#23 Paul Troulillebert - 'Landscape' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study painted after Paul Troulillebert - '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's blog post is a repost from my old blog. I wrote this originally back in 2013, but I think it makes some good points so I am sharing it with you again today.
"Unify, Simplify, Amplify"
I borrowed this term from Ken Carbone over at Co-Design. He uses it for marketing advice but I think it applies very well to landscape painting as well.
When we create a landscape painting it has no reason to exist other than it pleases the eye of the beholder. If it does not accomplish this there is nothing else that it can be used for, other than to possibly re-use the surface for another painting.
How does this motto this help us create beautiful pictures that deserve to be beheld? Let's break it down with some handy bullets:
Together, these three ideas add up to better paintings. It's taken me awhile to apply these concepts to my landscape painting. It's an ongoing process.
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| Painted after - "Landscape" by Paul Desire Trouillebert, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
Today's painting is a study painted after Paul Troulillebert - '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's blog post is a repost from my old blog. I wrote this originally back in 2013, but I think it makes some good points so I am sharing it with you again today.
"Unify, Simplify, Amplify"
I borrowed this term from Ken Carbone over at Co-Design. He uses it for marketing advice but I think it applies very well to landscape painting as well.
When we create a landscape painting it has no reason to exist other than it pleases the eye of the beholder. If it does not accomplish this there is nothing else that it can be used for, other than to possibly re-use the surface for another painting.
How does this motto this help us create beautiful pictures that deserve to be beheld? Let's break it down with some handy bullets:
- Unify - This mean that every part of the painting should work with every other part. Some aspects dominant while others are supportive, but all parts must reflect and coordinate with each other to create a unified whole.
- Simplify - This directs us to look for and represent in our painting a simplified pattern of pleasing large shapes subdivided by smaller shapes. Simplifying the scene is vital to creating unity and amplification. It is difficult to create unity from immense amounts of detail all vying for the eye's attention.
- Amplify - Adding contrast and amping up the color creates more interest and attraction for the viewer. However, to successfully amplify a picture it must be clearly stated before it is amplified. Otherwise, you just get a loud mess.
Together, these three ideas add up to better paintings. It's taken me awhile to apply these concepts to my landscape painting. It's an ongoing process.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after Paul Troulillebert - 'Landscape': I like Paul a lot. He's one of my favorite Barbizon painters by far because his work has great colors and composition.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting by Paul Troulillebert - 'Landscape' |
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| Painted after - "Landscape" by Paul Desire Trouillebert, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| Painted after - "Landscape" by Paul Desire Trouillebert, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail2) |
Twilight Reverie 8x10
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is 'Twilight Reverie' 8x10.
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 drawing being innate. Many people that come to my studio express a wish to do art. I always tell them that drawing is innate. Drawing is nothing more, at its core than measuring, perceiving something and rendering it in two dimensions on a piece of paper or another surface.
I honestly believe this is something that all human beings can do. In most of us, the ability to draw is not encouraged enough and usually abandoned at a young age. There are many other factors besides drawing that contribute to creating art that is attractive and aesthetically pleasing, but at its essence, drawing is really just perceiving items, measuring them accurately and then rendering that onto your drawing.
I taught myself how to draw as a teenager. Mostly, I copied other artists drawings from comic books or my imagination. After some time I started to make drawings from photographs as well. Sometimes I would also do drawings from real life. I can honestly say that the main reason I became fairly adept at drawing, was because I did a lot of it.
Some artists I know that wish to draw better look for some type of magic bullet. I wish I knew of a good shortcut but the only way I know to become good at drawing is by doing it all the time. Getting your eyes and your hand to work together and coordinate requires many hours of practice.
There are also some basic rules that you can apply;
That is a few good rules. Frankly, that's almost all you need to know about drawing. Many books have been written about how to approach different subjects and motifs, but at the end of the day, if you apply the above set of rules to the subject you wish to render and work diligently you will eventually find success.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Twilight Reverie' 8x10; I completed this painting recently and it reflects a new working approach on a darker ground color than my usual Burnt Sienna. I incorporated some aspects of old Masters work into my reference and I think I got a good result. At some point in the future I will probably paint this subject at a larger size.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Twilight Reverie'' by M Francis McCarthy, 11x11 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Today's painting is 'Twilight Reverie' 8x10.
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 drawing being innate. Many people that come to my studio express a wish to do art. I always tell them that drawing is innate. Drawing is nothing more, at its core than measuring, perceiving something and rendering it in two dimensions on a piece of paper or another surface.
I honestly believe this is something that all human beings can do. In most of us, the ability to draw is not encouraged enough and usually abandoned at a young age. There are many other factors besides drawing that contribute to creating art that is attractive and aesthetically pleasing, but at its essence, drawing is really just perceiving items, measuring them accurately and then rendering that onto your drawing.
I taught myself how to draw as a teenager. Mostly, I copied other artists drawings from comic books or my imagination. After some time I started to make drawings from photographs as well. Sometimes I would also do drawings from real life. I can honestly say that the main reason I became fairly adept at drawing, was because I did a lot of it.
Some artists I know that wish to draw better look for some type of magic bullet. I wish I knew of a good shortcut but the only way I know to become good at drawing is by doing it all the time. Getting your eyes and your hand to work together and coordinate requires many hours of practice.
There are also some basic rules that you can apply;
- Draw the big shapes first.
- Reduce objects to simple geometric shapes before applying greater amounts of detail.
- Look for strong areas of contrast in value and work those out simply before worrying about more subtle aspects.
- Utilise linear drawing for things like people and buildings, cars and the like.
- For nature mass drawing is often better, this is accomplished using the side of a pencil, charcoal or something like a brush.
- Offset your subject in the picture plane so that it is not too uniform.
That is a few good rules. Frankly, that's almost all you need to know about drawing. Many books have been written about how to approach different subjects and motifs, but at the end of the day, if you apply the above set of rules to the subject you wish to render and work diligently you will eventually find success.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Twilight Reverie' 8x10; I completed this painting recently and it reflects a new working approach on a darker ground color than my usual Burnt Sienna. I incorporated some aspects of old Masters work into my reference and I think I got a good result. At some point in the future I will probably paint this subject at a larger size.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Twilight Reverie'' by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| 'Twilight Reverie'' by M Francis McCarthy (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
 |
| 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) |
Clearing after a Storm 11x11
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is 'Clearing after a Storm' 11x11.
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.
Yesterday, we started on that list and today we will continue, picking up where we left off:
Perlene Red (Gamblin)
Perlene Red is one of the less frequently used colors on my palette. It's a bright red and not a very earthy color. I could get by without it, but I have it on my palette for several really good reasons. The first is when I need to do true pinks up in my skies and the second is to push reds in my landscape to a more reddish quality when needed. Also, sometimes I use it to counterbalance a mixed color that might be overly green or to adjust my permanent orange for tones in the sky. Note, Perlene Red is a substitute for Cadmium Red that is 100% non-toxic and lightfast.
Transparent Earth Red aka Burnt Sienna (Gamblin)
Transparent Earth Red aka Burnt Sienna, is a modern synthetic pigment that is very close in tone to the original Burnt Sienna. However, it has much stronger coloring strength and more transparency than the original Burnt Sienna that is based on natural earth pigments. Many brands label this pigment as Burnt Sienna. I have used the Windsor Newton version with no problem in the past. I use the Gamblin now because it's cheaper and works just as well. Burnt Sienna is absolutely critical to the way I paint. I would find it very difficult to work without it, it is very valuable for adjusting green tones, not to mention giving a good range of natural looking reds.
Alizarin Crimson (Gamblin)
Alizarin Crimson has been on my palette since the very beginning. It's a very flexible color that has strong tinting strength. Mixed with yellow, it gives you a tone similar to a Burnt Sienna but perhaps a bit cooler. These days I use it mostly to mix with Pthalo green for Chromatic Blacks. Also, I use it a lot for tinting grays in my skies and adjusting green tones in my painting.
Pthalo Green (Gamblin)
Pthalo Green is a very useful color and I've had it on my palette for quite a while. The primary thing I use it for is making Chromatic Black. I also use it for tinting grays and moving my more earthy Mike's Green into cool tones when I need a cooler green. Pthalo Green is extremely strong in tinting strength and the one thing I almost never use it for is making greens mixed with yellow, as the resultant greens look very psychedelic.
Permanent Green Light (Gamblin)
Permanent Green Light is useful for lots of little odd jobs on my palette. If I needed to, I could get by without it, but it's useful to have. It's really good for pushing more earthy greens into a brighter more greenish zone for certain areas of the painting. I like the Gamblin version best. It is a lot stronger in tinting strength than most other brands I've tried.
Dioxazine Purple (Gamblin)
Dioxazine Purple is super useful. Many purple/violet tones can be mixed using the reds and blues already on my palette but none of these mixed purples will have the intensity, yet transparency of Dioxazine Purple as it is a true purple. I use this color a lot in my skies and I also like to throw it into my mixed greens. Another great use is for adding to grays in rocks and in shadow areas. A lot of my paintings are based on a green/violet color scheme so it just makes sense for me to have a good purple on my palette. Note, the reason I use Dioxazine Purple from Gamblin is because of its light-fastness. Many purples available on the market are not very resistant to fading, this color from Gamblin is 100% lightfast.
Cobalt Blue (Gamblin)
Cobalt Blue is my favorite blue. Back when I started painting I was using Ultramarine Blue. I don't really like Ultramarine Blue very much, it has a cool sort of purplish tint to it that does not lend itself very well to landscape painting. I like Cobalt Blue because it has a warmness to it that counterbalances the other blue on my palette. Note, Cobalt Blue is very expensive but I feel it's worth it. None of the Hue approximations of this tone are worth a fig.
