021817 S 18x24 Key West Boats, Version 1

I had a collector who had a Key West boat scene that he wanted as an oil painting.  The scene had a great deal of detail and was not a subject matter I normally paint, so I decided to do this painting with brushes.  I ended up doing a second version with palette knives and will detail that painting in my next post.  So, stay tuned!

I started with a detailed drawing on a pre-tinted hardboard panel that I had made.

I mixed dark values using Cadmium Red Medium and Ultramarine Blue.  In fact, these two colors formed the foundation of the palette for this painting.

 

Once I had the dark values in place, I mixed up the medium range values using the same Cadmium Red Medium and Ultramarine Blue.  I also used some Cerulean Blue, Primary Red-Magenta, and Cadmium Red Light. 

 

A sky color was mixed using Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White.  For the slightly darker storm values I added a little Cadmium Red Medium and Cadmium Yellow Light.

 

As I paint the sky color, I also paint some into the water that reflects the sky.

I continue painting in the sky and water adding in the reflections and movement of the water.  I paint in the rigging and other details.

The finished painting:  "Key West Boats, Version 1", 18" x 24", oil on panel, c. 2017, by Charlene Marsh.

Next post, I will show Version 2 done with palette knives which is my preferred tool for mixing and applying paint.  Should be fun to see the different results!

Thanks for following along! 

Happy Trails!

Charlene

P.S.  I love to hear from you so please leave a comment!   I respond to everyone.

020417 S 24x36 Late Afternoon in the Forest

This oil painting is inspired by a 12" x 12" plein air painting I did last winter. We have had almost no snow this winter here in southern Indiana so I have not done even one, new, plein air, snow painting!  Anyway, my field notes on the back of this plein air piece reads, "COLD, mid-20 degrees, some sun, thin clouds, 3-6 p.m."  I absolutely love this plein air painting and wanted to work it up into a large painting.  Here's the painting I did on location, a good mile back in the forest, hiking through deep snow:

"Twilight in the Forest, January 21, 2016", plein air oil on panel, 12" x 12", c. 2016, by Charlene Marsh

I edited a photo of the painting in Photoshop to change the dimensions to a rectangular format that would have the same proportions as a 24" x 36" painting.  Here's the "stretched" version I used as a reference when laying out the new painting.

I set up my panel with an "inspiration board" to the right where I have posted some past paintings for reference. 

  I start with a tinted panel and sketch out the "bones" of the painting using a brush dipped in cold pressed linseed oil and magenta and cerulean blue pigment.

I went back and forth adjusting the hills in the background to get the right height and layers. 

Finally satisfied, I mix a deep black using lots of Ultramarine Blue with Cadmium Red Medium.  Cadmium Red is a very strong, intense color so a little goes a long way.  The creek is like a black ribbon in the snow.

Once I paint in the darkest values, I mix dark blues and violets for the shadow areas in the snow.  I mix the violets with varying combinations of Primary Red-Magenta, Ultramarine Blue, and Cerulean Blue.  I mix small amounts at a time and pop the color in all over the painting.

Knowing I want to go with a golden twilight color in the sky and reflections, I lean the violets more towards red than blue so I can avoid turning the snow green as the painting progresses.  I mix a neutral for the background hills from Magenta, Ultramarine Blue, and a touch of Cadmium Yellow Light.

I mix a delicate golden color for the late afternoon sun warming the sky using lots of Titanium White and a hair touch of Cadmium Yellow Light and Cadmium Red Light and/or Primary Red-Magenta.  I mix the orange, secondary color first and then add tiny amounts of the yellow-orange to white.  The same sky color is added to the black creek for the reflection and to the one hill where the waning sunlight hits.

I mix Cerulean Blue with ample amounts of white for the sky and then gradually mix the sky blue with the salmon twilight to get a wonderful neutral color.  The cerulean blue sky color is  painted at the top of the painting and the neutral mix is used in the middle, transition space. 

Finally, once satisfied with the "muscles" of the painting, I start adding the "skin" with elements and details like the trees, branches, and leaves.

 Branches and trees are added in with lots of frenetic knife work.

The pale salmon leaves from the ash trees that cling all winter are added. 

Tree branches and trunks are pulled forward and then pushed back.  Some of the sky color is added back in, too.  I use both a palette knife and a rubber tipped tool to add the squiggles of branches.  The closest trees and branches are pulled out to sit in front.  I felt like the leaves were taking over and pushed them back by pulling out some trees in the front space of the painting.

And, finally, the finished painting!

"Late Afternoon in the Forest", oil on panel, 24" x 36", c. 2017, by Charlene Marsh.

This painting is finished with a gorgeous, 4" wide, silver, Omega, plein air style frame.  A dark wood, plein air style frame would also look great on the painting.

Thanks for following along! 

Happy Trails!

Charlene

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012717 S 30x24 Turquoise Creek

This painting is based mainly on a plein air painting I did this fall with a couple other paintings for inspiration.  I just love this turquoise creek.  The blue shale of the earth with the gold tinted water from the iron oxides turns the color a lovely shade of turquoise.

I start with a magenta tinted panel and sketch out the "lay of the land" with a brush dipped in cold pressed linseed oil and a mix of cerulean blue and magenta pigments.

 

In these photos, the ground tint may appear to have a different shade of red due to the lighting conditions which vary from daylight to nighttime.  Sometimes I have the overhead daylight halogen lights on and sometimes I work under natural light in the studio.  I figure working under a variety of lighting conditions guarantees the finished painting will look good in multiple settings.

I start by painting in the darkest values which in this painting are the edges of the creek and then the rocks, moving to the creek banks.

