Oil Painting

I have been teaching art for over 50 years and drawing and painting for 75 years. Where did the time go?! Like most people, I have certainly had my ups and downs and now that most of my life is behind me I have the tendency to reflect and think about what the heck happened! I was fortunate to get a lot of support from my family, friends and most teachers. Drawing was my favorite thing to do, other than sports and most of the first half of my life revolved around either or both of those activities, along with backpacking and traveling this wonderful world that we live in.

I never had much confidence in myself when I was younger, mostly just a very curious and competitive nature while being raised in the magnificent Gallatin Valley in southwest Montana surrounded by mountains, just North of Yellowstone Park and hanging out with some great friends helped me get through a lot. I have heard some horrible stories of people who were not allowed to follow their passion for a whole lot of reasons…probably with good reason. As for most of us, it is the great love and passion that takes many years of hard work to get anywhere good at it, unless we were one of the lucky ones blessed with superb talent, genes and maybe a trust fund or two! 

I had a little of the talent, however, one of my great uncles was one of the countries better sculptors. I was very competitive, inspired mostly from lack of self-esteem and on the flip side from a fairly poor family, which isn’t always such a detriment in small-town America. Most of us seem to have a mixture of positive and negative influences whether we want them or not and I think the bottom line again is that we really must have the love for doing whatever it may be as that is what can carry us through rejections, tragedies, and disappointments so many of us may have to endure. Growing up in Montana, I was not aware of any great artist role models, probably more due to my lack of initiative to find any. We had Charlie Russell and that was about it! That era from 1940 to 1980’s we were fortunate to have so many great magazines and books mostly chock full of some very great illustrations, a lot of it being great art done by some really great artists! We didn’t have the great museums as in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and the other great cities of the world, so those magazines for me were a wealth of inspiration and I kind of wanted to make pictures but deep down I felt that I could never be able to do that.

I kind of wandered around for my first 17 years, dreaming, but somewhat disillusioned of what I could do with my life, and won’t go into all of those details here (a long story). But my father (we did not see eye to eye on much, another very long story), finally got it out of me what I would really like to do, to become an illustrator, and he told me to give it a chance, but to try and get into the very best art school that I could get into. He was very competitive also and those were the people I would have to match to make a go of it! To his generation, failure was not really an option! Well, we both researched around for the art schools and living in Northern California decided that the Art Center School in Los Angeles seemed to fit that bill. So, we drove down to L.A. and had an interview with them. I put together a rather shabby portfolio of my drawings and a few paintings. I figured that there was no way that I could get accepted, woe is me, yet they seemed to be impressed regardless of my lack of faith in myself and accepted me (Art Center was and still is one of the hardest art schools to get into and also one of the hardest to graduate because of its high standards. If you didn’t quite meet those standards you were politely asked to leave!) On top of being accepted and because of our rather poor status, I was also offered a full scholarship after the first three semesters. A semester was an outrageous $410 back in the early sixties, which I think is about $30,000 a semester now, but don’t hold me to that. We from Montana have a tendency to exaggerate at times! 

I managed to graduate, a wonderful experience surrounded by such great students and friends and best of all, the instructors were all working professionals who knew what it took to succeed at whatever program you chose. One of their premier offers was automotive design and all the Detroit car companies got most of their top designers from Art Center and also sent promising students to the school. Certainly, in hindsight, I know that so many other artists, for so many reasons, were not that fortunate. Right around my graduation, autumn of 1963, they had the draft and so I had to go into the service. Two of my best buddies and I joined the Marine Corps and the Vietnam War was just around the corner. Needless to say, my experience was short-lived and I got an Honorable Medical Discharge (a mental and physical breakdown, another long story) and so missed that awful, misunderstood and divisive part of our history. Sorry for these distractions, but I think they are related to the struggle to keep trying, sometimes against great odds, and how I as an individual and with individual issues somewhat succeeded. As in this case, I was in a vegetable state, discharged, hospitalized and felt I had let myself and my country down and scared to death of what may happen! I was lucky to have friends and family to get back on my feet again.

