KATHLEEN HUDSON
PRESENCE OF PLACE
Painting on location offers more than inspiring subject matter. For Kentucky artist Kathleen Hudson, it also presents a connection to the land and the people who came before her.
K
BY JOHN A. PARKS
athleen Hudson’s plein air paintings achieve an extraordinary completeness of vision. Vast spaces open to reveal a broad range of atmospherics, from murky summer haze to the crisp clarity of winter light. The drawing is sure, the brushwork direct and lively, and the color rich and varied. Above all, the light is marvelous, suffusing even the shadows with a vibrant presence. All of this command results in a feeling of ebullience, an active and welcoming pleasure in confronting and presenting the world. “More than anything, I enjoy the sense of connectedness that painting on location brings,” says Hudson. “My own sense of wonder in the landscape comes from my immersion in reading history. A place isn’t just scenery when you come
Encouraged by her parents, Kathleen Hudson grew up drawing and painting, and was eventually drawn to plein air work. She makes her home in Lexington, Kentucky, but can be seen here painting Morning, Point Loma on location. kathleenbhudson.com
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Morning, Point Loma 2017, oil, 11 x 14 in. Private collection Plein air
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to know its story, when you think of people from generations past who stood upon the same ground, taking in their surroundings just as you are.” Hudson’s strong feeling for place was reflected in her choice of studies when she focused on the history of medieval pilgrimage at Harvard. Pilgrims are motivated by a strong belief in the magical or religious powers of particular locations. The artist cites a Rudyard Kipling story plot she came across while reading Simon Schama’s Landscape and Memory, in which certain places in England allowed people to view previous generations who had walked there. Hudson recounts a similar experience when walking near her family’s ancestral home, a ruined fort in Scotland. “To me, it seemed like time had stopped for a second. I recall thinking that an ancestor many generations removed had known that place as home, likely clambered over the same rocks at my age, and felt the wind blow up from the surface of Loch Fyne just as I did.” It is this kind of feeling Hudson seeks to access in her paintings. “When I paint outdoors, I’m not getting away from humanity, but rather connecting to the heart of it all. I try to learn or, absent a recorded history, imagine, who walked that ground before me and I consider how they might have been moved by what I see. After all, it’s deeply human to have a powerful response to something that is beautiful, vast, and enduring. My paintings tell a story of a place that moved me.”
MATTERS OF CRAFT
(TOP) Oaks at Sunrise, 2017, oil, 12 x 16 in., collection the artist, plein air 12 x 12 in., collection the artist, plein air
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• (ABOVE) Nightfall, 2017, oil,
As imaginative as her general ideas for plein air painting are, Hudson is immensely organized when it comes to the practicalities of her craft. “I spend some time researching painting locations,” she says. “Some of my best paintings have followed extensive research, where I’ll check satellite and topographical maps in order to find a vantage point with the best light for my subject. Sometimes I’ll have an idea for a painting seize hold without knowing of a specific place, such as a bend in a river or a view of a road down a steep hill. Looking at a satellite map of nearby spots gives me some options.” When she is in a new locale, Hudson will drive around for a while to get the lay of the land. “Of course, at any point during my hunt for a scene, I might stumble across something great on accident,” she says. “I try not to get too attached to an idea before I land on a painting location.” Once she has found a spot to paint, Hudson asks herself a series of questions. What strikes me most about this landscape? What mood does it evoke? What will be the main idea of this painting?
(CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE) Cove Wreathed in Fog, 2017, oil, 16 x 12 in., private collection, plein air • Hill Country Road, 2017, oil, 16 x 16 in., private collection, plein air • Light on the Little River, 2017, oil, 14 x 18 in., private collection, plein air
What is the focal point? Where are the highest contrasts and sharpest edges? (These should align with the focal point.) Is there a dominant color in the landscape? A dominant atmospheric effect? Hudson finds that answering these questions helps her to determine what she wants to emphasize in the piece. “Sometimes I write down the main idea I want explore so I can revisit it later,” she says. “I also visualize what I want the finished painting to look like.” Having decided on the direction of her painting, Hudson makes thumbnail sketches to establish the composition. For larger, more complex pieces she will sometimes use a grid to transfer the main outlines of one of her thumbnails to the linen panel on which she will do the painting. She begins the painting itself by applying a wash composed of Michael Harding transparent red oxide and ultramarine blue thinned with a little Gamsol and then wiped dry with a paper towel. The exact balance of this gray wash, whether a little warmer or cooler, is determined by the subject matter. She then uses a darker mixture to delineate some of www.pleinairmagazine.com / June-July 2018
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DEMONSTRATION:
Creating Atmosphere
Step 1
Step 2
Painting on location in Tequesta, Florida, Kathleen Hudson applies a rough wash composed of ultramarine blue and transparent red oxide. Note that the paint is not fully mixed so the color remains active.
