step-by-step painting Archives – Celebrating Color

Letting Go: A Painting Demonstration

April 22, 2020 By Carol McIntyre

How did this painting Destination Unknown,

become this painting?

The simple answer is, “I had to let go.”

Most likely you have heard the statement, “You need to let go,” many times throughout your life. I know I have, particularly from painting instructors. My internal response was always, “…and how do I actually do that?”

No one ever gave a good explanation to the process of letting go – at least to my satisfaction – until I took an abstract painting workshop from Joan Fullerton about three years ago. She literally made us become unattached to our work. Joan is funny and a great teacher, as well as creates beautiful paintings.

How did I learn about letting go? It took practice and belief.

During the workshop, we would start an abstract painting with gestural mark making, and then we had to turn our canvas 90 degrees. Next, we applied paint using various tools and collage papers. Once again, we had to turn our canvas 90 or 180 degrees. If there was a color combination or shape we really liked, we were to cover it up! There was a lot of groaning from fellow students and a few gasps, as we were stretched artistically. You could feel the resistance in the air.

This process was continued for several more layers until we individually could see a painting to start to develop. From there, we continued working on our paintings until we felt they were complete. Let me add, it took me over a year to become comfortable with turning my paintings and to freely apply paint without over-thinking it.

The feelings of uncertainty have evolved from nerve-wracking to exciting anticipation. Often I am rewarded with delightful outcomes. This happened in the demonstration below.

Letting Go to Learn a New Medium

As you may remember, I have been learning how to use cold wax medium with oil paints. From those who have not worked with cold wax, it can appear to be merely a new technique. However, it is similar to learning a whole new medium. For example, I went through this long learning process when I went from watercolors to oils, oils to pastels and pastels to acrylic.

The tools are different, oil paints are messy (which I had forgotten!), and timing is another factor to take into consideration when working with cold wax. Consequently, many experiments are necessary – and continue to be – to obtain a rhythm and deep understanding of this medium. In order to do this, I have had to become good at letting go!

You should see my studio. (Maybe I will do a video of it.) Every surface is covered with paints, tools, papers, books, good and bad attempts, rags, examples, etc. I can’t remember the last time it was this messy nor that I spent so many hours in the studio.

Progress is happening, which makes me do a happy dance periodically, yet there is more to learn. Meanwhile, I wanted to share my process with one painting.

In this example, I am experimenting with combining one of my mixed media paintings with cold wax. This meant I would be painting over an existing painting. Hence, I chose letting go of this 20″ x 20″ painting on panel.Once I honored it and acknowledged parts that I liked and some that I did not, I moved to the next step.

As you can see below, I painted black – it is black gesso – over areas of the painting. Embracing my fear of letting go and engaging in the excitement of trying something new, were on my mind. It was invigorating to tackle the unknown, despite thoughts of doubt. By the way in my mental dialogue, I have decided to change the phrase letting go to moving forward.

The areas that I left visible were chosen intuitively.

Next, I chose and mixed the colors I wanted to apply. They were based on the colors that were peeping out from under the black. Below, are the stripes of colors I applied thickly. This approach is something I came up with. In other words, I had not seen a demonstration or video of what I was doing. It was a risk and I had no idea what the result would be. I dove in with curiosity.

To blend the paint I used one the squeegees – probably the red one – and began moving paint around.

My intuition led the way. However, I was conscious of not creating muddy colors. I added some white here and there as well. After the cold wax paint set for a couple of hours, I then went in with some scraping tools. You can see the lines where the paint from underneath shows through. It felt a bet like a mess, yet I liked the colors.

Next I turned the painting 90 degrees and I put it on my easel. (My first layers are done on a flat surface.) I couldn’t believe what I saw! A burning candle. It was a sign of hope during this trying time of COVID-19 and made me smile.

This is the point when I begin to have a conversation with the painting. Now I further develop its content and focus on its composition. More layers were applied in various areas.

After applying more layers, I took a stop back realize, it looked too much like four separate quadrants. Therefore, I applied more paint and blended colors. Below is the finished 20″ x 20″ piece entitled Cake and Ice Cream.

One unanswerable question, “How is the pandemic influencing my ability to let go?” What do you think?

I believe it is at some level, because we are being asked to change many parts of our lives during this crisis.

FYI, there are several books available about subject of letting go, as well as inspirational quotes. Another book is Comfortable with Uncertainty, as well as this classic The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. How do you deal with letting go and uncertainty?

Please leave your thoughts and comments below.

Gratefully and colorfully yours,

Carol

PS This blog only provides an example of letting go with an abstract painting. It is applicable to any and all styles of painting.

