Commissioned Painting - Mt. Rainier

Royal Peak

8 x 10 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

by Miki Willa

This is my first commissioned painting in a long time. The patron wanted mountain and purple. The mountain I see most from my neighborhood is Mt. Rainier. It has many moods and vistas. This is from the north, slightly east. I wanted to make sure little Mt. Tahoma showed its peak as well. I do love working with purple and I enjoy the challenge of mountain peaks. For all you mountain climbers out there, this is my interpretation from a long distance away. It is not meant to be a climbers guide.

I can now say I have sold two paintings in the great northwest. My studio is ready for more creativity. I am working on preparing myself for more creative time. Just working through some of the nay-saying inner voices. One of my goals is to be more active on the blog again. It may take on a different tone, but it will be a place I will continue to share my creations and my creative process.

Enjoy the beautiful fall.

Painting and more

In the Shadow of the Mountain

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

by Miki Willa

This scene was painted from a number of different reference photos shot in the shadow of Mt Baker in the late fall and early winter. On my screen, the colors appear a bit darker than they are in real life. I really like the look of the fallow fields with the isolated farm buildings. The tree line in the back is a mixture of evergreens and winter skeletons. This is another painting I will include in my show in July. As the date approaches, I will give more information about the location. For now, I will say it will be in Bremerton, Washington.

I have been studiously avoiding my easel for over a week. I just kept putting off painting while I worked on other things. I have been working on creating a visual journal, and am having great fun creating rather abstractly painted backgrounds using acryllics. I am also learning to do collage. In a few weeks, I will be posting some of them on another blog dedicated to this art form. I am also working through The Artist's Way, again. This time, I am taking time to do the tasks, writing my morning pages, and going on my artist date. I have only been at it for a week, and I am already excited to paint again. I have a bud of new insight about myself as an artist which I will nurture further before I share it here. It is a very profound shift in thinking for me and want to make sure it sticks.

For both of these projects, I am working with online groups and having a great time. For the visual journal, I am working with Kelly Kilmer at A Prompt a Day. There is still time to sign up for the May group. Learn more about this at this site. For The Artist's Way Journey, I am working with Laura Lein-Svencner. See her blog here.

Painting Grand Vistas

Vista

12 x 18 soft pastel on Kitty Wallis Professional White

by Miki Willa

I was reading Rose's Artlines yesterday, and she posed a question about what kinds of art a person likes and why. I have been pondering that question for a while in an effort to narrow my focus for my paintings. I think I will start with subjects.

One of the subjects I really like is the grand vista. I like the idea of the majestic landscape, but not in an over romanticized way. I also really like pastoral scenes, with or without buildings. Old barns, rivers, wetlands, rock formations, and mountains always draw me in. I also really like still lifes, if they are filled with odd and interesting things.

I guess the reason I am starting with subjects is because I am thinking of working on a series. Katherine at Making a Mark has been writing about series paintings. Some time back, MC Johnson wrote about painting in a series. Yesterday, I read Elizabeth Mowry's Landscape Meditations: an artist's guide to exploring themes in landscape painting. All of this has made me think about what I would like to get from painting a series.

1. I would explore a subject in depth and make it a part of me.

2. I would hone my skills in certain areas that need work.

3. I could explore various techniques while staying true to style and subject.

Now I just have to decide what I want to use as my primary subject.

Today's painting is from just outside West Glacier in Montana. We stayed one night at a very overpriced, not really pleasant motel before we started our camping trip in Glacier National Park. The only thing this place had going for it was the view. I used an orange underpainting for the trees in different values of orange. I was really pleased with the way the underpainting turned out, so I very carefully followed the values when I added the greens and violets. I also worked hard getting the values the way I wanted for the receding mountains. Once again, I was going for good aerial perspective.

From Bend, Oregon to Bismark, North Dakota

On the way out of Bend, we decided to stop again at Smith's Rocks. Both of us were determined that we could actually paint this place. We allowed ourselves time to do good sketches, one line and one value. We both would have stayed to paint, but we had to make it to Spokane, WA by dinner time. We both think we have good sketches and photos. I wrote extensive color and value notes on mine. Look for it when I get back to the studio.

After two nights with family in Spokane, we headed northeast for Glacier National Park. It was a long drive, so we decided to stay the night in West Glacier before we headed over Going to the Sun Highway to our campsite in St. Mary's campground. The motel I selected had fantastic views. Tom did a great painting there. The room was very clean, very small, and very basic. It was also really pricey. For the money, we could have stayed in West Glacier itself and had stuff to do.

