Bellisimo Venice

It matters little whether or not you have ever been to Venice or seen the Atlantic Ocean or viewed the Dead Sea. What matters is that most of us are drawn to water. We love it as a spectator, sitting on the porch of a beach house watching the crashing waves. Some are desperate to be on it in a snug little boat. Others simply can’t get wet enough in the surf and swim. The point is that we are pulled towards water and hence, there is an abundance of water themed paintings. Painting the wet stuff has been the bane and highlights of many a painter. We all attempt it over and over trying to get it just right. And because water is reflective, it often offers up amazing distortions of real life. Even wet pavement reflecting brake lights on a dark evening can be a fantastic vision. The challenges for me in this painting were to make the reflections on the canal look real enough but also more interesting than they really were. I also attempted to put into practice atmospheric perspective which, if done correctly, makes the far buildings and canal go back into the distance. Living in Seattle, a city surrounded by lakes, bays, canals, Puget Sound, and the Pacific gives ample opportunity for painters who too want to take on the challenge of painting water. 

Poolside Dining

One of the jobs of a painter is to only paint what moves them and not to paint what looks it'll sell. It's vital that something in the imge moves the painter to want to capture it. If the artist feels an excitement about the subject, it will show up in the painting. This all sounds really obvious but it's amusing how often people are surprised by it. Friends are always suggesting subject matter to me; musicians at a festival, a particular valley view, etc. What they're saying is that that image moves them and they wish it moved me so I'd paint it! Commissions are another story. Hopefully the artist is painting commissions in a certain field, pets perhaps, that they specialize in so they can get exctied about painting another dog. It's no news that we do what we like to do though. I wanted to paint Poolside Dining because I loved the pattern of the umbrellas and their shadows. Giving a reasonable explanation for what moves me is not part of this blog!

Yellow and Red Tulips

When it rains, hails, snows and is sunny and blue skies all in one day, you know it's time for the tulips to be up in the Pacific Northwest. Don't like spring weather in Seattle? Then wait a minute! For those of us inclined towards playing with paints, we stay inside and paint tulips. Choosing a canvas size is part of the painting process. You can choose a canvas shape and then choose the subject or choose a subject and choose a canvas shape that fits your image. I have one more tulip painting to paint before completing my triptych--a wonderful word meaning three paintings that go together as one unit. Purple tulips on a yellow background will be the finale. Choosing 6x24" panels are a perfect venue for a skinny vase and tall flowers. What would you choose to paint? Email me your ideas--I'd love to hear them!

Poolside

Poolside was painted using a photo reference. I would guess most representational painters use photographs from time to time and you might think that would make things pretty easy. Simply copy the photograph. But the problem lies in that photographs lie. My teachers have told me this and I believe them! Shadows in photos are always a terrible, ugly dark colors. Everything is on one plane. There is no mid-ground or far-ground to be seen. Every single detail is showing and none of these things make for a beautiful painting. So the photo is a reference and only that. You have to work as hard when you paint from a photo as you do from real life to create a beautiful painting. Leave out all the unnecessary so the necessary can tell their story. Paint shadows as beautiful as the lights around them. And push back the background using fuzzy edges, grayed out colors or lumping details into masses of unidentified but interesting shapes. You simply have to outwit your photograph so it’s lies don’t spoil your painting! See Joanne Shellan's website at http://www.joanneshellan.com/.

Adirondack, Apple, and Abridgment

Just like a good story teller, a painter wants to tell a story too. She saw a certain something that moved her and she wants to share that with the viewer. A superb story teller captures you with the first sentence. Each word and pause counts. Talk too long or say too much and the story is spoiled. It’s very similar with painting; tell your story with a limited number of strokes. The example is this painting of the Adirondack chair, an apple and a mug. Abridge the elements so it says enough without telling too much. No need to show every part of the chair to know it’s an Adirondack chair. No need to show every blade of grass or the title of the book. The viewer is perfectly capable of filling in any blanks. Abridge, condense, and shorten. All words for good storytelling and good painting.  http://www.joanneshellan.com/

Taking stock of Critique Groups

As a relatively new user of critique groups, I'm practically evangelical in my praises for them. I have found it extremely useful to have all those fresh eyes examining my painting and telling me what works and does not work on my painting. By fresh eyes, I mean other than the artist’s eyes which are somehow veiled to the truth of their own painting. It’s like an umbilical cord links the artist to their work and till that cord is severed, which sometimes takes months or even years after the work is completed, most artists are unable to objectively see their work. The trick with critique groups is to find or create one with artists near or above your ability. Take notes on all the comments about your work, listen instead of defending yourself, and then sort through the comments later. Through experience, you’ll begin to figure out what comments to discard and which make sense to incorporate. I brought this painting of the stockpot and vegetables to my current teacher and to one of the critique groups who, of course, had opposite things to say. Now I get to look inside myself and decide which direction to take it next. It’s my decision but made better by all those fresh eyes. http://www.joanneshellan.com/

Tulips and Cake- in a painterly fashion

 

Painterly. It's a term that only painters use and perhaps made up as well. But it does mean something to painters. It's when you're not house-painting; another term painter’s use but always in a derogatory way (no offense to real house painters who do a fine job). House-painting is when you've drawn out your picture and you simply fill in each little section with color. What, you say? That's not how you do it? No, dear. Not at all but it's sure as heck how most of us started out! As you mature as a painter, you begin a dance with your paint brush every time you paint. Its a little love dance done on canvas. You twist and scumble, push paint and alight like a butterfly all over the canvas. To watch a master painter paint is a bit of a miracle, almost like watching an Olympic athlete. Some add to this act of putting paint on canvas the layering of paint with big, juicy gobs of paint that leave beautiful textural strokes. This usually happens when the painting is nearly complete. You lay down strips of light on the canvas with often large, directional strokes of paint. The way the light falls on the subject is practically physical for the painter. Like laying a comforter on a sleeping baby, it follows the form.
This 16x20" still-life oil painting was done in the studio from a live set-up and yes, I ate two huge slices of cake when I was done dancing with my paint brush.