Now is the moment to unify the composition a final time to complete the painting. I bring forth more color and detail in the two prominent houses, detailing the windows and doors. I work quickly, but methodically. I do not want to overstate any detail areas, so that they become too noticeable, they are part of the whole, nothing more, nothing less. I also bring forth more color and some subtle details in the peripheral houses as well. I then put in the trees on the left using quick gestural brush strokes. I didn’t work on the trees until I was happy with the houses behind them.

As careful as I was with the buildings and background, I abandoned all caution and attacked the snow in the same way I did early on with the sky. I used lots of water, and applied color in broad strokes. I then tightened things down to where I used less water and more pigment in increasing proportions. It is subtle, and you must be respectful of painting snow, there is little room for error. Adjusting for light and shadow was the final piece, and I set aside my brushes.

In Eastern philosophy there are many references to walking the path. It is an allusion to perseverance, and overcoming both physical and mental challenges to reach your goals. This painting is the path I chose. It was a test for me as an artist, and it broadened my knowledge of myself as much as it did my watercolor knowledge and experience. I am pleased with the results.

Thank you for walking the path with me on my blog.

]]> http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/04/three-degrees-the-journey-complete/feed/ 0 http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/04/three-degrees-fifth-wash/ http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/04/three-degrees-fifth-wash/#comments Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:00:19 +0000 admin http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/04/admin/ I work into the closer trees on the right; these will establish the core of the reflections in the pond. On these trees, there is more detail in the branches, but I still need to keep it loose…back to careful randomness! I work fast here, spontaneity being the key. I’m using only Davy’s Gray and Indigo Blue now. I will use only four pigments throughout this painting; I am focusing on the subtle interplay ofthese colors to achieve the mood I want.

For this phase, I pull all the elements into a tighter cohesive whole. I build on the previous layers of color, defining the elements of the composition, using the same basic blues as before. I work more deliberately in this phase, bringing out the essential features of the houses, still using fluid washes, but adding pigment a bit more than before. I also tone down the highlights areas on the buildings using a very pale combination of Cerulean and Cobalt blue. I don’t want the highlight areas to compete, I want them as a subtle contrast.

The windows and doors will be an important element in this painting, and I work carefully on these. I want a mosaic of darker areas to lead your eye through the relatively uniform colors of the houses, like small stepping stones across a shallow creek. I planned this in my sketches, trying different combinations, and like the movement and geometric qualities they bring to the composition.

I don’t rush, this is important, but I also do not overwork or overstate any area. It is balance that is fundamental to any watercolor painting, but more so for a white on white composition. You can’t be timid, but aggression could be fatal. It is a harmony you must perceive and then capture.

This is a building process, and for this particular painting, I am moving very deliberately. That is not to say that I don’t use brushwork to move quickly at times to get uniform color, but this a careful process. In a white on white painting, you build subtle layers, adding colors in lighter applications than in other subjects. You can always darken subsequent layers, but you can’t go back and lighten. Well it’s possible, it’s just not desirable.

I progressively add more color to areas, moving over the entire painting, keeping the overall scene in mind at all times. I work in the houses across the street, and develop the far houses to the right as well. I also spend a good amount of time on the largest house. This will become the basis for the rest of the painting. It is the largest area of color other than the snow, and it will drive the color and hue of the other house in the middle, as well as the peripheral houses. I use more Indigo and Cobalt here, still using diluted pigments, but introducing darker hues. I keep it subtle and under control, thinking ahead to how I want these layers to build to the final. I step back frequently from the easel, and critically evaluate what is happening, this is important. You can’t rush.

Once the snow area is indicated with my base wash of color, I use the same colors for the houses. I move quickly here, striving for a unity of hue and color, and harmony of the snow and the white buildings. I also establish some highlight areas in certain areas of the buildings and snow. I pay attention here to light and shadow in the peripheral houses that are farther in the distance and across the street. These will give balance to the larger elements as I progress.

This is not the most glamorous part of the painting process, but it is a critical element of the whole, and I am careful here to get it right. The tendency is to rush through this phase, but you must resist and prepare carefully, for everything will be built on what is done here. It is like building a home, if you rush through and cut corners when laying the foundation, the integrity of the finished building will be compromised, and serious flaws are the result. The same is true for watercolor.

While the paper was still wet, I proceed with the background hills, adding darker colors of Burnt Sienna and Davy’s Gray to define the trees. Some areas I added more color, other areas were more water than pigment. My goal was to get a harmony of textures that would accurately depict the winter trees on the hills without getting too detailed, it is a suggestion and I let the watercolor work for me in this area. I also paid attention to the lighting on the hills to depict the early morning sun. Once I was satisfied, I stopped, and will not go back into it for the remainder of the painting.