The next morning, we headed over Logan Pass. There is construction on the steep west side, but we were lucky to have only a six or seven minute delay. Most of the delays are 30 minutes. We decided to push on to the campground and drive back to the meadows on the top another day. The picture at the top is of our campsite and Tom's painting from the day before that he wanted to work on a bit more.

We spent the next two days exploring the park and painting. The next three paintings are pleine air pieces we did. I have decided to post Tom's paintings from the trip also.

From St. Mary's Lake

12 x 18 soft pastels on Wallis

Tom Willa

View from St. Mary's Lake

12 x 18 soft pastels on Wallis
Miki Willa

Jackson Mountain

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix
Miki Willa

After we left the park, we headed east on Highway 2 through Montana to Glasgow, where we found another interesting motel. It was a very hot drive. This morning, we headed southeast to pick up interstate 94. We stopped at a very cool dinosaur museum, looked at the North Dakota Badlands in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and drove through the rain to Bismark. Tom picked this place to stay which has reliable internet access, plenty of room, a laundry (thank goodness), and very cool furniture. I am not sure how much painting will be done between now an Maine. The weather forecast is dismal so we may not be camping much until after the 16th. Hopefully, it will clear up by then. If we don't get paintings done, I will post some great photos from Glacier in the next few days.

The color of haze

Sound View

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I finally made time to get back to the studio this week. Since I still have several local monuments to paint, I decided to get the Mt. Rainier painting taken care of. I am not entirely satisfied with it, but I will try and explain my feelings about this Puget Sound icon.

First, some basic information about the mountain. Mt. Rainier is 14,411 feet high, making it the highest mountain in the Cascade Range. It is an active stratovolcano, and it has 26 glaciers. That is the most glaciers on one mountain in the lower 48 states. Parts of it are open year round for hiking and day trips.

When I first moved to the northwest during my college days, in the dark ages, I have been in love with this mountain. Of course, I am not alone in this love fest. It is a part of local lore as well as conversations. "The mountain is out today," is a great weather indicator. The goals of many local residents include climbing the mountain at least once in their lifetime. Many celebrations take place on the mountain, as well as few losses over the years. Going to the mountain for a day trip or a week long camping adventure is a must. Seeing the wildflower meadows in late spring is awe inspiring. The most interesting thing about this mountain is that it appears differently each day and each season.

On a recent trip to the northwest, before moving here, I took several photos of Mt. Rainier from the decks of the Bremerton-Seattle ferry. It looked so big and close in real life. When I got home and looked at the photos, I was disappointed that the sense of proximity and size were completely lost. When I decided to paint it last week, I decided to exaggerate those points. One important point is that the snow cover on the mountain takes on the colors of the sun at each point during the day. Late afternoon and early evening, the reflections are pinks and oranges. I wanted to include that in my interpretation. There is often a haze or low cloud cover masking the base of the mountain and the foothills leading up to it, which adds to the mystique of the mountain, I think. The haze is where I first got into trouble in the painting. I finally went to Daniel Smith's and bought new pastels in the light range, and that helped.

Finally, I am pretty happy about the mountain, but the mid and foreground need something. Any suggestions would be received well.

Painting mountains

Mt. Ka'ala

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

One of the things I never tire of here is the well weathered look of our mountain ranges. The reference for this one was taken from a park in Haleiwa Town looking toward the Waianea Range and Mt. Ka'ala. I selected a variety of greens and blues to work the ridges and valleys. I put my darks in first, then found I had to tone them down as the mountain developed. My sky is not as developed as I usually like, but I was really concentrating on the mountain and ran out of painting time. Isn't that always the way? I really like the feel of this one.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

Oh! What a Beautiful Morning

9 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

This is another based on a photo my husband took. One of my favorite places for views of the Waianae Mountains is from Hickam Air Force Base. There is a wide channel that runs from the ocean into the lochs at Pearl Harbor, and it runs by Hickam. There is a great park and path that goes along the waterfront. I have done a few plein air paintings there, but I don't think I have posted them because it was before I started this blogging adventure. You never know what you are going to see there. One day, I watched a nuclear sub make its way to sea. It is also directly under the flight path for the landing fields for both Hickam and Honolulu International, so all manner of interesting planes come and go. But I go for the trees, water, and mountains.

