alaskanraven – Page 16

Doubt Cramps Energy

February 21, 2010 by alaskanraven

“To believe is to be strong. Doubt cramps energy. Belief is power.”

I heard this quote while watching the tv documentary “Into the Storm” recently on the airplane. It was a drama about Winston Churchill. This quote was said by Roosevelt and he attributed it to Dr. Peabody. The quote really captured my attention and I stopped the movie and wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget the wording. It is a strong concept and explains how we can become frozen when we don’t believe in ourselves.

“Doubt cramps energy” That is so true, we travel on a merry go round of second guessing ourselves and wasting energy on doubt when we could be spending that same energy on moving forward. Taking chances. Learning from failures. Take the chance and paint wildly. Put those paintings online. Ask the gallery for a show. It all takes the willingness to believe in yourself.

If we are caught in that doubt, we can break free by asking the question “what is the worse that could happen?”. This can diffuse doubt if combined with the ability to laugh at yourself. The worse that could happen is you realize the painting is a failure. Or you regret that you don’t like the painting after having it online. So what? Take it down. It might have inspired someone else to do a painting. Some good could have come from your willingness to show it to the world.

I like to encourage people to paint. It gives you the gift of really seeing and experiencing the world around you. You benefit from the experience even if the painting is a failure. Keep painting and the quality will improve. If you ignore the doubt and believe in yourself, your brushstroke will be stronger, your color choices will be more daring. Believe!

Nightscapes, Nocturnes, Planets and Dreams

January 31, 2010 by alaskanraven

When the moon gets larger and brighter, get ready to paint nocturnes. The full moon lights up the landscape. Study the light, shadows and values. The patterns of moonlight and shadows are very different from daylight. The sky is not going to necessarily be the lightest light. Shapes and long shadows are soft and mysterious. There are few or no sharp edges. Branches or clouds that overlap the moon may appear to have sharp edges and will probably appear to be darker in value. The darkest dark against the brightest light makes it a convenient center of interest.

Looking at a nightscape is like looking into a dream. The soft dark shapes make an eerie atmosphere. The moon moves and the patterns shift and change. Shadows dance and add to the drama. It is still and intensely quiet. No birds flying. Night is mysterious. Imagination can fill in all sorts of possibilities. A little bit of wind will add to the mystery. Thoughts go to lions, and tigers and bears oh my….

Set up the palette and mute the indoor lights. Colors can be difficult to choose. I grab purples, blues and add a bit of orange or red to warm it up. I’ve seen the full moon so bright that the sky actually looked blue. Patches of cerulean and ultramarine blue.

Wet in wet watercolor works well for nocturnes because there aren’t many sharp edges. This technique helps achieve the soft blurry dreamy quality of a nightscape. Push and pull the paint over the surface to create the dark shapes. Add more pigment to darken them or lift color with a dry brush to lighten an area. Watercolor adds the surprise factor as it often dries with a different quality to the washes than you predicted.

The moon makes a different atmosphere when it is high in the sky than when it is lower. The rising or setting moon appears to be a warmer light. It hides behind the branches of trees and casts long twisted shadows in the snow.

Painting nightscapes in Alaska means that the ground is covered with snow. We don’t get a lot of dark when we don’t have snow. The “White Nights of Summer” will have to be a different blog post that I look forward to writing. I will write that one in June.

Van Gogh painted nocturnes. His “Starry Night” is a favorite of mine. I’ve read that it is one of the most well known paintings in the world. He saw trees dance in the moonlight too. Van Gogh painted two other nocturnes “Starry Night over the Rhone” and ‘Cafe Terrace at Night.” The latter was one of my brothers favorite paintings. It will always be special to me for that reason. He and his wife stayed at a hotel close to that same terrace and sat at that cafe under that beautiful awning when they visited France. James Abbott McNeill Whistler was also intrigued by nightscapes. He painted a series of Nocturnes. Take a look at the nocturne paintings by both of these artists if you want to be inspired.

