Skies

In my last post I talked about the clouds and sky and how I design them for the overall composition.

My skies often have drama but I always keep in mind that they are backgrounds so I don't allow them to outshine what is more important, usually the main subject or theme and I never paint them as an afterthought.
I could make them the primary subject of course, then everything else would step up in support of it.

So even with drama it is always an understated drama, at times just enough to provide texture and participation but not so much it overshadows the rest, even when stormy.
They are a supporting character in the whole of the painting.

Click title under each painting to see original post.

"Union Pacific 4259"

"Catalina Pacific Concrete (Storm)"

___________________________________________________

Being a supporting character can also mean using the sky to describe the sentiment behind the subject of the painting as I did below by painting the sky with a certain amount of upheaval.

"303 S. Pacific #1"

___________________________________________________

Or by using the sky in a more subtle manner to further an attitude about the subject where I used the sky (part of a design element) as a harbinger of retirement.

"Harbor Line #50 Crossing"

___________________________________________________

Or painted in a more dramatic manner as the phantom cloud below. Although it occupies very little of the composition its swooping posture and action plays well to the backlit tangle of pipes and busy energetic composition.

"Oil plant #5 (Phantom Cloud)"

___________________________________________________

Or used as drama to celebrate.

"Truck at Rest"

___________________________________________________

Sometimes they loom over the subject in an almost menacing way to different degrees.

"HB Power Plant - Dusk"

"Santa Ana River #3 Footbridge"

___________________________________________________

Or they may be menacingly fun

"Smilin' Jack"

___________________________________________________

Directly pound the subject into submission.

"Dark Rain"

"BNSF (Cajon Puddle)"

___________________________________________________

Other times they linger in the background slowly settling over the subject.

"Oil Plant Backside (w/ Storage Tanks)"

"Oil Plant #3"

___________________________________________________

I may use them to burn, beat down or choke out the subject.

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 8"

"Warehouse Rooftop (w/ Palm)"

"Villa Riviera Wrapped for Restoration"

"Study 'Villa Riviera Wrapped for Restoration' "

___________________________________________________

Or are left nearly white to make a point about the eventual disappearance of the subject.

"Catalina Pacific Concrete (Demolition 1)"

___________________________________________________

Sometimes my skies contain contrails, as a design element variation, allowing me to carve up the sky instead of relying on the usual clouds.

"Gorman Spring"

"Oil plant #7"

"Sunkist Packing Plant (w/ Contrail)"

"Whitepoint Battery Bunker"

___________________________________________________

And yes, sometimes I will even use higher chroma or saturated colors in my skies when I need to. You know, happy skies.

"BNSF Mojave"

"Pacific Harbor Line - Weeds"

"Power Pole #5 (2 Buttons)"

"LA River #3"

"Rails, Bridge, Refinery"

Lately my skies have gotten lighter as I explore its subtleties and what I can say with them.

Sometimes choosing an overcast or severely understated sky is the answer, instead of a cloudy or clear blue sky.
It gives the painting a different feel whether it is one of a thick smoldering atmosphere or a cool crisp breath of air.

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 3"

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 13"

My skies are never accidental. I always consider how they will play against the whole of the painting and the idea it represents. It is how I arrive at so many variations. I am not painting a sky or clouds just to suit  some design purpose. I am not mindlessly dumping in blue as a background.
I am instead putting down an idea, a thought, a concept, my observations, something about life and using the sky as part of that language.

The sky's the limit (sorry, I had to).

Series - Locomotive - UP 2464 Fire Hydrant

"UP 2464 Fire Hydrant"
oil on panel, 2013
5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78)

Number nine in my New Locomotive Series.

For this series, at least early on, my aim is to feature the locomotive in its entirety, in profile and in its environment.
The challenge with that is its horizontal format. That means I have to find ways to counter the side to side emphasis by using verticals and diagonals.
The hydrant was used as a compositional device. It helps break up the foreground horizontal sweep of the otherwise simple vacate street. This is part of my experimenting with the series.

Lighting is another element I am experimenting with. Here I backlit the subject as I did in "UP 4343". The difference in this one as opposed to UP 4343 is the locomotive is under a subtle undefined shadow consistent with the windy, cloudy spring day and not receiving a direct hit of sunlight.
So while UP 4343 has a diagonal streak of sunlight to break up the simplified foreground this one has a strong vertical to accomplish the same.
The same can be said of the clouds in each. It is not by accident but by design. In UP 4343 I designed the light streaking through the atmosphere to echo the foreground diagonal. Here I dragged nearly vertical streaks to break up the horizontal band of clouds and make a better composition.

