McNamara HQ at Ft. Belvoir: Art in the Atrium

Hope to see you there. I have two blocks of time coming up, November 1-5 and December 6-8. Come for lunch and enjoy the full service cafeteria!

Lee Boynton Plein Air Oil Demo

Joined fellow plein painters of MAPAPA for a Paint Out at Jug Bay Wetland Sanctuary' River Farm last weekend. We were lucky to have a demo by painter, writer, (comic), and instructor Lee Boynton, who is a follower of the Henry Hensche model of Impressionistic painting.

This barn will become central to Lee's composition, although not not focal point.

Lee used an 11x14 Mars Violet-tinted piece of mounted linen.

This is the way people who paint in local color see the color and light.

This is the Impressionistic way to see light. Note, the focus is on the light, not the color.

Lee crafts these large and well-balanced palettes and their accompanying cases.

Beginning with the greatest source of light, Lee scratched in a pale yellow and tops that with a Cerulean blue for the sky. He put in the middle light value, the land mass, and then darkened the verticals/trees in the distance. The primary three landscape structures - the sky, land, and verticals - with their accompanying values were in quickly as references for the rest of the painting process.

Lee's goal was for the road and shadows to be his focal point.

The figure provided balance for that side of the board.

After this point, Lee put in a lot of time with the finishing details.

The light had changed so much that I must apologize for the differences. I wound up using two different cameras, so the colors vary as well.

While I consider myself a rather Impressionistic painter, I now believe I am a more local color painter, this despite plenty of purples in the shadows, pushing other colors, lots of blending, and often inventing skies.

Pastelists traditionally begin with darks, because pastel lights are too hard to effectively cover with darks later on. Pastelists are usually in the singular during demos and paint outs, too, so our difference can be evident!
Almost like a watercolorist (which he is, although he was using oils this day), Lee began with the sky, establishing his lightest light first. I certainly see the value of beginning with the sky and could see doing that and juxtaposing it against the darkest darks early on, as long as the lights are something I don't want to cover with darks later.


See also this sidebar element:

Directory of Demos Blogged

Trisha Adams - oil still life
Kenn Backhaus - oil en plein air
Lee Boynton - oil en plein air
Louis Escobedo - oil from landscape photo
Bruce Handford - watercolor en plein air
Carol Iglesias - pastel, alcohol underpainting en plein air
Mark Isaacs - oil & acrylic, landscapes
Richard McKinley - sketchbook, field sketch, pastel underpainting, watercolor underpainting [all en plein air]
Barbara Nuss - oil en plein air
Sara Linda Poly - oil en plein air
Stan Sperlak - pastel landscapes
Daniel Wise - pastel en plein air

666, the end is near

LibertyTown's 6x6x6 show featuring pieces to not exceed six inches in any direction is open another week until October 31.

Come see the creative variety of artist bent on creating 666 artwork.

"Once Upon A Time" is almost over

My first Del Ray Artisans' exhibit, Once Upon A Time, ends on October 24.


This appealing gallery is located at the Nicholas A. Colasanto Center on 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria.

SAG: Green Springs and Goodwin House

The Springfield Art Guild and Friends of Green Spring Garden Park Fall 2010 Art Show And Sale runs until October 25 at various venues within Green Spring Gardens in Alexandria. My three pastels are all housed in the horticultural center.


Also in SAG news, the annual show at Goodwin House, 4800 Fillmore Ave. in Alexandria, will have a Opening reception and Power Point show featuring the artists' paintings and statements for this "On My Vacation" exhibit from 3-5pm on October 17. This show runs October 2 through November 20.

Four for One

All four of my entries are on one wall at the Workhouse this month! Come out and see my miniature Featured Artist gig during Second Saturday tonight from 6-9pm with food, awards, interior design, and lots of art.

The actual Featured Artist in Gallery W-16 is fellow pastel (and watercolor) pal, Ariel Freeman, so don't miss her show.

Clockwise from left: Heron Pond, Late Summer (8x10 pastel); Day Ends (8x10 pastel); Evening Show (9x12 oil); and Cape May Canal (9x12 pastel.)

The Passion of en Plein Air

As found in Subaru's magazine, check out a good article about plein air competition. (I actually bought my Matrix for its plein air-friendly features.)

Even though Easton (and Annapolis, Riverbend, etc, for that matter) are right in my back yard, the bottom section of the article has become a wish list for future vacations. Once I can take off during the week, I will put my competitive juices to better use!

Heron Pond, Late Summer

Almost a year ago, I posted my first effort at Heron Pond, Solitude in Splendor, which featured dramatic fall foliage. Several weeks ago, I was able to go back to the same stretch along the neighborhood's walking trail. Unlike ever before, I was struck by the beauty of late summer and this painting shows just that. It is of the same area as the first, but makes the small point the focus instead of the foliage. The reflected sky is daring and almost all watercolor.

Heron Pond, Late Summer
pastel
8x10