Monday, September 26, 2016

Gouache in the Rockies

Yesterday Jeanette and I, our son Frank, and his dog Smooth hiked up to Jewel Lake in the Medicine Bow Mountains of northern Colorado. 


I brought the painting gear but forgot to put on sunblock, so I was pretty roasted by the end of the day. 


The air was above freezing, so I was able to do a gouache painting of the view from up there.


I made a 1-minute video and uploaded it (above) directly to Blogger. It should be embedded above as a playable video. Does it work on your computer or do you just get an empty space? 

Above is the embedded version from Facebook. You can also watch the video by clicking over to my Instagram or Facebook page. 

19 comments:

Tom Hart said...

My comments are getting repetitive, but I can't help it: Wow!! The video does play for me, by the way. I do see a block for what appears to be an image that might not have uploaded, just above the video image.

Love the thick white application. Very effective for the snow. (It is thick, isn't it? I couldn't be completely sure...)

James Gurney said...

Thanks for the feedback, Tom. That empty space was an embedded Blogger video, uploaded directly to the blog, first time I"ve tried that.

Yes, the white goes on thick, right out of the tube. You may have noticed that I put down a light transparent wash early on to lower all the values just a little so that the white would jump out as the lightest notes.

Fishcake said...

The video works fine! I thin your painting looks even better than the real landscape :D

Glenn Tait said...

Another great painting - must have been hard to hold back on not overusing the white.

On my iPad mini, I get the empty space above the text with the other video showing below the text. On my Mac Book, which is old with an old system running it, I can see and play both.

Unknown said...

Amazing! I know what it's like to paint in snow conditions- difficult, but what you did this morning was knocking it out of the park. You make it look easy. Great video work too! Denny G

Roberto said...

Gi-
Thanx 4 sharing the Painting (and the process), it’s a real ‘Jewel’!!
Too bad about the over exposure, that can be a real problem working outside, not only the sun, but also the wind. I know that working on large mural projects I can get sunburned just from the reflected light bouncing off the wall!
I strongly recommend a liberal and repeated application of Aloe-Vera gel ointment (preferably w Vitamin-E) to all the exposed areas. (I learned about this caring for burn-patients many years ago). The aloe has real healing properties and the gel really helps rejuvenate the skin and helps w pealing. Good luck! And keep up the good work. -RQ

Karen VR said...

RE: Video Links
(On a PC) I could not see either video link in my RSS feed reader (Feedly), I only saw the two images, but I clicked through to your gurneyjourney blog and could see and view both videos. The blogger video didn't have a preview image but the video played just fine.

RE: The Painting
It reminds me of Bob Ross and the way he achieves texture in mountains with his palette knife :-) Lovely colors.

RE: Sunblock
Keep a small tube or bottle in your painting kit - just remember which one it is so you don't smear Titanium White gouache on your face instead of the Banana Boat X-D

Roberto said...

Or… I suppose you could keep a tube of zinc-white in your box and use that as a sun-block, and for the snow-effect! -RQ

Laura G. Young said...

So glad you guys were able to stop by Colorado State Forest State Park! Loved hearing the mountain chickadees scolding in the background. Hope you got to see some moose... As for the embedded video: I got a blank space via my iPad Pro. But it did play *below* without a hitch.

Safe travels,

Laura

n/a said...

The first video says out of date flash with my Firefox. Second is blank. In Safari same message regarding flash for the first one, but second video showed up and was playable.

Capt Elaine Magliacane said...

Oh a MAC using Chrome as a browser and yes the Blogger video played just fine for me... how easy you make those little paintings look... but it isn't so easy for me ... but I keep trying.

Willow's Quiet Corner said...

On Safari v10 on a Mac here. Both worked for me. The first one did not display the video preview, there was just text saying Click here to start Flash, when I did the video displayed. Great job in the cold there! :)

Warren JB said...

For my Android tablet running Chrome: no on the Blogger video; yes on the Facebook video; and bravo on the video, period.

2b said...

I'm teaching myself to draw and pain. Bought some books (including Color and Light and Imaginative Realism) and materials. And while I think I'm doing ok on the illustration side I think I may have made a mistake in investing in acrylic paints.

I can't find good examples of people using acrylics to do things I like, most people seem to be using oil paints to achieve great things, and most online videos of people using acrylics end up with paintings that look too "colourful" or just plain awful.

Have you uploaded any resources on using acrylics effectively? or do you know any good artist that is uploading videos on youtube on this subject?

James Gurney said...

Warren, Willow, Capt, Scott, and all, thanks for the feedback on what you're seeing on your devices. I don't think I'll use Blogger's Flash embed anymore and I'll stick with the YouTube or Facebook embed instead, which seems to be more universal.

Ezequiel, there's nothing wrong with acrylic paints. People have done great paintings with them. Personally, I just haven't really experimented much with them.

Laura, great to hear from you. We're loving being based in Walden. Hard working town, far from tourists, and in the middle of beautiful country.

Roberto and Karen, thanks for the tips on sun protection. I'll try that Aloe-Vera.

2b said...

Thank you for your answer! do you know any realistic artists working on acrylics that I can check out?

Salty Pumpkin Studio said...

Laptop Windows 10 on Mozilla, I see the video all right. There's a big empty space under the video though.
Neat vide0

Roberto said...

@ Ezequiel Pozzo-
While acrylic paints do have their limitations (as does every medium) with practice and modern chemistry, one can achieve some very outstanding results. The main problem most people have is the quick drying time which makes it difficult to work ‘ala-prima’ (which can also be difficult in gouache and casein), but this can be overcome by using retarders or conditioners (I like ‘Flotrol’). Golden paints makes a line of acrylics called ‘Open’ which are very slow drying. The fast drying time of acrylics can be used to your benefit if you like working in layers and washes, with transparent or semi transparent pigments, and/or over-glazing.
To see what can be done with acrylics in a ‘realistic’ or ‘traditional’ style check out Christina Ramos’s work here: http://www.christinaramosart.com/home
(She also gives classes.)
Good luck and practice, practice, practice. -RQ

Unknown said...

I'd love to purchase an artist's journal book with these paintings. Amazing!