On March 1st, I had the privilege of giving an oil painting demonstration before the Associated Creative Artists group in Dallas.
A small group of Dallas artists, led by Bill Hummelbaugh and Ramon Froman, chartered the organization in 1954 under the name Artists and Craftsmen Associated. I was Newsletter Chairman of ACA for several years, then Vice-President, and finally was honored to serve as President for a couple of years in the late 80’s. So, we have a long history and I have fond memories of almost a decade of participation.
In preparation for the demo I did a considerable amount of preliminary work. Since I am not a super fast painter, and normally a demonstrating artist has just about an hour and a half to perform a feat of magic, I arrived with the monochromatic block-in seen above. Even before this stage, a concept for the piece was decided upon. My starting point was the picture below, taken several years ago on a painting trip to Ohio.
Before the first brush stroke, decisions were made concerning composition, mood, and selection of colors to be used.
Here’s the starting point of the concept.
Above is the preliminary color study done on gessoed paper. The 4.5″x 7.5″ study is typical of the approach I use in working out color before beginning the final work. Colors used in this piece are: Chromatic black, cadmium red, yellow ochre, lemon yellow and white. The monochromatic value block-in was done using a mixture of chromatic black and yellow ochre.
This is as far as I was able to get with the painting during my demonstration.
Hillside Overlook – 9.5″x 16″ – Oil on canvas
This is what I am calling the final painting, completed in the studio yesterday.
