This is a commissioned oil painting of Mineral King. The Friend/Customer wanted a painting to fit a particular space and match some of her other paintings. This magical scene was her decision, and I am happy to comply.
Here we go, step by step.
Maybe something I learned in the plein air painting sessions is improving my studio painting. (Or maybe this is just a magical scene.)
When I was new to oil painting, I was bound to photos. That is the best way for me to learn – mix the colors to match the photo. Finally, after many years of painting, I have developed the ability and confidence to just make scenes look as good as I am able.
A friend told me about a new wildflower by Crystal Creek, so Trail Guy, The Farmer, Hiking Buddy, and I went to see.
When she described the flower, I said, “Sounds like Nettleleaf Horsemint”. But she didn’t remember a serrated leave edge, and I can rarely resist the call of a new flower.
I dragged my hiking partners along for a quest that ended in nothing except a good time in a beautiful place on a great day. Well, wah.
In the Art World, people who really like an artist and buy more than one piece of art from her are called “collectors”. In my world, I call them “friends”.
A friend who has several of my paintings (and quite a few drawings too) asked me to help her figure out how to arrange them. Since she lives 250 miles away, I did this via the magic of technology.
She sent me a photo so I could see which 4 pieces she had and how she just put them willy-nilly on existing nails. (I won’t show that photo, because of my strong policies of protecting people’s privacy on the World Wide Web.)
I made up these vignettes for her. (Oops, sorry, “vignette” is Art Speak for little illustration.)
She has a favorite arrangement from these. Do you?
It probably depends on the space to be filled. And there are probably many other options too, but I didn’t want to overwhelm her. That would be rude to any friend, especially one who collects my art.
I set up the easel in the backyard of the cabin and worked on the painting from memory and the “visual notes” I had made the day before. That’s what Marty Weekly did, so I figured it must be a good plan.
Wait! He didn’t set up in my backyard; he took it home to finish in his studio. His plan was 2 sessions, using little examples of colors and textures that he placed on the canvas during his plein air session.
It made me happy to look out the window and see a plein air painting that I liked. Being familiar with the scene, having seen Marty’s way of tackling it, and adding the details I love all made the difference in my confidence and ability.
Of course, if it doesn’t sell in about 15 minutes, I will be questioning my confidence and ability.
And there was a third session to paint the edges.
There will be a fourth session to write the title on the back and add a hanging wire.
A fifth session will be after it is dry: scanning the painting.
But wait! There’s more: it will need varnishing.
After watching Marty Weekly paint, I caught the plein air bug again. I wanted to set up in exactly the same place, same time of day, and attack the same scene, using the methods that Laurel Daniel taught back in April.
I forgot my camera, so after painting for about 1-1/2 hours, I went back to the cabin to get it. What a hoot to walk away from a wet painting on an easel with a full palette just sitting out there in the elements. No worries because it was an extraordinary day.
Enough. Come back tomorrow for finishing the painting.
Watching Martin “Marty” Weekly paint plein air in Mineral King was a huge privilege and a great learning opportunity. It is one thing to take a workshop in Georgia, where everything is unfamiliar. It is another thing to watch someone paint a landscape that I know very well, so I can understand how decisions are made to include some items and simplify or ignore others.
Here are some of the many things that Marty taught me in the 3 hours we stood there together:
I am looking forward to seeing the finished painting! Since the intended recipients are friends of mine, I will ask to see a photo, and hope I can show you.
Marty and discussed the weirdly shaped juniper. The light on the edge of it was compelling, and he decided to put it in, but not the same size as it is in real life. The trouble with that scene in real life is that there are 4 trees, all in a line, all the same height and evenly spaced. If it were painted that way, it might look like a sad little orchard rather than a natural scene.
We discussed the Honeymoon Cabin. Marty didn’t know what it was, and his wife and I convinced him it was important to include, especially because the painting is to be a wedding gift for a couple who knows Mineral King.
We discussed the snow patch on the side of Vandever, which is important enough to have a name – Bearskin. It is often speculated about during the summers as we wonder how long the snow will last. The addition of Bearskin made it necessary to add the remaining snow right below Farewell Gap. He also added in Falcon Peak, which is really just the headwall of White Chief Canyon (to the right of Vandever).
Marty also did some reshaping and tightening up of the accuracy of some of the shapes. Because he paints in a loose and impressionist style, this surprised me. But, his scenes are always recognizable, so of course he wants the shapes to be correct. We talked about the top of Vandever, which wasn’t visible from where we stood, and I was able to tell him that the top is jagged and it is taller than West Florence on the left side of the gap.
We discussed the vegetation, and he made some visual notes so he would know how to finish things later in his studio.
On Monday, I’ll tell you some of the many things I learned from watching Martin Weekly, master plein air oil painter paint in Mineral King.
As Martin Weekly set up his painting, I stood in the shade of the juniper, took photos, and just listened and watched. As a Questioner, I bit back many questions, and waited for him to either talk to himself or to address me directly. He shared a tremendous amount of experience and information, which I wrote down when he was finished for the afternoon.
There is great comfort in knowing that even the work of a master begins looking scribbly and worrisome.
See those bright orange dots? That is the way Marty checks his values (the darks and lights) because orange is a strong middle value. He can compare any color to see if it is darker or lighter, because a painting needs all the different darks and lights to be good.
To be continued tomorrow. . .
Martin Weekly, AKA Marty, is a master plein air painter and a friend. Recently he painted in Mineral King, and I had the privilege of watching over his shoulder.
He set up in a place that wasn’t highly visible to the public, although we did have a few observers who watched briefly (and one who asked some annoying questions when he was trying to concentrate, which is just part of the job.)
He set up his supplies and began painting. I was astonished to see that his methods and materials are completely different from that of Laurel Daniel, an equally accomplished painter who taught the workshop that I attended in Georgia in April.
I was greatly reassured when he had to do the outline several times and completely erased it once. This guy is truly a master, and to know he also doesn’t always get it right the first time gave me hope.
Come back in two days for more of my session with Marty.