Rowhouses, KGT, cropped

“Rowhouses”  sold this month, along with 4 other paintings. I have never sold that many originals in one month. Maybe its a good thing there are new ones on the easels.

Rowhouses, Acrylic, 24 x 30", KG Taylor

I know I’m not the only artist who feels a little wistful when a painting goes out the door. It helps to send it to a stopping point like a gallery first, especially when the gallery owner is a good friend.

pond by the houses

C’mon, let’s go look for another village to invent and then paint…

Walking up the path, Rowhouses

"January Blues", oil on canvas, 12 x 12" by KG Taylor, Jan. 2012

Focal point … is there one here in this painting? Do I need one? help please…

Mimi is looking a little miffed here at my last post. Not very clear, maybe? (She’s my worst critic.)

So I’m answering the question previously posed and illustrating it a little more. Here’s the question I asked, referring to the color panel of eleven swatches shown below:

“there is only one hue in this swatch panel that is the least toned and most pure of all these choices. Still not as pure as a color straight out of the tube, but close. Can you guess which one it is? It’s very clear and bright.” Answer: the bright blue, fourth from left, bottom row.

Top left is a bright blue color swatch and a bright orange one touching it. Don’t know about you, but this is one color combo that jars my senses on a gut level. (Blue and orange are the least harmonious of complementary color pairs, as you see them across from each other on the traditional color wheel.)

However, right of this pair we see a toned blue-green, toned orange and even a further toned orange which is so darkened as to become a brown. Now we have a harmonious combination all artists can work with to achieve harmony.

Again, here’s the answer to my question of my last post…the least toned hue was the bright blue in the palette of colors. It is also seen here in this night cityscape painting I finished last fall, and was recently sold. (I’m glad I have a photo, so I can continue the series with some cohesive thread. )

There are also oranges in the painting, all very toned. They might look bright, but colors do “pop” more when next to a neutral like black.

I’ve gotta tell you that I learned so much more about color when painting this latest one, “Heart of Old Town”. I used to be very prejudiced about using blue and orange together in a painting or quilt. No more. Once I began further color studies, and see the value of finding toned colors that can achieve beautiful, harmonious combinations, I realized we have no boundaries or road blocks in our use of color. We are free to use all, and a few guidelines help.  How excellent is that?

A quilt and a color palette with little miss nervous cat

Toned color is important for artists working with painting or quilting arts. Painters mix pure tube colors to “tone them down” for a more harmonious palette. If you mix pure blue with its complementary color of pure orange, you will get a toned blue. Add a little blue to your orange, and you get a toned orange. These toned colors should work together well in a painting, whereas pure orange and blue in a painting can almost set teeth on edge at times.

Quilters seeking true harmony of color can keep this in mind by searching for fabrics in toned blues and oranges. One might call these colors “dark blue-green” and “rust orange” for example. You can see both toned blues and oranges in the color swatch panel here.

In fact, there is only one hue in this swatch panel that is the least toned and most pure of all these choices. Still not as pure as straight out of the tube, but close. Can you guess which one it is? It’s very clear and bright.

Quilters might call it a “bright” (fabric). You might also consider it the accent color of the group. Single bright, untoned colors in a palette of toned ones add a special sparkle to the whole.

See the next day’s blog for more on toned color… and Mimi…

Study for new painting, viewers' choice!

I’m grateful to everyone who responded to my request for some comments on composition ideas as I revisit painting the southwestern landscape. This version is the hands down winner, which tells me that it is worth the effort to do “just one more” study. Sometimes the last one might be best.

The original study shows the streaky underpainting in pink and I like the show-through effect, note-to-self.  It was done with both brushes and palette knife embellishment.

Inspirations: many travels through New Mexico and the Southwest, lots of gallery visits and favorite books. I saw a Maynard Dixon painting and one of his sculptures during our New Year’s day visit to the Denver Art Museum. He is a favorite artist of mine, and influence is clearly here. (Anyone know of Maynard Dixon? He has a museum in Tucson, I just found out. I like him because he was both a fine artist and an illustrator, as in “commercial artist” they called it back then. I relate.)

More on Maynard Dixon soon…

Meantime, do something creative today or tomorrow! Even for 5 minutes… it’s like a vitamin for the soul!

Mesas and Crosses, 9 x 12" oil on board, KG Taylor

1. This painting was inspired by my love of the dramatic landscapes of New Mexico and the Navaho and Spanish weaving traditions of the people. Revisiting paintings after a time is becoming an exciting learning tool for me.  I decided to create a large painting or two from this small study, hoping to simplify into a compelling landscape. I already love this color palette, and will attempt to keep to it!

New Mesa composition with center focal point

2. Using Photoshop’s cut and paste tools, I removed the cross motifs and blended the remaining sections of the painting together again. The original study with crosses seems deceptively simple, but it was a pretty complex composition I didn’t want to try duplicating in a new way. Some things are better left as is, you know? This new composition places the big mesa group as the focal point, seeming more massive and powerful.

