The Artist's Tree at the Florence Griswold Museum

Crescent Moon, acrylic on wooden palette, Jan Blencowe

copyright 2009, Connecticut, USA

website www.janblencowe.com

e-mail jan.blencowe@comcast.net

From the Florence Griswold Museum website...

Miss Florence’s Artist Tree is back this year with additional painted palettes, bringing the count to over 100 artists from across the country who have donated works to this one-of-a-kind tradition. The 12-foot tree has become a holiday icon for the region. The idea of artists painting on palettes relates directly to the Museum’s history as the center for the Lyme Art Colony, and alludes to the doors and wooden wall panels the artists painted throughout Miss Florence's house over a hundred years ago. The palette artists’ styles and subject matter are as varied as the individuals. Oils, acrylics, watercolors, ceramics, and collage (and this year, glass) are used to transform the palettes into traditional holiday scenes, delightful landscapes, and more than a few surprises! Designed by Jean Callan King and Georgann Ritter.



This year I was honored to be asked to contribute a palette to Miss Florence's Tree!  My palette, above, is painted in the tonalist style similar to the way one of Miss Florence's first boarders Henry Ward Ranger and his circle of artrists would have been working in 1899.


Description of the Tonalist Painting Style and Technique



• rooted in the French Barbizon movement

• emphasize atmosphere and shadow.

• middle values as opposed to stronger contrast and high chroma

• compelling overall effect

• no effort to communicate a message or narrate a story

• each sensitively chosen color, composition, and line is arranged to create an intriguing visual poem

• luscious and luminous evocative atmospheric effects featuring misty backgrounds illuminated by moonlight

• convey both the natural and spiritual realms

• the palette is minimal, characterized by warm hues of brown, soft greens, gauzy yellows and muted grays

• preferred themes evocative moonlight nights and poetic, vaporous landscapes

• favors unconscious states and psychological experiences over reality.


The Museum has a very interesting page on tonalism and its role in the Lyme Art colony here

I visited the museum today and snapped a picture of this years Artists Tree! It's just beautiful! At a towering 12 feet tall the museum provides binoculars to visitors so you can get a closer look at the palettes way at the top!

The museum also has four other beautifully designed and decorated themed trees. Marshland designed by Jennifer Johnson and Matt Greene was my favorite. The marshes along the Connecticut coast provide a deep current of inspiration for my paintings and this beautiful tree captures the feel of the marshes perfectly. It is crowned with a large osprey nest, illuminated by lit dragon flies, a family of beavers has taken up residence beneath it on one side and a pair of mute swans graces the other.

The Magic of Christmas exhibit, including Miss Florence's Artist's Tree is on display until January 10, 2010.

An Artist's Litany of Thanks

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe

Peace in the Valley, 20x24, acrylic on linen
Website: www.janblencowe.com
E-Mail: jan.blencowe@comcast.net

An Artist's Litany of Thanks

To the creative Spirit who hovered above the waters,

to the Architect of creation,

 and to the One who pronounced it Good

Thank you for this mysterious gift of creativity,

imagination and skill you have graciously given me.

Thank you for the eyes to see beauty in uncommon and ordinary places.

For the joy of color, for the muse of inspiration,

for the thrill of co-creating,

for the satisfaction of line, shape and form

converging to express what is inexpressible with words

I give you thanks.

For layers and textures, collages, and carved stones

I thank you.

For brushes and paints, papers and pens

I thank you.

For doodles and drawings, sketches and scribbles

I thank you.

For every moment spent painting and pasting, cutting and carving

I thank you.

To all who share in the love of art I thank you.

