Autumn Edition 2014
Paint My Photo
11
‘Maple Leaves 3’ - Photo by Carrie Layne Mashon
PACKED WITH ARTICLES YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS... Our featured cover painting is ‘Angel Fish’ by Donna Munsch Winner of the July 2014 Challenge
Where Photographers and Artists Meet
Original reference photo, ‘Angel Fish 3’, provided by Paola Richey
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EDITOR’S WELCOME
Autumn is Upon Us... I can’t believe another summer has passed us by (almost). I hope that you have all continued to enjoy the many thousands of photos that our photographers have so generously shared and, of course, the amazing artworks that have been created from them. As ever I’d like to extend my thanks and gratitude to everyone who make this site the amazing experience it is; Roy Simmons, the founder of PaintMyPhoto, for his vision of what could be, and the volunteer administrators who work so tirelessly to help members - never forget that these folks give many hours of their Precious time for free.
Up Close and Personal
It is fantastic to see the groups and friendships that have been forged on PaintMyPhoto - what an amazing community we have become! Long may it continue... I hope you will enjoy this quarter’s magazine, which has been made possible yet again by the generosity of members who have provided content for you to read - a heartfelt thank you to all who have contributed.
Ruth Archer
Beauty Has Her Way
If you aren't a member of PaintMyPhoto, then please have a read of our magazine and find out more about us. Are you are a photographer who would like to contribute good quality, copyright-free reference photos for our artists to use for inspiration? Are you an artist using traditional media (a complete beginner or a professional, it really doesn't matter) who would benefit from being able to use photos without copyright worries? Perhaps, like me, you are a bit of both! Membership is free and you will find the
Laundry, Burano
site a very welcoming and friendly community. Everyone is welcome! Â
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MEET THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Vee Robillard Visit Vee’s Gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Vee via PaintmyPhoto
Vee Robillard Light, Shadows, Values
Emotive and Inspirational Images that will Inspire Everyone First and foremost, on behalf of all members, may we thank you for your generosity in sharing your wonderful photos! Can you tell us how you first discovered Paint My Photo? Hello. Thank you so much for this wonderful honour. My wife is a member here, Lissa Rachelle. She is a graphite and acrylic artist passionate about her craft. She is the one both responsible for telling me about this site, and for convincing me to post my work here. As well, Lissa is a Founder (and I am a Director) of the Pencil Art Society Inc., a global non-profit society that brings together pencil artists for Live and Online International Exhibitions. So we are both very interested in helping to promote any vehicle which will aid artists in the practice of their craft, and PMP does just that.
able to create an image which will create an emotional response in the viewer. I’ve found that is possible in virtually every form of photography. I started in film photography when I was very young. Digital photography has opened up a whole new world in cost effective photography and it’s a wonderful hobby.
What type of camera and equipment do you use for the photographs that you post on Paint My Photo?
I have one primary camera, and have used others. My primary camera is a Nikon D300, and I use a bunch of different lenses of all qualities: A Nikon 105mm Macro lens, a 70-300 Sigma Telephoto, a 50mm prime lens, an 18-105mm short range DX Telephoto, a 12-24mm Nikon wide angle zoom. Obviously I have preferences for different applications. I also have the other range of accessories also, flashes, filters, remote cable releases, What is your favourite photography subject? tripods (the main secret behind tack sharp photos), monopods etc. I’ve rented some studio strobes and Quite frankly, I don’t really have a favorite ‘subject’ for my other equipment for studio work, but do not currently photographic interests. I enjoy the artistic side of being own any. [3]
VEE ROBILLARD
What, if any, photography/image software do you use to manage your photos? Software to ‘manage’ photo’s, is in itself, an art. The old rule, “Less is More” definitely applies here. Just as photographers used to enhance photographs on the enlarger table with dodging tools (prior to the digital age), software is now the rule to be able to raise the quality of your images to another level. But a gentle hand in this ‘management’ process is important. I use a variety of tools, each having specific things which they do better than others. I use Photoshop, Nikon NX2, LightRoom and others. The goal in ‘developing’ any digital photograph, is to apply just enough software management to bring out the best in the photo, without it appearing as if any changes were made.
Portrait of an Old Man
If you had to choose just one photograph that you have posted on Paint My Photo, which one would it be and why?
After the Storm
At the moment one of my favorites is a landscape I called Moonscape. Sometimes the ‘attachment’ one feels to a photograph speaks to the degree of difficulty in obtaining it (sort of like raising children). It was a freezing cold Canadian winter night (about -20 Celcius on a cold January evening), and I had been chasing a crescent moon which was darting in and out of cloud cover. I was looking for the best place to shoot it, and I came across this stand of evergreen trees. I began to think about how I wanted to shoot it. So I set up my gear, freezing my butt off, along side of the road about 10 pm, and then I waited, yes, teeth chattering and fingers freezing. I waited for the moon to break through a section of clouds. So I decided to take a chance and created a long exposure (15 seconds I think it was), and then clicked just as the moon broke through a hole in the clouded. If you look carefully, you can actually see about 15 seconds of movement in the actual moon. When I reviewed the picture I was very happy with the results. The tones generated by the long exposure were wonderful. For me, the overall picture created the quiet, winter scene I had been looking for. In fact, I’ve always considered my favorite shot to be the photograph I am going to take next.