The artist has applied a rough grid, dividing the canvas into thirds. This allows her to stabilize the composition. She has begun the drawing with some dark, thick lines in varying weights of red oxide and ultramarine. Note that the outcropping rock in the middle distance has been placed right on a corner of the grid. This will become the focal point of the painting.
Step 3
Step 4
The main masses and shapes have been blocked in, in full color. While the painting is bold, it is still fairly thin, allowing the artist to work on top.
Hudson begins to brush in variants of the color in the major areas, particularly the sky, to create a sense of the nuance and richness of the scene. By working up the sky first, she sets up the light for her work on the sea and the land that will reflect it.
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Step 5
Step 6
The artist continues to add information, building the sea and sky, and bulking up the cascading wave.
More detail is added to the wave and water.
Step 7 The artist now builds up the foreground. Even though the color in the darks is close, she keeps it active by allowing the paints in the mixture to remain separate. The brushwork remains direct and vigorous.
Final Step In the final scene, the color has been enriched by more turquoises and yellows in the sea. The rocks have also received more work, and the color now includes more raw sienna. Note how the blues dragged on top of the rocks work as reflections of the sky. Various edges have been softened. The focus remains on the outcropping rock in the middle ground where the edges are held fairly hard, drawing the eye to the central drama. Rolling Surf 2018, oil, 13 x 21 in. Collection the artist Plein air
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First Light, Halibut Point 2017, oil, 14 x 18 in. Private collection Plein air
the main shadow shapes of the composition. “I often use a stiffer, older brush to scrub in the shapes at this point because I want to be able to lay in brushstrokes over the underpainting without having them slide around,” she says. “If I get too much medium on the canvas, I have to wait before laying in heavier brushstrokes.”
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Hudson then proceeds by blocking in the large masses in full color. “I thin the paint a little at this stage with Solvent-Free gel and a touch of Gamsol,” she says. “I often use a Rosemary’s Mundy Mop, a soft goat hair brush, to do this stage quickly. At this point I’m testing out colors and values, trying to get those where I want them before thinking about building up more texture
and refining my edges.” To help her get a fresh look at her painting, Hudson will often view it with a pocket mirror. Once she is satisfied with the basic palette, Hudson will premix most of the colors she intends to use in the various masses. “I mix large enough piles that I’ll use the paint liberally to create movement and lend dynamism to the painting,” she says. “Sometimes I jump around a little from place to place; sometimes I finish in sections. It really comes down to the subject and the horizon line.” The artist says she often finishes skies first, especially if the horizon is lower. “It helps since the elements of the landscape reflect the sky,” she says. When it comes to the foreground, Hudson says she works to create interest with textured brushwork or palette knife strokes as a way of leading the viewer’s eye into the picture. At the same time, she avoids heavy contrasts in the foreground, which she feels could distract from her determined focal point if it is more distant. Six Mile Ranch 2017, oil, 12 x 24 in. Private collection Plein air
edges to achieve the most dynamic version of the painting before me.” Having adjusted the edges to her satisfaction, Hudson pauses and looks over her work once more from a distance, thinking of the origiAnother technical device the artist uses is nal plan she had for the painting. She asks herself to “marble” the paint in certain areas. “I keep whether it evokes the mood that she intended colors in the same value range when painting and looks for any weak points, as well as making rocks in shadow, for instance, but I ‘under-mix’ sure the highlights are where she wants them to my paint and create interesting, ‘marbleized’ be and operating at the right strength. After a brushstrokes,” she explains. “This leaves some few more adjustments involving a little simplifiveins of pure color in my brushstrokes or palette cation or perhaps the addition of a detail, she has knife work. It will form ‘eye candy’ that the finished the work. viewer may not notice at first, but they will love The qualities of Hudson’s completed paintseeing it when they take their eye off the focal ings — sure, lively brushwork and vibrant color area to appreciate the