Plein Air Painting and Insects

Gnats, ants, no-see-ums, mosquitoes can be the bane of any plein air artist.  As you get used to heading out to paint you will find yourself armed with an arsenal of sprays to protect yourself from these pesky things.

My first line of defense:  Cactus Juice - this is a completely natural product and is usually very effective against marsh gnats and no-see-ums and to a lesser degree against the ants.

My second line of defense:  Some insect repellent with a modest amount of deet in it,

My third line of defense:  Deep Woods Off

For the ants (fire and other) I usually have to use a product with Deet - and spray it on the ground around where I am painting, on my shoes and the bottom of my easel and the rest of my supplies.

I also have found that having some dryer sheets available can help with the gnats.  I sometimes put them under my hat to keep them out of my hair.

I have also heard some people use lemon thyme and some rosemary but these other products seem to do the trick for me,

Of course, that being said, sometimes I just give up - usually after I have about 300 gnats that have committed mass suicide in my painting.  And so it goes!

Daily Paintworks

So, once again I am giving Daily Paintworks a shot at selling smaller pieces.  My concern is that there are so many artists that use this site, how does one get a following and make sales?  Also, in terms of still life paintings there are ga-zillions of them!  And they are great too!  Some of my thoughts about marketing on this web site are as follows:

.  low prices - this is an option but how can I justify dropping prices below what other customers have paid for other similar pieces?

.  auction - I am currently trying this venue - starting at a low price and waiting to see where it ends.

.  finding a niche - my beach paintings seem to get a great response - maybe as an artist I should just be doing this???

.  I have noticed that my 4 x 16" horizontal pieces don't show well - not sure how to correct this but they are killer paintings and have a great presence.

.  market the paintings for sale on facebook - haven't done this much but should try this.

Any other ideas out there???

The Key to Improving Your Painting Ability

PAINT!!!!

Are you surprised?  If you are uncomfortable spending money on stretched canvas by the inexpensive panels.  If you think you can't spend the money on those, get some heavy paper and gesso it - use that to paint.  The operative thing here is: you won't get better unless you practice!

I have been destroying my early work that I no longer want, don't like, didn't like from the beginning or just think it wouldn't sell and I have no place to hang it.  But in doing that I could see just how far I have come.  I am not saying there isn't room for improvement - there is A LOT of room.  But in the 10 years I have been painting and the last 6 when I have made an effort to paint most days, I have seen a lot of improvement.  These days I am working on small still life arrangements.  I go to consignment/thrift stores (or ebay) or wherever and pick up things to use in still life arrangements.  Then I take my 6 x 6 inch panels (which I have made myself) and paint them.  This is a journey, believe me.  I like what I am doing and am putting them on daily paintworks for sale but I am always working to improve them.  I know, in time, I will do so.  I guess, I want to work toward a less blended, more brush strokey (is that even a word?) piece with a more spontaneous feel.  

I am attaching some images ot the three I have done most recently:

The first one is up for auction on Daily Paintworks, the second two are just for sale.  Seeing them like this on my blog, I actually love them.  That doesn't change the fact that i want them to have a more spontaneous look.  If you are interested you can go to http://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/barbara-benedict-jones-4356/artwork  and check them out.

So, get out there and PAINT!

Now what do I do?

It has been months since I have written anything here - it was all wedding, wedding, wedding.  It has absolutely dominated my life for 8 months.  My daughter and I have had lists, modified lists, emailed lists, excel spreadsheets, modified and amended over and over and projects - OMG.  Pinterest became the bane of my existence.  My beautiful daughter spent hours looking at pinterest (have to admit that I did too) and kept coming up with countless projects to make her day perfect.  I made pillows to decorate the beach house benches, signs for the ceremony, the receptions and the back of their chairs, pillows for the ring bearers and slipcovers for all the vases that decorated the tables.  Here are some of the images:

I will have a better image of the table decor when I get some images from my daughter.  I had a little help with the lettering on the signs - an artist friend of mine noted that I was pulling my hair out over all that I had to do and did most of the lettering - I did the Mr. and Mrs. and a couple words on the other signs.  

