Barbara J Carter

“Soft Light”, 2008, Acrylic on canvas, 12×9″

As I mentioned previously, I began two paintings the same size with similar subjects, intending them to be companions, possibly to be hung together as a pair. And then during the process somehow they diverged.

They’re certainly both in my signature “neo-Pointillist” style. Both are images of the hills around Ojai. But the colors in this one are much more subdued than the last. Subdued for me, anyway! It gives it a calmer feeling.

I think some of the calm feeling comes from the use of the color green. I had a lot of fun working green tones all through the composition in this painting. Of course the shrubbery at the bottom is green, but there are also bits of green peeking out in the hills, as well as green in the sky. I like how that subtly pulls the composition together.

This painting is sold. Many more may be seen at: www.barbarajcarter.com

I ordered some art supplies recently. My order arrived this week, but it wasn’t exactly what I ordered. Hey I understand, mistakes happen. Usually they’re pretty unremarkable.

This time the error was quite original.

I ordered some pre-cut mats for a series of tiny paintings I’m planning. What they sent was… certainly not mats. Not even close.

What the heck is it?

The package contained 10 rubber tree leaves, each 4-6 inches across and about 1/4 inch thick. With an accompanying identifying sheet, so you can match the leaves to their respective trees. But what in the world would you do with these things?

Hey, if you know what these things are for, please tell me. I’m dying to know! Do you have a use for them? I’ll gladly send them to you!

The best part? I ordered 3 sets of mats. So I received 3 sets of tree leaves.

Can’t have too many leaves, I guess.

“Strong Diagonal”, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 12×9″

I chose two similar snapshots of California hills side-lit by the late afternoon sun, on which to base two new paintings. The paintings were to be “companions”: not a diptych necessarily, but the same size and similar enough that they could be hung together.

You know what happens to the best-laid plans…

Yup, the two paintings ended up completely different. But I’m pleased with both. Starting with very similar images, I got two very different results. The two paintings have very different feelings.

This painting, “Strong Diagonal”, is the loud, brash one. Its colors are bright and exuberant. You can feel the heat of the California sunlight spilling across the hillside.

The other one is more subdued. I’ll post it next time.

This painting is sold. Many more may be seen at: www.barbarajcarter.com

Sneak peek of painting in progress:

This is just a small part of the no-longer blank canvas shown in my last post.

That’s all you get to see for now!

The painting still has a long way to go, but rest assured: you’ll see it here when it’s done.

The phrase “blank canvas” gets used a lot in everyday speech. It evokes an image of a blank white surface, waiting for the first mark, the first touch of paint.

It’s pristine, unblemished, expectant. It’s intimidating. It calls to mind Gene Fowler’s description of writing: “Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.“

Ouch!

But in fact this isn’t how you go about creating at all. No one in their right mind starts with an utterly blank canvas or blank sheet of paper. They’d just end up staring at it helplessly. Creativity doesn’t work like that.

No, first you go off by yourself, nowhere near a canvas. You think, you muse, you ponder.

You look around, go for a hike, take in a movie, riffle through your sketchbook, look at art books, magazines, photos. Ideas bubble to the surface, inspired by what you’re looking at, or maybe jarred loose by thinking about something utterly unrelated.

You scribble, sketch, jot down notes, make an outline. You play with colors, messing with paints or pastels or crayons or colored pencil. There’s no pressure at this stage. No finished product is expected. You might use scratch paper, or a scruffy sketchbook, or a private journal. There’s freedom to erase, redo, scratch out, throw away.

At some point, after all this messing about, you’ve got an idea cooking. That’s when you pull out the paper or canvas.

You start writing down the names of your novel’s main characters. You outline the main plot points. You rough in the main masses of your painting, lights and darks, basic shapes. You make sure that it looks like it’s going to work, then you proceed to refine, adding color, texture, details.

Before you know it, you’re painting or writing and that blank canvas wasn’t a hurdle at all. Quite the opposite: it was a natural part of the creative process.

Anyway, for me a blank canvas isn’t white. It’s red.

I don’t paint a canvas red until I know exactly what I’m going to do with it. Bigger ones like this one (which I just finished painting red) take longer to prepare. This delays the gratification of jumping into the actual painting process, but I think the delay is good for me. The anticipation builds my enthusiasm for the task ahead.

A few months ago I mentioned that I was adding phthalocyanine blue (phthalo blue) back to my palette as an experiment. I think I can now report the results of the experiment.

When I was painting landscapes in New England, I struggled to use phthalo blue, but found it too bright and turquoise-y for my purposes. The colors I needed there were more red-toned, cooler blues. All I really needed for that was ultramarine blue. Phthalo blue eventually dropped off my palette entirely. I didn’t have a good use for it.

Then I moved to California. The light here is so different, as well as the terrain. Even the grasses and trees are different. I found myself in need of brighter tones to capture the brilliance of the light here, and so I reached for the phthalo blue. Recalling my earlier struggles with this wild color, I was unsure whether I’d be able to tame the beast this time. It was an experiment.

Now it’s been a few months since I started using phthalo blue again, and I’m pleased to report that it’s going much better this time!

Unfinished painting using phthalo blue in the sky and the hill shadows.

I find phthalo blue is just the thing for capturing the brassy light of California, with its bright skies and shimmering foliage. Phthalo blue mixes some VERY bright colors. This can be a problem if you want subtler tones, but it is terrific if you’re looking for brighter hues. Which I am! I am especially fond of using it in my skies, as well as in shadows. It also perks up tree foliage nicely.

The verdict? Phthalo blue is on my palette to stay!