10 Great Painting Inspirations In Your Own *Backyard* September 5, 2011

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Getting stuck on what to paint next can be very frustrating. We tell ourselves that ‘there’s a world out there to chose from’ and yet we can’t get any inspiration to start something new. Why not start looking at what’s nearest to you in your immediate area – your own ‘backyard’? Keep your mind open and don’t have any set idea of what to do next. Look at pattern, light, color combinations, movement in skies, same places in different times of day and seasons. You’ll find something!  Keep your camera handy.

To start, take a local walk  or ride a bike, whatever works for you. Have your camera with you and begin to shoot pictures at whatever spontaneously appeals to you. Don’t think! Just aim and shoot! Here’s my list of 10 ideas, all which have worked time and time again for me.

1. Backyards: your own preferably! But ask friends or friends of friends if you think of someone who has done an aweseome job in their own backyard or has landscaped in some unique way.

2. Back Alleys: a wealth of great images can be gotten from older area alleyways. Look at the light hitting garbage cans, patterning from picket fences, junky cars still behind old garages….just be open. Here’s a link to a gallery from a friend of mine whose work in back alleys is always in demand. Click on ‘Kari Duke’ to see her paintings here: www.theavensgallery.com

3. Cafes: outdoors anywhere….and indoors!

4. City Streets: main street, residential streets, industrial streets….keep looking!

5. Gardens: always a hot spot. Check out friends who love to garden, greenhouses, botanical gardens, even displays in local stores. Here’s a link to another artist friend of mine who looks at vegetation and paints them with a different point of view: www.judyleilaschafers.com

6. Farmer’s Markets: another hot spot. There’s always so much going on here that it would be hard to NOT find something worthwhile to consider as a painting. People walking, viewing, tasting, playing music, laughing, visiting….there’s lots of color and energy in these places!

7. Heritage Sites: don’t discount old buildings and historic sites. There’s a lot of interesting architecture here as well as old materials used to build these places. They often have nooks and crannies that make for interesting light/shadow plays on walls and in corners as well as on their situated lots.

8. Parks & Trails: beautiful scenery here. Take a leisurely walk or bike ride along and in these places. Park yourself on a bench and watch people as well. If you don’t find inspiration here, you’ll at least be relaxed!

9. Cultural Events & Activities: out here where I live, there are several ethnic villages that have been reconstructed for tourists. Again, walk around and take lots of shots. These places love you taking pictures! They also often have the staff dressed in period or ethnic costume which can provide you with some wonderful portraiture or figure ideas. Another friend of mine loves to paint rodeos and similar, so here’s her website: www.rileyart.com to check out.

10. Seasonal Activities: if you’re fortunate to have 4 distinct seasons in your location, there’s plenty to inspire you all year ’round. Check out sporting events in all seasons and catch great moments for painting inspiration from skiing, skating, tobaganning, swimming, surf-boarding, fishing, kayaking, boating, air shows, etc.

I hope these ideas give you something to get out of a painting rut. Don’t look for something to inspire you, find inspiration whereever you are. Have fun! If you do any paintings following any of my ideas, email me your images at bev.bunker44@gmail.com and I will put them up on this site. I’d love to see how you were inspired.

Plein Air Painting in a Nutshell August 16, 2011

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Its been a very busy summer! It was my intention to take a holiday out to British Columbia to paint en plein air. I wanted to get as much done as possible in the short time I would be there. I did accomplish doing 8 paintings in a week and each one had something interesting about the image. As plein air goes, they are meant to be information gatherings. You get as much as you can paint in approximately 1.5 hrs. depending on the time of day because you need to catch the light. Early morning may be as little as 20 minutes before it changes. I found that after 3:30 pm the same situation presented. My best time of day was from 11:00 until around 2:00 pm. if I wanted to work longer. I personally like the longer amounts of time, but I love the light when the shadows present the greatest length to give more contrast.

