#21 Summertime by John Francis Murphy - 25 Days of Tonalism Vol 2
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| Painted after - 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy 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
Facebook Page
A bit about my study painted study painted after 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy; one of the all-time great Tonalists. I love doing studies after Charles and I always get a lot illumination from the exercise.
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| Original painting 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy |
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| Painted after - 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy (Detail) |
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| Painted after - 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy (Detail) |
#18 Wooded River Landscape John Francis Murphy - 25 Days of Tonalism Vol 2
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study painted after 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy. Note: This post is day eighteen of 25 Days of Tonalism Vol 2.
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 study painted after 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy; John Francis Murphy, one of the all-time great Tonalists. I love doing studies after John and I always get a lot illumination from the exercise.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Painted after - 'Wooded River' by J Francis Murphy Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Today's painting is a study painted after 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy. Note: This post is day eighteen of 25 Days of Tonalism Vol 2.
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 study painted after 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy; John Francis Murphy, one of the all-time great Tonalists. I love doing studies after John and I always get a lot illumination from the exercise.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy |
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| Painted after - 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy (Detail) |
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| Painted after - 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy (Detail 2) |
#16 Summertime John Francis Murphy - 25 Days of Tonalism Vol 2
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study painted after 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy. Note: This post is day sixteen of 25 Days of Tonalism Vol 2.
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 study painted after 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy; John Francis Murphy, one of the all-time great Tonalists. I love doing studies after John and I always get a lot illumination from the exercise.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy 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 study painted after 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy; John Francis Murphy, one of the all-time great Tonalists. I love doing studies after John and I always get a lot illumination from the exercise.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy |
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| Painted after - 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy (Detail) |
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| Painted after - 'Summertime' by John Francis Murphy (Detail 2) |
Study after Sunset Landscape by John Francis Murphy 7x10
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study painted after 'Sunset Landscape' by John Francis Murphy size 7x10.
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 study painted after 'Sunset Landscape' by John Francis Murphy; John Francis Murphy, one of my all time favorites. This study was commissioned by an artist in the US. There's a fair bit of dialog on the video regarding my painting process for this study.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Painted after - 'Sunset Landscape' by John Francis Murphy Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 7x10, 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 study painted after 'Sunset Landscape' by John Francis Murphy; John Francis Murphy, one of my all time favorites. This study was commissioned by an artist in the US. There's a fair bit of dialog on the video regarding my painting process for this study.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting 'Sunset Landscape' by John Francis Murphy |
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| Painted after - 'Sunset Landscape' by John Francis Murphy (Detail) |
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| Painted after - 'Sunset Landscape' by John Francis Murphy (Detail 2) |
#3 Landscape 1898 John Francis Murphy - 25 Days of Tonalism Vol 2
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study painted after: 'Landscape 1898' by John Francis Murphy. Note: This post is day three of 25 Days of Tonalism Vol 2.
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 study painted after 'Landscape 1898' by John Francis Murphy; John Francis Murphy, one of the all-time great Tonalists. I love doing studies after John and I always get a lot illumination from the exercise.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Painted after - 'Landscape 1898' - John Francis Murphy Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Today's painting is a study painted after: 'Landscape 1898' by John Francis Murphy. Note: This post is day three of 25 Days of Tonalism Vol 2.
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 study painted after 'Landscape 1898' by John Francis Murphy; John Francis Murphy, one of the all-time great Tonalists. I love doing studies after John and I always get a lot illumination from the exercise.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting 'Landscape 1898' by John Francis Murphy |
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| Painted after - 'Landscape 1898' by John Francis Murphy (Detail) |
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Painted after - 'Landscape 1898' by John Francis Murphy (Detail 2) |
Summer Shadows 11x14
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
This weeks painting is 'Summer Shadows' 11x14.
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 into this painting and landscape painting in general.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Summer Shadows' 11x14: I painted this in February 2017. I originally planned to do it in more green/earth tones but after doing the study I changed direction.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Summer Shadows' by M Francis McCarthy, 11x14 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
This weeks painting is 'Summer Shadows' 11x14.
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 into this painting and landscape painting in general.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Summer Shadows' 11x14: I painted this in February 2017. I originally planned to do it in more green/earth tones but after doing the study I changed direction.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Summer Shadows' 11x14 by M Francis McCarthy (detail) |
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| 'Summer Shadows' 11x14 by M Francis McCarthy (detail 2) |
#26 John Francis Murphy - 'Landscape' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study painted after John Francis Murphy - 'Landscape'.
