WIP The Gathering

The Gathering WIP

12 x 18 soft pastels on Wallis Professional White

by Miki Willa

I am having a hard time finishing this painting because I really like what it looks like right now. I like the roughness of the sketch and the contrast of the blues and yellows and oranges. It looks somewhat cartoonish, but gives an idea of what it is all about. I will finish it so it works with the rest of the paintings in the series, but I think I will go back and do some more in this style.

This is a glass furnace at Avalon Glassworks in West Seattle. Son Hugh has just picked up more glass on a bubble that will become a folded plate, or taco. This furnace is very high tech and different than the other ones we have seen. It is opened by pressing down on a pneumatic foot pedal. Very cool.

I have taken the plunge and started a new blog dedicated to my exploration of collage art and visual journaling. You can take a look here.

Starting a Critique Dialogue

WIP

12 x 9 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

by Miki Willa

After spending a week in a mentoring workshop, and listening openly to critiques of my paintings, I have been really thinking about the value of critiques, the way to present them, and a way to receive them that doesn't feel personal. Fortunately, other artists and bloggers have also been discussing critiques. Tracy Helgeson received an anonymous comment on her blog that was quite critical of a series she has been working on. It sparked quite a bit of discussion. Some commenters felt that anonymous comments can be difficult and that if you have something to say, you should be willing to put your name behind it. Others felt that so much feedback on artist's blogs is very positive and flowery, so anonymity is the only way to feel comfortable saying anything negative. I agree that most of the people who leave comments are people who have something nice to say, and that is always a good thing to read. On the other hand, I think it might be helpful to growth as an artist to have some helpful critiques along the way.

Another artist who posted about critiques this week is Margaret Ryall at this post. She speaks more to the art of getting and giving a valuable critique. I like what she had to say.

With both these posts in mind, and my own personal experience with critiques, I am starting to formulate what I think would be good things to think about when giving and receiving critiques.

1. Critique does not necessarily mean to be critical or nit-picky. Criticism is not always received well by anyone.

2. It is better to talk about things that would enhance the overall composition than an artist's personal style. Reminding me that my shadows might be a bit to dark or warm is far more easily heard than telling me my style is old fashioned or weak.

3. When giving a critique, try and include the things that work as well as things that might make it better. When receiving a critique, listen to the positives as well as the places where the painting could improve.

4. Don't make your critique personal, giving or receiving. If the artist doesn't follow your advice, please understand that there might be a reason. If it is suggested that a softer line of the far mountain ridge might add more depth to the painting, at least think about it. Use critiques as a learning time.

I am sure there is more I have to say on this topic, but for now, I would like to invite helpful critiques on the above painting before I go any further.

This is a studio work done from a reference photo taken on a very overcast day. It is a rock outcropping in some low hills on the East Slopes of the Sierra Madre mountains. I am pretty sure about the values at this point, but need some help in how to show the mountain slope as partially snow covered with low clouds at the top, eliminating any edges up there at all. The sun, behind the clouds, was coming from my left at the time of the photo, but it was barely discernible and shadows were very minimal. I look forward to any critiques, not criticisms, that you are willing and able to share.

Lower Falls WIP 3

Stage 1
Stage 2

Stage 3

I had a request to put all the stages of this WIP on the same page for comparison purposes. I hope this helps.

For this stage (3), I worked more on the farthest ridge on the right of the painting, the left ridges, and some on the far distance. As I work, I am constantly adjusting for value and temperature. One of the things I want to do next is darken the foreground of the hillside on the left. I will add some purples to indicate that this side is more in the shadow than the right side. The purple will also help the golden foliage pop more and send it further forward. I have all the elements I want to use from the original reference photo, so now it is all about the painting and what will make it work.

Lower Falls WIP 2

Lower Falls WIP 2

by Miki Willa

In this second phase, I reworked the ridges on the right side. I wasn't happy about the values yesterday. The closest ridge is filled with golds, iron oxides, and sharp angles. I wanted to portray that. The second ridge is very dark, with a few tall pines. The third ridge was much lighter with more trees. I think I finally have what I want here. I may punch up the areas that were hit by the sun closer to the finishing stages. I also worked a bit on the left ridges, the river, and the falls. There is a tree with very golden leaves in the near ground that I will be adding in the next stage, if I get brave enough.

I was reading Linda Blondheim's Thanksgiving post about the ugly stages of a painting. It is so good to read about the process other artists go through in their painting. I am always amazed at just how ugly my paintings can be in the early and middle stages. When I take a class, or paint in public, I have had to learn to just trust the process and not worry about what others think. That is no easy task, for me. The way I have of approaching a painting has evolved over time from working on one small section until it is as good as I can get it before moving on to the next, to working with the whole piece in mind from the beginning. It makes it much easier to see how colors and values will react with their neighbors, but it sure makes from some not so lovely scenes. Even on this painting, I placed the values and temperatures in the first layer. Staying with them, I am able to work back and forth on different elements.t

Given all that, I am still learning how to let go of those paintings that never leave the ugly stage. If you have watched my progress on the blog, I am sure you know which ones I mean.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Lower Falls WIP 1

Lower Falls WIP

by Miki Willa

After I did my preliminary sketches, I got out a full sheet of Art Spectrum Colourfix and found a backing board large enough. I did a very rough sketch of the basic lines and shapes. I selected pastels in different values and temperature to lay in the basics. I worked the falls and river first, something I rarely do. What you see here is a bare beginning, just trying to establish value and some form. I am also trying to keep the majesty and my emotions at first seeing this place. A tall order, perhaps. Lots of work still to do.