During my painting times I was fortunate to experience mostly sunny days. I set up quickly and began to work. There was no noticing any conversations or other people being around me once I got into that zone. I really enjoy that place – it is focused, intense, and absolutely meditative. All my decisions for use of color are intuitive (it helps using a very small palette or only about 5 colors plus white).  There simply isn’t time to debate ‘what color is that?’ Compositions are simple with as many large masses as possible, and details are kept out of the work. Plein air painting is a record of that day at that time. I have personally found that doing this kind of painting has really helped my studio paintings because one must really pay attention to what nature is holding out to the artist – a complete package. I didn’t look for inspiration, I found inspiration wherever I was.

To Really See June 28, 2011

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I haven’t had a lot of time to be in my studio in the past couple of months. I’ve been enjoying the experience of painting outdoors, directly on site. This is called en plein air. I had encountered a few opportunities in the last two years to experience plein air painting, and although I didn’t have any knowledge of what to do I still tried it out. To my wonderment I really, really enjoyed it!  After getting all my gear together and setting out, then getting sunburnt, getting eaten by mosquitoes, having the wind blow my easel over and dump my wet palette into the dirt, I decided I loved it and wanted to do more of it. This is precisely what I have been attempting since then….as weather conditions suit me. (Wind is not your friend!)

To really see color in the landscape is to be in a natural surrounding no matter what the weather, spending some time just looking before I start with the paints. I was amazed at what I could see especially in the shadow areas. Light really changes the hues in the varying greens and pulls out the subtle yellows, oranges, purples, blues, etc. that a photo cannot record.  A photo will also record shadows as mostly dark but without distinctions.  Paying attention to these nuances quite literally makes everything come alive in a painting. These nuances, when carefully added into your work even when in the studio, bring excitement, vibrancy and interest into the scene with only the correct placement of color.

I am learning to capture these natural essences as directly seen by my eyes, as often as I can get out. The point is not to have a great painting but rather to record everything I see as an expression of a present-moment experience of mine, obviously through the use of color and texture with paint. These small paintings (I generally work 8″ x 10″ on gessoed, toned, masonite boards) can be used as references for further paintings in the studio or just be kept as they are. I record the date, location, time of day and year on the back.  When viewing them at other times all the remembrance of the experience comes back. I anticipate my studio paintings to get better because of these plein air excursions. The thing to do to really see is to get out there, no excuses, and just look.

Transitions in Brushwork April 13, 2011

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Starting this month and in the following months I’m taking the time to seriously work on developing my brushwork….becoming more direct with the marks and leaving them alone as I place them on the canvas. Sounds simple but its not that easy. I came out of a style of working as a graphic artist where everything was very carefully, precisely placed and viewed and reviewed over and over. A lot of my work had to go into publication, so to get things right for the printers I had to be certain that everything was exact.

Coming into painting as a fine artist at the end of the last decade was a largely undefined process for me.  My work has recently moved away from carefully blended colors to create shape and form into brushwork that is responding intuitively to values and shapes in the landscape. I am seeing what is there and working on directly placing those ‘impressionistic’ marks as my color notes. This process is extremely exciting and renewing for me. I don’t pick my subject matter the same way as I used to which was by what the subject itself was. Now I let the subject choose me by responding to the light/dark contrasts and emotive first impression.  In order to advance this learning,  I will be undertaking en plein air painting….painting outside directly from nature.  I’m looking forward to it come rain or shine!

Idle March March 19, 2011

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This is my lazy month…I’ve been painting very regularly since just after Christmas and barely taking a break. Its time for some renewed energy to happen. What I’m doing now is looking at art….lots of it! I am getting revitalized about improving my brushwork these days. That happens naturally, but one has to make time to let it come through. I am spending afternoons making very small studies of particular aspects in landscapes where I want my brushstrokes to stay directly placed as they become painterly notes on my canvas . This is a very important part of an artist’s development.  I often say that we are only as good as our last painting. In other words, that’s what it was – then. This is now. Now is new. Transitions are a regular part of growth. So here is my last painting, just recently finished for our city’s 150th Anniversary – my contribution to my gallery’s upcoming show to celebrate this time period.

