Star Chain

   

Star Chain
6" x 8"
Oil Painting
by Cynthia Rowland
SOLD


Van Gogh was not the only painter to take sunflowers as a subject, but also Piet Mondrian, Georges Braque, William Blake and Emile Nolde. Van Gogh painted six versions of sunflowers and hung them in Gauguin's bedroom in the Yellow House. I find it helpful to keep in mind these artists were just people like you and me, trying to paint and understand the world we live in.

At this time of year, you can find sunflowers everywhere in New Mexico. In this painting, I was really looking to get the form of the sunflower with the color, the shape and the edges, without painting every petal. They were attached to one another in my set up, creating a link of sunflowers, and it reminded me of a bigger version of the daisy chains we use to make when we were kids! They are in the same family, Asteraceae, from the type genus Aster, which is a Greek term meaning "star". 

Star Chain is available at http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/cynthia-rowland/star-chain/161709

High Summer Progression

I thought I would share with you the progression of High Summer, a 6" x 8" painting that I am selling at Daily Paintworks, http://dailypaintworks.com/. My goal is to post three times a week on Daily Paintworks. I have really enjoyed doing these little works. It's a way to try out different ideas, color combinations, studies and concepts for larger paintings. I hope you will find the following useful to you in your painting.

1. Gesture

2. Block-In

The Gesture and Block-In
There are so many ways to begin a painting. I began this with a color block-in on a lightly toned canvas. I kept the paint very thin. One reason for doing this is that sometimes colors can get a little muddy, so I'm trying to overcome that by putting down pure thin color. I want the yellows to be very bright. I'm also thinking about the gesture as I begin to lay in the colors. I'm trying to keep it loose and open and think about the larger areas and shapes of color. It's so important to not think sunflowers, but shapes, sizes and proportion for your lay-in. Once I'm satisfied with the placement, I begin filling in the shadow shapes of the vase, flowers and leaves. I'm also massing in the shapes of the butterfly bush from by mother's garden.

3. Color Extremes 

4. Background

Color Extremes and Background

Next, I begin to lay in my extremes, meaning the lightest light (which happens to be the highlight in the painting), the brightest colors (the yellows, reds and magentas) and the darkest colors. I use a palette knife to lay in the extreme colors in the light because the palette knife will lay the paint on thicker than my brush. For the darks, I try to keep the paint thin as I like to have different textures on the canvas to look at. Establishing these extremes early helps to have solid color relationships to work with. Next, I have to place my set up in the space it resides in, and that is done by putting in the background. I think about space all the time when I am painting, what is close to me, what is further away and so on.

5. Color in Light and Shadow

6. Edges and Finishing                SOLD

Color, Edges and Finishing

I made quite a jump before I took my next picture. I'll try to do better next time. I am now refining my color in the light and in the shadow. I added a couple of peaches as I found the yellows, oranges, reds and magentas on them and they tied in with my color scheme.  As I am refining the painting, it is so important to be thinking in terms of shape, form, dimension, space, value, color, etc., the language of painting rather than sunflowers, vase, peaches and butterfly bush. This is a very difficult concept for students to get and it took me years to get it as well, so stay patient and persevere! I revisit my edges to make sure they are not too hard in too many places. For the finish, I decided that my background was a little too warm, and so I cooled it down a bit. The sunflowers are beautiful this time of year. They are nature's gift of radiant warmth and their meaning is loyalty and longevity! Be sure to enjoy them and paint some for yourself this summer! Thanks for visiting!

Let's Do Color!

The phrase, "If I could only get the right color . . . .", is heard over and over in the classes I teach. This is the chance for you to get the color you are looking for. My goal for this class is to take the fear out of mixing color, after all, isn't that why we become painters? We love color, paint and picture making. We will cover the phenomenon of color and how it relates to other colors. Students will learn techniques for mixing color to achieve desired results and how to use the palette as a tool rather than a hindrance. Hue, value, intensity and temperature are the vocabulary of pigments used to understand color. We will create space with color and learn the difference between opaque and translucent colors. In each class, students will be making color studies to build a notebook for future color references. Once a certain familiarity with color is established, students will paint a simple still life composed of one color to train the eye to perceive subtle differences of color. This will reinforce the concepts and techniques covered earlier in the class.

Be sure to check out the New Mexico Art League website for this and other classes and workshops for 2013 and 2013 at  https://newmexicoartleague.org.

Blue with Sunflowers

Blue with Sunflowers
Oil on Canvas
6" x 8"
By Cynthia Rowland
SOLD

Who can't help but think of Van Gogh when you see sunflowers. They were his flowers. 
I painted this piece after reading more about him in the book I mentioned below. This vase was given to me by a dear friend. I love the blue wave across the middle and somehow it seemed to intensify when I placed the yellow sunflowers inside.

This leads me into an area I will be teaching this fall at the Art League, LET'S DO COLOR! 
It occurred to me to start posting items about color for my students to keep in mind and hopefully keep them motivated outside of class! Life can always give you an excuse not to paint. Painting requires discipline, dedication and perseverance even when the going gets tough, like Van Gogh!

P. S. I am selling my small paintings at Daily Paintworks, http://www.dailypaintworks.com/. It is a great site, and I was flattered yesterday when they put this painting on their Facebook page. Thanks DPW!!