Keeping an Eye on Your Gear

 

Most recent plain air adventure, a rural scene off US-119 in Longmont, CO. It was a little battle with sun and wind, and I felt a bit rusty from painting indoors for so long. Acrylic on canvas, 9x12.

This occasion reminded me why it is important to keep an eye on your gear. Whenever I paint in town, I try to position myself so that access to me and my gear is partially blocked, by a fence, railing, post or even a wastebasket, but out on a trail or in the countryside I don't take as many precautions. When I stopped by this scene, on a remote bike path, I decided to walk up the hill a bit to check the view from that higher point (which is where eventually I painted this from). From that vantage point I could still clearly see my gear bag, which I had left at the bottom of the hill. All of a sudden a cyclist appeared, and stopped by my bag. I yelled from the top of the hill that the bag was mine. He waved back and stood there for a while. Had he taken off with my bag, I would not have been able to catch up on foot. Fortunately, it seems that he had merely been curious to see a bag unattended, and enjoyed a short brake from riding... after a minute he proceeded on his way. I walked down and picked up my gear and returned to the hill to set up to start painting, very relieved that the situation turned out well but suddenly more aware never to take chances.   

I have not been writing in this blog for a while. For more up to date information and images, visit my Facebook page at facebook.com/MarcioCorreaArt, or mcorrea_art on Instagram.

Longmont Artists' Guild Members Show Opening Reception

LONGMONT ARTIST GUILD

MEMBERS ART SHOW

at the

GREAT FRAME UP

430 Main St., Longmont, CO 80501

October 9 – November 7, 2015

Artist's Opening Reception

Friday, October 9^th

6-9pm

Free parking in the back

Come join the fun! Refreshments! Wine cash bar!

Meet the artists! Beautiful artwork for sale!

Vote for your favorites!

Award ceremony at 8pm!

PAAC Annual Paint Out in Grand Lake

I returned on Sunday from three days of painting alongside 39 other artists in my first participation in the Plein Air Artists Colorado Annual Paint Out. The event was very well organized, and took place in the town of Grand Lake and the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The weather was perfect and the Fall foliage was beautiful. My family came along and had a great time with campfires, swimming in the lake, hiking, and painting too.

I feel very encouraged that I was able to test a new easel and new paints (acrylic), sell one of my paintings and win Artists' Choice Award at the exhibit! This came as a total surprise, as I was trying a new medium and working hard to simply produce a painting that would not look too shabby alongside the work of all these experienced, talented artists. To win the vote of professionals I admire was a great honor. 

More details on the paintings, the event, and the lessons I learned, in upcoming posts...

Painting Parenting, or Making Time to Paint

Being a dedicated father is taking time on Saturday morning to go with my sons on a longish bike ride and then treating them to cookies and juice at their favorite coffee shop, where they love to play with their toy cars at the low coffee table...

Being a dedicated artist is finding time in my busy schedule to paint, even if it means bringing my paints and easel with me on the bike ride to the coffee shop so I can add a few more touches to my painting in progress in the 15 minutes the kids take to play...

Painting parenting is not rare: Carol Marine painted while her child napped; Ali Cavanaugh painted while her baby played in the playpen. I have sketched my children while they played in the sandbox, or rode their bikes around me or tried the monkey bars. I started sketching construction machinery after I discovered the boys would be quiet for a long time observing the constructions site on weekend mornings. At times the boys will pull out their own sketchbooks and doodle alongside me.

Sometimes there is enough time to do some work; sometimes I barely get started before the kids need to move on, need to use the restroom, get hurt, or somehow need assistance. Persistence pays off though; those little sketches done at these opportunities keep my visual mind and my hands nimble for more serious work.

Sandstone Ranch in Acrylics

Sandstone Morning, acrylic on board, 8x10, plein air

This is only my third attempt at painting in acrylic, and the first acrylic done en plein air (done on location at Sandstone Ranch park in Longmont on Friday). It was quite a departure from working in watercolors, but the same challenge of rushing against the hot, dry weather.

I used Golden Open acrylics in five colors: Titanium white, phthalo blue, transparent red iron oxide, yellow and naphthol red light. I covered the board with a thin warm orange layer, drew the main large shapes with red oxide, blocked the darker shapes of color before applying the middle and light tones. I must say I really like the Rosemary & Co brushes from the Ivory line that I am using.

