Sunday, August 29, 2021

Penrod and Small Panel Easel

POSTED ON AUGUST 29, 2021 BY CHARLENE MARSH

Penrod and Small Panel Easel Holder

So happy to announce I will be doing my first, outdoor art fair in two, long years! On Saturday, September 11, 2021, I will be in Booth #40 in the Green Section at the Penrod Arts Fair at Newfields, formerly, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan Road, Indianapolis, IN. The show hours are 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Several weeks ago, I got out all my outdoor show gear and checked it over. Several things needed to be repaired and mended (thanks, mice and puppies) and I needed to replace a couple pieces as well as add a piece to stabilize the rafters. So, everything will be in good shape for the show.

I love doing shows! I love sharing my artwork with people and getting their immediate feedback. Shows are the best way to connect. Upcoming shows are always so motivating to get new work ready. My selection of “small gems” had dwindled so I have been working on some new pieces.

While I love painting the small works, it has always been a challenge because the small panels flop around while I try to work on them. Using my regular, floor easel is impossible. Usually, I end up working at a drafting table and placing the panel on a notebook that gives it an elevated slant. But it still moves around. This has been a frustrating problem!

So, this past week I set about to tackle it by making a panel holder easel that locks in the small panels and lets me paint them at my regular floor easel. I wanted the panel I was painting to be flush with the holder so that my knives and brushes would flow seamlessly and not get caught on the holder.

Here is the first incarnation. I used 1/8″ hardboard, the same is what I use for the panels. I used silicone to attach a stationary strip on the bottom that would hold the panel. But I immediately didn’t like the painting being so low on the panel. The main floor easel tray would need to be adjusted frequently and it is not easy to move up and down.

So I added a second sliding strip with wingnuts to move the small panel up and down. I had to add a spacer piece between the two sandwich slide bars to keep the wood from bowing and the panel sliding down. I wanted to keep the 1/8″ thick slider bars so they are flush with the panel.

But, I found, no matter how much I tightened the wing nuts, the slider bars still slid down.

So, then I made a 4″ wide strip and a couple extra 2″ wide strips to help adjust the height of the panel holder, either moving it higher or lower, as desired. This seems to work pretty well.

Here it is in action, painting a “small gem”. I can either stand at the easel or sit in a tall directors chair. I typically like to stand to paint. Stepping back for a long view is much easier now, too. Painting is like dancing with the easel.

The size, overall, of the small panel holder easel is 20″ h x 16″ w so I can go up as large as a 12″ x 16″ panel pretty comfortably. But I envision using it for 9″ x 12″ or smaller panels.

So, that’s all for now! Be sure to visit the Penrod Art Fair on September 11, 2021 if you are in the Indianapolis area. I cannot wait to see you again!

Happy trails,

Charlene

Sunday, August 15, 2021

Video for Greg and Tamara’s First Dance Wedding Painting

POSTED ON AUGUST 7, 2021 BY CHARLENE MARSH

Video for Greg and Tamara’s First Dance Wedding Painting

This week, I made a short video of the First Dance painting for Greg and Tamara. Putting together all the photos of the painting in progress, the video is a time lapse of the evolution of the painting.

You can also see the video for Greg and Tamara’s First Dance wedding painting on YouTube.

Greg and Tamara’s First Dance, Part 2, oil painting, 24" x 18" — Greg and Tamara’s First Dance, video on YouTube, oil painting, 24″ x 18″

Two blog posts follow the evolution of the painting. Check out Part One HERE and Part Two HERE.

Thanks for tuning in!

Happy Trails,

Charlene

P.S. If you would like a wedding painting done either for yourself or as a gift, please visit my Wedding Paintings Page for more information. And, of course, you are always welcome to call, 1-812-988-4497, or email me, Char@CharleneMarsh.com, or leave a comment on this blog with any questions or insight! I love hearing from you.

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Greg and Tamara’s First Dance, Part 2

POSTED ON AUGUST 2, 2021 BY CHARLENE MARSH

Greg and Tamara’s First Dance, Part 2

So we are continuing on with Greg and Tamara’s First Dance wedding oil painting. They were married in 2018 at the Harvest Moon Pond venue in Poynette, Wisconsin. You can see the start of the painting in Part 1 HERE.

This is where we left off earlier. The upper beams, guests in the loft, two chandeliers, and some of the background and guests on the floor level are all painted in.

Greg and Tamara's First Dance, wedding painting, oil painting — Greg and Tamara’s First Dance, wedding painting, oil painting

Next, I paint the floor in the lower left part of the painting.

Using combinations of cadmium red medium and light, cadmium yellow, and ultramarine blue, I mix up an array of rich colors of burnt siennas for the wood floor.

Next, I paint the background and guests on the right side of the painting.

Using the same mix of colors I used on the lower left floor, I paint in the floor on the lower right. Only this time, I add a blue gray and more yellow for highlights and reflections.

Next, I paint the groom’s suit using a combination of ultramarine blue and cadmium red medium to mix a dark blue color. Then I switch to brushes to paint his face and capture the adoring expression as he looks at his bride.

Then I paint the bride’s face and hair with a halo of light. Mixing up skin tones with combinations of cadmium red medium, cadmium yellow light, magenta red, a touch of ultramarine blue, and titanium white, I paint her arm and back.

So, at this point, I had a repairman in the studio and he asked, “Why did you paint the gown red?” I got a kick out of that. I tried to explain that I start with a tinted panel and I just had not painted the white gown yet. He had a hard time understanding why I would paint a white gown over a relatively dark red.

But, the oil paint is, generally, opaque and nicely covers the ground color. And I don’t have to worry about specks of white shining through a painting. Many times, I make a point of letting the red specks sparkle through to give the painting a certain vibrancy.