brushwork throughout that work together to create completely coherent the painting.” Once the main masses have been space and light — reflect the work of the many established and various textures created, the art- artists whom she cites as influences. These inist moves on to create the highlights. clude John Singer Sargent, J.M.W. Turner, James As Hudson approaches the end of her Whistler, John Twachtman, Joaquín Sorolla, painting, she pays considerable attention to Arthur Streeton, E.T. Compton, Claude Monet, the variety of edges in the work. “Often, I Edgar Payne, George Inness, Thomas Moran, have more hard edges after my block-in and Winslow Homer, William Ritschel, Frederick texture work than I need,” she says, “so I soften Waugh, Birge Harrison, and Isaac Levitan. From selectively with a dry mongoose brush. I step masters like Monet and Sorolla in particular, it’s back regularly so that I don’t overdo the soften- clear that she has learned the value of pushing or ing and lose vitality in the work. This stage is exaggerating the color at certain times, specifiultimately a matter of pushing and pulling the cally in making active color in areas where the Winding Road 2016, oil, 12 x 16 in. Collection the artist Plein air
values are close and subtle. But what is more remarkable in her work is how she aligns her technical repertoire to secure a sense of place and atmosphere in her paintings. “I hope viewers experience the same sense of wonder I felt when I saw the inspiration for a piece,” she says. “I often focus on points of shifting light and atmosphere in the scene. To me, these are the source of a landscape’s beauty: the things that make us stop and look before continuing on our way. The places I choose to paint are real, but because my paintings highlight rare moments of particular beauty, they tread a fine line between the ‘real’ and the otherworldly. I hope to evoke that sense of longing in viewers — to make them want to set foot in the landscape and see it with their own eyes.” Kathleen Hudson shares more of her landscape painting tips and techniques in her DVD, Creating Dramatic Atmosphere in Landscapes, available from streamlineartvideo.com. JOHN A. PARKS (johnaparks.com) is a painter, writer, and member of the faculty of the School of Visual Arts in New York.
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Expanded Digital Edition Content
“D
Hudson’s Tips for Beginning Plein Air Painters
on’t feel pressured to create a masterpiece in the field,” says Kathleen Hudson. “Enjoy the process of observing nature from life — take in the sounds, the shifting light, wind, etc. If it’s overwhelming to try to create a painting outside with the changing light, start with a sketchbook and learn to see your subject in terms of shapes and values. With painting, start with small studies and limit your field of view (zoom in; don’t try to paint an entire vista on a 9 x12-inch
panel). The point of painting from life is close study and observation, and you’ll pick up those skills faster if you enjoy the process and find some humor in the inevitable mishaps. “If you aren’t happy with your plein air paintings at the end of the day, it’s because there’s something off about the fundamentals (composition, values, hue, chroma, edges, and texture) — not simply because they were done en plein air as opposed to inside the studio.”
(AT LEFT) Bright Morning, Timberline Falls, 2016, oil, 18 x 14 in., private collection, plein air • (ABOVE) Storm Over the Moraine Valley, 2017, oil, 20 x 24 in., collection the artist, studio • (BELOW) La Jolla Surf, 2017, oil, 11 x 14 in., collection the artist, plein air
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Afterglow, East of Many Glacier 2018, oil, 12 x 24 in. Collection the artist Studio
HUDSON’S OUTDOOR SETUP Pack: Kelty Redwing 50 backpack. “It’s large enough to carry my gear plus some extra layers and food for day hikes.” Easel: Joshua Been’s Daytripper Easel. “At three pounds total, it’s lighter than most pochade boxes, and yet, when it’s paired with a good tripod, the largest of the different Upright Panel Holder options can accommodate a canvas or panel as tall as 36 inches vertical. The main benefit of this setup is its flexibility and portability. I wouldn’t want to hike up a mountain with a Gloucester easel, and paired with the good tripod and weighted down, the Daytripper is almost as stable in wind.” Tripod: Gitzo Traveler tripod and Gitzo ballhead Folding nylon car sunshade and plastic utility clamps: “I clamp a sunshade to my panel holder and easel wings to keep my palette in the shade (I always paint with my painting in the shade). Sometimes I’ll use a clamp to attach my sketchbook with the thumbnail sketch to my easel if I want it right next to my painting. And I clamp my brush holder to the side of my palette, too.”