I wish I had done a thumbnail value and composition study but I was concerned about the time and wanted to start right away... it would have helped me improve the design, by avoiding lining up the foreground rocks with the cliff, and making the grass line at the bottom less repetitive with the one farther back. Well, working my way through a new medium is hard enough, I think this ended up pretty nicely all things considered.

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A Gate of Opportunity, watercolor on paper, 12x9

This week I painted on site at Harvard in Cambridge, MA. I set my tripod easel in a tight corner in front of the tourist information office, about the only spot protected from the rain and from the groups of tourists. I painted directly, without a preliminary sketch or any drawing in pencil.


Many artists and students have concerns about using M Graham and other honey based watercolor brands in plein air work, especially those who have folding palettes with wells on the lid... But I used a folding palette and M Graham colors on this painting and even though it was a warm, very humid day, the paints did not run or spill. I stored my palette vertically in the bag, and kept a wet brush inside it, and it did not cause any problems. The paint was tacky in the wells when I reopened the palette at night in the hotel, but there were no spills. One reason is that the paint had been poured in the pans much earlier; if I had just added fresh paint the night before I may have had problems. At any rate, the only M Graham colors I have tried which have cause spills at all have been cobalt teal and cobalt violet--I no longer carry those colors in my plein air kit for that reason.

 

A snapshot of me with my two pieces at the opening reception of the Plein Air Artists Colorado National Exhibit last night in Boulder. 

The Mary Williams Fine Arts Gallery was packed with artists, guests and collectors. It was exciting to see so many friends and get to meet so many top level artists, whose work I had admired in magazines, books and videos. In fact the whole experience was that of walking through the pages of the Southwest Art magazine. It is such an honor to be included in this show. The exhibit is open until August 30th and is well worth seeing--and prices are very reasonable too!

Crested Butte Revisited

Generation Gap, watercolor on Yupo paper, 14x11

This is my studio piece from my plein air study done in Crested Butte (see my previous post). It was good to revisit this scene while everything was still fresh on my memory.

Crested Butte on the 4th of July

We had a wonderful trip to Crested Butte to visit our friend and great artist Peggy Morgan Stenmark. What a beautiful place, and so many subjects to paint! After the 4th of July parade, I did a couple of sketches and completed this 12 x 9 inch plein air study on Elk Avenue. I set up in the only quiet, shaded spot I could find amidst the buzz of the tourist crowd. The stage with the band and the food court were only a half block away... The shade did not last long, a couple of families congregated on the same spot, and there were many passers-by who stopped to view, ask questions, comment and tell me about their own home towns. And I did not realize I had been painting in front of a gallery until artist Ann Sharkey came out to introduce herself! I did not do any planning and just tried to capture a bit of the scene and ended up overworking it, but it was only meant to be good practice and fun, and so it was.

RRWS National Exhibit Bronze Medal

 

June has been full of nice surprises. The latest was the Bronze Medal at the RRWS National Exhibit in Moorhead, MN. I was not able to attend the opening ceremony last Tuesday, but did have a chance to see the show before it opened and the worker in charge of setting up the lights was kind enough to take this snapshot of me by my painting "No Left."

This piece retires from exhibits with a nice history. Initially, it was not successful and collected several rejections at shows, until I revised it by darkening the building and shadow on the right, and created a lead into the painting with the spatter on the foreground. After the adjustments, it was accepted into a local, a State and two national shows, and won an Honorable Mention and a Third Place Award.

It is a painting I love, not only because it shows one of my favorite places, San Francisco, but because its overall realism is undermined by the abstraction in the shadows and details, and I find the interplay of the two very intriguing.

Shadows of History at the LAG Exhibit

Shadows of History, watercolor on paper, 9x12

Finally back home from a long trip... I was unable to attend the Longmont Artists' Guild 2015 show, but heard it was very successful and learned my painting Shadows of History won the second place award for watercolors. It was great to have a chance to display some of these smaller paintings, as a lot of other shows have size restrictions.

This was one of the first paintings I did without the use of a pencil drawing. I was really pleased a how well the straight lines ended up, and at the positive/negative design of the fence, which prevented it from being too conspicuous and restrictive. I am very glad juror James Whartman saw merit in it as well.

