Little Shop on the Corner

Here is a recent inquiry I received from a fellow artist: "I, like you, have been lucky enough to be in Provence  during Lavender season, and i have been back several times. My question  is....that color of "blue" on the shutters and doors you see everywhere...what color is that, and how can I mix it.  William Alexander  got me hooked on painting several years ago, and I even have my own Mt  Ste. Victoire hanging in my house.  Any help you have with this color is  greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance. -JH"

To which I replied:

"Hi JH- could you be more specific? I've seen a particular blue/gray and also a more vivid blue in the shutters. But both are a challenge to mix. If you use pure local color, the shutters tend to look too bright and candy-like. However, I've had some success with mixing combinations of Rembrandt's Sevres Blue + Cobalt Blue + white and a *touch* of cadmium orange to gray it down as needed. How much of each in the combination depends on the value and hue of the shutter. Try that and see what you think."

...And here's my own bit of experimenting with just that very challenge:

"The Little Shop on the Corner" Roussillon, Provence, France Oil on Canvas, 16x20"

Rose Garden in Provence

Fresh off the studio easel is a new painting of a beautiful rose garden I saw while visiting the area around Lourmarin.

 

 This painting measures 24x24" and is oil on gallery wrapped canvas. The painting continues around all four sides so it is ready to hang and no extra framing is needed:

The roses are blooming here in Virginia also, and I'll head out this weekend and part of next week to capture some of them en plein air.

For more information about the painting featured, please click on either image above, or contact me.

Painting lavender

Here is an exerpt of a recent email I received from a student of painting, inquiring about painting lavender:  "I just cannot get the lavender/periwinkle  color  figured out. How did you make it? Do you recall? Thanks again. I've much enjoyed reading your blog and your artist's  tips.

 Cheers,  T. J."

Dear T.J.,

Well, color mixing is a very ingrained habit that happens when I'm "in the zone" so to speak. Typically for lavender what I'll most often use is Ultramarine Blue (deep) mixed with Permanent Rose (W&N) and white. Distant lavender looks cooler, so I might use a bit more blue Cerulean or ultramarine, and less rose. It just takes a lot of experimenting, but after a while color mixing becomes pretty intuitive. -Jennifer *** 

Painting lavender is so much fun, and I feel so fortunate to have traveled to Provence during lavender season. One thing that struck me was the way that lavender changes color temperature. Sometimes it looked like a deep blue jewel, other times a violent purple, and still other times the red tones would come out so that it looked more heather.

"First Light", oil on canvas, 16x20" Price:$1175.00 framed

As with anything in landscape painting, the color temperature of your subject is very much dependant on the light. Morning light appears warm until you compare it to light in the evenings. At high noon, the light is directly overhead, so your subject looks flatter and devoid of shadow areas. To get the best understanding of the effects of light on a subject, it is imperative (for me) to go out in nature and paint what I see. I paint from photos all of the time, but only after I have done a considerable amount of painting, sketching and observing of the subject at hand on location. Photographs are a great resource, but they can lie! It is fine to paint from photographs and study them and the work of others while you are learning. But painting from nature can be the best teacher of all.

Jasmine shadows

Whenever I travel, I often find myself painting and photographing windows and doors. To me they suggest a both a kind of intimacy and a bit of mystery. In France and Italy many people take great care in dressing their windows and doorways with pots of beautiful flowers. Shutters and doors are often painted a lovely bright color, which over time fades and mellows from exposure to the elements. This little window lives somewhere in the tiny French Provincial village of Ansouis.

How nice it must be to enjoy the heady smell of jasmine each time you open a window! This painting measures 6x6 inches. It is done on a gallery wrapped canvas, and the edges are finished off in a color that compliments the painting:

New giclee print offerings

Here are two paintings I completed recently that I am having reproduced as limited edition giclee prints:

"Off The Beaten Path II"

"Along the Route to Dieulefit"

 

My giclee prints are offered in limited editions in a selection of sizes from small to quite large. They are perfect for home decor as well as corporate art, art for hospitals and art for hotels. I expect the prints to be released in January 2007. Please contact me if you would like to be notified when they become available, or if you would like any additional information about the prints. To see my current print offerings, please visit this link.  For more information about the original oils shown here, please click on the images above.