For recognizing the power of an image,

For acknowledging that art is the language of a human soul

and for honoring and valuing what artists create

I thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Blessings and Peace

Jan

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe

Still Waters, 30x30, acrylic on canvas

You say grace before meals. All right… But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink. ~G. K. Chesterton

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe

Autumn  Glory, 24x30, acrylic on linen

For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves, we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet... Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host, and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long? ~Rebecca Harding Davis

smARTist Telesummit 2010 & a Watercolor Plein Air sketch, Jan Blencowe

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe, Connecticut, USA

Westbrook Beach, November, 5x7, watercolor sketch

Visit my website for oil and acrylic paintings http://www.janblencowe.com/

Need to contact me? jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Are YOU ready to attract collectors, and sell your art with FOCUS,FACTS and FABULOUS ART?

 

Today I have some really exciting news for YOU!  The 2010 smARTist Telesummit is ready to launch! Last year I participated in smARTIST 2009 and it was the BEST thing I ever did for the business side of my art.  As a smARTist affiliate I can offer you an exciting early bird special!

The smARTist Telesummit 2010 launches Tues. 11/24 with OUR traditional Early Bird Special:

SAVE $50 by registering for the Early Bird Special (EBS) from 11/24 until THE EBS expires at midnight PST on Tuesday December 8th. Find out more and register for the EARLY BIRD SPECIAL  here!

You're invited to join us for the...

 First FREE Pre-Event

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 Introducing our 2010 smARTist speakers- all 11!

December 8th — Tuesday — 7 to 8 pm ET/NY

This event will be recorded, but you have to sign up for access!

REMEMBER… Our LIVE 60 minute long teleseminars are limited to

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7 Days of Art-Career Experts & Successful Artists tell all:

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Plein Air Watercolor,using 19th C techniques, Oyster River, Jan Blencowe

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe, Connecticut, USA

Oyster River, en plein air, watercolor, 5x7

Last week end I went to a demonstration and lecture given by David Dunlop. He shared something I had never heard before.  Painters in the 19th century like JMW Turner soaked their papers in glue or varnished them before painting in watrercolor. Think about that for a moment. Treated or prepared paper isn't absorbant. Modern watercolor techniques depend on absorbant paper. That's why so many wtaercolorists like 100% cotton rag paper.  It's also why watercolor can be so tricky, it's hard to lift color once it's put down and whites must be pre-planned and saved either by carefully painting around the area or using a masking fluid or tape.

Here's a Turner watercolor:

When you paint with watercolor on a non-absorbant prepared paper you can handle your watercolor a lot more like a thinned oil paint, they way you would begin an oil painting, with brushy strokes and ragging out to pull up color. After all these watercolor studies were meant as preparatpory sketches for oil paintings and artists would want the painting techniques to be similar.

Here's a watercolor by John Constable circa 1820's

For even more beautiful early watercolors check out Watercolor Essentials. 

What's of particular note is how different these watercolors look from modern watercolors. I always wondered why that was and how they achieved the effects they did. Now I know they prepared their paper so it was sealed and not absorbant and handled their watercolors like the first stage of an oil painting! 

David Dunlop suggests using acrylic gloss varnish to seal your watercolor paper.Above is my first exploration into this way of using watercolor but it will not be my last!  I really enjoyed using watercolors this way and intend to do more (many more!) Stay Tuned!

The first 140 Hours Twitter Art Auction took place a few weeks ago and due to the gigantic success of this amazing new event a second 24 HOUR ONLY auction is taking place beginning at 12:00pm, NY time on Friday the day after Thanksgiving, until 12:00pm NY time on Saturday Nov. 28, 2009

140 Hours is redefining the world of fine art auctions for the 21st century! Please visit http://140hours.com to view the artwork and to bid on the 27th. All the easy instructions for joining Twittter and participating are there.

This is a fabulous opportunity for you to purchase my painting Sky & Marsh, 16x20, acrylic on linen

The opening bid is $300, this size painting would normally sell in a gallery for $1500, so you can see what a great opportunity this is!

Scroll down to yesterday's post to see the wonderful promo video for this event! Share it with one click on Facebook , Twitter and more or get the code and put it on your own blog or website!

