In Pursuit of Nature

First layer of paint on demonstration painting

 
This coming Saturday, October 28, 2017, I will be teaching a workshop at Kremer Pigments NYC titled In Pursuit of Nature: Landscape Painting and the Traditional Palette.  The workshop will focus mainly on the use of a limited earth color palette, some call it a dead palette, and others a traditional palette.  Regardless of the name, the idea is to push four colors to their maximum potential.  This limited color palette is made up of Yellow Ochre, Red Ochre, Ivory Black, and Titanium White.  We will be grinding the oil paint from scratch using the pigments available at Kremer.  Some basic painting techniques will be covered and we will look at some landscape painters throughout history.   

To help visualize some of the ideas and techniques I began working on a landscape painting using this limited palette.  The only slight difference is that I substituted Burnt Sienna for the Red Ochre...I just happen to love Burnt Sienna.  The second image above shows stage two of this painting, color has been added to the sky area using a mixture of Ivory Black and Titanium White.  Some of the rosy tones in the faint clouds are made up of Burnt Sienna and Titanium White.   

Here I have covered some of the trees and grassy areas with Yellow Ochre and Ivory Black, a mixture that creates a deep green.  The sky has been worked on further using the same colors as before.    

Here I'm pushing the greens more while at the same time trying to figure how to make the composition more interesting.  At this point the main focus is to push the colors and make them read like green and blue when placed next to each other.   

In this image I have covered most of the surface and have developed the tones more.  Some of the smaller trees in the middle ground have been covered but they will reappear in the final stages of the painting.  Since I took this photo the painting has developed more and it feels different.    

 

Close up of bottom left portion of the painting, showing different tones make with the four colors.

I will be working on this piece during the workshop and using it as demonstration.  If you are in NYC and interested in this workshop you can call Kremer Pigments at 212.219.23.94 to sign up.  Spaces are limited since we are getting close to the date.  All materials will be provided, all you need is your creativity and they excitement to make paint and put it to use.