You Think You Know Heat?
Finally, we’d love to know a little more about you, do you have a personal website (or other online presence) where we can see more of your work? I do have a personal web site. It is: http://veerobillard.smugmug.com/ I offer my photographs for sale in various forms through this web site. Most of the photographs there are already uploaded onto PMP, because I enjoy seeing what artists can do with my photographs....it’s all for a great cause. As I create more, I will continue to upload them in the future. Links to Vee’s gallery and PMP profile can be found at the beginning of this article.
Gala Apple
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VEE ROBILLARD Vee’s Choice Moonscape
Pink and White
Sunset Tree
Canada Goose Dreaming in Watercolor
Young Man
Red Barn
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VEE ROBILLARD
Leaf
Belle
Halcyon Dreams
Winter Berries
Pond
Whisper
Gala Apples
Hibiscus
Peeled Banana
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VEE ROBILLARD
Stalker Portrait of a Dandelion
Portrait of a Seamstress
Sunflower
Raspberries
Enchanted
Symphony Come Closer
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Robyn Lovelock
RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
Robyn (Ro) is a very talented artist and photographer based in Australia. She is also one of PMP’s superstars, helping to keep PMP running smoothly and looking after members. You can view Ro’s gallery or contact her though PMP.
Robyn Lovelock ‘Simon’s Tassie Pic’
Robyn’s Been Busy Finding us a Fabulous Selection of Photos - Enjoy!
Pink Tulip by Gillian Floyd
Bird in the Flowers by Neil Empsall
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RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
A Mixed Special
Sunset1265 by Alan Thomas
Lillies in Vase by Sue
Alpaca by Marita The Blue Door by Rosie
NY Botanical by Lori Ippolito
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RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
A Mixed Special
Simon's pic Tasmania 4 by Ro
A glimpse of yesteryear by Fredda
Window Lacock Abbey by Ann Bentley
Hawaii by Kelly Broughton
BrightMay09 032 by Ro
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RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
A Mixed Special
Titch by Paul H Kemp Michigan Red Barn by Kathie Luther
Reflections by Doti Moody Hunt
I’m Adopted and it is the Best! by Christine Coffey
20 Mile Creek by Doti Moody Hunt
Heartbreaker with Blue Eyes by Inge Hartmann
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RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
A Mixed Special
My Friend by Kelly Broughton
Grand Tree by Max Hemingway
Evie - Hand Under Chin by Rob
Riding the Wave! by Kelly Broughton
The Troubador by Rob
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RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
A Mixed Special
Going Bush! by Ro
Custom Mule Resonator by Rob
Chilled Cows by Max Hemingway
Waiting by Ruth Archer Dog-Day Afternoon by Ruth Archer
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RO’S HIDDEN TREASURES
A Mixed Special
Black Bear Sleeping by Doti Moody Hunt
Autumn Road, Michigan by Kathie Luther
Marsh by Doti Moody Hunt
Father & Son by Ruth Archer
Autumn Leaves by Nicola B
Dawn Sail to Hydra by Ruth Archer
Berries by Nicola B
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ART IN THE MAKING
Ruth Archer Visit Ruth’s Gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Ruth via PaintmyPhoto
Ruth Archer
‘Up Close & Personal’
The Trouble With Acrylics... I don’t know why, but I seem to have the knack of going into battle with every medium I use. Acrylic paint is certainly no exception and, while there are many advantages to its quick drying time, I tend to struggle with creating soft and subtle blends when painting with it. I’m not a fast worker, so this problem is compounded for me. I recently read a very interesting article in the International Artist magazine by an artist called John Stephens, who paints wonderful acrylic artwork with extraordinary soft blends and amazing detail - take a look at his website:
johnstephens.com Isn’t his work incredible? Now I know I have no chance of producing anything on this level, but I thought I’d try out his technique of scumbling and glazing to see if I could start to find a way of improving my acrylic paintings. He works on a toned background and then uses white to paint the subject and a dark colour for the shadows. I thought that you might like to join me on this latest painting odyssey.
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Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away
by Ruth Archer
ART IN THE MAKING
The Trouble With Acrylics... Choosing my Subject I recently had a wonderful few days sailing on our boat in Torbay, Devon. The sea was mediterranean blue (no exaggeration!) and we were blessed with the company of many dolphins on more than one occasion. It was a very moving experience that I felt I wanted to paint, so using one of my PMP photos, ‘Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away’, I decided to make this my subject for this demonstration. Coupled with another photo that I took of our marine visitors, I formed an idea as to how I thought it should look.