140 Hours Twitter Art Auction

The first 140 Hours Twitter Art Auction took place a few weeks ago and due to the gigantic success of this amazing new event a second 24 HOUR ONLY auction is taking place beginning at 12:00pm, NY time on Friday the day after Thanksgiving, until 12:00pm NY time on Saturday Nov. 28, 2009

140 Hours is redefining the world of fine art auctions for the 21st century! Please visit http://140hours.com to view the artwork and to bid on the 27th. All the easy instructions for joining Twittter and participating are there.

This is a fabulous opportunity for you to purchase my painting Sky & Marsh, 16x20, acrylic on linen

The opening bid is $300, this size painting would normally sell in a gallery for $1500, so you can see what a great opportunity this is!

Tonalist Sunset Marsh Landscape, Jan Blencowe

Copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe, Connecticut, USA

Autumn  Glory, 24x30, acrylic on linen

Need to contact me about purchasing? jan.blencowe@comcast.net

View this in a sample frame here

Visit my website for more paintings www.janblencowe.com

Last week I posted progress photos of this large 24x30 landscape I was working on.  When I thought it was finished I posted it here on the blog. I talked about how I had gotten stuck on the water and the difficult time I had getting it just right.

As it turns out that painting nagged at me all week. I knew something was wrong and I actually knew what it was, but I just didn't want to face the re-working process.

My intention for the painting was to create a large, dramatic sunset painting that would also evoke feelings of serenity.  I planned to accomplish that by having a powerfully lit sunset sky, a long sweeping waterway to draw the viewer into the light, and to keep the landforms simplified in shape and filled with texture to suggest grasses but free from laborious detail. I also planned to keep values undercontrol with all the light values concentrated near the source of the light, the setting sun. The effect was meant to be bold and uncluttered.

Here's the underpainting I began with:

I liked what was happening in the drawing and underpainting. The foreground land mass didn't bother me at this stage, but that's what ended up being the problem.

Now here's the first version of the finished painting:

In the first finished version above,  the foreground land mass lacks the texture that the underpainting had. However that was only a minor problem compared to the fact that the shape of the land acts as a giant pointer right out of the painting, rather than helping to direct the viewer's eye to the center of interest, the light and color of the sunset. Also the very simplified , smooth shape of the land is too fast, meaning that it propells the viewer's eye along a straight line much too quickly for them to linger and enjoy the painting.

Here is the way I fixed those problems. I widened the land in the lower right hand corner so it didn't shoot right out of the corner. It is now better anchored to the bottom of the painting creating a better sensation of stability in the foreground. I broke up the straight edge of the land with irregular clumps of grasses to slow down the movement. Finally, I bent the end of the land mass so it points into the painting instead of leading the eye in an upward diagnol and out of the painting.

Here's the final version of the painting once again: (Oh I should mention that I've made a few more tweaks since I took this photo. I added a little deeper violet to the sky on the right to really pop the yellow and I strengthened some of the darks on the near side of the new clumps of grasses in the foreground. Both changes are fairly minor but do make a difference.)

The question remains though regarding why I needed to make so many changes with this painting. I think a couple of things were in play. First, I did have a lot of frustration with the water and spent quite a few hours on it before I was satisfied with it. Even though I didn't tackle the foreground land until the next day I think I was still exhausted from the previous day's painting session and just wanted to get the painting finished. The moral here: haste makes waste. I probably should have done some watercolors for a few days or just taken a break altogether and then gone back fresh to finish the painting. The other thing is that I felt tied to the underpainting and stuck to it even when I began to have misgivings about the way the foreground was designed, probably because I was tired and was rushing to finish the painting. Planning is great but as Picasso said you have to follow the paint!

I've begun a new 20x30 and I'm experiment with some new painting techniques.  It's been a rocky beginning, but I've learned my lesson, I'm not going to rush it! I'm going ton take Picasso's advice and follow the paint, take my time and let the painting develop.  So it might be a week or so until I'm ready to post it. In the mean time I have some sketches to post and I'll be working on a few watercolors too.