How a Wine Painting Evolved From an Abstract Painting

May 9, 2018 By Carol McIntyre

Have you ever put lots of time and layers into a painting and it just didn’t work out? And, to add to the frustration, you convinced yourself along the way that it was a good painting and that you like it? I call these paintings “problem children.” I do so with affection.

Recently, I experienced one of these challenging paintings and thought I would show you the evolution of an abstract painting into a wine painting.

The original abstract painting started out on a textured panel 24″ x 28″ x 1.5″ board. First I applied several colors, different textures and collaged a napkin (do you see the tulips?). There are probably 4-5 layers at this point.

wine painting, abstract painting, painting lesoon

Step 1.

During the beginning stages of my abstract paintings, I always turn the board around, trying to find where and when I might begin to connect with it. Below you can see it in a vertical orientation. I am liking the drama of it and the mysterious layers that give it depth. The bubble-looking shapes were created with rubbing alcohol.

wine painting, painting lession, color theory

Step 2.

As you can see in Step 3., a few more papers have been collaged, as well as the dripping of paint and circle shapes. I painted in the clouds to create a sense of drifting and more drama. My husband titled it “Carnival Dreams,” which I liked.

At this stage of the painting, I am trying to convince myself that I like it. Actually, I only like a few sections of the painting because it is way too busy. I began wishing I could cut it into a couple of paintings, but that isn’t possible with this panel board. A tad perplexed, I put it aside and moved onto the next painting. It needed to go into hiding for a while.

Step 3.

After a couple of months, I decided it was time to let “Carnival Dreams” go and to see if I could do something different with it other than sand it down to bare wood. I wondered if I could turn it into a wine painting. To do this, I applied strips of green Frog tape to my panel, and then applied light layers of white paint to imply Venetian-like blinds. I confess, emotionally it wasn’t easy to cover up all of my previous layers. .

wine painting, oil painting lesson, color theory

Step 4. Click the images to see a larger view.

When the tape was removed and this was the result.

Step 5.

I am liking this but wanted to continue to see how I could transform this abstract painting into one of my wine themed paintings. The edges were softened and more thin layers of paint were applied as seen in Step 6.

Step 6.

I still wasn’t sure about my goal, but decided to go for it and so I took on the wine painting challenge. In this next image you can see the charcoal drawing of the wine glass, bottle and a hand. I have also applied a little paint.

Step 7.

In Step 8., the forms of the subject have been painted in. I am wondering whether to keep the bottle vague because I want the wine glass to be the focus. Color wise, it was a challenge to not let this wine painting get muddy, so I had to be careful how I applied the purples over the oranges. As you know, purple and orange mix into a brown, which is fine but I didn’t want it too brown/burnt sienna. Learn more about mixing orange and purple in my post What is the Correct Definition of Tertiary Colors?

I do enjoy the problem solving of painting glass, because it’s not easy. It is all about using values – the lights and darks – in the correct places. The layers also need to dry in between before I applied the last white highlights. It is not quite finished in Step 8., because I want the glass to pop more.

Step 8.

Are you thirsty looking at this wine painting? Ready to have a glass?

Step 9. “Let It Pour!” finished 24″x 18″ mixed media on panel painting.

You now have a unique view of the evolution of a wine painting or rather, a painting that was not totally satisfactory, and how I tried to resurrect it. This digital photo is not able to reveal the layers below, but you know they are there! Where might you have stopped during this process? Or would you have continued as I did?

I hope you enjoyed seeing the development of this wine painting and my problem solving along the way.

When have you experienced something similar? Have you documented it? Or perhaps you have a painting you might want to resurrect? Tell us what happened in the comments below.

Please share this post with others if you found it helpful or interesting.

Grateful and colorfully yours,

Carol

What is the Healing Power of Art?

August 21, 2017 By Carol McIntyre

Does art heal? Does it facilitate healing for the viewer or the artist or both? What do you consider the healing power of art? Is it something you think about as you create or as you view art? Or can you feel it?

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There is no question in my mind that art provides a valuable source for healing. I have heard many stories and witnessed how paintings have impacted lives. What is your experience?

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As a painter, I experience it often, sometimes with intent and other times it shows up unexpectedly. “Let the Caged Bird Sing,” a recent abstract painting, surprised me mid-way through the painting process with its emotional content and healing power. I am going to share my process as to how this transpired.

As many of you may know, I begin a painting by choosing its color palette. Red is one of my favorite colors and since it had not been a dominate color for awhile, I chose it to be main color for this painting. By the way, I had no intent for this abstract painting other than to make red my dominate color.