Materials Used Acrylic paints (A mixture of brands, but all artists’ quality) • Ultramarine Blue • Cobalt Blue • Cerulean Blue • Light Blue Violet • Dioxazine Purple • Payne’s Grey • Burnt Sienna • Raw Sienna • Cadmium Red • Alizarin Crimson • Naples Yellow • White Assorted brushes Linen canvas 14” X 10”
Let The Fun Begin... I spent a while thinking about how I wanted to position the boat and the dolphins and made rough sketches in a small sketchbook. I always work from a black and white print, so I made colour notes on my (very) rough drawing.
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by Ruth Archer
ART IN THE MAKING
The Trouble With Acrylics... I primed the canvas with a background colour of light blue violet and then used dioxazine purple and white to lay in the lights and darks of the image. I think with hindsight I probably should have used a darker colour for the background colour and then more white within the initial layout, but that’s part of the fun of trying out a different technique - always learning with experience! One of the traps I’ve fallen into more than once is to paint what I think I see rather than what is actually there, so I paid extra attention to ensure that the movement of the water being caused by the boat was correctly placed. I used alternate thin washes of white and dioxazine purple on the sail’s shadow and I have to say I liked the way it gave the sail the illusion of billowing out. I also enhanced the darkest darks and lightest lights to help me judge the values.
I probably should have spent more time on the the first value session, but I was impatient and desperately keen to see what would happen when I started adding colour glazes. I painted a very thin glaze of cobalt blue over the shadow areas of the boat, the sea and the sky. I added a second glaze to the UV strip on the sail, which can be seen here and demonstrates here how the colour starts to build up.
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by Ruth Archer
ART IN THE MAKING
The Trouble With Acrylics... I reinstated some of the lighter areas in the water with another thin glaze of white. I then decided to added a small amount of naples yellow to the lower area of the sky and in the lighter areas of the sail. A thin glaze of raw sienna was washed over the teak decks which gave a sunny glow to them. I felt the hull needed more shadow and glazed it with cobalt blue.
The thin nature of the glazes means that although you may cover over lighter or darker areas, you don’t obliterate them, which makes it easy to reestablish them. I scumbled white over the shadow of the sail and the hull, which started to soften the transitions between light and shadow. Another glaze of cobalt blue was added to the sea and a glaze of payne’s grey was washed over the dolphins and the darkest darks.
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by Ruth Archer
ART IN THE MAKING
The Trouble With Acrylics... More white scumbling was worked over the sail and hull of the boat, then a very thin wash of white was laid over the distant sea to push it back a little. I reinstated the details on the boat (boy are they fiddly!) and started to tidy up the deck detail. I worked up the froth on the crest of the bow wave with impasto white, a little was also added around the dolphins. I had a think about what I remembered from those wonderful days and decided that I needed to give the distant clouds a stormier feel.
To make life a little easier for myself, I used a couple of pieces masking tape along the horizon and the front of the sail. I then used heavier paint to create the clouds. Burnt sienna and cobalt blue were used to create the greys in the lower parts. I decided to use cerulean blue for the sky colour to add a little variation, and then also ran a little of this through the distant and middle sea area. You can see that I’ve also decided that the right-hand area feels a little sparse so a red sail has been added in.
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by Ruth Archer
ART IN THE MAKING
The Trouble With Acrylics... Finally, I reinstated the red sails and dark hull of the distant boat. I added the suggestion of reflections of the white tops of the clouds and the red sail in the distant sea. I made a final pass around the boat, bringing up the highlights and had a final fiddle with the foreground water, then decided to stop.
The Final Painting: Wave Dancers
This painting certainly isn’t anywhere near the skill of John Stephens’ wonderful work, but his workshop gave me some great guidance and I will certainly try this technique again; acrylics lend very well to this technique with their speedy drying times. The violet and purple base colours give a glow to this painting, which at first I wasn’t sure about, but as I progressed with the glazes and scumbling I grew to quite like it. It will be fun to experiment with different coloured backgrounds as I think they will make a radical difference to the mood and depth of the painting. This was great fun to paint and I hope you enjoyed joining me on this little adventure - why not have a go and see what you think?
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CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY FOR BEGINNERS
Dean Simmons Dean is a talented photographer and author of the book ‘Creative Photography for Beginners’. Contact Dean on his profile at PMP. View Dean’s photos in his PMP Gallery.
Dean Simmons ‘Candid Indonesian Boy’
Creative Lighting Effects Dean Simmons is a member of PaintMyPhoto and recently published his book, ‘Creative Photography for Beginners’ on Amazon. It is receiving excellent reviews and is a great guide for those who wish to improve their photography skills and confidence when taking photos. Dean has kindly shared an excerpt from his book in the magazine, which I’m sure you will find very interesting. If you would like to purchase Dean’s book, it is available on Amazon for Kindle devices and reading apps. Please note: buying our ebooks supports PMP! USA Link UK Link For other countries search in the Kindle store. Please leave a review if you are able. Read on for a small taster of Dean’s book...