The subject here is a view of a farm setting at the Littleton History Museum during a paint-out. I did a different scene en plein air and captured this view with my camera. Years later, I did this painting from that photo but could still remember a lot of the light and atmosphere of that bright summer day.

Plein Air Artists Colorado National Exhibit

Niwot Farm in Summer, watercolor on paper, 12 x 16

Summer is the time for plein air painting, and for plein air shows. I got great news that Niwot Farm in Summer and another of my paintings got selected for the Plein Air Artists Colorado 19th National Exhibit in July and August at the Mary Williams Fine Arts Gallery in Boulder.

I have sketched and painted at this site a few times in different seasons. It is a beautiful scene at a convenient location, except for the lack of shade, which causes a constant glare on the paper and makes the paint dry too fast. Still a very enjoyable experience and a thrill to face the challenge to capture the subject before light conditions changes too much. The more I paint onsite the more I regret the times when I have to use a photo as reference, as I'm more aware of all the distortions the camera causes. Colors are interpreted by the camera in a way that is very different from how we see the objects, especially the contrast with lit areas and shaded areas. The lens also stretch the field of vision and makes any distant objects appear much smaller and farther than in reality. And of course any close objects will have their perspective skewed.

One of my goals for this plein air season is to increase the ratio of completed paintings done on site, as opposed to only sketches and studies. This means I will have to focus more on technique and speed of execution. Another idea I'm toying with is to try painting on yupo en plein air... At first thought it seems impossible, but they sun and wind usually dry the paint so fast it might be doable with the right approach. Well, we will try and see where it leads.

Best of Show at State Watercolor Exhibit 2015!

 

My five year old son receives the Best of Show award on my behalf

I received an incredible early birthday gift this year: It was a big surprise and a bigger honor to receive two awards at the 2015 Colorado Watercolor Society State Watercolor Exhibit! My painting No Left won an honorable mention, and Twin Elevators was chosen Best of Show by juror Rick Brogan! It was even more special to have my wife and children in attendance at the Award Ceremony to enjoy the moment with me! My two sons were elated to share the limelight and receive the award bags on my behalf.

It is great to get such recognition for my work; these are two of my favorite pieces and I am thrilled that the juror saw merit in them. Thank you, Mr. Brogan! I owe this and other recent success to great instructors that have inspired and guided me along the years, but in particular to Mr. Arne Westerman, whose workshop in 2013 really drove home to me the pitfalls and strategies of design. I did not even get accepted to this show two years ago, but since I started critiquing my own work and applying the learnings from that workshop, I got an award in 2014, and top award this year.

Congratulations to the CWS and its President Greg Chapleski, show chair Gary Nichols and all their collaborators for another beautiful show, with many of the best water media artists in Colorado, and for the successful Opening Ceremony, very well attended on this sunny Saturday afternoon at the Lone Tree Arts Center in southern Denver.

 

 Family photo with Twin Elevators at the Award Ceremony

 No Left, Honorable Mention at the State Exhibit

Just Before the Storm

The Red Garage in Winter, watercolor on paper, 9x12

This winter in Colorado has been very kind to plein air painters. Lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. Last week, for instance, we had a cold front and very low temperatures on Monday and Tuesday, and then warm days again towards the weekend. I managed to get a long lunch break on Friday to paint this scene in Old Town Niwot, just before the next storm moved in and brought snow for the weekend. My plein air group was painting at the canyon west of Boulder and I did not have enough time to travel that far, so I set on this location roughly five minutes from my house.

The muted colors of winter make colorful elements such as this red garage by the old Grange building really stand out. I am using a technique of direct painting, without a pencil sketch, with just some general guidelines in permanent orange to define the major shapes. It is exciting to paint without the pencil boundaries but the drawing accuracy suffers.

I parked the car, opened the passenger door and painted from the passenger seat, with the tripod easel set in front of me by the open door. Only five minutes into it, and the owner of the restaurant next door was sweet enough to come by and offer me a more comfortable chair. I politely declined; I wasn't going to be staying long. Ironic that 99% of the time I stand to paint and no one had offered a seat on those occasions... And I was too focused on the painting to realize I should have taken the opportunity to order a cup of tea or coffee...

Mountain Town Best Buddies

Mountain Town Best Buddies

It was very satisfying to work on this painting of a back alley in the mountain town of Silverton, Colorado. A couple of weeks ago I pulled out the black and white print and the pencil sketch I had done a couple of years back. Several times before I had put them away not know exactly what to do with it, but I now spent some time remembering the light and atmosphere of the day, thinking through some of the challenges, and then proceeded to paint quickly to my plan, without any struggles.

I wanted to keep the detail to a minimum, just suggested, and I wanted to celebrate the simple joys of small town life, the quiet and piece that allow people to enjoy friendship, and I believe the painting suggests those themes well. I like the path of light, and the frame within a frame composition formed by the dark wall, the shadow and the pole.

Outdoor Creations Opening Reception

Standing Apart, watercolor on paper, 9x12

The Outdoor Creations exhibit opened last night with a nice reception and great turnout. For most of the evening the Great Frame Up gallery was packed with artists, guests and public in general. I had the opportunity to view the show with my wife and a number of our friends and to talk to a lot of the artists. Congratulations to the Boulder County Open Spaces and Parks organization for the successful event.

As an added surprise, my painting of a farm scene in Hygiene (a piece of land owned by open spaces), called "Standing Apart" won an honorable mention (see image above).

This piece was completed in two sessions: The first morning I set up, did my thumbnail sketch and pencil drawing, and after the first background washes, the wind picked up and almost took my paper block flying, and then it started raining. So I had to return the next day to finish the work, the cows were gone and the weather different, but I had enough information from the first day to complete the painting. I was pleased with it and it was the first piece I chose to enter in the show, so I am very glad it got acknowledged by the selection jurors and award juror.

After the reception, Christina and I (next to my four paintings in the photo above) went out with our friends to celebrate with dinner, drinks and dancing. Not a bad evening!

Demo on Aquabord at the Longmont Artists' Guild

Marcio's demonstration at the LAG meeting
(photo courtesy of Yvonne Ogg)

Last night, the Longmont Artists' Guild held its first meeting after the summer hiatus, and I had the honor to be Guest Artist. For my demonstration, I chose to do a piece on Aquabord panel, size 20x16. I used a variety of mop, flat and round brushes, and mostly Daniel Smith paints on this demo: Permanent orange, cobalt teal blue, manganese violet, french ultramarine, quinacridone burnt scarlet.

I was able to advance it only to half completion, not as much due to the time limitation of an hour, and to the size of the board, but to my unwise decision to decline the offer of an overhead mirror. Having to maintain the board at a steep angle to allow the sitting audience to view the painting without glare, I struggled with paint runs and drips while painting very fast. Watercolor painting is always a partner dance, and I had to adapt my approach to conditions and persevere. I had to rework areas, work on smaller areas at a time, move from shape to shape to allow for drying time, etc. In the end, I was still able to give the attendees an idea of my method and style, and a sense of the benefits and challenges of this relatively new painting support.

The best part for me was indeed the interest and participation of the audience. They had questions on selection of paints, drawing strategy, choice of subject, materials and techniques used and avoided, and so on. Aquabord was indeed new to many, so I was pleased to share some information and tips, repeated here in summary:

• Aquabord is a panel manufactured by Ampersand for use with watercolor, with a warm white, slightly textured surface made of kaolin, also known as China clay. Working on Aquabord is similar to doing fresco paintings.
• Prior to use, it is important to "flush out" the air bubbles trapped in the clay, by brushing or sponging the entire surface with a good amount of clean water.
• The surface texture is equivalent to cold press paper, but the clay is more abrasive than paper, so the use of expensive and delicate brushes is not recommended. I use older squirrel mops, or synthetic brushes on it instead.
• Aquabord is more absorbent than watercolor paper and paint dries fast on it. To me, it makes it harder to achieve large, smooth washes than on paper. But when working at an angle, there is less beading, and more runs than what you experience with watercolor paper.
• It is very easy to lift paint from Aquabord, which means you can correct errors easily by lifting slightly or back to white. You can actually remove an unsuccessful painting altogether and start from scratch. But it also means that you have to be careful when applying new layers of paint--if your brush is stiff or if you rub too hard, you may unintentionally lift the previous layer. I like that this feature allows me to mix with a previous layer, or correct a drip or run, by applying a different color on top of it and mixing the two with the friction of the brush. 
• Painting on a panel is more convenient than stretching paper to avoid buckling, particular helpful for outdoor work, but panels are heavier than paper to carry.  
• Aquabord is versatile. Colors are very vibrant on it, as you can see in the works of Karen Vernon. It is great for Wyeth-like dry brush realistic technique. Ali Cavanaugh does beautiful, detailed portrait work on this surface. Stephen Quiller uses it with acrylic paints.
• Paintings on Aquabord can be varnished and framed without glass. The Ampersand website has recommendations of varnishes to use. I use spray varnish--Krylon crystal clear acrylic coating, then thin coats of Krylon UV archival varnish mat and gloss in alternation (matte removes glare but too much can deaden the colors; gloss enhances colors, but produces glare).
• Aquaboard panels cost more than the equivalent size paper, but the added cost can be offset by savings in framing, as neither backing board, mats or glass are necessary.
• Most watercolor societies do not accept paintings on Aquabord in their main water media exhibits.

Many thanks to the LAG Board for the opportunity to share my work!

Outdoor Creations 2014

Prayer to the Fallen, watercolor on paper, 12x9

The four paintings I completed on site this summer for submission to the Outdoor Creations exhibition have been selected for the show! This juried en plein air exhibit is promoted by Boulder County to celebrate its parks and open spaces.

It was a joy to create these pieces, and I am very happy to able to share my view and interpretation of these magnificent places which, in the nearly 18 years I have lived in Boulder County, have served me well for relaxation, exercise and for inspiration. As an artist, my hope is that the deep connection and admiration I feel for our open spaces come through to the viewer of each of my paintings, that I do some justice to their beauty and may help our community not to take their value for granted.   

The Outdoor Creations exhibit will run from October 10 through November 8 2014, at the Great Frame Up gallery at 430 Main Street in Longmont. The opening reception will be October 10, from 6 to 9 pm.

Thomas Schaller Workshop

Pier Light, watercolor on paper, 18x12

I nearly missed the opportunity to attend Thomas Schaller's workshop in Denver last week, as this was a very busy time at work. But thanks to my wife's encouragement and support I worked alternative times and made it to the classes, and it was well worth the trouble. Schaller's talent and intelligence are inspiring and it is easy to see why he has become a star in the watercolor world.

Tom emphasized in his demos and instruction the need to go beyond mere beauty and to look for the Art in the subject. For him, that means to look for and capture the light in the scene, and to use design to add a time dimension to the "story" he seeks to tell. I imagine this explains his interest in bridges, rivers, streets and roads, all of which convey a visual and psychological expectation of movement through the pictorial space.

From this initial concept and a tonal value sketch, he builds his painting with very wet washes, using bright color and bold brushstrokes to maintain a look of spontaneity and freshness. He is careful to connect elements throughout the image, and to "listen" to the painting to avoid overworking. His approach is both simple and sophisticated, and at the same time advanced in vision and traditional in technique.

Tom took on some challenging material for his demos, and showed his ability to problem solve. He was brave to take the entire class to paint en plein air on the second day in very warm weather, but everyone enjoyed the experience.

The pieces I did during the workshop turned out well, immediate and spontaneous, fueled no doubt by Tom's reminders to all of us to simplify, to stay in the moment, to remember to breathe to avoid tightness. This was exactly the advice I needed at this point, so this was both fun and beneficial.

Red River Watercolor Society Signature Membership

I am just back from a road trip with my family through the Dakotas, including a visit to Medora in the Badlands National Park and a paddling competition in the Sheyenne River.

I was also able to visit the excellent Red River Watercolor Society 2014 National Exhibit at the Hiemkomst Center in Moorhead, MN, just before it closed. This was a very significant exhibit for me: My painting Twin Elevators (26x20 watercolor on Yupo, shown above) was selected for the show by juror Michael Reardon and received the Jack Richeson Award. But more importantly, I am very proud to have achieved Signature Membership in the RRWS with my third acceptance into their National exhibit.

The RRWS is based in the Fargo/Moorhead area but has members from all over the country. They boast a high caliber of workshop instructors and exhibit jurors, and a great number of top level water media artists who participate in their annual shows.