041217 12x16 Plein air spring

Such a gorgeous, perfect day!  Seventy degrees, sunny, low humidity!  In short, the best day ever!  I loaded up my EasyL pochade and Kelty backpack and headed out to the woods.  I walked one mile out a ridge and then dropped down to the creek, hiking another mile back up the creek.  I stopped at this spot to paint.

Only takes a few minutes to get set up.  I have to attach the pochade to the tripod and get out the panel and knives.  I discovered I only had one paper towel so had to make it last!  I had pre-loaded my palette with oils before leaving home.  Having to carry tubes of paint adds too much weight to the backpack.

I started with a quick sketch of pigment picked up with a brush dipped in cold pressed linseed oil.  Then started to paint in the shadows and crevices of the rocks. 

With spring, the colors are changing rapidly.  Spring greens are pushing through the "march mauves" of the decaying leaves creating a shimmering color.  I struggle to capture the beauty.  This is my first plein air painting of spring in the forest and I am a bit disconnected from mixing the right colors to convey the magic.  The creek is an ocher green with turquoise and cerulean highlights.  I usually use a mix of complementary purples and red-violets and bright spring yellow-greens but that combo didn't really seem to fit what I was seeing. 

Here is a shot further back from the painting with my dog, Kendra, ensconced on her bed of leaves.  Although you can't really see them in my photos, the forest floor is covered in wildflowers:  wild phlox, purple and yellow violets, spring beauties, trout lilies, Dutchman britches,  mother-in-laws tongue, and more!

Here's another long shot as I am near finishing the painting.  I added some of the wild, purple phlox to the painting before wrapping up. 

This shot was taken right before I packed up my gear and the painting and headed home.  I usually pack an extra jacket but didn't this time and it was getting a bit chilly as the sun went down.  I was ready to get moving and warm up.

"Spring in the Forest, April 12, 2017", plein air oil painting, 12" X 16", c. 2017 by Charlene Marsh

Thanks for following along!

Happy Trails!

Cheers,

Charlene

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102816 16x12 Autumn in the Forest

This painting was done on location on a lovely fall day.  The afternoon was clear and sunny but turns chilly as the sun goes down.  This painting was done 4-7 p.m.  I found a nice vantage spot to paint from along my regular two mile trail and set up "camp". 

I tie  my jacket around my waist when hiking out to the site so that I don't get too warm and too sweaty. And end up chilled!

I hang it on a tree until I cool down and need to wear it. Kendra has taken up her position nearby -- you can see her to the left, center -- look for the speck of her orange collar.

I try to aim my easel so there is no direct sun on it.  I really don't like using an umbrella for the sun and avoid using it if I can.

I sketch out the scene, the "lay of the land", with transparent magenta dipped in oil.

I started to "carve" out the land with the paint beginning with the darks of the earth surrounding the creek.

I start to add the lighter background values and sky reflected on the creek.

Kendra is supervising my progress.

This is the end of the painting but the photo doesn't really capture how dark it was getting at this point -- except for the fuzzy photo in the low light. I was walking home in the dark.

"Autumn in the Forest, October 28, 2016", plein air oil on panel, 16" x 12", c. Charlene Marsh

Thanks for checking in!

Happy Trails!

Charlene 

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102216 12x16 Early Autumn

I backpacked for two miles into the forest on a clear, sunny day to capture this painting of the first hints of fall.  Started at 58 degrees and dropped as evening approached.  We've had a very warm, late fall.  No frost yet as of the date of this painting. 

"Early Autumn, October 22, 2016", plein air oil on panel, 12" x 16", c. Charlene Marsh.

Happy Trails!

Charlene

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092116 S 24x36 Reflections in the Forest

I just love the colors in this plein air painting, particularly the color of the reflection in the water, and used it as the inspiration for a larger oil painting.

I also set up an "inspiration" board with past plein air paintings to pull from.  You can see the original, framed painting on the left and the "inspiration board" on the right.

I have sketched in the layout for the painting using a paintbrush dipped in cold pressed linseed oil and the transparent pigment, Primary Red Magenta.

I mix a dark earth color using Ultramarine Blue and Cadmium Red Medium, sometimes adding a bit of Cadmium Yellow.

I block in the hills using a mix of Primary Red Magenta, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Red Medium and Light with a touch of Ultra Blue and/or Cerulean Blue.  I work the entire surface throughout from background to foreground to background again. 

I worked into the night (more than once) on this painting so the light changes from the natural light in the studio to artificial halogen.  So the colors in these photos really shifted. 

I blocked in the golden yellow on the creek with a mix of Cadmium Yellow Light, Primary Red Magenta, and Titanium White with a touch of Cerulean Blue.  For the turquoise color, I mixed the Cerulean Blue with a green mixed from a tad of Cadmium Yellow and Cerulean.  I also often add a touch of Cadmium Red Medium to the Cerulean to get a nice, slate blue color. 

After the "muscles" of the painting are blocked in, I start adding the "skin", with autumn leaves dancing across the surface, reflections in the water, branches and limbs weaving throughout.

And here is the finished oil painting:

"Reflections in the Forest", oil on panel, #092116 S 24x36,  c. 2016, by Charlene Marsh.  SOLD

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I love to hear from you so please leave a comment or question!

Happy Trails!