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 study painted after John Francis Murphy - 'Landscape': I love John Francis Murphy's work. One on my favorite all time landscape painters. I'm happy with the way my study after his painting came out.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Painted after - "Landscape" by John Francis Murphy 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 study painted after John Francis Murphy - 'Landscape': I love John Francis Murphy's work. One on my favorite all time landscape painters. I'm happy with the way my study after his painting came out.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting John Francis Murphy - 'Landscape' |
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| Painted after - "Landscape" by John Francis Murphy (Detail) |
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| Painted after - "Landscape" by John Francis Murphy (Detail 2) |
#22 John Francis Murphy, 'Indian Summer' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study after John Francis Murphy- 'Indian summer.'
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpinning stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Today, I would like to talk about the concept of building on success. I'm not always successful at landscape painting. If I were, I don't think landscape painting would be able to hold my interest and attention as well as it does. It can be difficult to do a successful landscape painting.
So when I am successful I try to keep that momentum going as best as possible. One of the reasons that I made the switch to a darker Burnt Umber ground recently, was because of the tremendous success that I had with my first attempt painting on that color. When something works I do more of it, in fact, I will do it until it no longer works for me.
There are always going to be peaks and troughs in every aspect of our lives and our work lives in the studio are no exception. Those troughs are tough. Sometimes the only thing that gets you through is knowing that the hard times cannot last forever. There are times when I look through my archive of paintings I've done in previous years and I can see that there are months where I did very few good painting, and a lot of bad ones.
Conversely, there are times when I can seemingly do no wrong. When I have had one of those periods I like to keep the momentum going and do a lot of work. None of this is to say that I am superstitious or, do not always set out with every intention of creating a masterpiece when I do a painting. More what I'm trying to communicate, is that I realize there are going to be peaks and valleys, that's all.
Sometimes the best way to get out of a rut is to change something. I've changed quite a few things recently and I'm realizing a lot of success because of it. Hopefully, I can carry that success forward for a long time maybe even forever. Sometimes you just hit a new plateau, not a peak or trough, but an entirely new Vista that sprawls out ahead of you, one that you've arrived at through diligence and hard work.
I'm hopeful that the current run of success that I've been experiencing does go on and I intend to maximize my efforts to keep the ball rolling.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after John Francis Murphy-'Indian summer'; this is a nice little painting and does a good job of capturing the atmospheric quality of John Francis Murphy's original.
Recently I've been looking through some of the studies that we've done here on this blog and in the process of backing things up, have had the opportunity to compare my studies more closely with their original reference images. It's amazing how much I deviate in some cases, but it's also good to keep in mind that I am working very small and there's only so much that I can do with that size. The important thing is to get the essence of the original across and in that regard, I feel I been successful more often than not.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Painted after - 'Indian Summer' by J Francis Murphy, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Our video features the progression of this painting from its early underpinning stages on up through the final finishing brushwork. Also featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Today, I would like to talk about the concept of building on success. I'm not always successful at landscape painting. If I were, I don't think landscape painting would be able to hold my interest and attention as well as it does. It can be difficult to do a successful landscape painting.
So when I am successful I try to keep that momentum going as best as possible. One of the reasons that I made the switch to a darker Burnt Umber ground recently, was because of the tremendous success that I had with my first attempt painting on that color. When something works I do more of it, in fact, I will do it until it no longer works for me.
There are always going to be peaks and troughs in every aspect of our lives and our work lives in the studio are no exception. Those troughs are tough. Sometimes the only thing that gets you through is knowing that the hard times cannot last forever. There are times when I look through my archive of paintings I've done in previous years and I can see that there are months where I did very few good painting, and a lot of bad ones.
Conversely, there are times when I can seemingly do no wrong. When I have had one of those periods I like to keep the momentum going and do a lot of work. None of this is to say that I am superstitious or, do not always set out with every intention of creating a masterpiece when I do a painting. More what I'm trying to communicate, is that I realize there are going to be peaks and valleys, that's all.
