Oil Painting

What motivates us to do the things we do?  For some, it is a pursuit of money, for survival to excess.  Some seek recognition, to make their presence stand out from the crowd of humanity.  For some, it is service to others, compassion for those with less.  Some seek tranquility in a world of chaos and craziness. Physical improvement to support a healthy life is common. Sadly, there are some who are motivated by hate and a love of violence. Everything we do is motivated by something – nothing done is without it.

As artists, we choose the master we serve.  Is it producing a product for money?  Is it sharing an inner vision?  Is it making a statement – political or social? Or could it be to reveal to the world our unique experience of living? Does it make our existence seem worthwhile, or lasting? Why do we do it?

For many years, I painted the same landscapes and subjects. I had built a niche market in an area of explosive growth. I enjoyed it and felt comfortable doing it.  The creations had a sense of place and connected with collectors.  They were infused with a love for the land, and it showed.  The media of choice was acrylic on canvas (I couldn’t dry an oil quick enough to ship it!), and I explored the paints to a high level of understanding.  Creatively, I was cranking right along.

Four years ago, a rumble of change came, a subtle, intuitive sense that business, as usual, wouldn’t cut it much longer. My most productive gallery owner was talking retirement, and he didn’t intend to sell the business.  It was time to actively seek growth – I was motivated to do more if my art career was going to survive.  What would be the vehicle?  At the time, I was weighted with obligations at home and with my outside work. It wasn’t possible for me to leave where I was. But I had to do something. What was it going to take?

I stumbled across a website showing the work of Carol Marine (www.carolmarine.com) who is a daily painter.  Her work was bright, happy, and varied. Her technique was straightforward and fresh.  I bought her book “Daily Painting” – a great encouragement for artists of any experience level – and made the decision to give it a try.  Thirty days, thirty paintings.  I would put away my acrylics, and go back to my first love, oil paint.  I would choose subject matter that would challenge me, use colors outside my usual palette, and learn as I went.  Subjects varied from table settings to an autumn pumpkin, to the front end of an old Camaro.  I painted nothing with a goal in mind other than to find my artistic spark.  Some images worked, some didn’t.  To add urgency, I posted the work online DAILY, to expose myself to public shaming if I didn’t comply. In the end, I was exhausted creatively, but when I looked around the studio, there was a fresh energy, a renewed heart for what I truly loved – creating art.

My own motivation was from a sense of change in the market (and clients) I was serving. I needed a creative jump start. It was also a deep prompting that we are always growing, experiencing within and without.  To stop is to be stagnant and eventually become frozen and mechanical.  Our blessing as artists is that we have a calling to create in physical form what others can only glimpse in their imaginations. Our vision within creates the vision without.

Pick up your paints and brushes, get that sniff of turpentine and linseed oil (if you are still using those materials), and put some pressure on yourself.  Give yourself a timeframe, and discipline your artistic muse to follow.  At every turn, learn. You will find renewed energy by creating energy, in your work and in your artistic heart.  It is possible to jump-start your art.  You have the key! Crank it up!

How are you feeling today? Tired? Inspired? Brave? Beaten? As a painter, are the voices in your head your piper or your punisher?

Curiosity is seriously cool…

“Curiosity killed the cat!” So, did curiosity actually kill the cat? Not that I’m aware of.  The saying is floating around like a dust bunny under a couch in pretty much everyone’s sub-conscious having a party with these guys: “Don’t be curious!” “Curiosity will get you in trouble!” “Curiosity will be punished!” “Be curious and you could die…the cat apparently did!!” These are the thugs it runs with.  They’re lurking there and live to make you cave in to creative paralysis. “Don’t try that new idea, technique, subject matter. It might not be accepted. It might not work out. It might not sell. It might not win a ribbon. You might embarrass yourself! You might…FAIL!!!” The voices get more shrill until we’re slump-shouldered, our face in our hands and that spark of an exciting, new, utterly original idea that flitted through our brain has run for the hills.