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CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY
by Dean Simmons
Creative Lighting Effects The use of long exposures to create interesting effects has already been mentioned with regards to motion blur and panning. The same technique can be applied effectively to nighttime scenes. This is typically used in fireworks, lightning, astrophotography, and nighttime street scenes where the lights from moving vehicles create luminous streaks. Fairground rides and other recreational nighttime scenes can make use of those glowing lights and create colourful luminous streaks of neon light by using a long exposure.
The long exposures can vary from seconds, minutes and days. Some astrophotographers capture the movement of a star and those exposures can even last for months. To create the long exposure lighting effect; you need to make use of the 'Bulb' setting. Using the Bulb allows you to manually open the exposure for as long as you wish. This is accomplished by pressing and holding the shutter button for the duration of the exposure. The exposure will last until you manually release the shutter button.
The lengthy exposure means that the camera must be fixed to a tripod or stable surface, it is impossible to accomplish the effect handheld (unless you want to create a mesh of blurred light streak which could also be rather interesting). Some photographers make use of a remote shutter button; this allows the shutter to be locked with an external remote and will prevent camera-shake and avoid holding the shutter button down for a long period. The external remote is a useful accessory for particularly long exposures, but it is not a necessity.
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CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY
by Dean Simmons
Creative Lighting Effects
The top-left photo is a passing carnival vehicle, covered in neon lights. The camera is set on a step and the bulb exposure captures the neon streaks as the vehicle passes. The right scene, taken from an overhead crossing is Singapore night time. It shows the streaks of lights as the vehicles navigate the road, the lamppost light produces a 'star' shape that is a result of a bright light source on long bulb exposures. Bottom-right is a street scene in Central Jakarta, the monument towers above the street vendors. The blurred movement in the scene conveys the busy, bustling street that is ongoing throughout the day and into the night. The bottom-left photo is Barcelona's famous street, La Rambla. The camera is rested on the floor and uses a long bulb exposure to capture the Christmas lights and a nice reflection on the ground. The lines of illuminated trees and the grid on the pavement create an interesting composition. All of the demonstrated bulb exposures were captured without a tripod. It is recommended a tripod is used but don't be put off by not having a tripod available. You can't always predict a good bulb-exposure opportunity, so make use of your surroundings and find a ledge to set you camera down.
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CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY
by Dean Simmons
Creative Lighting Effects
The Dock is on Fire! By Bill Peppas, taken in Stamata, Greece This stunning shot perfectly demonstrates the use of the lighting techniques discussed. Bill took this photo shortly after dusk at Kavouri Beach, not far from Greece's capital city, Athens. “The "light" effect is the result of burning ( set on fire ) steel wool being rotated in the air inside a whisk while I was running across the dock. To make it last long enough to cover the whole length of the dock I mixed up some #1 steel wool ( which needs a lot of heat to catch fire and burns slower). “This photo is all about color. The beautiful colors at the sky, the hot yellow/orange-ish sparks from the steel wool, the colorful reflection of the sparks on the seawater, the color of the sand as it was lit by the flaming steel wool and the lights of the city in the background. Apart from all those wonderful colors, I also like the uniqueness of the shot, it's different than any steel wool photograph I've seen." Bill enjoys travelling and has a portfolio of various subjects, many of which are enhanced by his 'light painting'. “I'm a semi-pro landscape photographer situated in the suburban area outside Athens in Greece. Together with my partner, Andreas, we travel around the country looking for beautiful natural landscapes or seascapes and sometimes cityscapes/country-side small towns or villages to capture. “We like to try different things, and sometimes combine our landscape excursions with some creative photography action like light painting, steel wool, levitation, etc.” Like a wizard creating streaks of light, enjoy simulating the magical light and experimenting with the bulb setting. [24]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
Lorna Webber Lorna is a very talented artist and photographer based in the UK. View Lorna’s Gallery on PMP. You can contact Lorna by visiting her PMP profile page on PMP.
Lorna Webber ‘Tree Abstract 3s’
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Making the most of the inspiration! I am constantly amazed by the skill and vision of the wonderful photographers who share their photos on PMP. There are thousands of photos on the site which are works of art in their own right. We artists are so fortunate to be given permission to make paintings and drawings from these images. While there are many photographs that can easily be converted into successful paintings just by copying them as they stand, I would like to encourage artists to add something of themselves to the painting – something beyond that goes beyond skill and reaches into expression and inventiveness. I’d like to reassure you that photographers are just as pleased to see a re-imagining of their image as they are to see it painted directly.
‘Ice Dancer’
Feel free to interpret, add, remove, re-organise, combine and otherwise adapt the images that are offered to you for inspiration and reference. In this article, I have chosen to highlight just a few of the artists who have done that. [25]
PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Changing Moods Here is Brenda Thour’s Night Owl – a fabulous background treatment provides Glennis Weston’s beautiful photograph with a different mood and a lot of drama.
In his lovely watercolour, Robert Reid has changed the feeling with tone, colour and lighting, to make a different but equally beautiful scene based on the source photo by Pixel Bloke (David Smith). ‘Into the Realm’ was Rob’s wonderful tribute to a superb photographer who is greatly missed.
