Paintings from France

Here a few of the paintings from the Fountaine-Fourches workshop in France.

The first is a door on the barn/studio. I painted it one late afternoon when the sun was out. Then later I was able to "kick up" some values on the sunlit parts. It is oil on multi-media board that had been gessoed.

The center painting is part of the climbing rose over the pergola on the house. The window with the geraniums in the boxes is actually the room where I stayed. This was a morning painting. It is oil on Sourcetek panel.

The last painting is of a cottage in a village called Gravon. We set up to paint across the street from it. Ann, Sarah, and L.J. worked in watercolor while Anne painted in oil. Faye did a beautiful sketch of a door on another cottage and Kippy worked on the street scene in pastel. The lady of the house came out several times to see our progress. She was so nice. Kippy invited her to our final night reception and she came! I am very honored to say that all three were purchased that night. I will post a few others later to give you some idea of the picturesque landscape and architecture of the region.

One of the nicest things about staying in one place is the opportunity to work more on something when the conditions are right. Monet always worked on more than one painting at a time and would go back to work on them when the light and atmospheric conditions were the same. If the light and shadows change while you are working, stop! Sometimes you can "nail" the shadows first and get away with painting after the sun goes behind a cloud, but it is hard to remember all the colors you saw while it was shining. It is better to go back at the same time another day and finish it.

Another thing about staying in an area is you can locate the best time of day to paint. I like cast shadows when painting architecture, so I want the sun on it and behind me. One of our stops was the lovely town of Moret-sur-Loring, where Alfred Sisley painted. Our view of the river and mill was in shadow that afternoon. I had to move up the bank and to the left to see the light hitting the facade of a building across the bank and see the sunlight dancing on the water. (That will be another post!)

Hope you have a great National Holiday week and enjoy being with family and friends. I will celebrate my birthday with fireworks and a cookout. Sometimes, it pays to have a July 4 birthday!

Back to painting!

Durinda