Barbara J Carter

“Topanga Mist”, 2008, acrylic on paper, 5×5″ matted to 14×11″

While hiking in Topanga State Park last fall, I saw some amazing cloud formations. Fog from the ocean started rolling in from the coast. I’d hiked far enough uphill to see over the next ridge and down into the valley where the fog was pooling. The sun, behind this pool of fog, made it glow eerily. The haze also veiled the far ridge in a lavender mist.

Much taken with this spectacle, I snapped several photos. Now I’ve turned the experience into a mini painting (and probably will do more). The composition of this painting appears quite abstract, but it’s actually quite true to the photos I took. Just some of the colors are a little altered, to give it my own twist. With such a simple composition I was able to have a lot of fun with my Pointillist technique.

This painting is available matted $115, or matted and framed in a simple black frame $145.

Email inquiries welcome: info@barbarajcarter.com

“Tree at Pacheco”, 2008, acrylic on paper, 5×5″ matted to 14×11″

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m painting a series of “mini” paintings. This is the first to be finished.

I paint these little 5-inch square paintings using a very small brush. There’s something very freeing about this tiny format. These paintings come together much more quickly than my larger ones, allowing me to be more spontaneous. Also, I do enjoy the simpler compositions that allow the pointillist dots to shimmer.

The format of these paintings is important to their appeal. Most of my time is spent painting, but a large chunk also goes into putting together the “package” with the mat and frame. I glue foamcore spacers between the mat and the painting to float the mat above the surface of the painting. The process is rather fussy (I’m very nitpicky about getting everything perfect) but I think the final effect is worth it. (Note: the photo above shows the real mat in a mock frame. The real frames are on order and should be available in time for my next show.)

It’s hard to show in a photo, but the effect of the mat is quite three-dimensional, floating 1/4 inch above the painting. It’s like looking through a tiny window into a different world. It’s much cuter in real life, so I hope you’ll stop by one of my shows and see for yourself!

This painting is available matted $115, or matted and framed in a simple black frame $145.

Email inquiries welcome: info@barbarajcarter.com

A few years ago I painted a series of 5×5-inch mini-paintings. They were much smaller than my canvas paintings, but otherwise they were much like my usual work. There were about a dozen paintings in that series. They were a fun project for me, and proved quite popular with my collectors.

Well, I’m doing it again. I need to have lots of paintings on hand for all of my upcoming shows, and these little guys seem just the thing. They’re pretty quick to paint and the smaller size is more affordable for collectors, not to mention easier to find space for hanging.

Here’s a group shot of the first few mini paintings in the new series, in varying stages of completion. I mat each one with a thick mat that I float above the surface of the painting for a peek-a-boo window effect. The mat hides the edges of the painting. How far does the painting go under the mat? That’s the mystery, and I’m not telling!

Each mat’s outside dimensions are 11×14 inches, a standard frame size. Unlike my paintings on canvas, these mini paintings do require framing, so I make that easier by using a standard size. At my shows I’ll also offer frames to go with these.

Check back for updates as I finish painting and assembling these mini paintings. I’m having a lot of fun with them. The only question: how many will I be able to finish in time for my next show? Stay tuned!

“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.

“Trees on the Ridge”, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 24×36″

On a hot sunny day in Southern California, hiking can be either a hot dusty ordeal or a cool shady pleasure, depending on where you choose to go.

One good place to go when the temperature soars is Sullivan Canyon in Los Angeles. Much of the canyon is shaded by large sycamores, gnarled oaks, and other native trees. The trail snakes along the bottom of the canyon where the shade is most plentiful.

Not all the trees are to be found deep in the canyon. This picturesque grove growing along the ridge above the canyon caught my eye, and I snapped a few shots of it as I walked by. Now, half a year later, in the depth of winter (as deep as winter gets here, which admittedly isn’t all that deep!) I’ve finished the painting based on those snapshots. Can you feel the shimmering heat?

This painting is available (unframed only) $870. It is wired and ready to hang. The edges are finished so framing is not necessary.

Email inquiries welcome: info@barbarajcarter.com

All my paintings are priced by size; prices increase periodically. If you are viewing this more than a few months after my posting, please consult my website for current prices: www.barbarajcarter.com

Here’s an example of how a painting comes together.

I’m skipping a lot of preparatory steps… I’ll blog about them next time!

