Photo Painter

As I continue my pursuit of painting, I returned to the only instructor I have had personal lessons with. Karen lives here on the island about a 25 minute drive down West Beach to her home and studio overlooking Hurricane Ridge and the Olympics Mountains rising out of the sound. It's a wonderful place to view clouds and water which were the subjects that I was seeking help with.

Pictured above are Karen and myself with the cloud painting I completed between classes... Karen had painted this same scene and her paining is to the left and behind her. This class was just what I needed to take a step up to the next level and to evaluate where I need extra attention... I think I need to read and practice perspective drawing... the simple stuff at least with vanishing points etc...

Anyway, Karen is much looser than I and that is why I gravitate toward her instruction. That and the fact that she is a super person! She's a character, kind of like myself... straight talker, not afraid of taking a risk because she is confident and knowledgeable. This confidence rubs off! I have only taken 4 half day classes so far and the first two were tough... I didn't really know enough to grasp what she was showing me. But this time I was ready for her and looked forward to the hours spent.

Painting clouds revolved around creating volume, roundness. This is done with shading and shadow...  Emphasis is on using the side of the pastel rather than the point or end. I used the side of my finger a lot to blend certain portions of the clouds. We flipped the value colors both upward and downward to create a value change that is feathered. I did most of that within the cloud body and in transitions from one portion to another. The outside edge, especially against the blue sky, I left with a hard edge. When the temperature of the air is cold around a cloud, the defining edges are sharp... as a thunderhead rises into the upper atmosphere, the air temperature drops dramatically. I never used white, but many of the tints were close to it... I kept my colors warm on the earth and in the sky. This made a nice contrast with the cool blue.

I really paid a lot of attention to the discussion we had on values and put those practices to work. Finding colors of the same value and using them together will make a world of difference in your finished piece!