Eventually, I got a job as a laborer, then a carpenter, and to work as a postal carrier, a wayward art student, not knowing what to do! I at least had the sense to go to some life drawing sessions at night, twice a week to keep my hand in the game and slowly regained some confidence to the point I was going out with my portfolio to ad agencies, book and magazine publishers, whatever seem related to my goal of being an illustrator/artist. I had some pretty darn good skills, but not much confidence to go with them! This is where my main theme of trying to succeed comes in. I call them the three P’s! Passion, Perseverance, and Patience. Not that I was endowed so greatly with them all but at least had some of them and mostly less of the Patience one… Perseverance, being a lot of stubborn… and Passion, wanting to be able to eat!   

It took me about two years to where I was slowly going out to agencies, publishers and a couple of galleries, that I was getting assignments. Hearing that I would get a call for this assignment or that, but, discovering that once out of sight I was pretty much out of mind as there was a pretty constant flow of other artists knocking constantly at their door. Pretty much the same with the galleries. This is where perseverance comes into play and the love of what we want to do. Some are so gifted that THEY are getting the knock on the door or phone call but for most of us, that is not the case.   

Around this time, I was also taking workshops from the very best artists that offered them, such as, Richard Schmid, Sergei Bongart, Harley Brown and Del Gish. They gave me the confidence to teach my own workshops.

By having to put painting into words as best one can really helped me to visualize my own work better and helped to pay the bills! As I improved over time and was invited into or applied to some of the better exhibitions with many of the very best artists, I would get a few of the calls from other shows and good galleries. Needless to say it sure is good for one’s self-esteem and that struggle for recognition is finally rewarded! One of the very best exhibitions in the country at that time was the “Artists of America” show in Denver, Colorado. It showcased the very best traditional/impressionistic work from all over and the show that everyone wanted to be in. The best collectors and gallery owners would fly in to see all of the fine work. One could apply to the show and they had a jury panel that would screen the work and that would vary ever so often. I applied for about eight years and always got turned down, but finally, because of new jurors maybe I did get selected and was even invited to give a demonstration at the show. To say the least, very grateful, humble and nervous throughout, as I was in the presence of so many of my heroes and other great artists. The Director of the show, bought one of my paintings.

I didn’t think it could get much better than that! Unfortunately, because sales were down, the Exhibition closed the following year. I got into some other top shows and looking back I feel very fortunate that I was able to experience, what for me was some recognition after 30 years of ups and downs and trying to do my very best. After overcoming so much I figured that my last few years would just be spent enjoying creating, pretty much what I wanted to, and whenever I wanted to, but alas, I had to face some of the biggest challenges of my life when about eight years ago, an old football back injury caught up with me. I had excruciating pain that use to go away and this time did not. I had to have back surgery and when I woke up I knew something was not quite right, but went into instant denial. I had an almost dead left leg and in chronic pain, another long story, and told that another surgery might fix it. That did not happen and with my denial, I thought I could just keep charging forward, doing the shows, galleries and a lot of plein air shows hiking and painting pack trips and still traveling the world a bit. I suffered a lot more than I should have, but keeping busy and working on my painting helped me to think less of the pain.

After about four years of that nonsense, I finally started to accept being marginalized. Some of the denial still lingers on and I have learned and accepted, along with being 80 years old, and in love with a most wonderful woman that really cares about me, accepts me and herds me around when I certainly need it! I guess it helps that she herded and ran a dairy farm for her sick uncle when she was just a teenager! Recently I have blessed with this rare disease, “autoimmune pancreatitis”, not life-threatening, but mostly have to watch what I eat and drink, and since I love to eat all the great foods of the world and love a beer or wine ever so much I am still adjusting to all of that. Yes, I do feel sorry for myself at times, other issues also to be dealt with, but I guess I would be crazy if I didn’t. My love of painting and Karen are my great blessings and so I persevere on and am still challenging myself to do a better work of art than the last one, although I still manage to do some real clunkers, but try and cut those down with more time with working out value and color studies.

