"Turkish Urn with Oranges" - Step Two Demo

Step Two: "Turkish Urn with Oranges", 22x26, oil on Belgian Linen

In this stage you can see that the urn has been somewhat more refined with paint. This will be an on-going process throughout the painting. In addition, I have established the value pattern on the little ochre vase on the left hand side of the painting. This, too, was an on-going proposition, as I changed my mind about the lighting of this little gem. At one point, after step one, I set this vase back into the background only to change my mind and repaint it back into the light. It was just far too charming to leave out entirely. I got more paint on just about everything, it would appear, with the exception of the miniature cup. The orange segments have been restated, as has the larger orange itself. These are little stepping stones throughout the painting. Most importantly, though, is that I'm trying to come to terms with the background. This will become a back and forth proposition for me, unfortunately. The reason is that I often 'make up' the backgrounds. In other words, it isn't exactly what I'm looking at on my stand in front of me. Or I just change my mind. It's never straight forward, whatever the case. While I have a concept in mind at the beginning of my painting, there are endless possibilities that present themselves along the journey and I find too many of them irresistable! The beauty of oil painting is that everything can be repainted and one cannot be afraid to make changes. It all comes down to what makes a painting more beautiful. Once I made a statement about the background quality I thought hmmm, what if? And this is how I arrived at the palette knifed surface of the table ledge.I like it so it'll stay as is ... for now ;)

At this stage, as in all stages, decisions are being made about paint quality, edges and colour saturation. You will notice that the darks are smooth and often transparent while the lighter and brighter colours are opaque and often have impasto qualities. The joy and beauty of painting for me is just putting the paint on the canvas....

On to Step Three....

"Turkish Urn with Oranges" - Step One Demo

STEP ONE: Turkish Urn with oranges, 22x26, oil on linen

As mentioned in my original post about this painting, I discovered this Turkish Urn at a market several months ago. In particular, what inspired me to paint the urn was the lovely worn patina, its understated poise and grace, enhanced by the passage of time. With these thoughts firmly in mind, I placed the worn urn on my still life stand.

A still life concept can come together very quickly or it can take hours, even days, to accomplish. This particular concept did not come easy for me. Everything I loved about the urn seemed in contradiction to those objects placed on the table to enhance the beauty of it. Soon I realized that the utilitarian nature of the urn dictated not a still life of delicate objects at all. Simplicity was in order. No frills.

In keeping with the order of simplicity, this painting is built upon a limited palette of colour and non-colour. With the exception of the urn and the miniature cup, it is very much about earthy yellows, orange and green. The vivid orange colour also serves to complement the blues of the urn, emphasizing the delicate miniature cup with its blue painted windmill pattern (my tribute to Rembrandt).

As always, with my studio paintings, I began this painting on an oil primed linen which I'd previously toned using burnt umber and phthalo blue. I should add that I prepare all my surfaces myself. In this case, I've used raw Utrecht Belgian linen which I've prepared by hand - you can see a demo of this on this blog in an earlier post. In addition to the Utrecht, I use Fredrix "Kent", oil primed Belgian Linen and to this surface I add a coat of Williamsburg oil lead primer. The prepared linen is then stretched onto stretcher bars. Once a decision has been made as to the still life concept, I am able to choose a canvas which will best compliment it.

Stage One:

Using a large filbert bristle brush, I began by roughly blocking in the shadow patterns. At this
stage I don't worry about drawing, my aim is to place the objects in the 'space' on the canvas and to develop the design using the shadow structure.

This photo shows the painting a little further along in the initial stages. I've not only blocked in the basic shadow design/concept using my large brush and burnt umber/blue mixture, I've also blocked in the objects with some colour, mainly just to get paint on them. It's always difficult (for me, at least) to get paint coverage on this oil primed linen, in this initial stage, so I'm just concentrating on stating the colour scheme and getting that first coat of paint on. This allows me to make some judgement calls and also make any changes that I might deem necessary, too. I've managed to get a little further along in blocking in the urn. Since this is the largest object in the painting, and pretty much the star of the show, I want to get a feel for the size and value, and just how it fills the space on its own. So far I feel that it's holding its own...no need to haul in a bunch of flowers for support, just yet!

