I have been waiting out the wild weather by studying and gathering supplies and resources to launch my big project. I have had to be patient as the delivery of the art supplies are often delayed due to road closures by weather and landslides. In the meantime I have been slowly making tools to do some serious study in the studio.
I have been inspired by Paul Foxton's Learning to See blog
for quite sometime now. He has a wonderful blog on learning a
methodical process for art study that is similar to how I was schooled.
He is a big advocate and user of the Munsell system of color and I have
become quite enthusiastic about it myself. I have dabbled in the method
for a few years now but am buckling down and working through it.
The best site for serious study, in addition to Learning to See, is the Rational Painting
site by Graydon Parrish. This site requires becoming a member to access
it fully and I am grateful to have joined a few years ago. I have not
been active due to several major life events but I am now working
through it. Graydon and other members have put in a great deal of time
and energy into the exercises and forums. There is several years worth
of information and processes to dive into.
I am starting with the Munsell neutrals. I am in
the process of making my neutral value scales through precise mixing and
matching of the Munsell value scale and am learning quite a bit. The
above picture is of a set of value blocks that I have painted and will
be using in several exercises. I just received supplies to mix and tube
up my own set of Munsell values and will be working on that next.I could
go on about this topic for quite a while, however, the two sites I
listed above do a far better job than I can at the moment!
Finally, a note for those familiar with the
Munsell system, I have purchased The New Munsell Student Color set (I
have the 3rd edition) and a Munsell neutral value scale to work with. I
am saving up my pennies to purchase the big Munsell Book of Color. It is
quite a pricey tool, basically the cost of a good workshop, but I
believe it worth the investment. Many of the exercises can be done with
the tools I have but going deeper will require the big book.
I am getting close to starting to auction my
small paintings and will be announcing the first auction and the links
to it very soon! I have also been keeping busy working on our house and
getting a new garden in. I am trying to be patient and productive while
waiting out the weather so I can get back to painting on the beach and
starting up my big project. I love winter but I am looking forward to
spring.
-Renee
