Wendy Painting

Wendy Painting, 10x8" oil, plein air, Diane Mannion

Beautiful Lies

Thought I'd try a figurative sketch this morning at the Punta Gorda Environmental Center painting with the Peace River Painters.  I'm not happy painting on cloudy days, need those strong, Floridian shadows and screaming light patterns.  Gray days for me are blaaaaaaaahhh.

So, practiced with a figurative sketch of my painting neighbor, Wendy who was blissfully unaware that I was painting her.  There were about seven other artists behind her, but took them out to simplifiy the scene, changed the building, and when the sun weakly eeked out for a minute or so... rapidly put the light pattern down.

*Boring technical info alert:

Also experimented with Gamblin's chromatic black, which is a mixture of red, yellow, and blue.  It acts very differently than using Ivory black, found it turned a strong blue when white was added.  It seemed less "muddy" than Ivory black, which I use rarely.  I like to create blacks with ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, alizarin, or viridian green, or burnt umber, whatever it takes to get a warm or cool interesting "black."  Oh, almost forgot to mention... Gamblin chromatic black with yellow ochre makes a lovely green!

This painting's simply a sketch, could have tinkered with photo ref later, but then it would be a different painting.  Decided to leave it as is and give it to Wendy who was happy I didn't make her butt too big.

Afterwards we lined up our paintings and talked about them.  I kept telling the lily pond painters that the lily pads in the foreground should be larger.  "But they were baby lily pads," they said.  SO LIE, I suggested, to make a better painting.  We don't need to reproduce what's in front of us, an impression will do.

Loved it when alert artist, Stephen said...call them "Beautiful lies."