Pthalo Blue (Gamblin)
Where Cobalt Blue is warm, Pthalo Blue is cool. Pthalo Blue is very strong in tinting strength and a little bit goes a long way. I didn't start out painting with Pthalo Blue, but I find it invaluable for changing up my blues in the skies. Between Cobalt Blue, Pthalo Blue and Black, I can get most any blue effect I need. I also use Pthalo Blue to modify green tones and grays.
Ivory Black (Daler Rowney Georgian)
Ivory Black has gotten a bad reputation. Many Impressionist type painters avoid it like the plague. I was told never to use it to mix shadow tones, and for that reason have mostly done my darkest areas using a Chromatic Black for years. The primary use I have had for Ivory Black, is to make colors darker and duller. It is a guaranteed color killer and in many ways is the opposite of Raw Umber on my palette. Where I use Raw Umber to kill colors in a warm way, I use Ivory Black to kill colors in a cool way. Recently I've started using Ivory Black in my shadow areas as well. I think it gives me more of a old Master'y sort of feeling than the usual Chromatic black.
Mike's Gray (mixture of Titanium White and Ivory Black)
Mike's Gray is basically a 50/60% gray that I keep a pile of on my palette at all times. I got started doing this after using a color from Gamblin called Torrit Grey. After using the Torrit Gray for a while, I found it very useful to have a pile of Medium Gray on my palette that I could quickly tint with colors for painting clouds and other uses. Besides clouds I will use this 50/60% gray to modify Green, Tan and Ocher tones. I find it super useful and these days I always have a pile of it mixed up and ready to go.
So, this post and the proceeding two, give you a good rundown of the colors on my palette as of April, 2017. This may change in the future, but using this color palette, I can accomplish almost any task necessary for landscape painting (at least the way I approach it).
I get a lot of requests for this information from other artists and I would like to stress here that the best way to work, is to build up your own personal color palette through experience. Starting with a few basic primaries and then adding other colors as necessary, till you get a system that is useful for your personality and approach to painting . The selection of colors on an artist palette is necessarily a very subjective process, it is best to start with basics and gradually work up from there.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Clearing after a Storm' 11x11; I am very happy with this painting. I painted it about three weeks ago and since painting it I have done quite a few more with the Burnt Umber colored ground.
Check out the video and watch it all happen before your very eyes!
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| 'Clearing after a Storm'' by M Francis McCarthy, 11x11 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.
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.
Yesterday, we started on that list and today we will continue, picking up where we left off:
Perlene Red (Gamblin)
Perlene Red is one of the less frequently used colors on my palette. It's a bright red and not a very earthy color. I could get by without it, but I have it on my palette for several really good reasons. The first is when I need to do true pinks up in my skies and the second is to push reds in my landscape to a more reddish quality when needed. Also, sometimes I use it to counterbalance a mixed color that might be overly green or to adjust my permanent orange for tones in the sky. Note, Perlene Red is a substitute for Cadmium Red that is 100% non-toxic and lightfast.
Transparent Earth Red aka Burnt Sienna (Gamblin)
Transparent Earth Red aka Burnt Sienna, is a modern synthetic pigment that is very close in tone to the original Burnt Sienna. However, it has much stronger coloring strength and more transparency than the original Burnt Sienna that is based on natural earth pigments. Many brands label this pigment as Burnt Sienna. I have used the Windsor Newton version with no problem in the past. I use the Gamblin now because it's cheaper and works just as well. Burnt Sienna is absolutely critical to the way I paint. I would find it very difficult to work without it, it is very valuable for adjusting green tones, not to mention giving a good range of natural looking reds.
Alizarin Crimson (Gamblin)
Alizarin Crimson has been on my palette since the very beginning. It's a very flexible color that has strong tinting strength. Mixed with yellow, it gives you a tone similar to a Burnt Sienna but perhaps a bit cooler. These days I use it mostly to mix with Pthalo green for Chromatic Blacks. Also, I use it a lot for tinting grays in my skies and adjusting green tones in my painting.
Pthalo Green (Gamblin)
Pthalo Green is a very useful color and I've had it on my palette for quite a while. The primary thing I use it for is making Chromatic Black. I also use it for tinting grays and moving my more earthy Mike's Green into cool tones when I need a cooler green. Pthalo Green is extremely strong in tinting strength and the one thing I almost never use it for is making greens mixed with yellow, as the resultant greens look very psychedelic.
Permanent Green Light (Gamblin)
Permanent Green Light is useful for lots of little odd jobs on my palette. If I needed to, I could get by without it, but it's useful to have. It's really good for pushing more earthy greens into a brighter more greenish zone for certain areas of the painting. I like the Gamblin version best. It is a lot stronger in tinting strength than most other brands I've tried.
Dioxazine Purple (Gamblin)
Dioxazine Purple is super useful. Many purple/violet tones can be mixed using the reds and blues already on my palette but none of these mixed purples will have the intensity, yet transparency of Dioxazine Purple as it is a true purple. I use this color a lot in my skies and I also like to throw it into my mixed greens. Another great use is for adding to grays in rocks and in shadow areas. A lot of my paintings are based on a green/violet color scheme so it just makes sense for me to have a good purple on my palette. Note, the reason I use Dioxazine Purple from Gamblin is because of its light-fastness. Many purples available on the market are not very resistant to fading, this color from Gamblin is 100% lightfast.
Cobalt Blue (Gamblin)
Cobalt Blue is my favorite blue. Back when I started painting I was using Ultramarine Blue. I don't really like Ultramarine Blue very much, it has a cool sort of purplish tint to it that does not lend itself very well to landscape painting. I like Cobalt Blue because it has a warmness to it that counterbalances the other blue on my palette. Note, Cobalt Blue is very expensive but I feel it's worth it. None of the Hue approximations of this tone are worth a fig.
Pthalo Blue (Gamblin)
Where Cobalt Blue is warm, Pthalo Blue is cool. Pthalo Blue is very strong in tinting strength and a little bit goes a long way. I didn't start out painting with Pthalo Blue, but I find it invaluable for changing up my blues in the skies. Between Cobalt Blue, Pthalo Blue and Black, I can get most any blue effect I need. I also use Pthalo Blue to modify green tones and grays.
Ivory Black (Daler Rowney Georgian)
Ivory Black has gotten a bad reputation. Many Impressionist type painters avoid it like the plague. I was told never to use it to mix shadow tones, and for that reason have mostly done my darkest areas using a Chromatic Black for years. The primary use I have had for Ivory Black, is to make colors darker and duller. It is a guaranteed color killer and in many ways is the opposite of Raw Umber on my palette. Where I use Raw Umber to kill colors in a warm way, I use Ivory Black to kill colors in a cool way. Recently I've started using Ivory Black in my shadow areas as well. I think it gives me more of a old Master'y sort of feeling than the usual Chromatic black.
Mike's Gray (mixture of Titanium White and Ivory Black)
Mike's Gray is basically a 50/60% gray that I keep a pile of on my palette at all times. I got started doing this after using a color from Gamblin called Torrit Grey. After using the Torrit Gray for a while, I found it very useful to have a pile of Medium Gray on my palette that I could quickly tint with colors for painting clouds and other uses. Besides clouds I will use this 50/60% gray to modify Green, Tan and Ocher tones. I find it super useful and these days I always have a pile of it mixed up and ready to go.
So, this post and the proceeding two, give you a good rundown of the colors on my palette as of April, 2017. This may change in the future, but using this color palette, I can accomplish almost any task necessary for landscape painting (at least the way I approach it).
I get a lot of requests for this information from other artists and I would like to stress here that the best way to work, is to build up your own personal color palette through experience. Starting with a few basic primaries and then adding other colors as necessary, till you get a system that is useful for your personality and approach to painting . The selection of colors on an artist palette is necessarily a very subjective process, it is best to start with basics and gradually work up from there.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Clearing after a Storm' 11x11; I am very happy with this painting. I painted it about three weeks ago and since painting it I have done quite a few more with the Burnt Umber colored ground.
Check out the video and watch it all happen before your very eyes!
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| 'Clearing after a Storm'' by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
 |
| 'Clearing after a Storm'' by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |
#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
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| 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
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| 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) |
Afternoon Light 8x10
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| ''Afternoon Light' by M Francis McCarthy, 8x10 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Today's painting is 'Afternoon Light' 8x10.
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 thought it might be nice to share with you my color palette and give you a list of the colors on it with the pigment suppliers.
Starting on the furthest right side with the lightest colors and moving counterclockwise to the darker colors, here is the list;
- Lead White/Titanium White 50-50 mix (Lead Wt -Windsor Newton, Titanium Wt -Gamblin).
- Hansa Yellow medium (Gamblin)
- Yellow Ocher (Daler Rowney Georgian)
- Transparent Earth Yellow (Gamblin)
- Raw Umber (Daler Rowney Georgian)
- Mike's Green (mixture of Hansa Yellow and Ivory Black)
- Permanent Orange (Gamblin)
- Perlene Red (Gamblin)
- Transparent Earth Red aka Burnt Sienna (Gamblin)
- Alizarin Crimson (Gamblin)
- Pthalo Green (Gamblin)
- Permanent Green Light (Gamblin)
- Dioxazine Purple (Gamblin)
- Cobalt Blue (Gamblin)
- Pthalo Blue (Gamblin)
- Ivory Black (Daler Rowney Georgian)
- Mike's Gray (mixture of Titanium White and Ivory Black)
As you can see I mainly use two different pigment suppliers, Gamblin and Daler Rowney (Georgian). I highly recommend Gamblin paints. I buy them from their sole supplier here in New Zealand Takapuna art. I've tried most of the oil paint brands currently available. For most pigments, Gamblin is the best value for money you can get. Their paints all have a high pigment load and minimal filler while being well priced.