Green foliage on the banks is added.  While it may be hard to see, I have also started adding the red foliage in the treetops.  I like to work wet into wet so I like the fresh wet paint to work with even though the color may be similar to the ground tint.

You can see here where I have added even more red in deeper values to the treetop foliage as well as a background hill. 

I paint in the dominant trees and keep adding to the overall painting.

I mix small amounts of color at a time and when it runs out, I mix a new color so that there is a wide variety of mixes throughout the painting.

Here I start adding lighter values in the background spaces and darker values in the tree foliage.  

A lovely turquoise is mixed with cerulean blue and cadmium yellow light to block in the water.  Cadmium red medium is added to cerulean mix for the darker areas of the creek and white is added for the light areas.

 

And, finally, the sky, the lightest value, is added.  Mixed from titanium white and cerulean blue, the sky color picks up some of the red of the foliage when it is applied.  

I have also added distant hills and trees in a light, neutral, red mix.

At this point, the entire surface has been covered and I can step back and study what values, edges, lines, etc. need adjusting.  What is working or not working in the basic skeleton of the painting? 

Next is my favorite part of the painting.  I start to add the flickering leaves, foliage, trees, and branches.  I decide how I want the color of the leaves to gradate across the landscape from top to bottom and foreground to background.  

Details reflected in the water start to appear.

More leaves are added across the entire painting.  Branches are both painted in and scratched into the surface.

Leaves tumble onto the creek and more added over the branches, pushing some back and bringing some forward.

Vertical trees are added and really start to define the space.  Twisting tree branches are added throughout the painting.  Ferns and grasses are added to the creek banks.

The dominant trees are pulled back out from the leaves to bring them forward.  The trees I want to keep in the background I let become buried in the flickering leaves adding to the depth and intrigue of the finished painting. 

More colorful leaves are added to refine and define the finished painting.  The most forward trees are pulled back out at the end.

Highlights on the water are added.

And here is the finished painting.  
  
"Turquoise Creek", oil on panel, 30" x 24", c. 2017 by Charlene Marsh.   

Thanks for following along! 

Happy Trails!

Charlene

P.S.  Please sign up for my newsletter, the Art Brush, at
www.CharleneMarsh.com   Subscribers will be notified when the paintings become available and will receive exclusive, special pricing.  The newsletter also has info about paintings in progress, upcoming shows, paintings tips, tools, gear, supplies, classes, workshops, reviews, news, and more!  Thanks!

113016 12x16 Creek Near Strahl Lake in Brown County State Park

This is the last painting in the Arts in the Parks project grant for 2016.  I went out to Strahl Lake in the Brown County State Park on November 30, 2016 to paint. I had already scouted out the location and, although the lake and waterfall at the dam are gorgeous, I really loved this creek through the forest near the lake's dam.  What can I say?  I LOVE painting the forest!

The day was 50 degrees and overcast which makes for a very ethereal light in the woods.

Here's a long view of the plein air set up in the forest.

Adding the final touches!

And the finished painting:  "Creek Near Strahl Lake, November 30, 2016", plein air oil on panel, 12" x 16", c. Charlene Marsh.

Thanks for stopping in!

Happy Trails and Happy New Year!  Wishing you many blessings in 2017!

Charlene

110316 12x16 Last of the Fall Colors

This is a spot along my regular hiking trail near the end of the fall season. Very warm day -- like, high 60s!  Can't believe it is November! 

"Last of the Fall Colors, November 3, 2016", plein air oil painting, 12" x 16", c. Charlene Marsh

Thanks for visiting.

Happy Trail!

Charlene 

P.S.  I am getting ready for an Art Launch, exclusively for my subscribers, so be sure to sign up for THE ART BRUSH newsletter where you can receive news, tips, special pricing, exhibitions, and more!  As a bonus, when you subscribe, you will immediately receive a FREE one page report on How to Create Health, Wealth, and Harmony Using Fine Art!

110116 12x16 Warm Day, Late Fall

Despite being the first of November, the day was so warm I wore shorts and a tee shirt out on the trail.  Temps were in the high 70s!  I'll take it!  Still no frost - my garden is going full tilt -- peppers, tomatoes, zinnias, zucchini, strawberries, and more.  Course, the cool crops like kale, cabbage, and broccoli will be fine, in fact, better, once we get frosty weather. 

"Tranquility of the Forest, November 1, 2016", plein air oil painting, 12" x 16", c.  Charlene Marsh

Happy Trails!

Charlene 

P.S.  I am getting ready for an Art Launch in the next couple of weeks, exclusively for my subscribers, so be sure to sign up for THE ART BRUSH newsletter where you can receive news, tips, special pricing, exhibitions, and more!  As a bonus, when you subscribe, you will immediately receive a FREE one page report on How to Create Health, Wealth, and Harmony Using Fine Art!

103116 12x16 Halloween in the Garden

I painted this in the garden, late in the afternoon.  Temps started in the mid to high 60s and got chilly as the sun went down.  I finished this painting in the dark!  The big, gold marigolds were so inspiring.  Zinnias reaching for the sun further back and smaller, orange and scarlet marigolds in the front.  The red, glass sculpture I made from recycled vases was so tall I had to prop it next to a post.  
"Halloween in the Garden, October 31, 2016", plein air oil on panel, 12" x 16", c. Charlene Marsh.

Thanks for stopping in.

Happy Trails!

Charlene 

P.S.  I am getting ready for an Art Launch in the next couple of weeks, exclusively for my subscribers, so be sure to sign up for THE ART BRUSH newsletter where you can receive news, tips, special pricing, exhibitions, and more!  As a bonus, when you subscribe, you will immediately receive a FREE one page report on How to Create Health, Wealth, and Harmony Using Fine Art!