Morning Palm

Morning Palm

10 x 7 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

Palm trees are always moving in the breeze. It is difficult to capture that movement unless you concentrate on the light. Tom took the reference photo early in the morning on a clear day. I loved the way the oranges and yellows of the lower foliage contrasted with the greens. The magentas in the shadows pulled out the deep reds in the trunk. I really like this type of palm because the trunk is such fun to paint. I have done a series of paintings on the Hickam Chanel, where this palm is found, some plein air, and some from reference photos. I will probably do more because there are trees I haven't painted yet.

The Road

The Road

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

This painting is a learning experience. I really liked the mood in the photograph - lonely fall day waiting for the first frosts of winter. Unfortunately, the photo was pretty dark and I couldn't really see the detail in the foreground. My first attempt created unrecognizable mud on the right side of the road. Then I remembered that I could change that, interpret it differently. I am much happier with this version. Fall colors are such fun. I will have to look for more foliage next time I am on the mainland in the fall. This is the third painting for the WC November landscape challenge. I will be back to painting Hawaii starting tomorrow.

Rainbows and promises

I was greeted by this beautiful rainbow when I got home today, and decided to share it. I have seen painted rainbows, but I have not seen a good one. Even my photograph does not really pick up all the wonderful ways the sunlight dances off the water droplets in such a remarkable event. I understand the physics behind rainbows, but I still consider them magical. I am not sure why they are so difficult to capture in photos or paintings, but it may have to do with their transient nature. There is also the transparency. It is there, but it is not. Perhaps, somethings are not meant to be painted. As to the promises - in Hawaii, there is always the promise of the next rainbow, but it is always a welcome surprise.

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.

Aerial Perspective II

Peaceful Dreams

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Sprctrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I have always wanted to paint a picture of a scene like this. The problem has been that I have not spent any time in places where this happens. This month's WC landscape challenge offers this plus two other great photos to paint. Not only do I love the subject, it offered me another opportunity to work on aerial perspective. I had to work to make the fields move from near to far using value and hue. I wanted to have the lighter field in the front slightly darker than the light fields in the distance. It was an interesting challenge, but I really enjoyed doing it. If you are interested, the reference photo was taken on Prince Edward Island in Canada.

Aerial Perspective

Maui Hills

9 x 2 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I heard it again from Maggie Price, but it has taken a long time for it to sink in that when it comes to values, cameras lie. Aerial perspective is based on the notion that as we move farther away from something, the makeup of the atmosphere interferes with the colors and intensity of what we are seeing. Distant mountains are much paler in color than the tree in front of us. If you stand at the top of a mountain in the middle of a mountain range, each successive ridge gets less distinct with distance. In painting, value is one way to indicate this. That is fine if you are painting en plein air. If, however, you rely on photographs, you have to be careful about the values you are seeing. A camera will show a distant line of trees as dark as the trees in the foreground. Cloud shadows on the mountains will show up as dark as the shadows under a nearby bush. If you paint it that way, you will loose important depth. It is a hard lesson to learn. This is the third time I have painted this scene. I think I finally have the depth, or aerial perspective, I want. I really like this area in Maui. One day, I would like to visit it again.

Photorealism or Visual Impressions

Old Fishing House

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

A friend asked me a question about pastels today that caused me to think about how I use them. She asked me if one could get a smooth look with clean edges. I started thinking about how that was what I tried to do when I first started. I wanted to create an image that was exactly like what I saw. I think it is called photorealism. Susan Borgas has the ability to create this in her paintings. I really like her paintings for that quality. I, however, decided that I would rather try and convey the feelings about what I saw in a looser, more representational way, because that was more important to me. It took me a long time to come to that, to let go of trying to copy creation exactly.

This painting is not finished. I wasn't sure of that until I saw it on the computer. The red line of the pier does not stand out so much in the painting. I also want to push the lights a bit more. I am a sucker for old, abandoned, weathered buildings. I thank the photographer at WC who shared this for anyone to paint.

I will be away at retreat until Sunday afternoon. Look for a post then.