I have some others in progress for this series that are different formats and views and will begin posting those in the near future.285

Click the 'SERIES-locomotive' label to see all.

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 15

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 15"

watercolor on paper, 2014

5¾"  x 7¾" (14.605cm x 19.685cm)

For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Studying more of the shapes within the overall mass as I have done in study 13, study 12, study 11 and study 2. Of course I could say that is true on all of them since you really can't ignore shape but these four I was focusing more intently on the debris atop the main structure.

This one, 13 and 2  I was also really looking into the shadows. There are so many great jagged puzzle pieces within the shadows that even with a predominantly horizontal composition and rectangular form, and I am referring to the upright structural nature of the architecture in its blocky squareness, it is secondary to the dynamic and lively action of its torn and shattered appearance.

There is some anguish in the shredded metal of the tank as it reaches up and back upon itself. Sort of like a fist cursing its demise.

The more I do of these, the more I see.284

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 14"

watercolor on paper, 2014

5¾"  x 7¾" (14.605cm x 19.685cm)

For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Taking my cue from Study 13 I kept the sky nearly white except that here I used coastal fog just beginning to envelope the ruins, but while they are still in sunlight.

Because the primary shape and composition is essentially a rectangle within a rectangle I needed to add some element to make it interesting. Although the cast shadows do some of that work, the atmospheric condition adds more and also increases the depth.283

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 13

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 13"

watercolor on paper, 2014

5¾"  x 7¾" (14.605cm x 19.685cm)

For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

This is one of my favorites so far. I love the energetic shapes in this one, especially the shadows

It is Study #2 from a different view.

I painted the sky in the most subtle pale washes I could. Just enough to give it some substance, a breath of tone that a solid blue, darker or gradated tone would not accomplish. The hard metal and concrete against it gives the painting a cool toned stark quality that doesn't quite translate in this photo, the original is far better.282

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 12

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 12"

watercolor on paper, 2014

7¾"  x 5¾" (14.605cm x 19.685cm)

For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

This, like the previous study focuses more on the rubble but also I pushed the color, exaggerating the warms and cools.

The chunks of concrete and broken edges of concrete walls, (and the ambiguous shaped torn metal tanks in the background), are painted in that pale blue while the weathered surfaces are warm gray-greens, yellow ochres and rusty sienna's.
This is akin to painting a tree for example that has been split open, revealing its clean color on the inside against the weathered surface of its bark.281

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 11

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 11"

watercolor on paper, 2014

5¾"  x 7¾" (14.605cm x 19.685cm)

For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

This study is more of a detail than previous ones. I am figuring out the shapes within the rubble.
The even light of being in shadow makes it a challenge since I don't have the advantage of light and cast shadow to aid in revealing form. This forces me to not just see the shapes but really design them and edit a lot. It takes a clearer understanding of what is going on to make it work. I know because I have done several of these that did not pan out.280

Some Thoughts on the CPC Ruins Series (so far)

I'm working on some other projects right now so I'm reluctantly pausing on these studies.

Here are some of my thoughts and observations after the first ten. I have done more but some did not work out.

Even a simple idea or motif can have endless possibilities and I am not short of those in this series.

It does not matter what the subject is VISUALLY, these could just as well be landscape rock formations, still life's or ancient ruins, which I am basing them on. I chose the ruins of the industrial landscape.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Study 7

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Study 4

For the artist the same concerns apply the moment you sit down and begin working. You are faced with all the design issues of value, shape, composition, color etc.

But really all those are merely tools put to work to make the picture and present some idea or record some observation. You have to mold them into your vision.

The hard part is figuring out HOW to say it. And the combinations are limitless.

That is one reason for the studies. Another is to get familiar with the subject.

Some of these studies have a monumental scale to them as in 3 (below), 4 and 7 (above), while others rest within the picture frame peacefully like 6 and 8 (below).

Study 3

Study 6

Study 8

Study 9 (below) is close to that monumental scale but is pulled back ever so slightly. It makes a subtle difference. This is middle distance cropped close. It is a little less commanding.

The relationship of distance and cropping is very much like any relationship of the art elements, they can be separated but are really tied together.

Crop in close on an object, from a near, middle and far distance and you get 3 different results  relating to perspective and our perception.

Study 9

In Study 9,  in addition to the practical reasons I noted in the post, I wanted to downplay its overall block shape. To do this I needed to put the focus on some other feature in order to modify its shape.

I de-emphasized the blockish straight sides by making the value close to that of the sky, losing its edges, then concentrated on the busted up concrete in shadow, climbing from the corner to its scooped out top.

