Layered and Textured Garden Painting

This week, I had fun playing with a textured grid of collaged images and paint.  The final abstract painting includes about six layers of collage and paint. I created my own English cottage garden.

The first layer is paint chips in the colors that I wanted the final painting to be.  The second layer as seen above is made up of garden, plant and flower images cut into squares and collaged onto the canvas.

Then, I painted over the second layer to set the scene, added another layer of collage.  I added paint to several of the collaged images, added another layer, added a layer of tissue paper flowers and the humming bird. To emphasize the humming bird, I painted his breast red (see top photo).  I could do a whole series of these paintings.

Abstraction with Surface Texture

Our second abstract landscape class with Cynthia Herron focused on abstraction through surface texture. Her paintings include a one or more layers of texture often as the under ground.  We each received a 6x8 inch board already textured.  Layers of green and blue tissue paper were glued onto my board.  I selected a photo of a bird sitting on plant stalks to paint on the board.  Then, I mixed up some hard molding paste with buff titanium and red oxide paint to roughly match the stalk color.  In the photo, the stalks appear to be very textured.

I wanted to simulate this texture-

Next, I painted the stalks and the bird, added another layer with a tissue paper drawing I did of tree leaves.

Other students used different textured boards.  Below, the texture was created with heavy gesso applied with a palette knife-

a gesso layer with crumpled tissue paper on top-

more layers of decorative and tissue papers-

a layer of molding paste-

The local artists Cynthia referenced for our class are Sharon Geraci, who teaches at the Multnomah Arts Center, and Eunice Parsons.  Both use collage materials in their paintings for surface texture.  I'll attempt to get photos of these works in progress as they become finished for the next post. 

Abstract Painting with Cynthia Herron

Last week, I started a class in abstract landscape painting with Salem artist, Cynthia Herron.  Portland Art Collective members, Dayna Collins and Tory Brokenshire, took this course last Spring and highly recommended it.  I want to be looser in my artwork- both drawing and painting.

I selected a photo from a trip to Sedona, Arizona a few years ago. 

Here's my underground color and under drawing.  I distorted the shapes of the rock formations and clouds.  The yellow under painting represents the hot day.

Then, I blocked in the colors to get the feel of the hot day and the energy of the Vortex in this area.  The values of the blues in the sky are exaggerated from dark to lighter.  The red rocks deflect the heat. The painting is not complete.  The foreground needs more detail and contrast in color.

I was so impressed with the work of fellow students. Thanks everyone for letting me post your paintings. Luanne Kreutzer used a photo from a rafting trip she took on the Colorado River.

Dana Gibbons worked from this photo of a farm.

Chris Vietmeier used some enlarged photos that spoke to her.

Sandy Keating chose a photo from a vacation in Florence, Italy to paint.

All are works in progress. I love how the use exaggeration and distortion of the shapes and forms creates different feelings in each painting.  I can't wait to see what we create next week with abstraction through color.