Tree Study 10-A good study coming to grief

Tree Study 10, 6 x 8 in.

The next in line.....I don't feel my best effort came through in it. Too spotty--a pitfall with trees. A favorite quote of Scott Christensen's comes from John Carlson, and (sadly) relates directly to this study....but this is about learning for me, which is why I'm posting this.

Carlson says, "The big form is difficult to preserve because by he time we have modeled the smaller forms upon the big and added the necessary highlights and shadows, the chances are that we have overdone these so that our big form is cut up and spotty. These highlights and shadows belong there, but we may put too many brilliant highlights upon it; meaning that we may put lights upon the upright form that should possibly belong to the flat-lying plane. This passion for putting too many and too brilliant "lights" upon all the forms or planes is responsible for more good studies coming to grief than any other cause."

So, here the overdone highlights compete directly with my ground plane value, and lead to a tree that is "cut up and spotty," instead of being more of a mass. Even though I'd heard this and read it many times prior to doing this study, it still happened!

-julie davis

Tree Study 8

Tree Study 8, 6 x 8 in.
nfs

A day or so ago, an artist whose work I quite admire, Randy Saffle, left a good question on my post for me regarding trees in a mass, asking "When you paint a group of trees, do you change which side of the tree is active within the same painting or do you keep it all the same side?"

I thought I would share my response in today's post since I thought it was a great question and something I needed to work with: "You can go either way, depending on the design of the composition and where you want to direct your viewer's eye. I'll have to do some groups of trees and play with that. I do think it all depends on composition.... As a mass of trees, though, you'd play down anything active within the group, and choose a side of the mass to make more active, depending on the composition.

I hope this helps. I'm still figuring it out, obviously, so thanks for the question."

I hope this helps anyone else with that question. I'll definitely be playing more with groups of trees and this concept in this study series. And thank you, Randy!

-julie davis

Tree Study 7

Tree Study 7, 7 x 5 in.

I think sometimes that I'm a little off.....I enjoy these small tree studies so much. Perhaps I should paint an orchard--ha. Here, I focused on loosening up the edges more than usual, and working with the trunks last--applying them on top of the tree's form rather than exclusively underneath. Still thinking about active and passive sides.

-julie davis

Tree Study 6

Tree Study 6, 6 x 8 in.

Another in the tree study series.... Scott Christensen consistently reiterated variety of line in a composition. No matter the line--horizon line, a stand of trees, the top of a mountain, the edge of a creek, even variety of line in the grasses or shadows of the ground plane. This plays into the active/passive side of individual trees as well.

-julie davis

Tree Study 6

Tree Study 6, 8 x 6 in.

It may seem redundant to do the same subject over and over, but trees are something I adore painting, and their importance in a landscape cannot be underestimated. Any new manner of approaching them that I come across, I want to play with it until it becomes second nature. In addition to the active/passive side I've written about, Scott stressed the importance of the core of the tree being the darkest, and painting toward the core as you address the shadow and light aspects of the tree.

I'm not sure I subordinated one side of the tree here as successfully as I could have, but these studies are learning vehicles for me as much as anything--so go easy on me as I try to absorb and incorporate it all! :)

-julie davis

more tree studies / panel comparisons

Wind River alkyd primed linen, 6 x 8 in.

RayMar oil primed linen, 6 x 8 in.

Several of you wrote and asked which panel (cotton or linen) I preferred from my last post. First, as you know, there are so many variables, and you should really test them out yourself--your personal style and materials will affect your opinion. With the medium I use (refined linseed oil), the brushes (natural hog bristle or bristle blend, mostly filberts), and my paints (generally Gamblin), at first I really liked the way the paint glided across the linen panel, while I noticed the cotton really grabbed the paint. And I always love the way linen looks as a finished product. But, I also love to apply a thicker paint--often with my palette knife, and I felt the cotton held the paint better for that. So, I'm still experimenting, and like them both, perhaps for slightly different approaches.

That said, today I tried two linen panels--the same Wind River 359 alkyd primed linen that Scott Christensen uses and that I tried in my last post, and the RayMar Claessen's double (oil) primed linen that I've used before on occasion. What I noticed today was that the alkyd primed had a little more tooth than the double oil primed (as billed), and I did like that. So, I should try the single (oil ) primed for the sake of completeness--it would not be as smooth and may be a better apples-to-apples comparison. I know both of these companies sell a variety or sample pack, for just this type of experimentation.

-julie davis

active/passive side tree studies

"active" side - shadow side

"active" side - light side

One of the many points Scott made in his workshop was that when painting trees, always subordinate one side of the tree. Obviously, in ideal light, a tree will have a light side and a shadow side. And clearly, the way an artist handles the point at which these masses meet is vital. I think an equally valuable point, which Scott made again and again, is that a tree should have an "active" side and a "passive" side. I believe that some trees are more naturally inclined to reveal which side to subordinate:), but that's where the artist comes in. The eye loves variety, and this applies to trees as well.

In these two ten-minute studies, I was doing two things:

1. Testing panels : the first is a Wind River Arts linen, and the second is a RayMar cotton...

2. Subordinating a particular side in each. In the first, it was the light side that I played down in order to play up the shadow side. I attempted the opposite in the second study. I pretty much did these simultaneously, so that I could focus on both objectives at once.

-julie davis