A Website...mostly

Hello everyone,

I know that I haven't posted for, well, years, but I have something exciting to announce. I have a new website. It isn't finished, and not all of the images are as good as they should be, but it is up and running. 

I will be slowly migrating all of this blog's content over to the new site. There will also be new blog posts, updated blog posts, and new paintings. 

Come on over, let me know what you think and if you think I need to change something. 

My site is: www.katherinegriffinstudio.com

Thanks!!! 

Back to Painting and Back to Posting

I have not posted nor painted for a crazy long time, but I have set new goals to try to do more of both. My painting goal is small, but I feel obtainable, at two hours a day. By keeping myself mostly to smaller paintings I am hoping to jump start some good practice, as I am painfully out of practice, while still feeling like I am accomplishing something.

So far I am doing well at 8 hours for the week and two finished paintings. For the time being I am painting fruits and vegetables, maybe even some baked goods (aka donuts, maybe a chocolate chip cookie?), as I know I can knock those out quickly. I am not thrilled with the two that I have finished, but I am not unhappy with them either; I was terrified that I would be.

Below are the progress and final images for what I have done this week, both are 8x10:

Notes on the progress photos: 

I first drew the image out, blocked in a quick colored underpainting, blended the underpainting using a fan brush, established the shadows, then the midtones, and finally the highlights. For the radish I used an image I found online, but for the avocado I had a fashion shoot. 

I like how blended the color transitions are in the radish, but the leaves got away from me. I like the colors in the avocado, but I wish I had blended the colors more like with the radish. Things to think about for tomorrow! 

 

E is for Elephants Evading Enormous Eggs under the Eves of Elms with Egrets

As my sister said, "That is a mouthful." 

So I haven't been blogging for a while now. During the summer I was watching one of my nieces and somehow that meant that I didn't get on my computer at all. Something about a little person playing an awful lot of Minecraft. I feel that I do at least minimally redeem myself by the fact that I have been posting photos to my instagram account. Happily, now that school has started I plan to return to my blog and computer workings. 

To launch my renewal to almost all things digital, I have finally finished the "E" for my animal alphabet: 

I still need to play around with the placement of the leaves, but I am finally happy with the elephants. I think these are the fourth complete set that I have designed. 

Indirect Paintings: Step 2 - Underdrawing

Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowicz, 1892, Self-portrait       Jan Van Eyck, 1437, Saint Barbara

Indirect Painting: Step 2 - Underdrawing

When an underdrawing is done is based off of the artist's preference. Some will make an underdrawing before laying down the imprimatura, but modern artists tend to complete the imprimatura before starting an underdrawing. 

Underdrawings can be quick and rough, as you can see in Anna Bilinska-Bohdanowicz's Self-Portrait, or increbily detailed as in Saint Barbara by Van Eyck. A good underdrawing will have the following characteristics: 

1. Painted using naturally quick drying oils. Earth tones fall into this category.  
2. Painted with solvent only and no additional oil. This will allow the underdrawing to dry quickly. 

Below are three videos which highlight three different ways to create an underdrawing: 

Indirect Painting or Flemish Technique: Step 1 - Imprimatura (cont.)

Indirection Painting or the Flemish technique can be broken down into five steps:

1. Imprimatura or Ground 
2. Underdrawing 
3. Underpainting / Dead Color 
• Brunaille 
• Verdaccio 
• Grisaille 
4. Overpainting 
5. Semi-Transparent Glazes

It is important to note that throughout time each artist or academy had slightly different approaches to the style, but the basic stages were the same. Today I will be covering Step 1: The Imprimatura. (I have already written about the imprimatura, which you can read here. If you have not read that post, I recommend reading it. There will be overlap between the two, but somethings are different.)

Why the Imprimatura? 

The imprimatura, or "first paint layer," is the initial stain of color painted over the blank ground of your support. This is usually done before a sketch is laid down. Using an imprimatura is as common in oil painting as white paper is in watercolor. The imprimatura can help create a unified color harmony throughout the colors painted on top of it and reduce the time and effort needed to arrive at a certain value range. If, while painting, you ever stand back and feel that your colors don't quite "match," try starting your work with an imprimatura. This can help create balance and unity.

Colored Imprimaturas 

Traditionally the imprimatura was almost always moderate in intensity and value, and tended to rely on the low cost and quick dry qualities of earth pigments. Below is a list, from the Complete Oil Painter by Brian Gorst, of colors commonly used for imprimaturas. Where I can, I have included links to examples of each color being used in the description.    

1. Gray: The main function of gray is to remove the glaring whiteness of the original ground. A light-toned gray is the multi-purpose imprimatura and is useful for all genres. It also allows flexibility when your color scheme is still undecided. It was sometimes used by artists such as Monet. 

2. Terre Verte: This earth green was often used under areas of flesh by Byzantine and Medieval painters, such as Duccio, of the 13th and 14th centuries, but had continued use even past Michelangelo. The green helps neutralize the effects of strong pinks and reds, allowing for a natural skin color. 

3. Earth Red/Burnt Sienna: Used by landscape artists to give breath to green foliage, it also creates a mauve hue when sky and clouds are painted over it. This effect can be seen in works by Turner. These colors are also used by figure and portrait painters to help establish warm shadow masses, and was often used in the French figurative tradition by artists ranging from Poussin to Degas. 