Daler Rowney (Georgian) are student grade paints. Normally, I would not use student grade pigments but in the case of these particular pigments, they are all earth tones. Earth-based pigments tend to be very reasonable in cost and therefore there is no real quality difference between the cheaper Daler Rowney (Georgian) pigments and the Gamblin equivalents. However, there is a big cost difference. I buy the Daler Rowney (Georgian) colors in large 225 ml tubes also from Takapuna art.
I have talked about most of these colors in the past on my blog. If you're in a hurry you can do some searching. I think next week I will do a new and current breakdown of why I use the colors that I do and give some history as to my use of them, which colors are crucial and which colors are there for convenience or because I cannot mix them using primaries.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Afternoon Light' 8x10; as I stated in the video, I did this painting about two years ago and I'm pretty happy with it.
Soon after doing this painting, I embarked upon the hundred days of Tonalism project which took up a good portion of 2015. Several things changed with my painting after doing the hundred days project and 'Afternoon Light' remains a good example of my process from that time.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| ''Afternoon Light' 8x10 (Detail 1) |
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| ''Afternoon Light' 8x10 (Detail 2) |
#20 John Enneking 'Fall at Dusk' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello, and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study after John Enneking - 'Fall at Dusk.'
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.
Starting a painting is always the hardest part. I've devised a number of strategies to support this process so that I have a procedure in place before I begin a painting.
My planning process really begins with coming across a scene in nature that I think would make an interesting painting motif. There have been times in the past where I would do some on spot Plein air painting, but these days I prefer to use a camera to capture any scene that I think worthy.
Typically, I will photograph the scene from many different angles and perspectives. I always make sure to do this because you never know until you get a photo home and look at it on the computer whether it will adequately have recorded the scene you came across. I try to shoot the scene both from a lower worm's eye perspective and sometimes higher, standing on my toes. I also have a very nice camera with a really good zoom lens so that I can capture the scene from a variety of focal points.
I then prepare my scene in Photoshop making any appropriate changes. The focus at this step is always to do things to support my painting. There are times when my photo edits might seem garish or over the top, but their purpose is to help inspire a painting and not function as 'photographs'.
Another thing I do is paint a small study prior to doing my larger painting. I use the same basic steps to paint my study as I do the larger work, but it goes much quicker because it doesn't take very long to paint a 5x7 or 5x5. Lately, I've been working without the study step with my current pass of paintings that I'm doing and that's working out well.
I discussed board preparation in the recent past. However, this might be a good place to touch again on the topic of having a nicely prepared surface for your painting. I like to use earth tones as my ground color, either Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber. Also, it's good to have some sort of texturing established on the board, whether it's gesso or something else. I like to have a certain amount of the wood grain of the board coming through, but not too much. Ultimately, you want to have the surface that is inviting you to paint.
When I do start my actual painting I do a drawing with a brush. This usually takes about 20 to 30 minutes and helps me get my bearings and have my composition established, as well as some of my darkest values in place.
These days working on the Burnt Umber I have been using Black Ivory, but in the past working over Burnt Sienna grounds, I would often do my drawings with Burnt Sienna and Black together. Either way, I think it's good to have a framework established, just like you would if you were putting up a building. By the way, even on my studies, I will do a drawing prior to going in with color.
Right before my first color pass, I will premix on my pallet, anywhere from 8 to 14 of the most predominant colors in my painting. This is just another way of getting my head wrapped around the motif and making it easier to paint.
It's only after all of these preparatory steps that I actually begin putting color down on my paintings. You can see by the time I'm ready to start, I've already done a lot of work that is supporting my painting process.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after John Enneking- 'Fall at Dusk'; John Enneking is an awesome artist and this was one of the Tonalist studies I was most excited to do in this current bunch of studies. I love his muted color sense and I think I did a good job of representing the colors in his painting.
The draftsmanship is maybe a little bit off but still gets the idea across. It's not really necessary to duplicate every tree branch or exact proportion of his painting to have a good study anyway.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Painted after - 'Fall at Dusk' by John Enneking, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x5, 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.
Starting a painting is always the hardest part. I've devised a number of strategies to support this process so that I have a procedure in place before I begin a painting.
My planning process really begins with coming across a scene in nature that I think would make an interesting painting motif. There have been times in the past where I would do some on spot Plein air painting, but these days I prefer to use a camera to capture any scene that I think worthy.
Typically, I will photograph the scene from many different angles and perspectives. I always make sure to do this because you never know until you get a photo home and look at it on the computer whether it will adequately have recorded the scene you came across. I try to shoot the scene both from a lower worm's eye perspective and sometimes higher, standing on my toes. I also have a very nice camera with a really good zoom lens so that I can capture the scene from a variety of focal points.
I then prepare my scene in Photoshop making any appropriate changes. The focus at this step is always to do things to support my painting. There are times when my photo edits might seem garish or over the top, but their purpose is to help inspire a painting and not function as 'photographs'.
Another thing I do is paint a small study prior to doing my larger painting. I use the same basic steps to paint my study as I do the larger work, but it goes much quicker because it doesn't take very long to paint a 5x7 or 5x5. Lately, I've been working without the study step with my current pass of paintings that I'm doing and that's working out well.
I discussed board preparation in the recent past. However, this might be a good place to touch again on the topic of having a nicely prepared surface for your painting. I like to use earth tones as my ground color, either Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber. Also, it's good to have some sort of texturing established on the board, whether it's gesso or something else. I like to have a certain amount of the wood grain of the board coming through, but not too much. Ultimately, you want to have the surface that is inviting you to paint.
When I do start my actual painting I do a drawing with a brush. This usually takes about 20 to 30 minutes and helps me get my bearings and have my composition established, as well as some of my darkest values in place.
These days working on the Burnt Umber I have been using Black Ivory, but in the past working over Burnt Sienna grounds, I would often do my drawings with Burnt Sienna and Black together. Either way, I think it's good to have a framework established, just like you would if you were putting up a building. By the way, even on my studies, I will do a drawing prior to going in with color.
Right before my first color pass, I will premix on my pallet, anywhere from 8 to 14 of the most predominant colors in my painting. This is just another way of getting my head wrapped around the motif and making it easier to paint.
It's only after all of these preparatory steps that I actually begin putting color down on my paintings. You can see by the time I'm ready to start, I've already done a lot of work that is supporting my painting process.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after John Enneking- 'Fall at Dusk'; John Enneking is an awesome artist and this was one of the Tonalist studies I was most excited to do in this current bunch of studies. I love his muted color sense and I think I did a good job of representing the colors in his painting.
The draftsmanship is maybe a little bit off but still gets the idea across. It's not really necessary to duplicate every tree branch or exact proportion of his painting to have a good study anyway.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Original Painting, John Enneking 'Fall at Dusk' |
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| Study painted after - 'Fall at Dusk' by John Enneking (Detail) |
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| Study painted after - 'Fall at Dusk' by John Enneking (Detail 2) |
Afternoon Light 5x7
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is "Afternoon Light 5x7.
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 thought it would be interesting to talk about how the excess of visual imagery works for and against the landscape painter in the modern world.
The primary way that the plethora of images saturating all of us, at all times, works against the landscape painter, is mostly due to the sheer quantity of images that people are presented with every day. Centuries ago, the only way that any imagery could be created was by human hands. These days it's a far different story. We are inundated with images both ugly and beautiful at every turn.
Because painted imagery was so rare before the modern era, people held it in higher esteem and justifiably gave it more respect and attention. Now, we are bombarded with images daily and even just driving down the road, we will have images of all types thrust at us. Many of our modern movies contain imagery that is the result of hundreds of hours of work by dozens of artists. These images are often breathtaking in scope and complexity, not to mention beauty.
This is how the image bombardment of the modern age works against a landscape painter. What are some of the ways that the easy availability of imagery can work for the landscape painter? One way that comes to mind almost immediately, is as reference. I often search around online for bits of reference to assist in my painting process. My preferred working method is to always shoot my own photography but there are times when I need to grab a path or a river from some other source.
Speaking of taking my own photographs, it is so laughably easy now to capture imagery by the voluminous hard-drive full, that it's not even funny. Digital cameras and computers have changed photography for all of us in a major way.
This is one of the reasons I think it's very difficult for the modern nature photographer to put themselves forward as artists. Back at the time when Ansell Adams was working, you needed extremely expensive equipment and a lab full of chemicals not to mention years of training and study to apply different effects to your nature photography. It was "perhaps" a different story then.
Another way that the easy availability of visual imagery helps the modern landscape painter, is the ease that you can photograph your own work and distribute it online, not just as still photos but in video form also. I take full advantage of this technology on a regular basis.
This still leaves us with the issue of the average person's oversaturation with visual images. What is the modern artists to do in the face of this oversaturation that cheapens imagery in general, and costs us eyes and attention?
This is an issue that I saw coming many years ago and as it became easier to create and render images with the computer, I've grappled with this problem.
The best solution I see to this dilemma, is to move the emphasis away from computer manipulated/rendered images and more into actual physical paintings. The wonderful thing about an original painting is that it is a physical object that contains an actual embedded record of everything that went into the creation of the two-dimensional image (on the paintings face).
While the painting contains a two-dimensional representation of a scene, it is also a three-dimensional physical object that is one-of-a-kind, and for that reason completely special and irreplaceable.
Paintings are inherently valuable even if not always immediately recognized as being so by people that regard them at a surface level, in passing. Like so many beautiful and worthwhile things they require some learning and focused attention to be appreciated. As I see it, the only avenue left to the serious artists these days is to create original, physical works of art.
