#25 Edward Mitchell Bannister - 'Trees Near a River' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study painted after Edward Mitchell Bannister - 'Trees near a River'.
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also, watch the video for extended insight and commentary.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after Edward Mitchell Bannister: I love Bannister's work. There is a sort of funky quality to his trees in this one. I'm really happy with the textural quality I got in this study after his painting.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Painted after - "Trees near a River" by Edward Bannister Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also, watch the video for extended insight and commentary.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after Edward Mitchell Bannister: I love Bannister's work. There is a sort of funky quality to his trees in this one. I'm really happy with the textural quality I got in this study after his painting.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting Edward Mitchell Bannister - 'Trees Near a River' |
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| Painted after - "'Trees Near a River'" by Edward Bannister Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| Painted after - "'Trees Near a River'" by Edward Bannister Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |
#17 Edward Mitchell Bannister, 'River Landscape' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
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| Painted after - ' 'River Landscape' by Edward Bannister, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Today's painting is a study after Edward Mitchell Bannister - 'River Landscape'.
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.
On today's video, I was talking about how I have been playing around recently with changing the ground color of my paintings. A couple of weeks ago I painted over the top of an old, unsuccessful painting with an application of Burnt Umber. This is a lot darker color than my usual Burnt Sienna.
I've been working with Burnt Sienna as a ground color for many years. Sometimes textured, sometimes not, sometimes lighter or darker but always Burnt Sienna. I got on to using Burnt Sienna as a underpainting color by Birge Harrison. Birge Harrison claims that the fundamental innovation of the Tonalists was the use of a red underpainting instead of a brown.
For the most part, I have been working this way and I have to agree with Mr. Harrison that it is very effective in that it helps create a strong vibration in the painting. This vibration is created from the little bits of Burnt Sienna that peek through the areas where the board is showing between brushstrokes.
I have worked over the top of failed paintings before. When I have, I have always just painted right over the top of the existing painting. The idea I had a couple weeks back was to cover the failed paintings surface with a layer of Burnt Umber prior to doing my new painting.
After thinking about it, though I realized that I had recently read an article by a photographer who was trying to use some techniques developed by Leonardo da Vinci with his photography. In this article, he paraphrased a quote by Da Vinci stating that the artist should work on a blackened canvas. This was because he felt that all objects reveal themselves as light coming out of darkness.
I could not imagine actually painting on top of ivory black because it is such a cold and dull color. Burnt Umber, however, is really quite nice and though it is dark, it is rich and reddish. Also, because it is not as dark as black, I can draw with Ivory Black right on top and be able to see what I'm doing.
This leads me to another change I'm going to be making for this next pass of paintings. I'm going to be using Ivory Black as my darkest color instead of my usual Chromatic Black. I mix a Chromatic Black by adding two parts Alizarin Crimson to one part Pthalo Green. This gives me a dark color that is actually a very dark purple. It is darker in tone than Ivory Black.
I'm going to be using the Ivory Black on top of the Burnt Umber ground for this next pass of paintings because I feel like it's a good change right now. Sometimes it's good to change things up. Most Tonalist painters used Ivory Black and not Chromatic Black. This has never bothered me, the thing I like about Chromatic Black is that it has a different quality to it.
After doing some studies in the 25 days of Tonalism, I discovered that there were many times that the only way I could get a good approximation of the Master's painting that I was doing a study of, was by using Ivory Black. This is got me thinking it might be nice to try that on my own stuff for a while.
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after Edward Mitchell Bannister- 'River Landscape'; as I stated in the video this is a painting I think is sort of odd but somehow I found myself doing a study of it anyway. I really enjoy Edward Mitchell Bannister's work and I've done quite a few studies after his paintings.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting' 'River Landscape' by Edward Mitchell Bannister |
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| Painted after - ' 'River Landscape' by Edward Mitchell Bannister (Detail) |
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| Painted after - ' 'River Landscape' by Edward Mitchell Bannister (Detail 2) |
#8 Edward Bannister 'Oak Trees' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's study is painted after 'Oak Trees' by Edward Mitchell Bannister.