I used masking fluid to block out the bottom parts of the buildings, and then used a wet wash of Cobalt Blue and Cerulean Blue to lay down the base colors for the snow. It is important at this stage to establish the light hues of blue I will use throughout the painting, as the three colors of blue I will use, Cobalt Blue, Cerulean Blue and Indigo Blue, will be the dominate colors of the houses and snow. A white on white painting requires me to move slowly and build up layers of color in a subtle way, keeping in mind the whole, not getting ahead of the rest of the painting in any one area. That being said, I am always thinking ahead in my mind, forming the colors and layers I will build upon the foundation I have laid down in this stage for the upcoming stages. It is a constant mental exercise.

]]> http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/03/three-degrees-second-wash%e2%80%94forming-colors/feed/ 0 http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/03/three-degrees-first-wash%e2%80%94setting-the-tone/ http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/03/three-degrees-first-wash%e2%80%94setting-the-tone/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:47:03 +0000 admin http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/03/three-degrees-first-wash%e2%80%94setting-the-tone/ I work into the closer trees on the right; these will establish the core of the reflections in the pond. On these trees, there is more detail in the branches, but I still need to keep it loose…back to careful randomness! I work fast here, spontaneity being the key. I’m using only Davy’s Gray and Indigo Blue now. I will use only four pigments throughout this painting; I am focusing on the subtle interplay ofthese colors to achieve the mood I want.

I remember in college drawing a white linen sheet draped over various interesting forms and shapes lit very deliberately from different intensities and angles. It was always a new challenge, and I liked these exercises very much. It stretched your capabilities, which I feel is essential as an artist. A white on white painting is as much perception and focus, as it is actual painting.

As I always say, in a landscape painting, the sky sets the tone for the rest of the painting, and I wanted the mood of this painting to be a cold, sunny early morning.

I used a very fluid wash of cadmium yellow and cobalt blue, adding pigment as needed. I did not overstate the colors, this would go against what I am trying to achieve for the sky, and in a broader sense, the entire painting. I move quickly in this stage, working the sky and hills in a wet wash, blending the edge of the hills and sky to get a diffused look. I let the water and pigment do their thing, and move on to the next step.

]]> http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/03/three-degrees-first-wash%e2%80%94setting-the-tone/feed/ 0 http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/03/three-degrees-preliminary-sketch/ http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/03/three-degrees-preliminary-sketch/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 22:40:55 +0000 admin http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/03/three-degrees-preliminary-sketch/ I work into the closer trees on the right; these will establish the core of the reflections in the pond. On these trees, there is more detail in the branches, but I still need to keep it loose…back to careful randomness! I work fast here, spontaneity being the key. I’m using only Davy’s Gray and Indigo Blue now. I will use only four pigments throughout this painting; I am focusing on the subtle interplay ofthese colors to achieve the mood I want.

A white on white composition is a supreme challenge to any artist in any media. It forces the artist to see beyond light, shadow and color and perceive the subtle ways they interact. It stretches the boundaries of an artist’s so-called comfort zone, which I am always trying to do in my art.

I love this composition, and did a few quick preliminary sketches to get it just how I wanted before making the final sketch to use as the basis for my painting. I feel the angles of the buildings will give the painting interest and movement, and the interaction of the snow and white houses will make this a dynamic piece.

Please follow me on my blog as I create as this painting. It will be a great challenge, and I am looking forward to it.

]]> http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2012/03/three-degrees-preliminary-sketch/feed/ 0 http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-the-end-of-a-fulfilling-journey/ http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-the-end-of-a-fulfilling-journey/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:25:30 +0000 admin http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-the-end-of-a-fulfilling-journey/

Now that the foundation has been established to my satisfaction, I enter the final phase, building on the foundation to bring this painting to completion. This always takes the longest amount of time, and I proceed with care. I don’t want to lose the spontaneity I achieved with the previous work, but I also want to tighten up and clarify the elements into a cohesive whole. It is about balance and harmony.

I concentrate first on the larger buildings on either side, intensifying color, and lighting, bringing out details. Then I work on the buildings and houses in the middle distance, again bridging the space between the two prominent masses of shapes and colors on either side.

I work on the snow last. I want to have the mood, lighting and color all set before I tie it all together with the snow. It is this area that will make or break the painting, and it must be done with excellence and integrity. I put form and lighting in the snow using colors I used in the sky. I work very carefully and deliberately on the tire and foot tracks, slowly building detail.

When I am at this stage of any painting, I spend equal time evaluating and painting. I step back from the easel often, to look at each detail, each element and see how it all contributes to the whole. You cannot rush this. I add, then stop and evaluate, add and evaluate over and over, until I am satisfied this painting has achieved the vision I initially had for it.

I am very happy with this painting, I feel I achieved the goals I set for it. It was a great challenge and a very fulfilling journey. Thanks for joining me as I worked.