My productivity is down, but very grateful to still be able to do what I love the most! Trying to think of a moral to this story is, maybe you can come up with something better? I have included a few samples of my work from my teen years up to the present day. It’s nice to see the progress and I think that some of the work I am still doing is going in that same direction. Trying hard to come up with something unique, at least for me. I must quote an old artist’s proverb, as I see way too much of it lately…” to copy from one person is plagiarism, to copy from four or five is creativity”. Look at great art..not bad art..it gets in our brain, it is humbling, which is OK, but also inspiring!  Thanks for getting this far and bearing with most of my story. I only hope that with whatever travails you have to deal with you can find some inspiration, hope, and solace in your own work!

I have a Facebook group where I have demonstrations and videos of my processes including portraits, figures, studio, and plein air landscapes along with explanations of demos and references I use and why and how I put them together. I have been teaching for over 50 years and painting for 75 years and so have a lot of experience, knowledge and some wisdom to share. I am also a “Designated Master” with both the Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionist Society and I love to share my process with others. You can go to this link: Ned’s Artist Buddies or go to my website at: www.nedmueller.com and click on works and then “Artist Buddies”. It is a very good deal!

“Sometimes it takes an expert to point out the obvious.”   

–Scott Allen

On a recent fall afternoon, noted painter Ken Spencer, my wife Lynn and I were privileged to accept an invitation from Albert Handell to visit his studio, at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Two of his students were working there, amid the stored stacks of paintings and around the large glass-covered table surrounded by a shelf of innumerable oil paint tubes, of all kinds and colors. After a warm greeting for all of us, he swung around to his well-stocked storage files and exclaimed “Here, let’s look at some paintings!” Ken and I were in the presence of a mentor.

You might know Albert as a master pastellist and oil painter, who teaches both nationally and internationally. He has been a member of OPA since 1997. In 1987, the Pastel Society of America elected him into the Pastel Hall of Fame. In his “Ask Albert” newsletter, he answers artists’ questions regarding painting and career building. In January of 2020, he will be participating in the Palm Springs Mentoring Program. 

What will Albert be doing in this program? As you might know from Homer’s Odyssey, Mentor was the teacher/trainer that Odysseus selected for his young son Telemachus, to raise him up in his absence. Telemachus came of age during this tutoring, and grew to be an emotionally and physically mature warrior, like his famous father. In Palm Springs, Albert—like Mentor–will be doing what he has been doing for years, and what he did with Mr. Spencer and I on that warm fall day in his studio: taking questions, enlarging our comments, introducing his own tips and techniques, and sharing the love of art and painting with fellow artists. Plus, he illustrated it all by demonstrating how it all worked in his own paintings. Ken and I listened, and learned.

I believe that every working artist wants to improve their skills, deepen their understanding of the arts, and discover that way of working that is most natural to them and most effective for communicating their personal vision. How can we do that most efficiently?

First, we need to take advantage of all the ways that we can learn. We can see what we need to know; read it; or hear it. We can receive instantaneous revelation or inspiration. Someone may tell us, then we could choose to act on it. Or someone may tell us, we try it, then we practice it. Or someone shows us, we try it, and practice that. Which is the most effective way to learn? I would suggest that it will be the way that gives you the result you want and that will stay with you.

In the visual arts, Jackson Pollock benefited greatly from the input of Thomas Hart Benton, and painter Bo Bartlett deepened his work through the profound influence of both Nelson Shanks and Andrew Wyeth. Andrew’s father, N.C. Wyeth, enjoyed a very successful career as an illustrator based on the foundations of design as mentored by the great Howard Pyle.   

In this way, the rewards of having a mentor and being a mentor are invaluable. My own experiences as a mentor over the past forty-five years have brought some of the greatest lifetime rewards in my dual career as artist/teacher. From it all, I have learned that self-education is necessary, and that it is a lifelong process…and that it happens much more quickly and personally when you have someone standing right there who knows what they’re doing while you practice what you want to know.