The important thing to note at this stage is that I'm not worried about drawing or detail, I'm using a large bristle brush and just getting a feel for the design - the flow of the light and how it will travel across my canvas. The paint is applied with little concern for smoothness. In fact, I love the quality of the scratchy surface caused by my bristle brush and will try to utilize this wherever I am able, as I go along. I've used my palette knife on the table edge. You'll also note that I have blocked in the basic value of the table top, as well.
...on to Step Two

Gone Fishin' .....

Photos: Below: Here I am, plein air painting with my good friends (top photo) Susan Fae and Charlie.

Ok, so I can't make the claim that fishin' got in the way of my blogging for the past year. Although I personally know of a couple of artist friends whose fly-fishing passions cause lengthy absences from their studios, this hasn't happened to me yet. (Rick Berg, Dave Hodges). Nor can I claim to have been golfing, because I don't do that either. My only obsession is painting and I'm pretty pleased about that.

To give you the reader's digest condensed version of my past year, it was a busy one. Last spring my husband and I travelled to London (not to visit the Queen, necessarily), Paris and Amsterdam. In that incredible journey we took in the London Portrait Museum, the National Gallery, The Louvre, Rembrandt's House and Rijksmuseum. All in the blissful pursuit of Rembrandt.

We also visited Santa Fe, New Mexico a couple of times, the incredible art destination which we love to explore. In August I had the pleasure of having a gallery show at Brandon Michael Fine Art on Canyon Road.

And here I am, back again, eager to resume this business of blogging. I hope to have my newsletter back on track in the coming days, as well. (you can sign up on my website Bobbi Dunlop Fine Art )

Most of you know that for my entire career I've been strictly a studio painter. My workspace is a wonderful, expansive, north-lit studio, in which I paint my still-life paintings, have models sit for me and I paint from life. Recently, however, I've been ceased with the urge to experience en plein air painting. ( *Google Definition for en plein air painting: French for "in the open air," used chiefly to describe paintings that have been executed outdoors, rather than in the studio.)

The photos above were taken recently on one such en plein air adventure. I'm hooked! You'll be hearing more about my en plein air adventures here and I'll post some paintings, too. The successful ones, that is ;0)

So, from this point on, rather than claiming to have gone fishin', it's more likely that I'll be gone paintin'.

Thanks for visiting......

"Turkish Urn with Oranges" and Demonstration

"Turkish Urn with Oranges" - oil on Belgian linen, 22x26

This is a photo of my most recent large painting. After discovering this weather worn Turkish urn in a market several months ago, it was simply a matter of time til it won a place of honour in one of my still life paintings. I was looking for a minimalistic concept, in keeping with the functional, utilitarian nature of the urn. No frills. Nothing to take away from its faded, but once beautiful, facade. Toward that end, I used a fairly limited palette. As you can see, it is very much about earthy yellows, oranges and greens. This limited use of colour - or non-colour - serves to enhance the miniature china cup with its lovely blue painted windmill pattern. My small tribute to Rembrandt. I purchased this cup on our trip to Amsterdam last spring, to visit Rembrandt's home and studio, as well as the Rijksmuseum.

DEMONSTRATION:

I have photographed the stages while painting this and plan to post it very soon in my demonstration blog at Dunlop Demonstrations Hope you enjoy it!

Santa Fe, New Mexico - GALLERY ANNOUNCEMENT

Where does the time go? It has been said that ''the older one gets, the faster time passes''. I'll go along with that analogy. Add to the mix a pure joy and love of life - joie de vivre - and the combination throws life into fast forward on overdrive. That's me.

And, just when I think I couldn't possibly be more blessed, I find myself more blessed!

I confess I have been neglecting my journalling duties of late and also haven't been posting new works recently. In fact, the glorious days are getting longer with spring's arrival and with that my hours in the studio are keeping stride.

