". . . a brush with nature"

The last few weeks my focus has been on entering shows, packing paintings, shipping and/or delivering pieces to galleries or exhibits. Such is the business of art. I have also been doing quite a lot of scratching. Yes, I did say scratching, but I am not referencing my mosquito bites which are numerous and quite annoying already this year. I am talking about my return to the art of scratchboard.

I love the medium but have been away from it for a time as I worked on paintings in pastel or acrylic earlier this year. During the month of May I went back to scratchboard and created four new pieces with an animal as my subject. These four works are straight forward black and white scratchboard compositions – no color or backgrounds added (except a very minimal one on "Polar Siesta.") I love the strength and directness achieved when scratchboard is approached this way.

For these pieces I chose reference photos that I felt would translate successfully into a strong black and white composition. I cropped the image to best fit my desired format then transferred my drawing to my Ampersand Scratchbord panel using white transfer paper. Then the fun begins!

Scratchboard is “subtractive” in nature meaning part of the ink will be removed. You can use any tool you like to in order to do this, so be creative. Think out of the box. Most artists start out with the basic set of tools specifically for scratchboard (available at many art supply stores) only to find they want to be able to achieve more effects. Anything that can be used to remove the ink is worth trying, but I am sure each artist will eventually find a few favorites they keep returning to. Several of mine include a fiberglass brush, parallel line tool and scalpel blades all of which can be seen in the photos shown here. Many artists also use steel wool, X-acto Knives, dental tools and the like to accomplish the effects they want. Since most tools are relatively inexpensive it is a good idea to simply replace them when they start to show signs of wear or become dull.

I recently read that "scratchboard is more like etching than excavating." This is so true and important to remember. This art takes a gentle touch and may require re-scratching an area several times before the desired level of lightness (whiteness) is realized. It is much better to go softly into it than to remove too much early on. Small corrections can be made, but it is not easy to “go back” and fix a larger misstep.

Another tool I recently discovered is the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen B warm grey V. This pen is great for touching up a small area when you do need to add a bit of ink back into your piece. The color more closely matches the ink on the Ampersand Scratchbord panel making small corrections hardly visible – especially after spraying the completed piece with an archival varnish. I prefer to use Golden Archival Varnish (Satin) for this final step.

It isn't easy painting green . . . or any of the other colors really.  But green in all its glorious splendor seems especially difficult for me. In fact, my husband accuses me of having an aversion to the color green, but that isn’t it at all. It is just hard for me to get it “right” and natural looking.

I am often reminded of that cute little green fellow, Kermit the Frog, as he lamented, “It’s not easy being green.” He went on to sing about the many beautiful things in nature that happen to be green and therein lies the problem for both Kermit and me.

There are so many lovely shades of green surrounding us in nature. Although I am not a landscape artist per se, the landscape often plays a big part in my wildlife paintings. Looking out my studio window I am always struck by the variety of green that makes up the woodlands. Looking closely anyone will soon discover hues ranging from moss to fern to pine green and everything in between. Wandering further afield one will soon stumble upon lime, pear, mint and basil, not to mention olive or sage. All so different, but still a green occurring in our natural world. And let us not forget about the wonderful green colors appearing on the plumage of birds (parakeet, for example) or even the skin of the ever-mysterious crocodile. The possibilities are endless.

It seems to me that the natural occurring greens are never harsh. Some are bold or bright, to be sure. Some are grayed almost to the point of not being recognized as a green at all. Some appear more yellow or blue than green at first blush, but when studied more closely their true alliance is revealed. There are so many subtleties and nuances to consider before selecting the perfect shades for your painting. You should never use just one (why would you when there is such an abundance around you?) but select a few for your palette that work well together. Harmonizing them will make your painting “sing” and be more pleasing to both you and your viewer.

Although many shades of green are available to use straight from the tube, I always suggest mixing your own. You then have control to “tweak” the color allowing it to work best with the rest of your palette. (Please note, I don’t recommend using any paints straight from the tube. Mixing them always seems more natural to me no matter what the color.) For help with this a color wheel is an inexpensive must-have tool for any artist. Color mixing is great training and great fun!