The accomplished classical figure- painter Ryan Brown has authored an article entitled, “What It Takes to Become a Professional Artist.” I think this excerpt from that article would interest anyone who is headed in that direction:

“In the book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise (2016), co-authors Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool discuss in-depth the basic realities of human development. It expands the concept of the 10,000 hour rule to include three key factors. One is time spent in practice, of course. The second factor is that this time in practice is spent in a well-designed progressional system meant to build skill or knowledge from simple to more complex. And the third is to have that organized practice watched over and criticized by one who has mastered the elements of the given field of study…Without an organized or deliberate approach to practice, one is more likely to merely become increasingly efficient at doing something mediocre, rather than developing greater skill and a deeper knowledge. And having consistent criticism from a proven source serves to bring awareness to elements of knowledge one is unlikely to discover on their own.”

Working with a mentor can open up your universe. Let’s say you’re an artist—specifically, a female actor– trying to break into Hollywood: how can you make that happen? In a recent interview, Reese Witherspoon (a highly-accomplished female actor) was asked that very question. She called on employed actresses, and female board executives and directors to take up the mantle of mentoring, to take aspiring actors under their wing, take them to events, to open up networking opportunities for them. She knows that an effective mentor may help her/his mentee in many ways:

• Develop the mentee’s skill and competency
• Provide a second, experienced perspective
•  Improve  confidence in the ability to focus, problem-solve, then execute
•  Improve communication skills.
•  Provide practice in accepting feedback and critique
• Expand contacts
• Inform  about opportunities, events
•  Teach the mentee how to be accountable and  maintain a professional relationship
• Share the mentee’s success,  encouraging them to share their success with others, and possibly become a mentor themselves.

Isabel Lamont points the way to effective self-education in her article entitled “Mentors will be the Key to Success in Today’s Art World“(from the website Visual Arts Re-Imagined). She points out that “the job market for professional artists isn’t projected to grow at any miraculous rate over the next four years, and only ten percent of all artists who graduate end up making a living as a working artist,” in any 9-5 situation. However, there is increasingly more and more demand for the visual arts in film, digital media, and in print, and our “concept of what a working artist looks like will be vastly different from before…We are in the age of creative entrepreneurs, and people want to purchase art that is sold well to them,” such as online platforms like Instagram, personal websites and blogs. “Whether or not you ‘make it’ will depend less on your raw talent and more on the connections you build,” Lamont concludes.

A mentor may provide connections to one working to be a fine artist. But more so, a mentor can help one to refine those particular skills to create the quality artwork that is initially necessary, before it can even be appreciated as fine art. That was the system of the Renaissance, in which young artists learned their craft from the masters. It is true today, in many artists’ studios across the globe, in which interns and assistants learn the craft from experienced masters. It is a relationship that is mutually beneficial. Both the mentor and mentee “are looking to grow in some way,” Lamont suggests. She goes further to say, “The ability to be mentored is one of the most crucial attitudes of exceptionally successful people.”

Finally, Lamont concludes: “For creatives today, it will be…mentors…who will help them embrace the changing art world. In today’s economy, creatives will need to adopt a wide variety of skills, from their craft to business skills to emotional intelligence skills, and the most efficient and valuable way to acquire these skills is through being mentored.”

To be mentored, one needs to put ego aside, to be receptive, to be humble. In the article “Seven Benefits of Having a Career Mentor, Even If You Love Your Job,” Natalia Lusinski advises, “Treat every mentor conversation as a learning moment, not as an opportunity to get answers.” In describing a good mentor, she also advises that “Mentors should guide, but not steal the process of your journey.” You don’t have to be a credentialed teacher to be a mentor, just knowledgeable and willing to share personally what you know with those who ask for it—as Mr. Handell did with us.

We can all advance the purpose and elevate the impact of the visual arts on our culture if we learn more about what we do. It will take all of our lifetimes.

 Find a mentor… be a mentor… and keep on painting!

Remember paisley?  I do.  My brother had a 1971 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe with a paisley vinyl top.  It was a boat of car like those behemoths you’d see in Dirty Harry movies. It looked like a family man’s car.  Like something, an accountant might drive to the office.  But underneath the reserved styling was a pure 1960’s muscle car.  Lots of horsepower and very fast.  And, oh, that vinyl top! The paisley was brown on brown and smartly understated.  Just enough to add a decorative flair.  But not so much that it attracted too much attention to itself.