Sometimes the best way to get out of a rut is to change something. I've changed quite a few things recently and I'm realizing a lot of success because of it. Hopefully, I can carry that success forward for a long time maybe even forever. Sometimes you just hit a new plateau, not a peak or trough, but an entirely new Vista that sprawls out ahead of you, one that you've arrived at through diligence and hard work.
I'm hopeful that the current run of success that I've been experiencing does go on and I intend to maximize my efforts to keep the ball rolling.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after John Francis Murphy-'Indian summer'; this is a nice little painting and does a good job of capturing the atmospheric quality of John Francis Murphy's original.
Recently I've been looking through some of the studies that we've done here on this blog and in the process of backing things up, have had the opportunity to compare my studies more closely with their original reference images. It's amazing how much I deviate in some cases, but it's also good to keep in mind that I am working very small and there's only so much that I can do with that size. The important thing is to get the essence of the original across and in that regard, I feel I been successful more often than not.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting 'Indian Summer' by J Francis Murphy |
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| 'Indian Summer' by J Francis Murphy, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 1) |
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| 'Indian Summer' by J Francis Murphy, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |
#18 John Francis Murphy, 'Landscape' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study painted after John Francis Murphy -'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.
Today, I would like to talk about harmony of color in landscape painting. As I type this, it occurs to me that color harmony must first be achieved with the values used in the painting. If you are using the entire range of values from very dark to very light, it is going to be far more difficult to accomplish harmony with your color.
Much of what makes Tonalism tonal, is that it generally avoids the extremely bright and light colors of Impressionism. Tonalism is in many ways another way of saying harmony because what distinguishes it as an art movement is the tonal harmony of Tonalist paintings.
What are some of the ways that harmony can be achieved in a landscape painting other than just limiting the values to a portion of the value scale? I guess this might be a good place to break out some bullet points. Below is a list of some strategies:
These are a few good strategies, but the main way that I achieve harmonious color in my painting is by intending to do so. In my earliest attempts at Tonalism, I would often avoid extremes in value or color saturation. These days I am not so worried about avoiding those extremes because I have internalized an approach to color harmony that is reflected in everything I do.
This is mostly accomplished by knowing my color pigments and what they can do for me as well as where they can fall short. I have built up my palette over many years. I started initially with a very limited palette of Cadmium Yellow, Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine blue as well as white.
I have written on this blog in the past about my progression of adding colors to that basic palette. By the way, I have since changed out Cadmium Yellow for Gamblin Hansa Yellow medium and I now use Cobalt Blue instead of Ultramarine.
From this limited start, I now have about 15 colors on my palette. It is very rare that I make any changes. There are times when I work with just aspects of my palette. For example, today I was painting a golden sunset and there was no need for me to use any blues or grays as all of my colors were earth tones, oranges and yellow.
Very interesting and harmonious effects can be achieved with limited color palettes. For example, Anders Leonard Zorn painted only with Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Medium and Ivory Black plus White. He achieved some amazing results with this very limited palette to the point where it appears there are many more colors in his paintings than just the four that he started with.
I would sum up here by saying again, the number one way to achieve tonal harmony in your painting is by intending to do so and trying different things out. Start with a limited palette and add only the colors that you need to to get the job done.
As a postscript, I would also like to say that one of the reasons I do not show my color palette in the videos or spend much time discussing specific color arrangements that I've selected, is because palette color selection is a very subjective thing and the colors that you place on your palette should be there because of who you are and how you paint.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after John Francis Murphy - 'Landscape'; this is one of the instances in this series where I felt very limited by the size of the panel I was working on. There is a lot of interesting things going on in John's sky that I was not able to pull off well at this small scale.
That said, I am happy with this study and I learned a lot from painting it which is (as always) the point of this 25 days of Tonalism project. One of the greatest aspects of John Francis Murphy's work, is his approach to composition and I feel that more and more I am getting what he did and am able to incorporate it into my own work.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - 'Landscape' by J Francis Murphy, 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 featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
Today, I would like to talk about harmony of color in landscape painting. As I type this, it occurs to me that color harmony must first be achieved with the values used in the painting. If you are using the entire range of values from very dark to very light, it is going to be far more difficult to accomplish harmony with your color.
Much of what makes Tonalism tonal, is that it generally avoids the extremely bright and light colors of Impressionism. Tonalism is in many ways another way of saying harmony because what distinguishes it as an art movement is the tonal harmony of Tonalist paintings.