So, you see, I really don’t have an aversion to green I just want it to feel real. I don’t avoid it or put aside an idea just because it involves a palette rich with greens. I do spend time studying nature and the setting I will be painting. I do spend time mixing what I think translates to an authentic color scheme that works for my subject. I do try to address the transitions within the landscape that supports my main subject. And I do have a tremendous admiration for those who paint beautiful lush “green” landscape pieces.

In the end, Kermit the Frog sings, “… I am green and it’ll do fine, it’s beautiful!” and with some artistic license taken I add, “Green is beautiful and it’s what I want to paint.”

During the final days of work on this pastel painting I worked on and then reworked the water surrounding the boys and their watercrafts. This part of the process took me several days as I laid in the initial colors I wanted then layered in many additional ones to add both depth to the water and highlights on the surface. Just as I thought I might be satisfied with an area and had moved on to another, I realized they were not working together as I wanted them to. This required me to revisit each part of the water again and again until I felt I was satisfied with it as an entire unit. Even then it led to more adjustments with the paddleboard, figures and clothing. The final step was adding a few more sparkling highlights to the water in the foreground with another, as yet unused, bright, light (but not pure white) pastel stick I hold back especially for this purpose.

The photo shown here was taken quickly with my phone and I feel it does not do the finished painting the justice it deserves. Please watch for the “official” photo of “The Race” when I add it to my website soon . . . and thanks for following along with me on this journey.

On day number four I started work on the water surrounding the rowboat and paddleboard. This time I started on the right side of the piece and will continue to work back across to the left hand side. This works well for me because I am left handed. Working in this manner will cut down on the possibility of damage to the work I have already completed thus far.  (It should be noted that I AM still using sheets of tracing paper between the painting surface and my hand for additional protection for my painting.)

Shown here are two close up detail shots of the beginning stages of reflections in the water and ripples on the far right side.  At this point the colors and direction of the water are only roughly laid in.

Day 5 brings more work on the water, as I continue to move around the boys and their crafts. I am still nowhere close to being done with this part of the painting, but I am beginning to feel better about how everything is starting to work together.  I keep bringing in colors that I have used elsewhere in the painting to give the work a more cohesive “feel”.

On the third day of work I started by protecting my four figures. I did so by securing individual tracing paper sheets over each of the boys. Each sheet is cut to be just slightly larger than the figure it is meant to protect. By securing each with a small piece of drafting tape I can easily flip the paper up or down as needed as I continue to work. When I am done the drafting tape can be simply removed without damaging the working surface.

Next I start “building my boat” around the boys. I bring in some of the same colors I used in their clothing to start creating that unified look I am going after. I'm satisfied with what is happening so far, but will, of course, make modifications and adjustments as the painting progresses.

Day two found me starting work on all the boys’ clothing. I wanted to keep to a palette of colors that would work well together not only on the figures, but also work effectively with the other components when I start to lay them in. On this particular painting I veered from my normal course of things by starting with the figures first. I did this because there are so many individuals involved in the piece and I wanted to make sure I had them correctly done before committing time to the background elements. Normally, in a less complicated composition, I move from background to main subject then to foreground. In either case I will eventually rework the entire painting to bring all parts together to create the cohesive look and feel that I am after.

Hot weather, the Fourth of July and summer fun at the lake with grand kids and friends inspired a new larger format pastel painting that I am very excited about working on. I just started it this week and decided that I would post the progress of this particular painting in my blog. I haven’t done this before in such a detailed manner, so this will be a new experience for both you, my readers, and for me. So here goes . . . I invite you to watch as my pastel dust settles!

As you can see here I have completed my fairly detailed sketch on my Pastel Premier sanded paper and have begun to add color to faces, etc.  I am working from several different photographs that my husband and I took ourselves of the kids having fun at the lake. I am not staying true to the composition of just one photo, but am choosing to combine several and make further additional modifications to those along the way. (Please remember that artistic license is always allowed, accepted and delighted in!)  I desired a bit more “drama” in this painting, so I tightened up on the composition by drawing the boat and paddleboard closer together. I believe this also allows for more interaction between the boys. Stay tuned to see how it all works in the end.