The wedding colors were coral and navy and I will post some other pictures in future blogs.  In the mean time I am trying to focus my attention on getting back to my painting.  

Small works are on the agenda - one of the first ones I did *by accident", I had forgotten to bring a large canvas but had a 4 x 16 canvas with me.  After finishing the first one "plein air" I quickly did a second 6 x 6 which sold 2 weeks later.

You can see that the tide was coming in  - the smaller one was done second.  I find that once I have done a larger one and have thought about, planned out and painted it it is easier to do a second - all my paints are out and the colors have been determined.  

Art Marketing on Daily Paintworks

I have learned my lesson, FINALLY!

You have to crawl before you can walk.  I have quite a market for my larger paintings, in Ohio, the finger lakes (NY) and Hilton Head.  And all those paintings sell for quite a large dollar amount compared to the daily paintworks gallery paintings.  I am justifying my lower price by only pricing small works at the greatly reduced prices.  But today, I lowered the price of all my small (6x6) pieces to $99.00, without the frame.
I hope the DPW audience finds this appealing.

The art work I post that is standard size will be priced as I would price them elsewhere.  The last thing any artist should do is price their work below what the gallery is selling the work for.  No patron would want to see a wonderful painting priced well below what they have paid for their treasured painting of the same size.

If you are interested in seeing my gallery on Daily Paintworks you can visit it here:

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/barbara-benedict-jones-4356

The small work I just posted is "Nothing but a Whisper" painted on the beach yesterday morning.

barbarabenedictart.com

Small Painting Dilemma

I have been a member of Daily Paintworks since October and have been trying to produce small (6 x 6 inch) paintings to sell there.  Normally I paint in larger sizes, the smallest is 8 x 8 or 8 x 10 and they sell for $350 and $375 respectively.  So, when I joined, my dilemma was how to produce paintings at the greatly reduced rate of $99 or $129.

My solution was to do very small paintings.  The problem is that those small paintings take me almost as long to do as my larger plein air paintings.  So, I have decided now to post the larger ones at the correct (unframed) price and limit the smaller ones that I do.  Maybe I should sell all my paintings framed - that is very doable too, because when I sell them in galleries they are always framed.

I have been looking at Rose Schuring's site on the Daily Paintworks site and she is marketing her work at a higher price point.

The one thing I understand is that if a patron/customer of mine has purchased a 12 x 12" painting from me and paid $700.00 they will not understand my selling similar large sizes for a significantly less amount on the DP web site.  So, that is my question for the cosmos.  Will people purchase paintings at that higher price point?  Or do I need to continue with the small ones.

There are other considerations:

.  I need to ramp up my marketing.
.  I need to blog on a regular basis and probably post it to facebook
.  I need to post things to Daily Paintworks almost daily
.  I guess, the most important things is to post regularly and to do that I need to be ready to photograph my work as soon as it is finished.

So, this is my current project, titled The Quiet of Gray.  I have to darken the water toward the front and consider a few other changes but it is coming along.  I went out to the beach at Fish Haul Park and was captivated by the scene at high tide.  The water had come up into the grass and there was a softness to everything.  I guess you might say the grasses don't look to soft but the contrast and the almost continuous color of the beach tidal pool, the sound and the sky just enveloped me.

Plein Air or Not Plein Air that is the Question!

So, I posed this question on the facebook page for plein air painters.  Let me tell you why.  I have a home in Hilton Head which has a beautiful view of the marsh with a creek winding through it and out to the sound.  I paint this frequently from my yard, my deck or, in inclement weather, from my enclosed porch.  So, I just wanted to know what others thought.  I also have heard of people painting from their car or van.  I even heard of someone outfitting a small trailer (large enough to stand in) with a picture window so that they could paint in virtually any weather condition.

