ORCHID SEASON 2012

My orchids are in bloom and I just had to capture them before the blooms faded. I had purchased some 8"x8" gallery wrapped canvases and my plan was to paint each one in oil, in a botanical style. So I began by base coating each canvas with a beige tinted gesso and added various greens (sap green, phaylo green, chromium) in blended streaks. But I wanted each background to be different. Next step....the sketch.  That's where things changed......

Iwanagara - Apple Blossom "Fangtastic"

I began a basic conture sketch on vellum using a 2H graphite pencil (my favorite for laying in light lines that can be easily erased). Things were going well the lines would be easy to transfer and I liked the proportions to the square canvas when I smeared the graphite with my hand. That's easy to do on vellum and I hadn't bothered to use a protective sheet of paper (oh well, it's only a sketch). I began to erase the smear and loved the highlight it created. So I began to smear and highlight more when I discovered I was adding more and more detail. Since I had used good vellum this miraculously turned into a detailed gray scale work of my orchid.

The New World

After a very long painting dry spell, painting inspiration has come from an unusual source. I wanted to volunteer with our local 912 Organization and help with their summer camp, The Tampa Liberty School. This was a week long camp for 8 to 12 year olds, teaching them about the founders, the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and economic principles. My past experience doing artwork for elementary school libraries was immediately put to use. I was asked to provide the visuals to help the cause. This painting of the New World was inspired by the school's need for a visual comparison between the Old and New Worlds, (Europe and America). The director gave me a description of the things that should be included and I researched various images to include in a collage type painting. I designed a wall-hanging on canvas and my website (http://www.jlgarcia-artist.com/) cronicals the painting process. However, through this writing I wanted to add my reasoning for the particular images. Of course I started with the 1776 Flag and the name of the school also required the use of the Liberty Bell, but from there I needed to add the religous inspiration, believing that our founders were divinely inspired. I also found descriptions of the Liberty Tree which was a gathering place for our revolutionary founders and Independence Hall to add the permanance of a building as a symbol. "We the People" is a very recognizable symbol of our great nation, but the lower portion of the painting is more about the American experience. The family farm, the abundance of a wheat harvest and how the closeness of family helps to build the American Dream.

Back to Watercolor

While I have done watercolor in the past, it's been many, many years. So I held my breath as I began the actual painting process. The sketch was complete and well received by the client, with the comment that she felt like she was actually looking at her sweet dog. I transferred the sketch to Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor paper with graphite carbon paper defining only the basic details. I was afraid that the watercolor would pool in the sketch lines if I pressed to hard. I added additional details with very light pencil. This commission is to match a previous watercolor that the client had done of another pet a number of years ago. So I needed to match the style. I began by doing a wash of the background to look similar to the colors in the other painting. While that dried I used liquid Frisket to block out the highlights in the eyes and white fur. Then I began with the eyes using fairly strong paint. I wanted to use a realistic technique for the eyes and nose then a fairly loose watery technique for the fur. I knew the eyes were dark, but didn't have an exact photo to use as reference. I used black for the pupils and washes of burnt umber for the iris, removing paint until I got a realistic effect. I used a dry brush of black around the eyes for the fur and moved on to the nose. I was afraid the nose would be the hardest but it turned out to be one of the easiest areas. I covered the whole nose with a black wash then used a paper towel to remove paint in the highlighted areas. This made soft matt highlights with a texture. The next area was the mouth, using the dry brush technique again I used black and a mixture of burnt umber to define the fur. I had used Frisket for the white beard area so I overlapped this with the strokes. I let these areas dry then removed the Frisket with a rubber cement pickup. Now is the time to move onto the ears, body and legs. The matching painting didn't have much definition in the body area so I hoped I could match the loose technique. I first thought to wet the paper, but decided against it since I needed to define curls at the ends of the fur. I had used Frisket over the white chest blaze so I didn't have to worry about paint moving into that area. I first started by using a light wash of yellow ochre for the buff fur, I knew I could add layers as needed. Then it was time to work with all that black fur. I was worried about such a black mass of fur, but I figured that I would just start over if it didn't work out. Starting with a watery wash I worked in layers to build up the hair and highlights. It was wonderful and the paint flowed into perfect layers and curls of fur. I added more water as I worked to the bottom and mixed the paint right on the paper to create a shadow effect at the base of the animal. I removed the Frisket from the white blaze and added a greyed wash to blend the white into the black fur. So when you see white in the painting that is the actual paper color. I added a few more strokes with a thin liner brush to define some of the hairs on the face and tips of the ears. After the painting has dried I'll see if the black needs to be darkened in some areas.