Nocturnes are more than moonlight. There are also the stars and planets to study. It is fun to discover which lights are planets and learn to recognize the constellations. It’s hard for me to believe that I can see Mars, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter. It makes me feel very small and vulnerable to know those huge planets are right there and I can see them. The immense distances in space is hard for me to comprehend. There are several good iphone applications to help you identify the constellations and planets. I use “Planets”. It collects the data of my location and shows me in 3D what the sky looks like from where I am standing. I can line it up with the moon and easily identify the planets and constellations. It is a new tool for the plein air painter!

I remember Mark, a painter in Denver who painted large oil paintings of constellations thirty years ago. Magnificent images on 4’ x 6’ canvas that he made as accurate as possible. He spent hundreds of hours working with subtle variations of complementary colors and glazes to make the bright lights shimmer and glow with different intensities. Thinking about painting that kind of intense detail makes my head hurt, but I enjoyed looking at his paintings. It was very interesting to listen to him talking about his painting process.

I wish that I had been able to buy one of Marks paintings. I remember a lot of paintings that I wish I had bought. These are the ones that dance in my imagination for years. I would love to be given the task to purchase artwork for someones collection of new and upcoming artists. Wouldn’t that be a delightful job? I would be willing to do that in my spare time, wouldn’t you? I want to encourage others to buy the painting that they are considering. If it dances around in your imagination for days after seeing it, go back and buy it! It will bring you enjoyment for years to come and it will encourage the artist to go back to the easel and PAINT MORE.

Be Ready to Paint

November 15, 2009 by alaskanraven

Raven painting in Hawaii Packing for a tour to a large garden in Kauai. Do I take the paints? Tough question. Weighed the pros and cons….and took them. The bus drove deep into the gardens and dropped us off. The four of us were alone in the lush jungle. The bus would return in two hours. We were told about the plants that you shouldn’t touch. There were also poisonous trees but those wouldn’t be on this path. Stay on the path. It would lead us up and down and all around the gardens. It was a paradise with sights and smells that filled the air.

I had packe The Path d a very compact watercolor box and paper. I was very glad to have them when I spotted the scene up the stairs. I sat on the ledge and was able to get comfortable enough to work. My friends continued on the journey. I could hear them laughing and talking but they vanished around the corner before my paint was even wet. There was only one path so I didn’t worry about finding them later.

My friend Pat, spotted me from down the trail and took this photo of me painting in the jungle. You might be able to find me hidden in the middle of the photo above.

On the right is the painting of the view up the stairs. It’s hard to believe that I was looking at the view shown in this painting when the above picture was taken. One of the wonderful consequences of painting a scene is I can look at the painting later and remember what it smelled, sounded and felt like when I was there. Winding paths invite you to explore and make you imagine what might be around the corner. Golden sunlight holds the promise of good things.

When you question whether or not to bring the paints, bring them! Be ready to paint.

Gather Color for Your Palette

November 4, 2009 by alaskanraven

Everyday experiences can be the fuel for your creativity. Watching the colors in the sky or the silhouette of trees and feeling the sunshine on your face can give you inspiration. Have you ever studied how many different blues there are in the sky on a clear day? The softer lighter yellower tints near the horizon and then clear cerulean blue above that and as you look higher there appears to more and more red in the blue until it is an intense dark brilliant ultramarine blue. It is fascinating to see and study. A hammock will work well for this important research. Be sensitive to the colors and how they make you feel. You are gathering color for your palette.

Draw Often and Paint Wildly

October 30, 2009 by alaskanraven

One of the best ways to get started painting is to draw or sketch. Sketch ideas. Sketch simple compositions. Draw often. Do simple studies of the same composition but make slight adjustments to try out different versions. Try five or six different variations. This will help you find the best solution, the strongest composition. It will be helpful later to use it as the reminder for your painting. Decide what would be the best medium to capture your subject. Decide on size and medium. It is often a good idea to take the sketch a step further and try it in some different colors. Try colors that you haven’t worked in before. Step back and look at it fresh and now decide if you are going to do a larger painting of your subject. Then jump in and PAINT WILDLY! This is the best way to find surprises and do something different than you’ve ever done before. Try out a new color, a different brush. Work differently. Do less thinking and more feeling.