I am happily creating new works for my 'new' gallery and with that, I take great pleasure in telling you all about it!.....

GALLERY ANNOUNCEMENT:

Brandon Michael Fine Art
202 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM 87505
(505) 670-6603

Contact/Owner: Brandon M. Fitzpatrick

Website details to follow soon.

It is with great excitement that I announce my recent signing with Brandon Michael Fine Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As many of you know, Santa Fe has become an incredibly beautiful destination spot for artists, art lovers and collectors. The plethora of exquisite art work to be found in Santa Fe is a veritable feast for the senses with, literally, something for everyone.

Brandon Michael Fine Art is located on Santa Fe's famous Canyon Road and will be opening on June 1st, 2008.

I've created a new 'Events' category on my website Bobbi Dunlop Fine Art Stay posted for updates on upcoming appearances at the gallery, as well as information about the gallery opening.

Bits about my friends...and Joni Mitchell

New Detail photo...."Art Student at the Patheon"

This isn't a new painting, but the photo is new. I thought I'd leave the 'old' one (below) just so that you can use it as a form of comparison.

This new photo, and the complete image below, was taken by my very good friend, photographer Geoff Williams. Normally, I photograph the paintings myself as I go along. Once I have accumulated a number of paintings, Geoff comes around to my studio and photographs them for me. As you can see, the man is amazing....his photographs are incredibly beautiful.

Photographing a painting is not an easy task, but Geoff is a master. So now you know. All the extraordinary photographs on my blog, and my website, are the creations of Geoff....the rest of them are mine.

I haven't posted for quite some time. Besides taking time to celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus, plus enjoying family and friends, I'm now involved in a commissioned painting. I will post it when it's done for you to see.

Also, please see my ad in the Oil Painters of America section of the March/April, 2008 edition of the Art of the West and Southwest Art Magazines.

I would also like to invite you to visit my friend's blog: Chris Bolmeier is an artist, living in Omaha, NE. She's also an amazing singer and you will be able to hear for yourself when you visit her blog. Chris is also one of the funniest people I've had the pleasure of meeting. We've become friends and Chris actually mailed me a Christmas tin of authentic Italian home baked cookies! (Chris is Italian). I was incredibly touched and the baking was incredibly delicious - we love Italian food in our house.

Chris is a huge fan of singer/songwriter, Joni Mitchell, whom we all know and love. Because Joni Mitchell and I are both Canadians, Chris likes to put our names in the same sentence. I will be eternally flattered. However, the bit of trivia that I pointed out to Chris is that I was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and this happens also to be the birthplace of our beloved Joni Mitchell! In fact, Joni was in my oldest brother's grade one class. Small world, isn't it? Alas, Joni was last seen heading due south, a common occurance for many of our Canadian artists. But we continue to hold on to them, in our hearts.

"Art Student At The Pantheon I" - completed painting

Detail

Oil on linen, 12x14

The sun finally peaked through the cloudy skies today and allowed me to photograph this painting for you. We've been experiencing unseasonally cold weather recently, as well as less sun. I am blessed to live in a very sunny part of the world so I was very happy to welcome this light back into my gloomy studio. I've also been working on a companion piece to this one and will hopefully be able to post it soon. Please read the posting below for an explanation of these inspiring art students at the Pantheon in Rome.

Working under the natural north lights in my studio, I am really affected by the overcast periods. But, it's a great time to do other things in my studio. This week, I managed to prepare several sized canvases. A number of canvases were done on my usual Fredrik "Kent" linen, which I give a 3rd coat of Williamsburg oil primer to, and several more were made on Utrecht 74D raw linen which I've just applied rabbit skin glue to. You can see a demonstration of the preparation of raw linen on my demonstration blog, Dunlop Demonstrations

I'd like to also invite you to visit my official website, Bobbi Dunlop Fine Art and while you're there sign up for my newsletter!

To view these paintings close up, just click on them and they will enlarge.....enjoy! and thanks for visiting.