or stranger laden house!

"Wear a glow in the dark watch:" As a kid, I didn't have a watch. My mother had one, but she wouldn't let us take it as we would lose it or break it and it most likely didn't glow in the dark anyway. We got, "Don't stay out too late. If I'm not here when you get home just wait until I get back to get those costumes off of you. I don't care if you have to go to the bathroom, wait! And, don't eat all of that candy in one sitting!" And words to me in particular, "Keep an eye on your brother and if you have some candy that he wants give it to him!" (That's another story).

So, as we set out to celebrate Halloween, have as much fun as you can within the A-Z parameters. We've done a little decorating, carved some pumpkins (I didn't use a knife, I swear), put out some decorations and candy (it's all organic and natural, I'm sure), and pleased my wife by taking some of those sassafras leaves off the back trees, that she's said remind her of ghosts, and made some "Ghost Leaf" paintings for her this year (see two of them posted here).

Happy Halloween, BOO!