One-Day Painting Giveaway

This past Thursday, June 13,  was the annual One-Day Painting Giveaway at my Gettysburg gallery. I start a small painting at 10 am, work till 5 pm and every guest is invited to enter his or her name in a drawing to win the painting at the end of the day. I advertised that I would be painting an iconic Gettysburg scene in honor of the 150th anniversary, so I chose an 1863 photo of the gatehouse at Evergreen Cemetery to use as the basis for my painting. I was able to include  here a few photographs of the various steps of this painting, rendered with Neocolor II watersoluble wax pastels and Inktense watercolor pencils, as well as the finished product along with the photo used as the basis for this painting. A couple from Canada were the winners of this painting and seemed to be quite pleased!

 

 

 

Getting back on track

It's been so long since I've posted -- life has been very hectic this year and I'm struggling to keep on top of everything. Better late than never, I guess...as far as posting is concerned.

Today's painting  -- created in several types of water media -- was done at the Quick Draw event on the square in Gettysburg, part of the Gettysburg Festival. Quick Draw is a timed painting session; two hours start to finish. It's a lot of fun but a real challenge. I'm calling my painting "Things Are Looking Up" -- it shows a portion of the Gettysburg Hotel in the background, complete with 150th Anniversary banners.

Completed and Sold!

I did complete Sunset, Peter Frey Farm in late June, and it and another small landscape sold in early July to a gentleman from Pittsburgh.  I enjoy these Gettysburg landscapes and am now experimenting with using Neocolor II (Watersoluble Wax Pastels) on some larger versions, as they lay down much more quickly than the Inktense pencil/colored pencil combination.

In-progress: Barn at the Peter Frey Farm

This needs some work, primarily to the tree on the lefthand side, but I'm pleased with how it's coming along so far. I'm working with an  Inktense watercolor pencil underpainting on white PastelMat, and adding dry colored pencil color enhancement and detail on top. It's turned into one of my favorite working methods for landscapes.

Devil's Den at Sunset, Step 2

I taught a workshop over the weekend on using Derwent Inktense water soluble pencils as an underpainting for colored pencil drawings. Since I had this piece with me to use as an example of a couple of concepts, I spent a little time during the lunchbreak punching up the watercolor layers and then last night had some time to add some dry colored pencil detail. It's starting to head the direction I want; it does seem to look a little too dark, overall, in this reproduction.

Step 3, Frederick Douglass

I'm using two entirely different "wet" techniques with the colored pencil for this painting. The background is done using the Derwent Inktense pencils, applied in a wash and allowed to run. The figure is done using a Tuscan Red Prismacolor Artstix, which contains wax, so even though the watercolor wash was applied in the background and allowed to drip, the area done with the wax-based pencils resists the wash, so it doesn't stick to the face. I've reddened the background somewhat with this wash layer. Also, the tones on the face and hair have been blended a bit using odorless Turpenoid, which has served to fill them in and intensify their color.

Frederick Douglass, Step 2

I've started to add more tonal areas now. The figure has been laid in so far with a Tuscan Red Artstix. The background is Derwent Inktense pencils, "liquefied" and applied with a two-inch brush, then allowed to run. At 24" x 24", he's a fairly imposing figure in my studio!