ARTIST DAILY STEP BY STEP: Oil Painting...

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ARTIST DAILY STEP BY STEP:

Oil PaintingTechniques:24Tips to LearnHow to Paint a

Plein Air Landscape

ARTIST DAILY STEP-BY-STEP: OIL PAINTING TECHNIQUES www.artistdaily.com 2

While formulating plans foranother travel workshop spon-sored by American Artist, I

thought of Donald W. Demers as poten-tially the best instructor to lead the excur-sion through Spain. He has that combi-nation of technical skill, teaching experi-ence, and friendly personality that makes

for a good workshop leader. I knew hecould offer valuable instruction as thegroup made its way from cities and vil-lages to the Mediterranean coast, andalso quickly establish a bond of friend-ship between the participants.

I observed Demers painting andinterviewed him for an article in the

June 1999 issue of the magazine, but inthat presentation I concentrated on hisprofessional experience and relegatedthe instructional information to a shortpiece in the “Nuts & Bolts” section ofthe issue. With the prospect of him con-ducting a weeklong workshop, I wantedto know more about his approach toteaching and his attitude toward help-ing students of varying abilities whowould be working with different media


Oil PaintingTechniques:

24 Tips to Learn How to Paint a Plein Air Landscape. | by M. Stephen Doherty

OIL PAINTING TECHNIQUES:

24 STEP-BY-STEP LESSONS

This premium has been published by Interweave Press, 201 E. Fourth St., Loveland, CO 80537-5655; (970) 669-7672. Copyright © 2009by Interweave Press, a division of Aspire Media, all rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in whole orin part without consent of the copyright owner.

A photograph of the painting location in Grimes Cove, Ocean Point, Maine. Demers painting the sunlit areas of the foreground rocks. He’s using an OpenBox M pochade box.




and styles. I learned during the secondinterview that Demers has more spe-cific information on the best approach-es to landscape painting, and he is sen-sitive to his students’ need for support-ive, relevant advice tailored to theirspecific needs.

“All of us are intimidated by the toolsand the process, so I start out by sug-gesting to the artists that they free them-selves from that initial fear by thinkingof the workshop as a total experience,”Demers says in describing his teachingapproach. “We’re not expecting to createone great masterpiece but, rather, a totalbody of work that either reinforces ourcurrent interests or moves us ahead toa new level of ability and understand-ing. Some of our paintings will be suc-cessful and some will be disappointingno matter how much training andexperience we have. The point is tolearn from what we do and look for-ward to the next experience.”

Recognizing that students wantmore than encouragement, Demers

offers several demonstrations duringhis workshops. “Everyone has threeoptions when I do a demonstration,” heexplains. “They can watch and askquestions; they can paint along withme; or they can paint on their own. Ifthey hang around to observe me, thenI’ll talk with them through the entireprocess about everything from the mix-tures of paint to my philosophy aboutart. If they instead want to focus on ascene they can’t wait to paint, then I’llcatch up with them after the demo todiscuss what they’ve been doing.”

During a workshop in Maine,Demers showed how he approachesthree different painting situations andallowed a video crew to record the firstdemonstration for a television program.“The first painting captured a classiclandscape scene at Reid State Park nearGeorgetown, Maine,” he explains. “Thepoint of the exercise was to show how Iwork with a localized imprimatura. Ibegan without any white on my paletteand painted the midtones and shadows

with transparent washes of color. Next,I drew the details of the scene with thedark color using a small round brush.Finally, I introduced white to the paletteand established the highlights andreflected lights.

“In this exercise, strong drawing andaccurate proportions were critical to thesuccess of the picture,” he continues.“Once the lines were established, Iscrubbed in a local transparent color onthe white panel, taking advantage of thesubtle texture of the canvas. By not usingthick, opaque mixtures of paint at thebeginning, I was able to record a lot ofinformation about the scene in a shortperiod of time. I could move the brushfaster and capture the sense of lightbecause I wasn’t contending with globsof oil paint. This was the technique usedby a lot of the great 19th-centurypainters, such as Thomas Hill, FredericE. Church, and Dennis Bunker.”

During the second demonstration,Demers moved to a different location topaint the kind of scene for which he is

Trees on Island2002, oil, 8 x 12.Collection the artist.




FAR LEFTThe location for the second painting demonstration.

LEFTDemers working on the painting mounted on hisFrench easel.