Simply by adjusting values up or down you can overcome predominant shapes to suit your end goal.

Study 2 could have that monumental sense too but is tamed somewhat through values and edges. And even though it is cropped tight like Study 3 its angles are less severe. It makes a difference.

Study 2

No one factor or element really does it on its own. It is the interplay of the various combinations.

See my Daily Paintworks page for available works from this series.

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 10

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 10"

watercolor on paper, 2014

7¾"  x 5¾" (19.685cm x14.605cm)

For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

I pushed more color in this one compared to previous ones. I am still figuring out what I want to do and say with this series so in the experimental stage I am putting down whatever comes to mind.

As in others from this series of studies this one shows the excavator, but while at rest.
The 'Ruins' sub-series focuses on the plant, during its demise, but at its periods of inactivity. Much closer to the silence of ancient ruins in their depictions.
But here the silence is only for its short periods, not years and years... here it is brief.
So the excavator lingers nearby, ready to go at it again.

I like the bright artificial color of the machine against the earthy colors of the ruins. Coming in from the corner it does seem at the ready.279

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 9

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 9"

watercolor on paper, 2014

7¾"  x 5¾" (19.685cm x14.605cm)

For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

This one is similar to study 2 in palette, a palette of earthy color favoring the gray-greens, layer upon layer, but painted harder edged and more defined.

It is the same section of building as studies 4 and 7 but different views and at different times in the demolition.

The left side is kept light in value, especially the lower left corner to avoid any uncomfortable near-tangent. This allows for the tighter cropping with the structure pushed left and off center but still opens up the picture (frame) to let the light filter in.
The real substance of the painting is the shadow. It's where all the visual action takes place, busy and energetic against the sky and smooth face of concrete collectively.278

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 8

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 8"

watercolor on paper, 2014

7¾"  x 5¾" (19.685cm x14.605cm)

Again while looking at the art of ruins from history I take my cue from them so this view is presented from what I would call a middle distance.

The emphasis is on the talus in the foreground, ramping up toward the ruins so the color temperature  variation really takes place there, the background is left cool. The placement of the sun also creates a wedge-shaped shaft of light further emphasizing the talus.

The sky is slightly darker than the this photo so the painting looks almost like a moonlit night.

I might make changes/improvements in another version of this, but that is the point of studies, to explore options.277

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 7

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 7"

watercolor on paper, 2014

7¾"  x 5¾" (19.685cm x14.605cm)
For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

One thing I have noted while doing these recent studies is the absolutely great negative shapes that jut in and around the positive shapes of the ruins.

If you see this recent watercolor and this one from 2012 you can see the plant in its previous form rose into the skyline as a solid brick. It is a different animal in its battered state.

The previous 3 and 4 have those great negative shapes, that puzzle piece of sky. Some are sharp and jagged, slicing into the concrete as in study 3, others blunt and round, the middle punched open and exposed as in 4.

I love the alternating rhythm of the negative sky shape in this study. The sky punches down into the ruins then the ruins punch back up into the sky, again the sky punches back.

I have to really pay attention to this and use it to my benefit.

This one is another (near) monochromatic in black watercolor. I first laid down a wash of pale yellow to give it an underlying warmth.

Again, as in study 4, the forward most column of concrete and its base separate from the rest.
In this one warmer and lighter in value but raked in a half light instead of a reflected light, the shadows streaking diagonally.276

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 6

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 6"

watercolor on paper, 2014

7¾"  x 5¾" (19.685cm x14.605cm)
For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

I have always had a love for images of ancient ruins. I can't believe it has taken so long to do my own.
This study is the one most rooted in art history that I've done so far.

It has that romantic vision so often seen in the art from the past, it's airy with soft dreamy light and plenty of sky.

But again a hint of the excavator, modern machinery, to anchor it to the present.275

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 5

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 5"

watercolor on paper, 2014

5¾"  x 7¾" (14.605cm x 19.685cm)
For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Although this is a more tightly controlled study my goal was to push the color. Not only rich saturated color but especially the warms and cools.

Here I placed the warms to the left side, the direction of the sun.
But there are cools interspersed, as in the tanks and the standing concrete slab, so it ties into the right side.

On the two archways I went to extremes. Although both are in shadow I painted one warm and one cool to show their different directions in the environment.
Sometimes despite their shapes forms can flatten out, especially when they are the same value. One way to 'turn the form' or show their different directions is through warms and cools and not value.

This is all part of doing these studies, to try out as many variations and ideas as possible.274

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 4

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 4"

watercolor on paper, 2014

7¾"  x 5¾" (19.685cm x14.605cm)
For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

With each study I do I play off a previous one to improve some point, test an idea or do some kind of variation. See previous two posts to see how they relate to each other.

