Linseed oil and clouds

A couple years ago I found a second-hand book called "Traditional Oil Painting" by Virgil Elliott. It contained many technical tips that made sense; the book was more up-to-date than most. Finally last week I took a closer look and found there was also a website: Link (and even a Facebook group).

One useful idea I've taken away is that you don't need turps or even odorless mineral spirits to clean your brushes as you paint. You don't even have to switch to water-based paints. You can simply use linseed oil. I tried this and it works. I bought a container of raw linseed oil at the hardware store and used that to clean my brushes as I painted. (I'm not sure if "raw" is the best kind to buy for this but that's all they had.) He suggests you first dab your paint onto the rag, then dip it in the oil, dab again on the rag and repeat once more. Then for painting, of course, you use the art store version.

"Cloud Study"
10x15cm, oil on gessoed hardboard 

More flowers!

"Cheerful Bouquet"
13x18cm, oil on canvas

I'd been meaning to try the same subject using two different mediums ever since Carol Marine posted the challenge on Daily Paintworks last year. So, today I decided to try an oil painting of the photo by Denise McGuillan that I'd already drawn in colored pencil in April. She posted this in the Free Reference Photos for Artists Facebook group, which is useful when you're stuck indoors looking for inspiration. My first version below dates back to a rainy period in April and the new one above got me through the last day of our recent heatwave (31°C in June in Belgium!).

"Flower Lines"

14.9x21cm, colored pencil on Daler Rowney Heavyweight drawing paper

“Le Pont Boïeldieu à Rouen, temps mouillé” d’après Pissarro

Pissarro started doing "series" paintings when he was 62 years old. He would rent a room with an interesting view and work on several canvases, studying various light effects and documenting urban life. I like his paintings of port activity in Rouen so tried copying this one to learn more about his technique. His dabs of paint expertly suggest people, horses, carriages, trams, windows, water, awnings, umbrellas, and so forth. The colors in my version are brighter than the reproduction I consulted but, in any case, it's difficult to get an idea of the true colors of a painting without having seen the original and this one is in a museum in Ontario.  

 

I was not aware of Pissarro's urban landscapes until I came across the book "The Impressionist and the City, Pissarro's Series Paintings," published on the occasion of an exhibit that was held in Dallas, Philadelphia and London in 1992-93. Until then, his series paintings had never been shown together as they are isolated in collections throughout the world. It's incredible that he painted over 300 of these urban views from 1892 until his death in 1903, yet he is known more for his earlier rural landscapes and experiments in pointillism. (An example is Pissarro's "Paysage à Chaponval" in the middle of my page: copies.)

Copy of "Le Pont Boïeldieu à Rouen, temps mouillé" by Camille Pissarro (1896)

Oil on 60x70cm canvas (the original is 73.7x91.4cm)