I should add as a postscript that I believe very much in using computers to support my painting process. In many ways they allow me to do things that would be far more difficult without accessing modern, convenient technology. Ultimately though, all that digital work goes into creating a one-of-a-kind physical painting that can never be replaced.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Afternoon Light' 5x7; this is not a typical motif for me and in many ways it stands unique amongst paintings that I have done. I do like this study and I also like the larger piece that we will be discussing next week, hopefully you dig it as well.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| ''Afternoon Light' by M Francis McCarthy, 5x7 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.
Today, I thought it would be interesting to talk about how the excess of visual imagery works for and against the landscape painter in the modern world.
The primary way that the plethora of images saturating all of us, at all times, works against the landscape painter, is mostly due to the sheer quantity of images that people are presented with every day. Centuries ago, the only way that any imagery could be created was by human hands. These days it's a far different story. We are inundated with images both ugly and beautiful at every turn.
Because painted imagery was so rare before the modern era, people held it in higher esteem and justifiably gave it more respect and attention. Now, we are bombarded with images daily and even just driving down the road, we will have images of all types thrust at us. Many of our modern movies contain imagery that is the result of hundreds of hours of work by dozens of artists. These images are often breathtaking in scope and complexity, not to mention beauty.
This is how the image bombardment of the modern age works against a landscape painter. What are some of the ways that the easy availability of imagery can work for the landscape painter? One way that comes to mind almost immediately, is as reference. I often search around online for bits of reference to assist in my painting process. My preferred working method is to always shoot my own photography but there are times when I need to grab a path or a river from some other source.
Speaking of taking my own photographs, it is so laughably easy now to capture imagery by the voluminous hard-drive full, that it's not even funny. Digital cameras and computers have changed photography for all of us in a major way.
This is one of the reasons I think it's very difficult for the modern nature photographer to put themselves forward as artists. Back at the time when Ansell Adams was working, you needed extremely expensive equipment and a lab full of chemicals not to mention years of training and study to apply different effects to your nature photography. It was "perhaps" a different story then.
Another way that the easy availability of visual imagery helps the modern landscape painter, is the ease that you can photograph your own work and distribute it online, not just as still photos but in video form also. I take full advantage of this technology on a regular basis.
This still leaves us with the issue of the average person's oversaturation with visual images. What is the modern artists to do in the face of this oversaturation that cheapens imagery in general, and costs us eyes and attention?
This is an issue that I saw coming many years ago and as it became easier to create and render images with the computer, I've grappled with this problem.
The best solution I see to this dilemma, is to move the emphasis away from computer manipulated/rendered images and more into actual physical paintings. The wonderful thing about an original painting is that it is a physical object that contains an actual embedded record of everything that went into the creation of the two-dimensional image (on the paintings face).
While the painting contains a two-dimensional representation of a scene, it is also a three-dimensional physical object that is one-of-a-kind, and for that reason completely special and irreplaceable.
Paintings are inherently valuable even if not always immediately recognized as being so by people that regard them at a surface level, in passing. Like so many beautiful and worthwhile things they require some learning and focused attention to be appreciated. As I see it, the only avenue left to the serious artists these days is to create original, physical works of art.
I should add as a postscript that I believe very much in using computers to support my painting process. In many ways they allow me to do things that would be far more difficult without accessing modern, convenient technology. Ultimately though, all that digital work goes into creating a one-of-a-kind physical painting that can never be replaced.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Afternoon Light' 5x7; this is not a typical motif for me and in many ways it stands unique amongst paintings that I have done. I do like this study and I also like the larger piece that we will be discussing next week, hopefully you dig it as well.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| ''Afternoon Light' by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| ''Afternoon Light' by M Francis McCarthy (Detail2) |
#19 Walter Clark 'Connecticut Landscape' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study after Walter Clark 'Connecticut 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 the concept; how you start is how you finish. Forgive me if I've brought up this topic in the past. I'm pretty sure I've touched on it before, it is a very important aspect of painting.
Many painters (mainly amateur painters, but a surprising quantity of professionals as well), are content to paint on store-bought canvases pre-primed with acrylic gesso. While they may do some good paintings this way, I think that if they were to spend a bit more time in the selection of their painting substrate and preparation thereof, their painting would be substantially better.
In the studio, I've recently been doing new paintings over the top of some failed older paintings I had laying around. As I commented in today's video, I am totally stoked with the surface quality of these new paintings. There is really no comparison even to my normally prepared boards. There is a sort of the regular yet irregular textured quality, that in addition to the painting itself I just completed, creates a fantastic surface/quality,
Many artists like to paint on canvas and I would say if you are one of them you should perhaps try painting on wood. There are lots of different ways to prepare both canvas and wood for painting.
If you are painting on canvas I recommend doing a new layer of oil-based gesso on top of any pre-existing gesso. This is assuming that you are buying pre-stretched store-bought canvases. If you are, another good suggestion I have, would be instead, to invest in super high quality artist grade canvas, prepare the surface of that canvas with several layers of oil-based lead white gesso and stretch it yourself.
The main advantage that preparing your canvas with an oil based gesso, provides more flexibility in the paint film over time and also, if you are using the lead white you will be able to wipe your painting down to a white at any time with minimal surface staining. While acrylic gesso can suffice, it is just going to be only an adequate painting surface at best. If you are using acrylic gesso, make sure you put several coats down and sand in between coats, this will be better than just painting directly on the store-bought, prepared canvas.
When it comes to painting on wood panels, there are myriad ways that I have prepared these for painting. Initially, when I first started painting on wood, I did no preparation at all and just painted on the raw wood. The problem with this is that the raw wood will absorb the oil out of the paint over time and eventually the entire painting may become absorbed into the wood panel.
For this reason, I used an acrylic-based sanding sealer to seal my panels for quite a while. A few years ago I started using acrylic gesso that I have tinted with burnt sienna. This acrylic gesso is not white, it is transparent and therefore allows the tone of the wood panel to come through as well as providing a nice bright clean burnt sienna tone. When I have tried to do this with standard acrylic gesso what I got instead of burnt sienna was a warm pink due to the white pigmentation of standard acrylic gesso.
I've talked about my board preparation the past, so feel free to do a search here on the blog if you would like more information. Normally I apply this transparent gesso with the side of a large paintbrush to get a sort of spackle effect. I'm so keen on the results I'm getting over the top of old paintings that I'm starting to think of other ways to apply gesso to my wood panels. I will update you with the results of my experimentation in this area.
So to conclude, how you start is how you finish. The proper and creative preparation of your painting substrate will increase the quality and value of your work, sometimes in small ways and sometimes in major ways. Either way, it's worth taking the time.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after Walter Clark 'Connecticut Landscape'; I'm happy with this small study, it's a bit brighter than I normally paint but the composition is strong and I think it's a nice motif. BTW, some links referring to Walter Clark here and here.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - ' Connecticut Landscape' by Walter Clark, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x5, Oil on wood panel |
Today's painting is a study after Walter Clark 'Connecticut 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 the concept; how you start is how you finish. Forgive me if I've brought up this topic in the past. I'm pretty sure I've touched on it before, it is a very important aspect of painting.
Many painters (mainly amateur painters, but a surprising quantity of professionals as well), are content to paint on store-bought canvases pre-primed with acrylic gesso. While they may do some good paintings this way, I think that if they were to spend a bit more time in the selection of their painting substrate and preparation thereof, their painting would be substantially better.
In the studio, I've recently been doing new paintings over the top of some failed older paintings I had laying around. As I commented in today's video, I am totally stoked with the surface quality of these new paintings. There is really no comparison even to my normally prepared boards. There is a sort of the regular yet irregular textured quality, that in addition to the painting itself I just completed, creates a fantastic surface/quality,
Many artists like to paint on canvas and I would say if you are one of them you should perhaps try painting on wood. There are lots of different ways to prepare both canvas and wood for painting.
If you are painting on canvas I recommend doing a new layer of oil-based gesso on top of any pre-existing gesso. This is assuming that you are buying pre-stretched store-bought canvases. If you are, another good suggestion I have, would be instead, to invest in super high quality artist grade canvas, prepare the surface of that canvas with several layers of oil-based lead white gesso and stretch it yourself.
The main advantage that preparing your canvas with an oil based gesso, provides more flexibility in the paint film over time and also, if you are using the lead white you will be able to wipe your painting down to a white at any time with minimal surface staining. While acrylic gesso can suffice, it is just going to be only an adequate painting surface at best. If you are using acrylic gesso, make sure you put several coats down and sand in between coats, this will be better than just painting directly on the store-bought, prepared canvas.
When it comes to painting on wood panels, there are myriad ways that I have prepared these for painting. Initially, when I first started painting on wood, I did no preparation at all and just painted on the raw wood. The problem with this is that the raw wood will absorb the oil out of the paint over time and eventually the entire painting may become absorbed into the wood panel.
For this reason, I used an acrylic-based sanding sealer to seal my panels for quite a while. A few years ago I started using acrylic gesso that I have tinted with burnt sienna. This acrylic gesso is not white, it is transparent and therefore allows the tone of the wood panel to come through as well as providing a nice bright clean burnt sienna tone. When I have tried to do this with standard acrylic gesso what I got instead of burnt sienna was a warm pink due to the white pigmentation of standard acrylic gesso.
I've talked about my board preparation the past, so feel free to do a search here on the blog if you would like more information. Normally I apply this transparent gesso with the side of a large paintbrush to get a sort of spackle effect. I'm so keen on the results I'm getting over the top of old paintings that I'm starting to think of other ways to apply gesso to my wood panels. I will update you with the results of my experimentation in this area.
So to conclude, how you start is how you finish. The proper and creative preparation of your painting substrate will increase the quality and value of your work, sometimes in small ways and sometimes in major ways. Either way, it's worth taking the time.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study painted after Walter Clark 'Connecticut Landscape'; I'm happy with this small study, it's a bit brighter than I normally paint but the composition is strong and I think it's a nice motif. BTW, some links referring to Walter Clark here and here.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original Painting 'Connecticut Landscape' by Walter Clark |
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| ' Connecticut Landscape' by Walter Clark, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| ' Connecticut Landscape' by Walter Clark, Study by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |
Rocky Meadow 11x11
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is 'Rocky Meadow' 11x11.