This study has a hint more red and yellow to it than the previous monochromatic one. A whisper of burnt sienna and naples yellow in the mix, but only in and just enough to separate the horizontal broken concrete slab and what it rests on from the standing structure. Value plays a role too. I left it slightly lighter even though it is all in shadow (the sky has yellow only).
Together they impart a warm reflected light and essentially give me a foreground (the slab), a middle ground (standing structure) and background (the sky) and increases the depth in what would otherwise be a shallow depth of field.

The subtle color variations also give it a richness; from slightly yellower sky to the darker sepia brown to the red-orange of the foreground to the very important razor thin traces of the stark white paper,  referred to as rim lighting when backlit.273

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 3

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 3"

watercolor on paper, 2014

5¾"  x 7¾" (14.605cm x 19.685cm)
For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

I decided to try out some monochromatic studies. Many ruins drawings from art history are done this way and it gives it that old world feel. Once again holding the modern against the traditional.

I like this oblique view from the shadow side with the foreground bathed in light.
The dark shadow rising in the middle ground commands attention despite not being the largest element in the picture, it's all about staging sometimes. Light foreground, dark middle ground, middle range background (sky).
All of it conveys the massive weight of tons of concrete.

This one, although very similar to study 2 in composition, is its polar opposite, commanding and weighty vs light and airy.
Color aside,  just by utilizing different value ranges and controlling edges two entirely qualities come out of each.272

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 2

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 2"

watercolor on paper, 2014

5¾"  x 7¾" (14.605cm x 19.685cm)
For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

This study is almost not recognizable as architecture at first look. I don't mind. That in itself might be a contemporary sensibility.

The point of doing studies is searching and one reason for doing these small is to record as quickly as possible my impressions without getting hung up on one for long. My mind is ripe with ideas and I must get them down. Sometimes our initial thoughts are the best ones.

A close-in detail study like this will familiarize me with all the shapes with-in the greater picture.
My mindset here was the rough jagged torn up steel and concrete presented in a soft light. Two opposites.271

Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 1

"Catalina Pacific Concrete - Ruins Study 1"
watercolor on paper, 2014
5¾"  x 7¾" (14.605cm x 19.685cm)
For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

I am on a little detour from working on seascapes so the next few posts will be of this continuing series.
As you will see I am trying out various approaches, from simpler and looser to tightly controlled. Some are rooted in art history tradition and may have that slightly romantic sentiment while others will have a more contemporary bent.

These 'Ruins' and the 'Demolition', first of it here, are both sub-series within my larger Catalina Pacific Concrete series.

The 'Ruins' focuses on the plant finally coming down. I have known for some time it would eventually happen so I kept an eye on it.
As I watched it slowly being razed I noticed the similarities between it and studies and paintings of ancient ruins from throughout art history.
I simply had to do these now. Strike while the iron is hot (sorry seascape lovers).

I will delve deep into this one and do larger versions in watercolor and in oil paint. For now I need to take a long deliberate look through studies.

In this first study I included the sign, light pole, fencing and the yellow arm of the excavator. I most often do this in my work, show some of the surrounding utilities, to lock it into the present.

My work is never a mere stylistic or subject rehashing of the past. Although some studies may focus in on the architecture in its ruined state, without the surrounding modern utilities and thus be a touch ambiguous, overall I want no confusion as to when and where it belongs. I live today so that is what I show.
I do however like the interplay of historical ruins artwork against my own contemporary versions.270

Landlocked

"Old Boat"
watercolor on illus. board, 2013
16" x 24" (40.64cm x 60.96cm)


I saw this old boat in the marina in the LA Harbor and it looked as though at one time it was being restored then was just abandoned midstream.
Although there was plenty in the background my treatment of this subject reflects my impression rather than its reality, its blank existence.

I originally began this as a sunrise scene but more or less let that go in favor of a more ghostly haunting lighting.

The green fencing was needed for compositional reasons but other than that I intentionally left the composition bare and sparse including leaving out some of the struts that held her up.
The dark ground plane helped to anchor the boat, keep it from visually floating away and to weigh it down psychologically.269

Links to similar themes in my work:
Tied up Dog
Gutted like a fish
Spot Lighted
Futility
Urban River 3
Industrial Purgatory

HB Power Plant Landscape

"HB Power Plant Landscape"
oil on panel, 2013
6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

Here I painted the Huntington Beach California Power Plant from Costa Mesa. I have heard talk that it is going to be torn down although I have not confirmed it.
But with that in mind I decided to paint it from afar. The idea of it eventually disappearing from the landscape as new life springs up.