What are some of the ways that harmony can be achieved in a landscape painting other than just limiting the values to a portion of the value scale? I guess this might be a good place to break out some bullet points. Below is a list of some strategies:
- Limit your color palette to only a few colors.
- Tint your painting using glazes.
- Add a small amount of one color like black (for example), to each of your color mixes (this was a favorite tactic of Whistler).
- Avoid painting scenes with intense contrasts and instead, paint scenes like early morning, late afternoon or twilight as well as nocturnes.
- When you paint, think in terms of a focal color or series of colors. For example, I often pivot off of green and violet.
- Work on a ground color other than white
These are a few good strategies, but the main way that I achieve harmonious color in my painting is by intending to do so. In my earliest attempts at Tonalism, I would often avoid extremes in value or color saturation. These days I am not so worried about avoiding those extremes because I have internalized an approach to color harmony that is reflected in everything I do.
This is mostly accomplished by knowing my color pigments and what they can do for me as well as where they can fall short. I have built up my palette over many years. I started initially with a very limited palette of Cadmium Yellow, Alizarin Crimson and Ultramarine blue as well as white.
I have written on this blog in the past about my progression of adding colors to that basic palette. By the way, I have since changed out Cadmium Yellow for Gamblin Hansa Yellow medium and I now use Cobalt Blue instead of Ultramarine.
From this limited start, I now have about 15 colors on my palette. It is very rare that I make any changes. There are times when I work with just aspects of my palette. For example, today I was painting a golden sunset and there was no need for me to use any blues or grays as all of my colors were earth tones, oranges and yellow.
Very interesting and harmonious effects can be achieved with limited color palettes. For example, Anders Leonard Zorn painted only with Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Medium and Ivory Black plus White. He achieved some amazing results with this very limited palette to the point where it appears there are many more colors in his paintings than just the four that he started with.
I would sum up here by saying again, the number one way to achieve tonal harmony in your painting is by intending to do so and trying different things out. Start with a limited palette and add only the colors that you need to to get the job done.
As a postscript, I would also like to say that one of the reasons I do not show my color palette in the videos or spend much time discussing specific color arrangements that I've selected, is because palette color selection is a very subjective thing and the colors that you place on your palette should be there because of who you are and how you paint.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after John Francis Murphy - 'Landscape'; this is one of the instances in this series where I felt very limited by the size of the panel I was working on. There is a lot of interesting things going on in John's sky that I was not able to pull off well at this small scale.
That said, I am happy with this study and I learned a lot from painting it which is (as always) the point of this 25 days of Tonalism project. One of the greatest aspects of John Francis Murphy's work, is his approach to composition and I feel that more and more I am getting what he did and am able to incorporate it into my own work.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting 'Landscape' by J Francis Murphy |
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| Painted after - 'Landscape' by J Francis Murphy, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| Painted after - 'Landscape' by J Francis Murphy, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |
#3 John Francis Murphy "Landscape" - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist paintings by M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study painted after John Francis Murphy called '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.
A little bit late today but have no fear, we are getting back on schedule and moving forward, always forward. Today I like to speak a little bit about why I work indoors and some of the advantages and disadvantages of this working strategy.
Since I'm doing two blog posts today I will be covering this topic in two aspects, the first pertaining to the advantages of working indoors and the second to what I call the synthetic approach.
There are several reasons that I prefer to work on my landscape paintings indoors. The first and most significant is that painting indoors allows me to be in control of my environment. There are as many different ways to paint a landscape as there are landscape painters. I am the type that favors control.
Another significant reason is that I am very interested in capturing light effects that change very quickly when actually occurring outdoors. For the most part, this would be twilight and sunset but as well as dawn and early morning effects. Also, painting indoors allows me to take the time necessary to create the type of effects and atmosphere that I am looking for in my work.
I do not denigrate or impugn Plein air painting at all. I have done a fair amount myself and it is the way that I got my start. There are many fine Plein air painters and I enjoy quite a lot of Plein air painting. For me though, the rapid changes in lighting and weather conditions here in New Zealand preclude me from really enjoying working in this manner.