SIDE TRACKED

Though I'd love to be painting whatever inspires me sometimes capitalism gets in the way. I have a number of various commissions which are due this Christmas season so I thought I better get underway. This client contacted be about a touching gift for her husband of their Cocker Spaniel who passed away. The painting was to match a previous watercolor painting of another family pet done by another artist. Though I don't usually work in watercolor and my style would not necessarily match I agreed to take on the commission. Photos of the dog were not the best but I did some research using Google images of other similar black and tan Cocker Spaniels and was hopefully able to recreate their family pet. This is the prelimary sketch for approval. I have a few questions of the client regarding the exact coloring and placement of the chest blaze, muzzle coloring and ear configuration. Hopefully I have captured the animal correctly.

TRY, TRY AGAIN

The painting in your mind doesn't often match what happens on the canvas. While I was happy with the progress on the tarpon, the pinfish were driving me crazy. They just looked too flat and didn't have that finished look that was "floating" in my mind. Then the light bulb went on they actually were too flat. Though I had a few of the individual fish in the background, shadowed deeply, I had not established a middle ground for the reast of the school. Also, I sat and concentrated on my "frozen" little pinfish and discovered that he really had a lot of brown tones while I was mainly adding grays and blue. The minute I added a raw umber glaze on the pinfish that were in the middle of the pack I got the effect I was looking for. Next I added a white glaze using Windsor and Newton Mixing white (it's more transparent that Titanium) on the most prominent fish and magically my little fish were swimming like I wanted. Finally I sharpened the details on the most prominent fish and I'm getting closer to the elusive painting in my mind. TIP: Windsor and Newton Alkyd Mixing White is the most transparent white, to increase this I use Gamblin Galyd Lite to make a crystal looking glaze.

I LOVE GLAZING USING OILS.
I used to use this technique when I painted exclusively in acrylics, but I love it even more using oils. (I've returned to oils after a 30 year hiatus.) It was just easier to use water-based acrylics and the drying time was better. But after being talked into returning to oils by a fellow artist I have discovered the new resin based mediums to be better than acrylics for this technique. I use Liquin Fine Detail (it has a smooth, slippery quality) and Gamblin Galyd Lite (it gives a crystal clarity to the layer). These in combination with transparent colors create beautiful glazes. This is especially useful in my current painting "Tampa Bay Tarpon". I want to create the luminosity and reflection of the fish scales, and by layering various glazes it's is working beautifully. In this photo I just covered the pinfish with another glaze of Ultramarine Blue/Paynes Gray and Galyd Lite. I also glazed over the pinfish that are in shadow adding black to this mixture. Yes, I did add white highlights in the previous step. But I painted over them again. First there were too many whites. It takes away from the effect with too many white reflections and does not have enough contrast. In the next painting session I will add the highlights back in, but I will be more selective in their placement. TIP: When layering glazes I don't apply more then one per day. Much like working in acrylics, each layer needs to be dry so that they do not mix together. And the painting always looks different the next day when the colors are set.

WORKING THE BACKGROUND
Back in my studio and hating the background of this Tarpon painting!!!! The first layer was so easy, but now I wanted to deepen the lower part of the canvas and it's not working. I thought I could just add a deeper glaze (turquoise/cobalt blue/Liquin) but it wouldn't blend correctly so I had to cover the middle section also. I'm happy with the color range of the upper water, but I changed the direction of some of the swirls and sun reflection and it now leads the viewers eye across the painting incorrectly. The section above the tarpon, upper right is good, but the upper left section doesn't frame the school of pinfish and leads you out of the painting. I also glazed over the tarpon again and love how the glazes make him more realistic. But the more I capture the tarpon correctly the worse the pinfish look. While at the beach last weekend I caught a pinfish and tried to cement images in my head of it's coloring and reflection of light on the scales. The colors are more defined viewed under water, for instance the small blue stripes are almost neon. Photos of the fish out of water don't capture what I'm depicting in this painting. I'll work on them in the next few days after correcting the background.