Another reason I use a red tint on the panel is so that when I paint a dark value or a light value it will pop off the surface. The red is actually a middle value.

One color that is not opaque is the magenta red or alizarin crimson red. That color is transparent unless mixed with another opaque color.

Next up is the wedding gown.

While I love painting the wedding gown, it can be the most nerve wracking. The bride and gown are always a focal point of the painting so they need to be magnificent. The different fabrics and textures of the gown: lace, satin, ruffles, layers, transparencies, organza, embroideries — always present a new, exciting challenge with every wedding painting.

For Tamara’s gown, I used mixtures of cadmium red medium and ultramarine blue and titanium white. The front of the gown reflects the blues on the groom’s suit. On the backside, I use more warm pinks. I first paint in the darker values of the folds with a gray blue-red-violet mix. Then I paint in the highlights with lighter brighter pinks, blues, and violets. The lace patterns and motifs are added last.

Final Painting

The painting was signed in the lower left hand corner when the paint was wet, back when I painted that part of the floor.

Framed Painting

The painting is framed in an antique black with gold trim, closed corner, museum frame that is 3.5″ wide. The over all finished size of the painting is 31″ h x 25″ w. Whenever I do a wedding painting, the couple has their choice of finishes including the antique black with a gold lip, an antique black with a silver lip, a silver frame, or a gold frame. You can see the choices of frames on the Wedding Painting page.

Thanks so much for following along! I really appreciate YOU!

Happy trails,

Charlene

P.S. If you want to learn more about having a wedding painting created for yourself or as a gift, please visit my Wedding Paintings page.

Saturday, August 7, 2021

Greg and Tamara’s First Dance

POSTED ON JULY 25, 2021 BY CHARLENE MARSH

Greg and Tamara’s First Dance Oil Painting

Country Wedding

Greg and Tamara were married nearly three years ago on November 3, 2018 in a country barn venue, Harvest Moon Pond, outside of Madison in Poynette, Wisconsin. Despite living in Chicago, they wanted a country wedding and found this beautiful venue. Their twin boys, Charlie and Hank, were born on September 4, 2020 so they are a happy little family. Ironically, Hank and Charlie’s great-grandparents were married on September 4, 1950, exactly seventy years prior.

Cache of photos

Because I didn’t collect my own visual information for the painting, I connected with their cache of 325 photos from the event to piece together the composition for this painting. I made this composite for the painting from several photos. You can see that some of the photos were black and white and some were color. This composition incorporates the gorgeous large chandelier and the loving way Greg looks at his new bride.

Pie instead of cake

They did not have a wedding cake. The bride is a pie gal so Greg and Tamara had wedding pies instead. So I didn’t need to figure out how to add the cake to the painting composition. Luckily, there was enough going on that a cake wasn’t missed.

For this painting, I wanted to include that stunning chandelier and the guests up in the balcony. So, this painting is a vertical format.

Prepping the panel

I drew the scene onto a pre-tinted 24″ x 18″ panel. I make the panels myself, prepping the surface with multiple layers of sealer, gesso, and acrylic tint before I am ready to start the oil painting.

The drawing is all ready to go but it doesn’t show up too well in the photo.

Studio set up

Here’s my entire set up in the studio.

Plans

I keep the master composition on the left side and have a foam core peg board on the right. Photos most pertinent to the section I am working on get rotated and pinned to the right side peg board.

My palette is laid out and ready to get started. A lot of thinking, planning, and preparations go into the painting to get to this point.

Starting with the top

So, I am starting with the upper beams, ceiling and exposed duct work. While I could have added brighter metal highlights to the duct work, I did not want to draw attention to it so I left off any sparkling highlights.

Next is the small chandelier in the loft.

The area around the chandelier is painted a brighter red mixed with some yellow and cadmium red light to reflect the glowing light.

Loft

Then I started painting in the people in the loft looking down on the dancing newlyweds. I scratch the wiring of the railing into the wet paint over the people with a rubber tipped tool.

Then I add the railing, wiring, and beams with planters overflowing with greenery and flowers.

Large chandelier

One highlight of the painting is the large chandelier in the upper right. The chandelier has to be magnificent!

Negative space

I started by painting the negative space around the brass and sparkling, flame-like light bulbs. Like with the smaller chandelier, I used reds and oranges for the negative space. I also put in the beam underneath it and in the background. This made the “frame” for the chandelier.

The chandelier proper

Then, using palette knives, I painted in the brass and the flaming bulbs. For the brass, I mixed cadmium yellow with cadmium red medium, magenta crimson, cadmium red light(more of an orange) and a touch of ultramarine blue. The highlights were mostly a dash of pure yellow. The bulbs were cadmium yellow with a heavy dose of titanium white.

The heavy paint “carves” out and seems to bring to life the chandelier and flames.

Background

Next, I paint the beams on the underside of the loft and the background lights.

Painting guests

Then, I add some of the people in the background. As I normally like to do, I start with the darkest values in the section and work to the lightest values. While it is easy to lighten a dark value, it is impossible to darken a light value.

More people added including a little girl in a bright orange-red dress.

So that’s it for now. I appreciate you tuning in! Check back to see how the rest of the painting goes and the final result.

Happy trails,

Charlene

P.S. Go here to learn more about the wedding paintings.

When I attend the wedding/reception, I do live sketching, giving the drawings to the guests and/or save some for the couple. Also, I collect all my visual data for the painting and then create a stunning heirloom oil painting in the studio. I can also work from photos if not possible to attend the event or if the event has already happened. These make great wedding or anniversary gifts!