Linda Rosso
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Report from the Field of Greens

4/21/2013

5 Comments

 
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My second week at Chalk Hill Residency starts with a whipping wind, but I am not going to let that get me down. On Monday morning, I set up outside, close to the house, to stay out of the elements. I paint the shed attached to the farmhouse. (The color is a nice switch from all the green.) I sketch from inside the farmhouse and from inside the car at various locations on the property. 

When it’s too windy to be outside any longer, I head inside and make color charts to help me keep my greens straight.

In the evenings, I paint small still life paintings of the very interesting and colorful objects around the house. 

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The “field study” is emerging – my pencil thumbnail drawings have made way for small color sketches. The first painting was done at 10 a.m. on Monday. By Wednesday, the weather has improved, and over the course of the week, if I happen to be near the field, I begin each painting on the hour, working quickly to capture the light and shadows. 

On Saturday, the field looked entirely different because red clover was opening all over! If my suspicions are correct, my muse could be glowing magenta in a few days – won’t that be fun to paint! 

We had visitors this week. On Thursday a group of watercolor artists from a Sonoma mental health program came to paint, and we talked about how to use color to paint a landscape, with cool colors in the background and warm colors in the foreground to create depth. It was great to be able to share art with this delightful group which comes to visit once during each artist's stay. 

On Friday, Klea and Nikki, the creators of the San Francisco-based art blog, “In the Make,” came for a studio and site visit. We had dinner at Alice's house, shared a bottle of local wine and they spent the night in the residency house before heading out on the road for a series of more studio visits from here to Vancouver, British Columbia. 

An observation. The field study, laid out on the table in front of the window facing the field captures the attention of each person who comes into the farmhouse. And every one has a definite opinion on which “o’clock” is their favorite.

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If the point of an artist residency is to devote time to a practice, and to explore and experiment - it is working. I may or may not come away with great paintings, but I realize now that may not be relevant. In just two weeks I have learned that I can spend hours, days, weeks focused on making art without major distraction. I begin to understand that I have a process, and am evolving a practice that is a great learning experience.  

Oh, and I am finally figuring out "green."

5 Comments
Shawne link
4/27/2013 10:29:30 am

Have to write in, Linda. Got your email invitation about your open house and your residency (wish I could pop by, but alas, am here in NYC) and followed the link in your email to your new paintings. I am blown away by of your work.

I could go on about the lovely compositions and the soothing feelings that your paintings evoke. But what really impressed me is that you manage to combine looseness in your style with such specificity in your colors, especially in the foliage.

I was wondering how you had learned how to differentiate between all the greens, particularly because minutes before I had been outside in my neighborhood park, attempting to capture it in watercolor. I was angry at myself for not being able to really understand the difference between the colors on the blooming trees and bushes around me, so I started to fill in the greens hastily, resulting in a muddy haze.

And then I opened up your email and read your blog posts from Chalk Hill--and saw that you hadn't just mastered it at first blush, that it has been an evolution, and that you are still learning.

Hearing about your field studies and repeating your teacher's advice like a mantra was enormously reassuring to this fellow late-blossoming artist.

You're an inspiration, Linda!

-Shawne

PS- Any tips on how to learn the greens is much appreciated.

Reply
Linda Rosso
4/27/2013 12:32:16 pm

Thank you, Shawne! Your comments make me want to stop cleaning my brushes and get them dirty with green paint :-)

Cool yellow and cool blue make cool green in distance. Adding a bit of cool red to the mix gives you a green that advances slightly.

Warm yellow and warm blue come further forward visually, and adding a touch of warm red does the same.

The hottest green usually has the most warm yellow and comes forward in depth.

Reply
Shawne link
4/27/2013 03:26:04 pm

Thanks much, Linda! Can't wait to see the paintings you've been doing at Chalk Farm.

Reply
Karen Billings
4/28/2013 12:23:30 am

I really enjoyed your blog and am envious of the time you have to truly focus on your work. I know you will value this opportunity for a long, long time.

Reply
Linda Rosso
5/3/2013 02:28:23 pm

Thank you, Karen! It was an incredible experience.

Reply



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    Linda Rosso is a California artist who delights in the colors she sees out of the corners of her eyes. Read more...

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