Tuesday, January 10, 2012

In The Studio Today. . . .

"County Road"
8x10 oil on linen
Hard to believe I was in the studio today when it was 52 degrees and sunny here in MN in January, but I was!  I had this painting in my head and needed to paint it today regardless of the unseasonably warm weather outside.  I DID take advantage after I was finished though and took a good long walk, what a treat!  :) 
Although this small painting resembles most of my 'plein air' work, it's a studio piece done from a photo, and once again, I use the photos as memory triggers, not a literal interpretation.  If I didn't have the experience I have from painting from life, I don't think I would be able to do this.  I can't stress enough the importance of working from life.  When I work like this in the studio on smaller pieces, it's a goal of mine to keep the paint fresh and clean, as if I were painting from life.  In order to do this, I limit my time.  This piece was done in about 2 hours. 
Since I've taken the month of January off of teaching, it's my goal to paint as much as possible on a variety of different subjects.  I'll probably do another small piece tomorrow and then start a larger one towards the end of the week.  I find after doing a piece like my last 20x16 where there was a lot of subtle quiet work and many hours, it's nice to push the paint around on smaller pieces and start and finish in one sitting. 

6 comments:

Sarah Sedwick Studio said...

This is a great painting! I would not have guessed it was from a photo, and I love what you said about the necessity of working from life.

AnnG said...

Nice mood to this piece! I love the palette, especially the grays in the road.

Kami Mendlik said...

HI Sarah, thank you! Working from life is just so crucial isn't it? :) without that knowledge it would not have the life the painting has. THanks for checking in and happy painting!

Kami Mendlik said...

Hello Ann, thank you for your comment and checking in! I wish you could see the subtleties in the grays, it's so difficult to capture that with a photograph.
I have such a vivid memory of the mood of the evening when I took the photograph, I kept bringing myself back there during the painting to try and stay true to that. THanks for mentioning the mood. :)

Sadeu said...

magnificent paintings of landscapes!

Lake said...

this painting just floors me, really beautiful. And I really appreciate your generous blog posts, very helpful education.