Gate of Reverence

I had to sit with this one a while in my studio before deciding if it was finished. I thought it was until I photographed and looked at it on my monitor.  I noticed a few more things that needed to be tweaked.  This is a great way to analyze a painting from a different perspective.  After a few more hours of noodling I think it is finally finished.

This new painting is the second painting I've done that was  inspired by a photo I took in the Passy area of Paris.  When I’m wondering around shooting reference photos I’m often struck by something that speaks to me as a strong interesting design. It could be what I’m observing has a very graphic quality, or a cast shadow on an object that creates an interesting pattern.    When I came across this gate with a stained glass window juxtaposed behind it, I knew I would eventually paint it.

First, I was immediately attracted to the design of the gate.  I thought I might change the composition completely and paint something else in the background.  However, the more I studied the photo the angel image in the stained glass started to speak to me as well.  I modified the position of the image and the gate from the photo to create a better composition. I also like how the lighter values in the painting are in the background. Painting a stained glass window, something that is more graphic, made me paint a bit tighter than I normally paint, which was a nice challenge.  I also incorporated metal leaf in the halo on the angel. If you look at the work in progress photos you can see where I intended for it to be but didn't add it until I put on the finishing touches.

Like Paris Passy Gate, this reminds me of the time I lived in Paris and a fond friend that lived near this gate.

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"Gate of Reverence" More Work in Progress

After Clowning Around, (no pun intended), my latest painting, I'm back to working on Gate of Reverence.  I'm in the detail and value phase now.  Since my last post, I have added more detail to the central figure.  I've also tweaked the dark background on the sides just a bit.  I thought the darks were too uniform so I went in with some pure water washes to do some lifting of pigment at the same time adding some washes of color to bring out a green tone in the dark background to tie in with the gate.

Next I will be adding more detail.  This is depicting a stained glass window in the background, so I will be painting in the lead lines, maybe adjusting value a bit more and working on some hard and soft edges.  This one has been a challenge for me, because I'm painting a bit tighter than I normally paint,  but still painting representational and trying to  avoid a photo realistic interpretation.  Hopefully I'm achieving this goal!

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Watercolor Sketch at the Albert Kahn Museum and Gardens in Paris

I haven’t posted a watercolor travel sketch for a while so today I’m sharing one I did when I lived in Paris.  One nice thing about living in a city that one normally just visits is that once you have gone to all the museums and sites that are the most popular and that you would see as a tourist,  you start to discover and explore places that are off the beaten path.  The Albert Kahn Museum and Gardens in one of those places.

Albert Kahn was a 20th century philanthropist who made it his mission to document the planet.  He financed many discovery missions all of the world.  The museum houses his archive of autochrome Lumière photography (color photos on glass plates) collections from 60 countries.

The thing that is the most spectacular about the museum is it’s gardens.  Comprising 10 acres it’s organized in sections modeled on gardens from around the world: a contemporary and village style Japanese garden, a rocky Vosgienne forest and English and French Gardens.  There is also a Japanese tea pavilion where on certain days you can participate in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony led by a tea master from Kyoto.

I went to the gardens a few times in the spring because it was so such a relaxing place and was hardly ever crowded which made it the perfect place to sketch.  This sketch was done overlooking the Japanese bridge.

If you are interested in going, the museum and gardens are located in Boulogne-Billancourt at 10-14 rue du Port.  One can easily get there by metro or bus.

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Work in Progress of Gate of Reverence, Watercolor

I've completed the details on the gate's ironwork.  Next I'll be adding details on the background, and then finally adjusting values overall until they are where I want them.  I'm happy with the gate so far!  I'll be taking a break from this one to work on another small painting.  Stay tuned!

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Work in Progress, Gate of Reverence, Watercolor

More work in progress of this painting, Gate of Reverence.  This is still in the block in phase.  I'm not concerned about being super tight and getting things exactly how I want them at this point.  All of that will come later after the initial color block in is complete.

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Work in Progress, Gate of Reverence, Watercolor

More progress on this new painting.  I'm approaching this one similar to the last painting, Paris Passy Gate, and also to how I would do an oil painting.  I'm doing a block in of all the color first, and then will go back and add details and value changes.  This is what I call the teenager phase of the painting!  I hope it grows up and turns out.