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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Terrific Technique You will probably be familiar with the gorgeous banner art that has been PMP’s identity for the past few months. It was made by Laurie Boone Henry with alcohol inks on Yupo. Here is another of her paintings from her own photograph:
This technique has become very popular. Some of our best artists in traditional media are experimenting with alcohol inks. Sammy is new to this medium, but you would never guess it. Here is her painting of Angeline Rijkeboer’s owl…
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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Roy Simmons is well known for his beautiful loose-style watercolours, especially landscapes of the Lake District. He has experimented with stencils to further enrich and enliven his technique. The first painting is a combination of inspirations from Oggy’s album of Italy.
View Oggy’s Photos
The second, a painting of Venice, again using stencils, is based on Neil Cartwright’s photo of the Grand Canal.
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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Another new medium – ‘Scratch Board’ (also known as Scraperboard) is now hugely popular especially in the USA, and increasingly in the UK and elsewhere. The art of scratchboard has been elevated to an astounding degree of excellence and we have some world-class ‘scratchers’ on PMP! There is now a dedicated page for the medium with in the Drawing Group. Diana Lee made this outstanding piece from The Closet Painter (Rosie)’s photo The Needlewoman:
Scratchboard can be coloured too, as Sheila Daniells expertly shows, using Steve Lyddon’s splendid photo Dreamtime:
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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Another delightful, coloured scratchboard piece, this time from Jenny Dalleywater – Fawn, from a photograph by Lenora Melville.
Getting stuck in with collage: Who could fail to be impressed by Mary’s portrait of Avo? Just look at the inventive use of collaged fabric to make this character really come to life. The texture is perfect for his craggy face. The reference used was Rosalind Amorin’s wonderful photographic portrait of Avo.
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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Take a look at Patty Henderson’s chicken, based on a photo by Billie Crain. Patty has used collaged papers to produce this colourful, lively piece - perfect for a fresh country feel and a perky hen.
Alex Lee Johnson’s striking portrait “Mood” was the inspiration for this wonderfully surreal painting by Carolyn, which includes real playing cards within the acrylic painting – a very inventive way to reinforce the meaning of the piece. I like the way the cards form a kind of mask for the poker player.
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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! I love Vivienne Adams’s interpretation of Rosalind Amorin’s photograph of the Vancouver skyline. The newsprint provides an excellent impression of the detail of the buildings, as well as giving it a great urban edge.
Our Queen of Collage, Cherry Aron, has made many fabulous mixed-media paintings with PMP photos as a starting point. In this one, she used a marvellous photo by Viacheslav, representing his multi-layered photo with multiple layers of collage and paint glazes. Beautiful!
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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Form and Format Some artists apply their invention to unusual and original formats for their paintings. Here, Judith Farnworth has adopted a grid format to display four varied but related watercolour paintings of the same subject. Donna Sommer provided the inspirational fruit in Sugar for Shawn!
Richard Long has employed the same format. Perhaps a tribute to Andy Warhol, but Richard didn’t cheat by screen printing (hahah) – he has painted each image in gouache to give a great pop-art result. The portrait was shared by Alex Lee Johnson.
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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! Not stopping at format, Harold Kirby has actually painted a form. His Portland Head Light is painted on an artist’s palette, from Teresa Houston’s fine reference photo. You’ll be glad to know that Hal didn’t use his only palette for this!
This is a real three-dimensional painting on a very unusual support. J.D. Fields has painted a blown goose egg to produce a small world of colour. J.D.’s painting was based on a beautifully coloured photo by Laura Moore.
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PAINT MY PHOTO... CREATIVELY
by Lorna Webber
A Celebration of Skill and Imagination that will Inspire You! In Summary I’ve written on this topic in the last 4 PMP magazines, so if you like what you’ve read and want more explanation and examples, please feel free to look here:
http://issuu.com/paintmyphoto I do hope you will be inspired to try something new and to experiment a bit. Once again, I would like to thank all the terrific photographers who share their inspirational work so generously on Paint My Photo. My thanks too, to all the artists who have kindly allowed me to include their work in this article. May I take this opportunity to remind every artist to let the photographer know when you have created a painting inspired by their photo? It doesn’t happen automatically when you post a painting with a link. All it takes is a grateful comment on the photo in question, to show your appreciation. I look forward to displaying some more of your great work next time. Prepare yourselves – it may be an abstract extravaganza! Until then – happy creative painting!
Lorna’s work can be seen here http://lornawebber.blogspot.com/ and here https://www.facebook.com/ LornaWebberVipond
‘Rusted Memories’ [35]
COLOUR THOUGHTS
Judith Farnworth View Judith’s gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Judith via PaintmyPhoto
Judith Farnworth ‘Rolo’ - reference photo by Gwen Card
Making the Most of Colour I recently came across Judith Farnworth’s great art blog and found some wonderful articles that she has written about how she works with colour. Judith is a long-time member of PaintMyPhoto and produces some beautiful artwork. She has kindly agreed to let me share an excerpt of her blog in the magazine.