When we were two feet tall, instead of being congratulated for our amazing creativity we were likely ‘domesticated’ – trained to be compliant. Having figured out how to open the kitchen cabinet doors, use the shelves as a ladder, do a rock climber worthy move to get on the kitchen counter and get a cookie out of the cookie jar from top of the fridge likely got us a swat on the bum rather than the applause it deserved!! Curiosity is BAD still lurks like Gollum under a rock in our brain.

Crumbs are seriously crumby…

Be on the watch that you don’t barter away your curiosity and the chance for adventure and artistic progress for crumbs.  When we move off our artistic vision and worry about what a judge will like, what Aunt Mildred might scowl at, what we see other painters getting pats on the back for, what worked for us last week, what is safe – we may have just slammed on the air brakes of our own progress.

The likes of Courbet, Manet, and Pissaro didn’t move off their vision and race each other back to the land of safety and acceptance when they were rejected from the 1863 Paris Salon.  They kept pushing the envelope answering over and over their own versions of the question, “What would happen if we tried…”

Be the most curious of cats…

The phrase “Curiosity killed the cat.” was originally “Care killed the cat.” Care as in ‘worrying’. So apparently the worried cat didn’t fare so well but the curious cat is quite alive!

Care deeply but don’t worry. Care motivates. Worry paralyzes. Care about your vision. Care about your progress. Care about the joy of creating. Even care about the craziness of the struggle. But, don’t worry. Don’t worry if your sincere efforts for the day missed the mark you were shooting for – you can try again tomorrow. Don’t worry if a judge passes you over. Don’t worry if Aunt Melba scowls at your recent effort. Congratulate that Indiana Jones part of yourself that has the courage to explore.

As painters, curiosity is our rocket fuel! Worry is our kryptonite!

Tomorrow, roll out of bed. Try something new! Handle paint a different way! Paint an amazing passage and then scrape it off just to prove you’re the master of the ship! If you paint with bright colors, try painting the nuance of grays. Pick up some sticks or rocks and lay them next to your brushes. See what kind of interesting marks they might add to your canvas. If something is starting to feel easy go paint something that feels hard.

When we try something new we never fail. We’ve succeeded in finding an answer to the question, “What would happen if I tried…?” We found out what may be useful. What may not. We may stumble on something amazing that isn’t useful in the moment but we can stash in our toolbox for later.

You get to choose the voices in your head. Follow the Piper. Delete the Punisher. Be curious. Try new things!  Fling yourself off the side of the pool with abandon and do a flailing belly flop. Might sting a little but you’ll paddle back to the side of the pool, find the beauty in shaking yourself off like a wet dog and… you’ll want to go try it again!

Exercise that cat…

Here’s a personal challenge, which is actually pretty fun. I predict you’re going to surprise yourself.  If you’ve recently painted something that you’ve gotten a bit of praise or an award for – try something that’s the polar opposite and see if you can create a more powerful painting than the one that just got the applause!

I’ll leave you with an image, ‘Havana Grays’, that originated by doing exactly that. An appreciative person stood next to me in front of a painting I’d just finished.  They stared at it, turned to me with delight and with all earnestness said, “It’s sooooooooo detailed!!!!” I mustered my very best thank you ever so much smile while inside I was figuratively beating my head against my paint palette.  Wowing someone with technical ability wasn’t on my goal list for that day. Inviting them to feel something was.  I set out a challenge for myself.  Learn when less can indeed be more. My intent for the next morning’s studio session was to answer the question, “What would happen if…I attempted to create a painting that was stripped of absolutely everything except that which was essential to communicate the mood, and my memory, of that moment in time?”  ‘Havana Grays’ was the painting and it immediately found its ‘person’.

Every morning when we wake up and take up our brushes there is always another question to ask. So, go exercise that curious cat, jump up on the counter and stick your artistic paw in the cookie jar that’s on top of the fridge!

www.lynboyer.com

Most of us would like to be creating unique or compelling works of art, or at least something that we can feel quite proud of. However, all sorts of things can either get in the way or just our own financial situation can inhibit us from doing so. For some of us its circumstances, tragedies or whatever, that make it very untenable. I know when I was younger and had to worry too much about paying the bills and it really would affect my work and with a family I needed to be more secure in selling my  paintings on a regular basis so I was very tuned in to what kind of subject I was doing and the pricing so that I could be fairly sure that it would sell. This was mostly back in the 1980s and 1990s when the Art Market was more robust and when more collectors were exposed to Art in our school system. Things like the internet were not around and the world was not so small. I was also mostly involved in the “Western Art Market” and it was quite robust with three-legged horse paintings and drooling cows even selling in some of the Galleries and Auctions. I knew that if I turned out an exceptional work of art, it would usually sell within a couple of months.