Stay tuned!

November Landscape Painting, Over the River, Jan Blencowe

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe, Connecticut, USA

Over the River, 9x12, oil on linen panel, unframed, $300 + $15sh/h/ins.

To purchase send me an email jan.blencowe@comcast.net

View more paintings at www.janblencowe.com

This little pond is just a few minutes walk from my house. As you can see the last of the leaves are off the trees and the sky is that characteristic November grey.

This painting is from a few years ago but the pond, the water, the sky and the trees look exactly the same this year as they did then.

I'm afraid I'm suffering from a bit of bloggers burn out and painting-a-day-itis. I no longer have any interest what so ever in producing a daily painting. There I said it!  I am enjoying my watercolor sketches and working on larger paintings that use techniques that take much longer and cannot be produced in one day. Growth and change are good. In fact they are essential to an artist. 

So if you are following me on the Daily Painters Gallery(www.dailypainters.com) I want to let you know that my time there is limited. I will be leaving at the end of the year.

I will still post over at Daily Painters International Gallery because there are some exciting things in the works there that I am delighted to be a part of.

So expect a few changes here as well.  I'll be posting my watercolors and my progress on larger pieces.  I'm hoping to get some videos up too. But it is unlikely that I will have a brand new small painting each day, especially now that plein air season is pretty much over for me.

I hope you'll keep visiting! 

Marsh Landscape, Experimenting with Gouache on Black, Jan Blencowe

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe, Connecticut, USA

Gouache Marsh, approx. 5x5, Turner Acryl Gouache on black paper

• Need to contact me? jan.blencowe@comcast.net
• Want to see full size acrylic and oil paintings? Visit my website www.janblencowe.com
• Interested in purchasing prints of my watercolors? Click here
• Looking for my encaustic (bees wax) paintings? Click here

In between my larger landscapes, which are taking longer and longer as I work larger and pursue a surface texture and paint surface that needs to be carefully built up over time, I find myself enjoying working in other watermedia and experimenting in my sketchbooks.

With my last order from www.jerrysartarama.com I received a sample set of Turner Acryl Gouache. (that's pronounced like squash, but with a hard "g" in the beginning).

I'm trying to figure out what exactly these acryl-gouache are. Traditional gouache is made with gum arabic just like watercolors. These apparently are made with acrylic polymer just like an acrylic except that they dry without any gloss, they have the characteristic matte finish gouache is known for. A little less in this small pochade because I received the three primaries and I had to use regular acrylic white for mixing. So this leaves me wondering if this is truly gouache or if it's just another incarnation of the many brands of matte acrylics available.

I've also been trying to find out if these must go under glass like traditional gouache, which has a more fragile paint surface when dry and can crack. I've done a bit of research and it seems that these acryl-gouache are water resistant when dry and maintain a flexible paint surface. If that's true I would really like that because I'm likely to use them on Canson board or another rigid panel and give them a final coat of acrylic matte varnish and pop them into a frame.

So, I hope by now you know what's coming next. ( think about yesterday's marker & pen confession) A purchase of course. LOL The big decision will be whether I stick with the Turner brand or go with an other.

I'll have to do a little more research before coming to a final decision. If any of you out there have experience with the new acrylic gouaches I'd love to hear about it. Leave a comment below and we'll chat about it.

Plein Air Pen & Watercolor Landscape Sketch, Jan Blencowe

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe, Connecticut, USA

Cedars in the Marsh, watercolor & marker sketch, 4x6

Purchase a print here

Need to contact me? jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Visit my website www.janblencowe.com for acrylic & oil paintings

You all know how much I love these expressive, colorful little sketches I do in my beloved sketch book. They are a personal record of my day and travels, and of the peaceful moments I spend quietly observing nature.

