This weeks painting and video is "Ochre Bay" 5x7 - a nod to the great George Inness. This painting represents my ongoing exploration of Tonalist principles while maintaining my own contemporary sensibilities.

Materials and Preparation

I painted Ochre Bay on MDF board with three coats of house paint. The board color was redder than I initially wanted—I had envisioned something more ochre-toned—but I worked with what I had around the studio. This highlights something I frequently emphasize: always have plenty of prepped boards ready so when inspiration strikes, you don't lose momentum fussing with materials. Actually the reddish board actually worked out beautifully. Red makes an excellent foundation for Tonalist work, providing warmth and depth. While I typically prefer a more earthy umber-reddish tone these days, this base created an interesting painting.

Inspiration

George Inness provided the initial spark for this painting, though my interpretation diverged significantly from his work. The composition and color palette share some similarities, but Ochre Bay features elements not present in his piece—the distant bay, different tree formations, and my own approach to the landscape. This relationship between inspiration and creation raises interesting questions about artistic legacy. Each painting we create has its own journey ahead through time. I hope Ochre Bay will hang on someone's wall, then move to another home, continuing its journey long after I'm gone. Maybe someday people will look at it and say, "I don't know who painted this, but I like it."

That's the curious nature of art—we create with a certain vanity, hoping our expression will resonate with others, yet ultimately the work itself travels through time independently of us. The paintings become the offspring of the artist, each with its own life.

Breaking Compositional Rules

One interesting aspect of this painting is the tree positioned near the center—typically considered a compositional no-no. However, I connected the masses in a way that creates balance and movement throughout the piece. This illustrates an important principle: as you gain experience, you learn which rules can be bent or broken to serve your artistic vision. During the painting process, I questioned whether certain elements were "too weird," yet looking at the finished piece, everything feels harmonious. Often what seems strange during creation resolves itself in the completed work.

Water and Detail

The water area demonstrates a Tonalist principle—the intentional simplification of detail. Rather than getting "in the weeds" with minute reflections, I created a gauzy, hazy feel that complements the distant land and creates atmosphere. This approach of subsuming extraneous details is quintessentially Tonalist. The most challenging aspects were the intersections—where water meets land, where trees meet sky. These junctures require careful handling. Having a solid underpainting with well-established shapes provided the roadmap for these transitions.

Technical Challenges

My palette for this piece was deliberately limited, embracing the Tonalist mode for harmony over variety. I worked with Mars Black mixed with Rembrandt Sepia (a hybrid color combining black with brown), for the darkest darks creating a rich, dark foundation. The sepia proved extremely transparent, which presented some challenges with coverage. To address this, I incorporated Cadmium Orange for opacity along with the far more transparent Burnt Sienna. Later, I carefully introduced some Cadmium Red, being mindful not to let its vibrancy overpower the subdued Tonalist mood I was establishing.

This limited color range is something I borrowed from Inness, though I allowed myself slightly more chromatic variety than he used. It's worth noting that many historical paintings appear more yellow now than when first created, due to varnish aging. I choose not to varnish my work for this reason, trusting that modern environments (free from gas lamps and indoor smoking) will preserve the colors as intended.

Traditional Inspiration, Contemporary Expression

While drawing inspiration from 19th-century Tonalist masters, my approach to landforms and shape design reflects a modern sensibility. I don't consider myself a "traditional" artist really—I've opened up spaces, rearranged elements, and created a composition that differs significantly from my reference and has a more modern sensibility My reference image itself was a hybrid creation, with shapes and elements positioned differently than in the final painting. Trees, bushes, and ground forms were reimagined to create the composition you see. This freedom to interpret rather than replicate is central to my artistic process. You can see the reference image in my YouTube members area.

Emotional Balance

Painting is a blend of intellectual and emotional expression—a perfect marriage of right and left brain thinking. This balance is what makes the process so rewarding and the results so meaningful. When we create, we're engaging both our analytical faculties and our intuitive sensibilities.

I believe this balance is what gives Tonalist work its distinctive power. The technical aspects of value relationships, limited palette, and compositional choices serve the emotional qualities of mood, atmosphere, and poetic sensibility. The result is Ochre Bay.

Cheers,

Mike

Ochre Bay 5x7