Day Sixty Two: Near the Village by George Inness
Hello and welcome to day 62 of 100 days of Tonalism.
Today study is 'Near the Village' by George Inness.
This is one of my favorite paintings by George Inness and it utilizes his two tree compositional strategy with one light tree and one dark tree, a technique that he utilized quite a lot. I will be reading some great information about George Inness in today's video narration so please check that out.
Continuing on with our current assay of my Tonalist painting process; today I'd like to discuss brushes. I've tried many different types of brushes since I first started oil painting back in 2008. I've tried synthetics, sable and hogs hair. Of these three I prefer to use hogs hair brushes.
There are also many different shapes and sizes of brushes. Very small pointy ones to quite large squared off or rounded brushes. Even brushes designed for jobs around the house can be utilized to make oil paintings. Of all these I prefer flats.
The brand that I use is Signet Robert Simmons. I was put on to this particular brush by Jim at Takapuna Art Supply. Previous to this I was using Silver Grand Prix brushes which are also a good brand. I prefer the Robert Simmons, the length of the brushes is longer and I find that useful because I wear my brushes down quite a lot with use.
The sizes that I like to use are from number two to number eight. I have occasionally used the ten but that is infrequent. As I've stated before on this blog, I always endeavor to use a brush slightly larger than what is comfortable for the size I am painting. I get more artistic paintings as a consequence of using a large brush. I tend to wear out the corners of my brushes, as the brush becomes shorter and the corners wear out, I have to replace them with new ones.
If I were more wealthy I would love to start each day with a brand-new set of brushes. There is nothing for me that works better than a brand-new fresh brush. I tend to donate my used brushes to other artists here at the Quarry Arts Center in Whangarei. They still have quite a lot of life left in them at the point in time that I have to abandon their use. By life, I mean snap. The brush needs to have a good amount of snap to it. A floppy brush is no good for the type of painting I do.
Tomorrow I will speak a bit about brush technique so stay tuned for that.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Near the Village' by George Inness; as I stated above this is one of my favorite George Inness paintings, there are so many things that love about it. I love the composition. I think it's about as great a composition as can be achieved with landscape painting. There are entire books written about George Inness' science of landscape composition. I'm mystified by a lot of his suppositions however, there is no denying that they work for him.
It's important for every artist to develop their own language and their own science regarding their painting. While it's fine to borrow elements from other artists (especially when first starting out), even advantageous to do so, eventually, you must find your own way, your own logic and your own direction in art.
I really enjoyed doing this study and though there were deviations made from George Inness' painting, I feel that the study is very successful. I learned a lot and I'm happy with it
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - Near the Village by George Inness, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Today study is 'Near the Village' by George Inness.
This is one of my favorite paintings by George Inness and it utilizes his two tree compositional strategy with one light tree and one dark tree, a technique that he utilized quite a lot. I will be reading some great information about George Inness in today's video narration so please check that out.
Continuing on with our current assay of my Tonalist painting process; today I'd like to discuss brushes. I've tried many different types of brushes since I first started oil painting back in 2008. I've tried synthetics, sable and hogs hair. Of these three I prefer to use hogs hair brushes.
There are also many different shapes and sizes of brushes. Very small pointy ones to quite large squared off or rounded brushes. Even brushes designed for jobs around the house can be utilized to make oil paintings. Of all these I prefer flats.
The brand that I use is Signet Robert Simmons. I was put on to this particular brush by Jim at Takapuna Art Supply. Previous to this I was using Silver Grand Prix brushes which are also a good brand. I prefer the Robert Simmons, the length of the brushes is longer and I find that useful because I wear my brushes down quite a lot with use.
The sizes that I like to use are from number two to number eight. I have occasionally used the ten but that is infrequent. As I've stated before on this blog, I always endeavor to use a brush slightly larger than what is comfortable for the size I am painting. I get more artistic paintings as a consequence of using a large brush. I tend to wear out the corners of my brushes, as the brush becomes shorter and the corners wear out, I have to replace them with new ones.
If I were more wealthy I would love to start each day with a brand-new set of brushes. There is nothing for me that works better than a brand-new fresh brush. I tend to donate my used brushes to other artists here at the Quarry Arts Center in Whangarei. They still have quite a lot of life left in them at the point in time that I have to abandon their use. By life, I mean snap. The brush needs to have a good amount of snap to it. A floppy brush is no good for the type of painting I do.
Tomorrow I will speak a bit about brush technique so stay tuned for that.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Near the Village' by George Inness; as I stated above this is one of my favorite George Inness paintings, there are so many things that love about it. I love the composition. I think it's about as great a composition as can be achieved with landscape painting. There are entire books written about George Inness' science of landscape composition. I'm mystified by a lot of his suppositions however, there is no denying that they work for him.
It's important for every artist to develop their own language and their own science regarding their painting. While it's fine to borrow elements from other artists (especially when first starting out), even advantageous to do so, eventually, you must find your own way, your own logic and your own direction in art.
I really enjoyed doing this study and though there were deviations made from George Inness' painting, I feel that the study is very successful. I learned a lot and I'm happy with it
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Original painting, Near the Village by George Inness |