Landscape Values

My mom was here visiting with me recently and I asked her about a watercolor class she had signed up for not long ago. "It wasn't so hot," she said. "We didn't learn much of anything. The teacher just kept saying 'remember your values'. We didn't know what we were doing, and we didn't know what 'values' she was talking about!"  

I had to laugh. Family values? Stock values maybe? I guess it's understandable that someone who has been involved in art and painting for a while would assume that everyone knows what "values" are in painting. But not everyone has that clear understanding, so I thought I'd write some of what I know about values here and in a subsequent post or two. (Mom, if you're reading, take notes. Pop quiz later!)

Values in painting are essentially the range of lights and darks in a composition. Seeing values in black and white is somewhat easier than seeing values in color, so a lot of times it is beneficial to create a value sketch of your subject first if you are having trouble discerning how light or dark something should be.

The trouble with values in color is that you now have color temperature thrown into the mix and judging values can be somewhat more confusing, especially when painting en plein air.  What's lighter, the sky or the ground? The rooftops or the side of that bright yellow building?  Understanding a little bit about how the light plays across a landscape can help to create a more convincing scene. 

That is why creating value studies before you jump into painting can be very helpful. Here is a very quick value study I did of a Lake Como scene I am getting ready to paint. I don't always do this, but for more complicated scenes it can be helpful:

This little study will help me to internalize my lights and darks so that I can "remember my values" when I start my work with color.

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air Italy travel

Bellagio Trip Report, cont'd

One of the nicest things about our room was that it looked out over an old fishing village called Pescallo. From where we sat we could see the rooftops and the fishing boats sitting on the glassy water. It was a beautiful scene from above, so I imagined that it would even be more beautiful up close! The day after our arrival we followed a very long narrow, sloped stairway (a little street- Bellagio style) that led to the village of Pescallo.

It is my understanding that at one time Pescallo was the location where they held an open air fish market. Today it is a quaint, sleepy little lakeside town. We went down there several times to sketch and just contemplate the beauty and peacefulness of the place. This pen and ink/watercolor sketch is a 6x8" image on 7x9" watercolor paper:

On two different occasions I was fortunate enough to meet a couple of the elderly villagers who were living out their golden years in Pescallo. They were so gracious and kind- and patient! They urged me to speak in my broken Italian and just smiled as I undoubtedly butchered their beautiful language.

To see my oil paintings of Lake Como and other places in Italy, visit my website here.

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air Italy travel

Bellagio Trip Report

What a magnificent trip! Arrived home a couple of days ago, but the jet lag hit me a bit harder this time. Still not feeling entirely "on my game", but it was worth the spent energy to be sure! I thought I'd share some of my wonderful experiences about our trip here on the blog, since for me, travel is such a huge part of what inspires me as a painter.

We based ourselves in the village of Bellagio, which is a beautifully situated hillside lake town that looks out over the three arms of Lake Como. If you look at the lake from an ariel viewpoint, it's shape forms an inverted "Y". Bellagio sits right in the middle of that Y, and it is truly the jewel of the lake.

The only difficulty with staying in Bellagio, for us, was getting there without a car. Even with the super-efficient public transportation systems in Italy, there is no direct route to this town. If one has a car (and arguably a lot of nerve), one can drive along the very winding roads and into the village of Bellagio itself. But we opted to be without a car for this trip, since the ferry systems, once there, are excellent. Also the streets in the village are tiny; in some places barely fitting one car, side mirror to side mirror!

So our route was to fly into Malpensa airport (outside of Milan) and then to take the Malpensa express train, change in Saronno (the town famous only because they make the Saronno amaretto cookies) and then arrive in Como. From Como we then took the "rapido" ferry to Bellagio. Even with all of that we still ended up arriving in Bellagio fairly early- around 12:30 local time.

Our hotel pick was Hotel Belvedere, which is situated on a hill at the top of the village. I was initially worried about it being too high up and too far out of reach from the center, but Bellagio is so small that there was no reason for such worries. My only word of caution for those of you who do not pack light, is that Bellagio is a hill town and some of it's "streets" are actually long flights of stairs. In order to get to the hotel from the pier where you are delivered by ferry, you have to either get a cab or lug your luggage up these steep streets.

We opted for the lugging, as we only had two carry on bags and purse and backpack. This way of packing is new to me, and frankly it was a miracle compared to how I have traveled before. But with a week-long trip, it was totally do-able, and I was incredibly grateful on the train, ferry, and stairs!

We were rewarded for our climb with a lovely hotel and a room with a marvelous view and balcony. We both really loved having the balcony. I would get dressed in the morning and go out and sketch and paint, and then Dave would have his time to perform his morning routine before going down for breakfast.

...No, we weren't drinking wine before breakfast! This photo was taken in the early evening before dinner, which was actually the best time to paint because I was completely in the shade. There were a few interesting views from our balcony. This little watercolor sketch is a view looking out to the left side of our balcony, over a marvelous terraced landscape. It is small- 6x8", pen & ink/ watercolor:

To see my oil paintings of Lake Como and other places in Italy, visit my website here.

Tags: art painting landscape painting artist plein air Italy travel

Postcards from the Southernmost Point

Well, we're back from our Key West trip now and I am getting my bearings again--getting acclimated to waking up to 30 degree mornings again. However, the daffodils are blooming in Richmond, and so we have the promise of spring. In a few more weeks all will be abloom here, so I think I can sustain myself with some Key West memories until then. ;-) The trip was so inspiring and so much fun! I took about 800 pictures and spent my days exploring the island on bicycle with Dave, stopping often to photograph and sketch. I didn't get on the Internet as much as I thought I would, so not much opportunity to blog. But that is okay...I had to make the most of the time I had there, which was much too brief in my opinion (though I can hardly complain!)

Here are a couple of sketches I did on my trip. Along with my photos, the sketches will act as "memory triggers" for larger oil paintings I look forward to creating. This first "postcard" is a view of the courtyard and some of the beautiful gardens in our hotel. Just a quick pen and ink sketch embellished with watercolors:

This next image is a scene I painted in one of the little hidden residential alleys in Old Town, Key West. I visited this alley a couple of times and was drawn to this little scene. The structure looked like a little garden shed but it was maintained so prettily with flowers and tropical foliage. As it turned out this building was actually an artist's studio. No wonder I was attracted to it! I met the artist/owner who was kind enough to show me inside. She is a nice retired lady who lives next door and paints for her own enjoyment, mostly outside on the patio adjacent to this little studio. Don't let the modest exterior fool you...it was a wonderful space! This is a 6x8" pen and ink/watercolor on approximately 7x9" watercolor paper:

 

I will be working on a couple of commissions immediately upon returning home, but be looking for some new Key West oil paintings on my website in the near future!

To see my oil paintings of Key West, click here.