]]> http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-the-end-of-a-fulfilling-journey/feed/ 0 http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-time-for-unification/ http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-time-for-unification/#comments Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:21:42 +0000 admin http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-time-for-unification/

Now it is time to unify the rest of the painting by establishing the snow. This is fairly straightforward and simple, but when painting snow you must always be careful. Snow is a very tricky surface to work with, very similar to water in my opinion. As when painting water, you must be vigilant and aware at all times when painting snow, a misstep, and you can lose the feeling of the surface, and therefore the believability of the snow, or water. Once you lose that believability, there is no way to recover it, and the painting has failed. There is a lot on the line.

At this stage, I am looking to accomplish two things. First I want to establish the overall lighting and atmosphere of the painting, and I do this by repeating colors from the sky in the snow in subtle ways. Secondly, I want to establish the overall shape and form of the snow. Again, as in the previous step, this is a foundation upon which I will build the snow areas with additional washes of color. Because of this, I allow a good portion of the snow to remain white at this stage.

I work fast here, never lingering in one area, working with light and shadow, keeping the edges soft, using lots of water. This completes the foundation of the painting. It is a cardinal rule; without a strong foundation, you cannot build a strong painting. This is true for anything in life, not just art.

]]> http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-time-for-unification/feed/ 0 http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-trust-what-happens-2/ http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-trust-what-happens-2/#comments Fri, 23 Dec 2011 04:16:25 +0000 admin http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-trust-what-happens-2/

After the sky has dried completely, and the masking fluid is removed, it is time to establish the foundation for the painting. This is most important. I work from the distant back to the front of a painting, laying areas of color that I will build upon as the painting progresses. I work fast here – thinking shapes of color, not buildings, keeping it loose.

I also establish depth and distance by going into some detail in the background houses and skyline. The snow on the roofs of the middle distance buildings will be a very important visual in the painting, so I take care to render this area with sharper detail, but still keeping an overall looseness, remembering that I will build color and tone on top of this area. Equally important at this early stage of work is the unifying aspect the distant and middle distant buildings have. They are a visual bridge connecting the larger, stronger elements on each side of the painting.

This is a critical step in the painting, but it is important to realize that while this step must not be overlooked, it also must not be overworked. Time to move on.

]]> http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-trust-what-happens-2/feed/ 0 http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-trust-what-happens/ http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-trust-what-happens/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:07:44 +0000 admin http://www.herringtonstudio.com/2011/12/tuesday-trust-what-happens/

The sky is always important in a landscape, and although I want a neutral, almost bland sky, I also want it to be a very strong and central element in this painting.

After I transfer my sketch to the watercolor paper, I block out the buildings and other essential elements with masking fluid. Now I’m ready.

Since I want a muted and plain feel for this painting, I will work with a limited pallet and for the sky, will use colors that will be repeated in other areas of the painting. This gives it unity and balance. I squeeze out Cobalt Blue, Indigo Blue, Davy’s Gray and Cadmium Yellow onto my pallet, grab my favorite large brushes, and then before starting, I take time to contemplate how the sky will look and how to achieve it. I believe very strongly in the mental aspect of creating art, it is every bit as important as technique and composition, and if neglected in any art, not just painting, shows as a deficiency very plainly.

One of the many things I love about watercolor is that there are times when you just have to let it all go and trust what happens, and this is very true of painting skies. After analyzing what you want to happen, and focusing this energy, you still need the courage and confidence to abandon control and let watercolor do what it does, according to its nature. I use lots of water, working quickly, keeping the yellow as a constant base tone, then washing in the other colors overtop. I want a seamless harmony of the colors, and I let the water and pigment work together to achieve it. I do not add unneeded color and do not force things, I let it play out, with confidence in the outcome.

Pittsburgh offers a wealth of artistic reference for an artist with my interests and style. The neighborhoods cling to the surrounding hills that overlook the city skyline, presenting unique opportunities for expression. I wanted a composition that embodied a sense of ordinary, everyday life and forms with a sense of the unique, the unnoticed, the beautiful.

Eye movement and composition will be important factors for this painting, as they are for every painting I create. I want the end result to draw the viewer into and through the painting, like they were walking down the street. I concentrate on shapes and the arrangement of shapes and color, reducing the realistic to simple abstract forms. While drawing, I focus on each detail, but never lose sight of the overall whole. I want a mosaic of shapes and color to flow through this painting, combined with strong eye movement and visual tension.

I drew many quick sketches for this painting, using overlays of tracing paper until I was happy with the composition, before working out in pencil the final or master drawing.

I want the viewer to walk into and through my painting. I want to draw them in, to be immersed. What seems ordinary is extraordinary, perfect in itself. Simple yet complex. Subtle. I want you to notice this as you experience my art.