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 how it is much easier to fail at landscape painting than it is to succeed. I suppose this is true of any endeavor that we pursue, but since I am a landscape painter and this is an area where I have some expertise, this is what we will be discussing today.
Here's a list of some of the great ways you can fail at landscape painting.
These are off the top of my head and I could probably find just as many by going through the work of some amateurs. This is not to put down amateurs, I myself have failed by making all of the above mistakes and many more, many times, and in some cases far more recently than I care to admit.
This might seem like a negative approach to teaching about landscape painting but sometimes the best way to learn is by knowing what to avoid. Most people prefer the opposite teaching method where everything is positive but being a good artist requires honesty, both with yourself and with your audience.
Some might say that a list of ways to succeed would be nice as well but let's face it when you're succeeding it's because none of these things were wrong. There are times when you might have one or more of these issues with a painting and it still is okay. However, there is little doubt that the painting would be better if you avoided these pitfalls.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Rocky Meadow' 11x11; I did this painting last year in August and of the series of paintings I did at that time, this is one of the few I was very pleased with. It is no longer with me it's on its way to a gallery in the United States where I'm hopeful that it will find a wonderful home.
I feel this painting succeeds on a lot of different levels. It has a good composition, good color, nice texture and nice aerial perspective. I wish they all came out this well.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| ''Rocky Meadow' by M Francis McCarthy, 11x11 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.
Today, I would like to talk about how it is much easier to fail at landscape painting than it is to succeed. I suppose this is true of any endeavor that we pursue, but since I am a landscape painter and this is an area where I have some expertise, this is what we will be discussing today.
Here's a list of some of the great ways you can fail at landscape painting.
- Bad composition.
- Garish color.
- Bad color combinations.
- Brushwork that is inept.
- Brushwork that is too thick and catches the light.
- Bad drawing.
- Incorrect proportions.
- Bad composition (I know it's here twice but this is the number one place people fail).
- Overworked painting.
- Areas of the painting that are incomplete or messy compared to other areas of the painting.
- Too much sky.
- Too little sky.
- Horizon too high.
- Horizon too low.
- Incorrect perspective.
- Poor balance.
These are off the top of my head and I could probably find just as many by going through the work of some amateurs. This is not to put down amateurs, I myself have failed by making all of the above mistakes and many more, many times, and in some cases far more recently than I care to admit.
This might seem like a negative approach to teaching about landscape painting but sometimes the best way to learn is by knowing what to avoid. Most people prefer the opposite teaching method where everything is positive but being a good artist requires honesty, both with yourself and with your audience.
Some might say that a list of ways to succeed would be nice as well but let's face it when you're succeeding it's because none of these things were wrong. There are times when you might have one or more of these issues with a painting and it still is okay. However, there is little doubt that the painting would be better if you avoided these pitfalls.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Rocky Meadow' 11x11; I did this painting last year in August and of the series of paintings I did at that time, this is one of the few I was very pleased with. It is no longer with me it's on its way to a gallery in the United States where I'm hopeful that it will find a wonderful home.
I feel this painting succeeds on a lot of different levels. It has a good composition, good color, nice texture and nice aerial perspective. I wish they all came out this well.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| ''Rocky Meadow' by M Francis McCarthy, 11x11 (Detail) |
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| ''Rocky Meadow' by M Francis McCarthy, 11x11 (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
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| 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) |
Rocky Meadow 5x5
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is 'Rocky Meadow' 5x5.
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 getting drawings onto your painting surface. When I first started out painting I wasn't doing a drawing layer at all. I just went in and worked alla prima. I think most contemporary landscape painter's work this way, it's known as working direct.
About a year or two into my time as a landscape painter I started working indirect. By this, I mean I would do a drawing with paint and a brush that I let dry before painting my color layers. For quite a while I would just do my drawings freehand. Sometimes I played with turning my reference image upside down and doing my drawing upside down as well and then turning that back the right way to do the actual painting. You'd be surprised how much more accurate your drawing can be when you take this sort of approach.
I abandoned that approach after time as it felt too stiff. After that, I was doing pretty well just doing my drawings freehand and then painting the color layers. Sometime around 2011 as I was endeavoring to work larger, I encountered some difficulties with a few scenes I was trying to portray. The way that I solved the drawing problems then, was to use the good old reliable Griding system. For those of you that are not aware, this entails drawing a grid over your reference image and another grid over your painting surface and using the grid to help you find the correct location of the shapes that you are attempting to render.
When I first started working at my studio at the Quarry Arts Center, I invested in a projector. My thinking was that this would be more effective and easier than griding. I proceeded to project a bunch of my reference images onto a pile of wood panels using charcoal and then went ahead and did my drawing with Burnt Sienna and black afterwards.
I worked like this for about a year before I realized that this method was having an adverse effect on my painting. I think this is because most photographs are lacking in all of the necessary compositional elements that are required to make a good painting. It is incumbent upon the painter to modify, correct and adjust the scene so that they can produce a good painting.
Using a projector is basically exacerbating the problems that are inherent in using photography as reference for painting in the first place. I've talked a lot about those problems on this blog so I won't be going into that any further here, but if you search with the term photography I'm sure you'll get an earful of information.
Since I abandoned using the projector, I have gone back to just drawing my images directly on the panel with a brush and some paint. While this may sometimes produce distortions or inaccuracies these terms are a bit of a misnomer because what's important and special about a painting is that it is a unique expression of the painter's individual viewpoint. The point is not to produce something that exactly replicates the photographic qualities of the scene but more so to create an expressive interpretation of that scene.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Rocky Meadow' 5x5; This small study lives in my studio at the moment and it looks good. We'll be getting into the larger version next week.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| ''Rocky Meadow' by M Francis McCarthy, 5x5 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.
Today, I would like to talk about getting drawings onto your painting surface. When I first started out painting I wasn't doing a drawing layer at all. I just went in and worked alla prima. I think most contemporary landscape painter's work this way, it's known as working direct.
About a year or two into my time as a landscape painter I started working indirect. By this, I mean I would do a drawing with paint and a brush that I let dry before painting my color layers. For quite a while I would just do my drawings freehand. Sometimes I played with turning my reference image upside down and doing my drawing upside down as well and then turning that back the right way to do the actual painting. You'd be surprised how much more accurate your drawing can be when you take this sort of approach.
I abandoned that approach after time as it felt too stiff. After that, I was doing pretty well just doing my drawings freehand and then painting the color layers. Sometime around 2011 as I was endeavoring to work larger, I encountered some difficulties with a few scenes I was trying to portray. The way that I solved the drawing problems then, was to use the good old reliable Griding system. For those of you that are not aware, this entails drawing a grid over your reference image and another grid over your painting surface and using the grid to help you find the correct location of the shapes that you are attempting to render.
When I first started working at my studio at the Quarry Arts Center, I invested in a projector. My thinking was that this would be more effective and easier than griding. I proceeded to project a bunch of my reference images onto a pile of wood panels using charcoal and then went ahead and did my drawing with Burnt Sienna and black afterwards.
I worked like this for about a year before I realized that this method was having an adverse effect on my painting. I think this is because most photographs are lacking in all of the necessary compositional elements that are required to make a good painting. It is incumbent upon the painter to modify, correct and adjust the scene so that they can produce a good painting.
Using a projector is basically exacerbating the problems that are inherent in using photography as reference for painting in the first place. I've talked a lot about those problems on this blog so I won't be going into that any further here, but if you search with the term photography I'm sure you'll get an earful of information.
Since I abandoned using the projector, I have gone back to just drawing my images directly on the panel with a brush and some paint. While this may sometimes produce distortions or inaccuracies these terms are a bit of a misnomer because what's important and special about a painting is that it is a unique expression of the painter's individual viewpoint. The point is not to produce something that exactly replicates the photographic qualities of the scene but more so to create an expressive interpretation of that scene.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Rocky Meadow' 5x5; This small study lives in my studio at the moment and it looks good. We'll be getting into the larger version next week.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Rocky Meadow 5x5 (Detail) |
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| Rocky Meadow 5x5 (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) |
Out of the Vale 5x7
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| 'Out of the Vale' by M Francis McCarthy, 5x7 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Today's painting is 'Out of the Vale' 5x7.
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 making a good start. Many solid arguments could be made for this being the hardest part of accomplishing any task. I am a firm believer in the concept of "how you start is how you finish" so I have developed several good strategies for supporting myself artistically. A lot of that centers around getting a good start.
The first thing that I do to ensure a good start is to take lots of good reference photographs from a variety of different types of landscape. If I were a Plein Air painter then I would accomplish the same task by going out and painting in many different locales.
I take a lot of photographs when I'm in front of a particular scene because I never know if I will be there again, many times you see things in the computer while going over your reference photographs that you were not really aware of while at the actual location.
The second thing I do to ensure a good start to my painting is that I work with my reference photographs quite a lot in Photoshop prior to using them to start my painting. This might mean anything from adjusting colors to modifying the existing sky, to the moving trees, rocks or bushes that do not lend themselves to the composition.
The third thing I do to ensure a good start to my larger paintings is that I do a small study. This gives me a chance to visually integrate the image while creating a small painting quickly that will tell me a lot about whether that scene is going to make a nice larger painting. I enjoy doing studies and find them an invaluable aid to assist in accomplishing my larger work.
The fourth thing that I do to ensure a good start is that I will premix anywhere from 8 to 12 of the main colors from the scene on my palette prior to starting my painting. This also gives me a chance to go over the image and to line up my ducks, so to speak.