The skill I was working on for this painting was using value to create perspective. I am pretty pleased with the overall outcome. This is also my first boat. I did a close up of part of a derelict barge, but not a whole boat before. The lines can really fool you if you are not paying close attention.

Look at the difference a day makes

The painting on top is the finished version. The one on the bottom is the same one I posted yesterday. I wanted to put both of these up here so I could see the difference. They were both shot with the same camera under the same lighting conditions. All the changes you see were made intentionally by me after a critiquing session with my wonderful husband last night. I am much happier with the finished painting. Too often, I see changes I would like to make on these small morning paintings, but put them off so I can start something new. I put it into my storage booklet. Have I told you about that? I use tracing paper tablets to store my morning paintings. This way, I can carry them back and forth easily and they are protected. Since I am moving shortly, I am very happy that my paintings will all be moved in a safe and protected way. The other advantage of having them like this is I can take a tablet when I am visiting friends and show them what I have been doing.

Since I have no idea if I will get to a computer during the next several days, I bid you aloha until next Tuesday. Please come back and visit then.

Linear perspective - a WIP

Ko'olau Vista WIP

9 x 12 soft pastels of Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

When I was a kid, my favorite thing was to create streets or villages using linear perspective. You know. One point, two point, three point. My favorite was two point so I could create an intersection for my dream shopping streets. I carefully measured all my angles, putting in all my signs, windows, and plantings so they were just right. I think I did this for many years. I still think on two point perspective fondly. If only things were that simple.

Anyway, I have really gotten away from linear perspective as I have been working on aerial perspective. There are times, however, when I have to pay attention to both. This painting is an example. The trees are an important element in this painting. They represent a planting scheme in this park that will provide shady spots for families and display different trees that grow here. I have been looking at this painting all day trying to figure out what was bothering me. It is the most distant tree. It is too tall. I was so concerned about value, I forgot size. And what about that really dark area on the mountains right in the middle? What was I thinking? Sometimes it is so hard to get it all together. I have come a long way since I started seriously painting, but I have so far to go before I can stop thinking about all the rules with every stroke I make. Or does that ever happen? Or, are rules meant to be stretched once you know how to play by them?

I will try and post tomorrow, but after that, until next Tuesday, it will be dicey. My father passed away and I am traveling to California for his services. I will take my laptop, my camera, and my moleskine, but may not have much time for drawing.

Painting Diamond Head

Le'ahi Sunrise

8 x 12 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

One of the most photographed and painted landmarks in Hawaii is Diamond Head Crater, known locally as Le'ahi. I think every local artist has painted it at sunrise or sunset. I try not to paint what has been painted too many times before, but the lure was too great. I see it every day from my school since we are so close. It is ever changing. The morning light is from the back from my location. Only the inside peak of the crater catches the sun. In the afternoon, it takes on a golden glow as the sun sets. When it has been raining, the slopes are many shades of green. During the dry times, it is the ever present reddish brown. It is well worn by the Pacific rain and winds. I do understand why people seek it out.

My camera had a hard time with the colors in the sunrise. I tried adjusting them with Photoshop using levels and curves. Unfortunately, The peach and pink got lost in the photo. If my husband's camera does a better job, I will replace this one.

Alpine Meadow 2

Alpine Meadow 2
10 x 7 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

I know I stated that I was satisfied with yesterdays painting, but after a day of looking at it and discussing the composition problems with my wonderful husband, I determined to have another go at it. I am not completely satisfied with this new version, but I do like it better, except for the wild flowers which I like better in the older version. I really want to get this one right, so I will try again, but I won't subject you all to any further tries unless I deem it wonderful.

Here is a look at both of them side by side. I took out the tall trees in the mid-ground as they completely dominated the painting, and I didn't want them to. I also worked to create some sense of depth in the background trees. I have almost done that. I have to confess that I do like the mountains in the first one better even though they are darker. They seem to have a better presence. Ever learning on the journey.