Painting childhood icons

Icon

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

This is an unfinished piece. I was totally surprised by the stark whiteness of the blossoms on the cactus. They don't look like this in real life. I will have to take another look at them. There are several things I still need to so. The sage and tumbleweeds need to be worked further. These are the low growing bushes in the desert. The line of distant cactus is much too repetitive. I need to vary the heights. I want to put some detail in the yellow wildflowers in the foreground. I also need to work on the middle hills. The value is much to dark in relationship to the front hills.

That all being said, this is the desert I grew up in. The poppy fields came once a year. This was a constant. We had a prized Joshua tree in our back yard. That is the cactus that is the focus of this painting. I thought I was growing up in the most beautiful place in the world. I was surrounded by Joshua trees, tumbleweeds, sage, and all manner of incredible desert flora and fauna. I made pets of Horned Toads and Trap Door Spiders. I wasn't so fond of the rattle snakes, but I was never bitten. We had a desert tortoise who resided in our back yard. His name was Bradshaw. Each morning, he made his slow way from his den under the Joshua tree across the concrete surrounding our pool to the patch of grass on the other end. He really did not vary his path. If you were laying out in the sun after a dip in the pool, and you were in his path, he would climb over you. I am always amazed when people don't see the beauty in the desert that I do.

On a completely different note, I received a sample of pan pastels earlier this week. I got some tools and one color, a pale blue. I used the blue in the lower part of the sky for this and yesterday's painting. I liked the way it went on using the wedge sponge tool. However, it reinforced my love of pastel sticks. I love the feeling of only having the stick between my fingers and the paper to create my paintings. I have read about so many people loving the new pan pastels, but I am not a convert. I will be sticking with the sticks.

Adding green

Kalihi Stream WIP

7 x 10 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I was on a wonderful retreat this weekend at a place deep in a lush valley. There is a stream that runs along the perimeter of the property that is often full during this, our rainy season. I was not prepared to do any plein air painting, but I did take several reference photos. I also spent some time enjoying this place so that I would be able to paint it in the studio. The day was a peek-a-boo sun day and I caught this tree in one of those moments. Unfortunately, I needed more than my usual morning time to finish. Hopefully, I will get it done tomorrow morning.

Clearly, I need to work on the unpainted areas. I also need to work on the rocks. Currently, they seem to be all one value. I also want to work on the shadow area in the trunk of the tree. There are details in there that I would like to show. This is such a cool tree with the deep curvatures. It almost looks like three trees, but it is one trunk. I also want to make sure that it is clear that the viewer knows they are upstream and the stream is flowing away from them. I think I have a good start on that, but it could be clearer.

I have worked mainly in the "ancient colors" for the rocks, tree, and water. With the addition of green, I am following the chronological trend. At first, green was added in mosaics. It wasn't found in pigments until later. I may have found a resource that talks about the history of pigments, but I have to check it out before I share it with you. I still have more green to add to this painting.

Work in Progress

This morning, I woke up and decided to do a larger painting I began sketching last week from a very old 3" by 5" somewhat faded photograph. This is of Wilbur Creek in Glacier National Park in Montana. I have never forgotten the wonderful little waterfall and how I sat on the bridge over the creek to take the painting. I found a large piece of Wallis paper and did a sketch that will work up to a 14" x 18" finished painting.

I am still rather new at using under-paintings, but decided I would do some complementary colors with some darks in the areas I want to focus on. I used mostly NuPastels in this step, but I have a very lush Terry Ludwig brown I used for the rocks. This stage is pretty scary for me because I am sure I am ruining a perfectly good piece of paper.

Once I had all the colors in place, I took my turpenoid and soft brush to melt the pastels and create a toned surface for my painting. While I don't have a great deal of experience with under-paintings, I have tried water and alcohol, but I really like the surface created with the turpenoid. It seems richer to me. I also get a much more even cover. I really have fought this method for a long time, but the last couple of paintings I have done this way have ended up looking deeper and richer. I just wish the Wallis paper wasn't so expensive.

Once the underpainting completely dried, I started developing the painting. I often start with the sky and that helps me establish the values in the distant plane. When I do the sky later, I almost always have to redo any distant mountains I have included. This time, I worked the mountain next. It is hard to tell in the photo, but I seem to remember it being rather washed out, faded. It was a hot summer day, late in the afternoon, when I was there. The next thing I did was work to really establish the water path and small falls, followed by laying in the tilted rock slabs. I am happy with the depth I established in the river at the bottom of the falls. It was rather shallow and the gravely bottom had tones of gold. I have much to do still before this one is finished, but I like the direction it is taking.

Practicing perspective

Ketchikan

8 x 10 WIP

Miki Willa

This morning, I decided to work on perspective. I selected a photo I took a long time ago while I was on an Alaskan cruise. I have always liked the photo, but it is small and presents quite a challenge. The most obvious is that the boardwalk on the water side of the buildings is not in a straight line leading to a distant point on the horizon. I can see in the photo, I still have some alignment work to do before I go much further. I haven't even started on the water. Each and every piling and building has a wonderful reflection on the fairly still water. I have to figure out how to convey watery reflections without making them muddy. I also need to pay some attention to the sizes of the pilings. Right now, they all look the same width. I wish I had better light to paint by.

I paint at my desk in my library very early in the morning. I go to work very early because I want to miss the dreadful traffic. When I get there, the first thing I do is set up my portable studio on my desk. My space is very limited, but I make due. The lighting is the most difficult thing to overcome. It is still dark when I begin to paint, so I rely on the standard overhead recessed bar lights covered in nice plastic protectors. As the day dawns, I am often surprised at my hues and values. As my scheduled starting time approaches, I hurry to put everything safely away, stand the painting in the window behind my desk (facing away from the light, of course), open the doors and start my day. On Friday, I pack all my pastels and paintings into my studio on wheels, and head home for the weekend painting in my studio. I am glad I am able to paint every day, but I would love more time each morning in my studio. Some day, that will happen.

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.