The fifth thing that I do to ensure a good start is that I make sure I have my boards adequately prepared and sanded so that when it comes time to paint, I can concentrate on getting the paint onto the board without having to muck about.
The sixth thing that I do to ensure a good start to both my studies and larger paintings, is to do an underpainting in two colors, burnt sienna and black. I let the underpainting dry prior to going in with my color. It makes doing the color stage easier because I've already established my composition and some basic value patterning.
All of these steps help make it easier for me to start a painting. Each one adds up to painting the first color pass better as I have so much preparatory information already handled. I consider the first color pass to be the most important aspect of my painting process because the bulk of the painting is accomplished there.
This is not to say that the underpainting is not important or that my finishing color passes are also not important, just less so than the first color pass. By the way, when I date my paintings I always date for that first color pass because there are times when I feel that that is enough and do not do any more work on the painting.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Out of the Vale' 5x7; the scene is based on some recent photographs I took while on vacation in England. I absolutely love the English countryside and especially love how lush and green it is. No doubt you will see many pictures of scenes where we are on a road coming out into a lighted area since I am very attracted to that sort of scene and have accumulated quite a lot of nice reference while on my trip.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Out of the Vale' by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 1) |
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| 'Out of the Vale' by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |
#16 Gilbert Munger 'Landscape' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study after Gilbert Munger - Barbizon Landscape.
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.
Today, I like to talk about a concept that applies to painting big time and that is, if it looks good it is good. This concept also applies to music and food. It sounds good, it is good, if it tastes good, it is good.
This might seem like an obvious concept but I'm always amazed to find out how many amateur artists overthink their work. Many times they will continue to work past the point where they should've stopped because they are not aware of this concept, believing that there are some esoteric aspects they are missing other than making the painting look good
There are many things you can try to create where this concept might not apply, for example, you could have a house built that looks sturdy and like it was going to last, only to find out later that it was constructed poorly and is going to fall down at any time. The same thing might apply to organizational structures or anything that is constructed or created like philosophical theories.
If it looks good it is good because the function of a painting is to look good. How you get there is another matter entirely and as I discussed on this blog in the past, there are more ways to fail than there are to succeed.
I have noticed that the universe often gives artists starting out some good pieces early on. I know this was the case with me when I was young and trying to learn how to draw. Every now and again I would do something that was way beyond my usual capabilities and I would take this as encouragement by the universe that I was headed in the right direction.
Artists tend to be cerebral, we can tend to over think things. To create good artwork there needs to be a balance between the intellect and the intuition. I have discussed all the myriad different working approaches that you can bring to bear on a painting previously on this blog. One thing that I like to do is keep my painting looking attractive at each stage of the process.
This means, that I don't have to overcome ugliness at any point in time. If it's looking good it's going to be good. Unless I screw it up.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after Gilbert Munger - Barbizon Landscape; Gilbert was not an artist that I was very familiar with but I like this piece quite a lot. I have done some research and am providing you with some links here and here.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Painted after - ' 'Barbizon Landscape' by Gilbert Munger, 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.
Today, I like to talk about a concept that applies to painting big time and that is, if it looks good it is good. This concept also applies to music and food. It sounds good, it is good, if it tastes good, it is good.
This might seem like an obvious concept but I'm always amazed to find out how many amateur artists overthink their work. Many times they will continue to work past the point where they should've stopped because they are not aware of this concept, believing that there are some esoteric aspects they are missing other than making the painting look good
There are many things you can try to create where this concept might not apply, for example, you could have a house built that looks sturdy and like it was going to last, only to find out later that it was constructed poorly and is going to fall down at any time. The same thing might apply to organizational structures or anything that is constructed or created like philosophical theories.
If it looks good it is good because the function of a painting is to look good. How you get there is another matter entirely and as I discussed on this blog in the past, there are more ways to fail than there are to succeed.
I have noticed that the universe often gives artists starting out some good pieces early on. I know this was the case with me when I was young and trying to learn how to draw. Every now and again I would do something that was way beyond my usual capabilities and I would take this as encouragement by the universe that I was headed in the right direction.
Artists tend to be cerebral, we can tend to over think things. To create good artwork there needs to be a balance between the intellect and the intuition. I have discussed all the myriad different working approaches that you can bring to bear on a painting previously on this blog. One thing that I like to do is keep my painting looking attractive at each stage of the process.
This means, that I don't have to overcome ugliness at any point in time. If it's looking good it's going to be good. Unless I screw it up.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after Gilbert Munger - Barbizon Landscape; Gilbert was not an artist that I was very familiar with but I like this piece quite a lot. I have done some research and am providing you with some links here and here.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting' 'Landscape' by Gilbert Munger |
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| Painted after - ' 'Barbizon Landscape' by Gilbert Munger (Detail) |
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| Painted after - ' 'Barbizon Landscape' by Gilbert Munger (Detail 2) |
Morning Glade 8x10
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
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| 'Morning Glade' by M Francis McCarthy, 8x10 Oil Painting on Wood Panel |
Today's painting is 'Morning Glade' 8x10.
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 like to talk about approaches to oil painting. I have noticed that many artists, especially amateurs, will say that they can or cannot paint certain objects, figures or places. The problem with thinking this way is that they're not thinking of their painting as a painting.
The fact of the matter is that everything portrayed on your two-dimensional painting surface is nothing more than a shape. You have big shapes and you have little shapes, smooth shapes and sharply pointed shapes, colorful shapes and dull shapes, bright shapes and dark shapes, all just shapes.
Thinking about what you are painting in this way can be highly beneficial, especially if you find yourself having to paint something that you have not been previously comfortable approaching.
When I was a kid we had paint by number kits available pretty much everywhere. What you got inside the kit was a canvas board that had been divided into shapes and an accompanying set of paints all numbered to match with the corresponding shapes. As an artist, there is nothing precluding you from thinking in the same way when you approach your own work.
One thing that is important to remember when approaching a motif is that you should be concentrating on the big shapes first and avoiding most of the smaller shapes in your reference. Your painting will succeed or fail based on the harmony and balance of your large shapes.
Many amateur artists and even some (surprisingly successful) professional artists over clutter their work with an endless array of tiny shapes. This is usually a byproduct of their working with photographic reference. The camera captures and delineates everything in a scene equally. Human vision does not work like that and it is a painter's job to be aware of this fact and incorporate this knowledge into their work.
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Morning Glade' 8x10; I did this painting back in March 2014 and have since sold the painting. I see it predominately as a painting of light. There's not a lot going on in the scene other than light and color.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Morning Glade' 8x10 by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| 'Morning Glade' 8x10 by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |
#15 Charles Appel 'Landscape' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study after Charles Appel '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 art reproductions. While I am not an expert in art reproductions nor the art print market, this does not preclude me from having some strong opinions about reproductions.
I was around art reproductions quite a lot in the time that I worked as a picture framer, when I younger. I saw the poster and limited-edition print market explode in the 80s and early 90s first hand. Back then, it used to cost quite a lot of money to make a good quality art reproduction. These days, that is no longer the case.
The advent of computers and high-quality color inkjet printers has made it possible for just about anybody to create a good quality reproduction on their desktop. For this reason and several others, I feel that selling investment art reproductions are now somewhat of a boondoggle.
There are several reasons I do not care for art reproductions:
I'm sure there's a few others that I am not remembering.
Reproductions to have some good qualities as well. They are generally more affordable than originals and give people on a limited income a way to purchase imagery to decorate their home. Other than that, I think they are a waste of time, especially as an investment.
I should clarify here that by reproductions, I am not referring to hand pulled prints like etchings, wood blocks or lithographs. These types of prints were created specifically handmade and the print is a final part of the artistic process.
I was quite surprised when I first started becoming involved with landscape painting while still living in California. I went to several galleries near where I lived and saw lots of reproductions printed on canvas and stretched over the typical 1 inch stretcher bar, being sold for big bucks. Maybe it's because I was involved with graphic art and illustration for so many years as a commercial artist that I saw this practice as essentially bankrupt, at least as far as an investment in art goes.
This leads me to my biggest issue with reproductions and that is the fact that no reproduction captures all of the qualities of the original. This includes not just the two-dimensional color information but the overall texture and luminosity of the original painting.
There is some new technology now available that will actually reproduce the three-dimensional qualities of a painting and I expect this technology to become cheaper and cheaper, to the point where it is possible to reproduce more realistic copies of original paintings. Still, I've never seen a reproduction that equaled or bettered the original and I don't expect to anytime soon.
There is one other very important factor to consider about the art reproduction market. It keeps people from buying more original art and thus from supporting the work of artists creating original paintings. Because there is so many cheap or not so cheap reproductions available, it muddies the water of the art market. Let's face it, there is a limited amount of buyers for artwork in the first place.
I would like to see a lot more support of original art by galleries and other venues where artwork is being sold. In a world full of visual images the original painting is still something special that deserves to be treated like the valuable commodity that it is.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
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| Painted after - ' 'Landscape' by Charles Appel 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 art reproductions. While I am not an expert in art reproductions nor the art print market, this does not preclude me from having some strong opinions about reproductions.
I was around art reproductions quite a lot in the time that I worked as a picture framer, when I younger. I saw the poster and limited-edition print market explode in the 80s and early 90s first hand. Back then, it used to cost quite a lot of money to make a good quality art reproduction. These days, that is no longer the case.
The advent of computers and high-quality color inkjet printers has made it possible for just about anybody to create a good quality reproduction on their desktop. For this reason and several others, I feel that selling investment art reproductions are now somewhat of a boondoggle.
There are several reasons I do not care for art reproductions:
- Anybody can do it now.
- You never have any real way of knowing if a supposedly limited-edition is indeed limited due to modern-day technology.
- A reproduction is just a facsimile of the original. It does not contain anything more than the two-dimensional visual information of the original.