Enough about the car.  Let’s talk about what paisley has to do with painting dappled light!  Paisley is an intricately woven pattern of tear drop shapes.   It originated in Persia in the 3rd century.  Before gracing vinyl roofs on cars, it was an ornamental textile design.   The shapes themselves can be long and narrow, short and wide, big or small.   For me, the beauty of paisley is that it appears to flow randomly across whatever it’s used to decorate.  It’s utterly designed in a logical repetitive fashion that feels random and conveys movement.  Lots of movement.  And that’s where the connection to dappled light comes in. 

When painting dappled light we shouldn’t blindly try to copy our reference.  We should take advantage of the opportunity to design a more interesting pattern than nature sometimes gives us.  One that intentionally moves the viewer’s eye in orchestrated fashion through the painting.  That’s what I did in “Charleston Charm”.  The flow of light filters through the Crepe Myrtle onto the wall in an interlocking pattern of jagged shapes.  It moves from upper left to lower right.  When the light contacts the sidewalk the pattern angles back toward the left, leading the eye to the yellow parking stripes on the street which direct the gaze back to the upper left and the viewer’s path begins anew.  With each circular pass through the painting more interest is discovered; the door, the railing, the post on the left and so on.  But it’s the seemingly random pattern of interlocking light and shadow shapes that generates all the movement.

The best example may be “Mending the Sail” by Joaquin Sorolla.  Truly one of the all-time Tour de Force masterpieces, this huge painting features a seemingly random pattern of dappled light.  At 7’3″ x 9’10” this is certainly not an alla prima painting where Sorrolla observed the pattern of light and painted what he saw.  Surely, he observed this scene or something very similarly.  And he must have done preliminary sketches and studies. But no doubt he did a fair amount of designing the pattern of dappled light.  Why wouldn’t he? It lends itself so well to helping direct the path a viewer’s eye would take.  And therein lies one of the least discussed, yet most important skills a painter can possess, the ability to orchestrate movement. 

I’ll discuss that subject in depth in my next article.  But for now, let’s take a quick look at how Sorolla used dappled light to help move the eye through “Mending the Sail”.   There are other very powerful compositional elements here, but the pattern of light certainly plays a prominent role.  The strong vertical pattern of light and shadow to the left, just beneath the woman in pink, grabs the eye pulling it into the heart of the painting.  It moves the gaze downward toward the folds below.  Then the eye meanders along the spots of light on the folds until it reaches the figures on the right.  And suddenly the strong verticals are repeated in the silhouetted chair behind the older gentlemen.  The gaze catches the heads and faces and more dappled light on the left and makes another pass spiraling outward as it goes.  But it’s the dappled light that initiates all the movement.  It’s a little like noticing the paisley first then the car.  In that sense, both the paisley and the dappled light are functional decoration. 

What is it like to win a big award at a national art show? How would you spend the prize money? What impact would an award have on your career? These questions go through my mind with each competition I enter when I finally get my piece finished, photographed, uploaded, paid for, and submitted.

Since art competitions and competitive shows are a fixture in the art world, I enter often; in a good year when I am focused and paying attention to deadlines I enter about 25 of them. My first priority is always the national art groups to which I belong. Those shows are credibility-building and inspirational; when you walk into a gallery far from home and see your work next to that of one of your idols, it is humbling and energizing all at once. I also enter gallery and museum shows, special shows and monthly online competitions. I believe in having your line cast in many ponds.

Some award-winning artists recently shared their competition experiences with me.

The Gold Medal Award in the Associate/Signature Division at this year’s OPA show was taken home by nationally recognized painter Susan Lyon of North Carolina. This was her first time to enter the show and she said, “I was really kind of dumbstruck when they said my name…there were so many great paintings there…and what a diverse show, it must have been incredibly hard to judge. I didn’t get the vibe at all during the week that people liked my painting, of course my close friends said nice things to me, but I was very intimidated to be there. After receiving the award, I have never felt so much support: I felt very humbled. The prize money was great, but I didn’t do anything specific with it. Much of my income goes to frames.”

