研究# 1
亲爱的玛丽,
我附上了一个jpg的9×12研究…首先,让我走过这幅画有点…
为背景,我把一个小蓝的天空,你请求,画笔在岩石等光哨兵。我离开的右侧悬崖表面相当未定义为这有助于促使你的眼睛离此处转向兴趣中心。我可能会添加一个触摸到这个地区的执着的雪,但是不多。…
关于黑色大橡树,它是主要的兴趣中心。其实我画的几次,与背景光,直射光,不同深浅的黄色和橙色,最后你所看到的。这似乎看起来最反对哨兵摇滚。我还添加了更多的红色比原始照片。我不确定你是否有特定的秋天的颜色在心里,但这似乎工作最好的,至少对我来说。我也打开了橡树一点所以蓝色辉光从谷底来自。这真的会发出颜色的树叶。明亮色彩的橡树需要平衡与其他绘画,所以我做了一个小的灌木在极右派河银行更多的红色,柔和的淡红色的树的中间。…
我添加了一个小更感兴趣流银行,惊人的它而不是直线的照片。有一件事我想改变在最后的绘画是降低流银行略,打开中间立场。这将允许我让橡树就大一点。
在回应我的第一个研究,收藏家们发电子邮件给我回:
亲爱的唐纳德,
我们喜欢你做的研究很多,但想颜色调整到更好的匹配我们的其他照片。我们也认为学习有意义的冬季,灰色的天空和云朵和触摸的确有我们会喜欢阳光,秋天的角度来看,在第一场雪。我们像橡树,但并不附加到较小的树在中心,现在是一个淡紫色的颜色,可能不是一个好的匹配我们的其他图片,调色板我们很高兴有你决定的大小松树你有一个更好的眼睛比我们中的任何一个!让我知道你的想法。
他们还送我一张照片的其他画在房间里,下面显示进一步,这给我一个好的主意,树叶的颜色他们想要的。
研究# 2
在看到一个jpg的其他房间里的画是我画的另一项研究与叶更金黄来匹配。我也热身悬崖在后台匹配。我不想只是在我的第一个研究油漆,我认为这是一个好畅销的画在它自己的权利。
亲爱的玛丽,
我不会再次走过这幅画,但第一个jpg似乎有太多的黄色的,尤其是在大树上。似乎一旦我画它大,黄色是无法抵抗的。所以,我减少了叶子有点和添加一些更多的橘子和红军。这些实际上是一群黑橡树(或三角叶杨? ?),如果我对待他们更像个人树用自己的颜色看起来好一点。同时,悬崖似乎太暗和蓝色会下降,所以我点燃,现场相当温暖他们,并调整相应的其他画作。
我寄实际的第二项研究的收藏家,要求他们把它的照片旁边房间里的画。因为相机、显示器、照明等,可以有很大的差异,只有这样才能得到一个准确的比较是有两个相同的图片。
绘画对我的学习由Walter贝利。
这里是我对玛丽:
亲爱的玛丽,
看到两幅并排非常暴露的!在贝利的黄色画是比我想象的要亮一点,但是看起来很符合我的研究。是的,我能把更多的蓝色天空和灰色/蓝色的“悬崖”如果你想要的。有一个方法我疯狂…
在多云的天空预示着冬天的代表,我建议我们可以离开在仅仅几缕保持一点利息在那个地区。很黑,很饱和的蓝色在贝利画我不认为将跨越整个天空,但更介于两者之间。
我原本有悬崖和蓝灰色的,但是想多一点紫色代表温暖的秋天的颜色更好,但不是很好。在最后的大画,(附再你方便的时候),他们实际上是灰色的蓝,但依然有/相当多的紫色、我想离开只是一个触摸的紫色在哨兵的岩石,吸引你的眼球,回到绘画多一点。无论如何,如果这听起来好和你在一起,我将会继续。
正如你可以看到黄色的两幅相似,收藏家们满意这项研究。
我已经开始禁止在和工作在较大最后帆布,但没有改变需要做我还没有达到这个阶段,颜色是一个问题。
我在这里由深蓝色的调色板,钴蓝色、二氢喹吖啶红、镉红中,绿色颜料,透明氧化铁、镉橙、黄赭石、镉黄介质。我偶尔使用其他颜色,但是这是我的主面板。
我通常预混结合深蓝色和二氢喹吖啶红形成一个紫色。这通常是唯一使用深蓝色我使用在一幅画。对于大多数的蓝色音调在绘画过程中,我通常会坚持钴蓝。我也混钴蓝色和镉红深得到丰富的灰色。
我的画笔是一个# 12亮大约90%的绘画。我确实偶尔会使用其他的刷子如# 12榛子做天空和部分的悬崖。我使用了圆为了得到一点柔和的边缘地区。