I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship at one of the best Art schools in the country, The Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles. I was an Illustration major and got some really great training as all of the instructors were working professionals and really maintained the very high standards that it would take to survive in a very competitive career. One of my favorite illustration classes was with a teacher that gave us some restrictive limitations in some of our assignments. We would be given an odd size as 9″ x 20″ and would have subject limitations such as we could only see half of a car, two-thirds of a tree, a house, etc. It made us think differently as to being inside of the car looking out, up in the tree or inside of the house or on top of it. Well more exciting things came out of those kinds of assignments than those in which we had unlimited choices. As they say: “necessity is the mother of invention”. It was quite a revelation for me and I often remember that lesson. I always felt that as “Artists”, that was kind of our job… “to see things differently and to present it to the world”. Unfortunately, all of the Art world and buying public and even educated buyers are not necessarily in tuned or so enamored with what we consider “a great invention” or a “unique” point of view! Art is very subjective and that creates some very positive and negative situations for us all.  That seems to be the kicker in so much of how one survives to make a living in the Art World. There are a few that are so talented, ingenious and skilled, but most of us fall in the middle range somewhere and really have to diligently work at our craft and figure what will work best just for us.     

I want to expound on this “Unique” thing as I think it is something we all would like to do more of, but the reality for most of us is it doesn’t always translate into sales as idealistically we would like it to. I have been a member of the “Northwest Rendezvous Artists” for some years and it has some of the best artists from all over the country and each year the 30 to 35 members would vote on our five favorite paintings. We all knew each other fairly well and had some idea when a member really came through with an exceptional work of art and so we would vote accordingly. I think most artists are a fairly good judge of a good or great painting, and I believe even more so if they are pretty darn good artists themselves. So anyways, each year the top five were chosen and invariably most of the time those paintings did not sell. That is a heartbreaker to see and I just tell this tale as what one would think, those works of Art would be cherished for, but not the reality of it. I have seen it happen in other shows. I have been fortunate to have been invited to some really fine exhibitions where some of the artists were really pushing the envelope and doing some creative work making me feel like my own was looking rather mundane! It at least got me inspired to think about what I could do if I could at all! To try and put a little more “interest” in my own work.

The main point here is that one must WANT to do that in one’s own work, certainly not necessary. So what if one is selling most of their so-called “mundane” work, isn’t that all quite good anyways? When expressing my disenchantment to other artist friends I would get various responses from “you are doing great..just keep fine-tuning what you do” or “sure, why not, try and do some different things”. All of it would get muddled with, should I change my style, get more sophisticated ideas, and how does one do that? Different subject matter? Jeez..I was already doing some of that, probably not the “sophisticated” so much; and I was also doing the work in different mediums! Many of us struggle with most or at least some of these things in growing as an artist. The main thing is we have to be somewhat true to ourselves and even that can present a problem to those of us who are more insecure about our own work. I kind of ended up compromising, I have mainly been fine-tuning my style, and looking for more unique compositions or viewpoints and different subjects. But still in the back of my mind I sometimes think, is there a hidden, wild abstract expressionist being repressed, that pure inner child? I kind of doubt it! 

I have included some of my paintings, that..and the important point..for me was doing something unique, at least unique for me!  I should mention that often I have gotten some big awards with them and usually because they were somewhat different from the general run of the mill entries.  

This first image is an example of a subject and composition that I generally do, a typical mountain stream, pine trees, and some rocks. At least an interesting arrangement of shapes and colors but nothing very “unique”.     

Getting a little better. This image is a landscape of a mountain setting but with more emphasis on the “abstract” arrangement of rocks and snowfield. 