BELOW

Crashing Waves, Boothbay Harbor, Maine2002, oil, 10 x 12. Collection the artist.




best known: waves crashing against theshoreline rocks. “There are manyapproaches to plein air painting and twoof the most common are concerned witheither observation or interpretation,” heexplains by way of introducing thedemonstration. “In the first exercise Iwas concerned with the shapes, values,and edges of the objects I observed innature. In this one, I want to capture theessence of what the waves look likewhen they hit the shoreline rather than awave in motion at one split second.That’s the best way to approach a subjectthat is constantly moving.”

For those not familiar with paintingobjects in motion, Demers recom-mends spending two hours just watch-ing the changing shapes, patterns, col-ors, and values. “This is the kind ofapproach Andrew Wyeth takes to hissubjects,” he says. “He makes dozensof drawings of a person or a place so hecan understand it well enough to paintit from memory. To paint the sea, I rec-ommend that same kind of process. Fix

ABOVE, LEFTThe sunset view Demers painted.

ABOVE, RIGHTDemers working quickly to capture the rapidlychanging scene.

RIGHT

Sunset, Western Sky, Boothbay, Maine2002, oil, 10 x 8. Collection the artist.




your eyes on one spot and let the seamove past your line of vision. Makemental notes about the way the lighthits the water, how the colors changedepending on the depth and motion ofthe water, and the shapes that repeatwhen the waves crash. With thoseimages logged in your memory, youcan paint an impression of the sea.”

In contrast to the first presentation,Demers used thick, opaque mixtures ofpaint to capture the motion of thewater. “In this situation an imprimatu-ra of thin paint isn’t as effective,” hecomments. “Thick paint pushed andtwirled around by a bristle brush ismuch better at capturing the look offrothy foam and arching waves. I use alot more bravura in the brushwork anda more aggressive impasto to conveythe nature of the subject. The point isto express the total experience—thesights, sounds, and smells of the sea.”

The final demonstration at the endof the day was preceded by a wine andcheese break and light conversation asDemers set up to paint a small, quick

study of the sunset. “I wanted to showanother approach to plein air paintingin which the artist tries to capture thefleeting light in about 45 minutes,” hesays. “I used a small panel that hadpreviously been toned with a light washof burnt sienna. That warm undertoneset up a color vibration with the cooltones I painted over it, and it helpedquickly establish the golden light onthe horizon. The only down side to atoned panel is that mixing colorsbecomes a little more complicatedbecause the palette and the paintingsurface are different colors. A mixturethat seems correct on the palette mayturn out to be the wrong color whenapplied over the burnt sienna.”

During a typical workshop, Demersspends time with each student andaddresses their concerns. “I first reviewtheir paintings and find out how theyfeel about their own work,” he says.“My comments will only be useful if Iunderstand how they approach paint-ing and what problems they see in theirpictures. I can then address those with

specific suggestions for improvement.”Demers says there are common prob-

lems that surface in discussions withstudents, and they usually involve draw-ing, color, value, and edges. “The issueof drawing comes up when there arebuildings, boats, or figures in a sceneand the student cannot put those ele-ments into accurate perspective,” hecomments. “Color can become a strug-gle when people paint what they knowrather than what they see. That is, theyknow grass is green when in fact itappears as a gray or a purple shapeunder the prevailing lighting and atmos-pheric conditions. Value is a question ofrelationships, and the solution to moststudents’ problems is to gauge eachbrushstroke against those already on thecanvas. Finally, the decision to make anedge hard or soft usually depends on theway an artist wants the viewer’s eye tomove around a picture.”

Another common problem studentsface, according to Demers, is an unor-ganized palette of colors. “Mostinstructors recommend their favorite

A Passing Shadow2002, oil, 12 x 18.Collection the artist. Thecreation of this paintingwas recorded in a videonow available from theartist.




palette and suggest squeezing thepaint out in the same sequence eachtime so the artist always knows whereto reach for a warm blue, cool yellow,or whatever,” he says. “I don’t belongto the art police so I won’t fine peoplefor using colors that aren’t on mypalette. I happen to use two blues, tworeds, and two yellows—a warm andcool of each. Specifically, I work withcobalt blue and ultramarine blue, cad-mium yellow light (or lemon) and cad-mium yellow medium, cadmium redlight and permanent alizarin(Gamblin). My white is manufacturedby Utrecht and has a combination oftitanium and alkyd white that driesfaster than standard oil white. Onoccasion I expand the palette byadding viridian, burnt sienna, and/ortransparent oxide red.”