开始最后大画布,我第一次画的基本成分。因为我有一个相当完整的学习去,我不需要很多的细节图。不管怎样我细节Sentintenal岩石背景。配置文件必须是正确的,因为它是一个可辨认的地标在约塞米蒂山谷。
亲爱的玛丽,
也许你喜欢获得定期更新进展的绘画。附加的jpg是我最初的草图。它看起来不是很像,只是一个一般的迹象主要大众。因为我有一个研究工作,许多细节可以排除在素描。一个重要的项目是,剖面的哨兵岩石。因为它是一个可辨认的具有里程碑意义的,我必须得到它的形象正好或绘画不会工作。我希望得到背景悬崖由下周初我将在那个星期的大部分
通常情况下,我将阻止在许多绘画之前详细工作。然而,在这个例子因为我有一个非常详细的研究工作,我基本上画帆布顶向下。
天空,主要是与我三清殿漆成灰色和紫色预混和触动其他颜色如钴蓝色的天空。我主要用来# 12榛子猪鬃为了保持边缘软。
我发送一个新的jpg的收藏家,并接受反馈:
亲爱的唐纳德,
总体上我们真的爱这幅画。有一个调整我们想建议看看你能想到什么。正如你将看到的照片(和它的更强大在日光),你的画的山脉有一个略带紫色的演员和天空非常白。这些元素,最不同于绘画的贝利。和我们最好的记忆的约塞米蒂趋向于灰色花岗岩和明亮的蓝色的天空,我想可能排队与贝利更好。你认为这些调整会工作吗?
我现在开始认真的画。我同意玛丽的评价,悬崖有点过于温暖或紫色。我主要用一些钴蓝色,白色,和一些灰色来消暑和减轻他们。
悬崖现在基本上完成,我开始阻塞在树叶和流银行。与树叶,我块在后面黑暗,我前进的工作在较浅的颜色。我用各种各样的颜色从透明氧化铁对镉的黄色。突出区域留给最后。
我将做最后的流和反射像他们需要准确地反映景观。
继续努力的树叶,我绘制背景常青树,大橡树和继续流银行。我继续使用明亮的橙色和黄色等Cadmiums更纯净的颜色,我层在里面。
亲爱的玛丽,
这里是另一个更新。多的中间的地面植物和流银行,也许大约2/3的做。当这幅画有大型的银行看上去太单调,流所以添加了更多的兴趣与一个小侵蚀,更多的岩石,等等。我还在跟踪完成本周大部分工作。一旦完成了,我通常把它掉在一段几周看看它偶尔会以一种新鲜的眼睛每隔几天就会调整。
在把大多数流,我开始变得不满意的部分,尤其是流反射。
亲爱的玛丽,
只是一个更新。我有画在默塞德,充实更多的河岸上,把更多的定义在左侧和右侧的银行。坦率地说,我不满意的结果,但这是无论如何。我画和报废的部分,它是微处理器多次仍然不对…小jpg看起来好,但它是一个烂摊子,理应得到更好的微处理器。我可能明天擦洗大部分完全以全新的外观。左边的岩石流银行不是正确的…没有平衡。
我做了大部分的流和擦洗重做它。它已经变得太厚和泥泞与油漆。我一般油漆水相当薄没有大量的油漆。这给了它一个更液体看起来与周围的地面,穿上更厚。
我也刮掉最左边常绿…
亲爱的玛丽,
附件是另一个jpg的我在现在。自从我上次发邮件给,我刮掉,再做水。虽然它仍然需要更多的工作,它看起来好多了,但是你可能无法告诉很多的区别只是从jpg。我也改变了岩石,河银行需要更多的东西,所以增加了一个美国紫荆打破它。我也修改了大前景的岩石,可能会改变他们更多的一旦我得到更深远。我也画出了常绿在最左边。当我有它,它使这幅画看起来有点幽闭。我需要一些东西来把你的眼球回到绘画,所以可能要么油漆另一个常绿树叶,或者少或无叶的树一棵枯树。
常绿的左边是画回到少一点树叶,小溪是改进。
亲爱的玛丽,
附件是另一个jpg。在这一点上,所有的元素都在和我认为这幅画基本上“完成”。然而,正如我在前面提到的,我让它坐了一会儿,使调整一段时间内的几个星期,偶尔有新鲜的感觉。
虽然没有明显的jpg,轻微的调整之后,所有的绘画。发邮件后最新的jpg的收藏家,我收到了这个反应。
亲爱的唐纳德,
我认为它很漂亮。我只有两点建议:(1)在连续的四个巨石在左下角(开始在新树并且延伸到河)相当均匀的形状,我可能会喜欢一些分化。(2)我也觉得天空依然显得有点灰色我喜欢明亮的蓝色天空中期在约塞米蒂。你怎么想的?