Garrapata Surf 2017, oil, 20 x 30 in. Collection the artist Studio
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(TOP) Evening Glow, Bass Rocks and Annisquam Lighthouse, 2017, oil, 12 x 24 in., collection the artist, plein air • (ABOVE LEFT) Morning on St. Mary’s Lake, Glacier NP, 2016, oil, 14 x 18 in., private collection, plein air • (ABOVE RIGHT) Water’s Edge, Garrapata State Park , 2018, oil, 8 x 10 in., private collection, studio June-July 2018 / www.pleinairmagazine.com
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When My Son Beheld the Sea 2018, oil, 24 x 40 in. Collection the artist Studio
ARTIST’S TOOLKIT Sketchbook, pencil(s), pen: For notes and thumbnail sketches. Michael Harding oil paint: titanium white No. 1, cadmium yellow lemon, Indian yellow (“transparent, so it can be mixed without lightening deeper colors; fantastic for mixing greens”), cadmium red light, magenta, permanent alizarin, transparent oxide red, yellow ochre, phthalocyanine blue lake, ultramarine blue, cobalt blue, raw umber, neutral gray No. 5 There are no greens on this list. “This isn’t because I oppose them,” says Hudson. “In fact, I often keep phthalocyanine green lake, emerald or veronese, Michael Harding’s Green Gold, and sap green in the studio for convenience when I know I’ll be painting a lot of green. But I can mix all of these pretty easily, just as saturated, thanks to phthalo blue and cadmium lemon or Indian yellow. Rosemary Brushes: “I favor Ivory flats for landscape painting; the curved flats are my favorite .. size 6 and 8 are my workhorse sizes for most small to midsize paintings. I use the Master’s Choice flats; I keep a larger one to smooth edges and some smaller ones to paint finer detail. Recently I’ve discovered their Mundy Mops — these goat mops are wonderful for both blocking in quickly and for smoothing edges. I also like keeping a longer filbert, Egbert, and Dagger brush for more calligraphic brushstrokes.” • Classic Long Flat — size 10 or 12 (for covering large areas; these are stiff and allow for scrubbing)
• Ivory Long Flats or Ivory Long Flats “Curved Edge” — sizes 6, 8 • Evergreen Longer Filberts — sizes 4,6,8 • Series 279 Master’s Choice Mongoose Long Flats — sizes 4, 8 “These are ideal for softening edges or gently laying thick paint on a point of focus. If you thin your paint and have a light touch, a brush like this might be your favorite.” • Mundy Goat Mops — sizes 3⁄4 inch, 1⁄2 inch, 3/8 inch “These are fantastic both for blocking in quickly with thinned paint and for smoothing edges at the end of a painting session. They can take a beating!” • Ivory Dagger — size 3/8 inch • Ivory Egbert — size 6 or 8 Shaper tool: “For taking out brushstrokes and creating small details, and even for signing plein air paintings. These are available as clay shapers via Amazon and other retailers. They are great for taking out ‘mistake’ brushstrokes or carving thin lines in a painting (distant roads, power lines, rigging, etc.). “ Substrate: Centurion Double Oil-Primed Linen Panels. “It’s a smooth linen, and thanks to the oil priming, you can wipe out sections of your wash completely.” Mediums: Gamblin’s Gamsol Odorless Solvent and Solvent-Free Gel Medium. “The Solvent-Free gel stays wet on your palette for quite some time and doesn’t stick to it like glue as Liquin does when it dries. Also, you can transport it without issue in air travel since it’s solvent-free.” Misc.: Palette knife, paper towels, viewfinder, camera, pocket mirror
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