- The plethora of cheaply made reproductions on the market diminishes the value of original artwork in general.
I'm sure there's a few others that I am not remembering.
Reproductions to have some good qualities as well. They are generally more affordable than originals and give people on a limited income a way to purchase imagery to decorate their home. Other than that, I think they are a waste of time, especially as an investment.
I should clarify here that by reproductions, I am not referring to hand pulled prints like etchings, wood blocks or lithographs. These types of prints were created specifically handmade and the print is a final part of the artistic process.
I was quite surprised when I first started becoming involved with landscape painting while still living in California. I went to several galleries near where I lived and saw lots of reproductions printed on canvas and stretched over the typical 1 inch stretcher bar, being sold for big bucks. Maybe it's because I was involved with graphic art and illustration for so many years as a commercial artist that I saw this practice as essentially bankrupt, at least as far as an investment in art goes.
This leads me to my biggest issue with reproductions and that is the fact that no reproduction captures all of the qualities of the original. This includes not just the two-dimensional color information but the overall texture and luminosity of the original painting.
There is some new technology now available that will actually reproduce the three-dimensional qualities of a painting and I expect this technology to become cheaper and cheaper, to the point where it is possible to reproduce more realistic copies of original paintings. Still, I've never seen a reproduction that equaled or bettered the original and I don't expect to anytime soon.
There is one other very important factor to consider about the art reproduction market. It keeps people from buying more original art and thus from supporting the work of artists creating original paintings. Because there is so many cheap or not so cheap reproductions available, it muddies the water of the art market. Let's face it, there is a limited amount of buyers for artwork in the first place.
I would like to see a lot more support of original art by galleries and other venues where artwork is being sold. In a world full of visual images the original painting is still something special that deserves to be treated like the valuable commodity that it is.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after Charles Appel - 'Landscape'; The thing I was attracted to in Charles's painting was the sky. I feel that his approach to color can be very similar to my own and I enjoy making studies after his paintings.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting' 'Landscape' by Charles Appel |
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| Study by M Francis McCarthy of ' Landscape' by Charles Appel (Detail) |
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| Study by M Francis McCarthy of ' Landscape' by Charles Appel (Detail 2) |
Morning Glade 5x7
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is 'Morning Glade' 5x7.
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 white oil paint. I am subscribed to a newsletter from Natural Pigments. Natural Pigments is a company in the US that supplies artist with paints and pigments derived from natural sources. Natural Pigments also provides a lot of information about how oil painters in the past have painted.
Today I received a newsletter about zinc white. For the modern artist, there are only three white pigments available they are: lead white, titanium white and zinc white. For much of painting history, the only white available to the oil painter was lead white.
Lead white (while currently not favored by most artists) is the king of paints. I have written about lead white here. No other color lends itself as well to oil painting in color fastness, permanence and paint film flexibility. Sometime in the early part of the 20th-century titanium white was invented. Titanium white is the predominant white you will see available in most commercially made oil and acrylic white paints.
Zinc white has been available since the late 1700s. Zinc white is often added to tubes of paint marked as titanium white because zinc white has some unique attributes that titanium white does not. Titanium white is very opaque and slow drying. Zinc white is very translucent, dries quickly and helps ameliorate the extreme opaqueness of titanium white.
Lead white is very stable. Titanium white also quite stable. Zinc white, on the other hand, is like painting with glass. Here is the article that goes extensively into the myriad problems of zinc white. The primary issue with zinc white is that it is very brittle when dry and even in small quantities can create problems with modern paint films.
After reading this article (which helpfully lists all of the major paint manufacturers and their mixtures that include zinc white), I'm amazed that any paint manufacturer would use this color for anything but watercolor pigments.
I am concerned with the permanence of my work, this is one of the reasons why I paint on wood panels and avoid zinc white like the plague. I've been aware of this information for quite a while but I thought it would be germane to share this article with you now on the off chance that you are not hip to it
I love lead white and I cannot recommend it enough. Lead white is a very flexible paint though it does have one attribute that I have adjusted for, and that is, it is not very opaque unless you put it on very thickly. For this reason, I like to mix lead white and titanium white together on my palate and use that as my primary white.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Morning Glade' 5x7; this is a painting that I painted three years old. I have progressed somewhat since this time but still a good painting and a motif that I have painted several times.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| 'Morning Glade' by M Francis McCarthy, 5x7 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.
Today I would like to talk about white oil paint. I am subscribed to a newsletter from Natural Pigments. Natural Pigments is a company in the US that supplies artist with paints and pigments derived from natural sources. Natural Pigments also provides a lot of information about how oil painters in the past have painted.
Today I received a newsletter about zinc white. For the modern artist, there are only three white pigments available they are: lead white, titanium white and zinc white. For much of painting history, the only white available to the oil painter was lead white.
Lead white (while currently not favored by most artists) is the king of paints. I have written about lead white here. No other color lends itself as well to oil painting in color fastness, permanence and paint film flexibility. Sometime in the early part of the 20th-century titanium white was invented. Titanium white is the predominant white you will see available in most commercially made oil and acrylic white paints.
Zinc white has been available since the late 1700s. Zinc white is often added to tubes of paint marked as titanium white because zinc white has some unique attributes that titanium white does not. Titanium white is very opaque and slow drying. Zinc white is very translucent, dries quickly and helps ameliorate the extreme opaqueness of titanium white.
Lead white is very stable. Titanium white also quite stable. Zinc white, on the other hand, is like painting with glass. Here is the article that goes extensively into the myriad problems of zinc white. The primary issue with zinc white is that it is very brittle when dry and even in small quantities can create problems with modern paint films.
After reading this article (which helpfully lists all of the major paint manufacturers and their mixtures that include zinc white), I'm amazed that any paint manufacturer would use this color for anything but watercolor pigments.
I am concerned with the permanence of my work, this is one of the reasons why I paint on wood panels and avoid zinc white like the plague. I've been aware of this information for quite a while but I thought it would be germane to share this article with you now on the off chance that you are not hip to it
I love lead white and I cannot recommend it enough. Lead white is a very flexible paint though it does have one attribute that I have adjusted for, and that is, it is not very opaque unless you put it on very thickly. For this reason, I like to mix lead white and titanium white together on my palate and use that as my primary white.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Morning Glade' 5x7; this is a painting that I painted three years old. I have progressed somewhat since this time but still a good painting and a motif that I have painted several times.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Morning Glade' by M Francis McCarthy (Detail) |
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| 'Morning Glade' by M Francis McCarthy (Detail 2) |
#14 Camille Corot 'Italian Landscape' - 25 Days of Tonalism
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is a study after Camille Corot, 'Italian landscape.'
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.
Today I like to talk about cleaning brushes. I know this may not seem to be a particularly interesting subject. However, brushes are a very important part of landscape painting and the proper care of them will extend their life considerably.
I'm sure I have mentioned in the past that it's counterproductive to purchase cheap brushes even for amateur painters. I recommend that you invest in quality brushes that do not drop hairs on your paintings or lack in snap/springiness. The brand of brushes that I use (for those of you that are interested) is Robert Simmons Signet Brushes (Flats).
For a long time, I was cleaning my brushes using jars with a bit of metal screen placed inside of them. I had a two-stage process. I would start with one jar, rubbing my dirty brush against the screen inside the jar filled with mineral spirits. Then I would go to a second cleaning jar and repeat to finish. My two jar process worked pretty well, but last year I discovered a way to dramatically improve my brush cleaning.
Before I get into that, I should indicate some of the things that happen as brushes age from use. The main thing that occurs is that pigment that is left inside the brush (not thoroughly cleaned out) will cause the brush to lose its shape over time and eventually the brush will become fat and spread out losing its shape. For some painters this is not a problem, but for the way that I work I require that my brushes be nicely shaped and quite flat.
Last year I was turned on to a product by my friends at Takapuna Art Supply here in New Zealand. The product is called Art Spectrum Hand and Brush Cleaner. It's available in a tube as well as a 500 ml jar. This product has increased the usable lifespan of my brushes by at least four times. That may seem like an unbelievable extension in the lifespan of a brush but this product has really made that sort a difference.
The brush cleaner is actually a kind of soap that you rub into your brush and work thoroughly through the bristles. This removes pigment that can't really be gotten out any other way. It's truly amazing how I can clean a brush with my jars of mineral spirits and they will seem to be 100% clean, yet after applying the soap and rubbing it in I always remove a ton of pigment that was hidden inside the brush even after the vigorous cleaning I've done with my jar of mineral spirits.
Truth be told, I sometimes retire my brushes now, just because they have become too rounded at their edges. I have encountered very little of the sort of spreading that I would regularly incur in the past, and as a bonus the soap leaves a nice film on the brush that also helps preserve the bristles. This is been a helpful tip from your friendly resident Tonalist painter M Francis.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
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| Painted after - 'Italian Landscape' by Camille Corot, 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.
Today I like to talk about cleaning brushes. I know this may not seem to be a particularly interesting subject. However, brushes are a very important part of landscape painting and the proper care of them will extend their life considerably.
I'm sure I have mentioned in the past that it's counterproductive to purchase cheap brushes even for amateur painters. I recommend that you invest in quality brushes that do not drop hairs on your paintings or lack in snap/springiness. The brand of brushes that I use (for those of you that are interested) is Robert Simmons Signet Brushes (Flats).
For a long time, I was cleaning my brushes using jars with a bit of metal screen placed inside of them. I had a two-stage process. I would start with one jar, rubbing my dirty brush against the screen inside the jar filled with mineral spirits. Then I would go to a second cleaning jar and repeat to finish. My two jar process worked pretty well, but last year I discovered a way to dramatically improve my brush cleaning.
