Direct Study From Nature

I recently read a article about Hudson River School Painter Asher B. Durand on the blog of acclaimed illustrator James Gurney.  Gurney writes:

Durand wrote that direct study from nature was the ideal way for the artist to transcend the limitations of tired compositional formulas, providing “the only safeguard against the inroads of heretical conventionalism.”

He defined conventionalism as “the substitution of an easily expressed falsehood for a difficult truth.”

Though I've never been particularly moved by the work of the Hudson River School painters, Durand's devotion to painting from nature really resonates with me and I feel a certain connection to his artistic convictions.  

Above are a couple of recent paintings done in the field as part of my continued attempt to grapple with those oh-so-difficult to express truths.  Though I'm not necessarily posting them because I think they are successful, but because they document the struggle and the journey.

Here's a link to the article:  Asher B. Durand

Seeing

"Anything under the sun is beautiful if you have the vision- it is the seeing of the thing that makes it so."

-Charles Hawthorne

Reflecting

What do we ever know that is higher than that power which, from time to time, seizes our lives, and which reveals us startlingly to ourselves as creatures set down here bewildered?

...You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment.

-Annie Dillard

Finding Time

My wife and I welcomed our second child, Caroline, into the world on Thanksgiving.  So needless to say my time has been in much greater demand lately.  Still I've been trying to get some painting and sketching in when I can, which has meant utilizing my lunch breaks and time when the little ones are napping.  Here are some recent attempts.

From My Drawing Table

Here are a couple more paintings done around my home.  One is the view out the window next to my drawing table and the other is some of the cluttered mess on my drawing table itself.  The view is 20x24 done in acrylic and the mess is 12x16 done in oil.  

Still Life

Here's a little painting I did at home last night.  I had planned on going out to paint by the river, but I had to work later and was loosing daylight (the time change has made things a little tougher on my outdoor painting lately).  So, my plans thwarted, I came home and painted this still life instead.  I haven't done too many still lifes, I suppose I tend to over think them, but with this one I just painted what I saw on our kitchen table.  It's 11x14 acrylic on canvas.

A Couple More Paintings

Here are a couple of paintings that I did this week.  The top one is another painting from Stough Canyon (same as my last post) and the bottom one was done looking out the window of my house.  They were both done in acrylic and are 16 x 20 and 20 x 24.

I've been preparing canvases and panels lately by adding a couple of coats of gesso; brushing one coat perpendicular to the other.  The brush strokes mimic the texture of the canvas but sort of obscure it a bit more, which I'm kind of liking. The absorbency of the gesso also gives the acrylics more of a matte appearance and less of that plastic-y look which I'm not too big a fan of.  Anyway, it's been fun sort of customizing the supports a little bit.  I think I might even start stretching my own canvases soon.

Places

Here are a couple of paintings I did this week of some places that are important to me.  The top one is 16x20 done in acrylic, I painted it on site near the start of one of my favorite hikes.  The bottom one is 20x24 done in alkyd.  I painted this in my living room one evening and during the process my son picked up the truck to play with it multiple times.

Recent Paintings

These are a couple of paintings I did this week.  They are both done from life of scenes around my home.  They are both done in acrylic and relatively small (the palm tree is 14x18 and the couch is 11x14).

Tucson

Well I just got back from a short trip to Tucson to visit family.  I had an opportunity while there to get out and do a little sketching.  The sketch above is about 4 x 6 watercolor and gauche and the two paintings below are both 8 x 10 done in oil.