Topsy-Turvy Study #1

Availability: Available - Email Me for Price

Date: 3/25/2011

Location: Ke'ei Beach

Size: 7" x 5"

Medium: Oil on canvas paper

Artist's Comments: During this week's workshop with Lori Hight, we were asked to paint two small works upside-down. This would allow us to focus on the inter-relationships of shapes rather than painting subjects. For me, the exercise was a valuable experience as I discovered a way for me to easily approach objects I am not comfortable painting. For example, I have always struggled with painting believable mountains. The variety of colors and shades has always confused me. By approaching the painting upside-down, I tricked my brain into painting the relationships of colors and shadows instead of worrying about painting a mountain. When I turned the painting right side-up I was so impressed with how believable the side of Napoopoo mountain was.

To view other paintings in my collection, click on the section labeled "View all SitaScapes" located at the top right of my blog. I have categorized my paintings by the month as I complete them.

Topsy-Turvy Study #2

Availability: Available - Email Me for Price

Date: 3/25/2011

Location: Uluwehuwehu Bay, Hualalai Resort

Size: 7" x 5"

Medium: Oil on canvas paper

Artist's Comments: I was so inspired by my first attempt at painting a scene upside-down that I eagerly dove into my second painting. There was a sense of ease that painting upside-down offers. I no longer had to think about "painting a beach" or "painting a shadow" I was simply copying the colors and shapes printed on my reference photo. I enjoyed focusing on the color differences between the objects and how they related to each other. I have often used the technique of turning my painting upside down or looking at it in a mirror whenever a section of my painting "looked funny" but I couldn't figure out what was needed to fix it. Painting completely upside down from start to finish was a whole new experience. The satisfaction of turning the painting right-side-up and seeing that I had actually created a wonderful scene without even knowing it was liberating. I had a slight sense that I found a way to cheat myself out of having to think about painting! It was a very good lesson indeed and I'll be sure to use it the next time I'm in a rut. There are of course some challenges with attempting this technique plein air however.... maybe I need to bring one of those inversion machines to the beach!

To view other paintings in my collection, click on the section labeled "View all SitaScapes" located at the top right of my blog. I have categorized my paintings by the month as I complete them.

Value Study with Lori Hight

Date: 3/12/2011

Location: In-Studio with Lori Hight

Medium: Oil on canvas paper

Artist's Comments: Every artist reaches a point in their journey where self awareness and practice aren't enough and it feels like progress is not being made. I recognized this as a time to invest in learning and luckily for me, my long-time friend Lori Hight decided to put together a small group of students to teach. Our bi-weekly lessons would be hosted in-doors allowing us to focus each class on a particular skill set. Today, we worked on values and practiced recognizing the different values in a painting and using a single color mixed with white to complete the painting. The works were very small and we were told not to labor too much on details. It was a good opportunity for me to really think about how to approach a painting for example, how do I make areas of the painting stand out without using colors? Lori gave us a piece of red film that takes out the color and helps you focus on the different variations in values. It was difficult and if I was left to do this study alone, I think I would have quickly become bored so I appreciate the classroom environment as it provided a dynamic element that helped the lesson keep my attention. I went home that night and tried my hand at a second value study. I like how quickly a painting can be finished when using a single color. It gives me a sense of freedom not having to worry about using the right color!

To view other paintings in my collection, click on the section labeled "View all SitaScapes" located at the top right of my blog. I have categorized my paintings by the month as I complete them.