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A quiet intro to another June day of plein air painting with friends in Midway, Kentucky. Susan Coates is the host and owner of Woodstone Farm.
There were many scenes to choose, some future references for a possible larger studio painting, highlighted by a deer silently walking in front of me as I painted. Toward the end, I show the progress of my plein air oil painting on 9x12-inch panel, including an initial monotone underpainting and careful addition of color following the darks and lights (values). This June 16, 2021, paint-out was with members of Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 See and learn more at https://www.rogersnell.com I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky; Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass; and the newly formed Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. Our plein air group continues to discover the hidden gems and obvious beauty of Kentucky.
Forkland Community Center Lincoln Museum honors the history of the little town where Abraham Lincoln's grandmother lived. We celebrated the community and the day with our best shot at capturing the beauty of the place. Pat Williams of Forkland shares the history of her community, the museum and center where she volunteers, and the place where she teaches children art. A few members of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky are featured in the video. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky; Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass; and the newly formed Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. #pleinairpainting #oilpainting #kentuckyartist #pastelpainting Hickory Springs of Montgomery Daylilies is near the town of Camargo, Kentucky, at the foot of the Appalachia Mountains, where seven generations of the same family have farmed this 112-acre land granted to a Revolutionary War veteran.
Dorothy Jones and friend and helper Mrs. Turley care for more than 1,600 varieties of daylilies, the subject of my first pastel painting in plein air and the gathering place for the new members of Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. The video opens with a primer on raising daylilies and a chat with the seventh-generation owner, ending with the work by Laura Bowers, Debbie Billips, Regina Rollis and me. To learn more about the farm: https://www.kyagr.com/AgBusiness/10229 View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artis... I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky; Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass; and the newly formed Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. Benefits of painting with other artists is what you learn by observing their work and making new friends with the common struggles and rewards of painting from life and trying to simplify the complex.
Another benefit is that members of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky also have great friends who welcome us to beautiful spaces. Kathy Wilson was our host in Danville, Kentucky. She has converted a large back yard into multiple mini gardens of sculptures and flowers. every outdoor painting always seems to have unexpected inspiration, and one corner of Kathy’s yard is especially emotional and personal. I asked her to tell the story while she was baking treats for all of us. Her mother, father and brother died within 18 months. she was inspired to devote a portion of her garden to them and to prayer. As she explains, I’ll show our time painting together in the background and the progress I made on my painting of one of her prayer garden sculptures. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky; Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass; and the newly formed Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. This is my largest (16x20 inches) outdoor painting on canvas, encouraged (pushed) by Donna Forgacs, founding member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky.
We gathered as artists and new friends at Constitution Square in Danville, Kentucky, and painted amid many visitors to the Saturday farmers' market. My theme for this video is from a quote: "You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety." -- Abraham Maslow. This describes overcoming fear and pressing to improve as an artist. But it also describes the first pioneers who founded Kentucky and signed the first Constitution here. Please watch to the end because some very inspiring music happened in the background as I worked three hours to the final steps and finish to my painting. It also includes interviews with the subjects of my scene and the reason I had to hurry so I could get the famous crepes served by Carter and Luci of Crepes and Grapes. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky; Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass; and the newly formed Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. #pleinairpainting #oilpainting #kentuckyartist #danvillekentucky We are at the home of Brenda Ball, who restored the oldest home in Bath County, Kentucky.
I’m Roger Snell and welcome to my art journey, where I track my progress as an artist. Deb Billips invited us to the first paint out of the newly formed Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. Stick around to the end to see the scene I chose and my finished painting. I am looking at the spot where Brenda and one Kentucky historian say that Daniel Boone rescued the Callaway girls and his daughter Rebecca in July 1776. The Shawnees had a village at the bottom of the hill and this farm was directly on what was called the Warrior’s Path from Kentucky to the massive Shawnee village in Chillicothe, Ohio. Historical accounts differ as to which side of the Ohio River the rescue occurred. There is a Kentucky history book that confirms Brenda Ball’s account. I choose to believe Brenda since it adds mystery to the outdoor painting. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky; Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass; and the newly formed Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. You could sense the joy of beach-goers and restaurant operators as vacation travel resumed for the first time after Covid vaccinations.