Brushes can also be the source aproblem if student’s select ones thatdon’t allow them to make a range ofmarks with the oil paints. “I recom-mend practicing with the brushes tofind out how to make broad strokes,lay down hard lines, and add smalldetails,” Demers explains. “Most peo-ple sell their brushes short and don’trealize what a range of possibilities isavailable. Sometimes they buy thewrong brush for the surface they areusing and wind up with a soft brushthat can’t work on a rough canvas, or ahard brush that can’t perform on asmooth canvas.”

Although Demers works primarilyin oil on location, he uses watercolorswhen time or space is limited.“Sometimes the best subjects comealong when I’m sitting on a boat or apark bench and there’s no place for aneasel, so I just pull out a small water-color set and paper and record what Isee,” he recalls. In his studio, Demers

uses oil, casein, and watercolor tocreate both his marine paintings andhis landscapes.

Demers grew up in Lunenburg,Massachusetts, spending summers withhis family in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.He studied at the school of the WorcesterArt Museum in Massachusetts and theMassachusetts College of Art in Boston.

Demers began his professional artcareer as an illustrator for such maga-zines as Reader’s Digest and Yankee. Heis a member of the Guild of BostonArtists and is an elected fellow of theAmerican Society of Marine Artists. He

was an invited artist at painting eventssponsored by the Plein Air Painters ofAmerica and the Laguna Plein AirPainters Association. Demers is repre-sented by the J. Russell JinishianGallery in Fairfield, Connecticut; Tree’sPlace in Orleans, Massachusetts; JohnPence Gallery in San Francisco; andRobert Wilson Galleries in Nantucket,Massachusetts. For more informationabout the artist, visit his website atwww.donalddemers.com. �

M. Stephen Doherty is the editor-in-chief ofAmerican Artist.

ARTIST DAILY STEP-BY-STEP: OIL PAINTING TECHNIQUES

Many a painter with a passion forcolor has made the pilgrimage toGiverny, where Monet spent his

later years luxuriating among roses, holly-hocks, nasturtiums, and exotic trees grow-ing along reflecting ponds, winding paths,bridges, benches, and more. Monet designedhis garden as much for painting as forenjoyment. He ensured that the garden’srange of hues and variety of vegetation andman-made objects would lend themselves tocontrasts and focal points for art.

Gay Faulkenberry visited Giverny inthe mid-1990s, first as a tourist andthen by appointment on a Mondaywhen the garden was closed to the pub-lic. “The place is overwhelming,” sherecalls, “so I concentrated on more inti-mate corners, as in Green Shutters andRoses. I simplified the detail in theexplosion of vines and flower boxes andused the darkness of the open windowas a focal point. Painting in a garden isdifferent from a landscape vista

because you are so close to the subject.The colors are more intense and therange of values is stronger when thereis a lack of atmospheric perspective.”

According to Faulkenberry,Louise DeMore, LynnGertenbach, and Mary DeLoyht-Arendt (all signature members ofthe Plein-Air Painters of America[PAPA]), the biggest problemwith painting a garden is that nomatter how formal or random,the scene needs editing, simplifi-cation, attention to design andcolor harmony and, most impor-tant, a focus. “A garden paintingis all about abstract design,” saysDeMore. “It’s the artist’s job tomake a readable composition outof the chaos.”

“Get out theviewfinder andlook for some-thing that


Problem Solvingfor Plein Air

Painters: GardensConverting the lovely chaos of flowers and gardens into a potent composition

requires skilful editing, simplification, and focus, according to membersof the Plein-Air Painters of America. | by Susan Hallsten McGarry

Right: SecretGarden, by LynnGertenbach,1987, oil,30 x 24. Privatecollection.



excites you,” Faulkenberry advises.“Focus on a group of flowers, a wall,shadows, or tall, vertical shapes such astrees. Think like a bee or hummingbird




and ask yourself what catches your eyefirst. Look for the unusual, then make acomposition out of it.”

To settle on a composition in thefield, Gertenbach walks the site and fre-quently paints studies. “I need to getthe obvious views out of my system soI can look for a special scene that has amood,” she remarks. All of the PAPApainters say that early-morning or late-afternoon light enriches their colors,but “overcast days or mottled light andshadow is also good,” says Gertenbach.“In diffused light, the shadows aren’t as

dark and the blossoms retain their fullcolor.” Another advantage of low sun-light is that it might spotlight certainparts of the scene, helping pinpoint acomposition that maximizes positiveand negative space. “A garden paintingwithout negative space is just like wall-paper,” comments Gertenbach.