I've had many requests to purchase these but I just can't bare to part with them.

Good News...the watercolor and pen sketches are now available as giclee prints!!

I have a terrific Watercolor Print Gallery set up at Fine Art America. There are 10+ in the gallery right now and I will be adding more in the coming days. If you had a favorite sketch you've seen here on the blog that's not in the print gallery yet just let me know and I'll add it.

Here's Why the New Watercolor Print Gallery is So Great!

• Fine art prints on a variety of papers & canvas
• Available in three sizes
• Framed, stretched or rolled in a tube
• Professionally assembled on shipped
• Ships within 2-3 business days
• Starting at $22
• 30 day money back guarantee
• Also available as note cards

I hope you'll take a moment to visit the new Watercolor Print Gallery and let me know what you think!

Plein Air Pen & Watercolor Landscape Sketch, Jan Blencowe

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe, Connecticut, USA

Pen & Watercolor Landscape Sketch, Hammonasset, November, 4x6

Need to contact Me? jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Looking for acrylic and oil paintings? Visit my website http://www.janblencowe.com/

OK I admit it, I'm a pen & marker addict! I love drawing and sketching with them and combining them with watercolor.

I have a full set of 120 Faber-Castell brush tip markers which I absolutely adore. (I've searched the net for a link, but I can't find one for the full 120 marker set. Hmmm, wonder if they make that anymore?) I have a bunch of prismacolor markers and a set of 20 Staedler Triplus Color markers and lots of assorted Uniball Vision markers, Sarassa gel pens, a Koh-I-Noor sepia pen and a Lamy Safari fountain pen.

This however did not stop me when I saw a huge display in Staples the other day featuring Bic Mark*it fine point permanent markers in lots and lots of gorgeous colors. (This link is for a set of 36, but at the Staples store you could buy individual colors for .99 each or 10 for $6.99)

I restrained myself and only bought six. I chose colors specifically for sketching the late autumn and winter landscape. Soon it will be too cold to sketch outdoor and I"ll have to sit in the car and when it's that cold I often don't want to be dealing with water for watercolors and I'll rely on just markers.

Here are the colors I chose:

1. Cloud Nine Grey
2. Honey Brown
3. Woodsy Brown
4. Misty Blue
5. Tiki Hut Tan
6. Summer Melon

For the above sketch the drawing was done entirely with the Honey Brown. The bright bits of yellow are a Prismacolor yellow ochre marker and the rest of the color is Yarka watercolor. Enjoy!

Tonalist Marsh Landscape Painting, Autumn Glory, Jan Blencowe

copyright 2009, Jan Blencowe, Connecticut, USA

Tonalist Marsh Landscape, Autumn Glory, 24x30, acrylic on linen

For Purchase information email me jan.blencowe@comcast.net

Visit my website for more paintings www.janblencowe.com

Last week I posted several progress photos as I worked my way through this painting. About mid-week I hit a rough patch with the water, I just could not get it they way I wanted it.

Here's how I worked through it. I painted over everything with a single flat color in the correct value. Then I did some research.

I spent a couple of hours look at paintings by artists I admire that I know do a lot of scenes with water in them. I studied the paintings and looked for clues to how they created their water effects. I also looked for things each water painting had in common, though the basic style of each artist was different many things were the same in each painting. The placement of differing values of the water color was of particular interest to me. Deeper values appear at the bottom of the small wave or ripple, and the shape of the lighter value on the crest of the ripple can make a difference in effect, triangular tops on the ripples or waves creates more movement, and a choppy feel while a more rounded shape creates a more placid feel. I also took note of the patterns of ripples in the water which can be used as a compositional device to move a viewers eye through the painting.

After a while I knew I was ready to get back to the canvas and re-do the water. After doing the research the water came along easily and I got the effect I was looking for.

I hope you enjoy this painting. I'm very pleased with the result and I'm considering entering it into a museum show in December.