I know I mention colour in virtually every blog I write but thought a full blog on colour where I tie everything together would be useful. I get asked a lot about colour on all my workshops and I find as I progress I get more and more specific about what I want from a particular colour. You may be interested to learn about the colour planets I do before starting a painting especially if I want to find a new interesting combination or I am looking for something specific, which I feel will compliment the subject (more about these later in this article). What I am not necessarily looking for is to find exact colours to match my subject although I do that as well. I am looking for colours which may not immediately be what you might choose but because of the way I mix them will still look attractive. I also choose a dark colour so that I have something which will give me a good deep tone... it isn't colour which defines a subject it is shape, and tonal value is what helps to give you the shape of a subject. My dark may be a blue, a purple, brown or sometimes a red but it has to be a colour which will give a full range of value so for example a palette with lemon yellow, permanent rose and cobalt blue doesn't have the very darkest values and so I would either swap a colour or add in another to give me the range. [36]
Colour thoughts by Judith Farnworth
ART IN THE MAKING...
Making the Most of Colour I have spent a lot of time studying colour and am still learning and as you will have read do not keep my colours to a limited palette although for any one painting I rarely use more than 6 colours. I love having a good choice and enjoy all the different colours and particularly those which can't be mixed. Winsor & Newton Opera Rose is a prime example; a vibrant almost fluorescent pink, which is unlike any other colour and impossible to mix at least not with the colours I have. Schmincke Translucent Orange is another - impossible to get from any red or yellow at least any that I have in my palette! I have listed the colours in my palette later in this article and I think I have only added a small number since, Perylene Green would be one, a lovely silver green, and interestingly, I am realising that the more adventurous colour combinations come when I am painting animals. With flowers I tend to stick with matching the colour to the flower and maybe adding something a bit more adventurous for the backgrounds, although invariably the background will have some of the flower colour mixed with it. With animals I either see potential colour mixes or if don't see them, I make them up testing them on a planet. I often work from black and white images for animals so I am not bound by the colour I see. I find I can be a bit more inventive and creative if I'm not viewing the subject in full colour feeling freer to experiment with anything I think might look different and interesting.
Four colours I have been using a lot recently are Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Sienna and Raw Sienna. I seem to have been drawn to them for a number of paintings recently, I sometimes add in a prussian blue as well and a cad yellow for some brightness but am going to start experimenting again with some of the other colours. I really like Turquoise but don't seem to have used much of it recently so for no other reason I might introduce it into the next painting I do.... scientific eh?
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ART IN THE MAKING...
Colour thoughts by Judith Farnworth
Making the Most of Colour One thing I do really want to emphasise is that although I really believe there are no rules for painting, there is no substitute for getting to know the colours you have in your palette, get to understand the tonal value they will give you, learn how they interact with other colours, and it can only be done with practice. it's fine to read all about them, about analogous, harmonious, complimentary colours, opaque colours, transparents, staining but reading and doing are two different things and the only thing which will give you a understanding of your colours is to use them!!
One example to illustrate the point is a colour called Winsor Red; a rich red, veering slightly more towards pink than Cadmium Red. I have used it to paint the red shoes both for the shoes and background. When I come to add it on the paper to mix with the Prussian Blue or Indigo, whichever blue I am using it explodes and takes over, pushing the blue away quite significantly. For that reason I now know I have to go easy with it when mixing with other colours if I don't want it to take over, other colours do this but none as pronounced as the Winsor Red. Granulation is also another property colours may have but it is so much easier to remember it when you see it happening rather than just reading about it, easier to see how an opaque colour can both lift or dull a painting depending on how and when you use it, easier to see how much livelier colour can be when mixed and mingled on the paper rather than in the palette. Seeing is believing! So get your paints out and play!
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Colour thoughts by Judith Farnworth
ART IN THE MAKING...
Colour Planets
I spend a lot of time mixing little "planets" to try out different combinations for my work. I just drop paint in wet in dry or wet in wet and leave the colours to mix. I DO NOT go back in with my brush once the colours are mixing otherwise I start to get mud!! These planets are an example of what I do, I have pages and pages of these, which I can then come back to when I want to see what colours will work well for a particular piece of work - don't worry, I won't bore you with them all!!!!! These have 3 colours mixed, I do tend to use transparent paint but I still don't get mud even with opaques or semi opaques. The secret is not to fiddle with it, to let the paint and water do the work on the paper.
You can try this with any colours and you will be amazed how many beautiful combinations and effects you can get with colours that would be so dull and uninteresting if you tried mixing them together in the palette. Give it a go and you will find your work will move on to a different level!!!
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ART IN THE MAKING...
Colour thoughts by Judith Farnworth
The Trials & Tribulations of a New Palette! I bought a new palette from Ken Bromley recently and as many of you will know I am not the most decisive person in the world and, as the three radial palettes I currently use have 36 colours (I know, I know..... what on earth am I doing with so many colours back to that later) and this palette only has 21 wells, I had to have to have a serious cull of colour. It was a sad day!!! I love my radial palettes, the wells are so big when I add water to them I can get quite a dilute wash within the wells and as you know I do the rest of my mixing on the paper so rarely have to use the central area. When I first got them I was doing a workshop on mixing greens so chose a selection of yellows and blues and filled one palette with those. I then added the other more popular colours I use in the second palette and the final one I filled with my less used colours and any new ones I have bought since.