Charlene

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Enchanted Valley

Just finished a new triptych, "Enchanted Valley", I want to share with you.   
This painting has a nice balance of Yin and Yang elements making it a wonderful feature suitable for the bedroom or the family/living room.  The blue water in the painting is both refreshing and rejuvenating while still creating a calm and relaxing environment.  Water symbolizes money and wealth and moving water and waterfalls, in particular, stimulate good fortune.  The fish in the creek symbolically ward off evil and bring good luck.  

Balancing the relaxing, lucky blue waters are the fiery, red poppies that bring an auspicious, active, passionate yang energy to your living space.  Flowers stimulate good fortune and wealth which is enhanced by the invigorating, brilliant, red color.  An eagle represents healing, creativity, and far sighted vision.  This painting will help create a harmonious, lively, happy environment for entertaining family and friends or for intimate moments of quiet and reflection.

This is an oil painting on stretched, wrapped canvas.  The overall finished size is 30" h x 50" w.  Please follow along to see how it was painted.  

I had started a preliminary painting on these canvases that I ended up abandoning.   So I sanded down the old paint and applied the magenta tint back over it.  You can see the shadow of the old painting coming through.  I made a few sketches in my notebook until I found a scene I liked.  

On the canvas, I started with an initial sketch by dipping my brush in cold pressed linseed oil and using alizarin crimson.

Once I start to block in the darks of the creek, the old painting is much less distracting. I mix Cerulean Blue with Cadmium Red Medium and Light to mix the dark shale colors.

 

I add the turquoise of the creek mixing Cerulean Blue and a touch of Cadmium Yellow Light with Titanium White.

A dark green is mixed with Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow Light, and Cerulean Blue, with a touch of red and used to start to delineate the valleys and shadows of the hills.

The distant, background hills are painted in using a mix of light greens and violets with lots of white so they sit back into the distance.  Brighter greens for the foreground are mixed with Cerulean Blue and Cadmium Yellow Light. 

A variety of greens are mixed with various combos of yellow and blue with violets used to cut down the brightness and create a whole tapestry of rich colors.  I like to keep some green bright so the red and magenta flowers, being complementary colors, visually sparkle against the green.

I added the falls on the creek and the ripples on top of the water.  I am working wet into wet over the entire painting and since blues dry the fastest, I wanted to make sure I got the ripples on the water before the paint dried.

Here, I have started to add the trees and branches and limbs that lace the forest.

Finally, I started adding the flowers.  The red poppies and pink hollyhocks.  I started experimenting with a palette knife that has been in my arsenal for awhile but hasn't really been used.  This palette knife is round and I thought it might be perfect for the poppies -- and I was right!

Here's a picture of the round knife alongside my usual favorite.

 My kitty, Henry, napping by the painting in progress.

 More flowers and leaves and details are added.

I continue working the entire surface adding more details.

I think the valley needs something more -- like an eagle in flight.  I tried painting the eagle first up higher in the sky but ended up bringing him down so he is sailing through the valley with the hills behind him.

Here's a shot of my work space.  You can see past paintings that I print out to create the "inspiration" boards. 

Here's a detail that shows the heavy impasto paint and the red edges.  The final triptych is ready to hang, NO frame needed! 

As the painting emerged while I worked on it, I was reminded of my favorite book as a child about a young girl who discovered a secret portal in the woods that led to an enchanted land.  I must have read that book a dozen times.  This painting seems to embody that magical place. 

"Enchanted Valley",  oil on wrapped canvas, 30" x 50" triptych, c. 2016, by Charlene Marsh.  Inventory Code #080516 S 30x50. 

Thanks for following along!

Happy Trails!

Charlene 

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051316 S 24x36 Green Grotto

I have done this painting in smaller versions and always wanted to paint it larger.  The painting started as a 12" x 16", plein air piece done on location in the forest but I was dissatisfied with the result.  Months later, I went back into the painting and simplified the shapes and colors and popped in the bright, citrine green that really "made" the painting. 

So for this larger version, I start with a sketch and then jump right into painting with the darks of the shale rock where the creek falls over the soft stone. I mix cerulean blue with cadmium red medium with a touch of cadmium yellow light to get the dark shale color.

Then I start to block in the darker greens of the forest foliage using various combinations of ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow light.

Okay, I'll admit, I got so entranced working on the painting, I forgot to take anymore pictures.  I was also working into the night and have found photos don't turn out too good at night with the artificial lighting.  

But I will tell you that the bright green is mixed using just the right ratio of cerulean blue and cadmium yellow light and titanium white to get that brilliant, eye popping color.  

I wasn't too sure how the painting would work in the larger format but was absolutely thrilled with the result.  The painting really captures in a visceral way the deep and luminous greens of the forest.  

Here is the finished painting, "Green Grotto", 24" x 36", oil on panel, c. 2016, by Charlene Marsh.
 
Thanks for following along!  

Happy Trails!

Charlene Marsh

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033016 12x12 Sunflowers

I start the painting by blocking in the background colors. I paint the negative space around the bird bath which will be added later.

After the background is painted in, I add the flowers and details working wet into wet.

Here's the finished painting, "Sunflowers", oil on panel, 12" x 12", c. 2016, by Charlene Marsh.

Thanks for following along!  

Happy Trails!

Charlene Marsh

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