#21 George Inness 'Morning' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study after George Inness - 'Morning.'
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.
Last week I gave you a list of the colors I use (with suppliers) on my palette and an accompanying photo. I will put that photo up again this week. I intend to break down why I use each color and information about why I place each one on my palette, whether I absolutely need to have it, whether it's just convenient or, it's a color that is difficult to mix.
Please note the positioning of pigments on my palette is basically from dark to light and from blue to yellow, but there are some variations. When it comes to placement of color on a palette, I feel that it is very subjective. The most important thing is that you have the color put in a spot where you can always find it.
I currently have 17 colors on my palette. Today, I will start to break down the colors on my palette from white on the on the right-hand side moving counterclockwise towards the darker tones.
Lead White/Titanium White 50-50 mix (Lead Wt -Windsor Newton, Titanium Wt -Gamblin)
I use a combination of Lead and Titanium white because I feel this mixture gives me the most positive attributes of both while obviating their negative qualities. Titanium White is very opaque and for that reason when used alone makes colors quite chalky while Lead White is far more transparent and flexible. By adding Titanium to my Lead White, I get that extra bump of opacity from the Titanium White while still getting the flexibility of the Lead White.
Hansa Yellow medium (Gamblin)
I use Hansa yellow because it very closely approximates the color of Cadmium Yellow. Cadmium Yellow is not compatible with Lead White and Cadmium Yellow will oxidize over time in mixtures with the Lead. I used to use a Hue tone from Daler Rowney that worked well but was lacking the level of color permanence that I want for my paintings. Hansa Yellow is very flexible and has worked very well for me since I made the switch last year.
Yellow Ocher (Daler-Rowney Georgian)
I can mix a color like Yellow Ocher quite easily using yellow, black and white with some red. Yellow Ocher was one of the first colors I added to the limited palette I started painting with because it is very handy to have and, being an earth tone it is invaluable for landscape painting.
Transparent Earth Yellow (Gamblin)
Transparent Earth Yellow is very similar to the Yellow Ocher but transparent, whereas Yellow Ocher is opaque. When it is thinned down, it can be used for glazing. This is probably my primary use for it but it is flexible in a lot of ways. I can use it to make a number of nice greens or, modify other color mixtures. This color is not absolutely essential, but like I said, is very handy to have and I would miss it if it were not there on my palette.
Raw Umber (Daler-Rowney Georgian)
I added Raw Umber to my pallet about three or four years ago after finding that I needed it to do some conservation work on another artist's paintings. I now use Raw Umber a lot to kill the strength of brighter colors in a warm way. It has a slight green cast to it and is very handy for making a variety of tans that I can use to paint grasses and other features of the landscape. I painted for many years without Raw Umber but these days I consider it to be absolutely essential.
Mike's Green (mixture of Hansa Yellow and Ivory Black)
I guess if I was a totally famous artist I would get some brand of paint to market this Green as Mike's green. There is a color from Gamblin called Green Gold which is similar but lacks in opacity and therefore covering power. Aside from that Gamblin color, I know of no other tubed pigment that is like Mike' Green. This green is a perfect example of how yellow is actually a green tone for the most part. Interesting that you get this beautiful green by just adding black to bright yellow. Mike's Green is a very flexible tone that I add other colors to when painting the landscape, its main advantage is that it is very earthy in quality while most tubed greens are too chromatically saturated to use without significant modification for landscape painting.
Permanent Orange (Gamblin)
Last year I embarked upon a mission to find a 100% lightfast orange pigment. Prior to this, I was using a Hue pigment that approximated Cadmium Orange. I actually find Permanent Orange a touch too light but I have a nice red tone right next to it on my palette so I can deepen it easily. I have many uses for an orange on my palette. The two primary ones being to create complementary grays in my skies and the other is to modify various ocher mixtures to counteract greenish properties. I also like to add this to my lighter greens to give a more earthy feeling.
I will pick up this list again tomorrow with our next blog post, so stay tuned for that.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A little bit about my study after George Inness - 'Morning'; I really like the atmospheric quality that George achieved in his original painting and also the way that he has used a lot of different colors in his sky but, it does not seem garnish. As usual, I get a lot from doing studies after George Inness, he is the Master.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - 'Morning' by George Inness, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Today's painting is a study after George Inness - 'Morning.'