The power plant is pale in comparison to the vibrancy of the foreground.

The lively brighter vegetation painted with a sort of lyrical rhythm, pulsating with life while the background, nearly monochromatic, dissipates into the coastal atmosphere.268

Erasure

"Catalina Pacific Concrete (Demolition 1)"
watercolor on paper, 2014
9" x 12" (22.86cm x 30.48cm)
For sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

Here is another from the series.
The old Catalina Pacific Concrete Plant, which I recently found out was built in 1939 if my source is correct, moves one step closer to being erased from the landscape, becoming transparent as its corrugated skin is slowly removed.

It will be odd when it is gone, since it is the only tall structure where it stands and can be seen for blocks in all directions. The skyline will have a noticeable void in it.

Although it has sat untouched for a while it won't be long now. It is going to become a parking lot for the current business that operates there now.

I painted this view with the skyline in mind, showing how the building is (has been) seen against it by leaving it nearly white, a blankness interrupted by the block of a building.
This version has more warms and cools interspersed throughout over previous ones (below), giving it some life just as it is being razed.267

See other versions of it here, here, here, here.

Seascape Cliff Shipwreck

"Seascape Cliff Shipwreck"
oil on panel, 2010
3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)
private collection

This is another version of the same painting from the previous post.
The biggest difference is the addition of the shipwreck which made it more fun. Other than that the cliff is very similar in color but the background is cool green here, cool purple and orange in the previous.
You can see how in this one there is more separation of the cliff and background, primarily through value.

This is part of the reason for doing studies.266

Seascape Cliff Crashing Waves

"Seascape Cliff Crashing Waves"
oil on panel, 2010
3.5" x 5" (8.89cm x 12.7cm)
private collection

Here is another small seascape study I did as a gift a few years back. Much like the previous post you can see the saturation of palette is the same. That is what I was doing at the time.

Again, like I said in the previous post, I am looking back at these earlier studies to retrace my thoughts and then decide if there is anything in them I want to pursue for a 2014 series.

I currently have about 15 or 20 works in progress at different stages, in 4 or 5 different series (genres) and various sizes so I don't have a lot to post just yet. I thought I would share these for now.

I have another slightly different version of the above I will post next.
You can at any time click the 'seascape' LABEL and see all the recent and past seascapes and gain a sense of what I am looking towards for a new 2014 series. 265

Zen Seascape

"Seascape Sunset"
oil on panel, 2009
3.5" x 5" (cm x cm)
private collection

Here is a small seascape study I did as gift a few years back.
Besides the recent ones I have been doing, exploring different directions, I also have been looking back at earlier ones I did.
Sometimes I had thoughts, recorded in these studies, that got lost in the shuffle of other projects and paintings.
Now is the time to consider which ones I will reincarnate for a seascape series.

I stood on the cliffs just before sunset on a calm day at low tide, the water smooth as glass except near the shore where the gentle waves washed over the rocks, radiating these circular ripples. The deep rich saturated colors of sunset reflecting off the water like a stained glass window.

I remember it as having a zen like quality and realized that a view including the sky would turn out to be just another sunset painting and that the sensation (zensation?) was actually in the foreground, no distant horizon was needed. In fact including too much might have defeated it altogether.

I am reminded the sea has many moods, from the stormy to the meditative.264

Avid Art 2

Ha! Ha! Ha! I made it... Avid Art 2 published January 1 2014 (just barely still counts).

OK, so here it is, Avid Art 2, repped by a bunny, or a rabbit (maybe I should call it rabid art) and it's meant to be cute sardonic or deadpan or something?
But please don't expect too much. I don't even know where it's headed.

What I do know is this one won't be too formal. I will leave it completely open to changing it on a whim if I feel like it.

I may change the header, the colors, the type, the format, the content, who knows. I might even have long run-on sentences (sorry High School English teacher)...  well probably not that last one.

When I decided to do another blog I spent a lot of time thinking about what and how to do it all, nearly driving myself crazy with planning, then it dawned on me, STOP IT! Just do it like a chameleon would and change it if I don't like something. Not everything has to go down a paved road. Every so often it's good to suddenly turn left into the brush, prickly's and all. Go there if you dare.
Link will also be in right column from here on out.

Link to, click AVID ART 2

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014!

Here's to a new year and fresh start!
Thank you to all who have helped support Avid Art, all my followers, visitors and commenters (but not the robots who have ruined my stats).

I hope 2014 is a blow-out year for us all!