Plein Air Challenge: Day 3

Wednesday, May 22, 2013.  This post, which is today's painting, gets me caught up on the blog.  Wow it was windy this morning!  Not nearly as nice as yesterday.  The silver lining in this, some dramatic things were going on in the sky.  Mostly overcast when I started, I mixed a variety of gray values from warm to cool in preparation for painting the sky.  I laid in most cloud shapes as well as the trees and ground plane.  Then it was a waiting game - waiting and watching for the clouds to break.  Thus the name, Cloud Break.  I'm happy with the movement of the sky.

Cloud Break, oil, 12x9  ©Kim Casebeer

Plein Air Challenge: Day 2

Tuesday, May 21, 2013.  It was a beautiful day to be out painting!  70 degrees and sunny - who could ask for more?  My routine for most days during this challenge will be to drop my son off at school around 8am, then go straight out to look for a spot.  All my gear stays in the car so it's ready to go.  I took a road I don't usually take so it seemed to take a little longer to find a spot than normal.  This violates one of my rules - don't spend much time looking for that perfect place to pull over.  There are great things to paint if you stop long enough and really look!  This painting was an attempt at trying a little bit different composition.  I don't think it's my strongest piece and not sure I like the design.  I do like the shadows, however.  If I can find something good in each piece I do, this will be a success.

Plein Air Challenge Day 2: Two Ponds, oil, 9x12 ©Kim Casebeer

Plein Air Challenge: Day One!

A few days ago I posted on facebook that I was starting a Plein Air Challenge - to paint one plein air a day for the summer, perhaps beyond.  I realized later that this would be best expressed on a blog, so from this point on I will post each days work on my blog along with any experiences I want to share about the process, the successes, failures, or simply about that day.  I will still post pics on facebook.

I have thought about doing something like this for a while but held back for lots of reasons - too busy, too many comittments in the studio, fear of failure, etc.  All lame excuses really.  After getting back from a whirlwind trip to Fredericksburg TX for the OPA show and seeing so much great art, I was newly inspired.  We got home late Sunday night, and Monday morning I committed myself to this goal of painting one plein air a day!  This has been a goal I've wanted to accomplish for a long time so I'm letting you all know before I chicken out.  From this point on, I will post daily if you'd like to follow the craziness.

From Day 1, May 20, 2013: 37th Street Morning, oil, 8x10 ©Kim Casebeer

Sharing a Wonderful Paint Trip to Carmel, California

Here I am painting along the beautiful coast.  Photo courtesy Debra Groesser.

I've recently returned from a wonderful paint trip to the Carmel, California area.  What a great experience!  We had beautiful weather for painting and I got a lot of work done.  I have included several photos of some of the plein air pieces I completed.  These, as well as some studio work, are available at Mountainsong Galleries in Carmel through May 19.  Our group show opened April 19 and the work looks great!  You can see the studio pieces in the show online at Mountainsong Galleries website.

 

Painting in progress at Carmelite Monastery.  This was the first painting of the trip.

Who knew that all my painting in the Kansas wind could prepare me for painting along the California coast!  It was windy and a lot cooler than we thought it would be.  However, we were determined to paint water and rocks so we braved it.

Deb Groesser and I celebrating after a great day of painting, even though it was a little cold!  Photo courtesy Gary Huber.

Garrapata Mood, oil, 8x6.  The day I painted at Garrapata State Park, the clouds were spectacular.  Both this piece and the one below were painted in this park.  Both available at Mountainsong Galleries.

Fair Weather Clouds, oil, 8x10. 

The day we painted at Garrapata was windy but what great atmosphere!  And a bonus - meeting some of the artists that stayed to paint after the PleinAir Convention.

Here I am with Michele de Braganca.  Got to know her and Gary Huber while we tried to keep warm in 15 layers of clothes painting at Garrapata!  Photo courtesy Gary Huber.

Sticking it out was worth it.  Mother Nature gave us a beautiful sunset!

Deb Groesser and I pausing to enjoy the sunset.  Photo courtesy Gary Huber.

WOW!!

Painting at Point Lobos State Reserve the next day was equally wonderful.  The weather and the atmosphere were both great!  Many of us painted the rock formations. 

Several from our group checking out Point Lobos before settling on something to paint.  Left to right:  Cindy Baron, Becky Joy, Christine Debrosky and Shanna Hernandez.

See those painters in the distance??

And I couldn't resist giving China Cove a try.  I went for the back lighting which made for great color and mood, however not so good on the eyes.  Even with my cap really, really low I still had to quit.

Painting in progress at China Cove.  This one will have to wait to be finished in my studio under more controlled lighting.

Sundown at Point Lobos, oil, 6x8.  Available at Mountainsong Galleries.  We spent a day painting in Point Lobos State Reserve. This was my last painting of the day.  I worked fast to catch the evening light.  Sometimes faster is good as there's no time to over think.

There were several times we simply did the beautiful drive along Highway 1 and found places to pull over to paint.  The Eucalyptus trees were fun to paint because they had such nice shapes!

Ocean Side Meadow, oil, 8x10.  Available at Mountainsong Galleries.  Just had to paint this beautiful, open meadow along the coast.

Another area along the Highway 1 drive with great views was close to the Big Sur area.  Cindy and I pulled over to paint the fog.

Cindy Baron and I at one of our group's favorite painting spots.

Painting in progress near the Big Sur area.  The fog continued to move making for great atmosphere.