[Read more…]

How Do You Paint Your Canvas Edges? A Step-by-Step Demo

November 19, 2015 By Carol McIntyre

Do you paint your canvas edges? Have you noticed the increased popularity of wrapped canvases during the past couple of years? Though the deeper canvases, commonly called gallery wrapped canvases, are slightly more expensive for the artist, they do save us the expense of a frame. Also, as the styles of painting trend toward more abstract, mixed media and contemporary, the gallery wrapped canvas conveys a more modern design that works well in most home and office interiors.

As I have wandered through galleries inspecting the painted edges of numerous paintings, I have been quite surprised by the wide range of care – from poor to exquisite – artists have taken in painting the edges of their gallery wrapped canvases or deep panel boards.

After unsatisfactory online research for resources about painting canvas edges, I embarked on my own trial and error journey to figure out how to achieve the quality of presentation I wanted. A clean professional look of my canvas edges is important to me. Below I outline my process.

Step-by-Step Demonstration of Painting Canvas Edges

One caveat: because I do not like the manufactured texture of canvas, I gesso all of my canvases/boards irrespective of the edges.

1. After I apply the first layer of gesso with a brush and it has dried, I then paint the edges and overlap the front of the canvas with an acrylic middle-gray paint. See photo below. By the way, this middle gray makes it easier to paint the final color of the edges after the painting is finished, be it darker or lighter.

2. For this particular canvas, I wanted the edge to literally ‘frame’ the painting, so I wanted the gray to overlap the edge onto the painting surface about 3/8th of an inch. (See example at end of post of a finished painting using this overlapped framed idea.) To give my eye a guide, I drew a pencil line 5/16th of an inch from the edge using a favorite matting tool I have as demonstrated in the photo above.

Why is the space wider than my desired 3/8th? Pencil lines can often show through paint, so I wanted the line to get covered up with the next layer of gesso.

[Read more…]

Ever Painted with Just a Palette Knife?

July 16, 2015 By Carol McIntyre

If you are painter who uses only a palette knife, then my question is a mute one for you. However, for the majority of us, the palette knife is used as an accessory to our brushes. Myself, I split my brush and knife time about 50-50. My favorite use of the palette knife is mixing my colors because it keeps my colors clean.

In the spirit of experimentation and “Painting Outside of the Box,” as discussed in an earlier blog post, I decided to paint an entire painting with just a palette knife – no cheating allowed – using thick globs of paint. In addition, I chose a subject that I haven’t painted in years – a bouquet of flowers. Because I do like to push my comfort zone, I chose to have two challenges for this exercise.

Inspired by a friend’s bouquet of flowers from her garden….

…I began slapping painting around. Since I had never painted flowers with a palette knife, it felt awkward and I also wasn’t real confident of my strategy. For example, do I start with the background or the flowers or go back and forth? Indecision led me to do the latter as you can see below.

By the way, the two words that kept running through my head while painting were “joy” and “abundance.” I wanted that feeling to show up in this floral painting.

I was pleasantly surprised with the results that you see above. Despite the temptation, on several occasions, I did not use a brush. However, because the surface of this 20×20 panel was highly textured with gesso, I did need to use my pinky to smudge in color where the paint just wouldn’t fill in the crevices and left white specks.

After a couple of days of studying the painting, I realized that the middle left section of the bouquet proved that I am right handed! Notice how all of the leaves are going in one direction from right to left. LOL! I had to laugh. And, the leaves were too close in size and shape. Sigh….

Also, I needed to beef up my darks in the area where the flowers bunch together, to help keep the bouquet feel cohesive. The dark purple flower on the left was too dark, so I decreased the value of it and increased the values in the background around it.

It was a delight to discover that I can still paint flowers, as well as with a palette knife. One of my favorite parts of painting them, was combining several related colors within a flower. With the palette knife I could pick up 2-3 colors in one swoop. Here is an up close view.

Notice the variety of reds in the rose and yellows in the lily.

The finished 20×20 on panel oil painting is below. It’s title is “Abundance of Joy.”

How did I do for the first time out of the gate? Are you ready to try a new painting technique? I highly recommend it.

One final note: I doubt that I will become a floral painter. However, I do believe this exploration will benefit my current need to push my development as a painter. I am not sure what my next challenge will be. Perhaps a portrait, since I have never painted one before. What do you think/recommend?

If you would like to learn more about my approach to mixing color, visit my online color course available via Craftsy.com.

As always, if you enjoyed this blog, please share it.

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