How can I create a Sense of Light in my paintings?

To create a sense of warm light in your paintings, paint the areas that are illuminated by sunlight warmer in color and lighter in tonal value.  Areas in shadow should be cooler in color and darker in tonal value.  The color and value contrast will create the sense of light.  Making the contrast greater—even warmer and lighter colors in light and even darker and cooler colors for shadow areas—will make a more dramatic statement.  For cool light, paint the areas in shadow warmer (they don’t need to be hot, they just need to be warmer than the cool light).

          Be consistent with your treatment of the light and shadow.  The light on a landscape is constantly changing, so you should aim to capture a single moment.  Sunlit areas and shadows that are not consistent will weaken the sense of a specific time of day in your painting.

From “Oil Painter’s Solution Book – Landscapes” by Elizabeth Tolley

Under the Crape Myrtle Trees



So I went out into my garden again and painted this "study" under the Crape Myrtle trees.  The only colors I used were Ultramarine Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Cad Med. Light, Burnt Umber, White. I'd like to someday paint a much larger version of this . . .

Thoughts on Painting Outside

“Being comfortable on location is essential in being able to focus on your subject matter and apply paint. Having a simple setup makes going outside more enjoyable. Have a backpack designated for outdoor use that is packed and ready to go at all times, so you can immediately go out when the light is right.

 Keep a checklist in or on your portable easel so you can quickly determine if you have all you need when you are packing or walking to location. Getting all set up to paint the perfect view only to discover that your palette is back in your studio is very frustrating.

So you do not lose valuable painting time, try to take only what you need so that you can make one trip to set up your supplies. You will need an outdoor easel and palette, a bag to carry your supplies to the location and a way to transport your wet painting home. An umbrella to shade you and your painting is a great addition to your outdoor painting supply kit. You might also consider sunscreen and bug repellent.

Attach an umbrella to your easel so that your painting is shaded, even if it is an overcast day. If it is too windy to use an umbrella, make sure your painting is not in the sun; otherwise it will be hard to judge the color and value relationships.”


(Oil Painter’s Solution Book – Landscapes, by Elizabeth Tolley)

Pricing Your Work With Confidence

“How should I price my own artwork so that it will sell?  Let’s face it; it’s a mystery, because there really is no rhyme or reason to the value of art.  The intrinsic value of art is ephemeral; the true value is in the eye of the beholder.

-Always refer to the price of your work in terms of retail value.  Weather you are talking to a gallery owner, a visitor to a show, or a private collector, you should have one consistent price for any piece of work. 

It would be helpful for you to think of the value of your work in two parts.  The first part of that value is the value you create in the studio as you employ your artistic talents and skills to create a masterpiece.  You deserve to be paid for the effort it takes to create this value.  The second part of the value comes from the effort that it takes to market and sell the art.  There is a tremendous amount of time, work, and skill invested in making a sale happen, and the value created here needs to be rewarded as well. 

If you sell a piece of artwork through your own efforts, you have earned both halves of the value of the work.  If you turn the sales half of the process over to a gallery so you can devote your time to creating, the gallery earns the second half.

Do not under-value your work by quoting it at a less-than-retail price.  Not in any circumstance.

-Be consistent when pricing your art.

No matter where your buyers are located, price your art the same for every location.

-Institute a pricing formula

Why would you torture yourself by having to figure out the price of each piece as it is created? 

Painters: Price by the square inch.  There is simply no easier method to consistently price your work than by size.  A collector may not realize he is paying by the square inch, but it is quietly reassuring to him that the larger the painting, the higher the value.

The idea is to have a formula so simple you could hand it to someone else, and with a few variables, she could come up with your price.

-Research comparable artists. 

One of the most important factors in your analysis is the pricing structure your competition has in place.  After cracking the artists’ formulas for pricing it’s time for you to determine how to position your pricing in comparison to the competition.

Create a spectrum of the prices you find.  Place the lowest price on the left and the highest on the right; then plot each of the artists you are researching on the chart.  Once you have done this, you will have a clear picture of your competition.  Now draw a line in the center, and somewhere close to this centerline is where you want to be prices.

The tendency of an artist who is searching for a price is to start lower than the competition.  This is a mistake.  Under-pricing your work can be just as detrimental to your sales as over-pricing.  Often a collector will fall in love with a piece, but if the price is too low she begins to question her taste.”

From “Starving to Successful” by J. Jason Horejs

Does Your Painting Have a Focus?

Some part of your paintings should clearly represent the central focus of the picture. How it is stated and what devices you can use to make it clear that it IS the focus are things that are important when you create a painting. The main things, though, is the HAVE a FOCUS. Without it, the painting is just a collection of shapes. With it, the picture looks like a visual event. Sometimes the center of interest occupies that position because it is different from what surrounds it, sometimes it holds attention because it is the culmination of the rest of the elements in the picture.

Painting with your eye always on the center of interest helps keep the artist from merely copying and putting equal attention on all the elements of the subject. Being true to the way human’s actually see, we need to look at something, no matter how general. We always pick out something to “focus” on. Paintings should be no less selective than our eyes are. Our paintings should exhibit the same discrimination, the same variations in intensity. It should be obvious to the viewers of our paintings what it is we were “focusing” on.

Simplifying Nature for a Painting

Sometimes nature looks just too complicated to try and paint. We look and are overwhelmed with what is in front of us. So – simplify the chaos. . .

Every scene in nature can be separated, at its most basic level into two shapes -- black and white. Simplifying into just light and shade at the beginning of a painting makes the entire process easier. Try squinting while deciding what’s in light or shadow. This simplifies the values and makes them more obvious. Instead of hundreds of things to paint, you simplify the scene into the two most important shapes that create a representational landscape. Also remember that keeping the shapes different sizes with unequal masses makes for less monotony in the final product. If you divide the canvas into equal shapes, one light and one shadow your composition might end up boring and forgotten – divide the space unequally.