So, the first response  was that any painting I did, when looking at the actual scene was "en plein air".  The second responder agreed.  The third thought it was ok to paint from your car but the porch was not "plein air" and the apparent reason was you didn't have to deal with all the possible problems of painting "en plein air".   Personally, I don't get that she thought painting from the car was ok but the enclosed porch was not but, I welcome all opinions.

But, I ask, if painting from my enclosed porch is considered "plein air" painting then what if I set up a bouquet of flowers in natural light and paint it?  What if the bouquet is outside and I am inside?
I think that is going a little far.

I don't think this argument will ever be settled and I venture to say that if any painter has a paintable view from a window in their home they should just go for it.  Call it plein air - the only thing which being in the enclosed porch effects is the comfort of the painter.  I still have all that great light bouncing around and can still see the cloud patterns moving across the marsh and the incredible sky evolution.  So, I guess it is up to the individual.  But I do know that there is nothing quite like standing outside, in a field or by a stream and listening to the birds, beavers or whatever and being in that moment, splashing paint all over the canvas and feeling completely one with nature.

This is a small section of the panoramic view from my house and was taken late in the day on which we had a very high tide.  Small wonder I take advantage of my porch view when the weather is adverse.  Plein air or not plein air - you be the judge.

Getting into the Swing of Things Again

Well, I have done two paintings in the last two days.  The one I did today is the first in a number of flower paintings I intend to do for my upcoming show at the Coastal Discovery Museum, Hilton Head, SC and the other in Gates Mills, Ohio in May and June.  I hope I can assemble a lot of inventory for the shows as well as the gallery up north.  Inventory doesn't really sound like the appropriate word for assembling a large number of paintings but, it works.

This is my piece today - the pitcher was a tired silver pitcher I found in a thrift store and the peonies are silk but they have the feel of the real thing.

Oh, and I got some good news yesterday - I happened to call Chestnut Hill Home (a store that carries my work) and they had sold 5 of my paintings - yay.  With the wedding coming up I could use some extra cash.

Maggie Siner Day 3

We have models now - two of them and Maggie has arranged them with great emphasis on the dark winding up through the picture plane.  Once again we start with our gray grounded canvas and then, in an abstract way, define the line of the dark through the canvas.  Really more like identifying the dark as it travels around the painting's plain.

Then wipe it off until nothing but a pale reference shows and start painting.  Once again we were to start mixing the color of the correct value and placing a mark on the canvas.  This should be done all over the painting - not just filling in one spot but a mark.

I think I forgot to mention in my last post that when trying to identify the color of an object or area one should look at something else.  I can't remember the logic in this other than it had something to do with the peripheral vision and seeing the true color as it relates to the colors around it rather than just the local color.

So below is my painting of the model - Ms. Siner's comments were:

Her face looked like it had been run over by a car but that could be corrected with a couple of strokes.
(I am not a people painter and the strokes she is referring to would be her strokes, not mine)

She loved the way the darks ran up through the painting on from the bottom and up along the scarf and she loved the focal point of the scarf and it's draping.

It is interesting and challenging for me to paint a model.  I would love to try it some more in the future.

The next and last exercise we did was to look at a portion of a still life and paint all the warm areas with a turped down orange and all the cool areas with a turped down blue.  This was very challenging, largely because most of us chose sections of the still life arrangements that were just too large. I don't really have a photo of this because I just tossed it when I left but In know that everyone found this difficult and not a lot of fun.  Plus it was late in the day and we were tired .  

This was followed by a talk on colors and the relationship between colors.  How when you put a color next to another color it will effect the first color.  (the cool/warm factor)  

All in all, the workshop was great - I might even take another from her - I would certainly consider trying to go to Provence to paint with her - speaking of which I know there are two more slots open.  Moi, you say - unfortunately/fortunately all my efforts will be directed toward my daughters wedding. Maybe next year.