There are some fantastic aspects of painting outdoors that should be noted and I recommend any beginning painter take a stab at it. The main benefit I see to painting outdoors is that there are quite a lot of amazing colors that you only see in nature that are not captured by photography very well. Also cameras and camera lenses can induce strange focal length artifacts on photographs. In addition to this, photography is flat and two-dimensional whereas nature and our human perception sees things in three dimensions.
These are significant advantages to be sure. However, they do not outweigh the control and ability to achieve certain effects that working indoors allows me to achieve. In our next blog post, I will be talking about the other very significant reasons that I like to work indoors and that is the "synthetic approach" that is very much a part of what tonalism is and evokes.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after John Francis Murphy's painting 'Landscape'; this is a good composition from John Francis Murphy and as I stated in the past, I feel composition was one of his strong suits. While there does not seem to be much going on in this painting it has a lot of characteristic elements of Tonalism and succeeds at evoking a mood.
One day I hope to actually see some John Francis Murphy paintings in real life but I get a lot even from low-quality low-resolution reproductions of his work. There are several more studies after John Francis Murphy paintings that we will be doing in the 25 days of Tonalism project, so stay tuned.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - "Landscape" by John Francis Murphy, 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 featured is my usual rambling narration, so please check it out.
A little bit late today but have no fear, we are getting back on schedule and moving forward, always forward. Today I like to speak a little bit about why I work indoors and some of the advantages and disadvantages of this working strategy.
Since I'm doing two blog posts today I will be covering this topic in two aspects, the first pertaining to the advantages of working indoors and the second to what I call the synthetic approach.
There are several reasons that I prefer to work on my landscape paintings indoors. The first and most significant is that painting indoors allows me to be in control of my environment. There are as many different ways to paint a landscape as there are landscape painters. I am the type that favors control.
Another significant reason is that I am very interested in capturing light effects that change very quickly when actually occurring outdoors. For the most part, this would be twilight and sunset but as well as dawn and early morning effects. Also, painting indoors allows me to take the time necessary to create the type of effects and atmosphere that I am looking for in my work.
I do not denigrate or impugn Plein air painting at all. I have done a fair amount myself and it is the way that I got my start. There are many fine Plein air painters and I enjoy quite a lot of Plein air painting. For me though, the rapid changes in lighting and weather conditions here in New Zealand preclude me from really enjoying working in this manner.
There are some fantastic aspects of painting outdoors that should be noted and I recommend any beginning painter take a stab at it. The main benefit I see to painting outdoors is that there are quite a lot of amazing colors that you only see in nature that are not captured by photography very well. Also cameras and camera lenses can induce strange focal length artifacts on photographs. In addition to this, photography is flat and two-dimensional whereas nature and our human perception sees things in three dimensions.
These are significant advantages to be sure. However, they do not outweigh the control and ability to achieve certain effects that working indoors allows me to achieve. In our next blog post, I will be talking about the other very significant reasons that I like to work indoors and that is the "synthetic approach" that is very much a part of what tonalism is and evokes.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after John Francis Murphy's painting 'Landscape'; this is a good composition from John Francis Murphy and as I stated in the past, I feel composition was one of his strong suits. While there does not seem to be much going on in this painting it has a lot of characteristic elements of Tonalism and succeeds at evoking a mood.
One day I hope to actually see some John Francis Murphy paintings in real life but I get a lot even from low-quality low-resolution reproductions of his work. There are several more studies after John Francis Murphy paintings that we will be doing in the 25 days of Tonalism project, so stay tuned.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Original painting, Landscape by J Francis Murphy |
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| Painted after - "Landscape" by John Francis Murphy (Detail 1) |
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| Painted after - "Landscape" by John Francis Murphy (Detail 2) |
Day Fifty Four: Wooded River Landscape by John Francis Murphy
Hello and welcome to day 54 of 100 days of Tonalism.
Today's study is of 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy.
Those of you that have been following this series are well aware of John Francis Murphy as he is one of my all-time favorite painters and after George Inness. is the preeminent Tonalist. I will be discussing some biographical information about John Francis Murphy in today's video narration, so please check that out.
Continuing on with our assay regarding my Tonalist painting process, today I would like to talk a bit about small studies. Sometime in 2011, I came across a video, or perhaps it was a blog post of a very good figure painter. One of the things that was unique about his process, was that he would do a very small color study of the figure that he was painting prior to starting the larger work. These studies of his were about 5x5, 5x7 in size and were lacking in any sort of detail including any distinct features of the person sitting for the portrait.
