Welcome to another Tonal landscape oil painting demonstration by your painter-in-residence, M Francis McCarthy.

Today, I'll be sharing a 5x7 painting I completed recently titled "Riffing on Frederick William Kost." I'm thrilled with the way it turned out, and I hop that you'll gain valuable insights from watching me create this artwork.

This painting is definitely a Tonal work, but it's not a direct study of Frederick's painting, it’s a riff, my take on Fred’s piece. Much like a cover song, it is sort of similar but also very different. I've altered the sky completely, as Frederick's original featured a yellow sky and in lot’s of other large and small ways. Check it out!

If you're a member of my YouTube channel, you can access the live version of this video in the Members' area, where you'll see not only the entire painting process LIVE but also Frederick's original image and my modified reference at the start of the video.

Many Tonalists would sometimes paint the sky yellow to create a peaceful, still atmosphere. I wanted more of a payoff in the sky, as it occupies a significant portion of the painting. I think the extra color adds up to a real pay off! I'll likely create more of these "riffs" as I update the older sections of my channel. What a blessing it is having access to all this information now. The future is awesome in so many ways!

Speaking of updates, I've been shipping out copies of my book, which I'm excited to send anywhere in the world for $60 US. This price covers international shipping, ensuring that everyone has access to my work.

I was pleased with how this painting came together. One aspect I'm particularly happy with is laying down the sky and leaving it alone. This approach allows for greater expression in the painting which is always my primary goal. I believe that we all want to see an emotive quality from an artist's unique perspective when viewing a painting.

Throughout the video, I discuss various topics, such as the influence of varnish on Tonalist paintings and my decision not to varnish my work. Instead, I prefer to use Liquin as a protective layer. We no longer live in an era of gas lamps and candles so the need for varnish is greatly minimized.

As we near the end of the video, I want to remind you that there's much more content available in the Members' area. Additionally, I recently released a YouTube Playlist featuring all the live videos from 2019. While my skills have improved since then, those videos still offer valuable insights.

By the way I’ve painted this scene by Kost before. way back in 2015. That is more of a straight up study and part of my first set of YouTube video in a series called 100 days of Tonalism.

I hope you enjoy and learn from this demonstration. Until next time, take good care of yourself, your family, and all of your loved ones and after watching this video, go create a painting!

Cheers,

Mike

Riffing on Frederick William Cost: A Tonal Landscape Painting Demonstration