The Plein Air Zone

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How To

June 2010 "Structures in Oil"

May 2010 "Structures"

April 2010 "One of a Kind"

March 2010 "Nocturnes"

February 2010 "Let it Snow"

January 2010 Sweet Mystery: Part Two

December 2009 Sweet Mystery: Part One

November 2009 Organizing Chaos

October 2009 Saving the Best for Last

September 2009 Letting the Paint Work for You

August 2009 Watercolor: Teaching the Unteachable

June 2009 "Sketchbooks"

April 2009 "East Meets West"

Feb 2009 “Establishing a Focal Point”

Jan 2009 “Craftsmanship”

Dec 2008 “Another Approach”

Nov 2008 “The Incidence of Angle”

Oct 2008 “Back to the Basics”

Sept 2008 “As Clear as Mud”

Aug 2008 “Compartmentalizing Your Washes”

June 2008 “Lemons to Lemonade”

May 2008 “Las Flores de la Mancha”

March 2008 “Narrative Painting”

Dec. 2007 “Painting Out Of Your Head”

Sept. 2007  “Contours and Shapes”

Oct. 2007 “Contours and Shapes – Part Two”

Nov. 2007 “Contours and Shapes – Part Three”

July 2007 “Knowing Your Palette”

June 2007 “Giving Yourself An Edge”

Art of the Sketchbook

June 2009 "Sketchbooks"

Jan. 2007 “Art on the Road”

Oct. 2006 “Utilizing Your Sketches”

Sept. 2006  “The Art of the Sketchbook”

Musings

April 2010 "One of a Kind"

April 2008 “Who’s Responsible?”

Aug 2007 “Developing a Style”

May 2007 “The Intangibles”

Feb. 2007 “Painting the California Coast”

Dec. 2006 “Reflections”

The Business of Art

Apr. 2007 “The Gallery Scene”

March 2007 “Beginning Your Professional Art Career”

Art History

March 2010 "Nocturnes"

July 2008 “En Plein Air Painting – Then and Now”

Feb. 2008 “Harvey Dunn and Dean Cornwell – Some insights into their working methods”

Jan 2008 “The Golden Age of Illustration”

Nov. 2006  “Sargent Watercolors”

June, 2008 - Lemons to Lemonade

I’m not sure how many painting casualties I’ve had in my painting career, but I’m pretty certain I’m into four figures by now. Early on, I would agonize over each and every one. It was like each failure hurt and there was no place to rub. I would sulk for a while, pitch them in the trash and ultimately begin planning my next endeavor.

It took some time, but eventually I began to notice that these failed attempts were not complete disasters. There were spots in the paintings where my mind checked out and I actually got some things right. I began to find small areas that were miniature achievements, interesting color harmonies or potential designs for future works. I started treating my failures as stepping-stones to future successes.

Even to this day, I take paintings that don’t meet my expectations and explore ways to either salvage some part of them, or utilize a portion of the painting as a springboard for another painting idea. The following are just a few examples of how I try to make my castaway paintings work for me.

The first thing I do is look for a crop: some part of the painting that can stand alone as a finished work. I recollect one, less than satisfactory, 24x30” oil that ended up as a dazzling 12x16”.

I keep some “L” shaped mats in my studio, and I’ll move them around the painting until I find a section that is finished and frameable, could be finished with a bit of touching up or, at the very least, a potential design for a future painting.

In this example, I have a plein air piece that seems a bit humdrum. So I take my mats and find a section on the right hand side that isn’t really a finished painting, but contains a vertical design element that may ultimately prove to be a stronger piece.

Click on any picture to see an elarged view

I found this old half sheet watercolor lying in the bottom of one of my flat files.

I was about ready to pitch it, when I noticed those floating specks in the trees on the upper right side of the painting. Something about them made me think of flowers. I put my mats over there and began to see the makings of a flower garden.

	I took Hansa Yellow Light, Naples Yellow, New Gamboge, Viridian and various blues, and started orchestrating the foliage.
	At this point, I still hadn’t touched the pure white specks from the initial painting. I needed those hard edges for a focal point. So with a little titanium white and a mixture of other pigments, I dabbed in flowers of various hues and values until I felt I had the proper movement through the painting. I like the final feel. The hard and soft edges of the foliage lend semblance of depth to the finished work.

Several years ago, a friend gave me a piece of newfangled, lightweight board to paint oils on. He thought it might be a good support to travel with. It ultimately turned out to be too brittle to be of much use. Nonetheless, I started a painting on board, and shortly after beginning, I was pretty disgusted with the start. So, in frustration, I grabbed an inch and a half bristle, picked up a gob of burnt umber, scrawled a huge scribble over what I had painted and tossed the board over in the corner of the studio.

About a week later, I headed off on a two-month painting trip to Indonesia.  Shortly after returning home, I went into my studio one evening to get something and noticed the board lying in the corner. When I took a closer look, I saw something interesting in the mass I had scrawled two months earlier. So I slapped the board up on the easel, and, about an hour later, I finished this sweet Balinese portrait in oil. You can still see the original scrawl behind the head.

The longer I paint, the more I raise my expectations about my finished work. The result is that I still end up with tons of paintings that don’t make the grade. What’s changed is that I now utilize those duds as a means to further my growth. Sometimes I paint over them in order to practice my values or color control. Other times I move mats around on them, looking for abstract designs that I can develop into other works. There’s a myriad of uses for those dead soldiers that we so cavalierly throw away.

So, next time you paint a lemon, see if you can find a way to turn it into lemonade.

Paint on!