A Gift From the Heart February 4, 2011

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There is something a little nostalgic about this painting called ‘Rachel’s Girls’ and the light that played upon the children’s clothing as they stood in the hayfield. I recalled times when I was a child and our family visited the farm of a relative. My personal joy was to go out into the field by myself and just stand there and smell the hay or flowers – sometimes even a whiff of cow poo! It was, in my recollection, the best of days when we were able to leave the city and go there and I could just run to that area, sit in the sun, and soak up the country farm atmosphere. When I saw the photo of these little girls, I felt I had to make a painting of it.

‘Rachel’s Girls’ are in fact the ‘real’ Rachel’s children….the sister-in-law of my daughter. Sometimes in an artist’s life we feel we have to gift someone with a painting because of various reasons….this is one of those times when it felt ‘right’ to do so. I was very happy with it when it was completed, but I also knew I could not let someone else own it – me included. So it was a delight for me when I surprised Rachel and her husband with the announcement that this painting is to be theirs. Rachel and Les…enjoy!

January Blues January 21, 2011

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This has been an interesting month for me. It is the first time I can recall of having enjoyed being snow-bound! What that has done is enable my time in my studio to perhaps be one of the most productive months I’ve ever had with my painting. I’ve completed three paintings this month so far, and the month isn’t over….although a little break….as a ‘reward’ for all my hard work is currently happening. But a small break it will be.

What I discovered I really enjoyed to play with this month is the color ‘blue.’ Why blue? It’s a color I only used in skies and making greens – in the past. That has changed. I have discovered a new line of hand-made oil paints called ‘Michael Harding’. They are wonderful and so saturated with color that only a small amount can go a long way.

In the late summer when I was finishing up my final paintings for my on-coming exhibition of new works is when I discovered this paint. I felt that my work needed more ‘oomph.’ Upon explaining my plight to one of the staff in the art store, I was quickly directed to try this oil paint as a new line just brought in. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” I thought. After purchasing a couple of tubes of paint, I could hardly wait to get home and try out the new ‘King’s Blue’ and ‘Light Yellow’ colors I was now so preciously holding in my hands.

I wasn’t disappointed when I put the first touches on my canvas. The painting I was working on came alive! I couldn’t believe that only a few touches in a couple of places could do so much and propel my enthusiasm into another level of experimentation. There it is….such a small thing to create such a big bang! So January – you aren’t making me feel like I have the blues….I am loving the blues, and playing and playing and playing with them. Have a great month!

Winter Wonderland December 10, 2010

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What a beautiful season winter is. I love the soft sound of gently falling snow…especially those fat, fluffy snowflakes. The sound of snow crunching under your feet….the crisp bite of cold air, the mist around your face when you breathe….it is all part of this awesome season.

It is also a time to hibernate, at least for me, and to consider new painting themes, explore more push/pull with color (Spring will come!), and just take a bit of personal time to evaluate upcoming projects. I would love to paint outside doing plein-air paintings, but oils just don’t cut it very well when it is minus-17 degrees Celsius – in fact, neither do my fingers! I have been able to get out for photo references…I’ll see what happens.

As I write this, I’m bundled up in my favorite red shawl my young daughter gave to me as a gift and drinking my Irish Cream flavored coffee. I’m looking out my window at the snow gently falling and adding to the 6 inches we received in the last day. Everything looks one color today, and everything feels very still. I am slowly working myself towards my studio to finish my last commission of the year, a project I’m enjoying to do and also will be happy to complete. My reward for finishing…a long warm bubble-bath, a couple of chocolate truffles, and then settle down to read a good book. Merry Christmas everyone!