Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Weather Watch- TMC

Weather Watch
6.5 x 4.5"
oil on 200lb paper

My husband is away on an annual golf trip with his buddies, so tonight I got a babysitter and headed out to do errands with a bit of P & Q* !!! I picked up the 3 commissioned paintings from the framer, got groceries (not enjoyable even without kids) and went to the studio to water another artist's plants. I found myself with a half hour to spare before I had to be home for the sitter, so I did a quick 20 minute painting for the TMC. I was not in the mood at all, but I have been doing a lot of thinking about limited palettes and Googling that very topic, so without allowing any time to talk myself out of it, I just did it!

As I was driving tonight I noticed that to the north and south the sky was perfectly beautiful and calm, but to the east and west it was wild! In fact, there were tornado warnings today. This has been the summer for dramatic clouds... maybe that is why I feel inspired to paint so many and why that was my choice again tonight. I limited my palette to Phthalo Blue, Crimson, Cadmium Yellow and Titanium White. There was a point early on, maybe 4 minutes in, where I had the paint applied a bit thinly and the Crimson had things looking a bit too pink/purple with the Phthalo Blue and that is when I decided to use Burnt Sienna to help me get to a bit of a better gray. I initially regretted it thinking I should have used Burnt Umber, but then I never would have discovered how much I like Crimson and Burnt Sienna mixed together. The top left corner is darkened with this combo with just a touch of the Phthalo. I never did use any Cadmium Yellow. I am quite excited about what other discoveries I might make with a radically pared down palette and the guaranteed learning that will come along with it. Thanks TJ Lynde for encouraging me to limit myself!!! :o)

*Peace and Quiet

6 comments:

Melanie Statnick said...

Very cool. The clouds are great! and not white which is very inportant. I like the values. I did a post on that very thing.

suzanneberry said...

Beautiful, powerful work. Thank you for the palate chat. I'm struggling to limit mine, I'm inspired!

-Don said...

Nice way to exercise your art muscles, Nicki! Isn't this stuff fun?!?

-Don

Nicki said...

Thanks Melanie. It will be interesting using such a limited palette. We'll see what comes of it.

Nicki



Hi Suzanne,

I saw on your blog that you were planning to use a limited palette for the next eight paintings or so. I'm looking forward to seeing what you produce.

Good luck,

Nicki


Hi Don,

It's true, this stuff is fun. Unfortunately it's not just my art muscles I have to exercise (but that would be an entirely different blog!!!).


Nicki

suzanneberry said...

Your work makes the room! Great shots. And this is coming along beautifully.

Nicki said...

Suzanne, what a nice thing to say! We will see what happens with this oil... I'm not sure if it will work out in the end. These oils have me a bit stressed!

Nicki