A helpful exercise to ingrain this concept is to take tracing paper to magazine photos, or photos from an art book and trace the main light and shadow shapes. Outline the shapes with a thin marker for accuracy and then fill in the masses with a bold pointed black marker. You will quickly be able to see the separation of light, shadow and masses the artist used.

Secret to Success As An Artist – Work, Work, Work

Yes, there’s no way around it.  If your goal is to be a successful, full-time artist, you must be in the studio constantly, consistently creating art.  Several techniques you will find useful:

-Set a consistent allotment of time every day, during which you commit to be in the studio creating; then stick to that schedule religiously. Consider your time in the studio sacred, and ask your family and friends to respect that time.

-Set a goal to create a certain number of works per week.  Two per week is a good start.

-Get distractions out of the studio.  If possible move the computer to another room, or at least turn it off during your studio time.   Also, turn your cell phone off.  Studio time is a time for you to disconnect.

Before you approach galleries, you should have 20-25 gallery-ready pieces in your inventory of two dimensional pieces.  By definition, a gallery-ready piece is fit for display upon a gallery wall, and for immediate purchase by the client.

Don’t expect a gallery to ask for all of your pieces, as typically they only take a sampling of your work for display.  However, you want to offer them a wide enough variety to provide a selection of pieces they feel will work best in their gallery.  You also want to show them you have a sufficient inventory to rotate and replace pieces as they sell.

From “Starving to Successful” by J. Jason Horejs

Selection and Composition

“William M. Chase admonished his students to develop appreciation, have high ideals, select inspiring motives, paint in a grand style, and never be satisfied with reaching for a mere star but for the greatest one.

          While it is necessary that the painter look for visual qualities in nature, he needs also to sense attributes which are beyond vision.  The power is given to him to feel the mystery and charm of fleeting clouds; the immensity and depth of blue skies and atmospheric distances; the grace and rhythm of living and expanding trees and other growths; the nobility, grandeur and strength of mighty peaks; the endless movement and vitality of the sea and its forms.  All these and many more offer unlimited material for worthy ideas.  The motive selected should not include anything that disturbs the complete ideology of  beauty or pure esthetic pleasure.

          In painting pictures, one needs to think of the esthetic intent.  Art has been used and abused all through the ages.  It has been employed to illustrate all manner of things far removed from its actual purpose.  Artistic quality is the goal, it is never the story in the picture.  The painter may choose any subject he desires and make a fine work of it, technically speaking.  But will any subject fulfill all requirements of art?  While life or existence is a continual strife between ignoble and noble motives, art is definitely on the side of spiritual constructiveness.”

From “Composition of Outdoor Painting”  by Edgar Payne

Beautiful Day for Plein Air Painting--So I Thought!

Beautiful day in Central Virginia today.  Low 80s for the temperature with low humidity, a beautiful blue sky and puffy white clouds.  Perfect for painting outside in "Plein Air.  But, as I was getting my gear together, making sure I wasn't forgetting anything, my house started shaking, and there was a very unusual, loud roar happening around me.  As I made my way down the hallway, I could hear the glass rattling, and the floor of my home was shaking and rolling under me -- an Earthquake was occurring, and it wasn't stopping either."

Now, living in Central Virginia, it is a very unusual thing - feeling an earthquake.  But, I will admit, since living in this present home over the past ten years, I have felt a total of two.  But those were hardly noticeable, and stopped as quickly as they started.  This, on the other hand, was very loud, and my house shook to the point that by the time I had made it to a doorway, I was wondering if the roof was going to collapse on top of me.

So, I never did make it out to paint on a beautiful late summer afternoon.  Instead I sat on my couch afraid that another one might come at any moment, picking up the phone time and time again, reassuring family members that I was just fine.  I'm feeling very fortunate that I don't live in an area that this is a common occurrence, and hoping I never have to feel it again.

Paintings from Grotto Falls, Great Smokey Mountains National Park

These are two paintings that I recently painted from Grotto Falls

in the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennessee.  We took a strenuous hike up the mountain to where the falls was located, and then were able to not only walk up close to the falls, but behind where it was falling from above as well.  Spectacular is the word I'd use to describe how it felt being behind the falls, and hearing the loud rush of the water falling, breathing in the humind lush mountain air, and feeling the spray of the Falls all around and on us.  I'd recommend this trip to anyone who could possibly make it there!

I loved painting these two paintings and long to complete more of the same location.  I actually can vividly remember how I felt while there, which makes painting them something I'd love to do more of.  Maybe a "Series" is in order?????

http://www.barbarasryan.com

Thoughts from my artist “Mentor” in the ProDJ Program

I am very proud and fortunate to be able to be working with Master Oil Painter, Kevin Macpherson in his online ProDJ Program.  From time to time, I will share on this page some helpful comments or suggestions he might give us.  The quote below is from recent comments he shared with us that I thought were great!

 “I expect many of you to move a step forward and two backwards.  We are filling your heads with a lot of new information, perhaps overwhelming at times.  No longer is it idol brush stroking but now we stroke with intention and conscious consideration.  This is not easy.  To make a good painting is not easy.  The ability to make wise, educated decisions is essential to a successful painting. You are the one who is ultimately responsible for your artistic growth.  My goal is to give you learning experiences that will inspire you for the rest of your lives.  I hope to instill in the artist the sheer joy of painting and a love for lifelong learning.”

Kevin Macpherson

 I took my easel out into my vegatable garden to paint this.  It was a very hot sunny day with alot of light and shadow contrast.  The corn is dying and the Sunflowers were leaning all over the place -- alot going on.