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Work in Progress, "Gate of Reverence", Watercolor

Last week I designed and started a new painting also inspired like Paris Passy Gate, by the area where I lived in Paris.  This is the third in a "Gate" series.  I'm very intrigued by the design of gates and metal work, and like focusing on a detail that lends itself to the composition having abstract qualities and the mystery of what lies beyond.

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Watercolor Sketch Chartres Cathedral.

Spring is my favorite time of year in France.  I thought I would share a sketch I did in the Spring of my last year living in Paris, on a visit to Chartres.  We had just finished the day site seeing at the Cathedral and sat in the little park just behind it during the magic hour time of the day when the light is golden.  This is the back side of the Cathedral, done with ink pen and watercolor.  A wonderful moment frozen in time.

Chartres Cathedral is on the Unesco World Heritage List.  It is a perfect example of French Gothic Architecture.  Construction started in 1145 and continuedover a 26 year period after the fire of 1194.  It is in an unbelievable state of preservation with the majority of the original stained glass windows intact and only a few minor changes architecturally since the early 13th century.

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New Work Paris Passy Gate

Paris Passy Gate

$2,500.00

Watercolor on Archival Handmade Paper, Framed

22" x 19," (56 cm x 48 cm)

Framed Size 30.35" x 27.5," price includes frame

Accepted into the 2015 Pennsylvania International Exhibition at The Carlisle Arts Learning Center

Inspired by the Passy area where I lived in Paris. For more information please visit my blog by clicking here.

Email me for purchase information.

Purchase

I’m happy to post that Paris Passy Gate, c’est fini!  If you have been following my blog or Facebook pages I have been documenting the work in progress on this painting.  The last post I had all the block in completed and needed to analyze the painting for value and add details.  I hope you can see what a difference value makes!  There is a saying among artists and no one I’ve talked to seems to know the origination of the quote.  “Color gets all the credit, but value does all the work.”  This is so true.  You can paint something in a completely different color scheme than what the original subject is, and it will work if the values are correct.

My goal for this painting was to experiment with getting a lot of texture from the pigments and work with a grayed palette.  I’m very happy with the outcome.  I’m always nostalgic for Paris especially in the spring time, and wanted to capture a place in the area where I lived which is also down the street from the apartment of a very dear friend I met while living there.  When we met she was 90 years old but seemed like she was in her 70’s.  We met by chance in a cafe and she started speaking with me in English because she had been married to an American man whom she met in Paris on V-day after WW II.  From the day we met we got together almost every week for lunch and we are still friends and speak on the phone often.  I thought of our special friendship a lot while working on this painting.

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Watercolor Sketching in the Parc de Bagatelle, Paris

A little gem in the Bois de Boulogne is Parc de Bagatelle.  I was determined to go on a lovely spring day with my sketchbook right after we moved to Paris and thought I would brave the bus system for the first time.  For those who have never visited the Bois (forest), it is HUGE and some areas can be a bit dodgy, which I won’t get into in this post!  Needles to say because it is so big there are many lovely areas to explore and families flock there on the weekends to commune with nature.  One of the most popular ares in the Bois  is the Parc de Bagatelle. It was created in 1775 and is one of four botanical gardens in Paris.

One of the most popular features of the Parc is the rose garden, boasting over 10,000 bushes from 1,200 different species.  In the spring the peonies and the iris garden are just as spectacular.

I got off the bus at what I thought was the closest stop only to realize after I’d walked more than a mile, I still had a long way to go!  My option at that point was to turn back and try to get back on the bus and hope to get closer or keep on walking, which I did.

I finally made it to the entrance near the Chateau and parked my self on a bench near a gorgeous row of peonies and did this sketch.  The Chateau was built by thebrother in law of Marie Antoinette.  She wagered that he couldn’t built it in three months and he won the bet! From start to finish it took 64 days.

WhenI sketch architecture I like to combine watercolor with a permanent ink pen.  I had gotten a set of sepia color Pitt pens which I tried out on this one.  I like the brown tone to the pen which doesn’t seem as harsh as the black.

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