Painting "White" Demonstration 4

Painting "White" Demonstration 3

I have worked through the second layer of midtone values on the flowers and flower faces. I kept more "light" in the forward facing flowers and added glazes of violet to the background under lapping flowers. I added a few stems, painted a few of the buds, and next I will work the middle values in the background. For the background, I am adding Winsor Green to the palette. Winsor Green (Blue Shade) is a staining transparent pigment, very "cool" green. I will add Quin Gold and New Gamboge to neutralize and "warm" up the green in some places. The green should compliment the red-orange in the flower faces and the magenta in the pedals. It will also give weight and dimension to the background and contrast the flowers to make them appear "forward".

Painting "White", Workshop Demonstration 2

Today I began developing the midtone values in the flowers and working through the background. I glazed in a neutral violet (dilute Winsor Violet + Rose Madder Genuine) for the "behind" flowers, pulling the top flowers forward with negative space painting (painting behind the flowers). On the flower to be painted, I dampened the area on the pedals and then touched in the color, grading out the wash with clean water. Using a mix of Quin. Gold and New Gamboge, I added a layer to the flower centers developing the round shape. I varied the soft and hard edges. When working on the forward flowers, I used a warmer pink mix, leaving more white on the flower. I will continue this process of pushing and pulling flowers working around the painting. I also began to work the background, using a wet-into-wet wash of darker green (adding Winsor Green) and mingle of yellows (see right corner). I will continue this process through the background for unity.

Remembering an Icon

Remembering an Icon

Pastel
18X22 (unframed for now)

American Buffalo, In Progress 3

American Buffalo, In Progress 2

Before I began this painting, I really did not know much about the American buffalo other than the animal as a forgotten icon of the west. As the painting progresses, I have been studying the history of the buffalo and am finding a new respect for their struggle and resilience. One author [Rinella] sums up the complexity of the buffalo as icon: “At once it is a symbol of the tenacity of the wilderness and the destruction of the wilderness; it’s a symbol of North American culture and the death of North American culture; it’s a symbol of the strength and vitality of America and the pettiness and greed of America; it represents frontier both
forgotten and remembered: it stand for freedom and captivity, extinction and salvation.”

Did you know?

1. There are 18 states with a town or city named Buffalo, though the largest, in New York State, never had a population of wild buffalo living in its vicinity.
2. Animals from singer/songwriter Neil Young’s private herd populated Kevin Costner’s 1990 film, “Dances with Wolves.”

3. Estimated numbers in 1830 = 70 - 150 million

4. 1870-1875 estimated 2,500,000 were taken annually for use by the American fur companies, sport hunting, and to deprive the Native Americans of their livelihood.

5. Less than 300 wild animals remained in the U.S. and Canada by the turn of the century out of the millions that once lived there.

6. The word “buffalo” is connected to a garment worn by the early English settlers known as the “Buff Coat.”“When Englishmen arrived in the New World, they would often describe any animal that yielded such leather as a ‘buff’….” But the name “buffalo” had already been given to the water buffalo in Asia and the Cape buffalo of Africa. Since there was nothing genetically similar about these animals, later taxonomists labeled the North American beast “bison bison.” (“Bison” means “oxlike animal.”)

7. Many of today's highways follow roadways trampled out by migrating buffalo herd.

Buffalo, In Progress

Today being a snow day, I have decided to gain a little momentum on the buffalo painting. The background is developing into a cool white that will contrast the darker values of the animal's fur. And since there is about a foot of snow on the ground, a "snowy" background seemed the most appropriate for the day.