The Palettes stack and although they don't have a lid (should contact the manufacturers about that as it would improve the design if they did) they really suit me and I get on well with them!! So what have I bought another palette for? Well although these stack and I like using them they are rather large and a bit cumbersome for me to cart about to all the groups I go to.... as I mentioned, a lid would help as I could stand them up and any wet paint wouldn't run all over the place but as they are I have to have a bag wide enough to fit them in laid flat.
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Colour thoughts by Judith Farnworth
ART IN THE MAKING...
The Trials & Tribulations of a New Palette! I saw this new palette advertised at Ken Bromley's and happened to be speaking to a friend who had just bought one and was very happy with it. The wells are quite large and when I saw it thought it would be much easier to carry about. As I do workshops both at my own group and others and I also go to Bolton Art Circle I thought I would try it out... phew!!! Here you can see it all white and virgin like... it has 21 wells and because the minimum colours I wanted were 22 I have had to use one of the 6 little trays for one more colour (think they might be pouring trays). For those who use mixing areas there are 2 large trays and the whole thing is very versatile. Here it is with the lid on... already splashed some paint on it.... I am just so messy!!! The number of colours I possess have been accrued over many years and I am a sucker for buying anything anyone says is a nice colour! So my basic palette I think would be: Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Indigo, Prussian Blue, Cerulean Blue, Windsor Violet, Helio Turquoise, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Translucent Yellow, Translucent Orange, Quinacridone Gold, Alizarin Crimson, Permanent Rose, Opera Rose, Green Gold, May Green. My other colours include: Quinacridone Magenta, Rose Carthame, Pthalo Blue, Aureolin, Sepia, Brown Madder, Raw Umber, Cadmium Yellow Light, Permanent Magenta, Permanent Mauve, Perylene Maroon, Perylene Violet. I also have a few other blues and yellows which seem to be very close to the ones listed and one or two reds and oranges so in total a lot of colours. Having said that I rarely use more than 5 in any one painting but I do intend to start experimenting with some of the colours I don't use as often. What seem to happen is we have a comfort zone of colours, we know what we like and what works for us, what to expect of those familiar friends and for me at least, I forget to try the different ones.. but no more!! I have already started on them, using them to create my colour planets and trying to get some different combinations.
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ART IN THE MAKING...
Colour thoughts by Judith Farnworth
Judith’s Art Journey A scientist by background but bit of a butterfly at heart (OK, I am speaking metaphorically here!!), I came to art fairly late in life having never discovered what it was I wanted to do "when I grew up!!!" I had always been able to draw fairly well but never ever thought of a career in art when I was younger and when I attended my first painting and drawing class I still had no idea that I would ever pursue a career in it. What I did know however, was that I loved it, especially when I started to paint and somehow even though I was abysmal (there really is no other word to describe my earlier efforts) I still loved it and for some reason had this unshakeable belief that one day I would "get there!!!" Now where "there" is, is another whole article, suffice to say, I will never get there but as I love the journey so much, "there" doesn't seem as important to me now, in fact I don't want to get there... it would feel like the end of an amazing book, a superb film, a beautiful relationship. However I did struggle for many years and I feel that was very much in part due to lack of the right tuition, if I had known certain things early on I am convinced I would have progressed and improved much faster... I did improve but only very slowly. I now know, that painting is a skill and not a talent and that with the right help anyone can do it... all you need is the desire to improve, and the motivation to practice, and the desire will make you practice... as the golfer said, "It's amazing... the more I practice the luckier I get!!" I was asked to give a workshop for my local art group 3 years ago....they asked me, I said yes then came home and panicked!!! Luckily they gave me several months notice and I practiced and practiced what I was going to show them and delivered the session with what I have to say was very positive feedback. and more importantly I loved it!! They asked me back and when I retired early from my "day" job I decided to approach one or two local groups to see if they were interested in having me come to tutor them for a session... and they said yes too!! And I loved that as well!! [42]
ART IN THE MAKING...
Colour thoughts by Judith Farnworth
Judith’s Art Journey Now I visit groups all over the North of England and would love to start traveling further afield. I run both half and all-day sessions but the emphasis in all my sessions is on techniques, skills and painting in a loose way. I teach all the things I didn't know and it is amazing how many people at the groups I visit don't know lot of those things either. Any groups who would like me to come and deliver a workshop just need to get in touch and I will see if it is possible to organise and possibly do several sessions in the one trip. My website is:
Link to Judith Farnworth’s website
Any of you who have enjoyed the articles here might want to check out my blog... there is a link from the website or you can visit it here:
Link to Judith Farnworth’s website
Note from the Editor: I thoroughly recommend following Judith’s blog - she shares a great deal of experience and advice that is extremely helpful for beginners and experienced painters alike. It’s a fun read too!