Our video features the progression of this study from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
I thought it would be good to talk with you today about the concept of insight. There are three major ways to improve as an artist, education, hard work and insight. Of these three concepts, education and hard work (are for the most part) self-explanatory. The concept of insight is more nebulous but equally as important to one's artistic development.
Here is the definition of insight that Google pops up:
insight
noun
the capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something.
"his mind soared to previously unattainable heights of insight"
That's what insight is, but this definition does not really answer the question of how to attain it. Insight can be a bit of a slippery fish to acquire. The short answer regarding how to attain insight would be that it is arrived at mostly through education and hard work.
By working hard and constantly educating ourselves about the history of landscape painting and the amazing artists that have come before us, we can and will achieve insights. One good insight can completely change the direction of your work and solve a myriad of problems that previous to the insight were insurmountable.
I've noticed that early on in my career as a landscape painter the insights came fast and furious. As I progressed I've had to work harder in my career to achieve and understand greater insights. When you first start out there is a lot of low-hanging fruit that is easy to collect, yet as you advance you must climb higher up the archetypal tree and take chances if you want to get your work to another level.
When I first started out learning how to paint I had a lot of books and DVDs that I would consult, as well as online forums. These days, I do that far less but I do spend time looking at the great work of painters, this helps me progress. It seems that insight comes in more subtle and deeply unconscious ways these days. For someone who has progressed to a certain level, it's no longer an overt process that can be mechanically stimulated, it has to rise organically.
A short post today, but a valuable concept to consider. One of the main purposes of my blog here is to help other artists and fans of art achieve and attain greater insights so that they can improve and further their own understanding of painting.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after 'Oak Trees' by Edward Mitchell Banister; this is an interesting composition and I'm happy with the way this study turned out.
I have taken quite a few shortcuts as per usual with myMaster studies. This is absolutely necessary because I am painting at a much smaller scale than the original by Edward Mitchell Banister. One of the primary techniques I've used here is the use of the dry brush effect to simulate detail from the larger original work.
Info about Ed here.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - 'Oak Trees' by Edward Mitchell Bannister, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Our video features the progression of this study from its early underpainting stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
I thought it would be good to talk with you today about the concept of insight. There are three major ways to improve as an artist, education, hard work and insight. Of these three concepts, education and hard work (are for the most part) self-explanatory. The concept of insight is more nebulous but equally as important to one's artistic development.
Here is the definition of insight that Google pops up:
insight
noun
the capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something.
"his mind soared to previously unattainable heights of insight"
That's what insight is, but this definition does not really answer the question of how to attain it. Insight can be a bit of a slippery fish to acquire. The short answer regarding how to attain insight would be that it is arrived at mostly through education and hard work.
By working hard and constantly educating ourselves about the history of landscape painting and the amazing artists that have come before us, we can and will achieve insights. One good insight can completely change the direction of your work and solve a myriad of problems that previous to the insight were insurmountable.
I've noticed that early on in my career as a landscape painter the insights came fast and furious. As I progressed I've had to work harder in my career to achieve and understand greater insights. When you first start out there is a lot of low-hanging fruit that is easy to collect, yet as you advance you must climb higher up the archetypal tree and take chances if you want to get your work to another level.
When I first started out learning how to paint I had a lot of books and DVDs that I would consult, as well as online forums. These days, I do that far less but I do spend time looking at the great work of painters, this helps me progress. It seems that insight comes in more subtle and deeply unconscious ways these days. For someone who has progressed to a certain level, it's no longer an overt process that can be mechanically stimulated, it has to rise organically.
A short post today, but a valuable concept to consider. One of the main purposes of my blog here is to help other artists and fans of art achieve and attain greater insights so that they can improve and further their own understanding of painting.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after 'Oak Trees' by Edward Mitchell Banister; this is an interesting composition and I'm happy with the way this study turned out.
I have taken quite a few shortcuts as per usual with myMaster studies. This is absolutely necessary because I am painting at a much smaller scale than the original by Edward Mitchell Banister. One of the primary techniques I've used here is the use of the dry brush effect to simulate detail from the larger original work.
