Wild Roses (France); and thoughts on painting loose

As mentioned in my previous post, here's a new painting about to come off the easel. Maybe a touch or two yet to go, but mostly it's done. Photographing this painting was a bit of a challenge today due to a lack of good light. It's a pretty decent shot, though I may try a reshoot once the sun comes out:

"Wild Roses" Oil on Linen, 20x16" ©Jennifer Young

This is another scene from one of those beautiful misty mornings in southern France that I've written of before.  Even though this was somewhat after the heavy fog had lifted, the moist air remained, and the diffused, cool light kept everything soft but saturated.

One thing I've been learning from my plein air paintings is that even the less successful pieces done on location have a certain freshness to them (if I don't allow myself to work them beyond the point that I should). There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that I am painting from life.

But I've also noticed that the brush size-to-canvas ratio is much larger due to the smaller plein air canvases. I don't use tiny brushes (unless I need to sign my name) so I'm really forced to simplify. And I must say, by the very nature of the way I have to approach the painting, I often end up saying more with less. 

I try to keep this in mind on  days when I'm working on larger paintings in the studio, and to make a more conscious effort to retain that same kind of freshness and looseness. It's a different matter than plein air painting, but it's been helpful for me to consciously reach for the largest possible brushes to do the task at hand, and to *try* to state things as economically as possible rather than overworking.

It's not an overstatement to say that sometimes my greatest motivations are my limitations. Andin the field, time is a built-in task-master due to the ever-changing light. But in my studio, unless my schedule is crammed full of other chores (as it is soon about to become!) there usually isn't that same kind of urgency. Without that, it can really be tempting to noodle around endlessly.

In my studio work, along with relying a lot more on memory, my challenge is to supply my own urgency, and to work more quickly and loosely. All this and still have command of the paint. There's the rub. After all, loose and quick is pretty pointless if the drawing or composition is weak or if the values aren't right.

It's a lot to consider if you think about it, but it is a fun challenge for me, and hopefully in time I can continue to work even more effectively in this manner on larger canvases still.

Another plein air visit to Ginter Botanical Gardens

We are having such unbelievably beautiful weather here in Richmond that you'd think it was September instead of mid-August. So yesterday I took a short break fromstudio planning to do a little painting. Only really had time for a very quick little 8x10" study, --and an unfinished one at that. But at least I got "out there" for a bit and took a break from all of this building/moving stuff:

Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens has a wonderful feature called the children's garden. Lots of fun activities for the little tykes, and beautiful summer color for the rest of us. The sunflowers are fading but they were still holding on along this garden path. A few more touches are needed to resolve this piece, and I may yet add a figure or two to the path. So I guess this is yet another "work in progress". One day soon I may surprise everyone and finish something ;-)

Summer Garden painting, Bellevue style

This scene is one I've been "stalking" for a few days in the Bellevue neighborhood where I live. I've written before about  my North Richmond 'hood, and how many avid gardners live around here. On another one of our evening walks, we passed this adorable yard with a sunny garden of sunflowers and zinnias, and I knew I wanted to come back by and paint it. I especially liked this scene when the sunflowers were set against the neighboring house, at around 9 - 10 a.m., when the bungalow was mostly in shadow:

"Summer Garden", Oil on Board, 8x10" (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

Plein air in a French country garden

Now that we're really getting into the summer weather here, I'm starting to see my gardens taking shape. For the beds alongside my house, I'm slowly building an herb and butterfly garden. Budget restraints required that I experiment with starting from seed for a few things, but mostly I just started from very tiny plants and mixed in a few summer bulbs. Gardening is a pretty new pastime for me, so  believe me, every new growth or flower is a triumph.

In Virginia, if you dig deep enough, you will soon hit clay, which makes building any kind of new bed a bit of a chore, as you really have to work in a lot of good loose topsoil, soil conditioner, and fertilizer to make the plants take to it kindly. It kind of makes me shake my head a little when I visit places like the south of France. Roses practically grow out of the cracks of the sidewalks there! Okay, the gardeners there do have to deal with the rocks (and a lot of them) so I guess we all have our gardening challenges.

The old French country convent where I stayed had a labyrinth of beautiful gardens. I believe the current owners have had the place for a little over 10 years, and while they started with a property that had "good bones", all of the gardens were as a result of their own sweat and muscle. The gardens were set out like little outdoor sanctuaries, and there was something to discover in every nook and cranny of the property.

To the painter's eye, there were a thousand possibilities just within the confines of Le Vieux Couvent itself. But I was drawn particularly to the little goldfish pond out back.So apparently was one of the resident cats, "Portia". With so much touring, I didn't really have much time to paint on the grounds of the property, but I did do this little watercolor sketch of Portia by the pond one morning before we set off on another excursion:

My layout was such that I couldn't quite get in the pond itself. But I came back one morning after the group from the "artist retreat" left, and painteda more close-up view again in oils:

"Bassin  Â Poisson Rouge" (The Goldfish Pond) Oil on Linen, 11x14" ©Jennifer Young

Another plein air from France; Market Day in Cahors

It's hard to single out just one favorite day from this French plein air painting trip, but at the top of the list was a visit to the large open air market in the town of Cahors.

This town had a fabulous "true" market, not overrun with souvenir vendors hawking chatchkeys. There were linens and other household items (table cloths and such--I indulged in a couple of these!) But this market, while lively and bustling (and quite extensive) was largely there to service the residents of the city. The air was full of all kinds of armoas from the display carts of  meats, cheeses, fresh fruit, veggies oils, soaps and herbs. And oh the flowers!

Being a fool for color, I set up in front of a vibrant flower stand set against the backdrop of a lovely old church. We only had about an hour once we set up and started painting, so I just tried as best I could to put down notes of color and value patterns as I saw them. By the time we had to pack up to leave, I'd gotten much of the work done. Here it is, nearly finished, once I got back to the studio:

"The Flower Stand, Cahors Market, (France)" Oil on Multimedia ArtBoard (SOLD) ©jJennifer Young

I will work on this just a little more, perhaps to resolve the group of buildings to the right (perhaps!) Surprisingly the most difficult part of this painting for me was the little dog (lower right). I'm not sure why, but he kept turning out looking like a furry blonde pig, so I may try to adjust him somewhat as well. Meanwhile, contact me if you have an interest in knowing more about this piece.

Like the first painting I posted from this little travel log, this was another challenging scene to paint, not only because of the complicated and constantly moving subject matter, but because folks really wanted to chat. Again, we as a group attracted many onlookers and inquisitors. It's always hard to talk, focus, think and paint at the same time, but to do that while also struggling to communicate intelligently with my schoolgirl French doubled the challenge!

Any way, it was fun. And while I may not have been able to finish this painting on site, the experience of talking and laughing with these lovely people while they welcomed us graciously and appreciated our paintings more than made up for that. It was another wonderful memory that was well worth the trade-off.