A little different, nothing that hasn’t been done before, just lined up figures on the far side of the picture frame, but not having to have everything happening within the picture frame. In a way, the single flower on the steps on the right..helps balance everything.     

Now I’m getting somewhere, at least subject wise. This was a plein air painting I did in a plein air event in Telluride, Colorado (did not sell it and still have it) but I entered it in the “Outdoor Painters Society” show and it got “Best of Show”…$5000!  As I tell my students “a good painting is an interesting arrangement of shapes, colors, and edges- regardless of the subject”, and it could apply to abstracts also! The judge saw it as that, even though it is a back alley of garbage cans, dumpsters, broken pavement, and the rear end of a car!     

This image was from a plein air event in Annapolis a few years back. As I am in the habit of looking for something unique, I had just finished a rather mundane painting and walked onto this scene. An old oyster shack with some junk laying around and this odd machine that had a bright green tarp wrapped around it. As soon as I saw it, I knew that I would get a good painting out of it. I was really fascinated and excited and enough of an edge of doubt that I thought it came out darn good. Fairly well-executed and unique and it got second place in the show! I later sold it to another artist!     

I wanted to include this image and add a side note if I may as it has an interesting story and history behind its execution.  The “Quick Draw” has always been a big crowd pleaser and it originated with a group of artists that I have been affiliated with, “The Northwest Rendezvous Group”, where we use to have our annual exhibitions in Montana. I was not a member at the time, but we would have a campout and paintout the week before the exhibition, somewhere nice in Montana. The first few years the campout was in the Madison Valley, just Northwest of Yellowstone Park.

We would invite models to the campout, including Mountain Men, Indians, Cowboys, with their horses, Tipis and such. A wonderful gathering of artists and subject matter suited for one of the top Western Shows. Artist, Robert Morgan (May he rest in peace) had the ingenious idea to invite the collectors to the campout and watch the artists create a drawing within 30 minutes and then auction off the work. It was mostly to let the artists show off their drawing skills and so that the artists literally have enough money for gas to get home!! Well, the quick draw has changed in so many ways now, mostly all painting and for much longer periods of time. In fact, the Rendezvous show has recently given us artists up to 5 hours to do a work and those who do not paint from life could bring in a painting two-thirds done and finish them off at the Quick Draw. Anyways, I have done a lot of quick draws over the years and everyone does them in paint, including me. Well for some reason I thought, wouldn’t it be nice and “Unique” to go back to the original intent. After all it is called a “Quick DRAW” and so I did a drawing of the other Plein Air artists. In fact, I had so much time, I did three drawings, and lo and behold I got First Place and could have sold the drawing three or four times! Very grateful that we had a judge that understood the importance and uniqueness of a drawing! Just this last summer, I did a drawing for the Quick Draw in the largest Plein Air Event in the world in Wexford, Ireland and got a second-place award.

This drawing shown, of Some Plein Air artists I also did at this last summers “Art in the Open” in Wexford and got picked as the “Best Drawing” in last month’s Plein Air Salon. I am mentioning these awards I have gotten to emphasize that often the judges are looking for something different. I have juried a lot of shows and one sees a lot of the same paintings, same subjects over and over again and so most judges are looking for something, not just well done, but also has that “Uniqueness” that so many of us are looking for. I realize so much of this has been about my experiences but I am familiar with the circumstances and the motivation behind them and at least hope that you might be able to use it to spark that part of you that calls out for trying to be a bit different… certainly at least different for us and whatever form that may be. 

A few last words… I think a lot of this idea of being “Unique” can radiate from trusting our own instincts. Those thoughts and impulses that come from our deeper selves. We need to trust and listen to them as they often are things that seem right at the time and only for us and our “unique” vision. Beginners usually have to concentrate so much on developing their skills, they just don’t have the inclination to consider their instincts, but with growing skill confidence those instincts can be more trusted and more readily paid attention to. I would love to hear some of your comments, both agreeable and not so, and anything in between! Thanks for lasting this far, I hope that you enjoyed this blog and best of luck to you in your endeavors!

