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Some Starts

Stacks Image 6340
Stacks Image 6342
Larsen Lake 4, oil on panel, 18 x 24 inches, work in progress, copyright ©2018

These new images are both starts done en plein air. The one of Larsen Lake was begun in the early summer, and represents two painting sessions.

The second one, below, is from Foster Point Trail, a view of Duck Bay in Washington Park Arboretum. The painting was laid in in one session, and then had to be scraped down. It had fallen butter-side down in the grit and gravel in the parking lot at the end of the session. The second pass was devoted to bringing the painting back to the level that it was at before this unfortunate accident.

Both paintings are oil on gessoed birch panel. The initial pass of painting, i.e. the lay-in, is rough. The panel does not readily accept the paint without making a fuss. An imprimatura would help, but I generally prefer the luminosity afforded by the unadulterated white ground. The second pass goes on more smoothly, as you can see in the second image of Larsen Lake 4.

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Stacks Image 6353
Duck Bay, oil on panel, 24 x 30 inches, work in progress, copyright ©2018

Time lapse video of the second pass for Duck Bay.
One thing that I learned from my years of training in Seido Juku karate was the importance of a good stance. Along with ashi sabaki (foot work), one’s stance provides the foundation for strong technique.

The same is true for the artist. Confident and relaxed body positioning is essential to good painting. Each brushwork should engage the whole body, from the Achilles tendon to the tip of the bristles.

One should describe the stroke from the arm, rather than the elbow or wrist. The arm has the broadest range of movement and control. Don’t think of painting as something that you do with your hands. Rather it is something that you do with your whole being.
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