54: Painting in the Field

This post is dedicated to the first person to pull my head away from characters and force me to look around; my high school art teacher Debra Payne.  :]

I was very excited to return to Landscape Painting with instructor Neil Riley.  It already feels as though I've improved a lot since my last attempt at this class. I don't think painting will ever be my main mode of expression, but this course has certainly taught me to love it all the same.  Here's what I've produced since the beginning of the semester in roughly chronological order:

Underneath the Broad Street Bridge, about 2.5 hrs

O lord.  This bridge scene was the first time I had touched oils in probably a year.  

Studio interior, about 4hrs

Basement of my apartment complex, about 1.5 hrs

 These two interiors were meant to explore our perception of what a landscape is.  In the first one I definitely got carried away and ended up far from the point of the assignment, but I'm happy with how my focus on light temperature came out.  The second feels a little more landscape-y, but could be miles better.

Whetstone Park. About 2.5 hours

The streambed painting above is, I think, where I finally started to GET it.  Mr. Riley, challenged me to use only one or two brush strokes each time I put paint to board, and this exercise was definitely for the best.

Amanda, Katie, what are you doing, get out of here

Autumnal Highbanks Metro Park, 3hrs

Autumnal Highbanks Metro Park,  3 hrs

HIPSTER PAINTING at Highbanks Metro Park, about 2 hrs

You may be able to tell that Highbanks Metro Park was my favorite location.  After spending a couple years simply trying to replicate exactly what I see, I’m finally learning to instead exaggerate and amplify what my mind finds interesting about a landscape.  Through doing so, you end up with a piece that looks more real and tactile to the senses, more like what you remember seeing.  It’s very personal, and very rewarding.

Schiller monument at Schiller Park in German Village, about 1.5 hrs

The statue above is my most recent painting, but also one of the sloppier ones due to how cold it's getting hereabouts.   The projects we're currently working on in-class are studio based projects with loads of layouts, compositions and the like- they'll get their own post in a month or so.