4. Dark Brown or "bole:" A bole ground is usually an opaque mixture of Earth or Mars Red, black, and a small amount of Yellow Ochre. Still used today by traditional portrait and figure painters, a bole background came into style by artists such as Caravaggio and the young Velazquez.   

5. Yellow Ocher/Raw Sienna: These earth yellows provide a rich, warm imprimatura which maintains a sense of luminosity. Used by landscape and portrait painters to give a work a warm, golden undertone. You can see this used in works by Rubens.

6. Burnt Umber/Raw Umber: Both are cheap, quick-drying, and semi-transparent, making them ideal for a thin imprimatura. These colors were used by artists such as da Vinci and Van Eyck.  

7. Light Blue: Sometimes preferred by alla prima painters as a luminous base, using a blue imprimatura allows for water, skies, and atmospheric effects to be developed quickly. I have no idea who starts out with blue. 

8. White: A plain white imprimatura is the most luminous imprimatura for glazing. The drawback is that it makes opaque paint appear darker by contrast. The white ground was first consistently used by Manet, and then later by artists such as Seurat and Derain. 

Looking back through art history's use of imprimaturas can help you decide on the look and feel you would like to have in your own paintings, and is always the first step in copying a master's work. 

Monet vs Manet 

Looking at the top image of this post you will see two paintings by famous artists, Monet and Manet.

Manet was known for using white as his imprimatura, and this is exactly one of the reasons why the French Salon rejected his work. A white imprimatura can be difficult to work with when you do not understand how it can affect your color palette.

Using a white imprimatura should be done with purpose, as Manet did. You can see in Manet's Luncheon on the Grass how the white creates an unbalanced color harmony. The darks become too dark and lights too light against the white background. The blues and green seem to stand apart verses meld together and the yellows don't quite work wth their surrounding browns.

Manet did this on purpose. If this is also your purpose, run with the white, but be careful and aware that sometimes it just doesn't work out.



Monet on the other hand almost always used a colored imprimatura. While he did occasionally use white, you will usually see light blue (left), gray (middle), or yellow (right) coming through his works. His use of the imprimatura is a perfect example of how the correct imprimatura can help brightly painted, multi-colored works maintain a balanced color harmony.

Gold Fish: Final plus Instagram

Remember how back in November I started painting these gold fish? That's okay, me neither.

I finally finished painting them this past week and what's more, they were the first thing that I posted on my instagram account.

If you are interested, my instagram gig is katherine.griffin and I have a full three photos up! MM and Ixoj, I promise, promise, promise to do more and to add a profile pic... eventually.

Below are the progress and final images of the gold fish. I think I like the overall idea, but I don't like the big circle in the left-hand corner. I am going to paint over it and do something different, or maybe nothing at all. Thoughts?

Size: 12"x16"
Colors Used (as seen below): Titanium White, Cadmium Yellow, Naples Yellow, Indian Yellow, Cadmium Orange, Quinacridone Red, Napthol Red, Alizarin Permanent, Phalo Blue, Sap Green, Phalo Green, Iron Oxide, Payne's Gray

Just Because...

The past month has been super great:

1. I went out to DC for two weeks to visit one my best friends, her husband, and her new little one: 

It was a really great visit and yes, baby is just as adorable awake as she is asleep. She is a really great baby with beautiful red hair. Friend is now in Brazil for the next two to three years. Husband and I are hoping to bring our own little one down next summer to visit with a possible Brazil/Machu Picchu adventure mix. 

2. We found out a few days after I got home from DC that we are having a little girl: 

Husband and I are both really excited about it. By all accounts she is super healthy, but a little small. Small seems to run in my family, though -- all of my sister's pregnancies measured small-- so we aren't worried. We even saw her suck her hand or thumb, it was adorable. 

3. I am going a little domestic and have started to crochet animals for the little gote: 

The bunny is a good size at about 18". I think that I am going to add a little smile to the face. I also really like his tail, mostly because I made it up and have no idea what I am doing. 

I purchased a pattern from Pica Pau on Etsy. I highly recommend taking a look at her blog/website: El Mundo De Pica Pau. I desperately want her book, but can't figure out how to get it here in the US. 

Sadly she only has two patterns on her Etsy page, otherwise I would purchase the entire book a pattern at a time. Also, two days ago when I went to purchase the two patterns she does have, she only had one, a donkey. I purchased it in hopes that I would be able to adjust the pattern ever so slightly so I could make the below blue bunnies from this really great curiosity shop. 

Not too bad, if I do say so myself. I was a little bit sad when I finished the first leg and realized that I had forgotten to add the little white dots of the pants, but I still like him. Next week I am going to try my hand at the little girl bunny. We shall see how the making of that little skirt goes. 

4. Hiking season has officially begun: 

For me, hiking season should always begin with a Stewart Falls hike. One summer Friend and I went to Stewart Falls, I swear, every Saturday morning. Well maybe not every Saturday, but a lot. In memory of such a great summer, I like Stewart to be the opening hike of the season. The falls were a little small as there is still a ton of snow all around (not pictured). We went with my sister's family and their four year old successfully hiked the whole thing on her own (well almost)! It was her first doin' it by herself hike and she was a trooper.