I used our return to the beach after 11 years to try plein air painting in my most public setting ever. My goal was to fill a new sketchbook with the constant motion of our granddaughters and to work from life every day. This is a preview of the sketches, the scenes, and the oil studies from life that will lead to larger studio works. In addition to the fun of trying these new plein air challenges, I will have paintings and sketches to remember a trip with our granddaughters and wife Linda on our 39th wedding anniversary. I will share three more episodes from Hilton Head, but, first, there are four more plein air outings from Kentucky to share, coming up next. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky; Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass; and the newly formed Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters. Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass had a nice turnout today at the Lexington horse farm of Yvonne Todd during the warmest day of the year. My goal was to find a tree or trees to practice my plein air painting.
The bonus was the dappled light that crossed in the foreground. The video shows the initial block-in with Indian Yellow (water mixable oil) that gives a nice glow to the finished painting. I feel like I got the values right. The background line of shrubs was very dark. My greatest time was spent smoothing the edges and getting the foreground light and shadow to look right. This is an example of continuing to practice what challenges me — trees. My teacher lays them in as three values of masses. I don’t try to paint every single leaf anymore. But I still see about 100 values in a tree. Simplifying is what I am still trying to learn. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky and of Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass. I figured out why I struggle painting plein air peonies or any other flower. They are as hard as a portrait for me. And the reason is the same.
The difference between light and shadow on a flower is just as subtle as the difference in skin tones. You must have shadows to show the light on a nosey or a posey. But it doesn’t look right if the shadows are too dark on either one. You thought I was going to say that peonies are like people because they are fragile and smell. I just wanted to test whether you’re listening. The other struggle in this painting is that the peonies would be called “white.” But if you look closely at the video, there is no white at all, not even on the brightest highlight. I’ve tried what other artists have recommended for beginners: try painting a white egg on a white plate. That’s what this challenge was like. I still have a lot to learn. But my 2021 peonies are better than my 2020 plein air version. I will keep pressing to make the 2022 blooms even better. View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky and of Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass. #pleinairpainting #oilpainting #kentuckyartist Painting plein air at another beautiful Kentucky farm, I continued my experiment of painting small. Using 5x7-inch panels led to a plein air first that was twice as nice. I sketched two studies in oil in three hours, the time it usually takes me to do one painting.
I sought out the first scene that was purely landscape with no buildings or complexities. I did most of the work with a palette knife to get the effect of thick paint in the sky, trees and tall foreground grass. I seem to get cleaner, purer color with the knife. I did use the brush to smooth out edges in the distance. The second painting was back to my old ways of including a barn, but it was distant enough so I didn’t have to fuss over architecture. These quick studies are not finished, even though I signed them. I would like to consider all of these summer studies for a future, large canvas in the studio on a rainy day or, more likely, during the cold, dreariness of winter. When I got home and studied both paintings, I didn’t find too much to nit pick on the first landscape. But the second one taught lessons that I could fix in the future. The barn needs to be a lighter value. Because I have it as dark as the foreground fence post, the barn does not appear as distant as it should. I always struggle with barb wire fencing. Even the thinnest rigger brush leaves too thick of a line. I tried to scrape out half of the mark and even fade the edges with the grass. But this is something I will be aware of and can fix in a larger, studio painting. In fact, this is an example where a much larger painting might work better. Thin lines for barb wire would be easier to do when everything else in the scene would be at least four times bigger. The lesson to try is to see what happens when you go super small with a plein air oil study. This forces you to simplify and pay more attention to the focal point and exactly what struck you about the scene in the first place. This painting was at the farm near Harrodsburg of artists Tay Breene and Mac Reid. Debbie Johnson Winbun also was featured in this video. She is a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky and of Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass. See her work on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1683306301889691/user/1336789269/ Check out the work of talented artist Marilyn Sadler, also featured in this video: http://www.marilynsadler.com View my gallery of original oil paintings: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/artists/roger-snell-11758 See and learn more at https://www.rogersnell.com I am a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky and of Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass. |
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July 2021
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