Info about Ed here.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting, 'Oak Trees' by Edward Mitchell Bannister |
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Day Thirty Seven: Landscape by Edward Mitchell Bannister
Hello and welcome to day 37 of 100 days of Tonalism.
Today's study is 'Landscape' by Edward Mitchell Bannister.
This is the second painting by Edward Mitchell Bannister that we have done in this series. Edward is a painter that I just recently discovered when I was doing research for my Tonalist project. He is an amazing painter and should I do another series of Tonalist studies at some point in the future, I will be sure to include more of his work.
Because Edward was an African American painter during the Civil War there has been a resurgence of interest in his work that started with the 60's civil rights movement. I will be reading some biographical information about him on today's video, so if you're interested in learning about him, please check that out.
Over the last several weeks we've been discussing aspects of Tonalism that differed from the movements in landscape painting that preceded it. Today I would like to discuss brushwork. There have been many artists since the great Masters that excelled at expressive and gestural brushwork. The school of landscape painting that was popular in the United States prior to Tonalism was the Hudson River School. While there was some brush expression in the rendering of small details, most Hudson River School paintings exhibited a smooth unified surface. This was in accordance with trends going back for hundreds of years.
Starting with the Barbizon School in France and artists like Turner and Constable, more expressive brushwork began to flourish and become accepted by the mid 19th Century. Prior to this time, many artists would execute studies outdoors in preparation for their more finished studio work. By its nature, plein air painting requires you to work in a rapid manner just to accurately capture the changing moods of nature.
With the advent of the Barbizon School, painters began to bring more expressive brush handling to their finished studio works and not just their plein air studies. Tonalist painters in America as a reaction to the Barbizon movement also embraced expressive, fractured brushwork.
The chief value of more gestural brushwork, is the way it allows the viewer of the painting to supply the absent detail with their own perceptual imagination. This idea may seem counterintuitive at first. This is one of the main reasons that you will see amateur artists overwork and over detail their paintings, in a mistaken belief, that they need to provide as much information as possible for their painting to function as a work of art.
Looser, more expressive brushwork also contributes to an increased compositional flow in the painting. Many of the top Tonalist artists evidenced a progression in their work from early years of being very tight and controlled to almost complete abstraction (in some cases) towards the end of their careers.
In my journey as a landscape painter I have made a similar progression and at times a regression. Brushwork is one of the main places where you can see the interplay between the conscious and unconscious actions that are utilized by every painter and my work is no exception to this.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Landscape' by Edward Mitchell Bannister, Edwards original is not square. I basically stretched the heck out of the sky to make it fit into a square format. You don't see that many square landscape paintings. I myself fell into it in a sort of accidental way because one of the first group shows that I participated in prefered it as a format for work to be exhibited.
The thing I like about paintings with the square proportion, is that it leaves more room for an expressive sky. In many cases when I know that I want to paint a landscape in a square format, I will basically lay it out the same as I would a rectangle but I will leave a lot more room at the top.
This is a painting that I empathize with quite a lot. I feel a kindred spirit with Edward in his approach to landscape painting. He strikes a good balance between simplification and detail as well as a certain stylization of his tree shapes that resonates with me. He's a true Barbizon painter.
To see more of my work, visit my site here.
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| Painted after - Landscape by Edward Mitchell Bannister, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x5, Oil on wood panel |
Today's study is 'Landscape' by Edward Mitchell Bannister.
This is the second painting by Edward Mitchell Bannister that we have done in this series. Edward is a painter that I just recently discovered when I was doing research for my Tonalist project. He is an amazing painter and should I do another series of Tonalist studies at some point in the future, I will be sure to include more of his work.
Because Edward was an African American painter during the Civil War there has been a resurgence of interest in his work that started with the 60's civil rights movement. I will be reading some biographical information about him on today's video, so if you're interested in learning about him, please check that out.
Over the last several weeks we've been discussing aspects of Tonalism that differed from the movements in landscape painting that preceded it. Today I would like to discuss brushwork. There have been many artists since the great Masters that excelled at expressive and gestural brushwork. The school of landscape painting that was popular in the United States prior to Tonalism was the Hudson River School. While there was some brush expression in the rendering of small details, most Hudson River School paintings exhibited a smooth unified surface. This was in accordance with trends going back for hundreds of years.