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.
Last week I gave you a list of the colors I use (with suppliers) on my palette and an accompanying photo. I will put that photo up again this week. I intend to break down why I use each color and information about why I place each one on my palette, whether I absolutely need to have it, whether it's just convenient or, it's a color that is difficult to mix.
Please note the positioning of pigments on my palette is basically from dark to light and from blue to yellow, but there are some variations. When it comes to placement of color on a palette, I feel that it is very subjective. The most important thing is that you have the color put in a spot where you can always find it.
I currently have 17 colors on my palette. Today, I will start to break down the colors on my palette from white on the on the right-hand side moving counterclockwise towards the darker tones.
Lead White/Titanium White 50-50 mix (Lead Wt -Windsor Newton, Titanium Wt -Gamblin)
I use a combination of Lead and Titanium white because I feel this mixture gives me the most positive attributes of both while obviating their negative qualities. Titanium White is very opaque and for that reason when used alone makes colors quite chalky while Lead White is far more transparent and flexible. By adding Titanium to my Lead White, I get that extra bump of opacity from the Titanium White while still getting the flexibility of the Lead White.
Hansa Yellow medium (Gamblin)
I use Hansa yellow because it very closely approximates the color of Cadmium Yellow. Cadmium Yellow is not compatible with Lead White and Cadmium Yellow will oxidize over time in mixtures with the Lead. I used to use a Hue tone from Daler Rowney that worked well but was lacking the level of color permanence that I want for my paintings. Hansa Yellow is very flexible and has worked very well for me since I made the switch last year.
Yellow Ocher (Daler-Rowney Georgian)
I can mix a color like Yellow Ocher quite easily using yellow, black and white with some red. Yellow Ocher was one of the first colors I added to the limited palette I started painting with because it is very handy to have and, being an earth tone it is invaluable for landscape painting.
Transparent Earth Yellow (Gamblin)
Transparent Earth Yellow is very similar to the Yellow Ocher but transparent, whereas Yellow Ocher is opaque. When it is thinned down, it can be used for glazing. This is probably my primary use for it but it is flexible in a lot of ways. I can use it to make a number of nice greens or, modify other color mixtures. This color is not absolutely essential, but like I said, is very handy to have and I would miss it if it were not there on my palette.
Raw Umber (Daler-Rowney Georgian)
I added Raw Umber to my pallet about three or four years ago after finding that I needed it to do some conservation work on another artist's paintings. I now use Raw Umber a lot to kill the strength of brighter colors in a warm way. It has a slight green cast to it and is very handy for making a variety of tans that I can use to paint grasses and other features of the landscape. I painted for many years without Raw Umber but these days I consider it to be absolutely essential.
Mike's Green (mixture of Hansa Yellow and Ivory Black)
I guess if I was a totally famous artist I would get some brand of paint to market this Green as Mike's green. There is a color from Gamblin called Green Gold which is similar but lacks in opacity and therefore covering power. Aside from that Gamblin color, I know of no other tubed pigment that is like Mike' Green. This green is a perfect example of how yellow is actually a green tone for the most part. Interesting that you get this beautiful green by just adding black to bright yellow. Mike's Green is a very flexible tone that I add other colors to when painting the landscape, its main advantage is that it is very earthy in quality while most tubed greens are too chromatically saturated to use without significant modification for landscape painting.
Permanent Orange (Gamblin)
Last year I embarked upon a mission to find a 100% lightfast orange pigment. Prior to this, I was using a Hue pigment that approximated Cadmium Orange. I actually find Permanent Orange a touch too light but I have a nice red tone right next to it on my palette so I can deepen it easily. I have many uses for an orange on my palette. The two primary ones being to create complementary grays in my skies and the other is to modify various ocher mixtures to counteract greenish properties. I also like to add this to my lighter greens to give a more earthy feeling.
I will pick up this list again tomorrow with our next blog post, so stay tuned for that.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A little bit about my study after George Inness - 'Morning'; I really like the atmospheric quality that George achieved in his original painting and also the way that he has used a lot of different colors in his sky but, it does not seem garnish. As usual, I get a lot from doing studies after George Inness, he is the Master.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Original painting 'Morning' by George Inness |
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| Painted after - 'Morning' by George Inness, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| Painted after - 'Morning' by George Inness, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |