You Gotta Start Somewhere
At the beginning of this project, I had been on a one month hiatus from painting…so keep those expectations low!
I’m going to start off with the Charles Eaton painting “Maine Pines”. Looks easy enough…..Hahahahah!
I started with a half sheet of a Fabriano 7x10 which only gives me a 5x7 to work on. Typically, I work on a 9x12 or a 12x16 so the small size alone is going to challenge me. First thing I do is lay down a layer of Quin Gold to establish that under glow.
Then, I proceed to just completely forget that I am blogging at all and I fail to take pictures of any other steps. It all falls apart from here!
Making darks that work proves difficult, my clouds are too lavender, I can’t get that texture right. It’s a disaster.
Ok, so let’s try again, this time using inks for my darks. This is the method that first drew me to Tonalism afterall. I have some Higgins Black Magic and Daler Rowney Burnt Umber that I am going to use to create the dark, moody landscape and then I will use watercolors to paint the sky. To apply think ink, I use a spritzer bottle to spray the paper, not going in to cover it but to just get some areas wet. The ink will move around when it hits the water and that can be really pretty but also a bit unpredictable. An important tip when using ink is to make sure you use different brushes than your watercolor brushes because they tend to stain easier. Just get a set of cheap brushes to use. Clean them well when done.
Here’s what those inks do!
Once we have dried off, the inks are permanent and will stay in place. (DO VERIFY that they are waterproof because not all inks are!) Now, I can add in the gold and oranges for my sunset, making sure to get the color into the trees and the water reflection below.
I’ve added the quin gold to my sky for that warm cozy feeling. I’ve left some areas to put those dark clouds into the sky later. Now, I am going to dry this off because I am losing the wetness. I struggle constantly with lack of humidity in my studio and it is a real pain. I’m using indanthrene blue and burnt umber to create a dark color that I am layering over the trees and foreground. Then I’m coming in with some really dark purples and greys to make the sky. I’m trying hard not to fiddle too much or mess with it. These are QUICK (30 min max) paintings and experiments, not masterpieces. My goal isn’t something to sell or even frame but to familiarize myself with my supplies and the style and see what works.
Here are the two paintings side by side. I much prefer the second painting. Does it capture the essence of the Eaton painting? (I think I need an ‘grimmace’ emoji here) Probably not. But I do think it fits the Tonalist style.
What did I learn?
I won’t be using paper this small again.
I need a humidifier in this room in the winter (new place for my studio this year so I didn’t realize.)
Inks can really help define those dark areas that Tonalism almost requires.
I need to dry before taking photos. I need to take more photos.
I used a recording app for my notes on the second experiment and that was SO helpful! See all the great things I am learning!
Experiment one is done!
