Art Studio update, and which wall color?

Well, we came back from our beach vacation this past weekend to find out that our building permit application for the garage/studio was approved. We were pleasantly surprised, especially considering it only took a week, and we had been warned that this process could take much longer. I'll not gloat too soon though. We have a long process and many permit applications yet ahead; but at least we can get this ball rolling. I've got to get some painting and packing done today, but soon I will share my little floor plan I've worked out for my work space. Meanwhile, here's a related question I've just received from a fellow artist, followed by my response:

Q: Just moved into my new home. I have a north facingwall with lots of windows and storage space, now I need a wall paintcolor... any suggestions???

-J.A.

Dear J.A.-

I am just getting started building a studio, so this is a topic I need to investigate myself. My main thought is to do something neutral. White can tend to make the light bounce around a lot, especially if you have lots of windows. You might check out artist Casey Child's blog post about the paint color he picked. A lot of portrait painters are into this neutral gray-green. I have no problem with the hue but I'm a little afraid the value shown at the above link would be too dark for me. But it could just be my monitor or his photos --or it could be that the walls don't need to be as light as I think they should be (Any thoughts, anyone?) In any event, whatever color I am considering, I'll try out in swatches in my own space first. Paint colors can look very different from one location to the next.

Chore avoidance via a Tuscany landscape painting

Back home this week to face the music (which in this case is my studio move.)  As I'm going through the painfully boring task of packing up my studio, I'm coming across a few unfinished paintings. I'm ususally pretty disciplined, but I think between the overseas travel in the spring, working endlessly on plans for a new studio, and doing as much plein air painting as I can this summer, I've gotten distracted enough to leave partially-finished works lying in my wake. Here's one of them, now complete, of a sweet little vista of sunflowers and the Italian countryside :

"Tuscan Fields*" Oil on Canvas, 11x14" (SOLD) ©Jennifer Young

It was fun finishing up this little piece, and I'm not sure why I shelved it for so long, especially since it's relatively small. But if I had to guess, I'd say that I find starting paintings more fun than finishing them. That fact coupled with the general craziness of my schedule has meant that lately some paintings have fallen through the cracks.

Overall my track record has been pretty good though, and I do finish quite a few. But it's time to show some resolve and either finish up some of these "W.I.P.'s" or throw them out. Ah, who am I kidding? It's not as much "resolve" as it is chore avoidance. Whether it's starting or finishing, painting is still a whole a lot more fun than packing!

*p.s. When I went to title this piece my mind drew a complete blank. I'm sure there's a better title than "Tuscan Fields" but it was the best I could come up with. Any ideas? If so, feel free to leave them in the comment area!

Plein air painting in Hatteras -"Last Stroll, Twilight"

Well, we're packing up early in the wake of hurricane Hannah. There is no real danger expected here on Hatteras, but since we're losing a beach day and were scheduled to leave by 10 a.m. tomorrow any way, we figured we'd get ahead of whatever storm remains and avoid loading the car in the rain. Makes me all the happier that I stayed late on the beach last night to watch the beautiful show on display in the twilight sky:

Oil on Multimedia Artboard, 6x12" "Last Stroll, Twilight" (sold0 ©Jennifer Young

This late evening light is my absolute favorite time to be out painting en plein air. The challenge is that the light changes very quickly. So really, I just concerned myself with capturing the essence of the scene- the beautiful warmth of the sky and sand, the soft violet haze that ran along the distant horizon, and the silhouette of the line of beach houses beyond the dunes. What a nice way to end a beautiful week.

Summer Reading

My husband saw this little painting I did of our friends and said "Very Mary Cassat".  Sweet of him to say, and yes, I'd certainly aspire to paint like her! But I think the Cassat reference had more to do with my painting on the beach than anything else. I've often wanted to paint on the shore the way the Impressionists once did, but always felt somewhat restricted due to the total lack of shade and the sensitivity of my fair skin. This year, however it has been possible because we've borrowed a large 12x12' canopy from our sister and brother-in-law. Otherwise I've had fried in my first 30 minutes on the beach!

The canopy allowed me to set up my easel and caputre this little vignette of our friends Esther and Carrie, engrossed in their summer reading:

"Summer Reading" Oil on Multimedia Artboard, 6x6" (NFS) ©Jennifer Young

This painting was done on Multimedia Artboard. I painted straight on an unprimed surface, and I must say I prefer this surface primed with a layer of gesso for oils. While I was able to build the surface texture up after a bit, I found the board too absorbent without any gesso. Any way, after a bit, it was fun. I felt particularly good about the piece since Esther (the one with the dark hair) got up in the middle of the painting to go surfing.  She was a good sport, but still her vacation wouldn't suffer for my art.

Vacation time and odds and ends

We're heading to the beach for a week for a little much needed R&R. I'll be bringing my paints and my laptop with me, but I have no idea if I'll have good internet access there for blogging. In any event, this will be a "painting and blogging optional" trip so it may be kind of quiet here on the blog for a few days.  Once we return I'll start the serious packing for the studio move. And not long after, we can hopefully get started on building me a place to eventually move to!  I've been pretty quiet about the potential project of building a home studio lately, because writing about waiting for this or that contractor to call us back with a quote doesn't really make for very interesting writing! But finally, we've gotten some quotes and the survey has been completed. So since we have enough info to feel secure that we can actually build on the proposed site we've just submitted an application for a building permit.

It's been a lot of "hurry up and wait." If we get our permit withouta hitch, I'll share more about the actual plans and process. All I can say right now is that everything I've heard about these things taking a lot longer than expected has definitely been true in my case--especially since we haven't even begun to level the ground.  

Ah well, at least we have had some progress. As for the Outer Banks, the weather looks a little "iffy" right now, but they're calling for sunshine by Monday (I hope!) In any event, while I know I'll be fine no matter what, the best part of this vacation will be taking some time off from worrying about this stuff.