Susan went on to say about competitions in general, “I have been in lots of shows and entered many contests and not won anything, so you brace yourself for that outcome. I have built up a tough shell, I try not to get too high when something goes right and not get too down when things don’t pan out; that is how I survive the rollercoaster of this profession. My advice is to enter shows or competitions and then forget about them. Use them as goals but don’t take the results personally. A painting’s true quality or worth is not determined by a prize.”

Derek Penix, from Tulsa, OK, won the OPA Gold Medal Award in the Associate/Signature Division in 2016. His wife, Kitty, helps with the business side of his career and says, “I search and enter Derek in as many competitions as I can. Always only enter your best work and even paint specifically for the competition. When galleries seemed to only want established artists we realized early on that being a part of competitions and winning as many awards as possible was going to give Derek the foundation he needed. They are a great way to get recognition amongst your peers and possibly get on galleries’ radar. Sometimes you win articles which also gives you more exposure.”

Wisconsin artist William Suys OPA won the prestigious $20,000 Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Fellowship for Midwestern Artists this year at the OPA National Show. Bill says, “I am required to apply this money specifically toward my education, understanding and growth as an artist, so it gives me added impetus for making the award have a real and lasting impact. I couldn’t be more thankful. Most awards are very welcome and appreciated but the amounts are not life-changing. Yet, I have been lucky enough to win a couple of major awards that certainly could have a major impact on an artist’s life. For me, these awards allow me to step back and really take note of what is important to me as an artist, and how I want to move forward in my work. We are often caught up in trying to create and deliver a product, but I want what I am doing to have greater personal meaning and these are wonderful opportunities to truly address the depth of my artistic soul. In a way, they become a challenge… forcing me to reach within.”

“Happily, I was there when the Driehaus Mellin Fellowship award was announced, and it was surprising, wonderful and thrilling. On another occasion, I was simply gob smacked when the panel of three judges for a major plein air invitational created a ‘Best Body of Work’ on the spot in recognition of my pieces in a show that featured top painters in the country…now, that was quite a jolt!”

MaryBeth Karaus OPA, who lives in Cincinnati, OH, watched on Facebook livestream as her name was called for the 2018 Driehaus Mellin Fellowship and the Members’ Choice award. She says, “It was very exciting! My family was very proud of me and that felt good. The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation supports the purpose of the OPA which is to preserve and promote representational oil painting. I am so very grateful for their generous and direct support of artists individually. The Member’s Choice meant so much to be recognized by my peers. It meant that my work was achieving new levels…standing out.”

She says, “My focus and heart has been with OPA for the last ten years. I usually enter the National and Eastern Regional every year. I have thought about entering other national competitions, but I don’t want to be spread too thin, although I have entered Art Renewal Center because it is easier since it is online.”

“I think the awards have had a very positive impact on my career…entering really puts your work out there in front of a national audience. I have been asked to judge shows recently and my workshop filled up quickly last year, both as a result of name recognition from the awards. Also, Southwest Art featured a six-page article on me that was a direct result of OPA involvement.”

MaryBeth’s thoughts on competitions — “Well, put on your coat of armor. It can really be a boost or a blow to your sensitive artist ego. After such a great year in 2018, both my paintings were rejected from the OPA National in 2019. Ouch. But sometimes one will never know why and that has to be okay if you are going to take the risk, come out from behind your easel and try. Keep entering!”

Elizabeth Pollie, from Harbor Springs, MI, won the Driehaus Mellin Fellowship in 2016. She says, “Winning an award is naturally always a very “feel good“ moment. With every award, comes a mixture of gratitude, exhilaration, a sense of being affirmed and in my case, always surprise with a decent dose of humility. But I have to say, when I won this award, it really was a very unique experience. Why? Because philanthropy is so central to creating, enhancing and sustaining a rich and diverse culture. So, bring on an extra heap of gratitude and humility.

Elizabeth continues, “When I was a child I practically lived within the walls of the Flint Institute of Arts which has been generously supported by the Mott Foundation and others. I could name my favorite pieces by age ten; it was all key to shaping my future as an artist.

“That is why not only winning this award but also having the opportunity to meet Dorothy and Art Mellin was profoundly meaningful. They are both caring and engaging individuals who have gifted The Oil Painters of America a generous amount of support. I used the award to both help maintain and repair my studio and assist me in my art related travels. There was not a moment in which I did not reflect upon how crucial the role of philanthropy is in changing the lives of artists and supporting both historical and emerging cultural institutions.