Pittsburgh is a great city for an artist with interests such as mine. I stress composition, movement and the interplay of shapes and light in my art, and this city offers a wealth of reference. The common buildings become fascinating shapes of color and light, perched precariously at the edge of the solidness of the city skyline. There is beauty everywhere. Each day as we move through commonality and repetitiveness, we should be aware of the wonderment of each moment, we should see clearly. That is where the extraordinary lies within the ordinary.

The title and poem have many meanings for me. This was a painting that I needed to paint, not merely from an artistic perspective, but from an emotional and spiritual aspect too. This was a painting that came from within, something that I had to release and to express , and that outlet is through my art. I put as much mood and feeling into this work as I could draw from my soul. Art is a healing and solidifying process, deeply personal in its significance. Whether you create or appreciate art, it reaches your inner being.

But beyond those deep musings, this was a challenging painting in many ways. I specifically painted this piece with several layers of transparent washes to maximize the lighting and to achieve luminosity so that when viewed in different lighting, this painting changes with the light source, like it would be in real life.

I proceed from the middle ground to the foreground, continuing the technique I used for the middle ground. The only changes are in the details; I put more definition in the snow and grasses.

The cattails and long grass at the edge of the pond present a challenge; they must be a strong element of the painting, but not overpowering or dominant. I worked loose and quick, depicting the essence and form, not getting caught up in detail. I kept the paint fairly fluid, blending colors as I applied them to the paper, not on the palette, and used quick, gestural brushstrokes.

I take time at this phase to frequently look at the painting and its progress, evaluating each section I have just worked on. There is a tendency to over-detail areas close to the viewer, and I did not want this. When I felt I had the right look, feel, balance and harmony, I laid my brushes down.

This was a very satisfying painting for me, and I am pleased with the way I met the challenges before me and the results of my effort, as was my client. It was a fun journey, and I am honored and grateful that you traveled with me.

I now work on tying in the middle ground to the pond. This is a fairly straightforward process, moving from the back to the front. I integrate the colors of the sky into certain areas of the snow, in other places I leave the white of the paper. This gives the snow a vibrant quality, areas of sparking light, others reflective of the sky. The rule here is subtle, not overpowering; I don’t want to overwork this area, it is a visual transition area and should harmonize, not compete with the other elements of the painting.

It is said a still mind perfectly reflects the cosmos like a still pond. I had to keep my mind on this truism as I painted the reflections on the pond surface. I was totally absorbed, and this helped me to see the reflections and their corresponding trees in the middle ground.

Because of the perfect stillness of the pond, there were very clear and detailed reflections, and I painted these with the same technique I painted the trees they reflect. While it is not necessary to reproduce the reflections in a clinically exact version, they must be totally believable and match up visually.

I am careful here; this is the make-or-break phase of the painting. This is where I like to live; pushing my ability and creativity with the inherent risks that go with it. To me that’s what watercolor is all about.

Now for the pond. After blocking out the snowy edge of the pond with masking fluid, I wet the entire area to be painted twice; first with horizontal strokes, second with vertical strokes to prepare for a very fluid application of paint.

I establish the light which corresponds with the sky, and then build up progressively heavier washes of Cobalt and Indigo blue. The main objective for me at this stage is to make a seamless and smooth blending of the pigments to reflect the subtle tones of the sky.

The art of painting is like the art of cooking…you must know what individual elements are to be combined, and the proper amounts of each. You must always have the end result in mind, a perfect harmony of all elements. And this harmony depends on balance. You must not overpower one element, or it will dominate and ruin the end result. Conversely, you must not under apply an element, or it will be insignificant. Harmony and balance is true in all forms.

The sky is extremely important in this painting, as it is in all landscape paintings. It will create the mood and temperature for the scene, and will also be a baseline for the tones and hues in the pond reflections later on in the painting. There will be a delicate balance between the pond and the sky, the pond almost twice as dark and rich as the sky.

I washed cadmium yellow, cobalt blue and indigo blue in a very wet application, using large brushes and adding pigment as needed, keeping the paper very wet and the pigments fluid. It is very important to remember that the wash of colors applied will dry lighter in value than what you observe wet.

After I was satisfied with the lighting and mood of the sky, I washed in the distant tree line while the sky wash was still very wet to get a blending of the trees into the sky, I want it to be subtle and give a sense of distance from the foreground. I then moved forward a bit to define the next line of trees in the middle ground of the painting. I employ a technique I call “careful randomness” for the small branches of the trees. Although a major oxymoron, it describes the balance of water and drybrush I employed. I sometimes let the paint go very rigid only to soften with water in selected places, and vice versa. I was spontaneous as I progressed, keeping it loose, not spending a lot of time in any one area, leaving it to instinct.