Dusk Path 5x7
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist paintings by M Francis McCarthy.
Today's study is 'Dusk Path' 5x7.
Our video features the progression of this study from its early drawing stages, on up to the final glazes and finishing touches. Also featured is my usual rambling narration about whatever's on my mind, so please check that out.
I'm working on a series of five paintings right now. This week I have been doing my second pass on them. For me, a second pass generally means I do some glazing, scumbling and a good quantity of dry brushing over the surface of the first color pass. In the process of doing this, I am always trying to avoid over-blending.
Over-blending is an epidemic amongst amateur oil painters. It is very easy to sort of smear oil paint together with your brush and get (what to me), is a smooth, greasy effect. One of the reasons that I enjoy dry brushing is it enables me to modulate areas of color and graduate transitions without smearing paint together.
Like any oil painter, there will be areas of my painting that do not actually have a distinctive texture to them, but I try to keep smoothed out patches to a minimum. This is one of the reasons that I use textured panels for my paintings. I used to just texturize my small 5x7 panels, but these days I texturize the surface of every panel prior to painting.
I discovered many of the benefits of dry brushing over textured panels while working on the 100 days of Tonalism project. I had decided to do a second color pass on many of the studies that were featured in that series. The ability to lightly drag the brush over the surface depositing color only on the uppermost ridges of that surface and leave some of the pre-existing color, was a revelation and one of the major ways that that project benefited my everyday working process.
Prior to texturizing my panels for the larger paintings, my second pass would generally consist of adding another layer of brushwork and, doing my best to avoid over blending and over painting with my application of paint.
Glazing is another way that I can accentuate the texture of the board and the brushstrokes that went down on my first color pass. There are times where I leave big areas of the initial color pass alone but these days I tend to do some sort of additional paint application to every area of the painting.
I generally do a third color pass as well, but this is not so much a complete painting operation, as it is just going in and strategically addressing specific areas of the painting that I have a identified as needing some sort of punch or correction.
If you are a beginning oil painter, I would encourage you to become aware of over-blending and avoid it at all costs, even if it means leaving your painting at a state where it is less than 100% finished. You're better off showing some of the fracture and interlacing brushwork that were a part of your initial painting process than going in and blending everything into a smooth overly cohesive and greasy appearing paint surface.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Dusk Path' 5x7; I'm happy with this study and it has received some favorable comments in my studio. There is a nice balance between dark and light in this painting.
I have visited this compositional motif several times. Interestingly, the reference photo for this painting actually has a lot of issues as a photograph but has been very good at stimulating some nice paintings.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Dusk Path by M Francis McCarthy, 5x7 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Our video features the progression of this study from its early drawing stages, on up to the final glazes and finishing touches. Also featured is my usual rambling narration about whatever's on my mind, so please check that out.
I'm working on a series of five paintings right now. This week I have been doing my second pass on them. For me, a second pass generally means I do some glazing, scumbling and a good quantity of dry brushing over the surface of the first color pass. In the process of doing this, I am always trying to avoid over-blending.
Over-blending is an epidemic amongst amateur oil painters. It is very easy to sort of smear oil paint together with your brush and get (what to me), is a smooth, greasy effect. One of the reasons that I enjoy dry brushing is it enables me to modulate areas of color and graduate transitions without smearing paint together.
Like any oil painter, there will be areas of my painting that do not actually have a distinctive texture to them, but I try to keep smoothed out patches to a minimum. This is one of the reasons that I use textured panels for my paintings. I used to just texturize my small 5x7 panels, but these days I texturize the surface of every panel prior to painting.
I discovered many of the benefits of dry brushing over textured panels while working on the 100 days of Tonalism project. I had decided to do a second color pass on many of the studies that were featured in that series. The ability to lightly drag the brush over the surface depositing color only on the uppermost ridges of that surface and leave some of the pre-existing color, was a revelation and one of the major ways that that project benefited my everyday working process.
Prior to texturizing my panels for the larger paintings, my second pass would generally consist of adding another layer of brushwork and, doing my best to avoid over blending and over painting with my application of paint.
Glazing is another way that I can accentuate the texture of the board and the brushstrokes that went down on my first color pass. There are times where I leave big areas of the initial color pass alone but these days I tend to do some sort of additional paint application to every area of the painting.
I generally do a third color pass as well, but this is not so much a complete painting operation, as it is just going in and strategically addressing specific areas of the painting that I have a identified as needing some sort of punch or correction.
If you are a beginning oil painter, I would encourage you to become aware of over-blending and avoid it at all costs, even if it means leaving your painting at a state where it is less than 100% finished. You're better off showing some of the fracture and interlacing brushwork that were a part of your initial painting process than going in and blending everything into a smooth overly cohesive and greasy appearing paint surface.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Dusk Path' 5x7; I'm happy with this study and it has received some favorable comments in my studio. There is a nice balance between dark and light in this painting.
I have visited this compositional motif several times. Interestingly, the reference photo for this painting actually has a lot of issues as a photograph but has been very good at stimulating some nice paintings.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Dusk Path 5x7 (Detail) |
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| Dusk Path 5x7 (Detail 2) |