Before I get into that, I should indicate some of the things that happen as brushes age from use. The main thing that occurs is that pigment that is left inside the brush (not thoroughly cleaned out) will cause the brush to lose its shape over time and eventually the brush will become fat and spread out losing its shape. For some painters this is not a problem, but for the way that I work I require that my brushes be nicely shaped and quite flat.
Last year I was turned on to a product by my friends at Takapuna Art Supply here in New Zealand. The product is called Art Spectrum Hand and Brush Cleaner. It's available in a tube as well as a 500 ml jar. This product has increased the usable lifespan of my brushes by at least four times. That may seem like an unbelievable extension in the lifespan of a brush but this product has really made that sort a difference.
The brush cleaner is actually a kind of soap that you rub into your brush and work thoroughly through the bristles. This removes pigment that can't really be gotten out any other way. It's truly amazing how I can clean a brush with my jars of mineral spirits and they will seem to be 100% clean, yet after applying the soap and rubbing it in I always remove a ton of pigment that was hidden inside the brush even after the vigorous cleaning I've done with my jar of mineral spirits.
Truth be told, I sometimes retire my brushes now, just because they have become too rounded at their edges. I have encountered very little of the sort of spreading that I would regularly incur in the past, and as a bonus the soap leaves a nice film on the brush that also helps preserve the bristles. This is been a helpful tip from your friendly resident Tonalist painter M Francis.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about my study after Camille Corot, 'Italian landscape'; I'm happy with the way this came out. As always I got a lot of good information and education out of doing a study after this Master painter.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| Original painting 'The Italian Goatherd' by Camille Corot |
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| Study after 'Italian Landscape' by Camille Corot (Detail) |
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| Study after 'Italian Landscape' by Camille Corot (Detail 2) |
'Golden Creek' 12x16
Hello and welcome to Tonalist painting with M Francis McCarthy.
Today's painting is 'Golden Creek 12x16.
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 like to talk about painting clouds. I paint a lot of clouds, mostly successfully but occasionally I have some issues just like everybody else. I thought it might be helpful to outline some of the ways I approach painting skies and clouds.
If there is blue in the sky, I tend to paint that in first. The reason for this is, that the blue would always be behind any clouds or trees that were in front of it. I like to change up my blue in a few different ways. I use two different blue colors on my pallet, Cobalt blue (warm) and Pthalo blue (cool). I will generally use one blue in one section of the sky and the other blue elsewhere. One thing I almost always do is add a little bit of black to my blues so that the mixed color feels more natural. If you're using blue straight out of the tube mixed only with white, your sky will look overly synthetic and false.
Prior to starting my painting, I pre-mix some colors on my pallet for the sky, this would mean a dark and a light blue, some gray tones and a white. My mixed white is quite different from the white straight out of the tube. I tend to modify my white tone with raw umber and yellow ochre, as well as gray.
When it comes to grays, I tend to work with a middle gray premixed on my pallet that I modify as I am painting. One of the big secrets to getting interesting clouds is to juxtapose your cool grays against warm grays. I do this by mixing colors like violet or alizarin Crimson into my grays for the cooler tones. For the warmer tones, I will modify using colors like burnt sienna, yellow ochre or transparent earth yellow.
When painting clouds I usually have some sort of reference image, but I take a lot of liberties with the colors in the reference clouds. This is because the photograph only captures a limited spectrum of the potential grays that are possible to paint. Is important to inject a lot of interest wherever possible.
After I have laid in my sky blue color, I will almost always work with the darkest grays of the clouds next, gradually working my way through to the lighter grays and then into the off-white tones. This is a good place to note that regardless of how dark the cloud colors might be in your photo reference, it is always better to paint them in somewhat lighter than they appear there. If the dark tones in your clouds are too dark, it is distracting and does not convey an airy feeling, not to mention competing with the darks on the land.
This brings us to one of the greatest challenges with painting clouds. That would be the edges of the clouds. If you observe clouds in nature you will see that they are actually quite mysterious. The edges are always shifting and yet, can also seem quite defined and crisp. We know that clouds are full of air and water and even the most defined cloud edge in nature still feels light, natural and a part of the sky around it.
Trying to convey these edges with oil paint on a board is always going to be challenging. I have seen many amateurs make the mistake of using oil paint's ability to smear easily, to just smear the edges of the cloud into the blue sky around it. The problem with painting clouds in this way is that they feel greasy and unnatural.
What I prefer to do is start off by paying special attention to the values as I lay in my clouds, sort of like you would lay tiles into a mosaic. When it comes to the clouds edges, I rely on is the side of my brush to sort of jigger one color into the next creating a little bit of organic diffusion as I wiggle my brush. This is a technique that requires practice, but yields far better results than smearing the oil paint together.
I find some clouds more challenging to paint than others. I almost always have some difficulty with a sky that has white fluffy clouds against the mostly blue background. The part of this sort of sky that I find most challenging is those pesky edges as there is so much contrast between the bright white of the cloud and the more medium tone of the sky. I have painted this sort of thing successfully, but I find it more challenging than stormy skies.
Another thing I like to do with my skies is to interject a lot of color. For this reason, I enjoy painting sunset, twilight and occasionally dawn. This gives me the opportunity to bring in colors only seen at those times of day like pink, lavender, orange and deep purples.
The sky in a picture is always going to be the area of the painting that conveys the greatest amount of emotion. There have been some paintings where I have done very little land and quite a lot of sky because it is my favorite part of the landscape to paint.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Golden Creek 12x16; this painting is more golden than the study. The scene is based on a reference photo I took while vacationing in England not too long ago. What's great about England is the countryside is varied and interesting with lots of different kinds of trees and rivers.
I like painting rivers because it gives us a break from the usual roads or paths. It's important to have something going on on the ground other than just some grass the trees sit in.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Golden Creek' by M Francis McCarthy, 12x16 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.
Today, I like to talk about painting clouds. I paint a lot of clouds, mostly successfully but occasionally I have some issues just like everybody else. I thought it might be helpful to outline some of the ways I approach painting skies and clouds.
If there is blue in the sky, I tend to paint that in first. The reason for this is, that the blue would always be behind any clouds or trees that were in front of it. I like to change up my blue in a few different ways. I use two different blue colors on my pallet, Cobalt blue (warm) and Pthalo blue (cool). I will generally use one blue in one section of the sky and the other blue elsewhere. One thing I almost always do is add a little bit of black to my blues so that the mixed color feels more natural. If you're using blue straight out of the tube mixed only with white, your sky will look overly synthetic and false.
Prior to starting my painting, I pre-mix some colors on my pallet for the sky, this would mean a dark and a light blue, some gray tones and a white. My mixed white is quite different from the white straight out of the tube. I tend to modify my white tone with raw umber and yellow ochre, as well as gray.
When it comes to grays, I tend to work with a middle gray premixed on my pallet that I modify as I am painting. One of the big secrets to getting interesting clouds is to juxtapose your cool grays against warm grays. I do this by mixing colors like violet or alizarin Crimson into my grays for the cooler tones. For the warmer tones, I will modify using colors like burnt sienna, yellow ochre or transparent earth yellow.
When painting clouds I usually have some sort of reference image, but I take a lot of liberties with the colors in the reference clouds. This is because the photograph only captures a limited spectrum of the potential grays that are possible to paint. Is important to inject a lot of interest wherever possible.
After I have laid in my sky blue color, I will almost always work with the darkest grays of the clouds next, gradually working my way through to the lighter grays and then into the off-white tones. This is a good place to note that regardless of how dark the cloud colors might be in your photo reference, it is always better to paint them in somewhat lighter than they appear there. If the dark tones in your clouds are too dark, it is distracting and does not convey an airy feeling, not to mention competing with the darks on the land.
This brings us to one of the greatest challenges with painting clouds. That would be the edges of the clouds. If you observe clouds in nature you will see that they are actually quite mysterious. The edges are always shifting and yet, can also seem quite defined and crisp. We know that clouds are full of air and water and even the most defined cloud edge in nature still feels light, natural and a part of the sky around it.
Trying to convey these edges with oil paint on a board is always going to be challenging. I have seen many amateurs make the mistake of using oil paint's ability to smear easily, to just smear the edges of the cloud into the blue sky around it. The problem with painting clouds in this way is that they feel greasy and unnatural.
What I prefer to do is start off by paying special attention to the values as I lay in my clouds, sort of like you would lay tiles into a mosaic. When it comes to the clouds edges, I rely on is the side of my brush to sort of jigger one color into the next creating a little bit of organic diffusion as I wiggle my brush. This is a technique that requires practice, but yields far better results than smearing the oil paint together.
I find some clouds more challenging to paint than others. I almost always have some difficulty with a sky that has white fluffy clouds against the mostly blue background. The part of this sort of sky that I find most challenging is those pesky edges as there is so much contrast between the bright white of the cloud and the more medium tone of the sky. I have painted this sort of thing successfully, but I find it more challenging than stormy skies.
Another thing I like to do with my skies is to interject a lot of color. For this reason, I enjoy painting sunset, twilight and occasionally dawn. This gives me the opportunity to bring in colors only seen at those times of day like pink, lavender, orange and deep purples.
The sky in a picture is always going to be the area of the painting that conveys the greatest amount of emotion. There have been some paintings where I have done very little land and quite a lot of sky because it is my favorite part of the landscape to paint.
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about 'Golden Creek 12x16; this painting is more golden than the study. The scene is based on a reference photo I took while vacationing in England not too long ago. What's great about England is the countryside is varied and interesting with lots of different kinds of trees and rivers.
I like painting rivers because it gives us a break from the usual roads or paths. It's important to have something going on on the ground other than just some grass the trees sit in.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
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| 'Golden Creek' by M Francis McCarthy, 12x16 (Detail) |
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| 'Golden Creek' by M Francis McCarthy, 12x16 (Detail 2) |