“If I were to give any advice to those entering a competition I would say the greatest value comes from giving thought to how you would like to put your work into the public eye. First, satisfy your own level of excellence and then, let it go. You have done your work. If it results in an award enjoy the moment and be gracious. And if the light casts its’ glimmer upon the work of another, be equally gracious. Art in its most pure form is not competitive. The best of it is something intrinsically fascinating, worthwhile and maybe, with time, historically significant. That in and of itself is reward enough.”

_____________________________

As for me, 2016 was a great year, when my painting was awarded a Bronze Medal at OPA; that was incredibly exciting but also receiving the Members’ Choice award that year was as meaningful as an award gets. In 2018 as the American Impressionist Society Show was streaming live, a good friend called and said I had better turn it on, I had won Best of Show. It is a strange and transcendental feeling to know that you were able to convey your emotions about a subject in a painting so that a stranger you’ve never met was touched by it. That is probably the best part of the recognition, the fact that you have made a meaningful connection with another soul.

The prize was $12,000, which did get my attention too. I finally got to answer my own question about how I would spend the prize money; I get to check off an item on my bucket list: a trip to Rajasthan, India. The people’s faces, stacks of jangling bracelets, the texture of the embroidered clothing, gold embellishments, the vibrant colors of the fabric, formed into turbans and saris, are all heart-stopping images for me and I can’t wait to see them in person. My artist’s cup will be overflowing.

After four decades in this art world, I can say that perseverance is key to an art career and to entering competitions. Just like lots of other artists I have submitted to many, many shows and been turned down or won nothing, but dozens of rejections don’t matter when your commitment to excellence pays off. Embrace your creativity, value the journey, and don’t give up.

Every winter I have to remind myself that artists don’t need to be on a perfect sunny sea shore to paint a beautiful landscape painting full of light and emotion. In fact, I would argue that some of the most beautiful landscape paintings are of snowscapes and of winter.

One of the most celebrated Russian landscape artists, Ivan Shishkin, often painted outdoors in winter. Shishkin, like any good artist, also had many interests including photography and arboriculture. When observing his work you can see how his interests directly influenced his painting. A lot of his work was created from life outside in the freezing tundra! He also created in the studio with photo references – can’t argue with Shishkin. So I’m writing this to share my own experience painting winterscapes and to share some insightful tips on going outdoors to take photographs and/or to paint!

Be Safe:

• Be safe, don’t wonder out in weather in unfamiliar places by yourself
• Pack some food, cell phone, safety kit
• Go with a buddy when possible
• Tell someone when and where you are going
• Check the forecast

Must Haves:

• Waterproof ski jacket
• Waterproof/warm winter boots
• Dexterous Gloves
• Umbrella (if there is rain)
• Full Thermos
• Pochade paint box setup
• Notebook, Blank Canvas etc.

Have A Plan, But Be Flexible

Having a plan is great, it’ll get you out the door and in the right direction but I find that being open to spontaneity can lead to inspired work and fun ideas. This means that you should plan, have the right materials, have a goal etc., but once you get into the field you’ll need to be flexible and open to inspiration. No one knows when, how or where the muse will hit. Plus, if you are dead set on painting a sugar pine tree you may be out of luck unless you have already observed exactly where one is and how and when the light hits it. Don’t spend your time trying to force an idea looking for something that isn’t there. Take a few moments to look around, feel the place you are and record it.

Work Small

I personally love working on 6″x 8″ panels. This allows me to work very quickly, confidently covering the canvas with paint and to also make bold decisions. If I don’t like how it is going or if I want to try another idea with the changing light, I can just grab a new 6″x 8″. These small studies can then be used to create larger studio pieces alongside reference photos. Try to keep the freshness of the plein air piece by focusing mostly on the big obvious colors, the major shapes and key of light. This method should also be used when approaching a studio piece with a photo reference. Many hours of frustration can be avoided by simply creating a small color study before tackling any large composition whether from life or photo. If you are just taking photos and not painting on location bring a notebook and describe the colors and everything else you are seeing and feeling with words and scribbles. It may sound silly and you may not even refer to the notes again but you are exercising your brain and ability by stretching your observation skills and memory.