I work on my paintings in stages, letting each layer dry before applying the next. Here’s the first layer:

I usually start by blocking in the darkest areas of the painting, just to give me some structure to follow. Notice that even from the very beginning I use my characteristic pointillist style dots.

My table, to the right of the easel, holds my palette (it’s the big white sheet of freezer paper taped onto the table). The photo I’m working from is also lying on the table. You can also see other photos taped up on the wall behind the easel. Those are for other paintings.

Now I’m ready to start adding other colors:

I’ve put in some of the lightest parts of this painting. Again, this helps me keep track of what goes where. The midtone areas get filled in next:

This stage takes a while. I’ll work on the painting for a while, then set it aside. I’ll come back to it in a few hours or the next day when it’s good and dry, and I can look at it with fresh eyes. I’ll add to it a little each day. This goes on for several days. If I get really stuck, I might even set it aside for several days or even weeks just to let my subconscious mind work on it.

When the painting is almost finished, I’ll often leave it alone for several days, propped up somewhere in my studio so that I can see it while doing other things. Progress can slow down a lot in the final stages as I mull over what the painting “needs” in order to pull it together.

Here’s the end result (picture taken in better light):

“Hills and Shadows”, 2007, 40×30″

I use titanium white as the white color on my palette. Its opacity is particularly suited to my “neo-pointillist” style.

“Glowing Hills” detail, 2007

I like how titanium white holds its own in mixtures with other colors. It lends opacity in mixes with transparent colors like ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson. A little white can tone down a saturated color. White can also make mixed colors a little cooler, which can be either good or bad depending on the effect you want. (One trick for keeping a color warm while still lightening the shade is to use some yellow along with the white.)

Anywhere you see what appears to be white in my paintings, it’s almost always a mixture of titanium white with a little bit of some other color. For example, those white-looking spots in the skies of my landscape paintings are typically titanium white mixed with a tiny dab of ultramarine blue.

Below is an older painting where I used white mixtures in several areas.

“Rough Pasture”, 2005

We’ve reached the final stop on the tour of my palette: White. It is possible to paint quite successfully without black (and I do), but white is indispensable.

There are two kinds of white paint available: zinc white and titanium white. The main difference between the two is opacity: titanium white is very opaque and zinc white is more transparent. Zinc white is sometimes called tinting white or blending white.

My “neo-pointillist” style requires opaque paint colors, so I use titanium white. My style is a layered technique and I only want the top layer to show. When I paint a dot that overlaps other dots, I don’t want the ones underneath to show through.

Oh, and that photo above? Well, that’s what my palette really looks like when I’m painting. Big blobs of colors all over the place. I figured you might enjoy a peek at the real thing, and anyway white paint doesn’t show up against a white background very well!

“Red Hills”, 2007, 14×11″. See more California landscapes.

(See my previous post for a discussion of the two red colors I use in my paintings: alizarin crimson and cadmium red.)

When I was in New England, I used alizarin crimson as my background color for my landscape paintings. It seemed appropriate for the New England landscape, with its cool mauve-blue skies and earthy red undertones.

When I moved back to California and began painting the California hills, cool alizarin no longer seemed like such a good choice. The light here is warm, even brassy, and the land has a hot, almost scorched feel. At first I tried using a bright orange color as my background, but I found I was fighting against it rather than with it. Maybe it was just a little TOO brassy. So I turned to cadmium red, and immediately it felt right. It has the warmer tone appropriate for my California landscape paintings, but still retains the general “redness” that give my paintings their distinctive quality.

I’m still using alizarin crimson for the background of the November Sun series. These paintings are based on the New England landscape, so they require the cooler red.

“November Sun 12″, 2007, 16×20″. See more November Sun paintings.

Of course, I use red for more than just the background of my paintings. I don’t use red for my pointillist dots - they would just disappear against the background! Instead I mix it with white, yellow, and blue to make some truly luscious colors which stand out nicely against the background.

Cadmium red mixes with yellow to make an orange that isn’t too saturated. Mixed with white it creates some fantastic warm pinks. Adding just a little yellow to the pink yields some beautiful salmon and apricot hues. Mixing cadmium red with blue makes a dull brownish violet useful for offsetting brighter colors in the painting.

Alizarin crimson mixed with blue makes a wide range of useful shades, from the most delicate pale violet to a deep almost-black purple. Alizarin mixed with yellow creates some very interesting terra-cotta colors.

“Warm Field” detail, 2005.

For examples of all of these colors, see my paintings.