Maggie Siner Workshop: Day 1 and 2

I am not sure what I expected but probably not the petite, flurry of energy and life, person that Maggie Siner is.  She started out the workshop with a slide show featuring, not her work, but the work of other artists through the ages.   From early Eastern Chinese (maybe Japanese, not sure) ink drawings, to Rembrandt and then impressionists, her intention was to show how brush stroke and value create great paintings.  The gesture can lead the viewer into and throughout the painting creating a sense of mood, whether it is drama, excitement or calm.  The gesture informs the viewer.

I think in our subconscious we all get that but it doesn't always bubble to the surface of my brain when I need it most.

So, she started us out with a diluted saucer of india ink and a bamboo brush and had us make strokes on a large newsprint pad (without looking) expressing our feelings about various things.  The two here are fear and breath.  Then we were to draw various objects she had set up, both were done with continuous strokes.

Then on to 3 color value studies using the same brush and diluted india ink.

Then we toned our canvas with turp and raw umber and wiped it off until it was dry for a 3 color value study.

She had laboriously arranged a number of still lifes around the room from which we could select our subject matter.  And yes, for anyone who has seen info about other workshops she had the dreaded hand (don't have a picture) among the still life objects.  I didn't opt to paint it.

Then lastly she let us use color.

She did demo in a fashion.  Her initial demonstration was about finding the pattern of dark in the painting.  She would start from the edge of the painting (always) and move through the painting in an abstract way sketching out the dark.  Then she would wipe this down until only a suggestion of it remained.  Down the road she started working on value.  She would put strokes of paint in the correct color and value randomly (meaning in their correct place but working throughout the canvas) on the canvas, identifying the lightest light 

and the darkest dark and all other values.  She was not filling in shapes at this point, just establishing color and values.

The next day we worked with models and did an exercise which completely frustrated me.  I will talk about that tomorrow.  And, I think I should add here, that I am showing you what I did for informational purposes - not that it truly demonstrates her ideas or methods.  I was just a student endeavoring to improve my painting ability.  But, her methods changed me and I think will help further the evolution of my painting ability.

Heading to Jacksonville for a Maggie Siner Workshop

Today I leave for Jacksonville and the Corse Gallery.  The opening ceremony (have been watching the winter olympics) for this 3 day workshop is tonight.  If you have never seen her work go to her web site
Maggie Siner  and check out - there is a sense of mystery and poetry to her work - I love the way she grays down much of the painting and puts the punch of color in to jump at you.  I will keep you posted about this workshop as I go through it.

I will say this though, the supply list was lengthy and I can not see us using all of the stuff she requires.  I wish these artists would tailor their supply list to the workshop they are doing - if it is 3 days only don't ask for someone to go out and purchase stuff that just won't be used.  Oh, well - I guess the only things I suspect I won't use are the 3 sheets of watercolor paper - and maybe the india ink and Japanese brush.  I may have to eat my words if I end up using everything.  :-)

I have a beautiful day for traveling!

Valentine's Day

Well, a change in the weather made Valentine's Day in South Carolina lovely.  My husband got to play golf and I got to do some organizing for my dessert party (after a wonderful dinner at The Studio on Hilton Head).  I love this place for a number of reasons - first they have a great selection of vegan and vegetarian items.  Secondly, and for my carnivore husband, they have a great selection of meat prepared (according to him) perfectly.

Because I try to be vegan at home and will eat seafood when dining out or when invited to a friends house for dinner, Ed gets a slab of meat and he has to prepare it.  And given that he is anything but a gourmet chef he usually throws it in a non stick scan pan on the stove and cooks it with a cover.  So, when given the option of having lamb chops with a port wine sauce or duck with some sort of sauce he jumps at it.