DeLoyht-Arendt concurs. “In water-color, you are working light to dark—inessence, you paint around the lights orcut away the lights with the darks.” Onlocation, she begins with a two-minutecompositional thumbnail, then goes

Top: Cottage by the Sea,by Lynn Gertenbach, 1992,oil, 30 x 40. Private collection.

Above: Gertenbach’s easel is set up in her and herhusband Carl Belfor’s garden in Calabasas, California.




Left: La Quinta,by Mary DeLoyht-Arendt, 2000,watercolor, 30 x 22.Private collection.




directly to a full sheet, trying to visual-ize the whole effect. “Shadows are criti-cal to a scene,” she continues, “and Iuse artistic license with them becausethey are tools to guide the viewer’s eye.In La Quinta, however, I didn’t have touse artistic license, since the fore-ground shadow was a perfect lead-in tothe light-filled courtyard. Even thebougainvilleas cooperated; they soft-ened the hard architectural lines of thestructures.”

Gertenbach, on the other hand,organized Secret Garden using light. “Iwas attracted to the way the light guid-ed the eye from foreground tomidground and background,” sheexplains. Gertenbach, who boasts agreen thumb and a garden that rivalsMonet’s, says there are two types ofgarden paintings: those where you canidentify species and the structuralshapes of individual flowers, and thosewhere the color is most important, cre-ating shapes that direct the eye.Faulkenberry’s Hill Country Color fallsinto the latter category. “The field ofbluebonnets needed to be simplified,”she says. “I suggested only a few of theforeground blooms and massed togeth-er the rest to give a feeling of distanceand atmosphere. Because the sun wasshining, I warmed up the blues in theforeground, then lightened and grayedthe color as the field receded intospace,” she explains.

Adding structures to a garden cre-ates interest and often provides a focalpoint for a painting. Gertenbach lovesto discover ancient stone walls or oldgates that offer a contrast between theirenduring antiquity and fresh, short-lived blooms nearby. DeLoyht-Arendtoften paints in nurseries, where thepots, posts, and shelves in such settingsadd circular, triangular, horizontal, and

Top: A Touch of Class,by Mary DeLoyht-Arendt, 1999,watercolor, 22 x 30.Private collection.

Above: Lots to Choose From,by Mary DeLoyht-Arendt,2002, watercolor, 18 x 24.Private collection.




vertical shapes that help draw the eyethrough the painting. Or, she’ll pick outcommercial areas, such as the antiqueshop in Solano Beach, California—thesubject of Lots to Choose From. “Thecombination of colorful flowers, thechair, and the dark interior draws youin and takes you into the distance onthe right,” she says.

“Man-made versus organic is alwaysa good contrast,” states DeMore. “InWild Garden, the flowers are the sup-

porting actors, interspersed among diag-onals that lead to the fence and secludedcabin. Essentially, the painting is a con-trast of moving, irregular, organicshapes and shadows that suggest morerigid, geometric shapes. The repetitionof yellow accents in the foreground,midground, and distance adds unity—and draws the eye to the focal point.Conversely, the hollyhocks are the starsin Hollyhocks at Nob Hill, supported bythe descending diagonal of the moun-

tain, which leads the eye to the waterfall,then back to the flowers. The rocks pro-vide different shapes and textures whileadding the stability of a horizontal line.”

Gertenbach and Faulkenberry fre-quently place figures in their gardenpaintings. In Spring Garden, the veg-etable patch is merely a backdrop forFaulkenberry’s neighbor. “The paintingis about her,” says Faulkenberry.“Gardening was her passion, and sheworked her vegetable garden until

Below: Spring Garden,by Gay Faulkenberry, 2004, oil,16 x 20. Collection the artist.




Left: Monet’s Lily Pond,by Louise DeMore, 1999,oil, 24 x 36. Privatecollection.

Right: Hollyhocks at NobHill, by Louise DeMore,2002, oil, 12 x 16. Privatecollection.




she was 90. She’d be up at six in themorning and always wore a hat, a long-sleeved shirt, and a dress. I did studiesand took photographs of her. The nicething about doing a studio painting isthat you can step back and think aboutall the design elements. Of course, whenyou paint outdoors, you should be think-ing about simplification, placement,movement, and leading the eye, butwhen you’re in a hurry, your intellectoften takes a backseat to the engagingtask of capturing the color and light.”

