Achieving Brightness

After a fun day of plein 
aire painting with a few 
friends of mine, we 
were sitting in a 
restaurant for a little 
libation and exchange 
of thoughts.   It was 
about 5 pm and the sun 
was on it’s last legs so 
I rushed outside with 
my camera and took a 
bunch of pictures of this 
scene. While uploading 
these to my blog it 
occured to me that this 
might be a good time 
to talk about brightness
in a painting.

Brightness is achieved by surrounding a light color with
dark, dull colors.  An object is only bright by comparison to a darker object next to it as you can see in the first comparison 
using yellow dots, to the right.  You will also note that the 
perceived colors of the dots, when compared with the same 
color dot beside it, seems to be darker or lighter and sometime 
will even take on some of the color next to it. 

I'd be interested in your thoughts and observations as always?

The start of a new painting

Today I sketched the idea for a new painting.  I was commissioned to do this pastel painting for a former client of mine when I was a graphic designer.  They are coming up on their 20th anniversary in February and wanted some ideas for an announcement to send to their friends and clients.

Their logo is a simple black outline of the shadow side of a buffalo head and horns. I decided to bring the logo to life (so to speak) by designing a new anniversary logo, just for this announcement, and substitute this head for the graphic one they are now using.

They liked the idea and decided they would also like a very large painting to hang in the entrance to their corporate offices behind the receptionist. They are also ordering a number of Giclee prints (signed and numbered) to send out with the announcements.

As soon as they decide on a size, and I start the painting, I plan to add the progressions so that you can see the trials and tribulations I encounter.

Castle Rock painting in progress

Castle Rock painting composition thumbnail ruff

I was recently commiss-
ioned to produce a
painting for the city of
Castle Rock, Colorado
for their 2013 Art
Festival. It will be
printed for both giclee
posters and on t-shirts
sold at their fair booth.
The only condition
placed on the artwork
is that it must contain
 the image of their
Castle Rock landmark.

After spending some
time roaming around
town shooting photos
for reference I ended
up selecting three
images from three different locations to combine together on my painting. The rock on
the bluff, an old log cabin and a stand of aspen trees.

After doing several black and white line sketches and some rough colors
with Magic Markers, I have settled on the composition seen above.  Then,
still in a small format, I painted with pastels on Uart the final color sketch,
also seen below.  Now I'm ready to present this to the committee for
their approval.  In a later blog I will show you some progress shots as I
paint the final product along with some conversation about the problems
that must invariable be addressed in every painting.  

Castle Rock painting color thumbnail ruff