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Leaf and Branch, 40" X 30," oil on panel, $7,900
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As a tribute to July and its fabulous weather, this month’s paintings will feature front porches, architectural landscapes. I hope you are sitting on a front porch somewhere right now. The weather in the southwest has been hot and dry and the sky robin’s egg blue. If I were to tell the truth in a painting about just how blue, you probably wouldn’t believe me. It is some of the best weather of the year.
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Blue Sky Blue Ceiling, 12" X 20.5," oil on Belgian linen on panel, $2,100
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Late Afternoon, 11" X 14," oil on Belgian linen on panel, $1,400
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Porch Light, 40" X 30," oil on panel, $7,900. Study 16" X 12,"oil on linen, $1,650
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Technical Section: Blue Sky Blue Ceiling
The five blocks below show the typical progression for an architectural landscape.
- First, a sketch a few inches wide to work out the basic composition, including darks and lights. The actual sketch is probably close to the size it shows up on your computer now.
- Second, a full sized drawing to work through the painting's composition in detail, in this case using the golden mean to size the canvas and to determine where two "eyes" of the painting will be. The eyes of golden mean rectangles were often used by classical painters to determine where to lead the viewer's attention. For this painting, I chose to place the upper right window and a forward facing arch on the lower left as the eyes of the golden mean rectangle. This decision forced the house to become wider than it actually is, but I liked the increased width. It made the house look like it sprawled, almost like it was gripping the land.
- The drawing is then transferred to a canvas primed with raw umber, a neutral color. (For many paintings, however, I use a burnt sienna imprimatura. Porch light, another painting in the newsletter, is an example of how to use a burnt sienna imprimatura to advantage.) For Blue Sky Blue Ceiling, I wanted to emphasize a brooding, hot mid-afternoon sky color and so I used raw umber for its imprimatura.
- That window on the upper right is getting interesting.
- I keep painting, adjusting color and value continually with each layer of paint to get the final work.
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Front Porch, 24" X 18," oil on Belgian linen, $2,250
If you like this painting, please stop by Hopkins Gallery in North Haven, Maine. It’s hanging there this summer. If you don’t find yourself in Maine, just give them a ring at the gallery, (207) 867-4647, and David Hopkins or David Wilson will give you details about it by phone.
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Next month’s letter will include information on an upcoming show for my illustrated book, The Tale of Oramus and Jane, at Salt Lake Community College. The show will include 19 oil illustrations I have painted, 26 student water color illustrations from last summer’s class at Glendale Public Library, and a documentary about the process of writing and illustrating the book. Save the date, August 31, for the opening at the George S. and Delores Dore Eccles Gallery in Salt Lake City, UT. Below is one of the book's illustrations.
More information to come in August’s letter.
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Charles-Camille's cage was the kind he had read about in books, but never seen.
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Have a great summer!
All the best,
Elise Zoller
P.S. Most of you have found your way onto this mailing list because you have come through my studio during one of Poor Yorick’s open houses and signed the email list. The rest of you are friends, family, and customers who have seen my career develop over the last twenty years. If, for any reason at all, you don’t want my monthly emails please just hit the unsubrsribe link below and it will take you off the list. Life is too short to be getting annoying emails. Get outside. It’s summer!
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