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! 

–all images here have been painted or begun en plein air–

When Bob retired after 42 years in the aerospace industry, one of his buddies whose wife was an artist suggested that he take up plein air painting. “I know you don’t like sailing, tennis, or shuffleboard, Bob,” he advised, “but you could paint outdoors—I’ve heard it referred to as the new golf. You can learn it in your spare time—I’m sure if you had the right gear, you could do it.”

Across the nation, there is a revival of and renewed interest in plein air painting. Folks whose kids have moved out of the house, who downsized and moved across the country, and have finally decided to act on those creative impulses that inspired them in college are taking art classes, making reservations at the Plein Air Convention, and buying art supplies. Motivation is high, as are hopes and expectation of some degree of success. Painting could be a fun pastime!

I’ve heard this myself, both from artists and art aficionados, that plein air is like a sport, like the “new golf.” But like anything, how much one can learn about anything is conditioned by one’s motivation and mindset. If it is a sport, one would approach it as “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or a team competes against another or others for entertainment” (Oxford Dictionary). Football, basketball, baseball, tennis, wrestling, volleyball and golf are all widely recognized as sports. But does plein air painting fit into this list?

I love to paint, and I love sports. I have had the privilege to complete 65 marathons, several long-distance ocean swims, ran cross-country and track in high school and college, competed as a triathlete between ’78 and ’94, and twice crossed the finish line of the Hawaiian International Ironman Triathlon. In recalling all of that fortunate time I spent outdoors, and during my current daily workouts,  I have rarely called upon my artistic abilities when competing athletically (except for an elevated awareness of my response to the immediate environment), or my athletic training while painting (except for hiking with my plein air kit to remote locations, or running to scout new painting sites)– but I believe there are some crossovers between athletics and artistic creation.

Similarities

It’s helpful to have the right equipment, as that in itself will assist successful achievement. Extensive training in both is essential to performing well. And coaches and mentors can shortcut the learning curve and inspire progress. One may participate in both sport and painting as a student, amateur or professional, and that participation may result in significant income (or not). Instinct, self-trust and confidence play key roles in a successful performance. Sports and painting both require hand-eye coordination and superior depth perception. The true quality of an athletic performance is best understood by a fellow athlete, just as an artist best understands the work of a fellow artist. Finally, the goal of both the athlete and artist is to continually improve one’s skill set.

Differences

In plein air painting, there is no finish line, no “final minutes,” no game buzzer (except in an organized “Quick Draw” event). Risk of injury is less (but it is still real). Judges and jurors never wear striped costumes while performing their duties. There is no governing body of rules that constrain painting sessions– but there are fundamentals to be observed nonetheless (as in sport). Few plein air painters find themselves in a position to buy a mansion for their mother, and agents representing professional plein air artists are next to non-existent. Quiet time for reflection and self-evaluation during painting is essential, whereas in sport the action is moment-to-moment, demanding the athlete’s constant and physically-intense involvement. And at plein air events, there’s no betting on the outcome—it wouldn’t change the result anyway, one way or the other. And here is perhaps the greatest difference of all: think of how an athlete tries to control all the factors in a game as he/she does everything in their power to succeed, to win. Contrast that with Dean Taylor Drewyer’s observation about painting: “The best paintings, it seems to me, are the ones in which the painter suspends any drive to control or order the world, and commits to simply struggling to grab hold of a small part of the chaos.”

Painting is None of The Following. Leigh Steinberg (sports agent): “One of the keys to building the popularity of a sporting event is the extent to which fans perceive the activity has athletic qualities which are displayed on an even field with competitors trying as hard as they can to win. This is the key to fantasy leagues and all athletic betting.”

Painting can be competitive, but it never has to be engaged in that spirit, even in plein air “competitions.” It’s entirely possible to enter those contests without the slightest desire to fend off or overcome an opponent, as one concentrates on giving one’s very best to the creation of their own art, regardless of the circumstance. In fact, most of the professional painters I know participate in these events with a heart open to their fellow painters and are just as satisfied to see awards given to their comrades-in-art.