Interesting Underpainting

The Fence Post

12 x 9 soft pastels on Wallis

Miki Willa

When I was looking for paper today, I discovered a well abused and neglected sheet of Wallis white that I didn't think was beyond saving. I looked for a reference photo that would lend itself to a very simple underpainting. I liked the reference photo from Moloka'i because of the four bands of elements. I decided to create a brilliant underpainting using deep rose at the top, black beneath that, bright red for under the green, and umber where the tall grasses went. I used turpenoid to melt the pastels and the result was quite startling. Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of this stage. As I began to develop the painting, I realized that, for the first time, I was enjoying this method. I am very pleased with the results. I have discovered that if I work out the patterns of the dark values before I begin, I am usually happier with the finished painting. I wonder why I forget that?

Alpine Lake

Alpine Lake

7 x 10 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

Another old reference photo. This beautiful lake is in the North Cascade Mountains in Washington. The photo was taken in late summer when the snow was gone from the visible lower mountains. It was also too late for the wild flowers, but it was still quite wonderful and peaceful. When Tom and I hit the road next summer, these are the kinds of places we will be looking for to do some pleine air painting. I think I violated some rule about reflections needing to be darker than the object being reflected, but I am pleased with this representation. I even put one of the people in it. That may be a first for me.

Wai'ale'ale

Wai'ale'ale

12 x 16 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix

Miki Willa

This is another painting done from a photo I took on our September trip to Kauai. We were standing on the rim of Kilohana Crater looking out at Wai'ale'ale, the distant mountain. This is said to be the wettest spot on earth. It is a bit over 5100 feet above sea level, but there is a huge mountain swamp that backs up to it on the other side from where we were looking. That, apparently, has something to do with the moisture. The nearest mountain, Kawaikini, is some 200 feet taller, but has less rain. The grasses in the foreground were quite wonderful and were plentiful at the crater rim, along with tiny orchids, and other wonderful treats. I would like to go back there to paint, but it would be difficult to get permission since it is on private land. I am must glad we got to visit briefly.

Wai'anae Ridge

Wai'anae Ridge

12.5 x 15.5 soft pastels on Art Spectrum Colourfix board

Miki Willa

Two of my favorite things about Oahu are the two mountain ranges that are remants of the two main shield volcanoes that make up the island. The Ko'olau Range is best viewed from the Windward side of the island. The wind and rain have deeply eroded this range, and it is painted often. Tom and I have both done several paintings from different view points. The Wai'anae Range can be seen from the Leeward side and the North Shore, and is less often found in local paintings. We live on the lower slopes of the leeward side of the Ko'olau Range. From our house, we can see the Wai'anae Range. Last weekend, it was so clear, we had to take a drive up our hill to get fuller views of the mountains so I could paint this. Most of the time, there is a bit of a haze and the ridges and valleys are not very clear. This tree is a mystery to us. We have them all over our neighborhood. The leaves are deep burgundy and dark green. In the spring, they are tinged golds, rusts, and oranges. We had a good laugh our first spring up here about the "fall" colors.

Using an underpainting

Today, I decided to try another painting with a brilliant underpainting on Wallis paper. I chose a reference photo of the Koolau mountains taken from Bellows Beach. I drew in the major shapes with vine charcoal. I then used Nupastels in the colors you see above. I used the blue label turpenoid to melt the pastels into the paper. Then I let it dry for quite a while.

After the underpainting dried, I started with the sky. I put in patches of colors that I saw in the photo of the clouds and sky. After getting what I wanted on the paper, I used my fingers to blend. I added more color until I got what I wanted. From there, I moved to the mountians, dark coastal trees, and finally the water. The water on the east side of Oahu is this brilliant turquoise. I wanted to capture that. I also wanted to get the ridges and eroded valleys in the mountains. There is no clear focal area.

I worked on the water meeting the closer shoreline where there was a very small shore break. I darkened the valleys near the focal area and worked the mountains more. This painting, when it is finished, will be 12 x 20. It is done in Nupastels, Terry Ludwig Iaea Tropical set, and Great American McDaniel set, on Wallis professional white. The working title is Koolau Mountains in Waimanalo.

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.

Mauna Kea
9 x 12 soft pastel on Art Spectrum Colourfix
Miki Willa

I took the reference photo for this painting on the road to Akaka Falls. It was a beautiful day and my first full view of Mauna Kea. We could see three observatories very clearly. They don't show up so well in the painting. I will have to fix that. I think I will try some of the shimmering white Great American when I get home.

In working this painting, I was reminded of another mountain painting I did of the West Maui Hills. While I liked that one well enough to gift it to my sister, I think I would like to try it again with this looser style. Learning with each painting is an important part of this journey.