Sunday, October 2, 2016

Painting an Aspen Forest in Casein



It's autumn in Colorado. The aspen forests are ablaze with color.


I shot some time lapse of one of my field studies, and I'd like to bring you along for a front row seat.

If you're receiving this blog post by email, you may need to follow this link to watch the video on YouTube.

5 comments:

  1. This is simply Beautiful !

    The time lapse is perfect to capture your painting method.

    Thanks, Master.

    Paulo - Rio

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  2. I enjoyed this video very much!

    I was up on the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway here in Utah yesterday. I am not a painter, but love photography. Just wanted to share one I took yesterday: this image I had to wait about 30 minutes for the sun to come out from behind huge clouds. Sometimes nature looks like a painting. Does that make sense?

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  3. Very nice, James. I always love to see how the last highlights and touches of color make the painting really pop and come to life.

    Two questions have come to mind: I think you experimented a while back with some DIY stay-wet palettes. Did you come to any conclusions?

    Second, do you think there's a strong correlation between the format/size and the time it takes to do an on-site painting such as this? On one hand one might think so, but I suspect the difference might be minimal.

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  4. Thanks, Paulo!

    Scott—I love your photography. In fact looking at one of them, I wished I had been standing in your spot. And yes, nature does look like a painting sometime. I'm not sure what creates that feeling, but photographers who also paint often take different sorts of photographs.

    Tom, to be honest, I made the homemade "stay-wet" and left it somewhere in the house where I can't find it so I haven't really tried it out yet. I did have a workshop student with a Sta-Wet palette and I could see that it created another problem by making the paint too wet. Sometimes you need it to dry out for thick paint and drybrush effects. That's why I still like (so far) the damp-paper-towel-strip method for keeping the tube colors wet but not the mixing area.

    As for the format/size question, I think it really comes down to the module size and the degree of complexity. Big brushes are the key to speed and good technique, but small brushes/tiny details as a contrast are also essential, but detail takes time.

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  5. I found it fascinating how the final highlights and strengthening of the darks, as you say, made the painting. I'm wondering about the amount of overpainting - does the surface of your paper not sometimes give way with the amount of water and paint you use?

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