So if plein air painting is not a sport, what is a more effective way of considering it as we seek to learn more about it, to maximize both our performance and enjoyment?

No Rules, Quang Ho: “For me, there is no one way of painting…It’s about gathering as much information and ability as possible and then allowing myself to follow visual impulses and ideas, allowing each one to tell me how they might be coaxed out of the canvas.”

Goals Without Goalposts, Larry Preston: “I paint for myself and the process, not anyone else…I paint to remind myself of what I find important and beautiful and to experience the process of painting my chosen object. Success, for me, is found in the studio—in the drive to continue growing as an artist and create honest work.”

A Fight With No Opponent, Winston Churchill: “Painting a picture is like trying to fight a battle.”

Courage, But Without  Threat of Physical Engagement, Charles Philip Brooks: “Painting requires the bravery of solitude. Painting requires disciplined labor. To be a painter is to search the world with a benevolent eye for every subtle beauty the infinite world offers.”

A Lifestyle, Not A Pastime, Betty DeMaree: “To me, painting is life, a part of God, something sacred and uplifting. If I as a painter were denied my tools and my expression, I think I would become ill.”

Like Poetry, James Elkins: “Painting is a fine art: not merely because it gives us trees and faces and lovely things to see, but because paint is a finely-tuned antenna, reacting to every  un-noticed movement of the painter’s hand, fixing the faintest shadow of a thought in color and texture.”

Like Music, Brian Eno: “At the beginning of the 20^th century, the ambition of the great painters was to make paintings that were like music, which was then considered as the noblest art.”

Everybody Wins

 I would suggest that in plein air painting, there is no “winning”—in the sense of domination– only the satisfaction of having connected with nature in an honest and appreciative way. Primarily, plein air painting should be enjoyable. It can be, for the beginning painter as well as the advanced and professional. As master pastelist Kim Lordier advises, “Paint what you love.” Love is the answer, above winning, awards, and world records. Plein air painting is an expression of love; for one’s self, the process, one’s capacity to learn, for our surroundings, for all those with whom it may be shared. Plein air painting has no “rules of the game,” but it does have its own vocabulary: the language of the spirit.

FALLING IN LOVE lets you see the world through rose-colored glasses.  Your energy level rises. You’re a more positive person. It often brings new experiences and your world expands. You are renewed, revived, energized and enthusiastic. 

What more could an artist ask for? It’s exactly what we need: New destinations and experiences to push our work to new levels… to see the world a little more brightly, to be positive, and energized!

Last summer I fell in love with Montana. Head over heels. It’s not hard to do.  Every blink and turn of the head finds new reference material. 

We, (my mom, grown son, and I,) spent a few days in Glacier National Park.  I was dumbstruck by the color and clarity of the water, the breathtaking views, the wildlife. At one point we stopped the car knowing the car in front of us must be looking at something special.

I was so excited trying to get my mom and son to look at the bear walking straight toward our car that I stuttered, “b-b-b BEAR!” This beautiful cinnamon bear passed right under my open car window and I could have petted him as he went by.  Photographs pale in comparison to memory. You have to capture those memories on canvas.

There was a deer right behind me as I took the reference photo for this:

There are waterfalls; great, soaring, sparkling falls among gorgeous conifers and deciduous trees.  The cascades, tumbling over multi-colored rocks, beg to be painted, and you can’t wait to oblige.

Montana still has cowboys. REAL cowboys!

And how can an artist not be reinvigorated by the wildlife of the National Bison Range? This giant followed the car a bit until we allowed him to pass and cross right in front of us. 

We saw grizzlies with cubs, elk, pronghorn, … at one point I had been dangling my feet in McDonald creek and got up to take a photo. When I turned back a beaver was swimming right where my feet had been, in water so clear you could see every detail of the bottom.

Are you frustrated? Are you feeling artistically uninspired? Do you need to be recharged? FALL IN LOVE.

Find Dan’s Montana inspired work in the Going to the Sun Gallery, Whitefish, MT, and the Howard/Mandville Gallery, Woodinville, WA. To see more of Dan’s work and representation, visit DanKnepperArt.com