Painting from memory

The Sound WIP

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

Years ago I took a watercolor workshop on Whidbey Island in Washington. The instructor showed us how to paint beaches and islands like those in Puget Sound without using reference photos, or without painting in plein air. I was thinking about those paintings over the weekend and wondering if I could recreate the idea using pastels. I usually have something I am painting from, so this was a challenge. I am calling this a work in progress because I am still not completely happy with the overall look. I think the pier and house need work. I want to work on the shape of the land mass on the right. I think I would like a more sheer drop at the headland. I also want to work on the distant islands. I think this has potential. I just have to work on it.

Beach Rocks

Beach Rocks

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I decided that I wanted more practice with rocks. I really enjoy working on them, but feel I can do much more. This grouping was from a larger photo. There was much more driftwood, but I didn't want to complicate the painting with too much. I think the one trunk is enough for this composition. I also pushed the colors on the rocks a bit. Unfortunately, the lighting in my new digs is very lacking in the early morning. I am going to have to try and do something about that over the weekend. I have been really surprised when I get back home and see the paintings in daylight.

Painting shallow water

By the Sea

12 x 9 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

Painting shallow water means having a mastery of the light touch with pastels. This is something I am working on learning. The area I painted was a very shallow tide pool area as the tide was coming in. The sandy bottom was clearly visible in places where the reflected blue of the sky was weakest. There were also some rocks completely submerged that I wanted to show. In the shadows of the rocks, the sandy bottom was very evident. I am pretty happy about what I accomplished. Someone else was happy enough to buy it right off the easel. That made me doubly happy!

Painting from photographs

A Day at the Shore

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

There have been several posts of late about painting from photographs. I thought I would weigh in on the subject. As you know if you are a regular reader, I use photographs for almost all my paintings at the present time. I paint at 5:30 in the morning, long before there is any light here, in my portable desktop studio. If I didn't use my reference photographs, I would be posting daily sketches of my desk top. Believe me, you don't want to see that on a regular basis. I probably wouldn't be painting at all on a daily basis. So, I have a strong prejudice for using photographs as a viable reference for painting.

That being said, I would also like to state that I think that using someone elses photograph without their permission should be avoided. It is like copying someone elses painting, as far as I am concerned. We have a big swap meet here three times a week that is big business. Tourists come from Waikiki by the busload. Newly arrived go there to buy local souvenirs to send back to mainland family. I have gone several times. There is an artist there on Saturdays who does acrylic copies of oil paintings by well known local artists. For some reason, he keeps getting away with it. He sells his paintings at a very low price. They are pretty well executed, but I am bothered by it for several reasons. First, it devalues the original - I think. Second, I feel like this guy is stealing artistic property. I feel that way about painting from someone elses photographs and then making a profit on it.

On a different level, if you are painting from someone elses photograph, you are using someone elses artistic vision. Don't get me wrong, I have done several paintings based on photographs in the WetCanvas photo archives. Sometimes, I just long to paint something that is not tropical. I would, however, never enter them into a show or attempt to sell them. They are purely for my practice and pleasure. I post them here to share where I am on my journey. I always try and remember to state that the reference is not mine. I have seen some fantastic photographs on several blogs I look at, and been tempted to try and paint from them because they are so wonderful, but I wouldn't do it.

I have several friends who have sent me photos with permission to paint from them. I am very grateful to them for sending me scenes I love and want to paint. I treat them the same way I do the WetCanvas photos. The reason is that I haven't been there. I didn't smell the smells, feel the breezes, look into the shadows, hear the sounds. I am much more comfortable painting from photos I have taken myself, or my husband has taken when we were together. Then I feel like I know the place. I understand all the drawbacks, or things one has to remember when working from photos. Photos lie, especially about value, but if I have been there, I can sometimes remember the place.

One thing I have learned, from practice, is to not be a slave to the photograph. The woman I took classes from gives out Artistic Licenses to her students and urges them to think about how to make a painting better. I am not one who can come up with a scene from no reference. Perhaps that is why I have so much trouble with non-representational art. I have slowly come to understand that I don't need to leave everything in, especially if it detracts from what I am trying to say. That has been a long time coming. I hope I can translate that to plein air painting, which I hope to do more of this summer.

I know there are purists out there who think that unless you are painting plein air, or from life, you are not really an artist. In my recent delvings into the history of Western Art, I have discovered that plein air painting is a rather recent technique. I want to stay open to all the possibilities. That does not mean I am ready to leave my pastels, however.

