Summer Trees 8x8
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting by M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is 'Summer Trees' 8x8.
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpainting stages, on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Those of you that follow this blog will know that I recently went on a holiday to England and to the US. I did some blogging while I was gone and one post since I got back. I have spent the early part of last week getting reactivated in the studio and finishing up some paintings that I had almost completed before leaving. Also, I started up a bunch of new little 5x7 studies, some of which will make it to larger paintings and some that will not.
Given that I've been on holiday recently I guess a good topic for today would be getting back to work after a long gap.
People that know me know that I like to paint all of the time. I am a big believer in momentum. Momentum is one of the greatest forces in the universe. Once you have momentum it is always wise to maintain it. For this reason, I tend not to take big breaks from working.
Getting back to painting this week has been pretty good and I put that down to the fact that I haven't lost the momentum that I have accrued over the past several years where I have been painting very consistently. So far it's been pretty easy to get back to work and do work that is on a par with what I was doing before I left on holiday.
One mistake I see a lot of new and amateur artists making is that they will spend some time making art and then take a big break before doing more. The problem with this approach is that every time you start up again you are basically starting over and more importantly, you are not taking advantage of the principle of momentum. Momentum will help you through the bad spots and dark times that would otherwise stop you from working completely or, at the very least, greatly diminish the pleasure you get from working.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Summer Trees"; SummerTrees is a painting from back in 2014. It is notable for having been revised more than any other painting I have done before or since. The reason for this is that most of the revisions were half measures. However, the last revision I did was far more extensive and I created a completely new sky and also took care some of the niggling compositional issues that had not been addressed previously.
I think this painting is acceptable now and I am sharing it with you today as an example that sometimes you can turn a poor painting around if you do not give up.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Summer Trees by M Francis McCarthy, 8x8 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpainting stages, on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Those of you that follow this blog will know that I recently went on a holiday to England and to the US. I did some blogging while I was gone and one post since I got back. I have spent the early part of last week getting reactivated in the studio and finishing up some paintings that I had almost completed before leaving. Also, I started up a bunch of new little 5x7 studies, some of which will make it to larger paintings and some that will not.
Given that I've been on holiday recently I guess a good topic for today would be getting back to work after a long gap.
People that know me know that I like to paint all of the time. I am a big believer in momentum. Momentum is one of the greatest forces in the universe. Once you have momentum it is always wise to maintain it. For this reason, I tend not to take big breaks from working.
Getting back to painting this week has been pretty good and I put that down to the fact that I haven't lost the momentum that I have accrued over the past several years where I have been painting very consistently. So far it's been pretty easy to get back to work and do work that is on a par with what I was doing before I left on holiday.
One mistake I see a lot of new and amateur artists making is that they will spend some time making art and then take a big break before doing more. The problem with this approach is that every time you start up again you are basically starting over and more importantly, you are not taking advantage of the principle of momentum. Momentum will help you through the bad spots and dark times that would otherwise stop you from working completely or, at the very least, greatly diminish the pleasure you get from working.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Summer Trees"; SummerTrees is a painting from back in 2014. It is notable for having been revised more than any other painting I have done before or since. The reason for this is that most of the revisions were half measures. However, the last revision I did was far more extensive and I created a completely new sky and also took care some of the niggling compositional issues that had not been addressed previously.
I think this painting is acceptable now and I am sharing it with you today as an example that sometimes you can turn a poor painting around if you do not give up.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Summer Trees 8x8 (Detail) |
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| Summer Trees 8x8 (Detail 2) |