Vertical Mesa Composition with Clouds

3. I’m really liking this completely new look. The clouds are playing a big role. The gold in the sky drops the eye downward to the section of mountain and then to the water and foreground at last. I call this a “tapestry” effect, which is a favorite of mine. The eye reads from top to bottom and back up again. I will definitely paint this one! Foreground has issues, needs diminishing in prominence a little, don’t you think?

Flipped light source to right, new idea no. 4

4. Flipping a composition in Photoshop is just like looking at your painting in a mirror to see how the composition stacks up (traditional painting trick often used). It reveals any weaknesses, maybe tells you it only works one way (the original way) or sometimes gives you a whole new idea. When I flipped the painting horizontally, it suddenly seemed to “read” better, as in the western mentality of reading images and words left to right. The light gold focal point became more pronounced to me. You can see I made the mesa mountain group higher and more compact, and the water in the foreground is a bit more pronounced in a way. Don’t quite know why, but the mountain has taken on more “personality” to me for some reason. This version has interesting possibilities.

Now I am too “close” to these studies tonight to see which I would like to tackle first as a large painting. Have to sleep on it and get new vision later. Anyone have an opinion? I would love to have your input or ideas. Thanks,  Karen

The Blue Note, color sketch for new painting, Jan 2012

Painting and music go hand in hand. I like so many genres of music, but jazz has a special place in my heart. I was trained by the best, my musician brother, Bob Gillis and my husband Rob, to name only two, and special at that. Bob went to college and roomed with renowned jazz performer Bill Frisell and other wonderful musical friends. Bob introduced me to Miles Davis’ music. He and our dear friend Jeff Colella, another great player, performed at our daughter Annie’s wedding this summer, and she walked out with her dad Rob to a Miles tune they played so heartfully. Jeff made his bread touring with Lou Rawls, yet he’s a composer and artist in his own right, an amazing talent in L.A. right now.

Painting is not always an easy thing. There are moments when something’s not quite working as you go along. Even when I feel I can work through a challenge, knowing it might take a couple of hours, I get, well, disturbed. That is where music comes in. Somehow, if there is music in the room with you, or in your earbuds, you can ease the cranky feelings and soften into the flow of working it all out with the brush or knife.

I also love classical guitar and piano, and enjoy spanish and latin sounds. Bossa nova, American folk songs, Sinatra era, country- as in Emmy Lou Harris, gospel, Mozart, and a lot of rock from days gone by. And there’s always a Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin to get that brush movin’! (‘Course, I have to dance first, get that one out of my system before going back to the easel! Dancing will be another blog, right?)

But something about jazz… the Miles kind.. you can just lose yourself and alternate focus between the paint flowing and the sounds glowing beyond…

Share with me some of your favorite tunes or genres, won’t you?

Moonville, acrylic, detail

Even if you think your painting or drawing or photograph is unsuccessful, it can get you to a future piece that surpasses even your original idea. That is a measure of success, and so don’t ever give up. Look to that place down the road where things will become illuminated. For that you need time and patience. Oh, and don’t set the thing on fire until then.

xoxo

karen

p.s. who might find this to be a smidgen true? Not just me I think….

"Arroyo Seco View", oil by KG Taylor

Now that I’m back to painting with oils, I was happy to find this small panel lurking in the back of my studio flat files. Brushwork is a lot of fun with oil paints, especially when you mix it up with palette knife strokes.

Brushwork and palette knife strokes

This view is from a writer’s cottage I rented on a getaway trip to Northern New Mexico a few years ago. Seco is a very small town north of Taos with fewer than 1500 people. There were buffalo in the adjoining pasture. I was a little nervous to go for walks nearby as the fences were flimsy looking!

Winter is also a wonderful time to visit NM. The colors remain brilliant year ’round, and oh how I’m missing it!

“Julia Manet and Her Greyhound Laertes” by Berthe Morisot

“The Railroad: Gare Saint-Lazare”, detail by Edouard Manet”Sleeping Girl with Cat”, detail, Pierre-Auguste Renoir”Self Portrait with Black Dog” by Gustave Courbet

Four artists painting animals: Morisot’s dog with young girl, Manet’s puppy with woman, Renoir’s Cat in girl’s lap, and Courbet’s self-portrait with black dog.

Hint: all paintings have people in them. These are cropped views of the larger paintings. They are all French paintings from around the Impressionist era.

Okay, I am kidding, you won’t really be graded, but what are your responses to these four paintings? I believe each of them has a story behind the picture, do you think? It may say something about the artist as well as the subject he or she painted.

Why are pets included in paintings primarily about the people?

Does this say something more about the person being portrayed or about the artist painting the person?

Last question: did the painter want you, the viewer to have an inner response to his or her painting?

Tell us what you think. Art is meant to evoke a response, no?

P.S. Did you notice the cat is blue? Why are Courbet and the black dog so alike? Why is the woman reading when she is at a train station Saint Lazare and has a puppy in her lap? Does Julia Manet look happy in her dark dress, and what about her dog?

Food for thought.

Did the painters send you a message with their paintings?