Keep It Short But Sweet

Getting outside is more than half the battle. It may take half of the day to get your kit together, to drive to a destination and find a composition to paint. So once you are set up, before you start, prepare yourself to work quickly and to capture what matters most: the mood, the major light effect, the tonal statement, major shapes and color notes. If you are a person who has a hard time working fast, allow yourself a couple sessions at the same time of day at the same vantage point.  Or – challenge yourself to work faster and bolder by using only large brushes or making quick decisions. While in the field you’ll see that the light and atmosphere change very quickly from moment to moment so be mentally prepared to avoid frustration. Just capture what inspires you with paint, words, mental notes, sketches, and photography. Whatever tools you have.

Be Consistent

“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” – Aristotle. It certainly doesn’t feel like there are enough hours in the day for art making. However, I have stayed consistent about putting time into my art and it is working. Even one consistent painting session a week will build upon itself. Just think, if you paint one painting a week that is fifty two paintings in a year! Try to think about the big picture by thinking in years. Your painting time is an investment and like any other investment it takes time and consistently to steadily grow and turn into something. Because we are living in a world with social media and netflix, it can seem like the world is moving faster than it actually is. Allow yourself time to be observant and to just soak in the meaningful bits we are supposed to understand and convey as artists. Nail down your process and the rest will fall into place.

Explore Color

Sometimes winter is dreary and not very colorful. This could be a good time to focus on tonal statements or it can be viewed as an opportunity to observe winter more intimately; search for bright orange sunrises, cold purple shadows, every color of blue, super soft edges and shapes that disappear into ice fog (is that a thing?). Artists should be open to what nature has to offer, observe it carefully and record the experience. There is no secret “painting color formula” however there are many ways to explore color and how it can be used compositionally. Here are some ideas:

Complementary colors: Colors that sit opposite of each other on the color wheel. This is a sure way to make an impactful statement. Painting with complementary colors doesn’t mean only using two colors, it means that the overall composition is keyed in those colors; each color you mix will have one of the complementary “mother colors”.  The colors can be subtle shifts and even grays.  Take a look at this painting “Magpie” by Claude Monet. Notice the subtle blue shadow and the light orange building? Aha!

Monochromatic: A snowscape is a perfect opportunity to work in a monochromatic theme. Just look at this painting by Nikolai E. Timkov. The entire painting is blue, with a few warm accents. Not only does this make the painting appear unified but the cold colors give you a feeling of freezing temperatures. It tells you that the atmosphere is freezing and the air is cold to breathe in! I’m cold just by looking at it.

Saturation aka Chroma: Every great painting has clear focal points. A focal point can be created using saturation/chroma hierarchy. A viewer’s eye can be led by using high chorma in a focal point and low chroma in other areas. Imagine a few red birds sitting on a snowy branch. Perhaps one of the birds is a center of interest, that bird could draw more attention if his red was more saturated and chromatic than the other birds. He is important. I see this in winter landscapes usually the sky has some dramatic chromatic lighting situation, such as a colorful moon reflecting on a nearly black pond with gray snow.

Tonal: You’ll notice when going outdoors this winter, there may not be a lot of colors. If you find this to be the case, try paying attention to other aspects of the atmosphere. Where is the lightest light and darkest dark? Should you use a full value range or perhaps the values should be compressed. Is there a lot of atmosphere in the air? How dark is the value of those distant trees?  How can you convey cold air? To me, winter is a wonderful time to really learn how to express air, mood and atmosphere with subtle shifts of value and edges. Play around.

The last tip I have is to …

Look at Art

What is possible? What is inspiring about winter? While there is no need to straight copy someone else’s work, it is great to do some research to get a flow of ideas and some inspiration going. Overall, I don’t think painting extreme weather is for everyone though we can all appreciate the calm beauty of a wintertime landscape and for those who do paint outdoors during winter I would love to hear your own tips! I’ll definitely be trying my hand at it again this year. Happy painting!