Monet At The Denver Art Museum

The Boulevard des Capucines, 1873-74

Claude Monet

What a treat to visit the Denver Art Museum yesterday to see the Monet exhibit, "The Truth of Nature".  It is a wonderful show, with room upon room filled with his plein air paintings and landscapes.  The show begins with some caricatures he drew as a teenager, and continues all the way through to his abstracted water lily paintings from his garden in Giverney toward the end of his life.

The exhibition guides pointed out that Monet became more interested in describing atmosphere rather than reality as he progressed through life.  And it was interesting to note how frustrated he often became as he chased the light for his paintings.  

"Color is my daylong obsession, joy, and torment."

The exhibition will be here until February.  I hope that you'll have a chance to come and see it!

Plein Air Ain't Easy (Continued)

 Edge of Sarvis Creek, Steamboat (photo)

Plein Air paintings are a lot like pancakes: you have to throw out the first one or two before you can start to hit your stride.  I painted for hours trying to perfect my painting on my previous blog post, and I didn't love it in the end.  I put it aside and started adding color to my other outdoor sketches, and this time, I was happier in half the time!  In the future, I'll toss out the first "pancake" a lot sooner, and get to the good stuff.

Monochrome Study, Creek's Edge, oil on gesso board

I painted in monochrome the entire time I was outside in Steamboat.  There's a ton of color out there, so I wanted to keep things simple and focus on value (lightness and darkness).

"Creek's Edge", Oil on Gessoboard, 10 x 8"

When I got back to the studio, I added color to my sketch, trying to stay true to my value areas, so if you converted this to black and white, it would look pretty much the same as my original monochrome. You can see that I played around with the color, too.  I don't like a whole lot of green in my paintings.

Monochrome Study, "The Stand", oil on gesso board 

"The Stand", Oil on Gesso Board, 10 x 8"

Another monochrome study, and a version with color.  I may actually start to enjoy this process!  Time to pack up and head out again!

Plein Air Ain't Easy

Photo of Sarvis Creek, Steamboat Springs

Artists in Colorado paint outside.  It's an unspoken rule.  And nothing is more beautiful than Steamboat Springs in the fall, with the Aspens in full glory and the misty mountains in the background.  I packed up my equipment and headed out.  But first, I thought I'd take a workshop with Dave Santillanes, one of the best landscape painters working today.  

My time with Dave in Steamboat was well spent.  He showed us how he creates atmosphere with value and color, which was a huge revelation for an indoor painter like me.  Then we went out into the field to watch him paint his "sketches" which he then brings into his studio to create larger, more finished pieces.  It was a complete eye-opener for me.

I decided to keep my outdoor sketches monochrome, working only with value to create atmosphere.  To a newbie like me, adding color this early in the game could result in disaster.

Monochrome Study, Sarvis Creek, oil on panel

It was a dry, windy day, and the cowboys were transporting horses on the road at my back.  They apologized every time they passed by, but I was happy to see them.  There's about a pound of sand and grit mixed into the paint on this one.

Color Study, Sarvis Creek, oil on panel

I took the study back to the studio and added color on top of it.  Dave encouraged us to change color and composition however we want in order to tell a story.  With this one, I emphasized the warm color in the background to suggest an early morning scene.

Well, it's a start.  If I want to do plain air well, I will have to paint many many more.