This got me thinking that doing studies for my landscape paintings might be a really cool idea. I had at that time been doing some plein air painting but I found that to be quite frustrating due to the very changeable weather here in Northland, New Zealand. I thought that having a study might serve the same sort of purpose as a plein air painting would, in that it would give me a chance to execute the motif quickly and with less detail than my larger painting, keeping things fresh, gestural and small.
From that time I did a small study for every painting that I did. My initial studies, were far less detailed and rendered than what I do these days. The reasons for this are many, but I suppose the main reason is that I sell a fair amount of my small studies. So, I like to take the same amount of care that I expand on my larger works. This is not to say that they take me the same amount of time as my larger works. The larger paintings take me quite a bit longer and, are generally speaking more involved .
I really enjoy doing studies at small sizes. The limitation of the small size means that I am more restricted as far as actual detail which leads to more expressive freedom. Also, I tend to use brushes that are quite large for the sizes I'm working. This definitely keeps me from overdoing things as there is only so much detail you can accomplish with a large brush on a small painting.
I do my small studies from the same photographic reference that I use for the larger works. One of the main uses of the studies in my process, is that when I am finishing my larger version of the motif,
I will refer to the study only, leaving the photograph aside (something I started doing about a year and a half ago and it works very well). This is one of my many strategies for avoiding the pitfalls of working with photographic reference. It is easier to avoid over detailing and over rendering my larger work when using only the study as my primary reference as I finish a painting.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy; this painting is classic Murphy. It also reminds me very much of the work of Dennis Sheehan who I know for a fact is very inspired and influenced by John Francis Murphy.
I enjoyed painting the warm inviting sky and I also utilized my patented green over burnt sienna wash technique successfully in this study.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - Wooded River Landscape by J Francis Murphy, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Today's study is of 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy.
Those of you that have been following this series are well aware of John Francis Murphy as he is one of my all-time favorite painters and after George Inness. is the preeminent Tonalist. I will be discussing some biographical information about John Francis Murphy in today's video narration, so please check that out.
Continuing on with our assay regarding my Tonalist painting process, today I would like to talk a bit about small studies. Sometime in 2011, I came across a video, or perhaps it was a blog post of a very good figure painter. One of the things that was unique about his process, was that he would do a very small color study of the figure that he was painting prior to starting the larger work. These studies of his were about 5x5, 5x7 in size and were lacking in any sort of detail including any distinct features of the person sitting for the portrait.
This got me thinking that doing studies for my landscape paintings might be a really cool idea. I had at that time been doing some plein air painting but I found that to be quite frustrating due to the very changeable weather here in Northland, New Zealand. I thought that having a study might serve the same sort of purpose as a plein air painting would, in that it would give me a chance to execute the motif quickly and with less detail than my larger painting, keeping things fresh, gestural and small.
From that time I did a small study for every painting that I did. My initial studies, were far less detailed and rendered than what I do these days. The reasons for this are many, but I suppose the main reason is that I sell a fair amount of my small studies. So, I like to take the same amount of care that I expand on my larger works. This is not to say that they take me the same amount of time as my larger works. The larger paintings take me quite a bit longer and, are generally speaking more involved .
I really enjoy doing studies at small sizes. The limitation of the small size means that I am more restricted as far as actual detail which leads to more expressive freedom. Also, I tend to use brushes that are quite large for the sizes I'm working. This definitely keeps me from overdoing things as there is only so much detail you can accomplish with a large brush on a small painting.
I do my small studies from the same photographic reference that I use for the larger works. One of the main uses of the studies in my process, is that when I am finishing my larger version of the motif,
I will refer to the study only, leaving the photograph aside (something I started doing about a year and a half ago and it works very well). This is one of my many strategies for avoiding the pitfalls of working with photographic reference. It is easier to avoid over detailing and over rendering my larger work when using only the study as my primary reference as I finish a painting.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Wooded River Landscape' by John Francis Murphy; this painting is classic Murphy. It also reminds me very much of the work of Dennis Sheehan who I know for a fact is very inspired and influenced by John Francis Murphy.
I enjoyed painting the warm inviting sky and I also utilized my patented green over burnt sienna wash technique successfully in this study.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Original painting, Wooded River Landscape by John Francis Murphy |