Morning Impression, oil, 7x10.  Available at Mountainsong Galleries.

Our group met many other artists in town for the PleinAir Convention during a beach side bonfire - how fun!

As if painting in a beatiful location with great artists wasn't enough!  During the trip I found out that "Chasing Light," a 36x36 piece which won the January/February bi-monthly competition, took an honorable mention in the annual PleinAir Salon Competition.  The winners of the 2nd Annual PleinAir Salon Competition were announced during the PleinAir Convention in Monterey, CA organized by PleinAir magazine which was taking place while we were there.  Outdoorpainter.com has a nice online article about this piece:  http://www.outdoorpainter.com.

Opening Night at Mountainsong Galleries. Left to Right: Becky Joy, Deb Groesser, myself, Cindy Baron, Christine Debrosky, and Shanna Kunz Hernandez.

It was great to see all of our hard work together on the walls of the gallery at the end of the trip.  We have a strong show hanging now until May 19 at Mountainsong Galleries.  Please visit the show online at Mountainsong Galleries website.  I hope you have enjoyed learning a little about our trip to Carmel!

A small sample of the work hanging on the walls - Shanna Hernandez, myself, and Becky Joy.  Plein air pieces in front.

My Color Palette

This is a revision of an older post from 2012 where I discuss my palette.  I've added WHY I use particular colors.  I recently announced my 2014 workshops, and since there are a lot of questions about color palette before and during workshops, I decided to update this and repost.

Here is my color palette in the studio.

"What colors are on your palette?" is a common question asked during workshops or demos.  This is my studio palette, laid out on a 20x30 piece of glass with a mid-tone gray board placed under the glass to aid in value comparisons.  My current palette consists of the following Gamblin colors, laid out in this order at the top from left to right:  Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Yellow Ochre, Transparent Orange Mixture, Cadmium Orange (sometimes), Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Permanent, Burnt Sienna, and Asphaltum.  Then on the left side of the palette, from bottom to top: Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Viridian, Permanent Green Light, Cadmium Green, and occasionally Sap Green (not shown).  Titanium White is in the top left corner between these two.

I would consider this a modified prismatic palette.  It goes through the warm colors from lightest to darkest along the top, then through the cool colors on the left - from the coolest to the warmest.  Aside from having a range of warms and cools, I am also trying to give myself a range of values. 

I will quickly go through this palette to explain why I chose each:
Cad Yellow Lemon - This is the lightest, coolest yellow.
Cad Yellow Deep - This is a darker, warmer yellow that gives good value range between yellows.
Yellow Ochre - This is a good earth yellow and important in depicting drier climates.
Transparent Orange Mixture - A rich, transparent, warm orange.  Warms up greens beautifully and makes nice green blues for the sky without making it appear too green.
Cad Orange - This is a cooler intense orange.  If I have to choose, I prefer Transparent Orange.
Cad Red Light - This is a warm red and the lighter value.
Alizarin Permanent - This is the cooler, darker red that gives good value range between reds.
Burnt Sienna - An indispensable earth red with decent tinting strength.
Asphaltum - A transparent, dark, yellow earth that grays cool colors nicely.
Ultramarine Blue - This is the cooler, darker value blue that gives good value range between blues.
Cobalt - This is the warmer, lighter value blue with more intensity.
Viridian - A dark, cool green that will tint warm but still look clean with orange, or go grayer with reds.
Permanent Green Light - This is also a cool green with a lot of intensity.  It needs to be toned but once mixing is mastered it has a lot of possibility.
Cad Green - An intense, warm, light green good for new foilage mixtures.
Sap Green - This is an earthy green sometimes good for dark mixes but it can also dull colors and get you in trouble.
Titanium White - A high tinting strength white that's good for landscape painting because it takes less to tint than other whites.  It is a cool white so as you mix it into your color, your mixture will also need to be warmed.

No matter how you lay out your palette, the most important thing to remember is to be consistent! Reaching for colors in the same place each time helps streamline the mixing process.

Here is my slightly simplified plein air palette.

If I am painting outdoors, my typical studio palette is simplified because of space constraints and to make painting more direct in the field.  I lay it out the same, that is all the warm colors across the top and cool colors on the left side with Titanium White in the upper left corner between them.  Top: Cadmium Yellow Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Deep, Yellow Ochre, Transparent Orange Mixture, Cadmium Red Light, Alizarin Permanent, and Burnt Sienna.  Then on the left side of the palette, from bottom to top: Ultramarine, Cobalt Blue, Viridian, Permanent Green Light.

I have experimented with a limited palette and believe this to be a useful tool for beginning students who may not have a good handle on color mixing.  If you are interested in using a limited palette, I would encourage you to experiment with several versions of a red, yellow, blue palette to see what works best for you.  You will want to give yourself a large value range, so I would suggest Cad. Yellow Lemon or Cad. Yellow Light for your yellow, Alizarin Permanent or Cad. Red for your red (Cad Red Lt is too warm and light for a limited palette), and Ultramarine Blue plus Titanium White.  Another good addition to this would be an earth tone such as burnt sienna. Be sure to have dark values on your limited palette because you can always tint lighter with Titanium.

My palette has been adjusted throughout my painting career.  Most of my palette is Gamblin because they make great paint and they have a wealth of useful information on their website about color properties.  I've been wanting to conduct a brand comparison for a while but life got very busy with a move the last six or more months.  I've been planning how to do this and hope to get it started soon.