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FEATURED COVER PAINTING
Donna Munsch View Donna’s gallery on PaintMyPhoto Contact Donna via PaintMyPhoto
Donna Munsch ‘Pitcher of Flowers’
An Interview with Donna Munsch - Her Painting Features on the Cover Donna, as a first-time winner of the July challenge, "A Fine Kettle of Fish,"we were wondering what there was about the challenge that caught your attention and gave you the inspiration to take up the challenge to paint an underwater scene? I was looking for something different to paint than I normally would. When I saw the challenge was fish, it immediately caught my attention. I searched the PMP site and saw Paola Richey's photo of an angel fish. She posted several so I thought I had a good collection to put an interesting composition together. Also I thought I might have a chance to sell it on the Daily Paint Works site.
Strawberry Copper Colander
What would you like to tell us about yourself and your art? Did you have specific training in art, or are you a self-taught artist? Do you have a website or do you paint purely for pleasure? I graduated college with a art education degree and taught 32 years as an art teacher in Berlin Wisconsin. I could only work on my personal paintings during the summer breaks but now that I am retired I try to paint a little almost everyday.
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COVER FEATURE
An Interview with our Winner Donna Munsch
An Interview with Suzanne Munsch - Her Painting Features on the Cover I took a couple of online courses from Dan Edmundson to refresh my skills and that is what motivated me to look into selling them online. Luckly I have been able to sell a few this year to help pay for the supplies it takes to do my hobby. I have a blog: http://donnamunscch.blogspot.com/ where I post my paintings and also have a link to my prints and Daily Paint Works. I also sell on Etsy but do much better with Daily Paint Works. Is there a particular medium or style that you like to work in most, and why? Oil painting is my only focus now. I did watercolors and acrylic paintings years ago but once I tried oil paint I was hooked. I love the buttery consistency of the paint. What drew you to the photo "Angel 3" by Paola Richey of a golden angelfish to use as your reference photo? Was this your first entry to the monthly challenges on PMP? This was my first try at a challenge on PMP. I have only been using this site this year. The photo references are vast and very good. Paola's photo was very clear and the fact she posted several angel fish it gave me options. Do you have a designated studio where you go to create your work? What is it like? What kind of atmosphere is most conducive to your creativity when you paint?
Who’s Spurs?
Right now I paint in a corner of my large kitchen where I have a folded table set up and lap top. The ceiling is high so it has good ventilation and the lighting is excellent. I store my paintings all over. How did you learn about PMP? What do you think of the idea that photographers share their photos with artists around the world to paint, free of copyright here in our online community? Is having such a vast selection of photos as reference helpful to you as an artist? I learned about PMP on Daily Paint Works. I was viewing Lynn Darby's paints and she noted the site as a resource. Once I saw the site I was in heaven. I have been looking for photos that I could use as references with no copyrights attached.
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COVER FEATURE
An Interview with our Winner Donna Munsch
An Interview with Donna Munsch - Her Painting Features on the Cover I do paint from my own still lifes and photos but it is no where vast enough to keep the motivation going. I could spend a whole day on setting up a still life and take many photo just to find one to paint. This sight saves me time, lots of time. Now I can paint more and spend less time looking for ideas. The photographers here are so generous to post their photos to paint from, without them I would not be progressing as much as a painter. Donna, your painting was the very first since the PMP challenges started, that was given 5 points by each of our judges, the highest score they give. A perfect 20, and well deserved!! How did you feel and what was your reaction when you found out you had won this fishy, underwater challenge? When I found out that my painting won the July challenge I was blown away. I have no words to express my surprise. To have people appreciate my paintings and send such wonderful comments is really a treat. I am so honored when the photographers of the photos I have used as reference comment that they like my painting. Thank you PMP for being here. PMP is one of the best things in life for me.
Tea And Cookie Break
Spotted Tropical Fish
Beach Day
Golden Finch [46]
A Little Pot of Wonder One of my favourite ‘must-haves’ in my art stash is Dr PH Martin’s Bleed Proof White. Although I’ve tried (and tried and tried!), I just don’t get on with masking fluid when attempting to paint with watercolour, so when I discovered this little pot of loveliness I was one happy bunny! It really does do what it says on the jar - the two paintings I have shown here were both painted in watercolour, but rather than using masking fluid to keep the highlights, I reinstated the them at the end using this product. It will take a certain amount of diluting with water but this does reduce its opacity, although I find this useful for softening hard edges away. I have also tried white gouache, but for me it doesn’t perform as well as this product. One little jar also lasts a long time, so I think it is a worthwhile purchase. I purchased mine through Jackson’s Art Supplies, but it is easy to find other suppliers by using Google.
Well, that’s it for another edition everyone - I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the articles that have been so generously supplied by our members. Are you a member of PaintMyPhoto that would like to contribute to the magazine? If so, then contact me via my PaintMyPhoto profile for a friendly chat - we love to promote our members!
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