Back to my dessert party, though.  I served a povlava.  For those of you unfamiliar with this dish it is native to New Zealand and is a meringue that is crunchy on the outside and soft in the center.  Normally it is served with piles of fresh fruit and whipped cream - my addition to the dessert was to create a cointreau whipped cream and sprinkle the whole thing with grated dark chocolate.  I wish I had taken a picture but I didn't.

We popped a bottle of champagne and had cappuccino made with my wonderful Nespresso machine and frother.

As so, another Valentine's Day comes to a close.  Now I have to organize to leave for Jacksonville tomorrow for a workshop with Maggie Siner at Corse Gallery.  YAY - I bet this will jump start my painting!

A New Painting Method

I am primarily a plein air painter.  That being said the weather this winter has not been too cooperative.

So - when faced with a problem find a solution, right?  Right!  So, we found a 40" television - a Westinghouse (who'ld of thunk it) for $250.00 to use as a  3rd TV for our superbowl party and now, post superbowl, I have turned it into a large monitor for my Ipad photos. All I needed was an adapter for the Ipad and a HDMI cable and voila!  I can paint using that photo reference rather then heading outside into the bone chilling and damp cold.

Do I hear a collective groan and sense some eye-rolling here?  Anyone who follows my blog, has visited my website or knows me realizes that I am in South Carolina for the winter and the weather is nothing compared to Cleveland (or virtually any of the northern cities) this year.  But, none the less, when you can't get warm inside the house (our house in S.C. has no insulation and is heated via a heat pump) then it is very difficult to stand outside in the damp, windy and cold weather outside.

So, here is the first painting done with my new method.  The title is Goldenrod on Cape Cod and it is 6 x 6 inches.

It is available on http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/barbara-benedict-jones-4356

Post Freeze and Painting "en Plein Air" in the Winter

It seams as though many of my posts are about getting started after a hiatus from painting.  This one is no different.  For a plein air painter winter can be daunting and this winter has been one of the worst.

There isn't anyone in the country who is not on intimate terms with cold this year.  For the holiday season we were up in Cleveland with snow, cold, snow, cold and more snow.  Normally we have some days over freezing that are sunny.  Of course, a sunny day is an anomaly in Cleveland.  But, rare as they may be, they do exist and I can usually find one day to head out to paint.  This winter it just didn't happen.  When I am able to do it I survive by wearing waterproof hiking boots, long underwear, neck cozy, latex gloves, hat and heavy coat.  I also try to have some hand warmer packets handy.  I might add that I rarely try to do anything larger than 9x12 in that weather because my objective is to set up, paint and finish in a relatively short time frame.

Now that I am in Hilton Head again my body has adjusted and cold is anything below 55 degrees.  We arrived on the 4th (Saturday night) so Sunday was all about putting things away (and my husbands birthday!)

Then the next 4 days I was focused on identifying a wedding venue for my daughter.  (Since before Christmas this has been my primary focus.)  Which brings me to Friday 1/10 and the venue has been identified, the contract is in the works and I can take a break from an exhaustive search, thousands of phone conversations with vendors, extensive research on line and the utter and complete exasperation of both my daughter and myself.  Done, whew!!!  Of course, we have to secure a band which is another less daunting search and means I will probably be constantly listening to "Get the Party Started" both on line and in my brain.  But, this too shall pass.

So, today, I will paint.  I think a 6 x 6 for Daily Paintworks.  I might even do two.  It always takes a little self-motivation to get myself in gear.  I am nothing, if not, a world class procrastinator.  Oops, forgot that I have to get my application for the Art Market at Honey Horn done - it is the only outside show I do.  But that shouldn't take to long.

Thought I should say a little something about plein air painting when it is cold in the south, too.  Cold being anything below 65 (don't roll your eyes you Northerners!)  For garb refer to what I wrote for plein air painting up North at the beginning of this blog.  Yes, those warm blooded Southerners dress like it's 35 to paint in the cold weather down here.  Honestly, I don't don the long johns but I do wear all the other stuff.
When in Rome........................

Happy painting!