Starting with the Barbizon School in France and artists like Turner and Constable, more expressive brushwork began to flourish and become accepted by the mid 19th Century. Prior to this time, many artists would execute studies outdoors in preparation for their more finished studio work. By its nature, plein air painting requires you to work in a rapid manner just to accurately capture the changing moods of nature.
With the advent of the Barbizon School, painters began to bring more expressive brush handling to their finished studio works and not just their plein air studies. Tonalist painters in America as a reaction to the Barbizon movement also embraced expressive, fractured brushwork.
The chief value of more gestural brushwork, is the way it allows the viewer of the painting to supply the absent detail with their own perceptual imagination. This idea may seem counterintuitive at first. This is one of the main reasons that you will see amateur artists overwork and over detail their paintings, in a mistaken belief, that they need to provide as much information as possible for their painting to function as a work of art.
Looser, more expressive brushwork also contributes to an increased compositional flow in the painting. Many of the top Tonalist artists evidenced a progression in their work from early years of being very tight and controlled to almost complete abstraction (in some cases) towards the end of their careers.
In my journey as a landscape painter I have made a similar progression and at times a regression. Brushwork is one of the main places where you can see the interplay between the conscious and unconscious actions that are utilized by every painter and my work is no exception to this.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Landscape' by Edward Mitchell Bannister, Edwards original is not square. I basically stretched the heck out of the sky to make it fit into a square format. You don't see that many square landscape paintings. I myself fell into it in a sort of accidental way because one of the first group shows that I participated in prefered it as a format for work to be exhibited.
The thing I like about paintings with the square proportion, is that it leaves more room for an expressive sky. In many cases when I know that I want to paint a landscape in a square format, I will basically lay it out the same as I would a rectangle but I will leave a lot more room at the top.
This is a painting that I empathize with quite a lot. I feel a kindred spirit with Edward in his approach to landscape painting. He strikes a good balance between simplification and detail as well as a certain stylization of his tree shapes that resonates with me. He's a true Barbizon painter.
To see more of my work, visit my site here.
 |
| Original painting, Landscape by Edward Mitchell Bannister |
Day Nineteen: Landscape by Edward Mitchell Banister
Hello and welcome to day 19 of 100 days of Tonalism.
Painted after - Landscape by Edward Mitchell Banister , Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel
Today's study is of: 'Landscape' by Edward Mitchell Banister.
I knew little about Bannister until doing the narration for today's video. He appears to be a very interesting man. One thing is for sure, his paintings are very fine. Apparently Bannister was an African American, a fact I was unaware of till tonight. While this is an interesting fact given the times he lived and worked in, it's really beside the point of his art.
Yesterday, I mentioned that I was going to address some of the ways that a painting can be defined as Tonalist. I had in the
started discussing the inclusion of figures in the landscape and how that automatically generates narrative content in the painting. I'll continue on that theme today with the idea that many Tonalist painting eschew figures and. how that is one of the defining traits of Tonalism.
There are many Tonalist painters that included figures in their work. Foremost among them was George Inness. His paintings almost always contained small to very small figures. Some could argue that these figures were crucial to the compositions. but I'd tend to disagree. In the case of Inness I feel that he was still clinging to the traditions that came before him in which figures were not just present but prominent. Landscapes without figures take on a more synthetic/abstract quality as I wrote in blog post seventeen, Landscapes without animal or human figures have far less narrative content.
To sum up. Many Tonalist painters have figures in their work, but Tonalism was one of the first art movements to portray the pure landscape and for that reason I see the absence of figures to be a defining trait.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
A bit about: 'Landscape' by Edward Mitchell Banister. As I've said, I left off with Ed's 'man' on the path. This painting was also a challenge in that the shadowed group of trees on the left was nearly black in the reference that I had. I had to wing it there.
The painting has a very strong, almost abstract composition and I almost chose not to do it for that reason. After I finished the study I felt okay with the paintings structure and feel that I got some good insight into Edward's stylististic and compositional achievement.
To see more of my work, visit my site
.
Original painting, Edward Mitchell Bannister, woodcutter on path