Ekeren

"Castle Reflection"

15x15cm, oil on canvas panel

"Veltwijck Castle"

13x18cm, oil on canvas

Whenever the sun comes out, I can try one of my pochade boxes. I've collected them at neighborhood flea markets in Brussels ("brocantes") but never had a chance to test them until this year. This one is works well with 13x18cm or 15x15cm canvases. I didn't need to bring much paint since I was working small so everything was quite compact. I managed to carry home the wet canvas by sticking it to the bottom of a cardboard box with some tacky putty -- the type that is normally used for putting posters on the wall.

The castle in Ekeren ("Waterkasteel Hof van Veltwijck") is located in a quiet park with benches, making it practical to paint there. More info.

Place à l'Art 2021

 

"Avant le Concert" (during Place à l'Art 2014)
15x15cm, oil on canvas
(private collection, Brussels)

 "Place à l'Art" is back! 

Artists from Uccle will be exhibiting their work on 11 July (9h30 to 13h00) at the Parvis Saint-Pierre, as well as on 8, 15 and 22 August (from 15h00 to 18h00) in Wolvendael Park.

I plan to participate on the three dates in August.

See you there!

*If rain is forecasted, then the event takes place indoors at the nearby Cultural Center on Rue Rouge (no 47).

More info here: http://www.uccle.be/administration/culture/activiteitenkalender-1

 

Rosa Gallery oil paints

"Arty-choke"
19 x 24cm Rosa oil on linen canvas

I had a tube of titanium white from Rosa and liked the thick consistency of the paint. So when I saw you could get 24 x 20ml tubes for 26.49 euros, I decided to try them out. It's fun having new paints and I thought the small tubes would be practical for "plein air" work. They are made in the Ukraine and labeled "professional". Their consistency might come from the fact they use stand oil as a binder. One site says this makes working "alla prima" more enjoyable, which is what I am hoping.

I first tried them out on a canvas scrap. Cadmiums and cobalts are "hues" and the lightfastness is either ** or *** (except cobalt violet deep is *). I don't know what scale they are using but if the maximum is ***, then I suppose this is not bad. Mixing with titanium produced some nice subtle shades.

The artichokes above are not "plein air" because it started raining again here in Belgium so I found inspiration in a photo that Lynda Pynn posted on the “Free Reference Photos for Artists” Facebook group. So far I am happy with the paints. As soon as possible I will try them for painting on location. 

More flowers in the sun

"Begonias"
oil on 20x20cm canvas panel
(Private collection, Brussels)

"Impatiens"
oil on 20x20cm canvas panel
(Private collection, Brussels)

The weather got better again in Belgium after all that rain and catastrophic flooding.
The flowers in the garden are so vibrant when the sun comes out. I did two more studies, observing the budding, blooming, wilting -- and trying to capture each flower's uniqueness.

 

Garden Colors

 

"Petunias in a yellow pot"
20x20cm, oil on canvas panel

I'm always trying to cut down on the number of paint tubes I carry around. The result is that I have colors in my closet that I don't remember how to use. Time for some research. I began by reading about mixing greens and how it was important to mix warm yellows with warm blues or cool yellows with cool blues for the best results (link). I made a big chart of mixtures and discovered that Phthalo blue was actually quite useful. I'll definitely need to experiment further with that. Meanwhile I'm also taking a new look at my reds.

The petunias were a fun place to start. They pop out in the sun, I can't come close with my standard palette. Transparency seems to work: “permanent magenta”, "permanent mauve", "rose madder", with the white of the canvas showing through. I may try this again like Carol Marine suggested on Daily Paintworks: The Sunflower Challenge

#TAE - Twitter Art Exhibit

In February, I donated a postcard to the Twitter Art Exhibit. This year's sales are going to benefit a UK charity: the Leukaemia and Intensive Chemotherapy Fund. Read more here: https://www.twitterartexhibit.org/

The postcards sell for 30£ each. Here’s how I found out that mine was sold:

"Snow Day" was inspired by a photo from Bill Jones in the Free Reference Photos for Artists Facebook group.

Afterwards I received a nice thank you email from the buyer who also tweeted a picture of the card in a frame:

It’s nice to see it framed. Definitely a positive experience: not only did I get some practice painting snow but the buyer is pleased and we’ve both contributed to fighting cancer.

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)

Tonalism Spring Challenge

The Tonalism Facebook group still hasn’t selected the photo for their Spring Challenge but I was inspired to try one of the “contestant” photos already. The photographer is Dave Ridge but I don’t think his will win because there’s another that’s way ahead in votes. We’ll find out on the 12th.

"Tonalism Challenge"
30x30, oil on canvas