This painting was done from a reference photo my husband took at a beach on the North Shore of Oahu. I made changes as I went along. I also added very small people. Can you see them in the background?

Painting a Day

Alone

7 x 10 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

When I started this, I made a commitment to myself to post the daily paintings I did. Sometimes, I wonder why.

White Plains Day

White Plains Day

12 x 15 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Pastel Board

Miki Willa

My husband took a photo at White Plains Beach on Oahu last August that I used for the reference. The clouds were so amazing that day. The clouds here are so interesting. I read somewhere that you should not try to paint strange clouds because no one would believe them. It also said that cloud forms do not have flat bottoms. They do here. In the painting, they are not as flat as they appear in this photo or the reference photo. I used what I learned about cool and warm colors to create more dynamic clouds.

Small Beach Scene

Small Beach Scene

5 x 8 soft pastels/watercolour underpainting

cold pressed Strathmore watercolor paper

Miki Willa

Every once in a while I have to try something to remind myself of why I don't do this more often. I really don't like to work on watercolor paper with my pastels. I thought that if I did an underpainting, I wouldn't constantly fight the paper. I was wrong, again. Hopefully, I have learned my lesson. I really need some edges to define the sand spit in the distance. I think I will do this scene again on paper I like. I will consider this a practice sketch. I can see things in the composition I will change for the next one, although I like it (the composition) for the most part.

Panting on black paper

Morning Calm

9 x 12 Soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix (black)

Miki Willa

This is another painting I did for the WC November landscape challenge. The photo seems to be of a dark, dreary morning. I thought the black paper would be perfect to capture the mood. I think it worked great for the pier, the reflections, and the boats. Unfortunately, I brightened the sky too much to keep the mood. One person suggested that I use the sky to indicate a bright morning and brighten up the boats. I will have to look at this one for a while before I decide where I want to go with it. I am happy with the bottom two thirds. This is a learning journey, after all.

The good news is that another of my paintings sold. The show has been hung, and we are hoping to sell even more.

Sharing a Work in Progress

White Plaines Beach - WIP

12 x 16 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colour Fix

Miki Willa

I did a smaller version of this painting for the fast and loose challenge. I wasn't entirely happy with it, but figured out where I wanted it to go. I started this one this morning by laying in the sky and doing the charcoal drawing. Hopefully, you can see the drawing. I have a vision of what the water will look like, and hope I can get somewhere close. Ocean movement is still quite difficult for me. I am studying waves in other people's paintings, and by watching them endlessly. One day, I think it will all come together for me on paper.

This afternoon, I will work more on getting the larger areas blocked in with color, then begin putting in some details. I think I will save the people for last, since I have never put figures in my paintings before. This should be interesting.

I am leaving for Hilo on the Big Island tomorrow morning, so I probably won't post again until Tuesday afternoon. Until then, malama pono.

Steps on the journey

Private Beach

8 x 10 soft pastel on Art Spectrum Colour Fix

Miki Willa

It seems that I am really focused these days on the artistic stage of this journey through life. I have always enjoyed "making pictures," but the past two or three years have been different. I have taken drawing classes, watercolor classes, and more drawing classes over the years. My mother was a good artist who never took the time to fully develop her talents until she ran out of time, and it seemed I was heading in the same direction. I recently realized I don't want that to happen. I want to work to develop the gifts God has so graciously given to me. I am very good at setting limits for myself, thus not allowing myself to see just how far I can go. This time, I am intentionally setting goals instead of limits, and working toward achieving them.

One of the goals I set in July was to paint every day. I have made time for my painting each week day early in the morning. I am still working on painting every day on the weekends. So far, I have missed very few days. My second goal was to start this blog. I have done this for two main reasons: I want to keep myself on track with the daily painting by stating in public that I will publish one per day; and I like the idea of having a forum to share what I am doing with my friends and family who are so far away.

Doing the 10 in 30 challenge paintings helped me narrow a short term goal in my painting. I will be starting a new series focusing on values instead of color, with the development of a clear focal area from the beginning of the painting. I will be posting these as I go along. It should be very interesting, if not strange.

The painting above was done in 30 minutes. It is from a photo I took on a private beach last summer when my friend Nancy and I were looking for a place to do some plein air painting. I am still determined to find out who owns this property and ask permission to set up and paint there. It is a really beautiful place.

Once again, thanks for following me on my journey.