Since earliest times, gardens havebeen a source of peace and innerhealing. Long before there were sanc-tuaries and cathedrals, there weresacred places identified by groves oftrees or physical landmarks such asstones or bodies of water. “I’ve done awhole series of water-garden paint-ings because they convey a sense ofpeacefulness,” says Gertenbach, whopainted Koi Pond on location atMission San Juan Capistrano,California. “Lily pads can be verytricky,” she says. “Their ellipticalshape has to be just right so that theylay on the water and don’t stand up.You also must be sensitive to the vari-ety of shapes and colors, and the waytheir edges curl.”

Faulkenberry’s lily pads in Bridge atChâteau du Veaux skim across thewater as short, staccato strokes of vari-ous greens, yet they are thoroughlyconvincing. “Simplify, simplify, simpli-fy,” she says. Conversely, DeLoyht-Arendt zeroed in on a few pads and asingle blossom in Touch of Class,where the reeds and lily pads are con-trasting shapes and movement that arerepeated in the ripples of water acrossthe pond. DeMore did several fieldsketches when she visited Giverny. Fromher sketches she painted the studio work

Monet’s Lily Pond. “I stressed thepeacefulness of this scene by emphasiz-ing the strong horizontal in both thewater and the shoreline,” she says. “Iwas also careful to design the shapes ofthe water lilies so that they offer aninteresting variety as they lead the eyeto the flowered trellis.”

Unfortunately, not every season ofthe year allows for on-site garden paint-ing. If you are itching to paint in thedead of winter, DeLoyht-Arendt offers asolution. “I usereal-estate catalogsfor different houseshapes, and Ithumb throughflower and seed cat-alogs for inspira-tion,” she says. “Icut out images andmake small compo-sitional sketchesand color studies inmy sketchbook,then move to thelarger painting.Starting with a planis most important,but I want to beable to make choic-es as I go along. Ichange my mind asthe painting progresses, or I’ll have anaccident that leads me in a new direc-tion. That is the magic of watercolor: Ithas a mind of its own, and my betterpaintings are characterized by a combi-nation of leading and allowing thepaint to lead me.” �

Susan Hallsten McGarry is the media-rela-tions director for the Plein-Air Painters ofAmerica. She was the editor-in-chief ofSouthwest Art from 1979 to 1997. She livesin Santa Fe, where she is also a freelancewriter and curator.

Top: Green Shutters and Roses,by Gay Faulkenberry, 1996, oil,11 x 14. Private collection.

Center: Bridge at Château duVeaux, by Gay Faulkenberry, 1999,oil, 18 x 16. Private collection.

Bottom: Hill Country Color, by GayFaulkenberry, 1998, oil, 16 x 20.Private collection.




Demonstration: Distinguished Delphiniums

Step 1 Although Mary DeLoyht-Arendt always carries her sketchbook—indoors and out—for house shapes, she relies on her photographsor real-estate ads that she’s taken from publications. The inspiration for Distinguished Delphiniums was an image in a flower catalog fromwhich she did a thumbnail sketch and a study of a delphinium bloom.

Step 2The composition was much like the photofrom the catalog, so her preliminarydrawing was minimal. She drew in theflowers with her brush as she went along.“The flowers created themselves as thewatercolor puddled and ran,” the artistexplained. “My primary concerns here werecolor, value, texture, and placement.”

Step 3Next, DeLoyht-Arendt added to the backgroundto establish stability. She laid in some washesbehind the house.

Step 4By adding greens, she cut into the lavenderwith negative shapes to start forming theedge of a flower. The variations of greenalso brought out the white birdhouse andthe pole. Because she works vertically, thepaint sometimes runs, ideally stoppingwhen it hits dry paper, in this case to formcrisp edges in the flower blossoms and inthe trees.




Demonstration: Distinguished Delphiniums

Step 8The artist added the treesand additional dark areas atthe top left corner forbalance and toned thebottom corners. Finally, shepainted a few more trees inthe distance for depth. Thecompleted painting:Distinguished Delphiniums,by Mary DeLoyht-Arendt,2004, watercolor, 15 x 22.Collection the artist.

Step 5Here, she cut away more white andadded more buildings for interest, usingthe greens to define them and adding redto the rooftops and birdhouse forwarmth. She skipped around the paintingso that she wouldn’t finish one areaahead of the rest.

Step 6Next, she began adding verticals—stems andleaves—to tie the composition to the bottomof the page. The amorphous areas of lavenderbegan to take shape as she created negative,darker values in the lighter areas. Only a fewspots needed to be defined to suggest thedetail of many petals.

Step 7As DeLoyht-Arendt neared the finish ofher painting, she wove a ribbon of darksin and out of the midground. “It’s likefilling in the missing pieces of a jigsawpuzzle,” she says.

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