这是我正在寻找的响应。他们喜欢工作整体,但也花了足够的时间来详细讨论了提供建议。
经过几次调整和采取他们的建议更多,这里是一个小大图的最后画。
因为收藏家住在旧金山,这是一个多一个小时车程,我把我个人的想法,这是我们第一次面对面的会面。
我也把我的油漆以防他们想要一起任何轻微颜色调整。他们喜欢它作为交付所以没有进一步的改变。这是一个照片拿这幅画在柏林墙前,它会挂。原协议交付它无边框的。他们似乎很高兴的和我希望他们仍然是!
原文如下：
Study #1
Dear Mary,
I have attached a jpg of the 9×12 study… First, let me walk through the painting a bit…
For the background, I put a little blue in the sky as you requested, splashed some light across Sentinel Rock, etc. I left the right side of the cliff face fairly undefined as this helps lead your eye away from here and towards the center of interest. I might add a touch of clinging snow to this area, but not much.…
Concerning the large black oaks, which is the primary center of interest. I actually painted them several times, with back light, direct light, with different shades of yellow and orange, and finally what you see. This seemed to look the best against Sentinel Rock. I also added more red than the original photos. I am not sure if you had specific fall colors in mind, but this seemed to work the best, at least to me. I also opened up the oaks a little so the bluish glow from the valley floor comes through. This really sets off the colors of the leaves. The bright colors of the oaks needed to be balanced with the rest of the painting, so I made one of the small bushes in the far right river bank more red, and muted the reddish tree in the middle ground.…
I added a little more interest to the stream bank, staggering it rather than just the straight line in the photos. One thing I want to change in the final painting is to lower the stream bank slightly, and open up the middle ground. This will allow me to make the oaks just a bit bigger.
In response to my first study, the collectors emailed me back:
Dear Donald,
We like the study you did very much, but would like the colors adjusted to better match our other picture. We also thought that the study had a sense of winter, with the gray sky and the clouds and the touch of snow–and we would prefer a sunnier, fall perspective, before the first snow. We like the oaks, but were less attached to the smaller tree in the center which is now a mauve color, and probably not a good match with the palette of our other picture. We are happy to have you decide on the size of the pines–you have a much better eye than either of us! Let me know what you think.
They also sent me a photo of the other painting in the room, shown further below, which gave me a better idea of the color of the foliage they want.
Study #2
After seeing a jpg of the other painting in the room, I painted another study with the foliage more golden yellow to match. I also warmed up the cliffs in the background to match. I didn’t want to just paint over my first study as I thought it was a good salable painting in it’s own right.
Dear Mary,
I won’t walk through the painting again, but the first jpg seemed to have too much yellow, especially in the big trees. It seemed once I painted it large, the yellows would be overpowering. So, I thinned out the leaves a little and added a few more oranges & reds. These are actually a bunch of Black Oaks (or Cottonwoods??) and if I treat them more like inpidual trees with their own color it looks a little better. Also, the cliffs seemed too dark and blue for a fall scene, so I lighted and warmed them up considerably, and adjusted the rest of the painting accordingly.
I mailed the actual second study to the collectors and asked them to take a photo of it beside the painting in the room. Since cameras, monitors, lighting, etc. can vary widely, the only way to get an exact comparison is to have both in the same picture.
Painting by Walter Bailey with my study.
Here is my response to Mary:
Dear Mary,
Seeing the two paintings side by side is very revealing! The yellows in the Bailey painting are a little brighter than I thought, but seem fairly in line with my study. Yes, I can put more blue in the sky and gray/blue out the cliffs if you want. There was a method to my madness…
The cloudy skies represent a harbinger of winter, and I would suggest we might leave in just a few wisps to keep a little interest in that area. The very dark, very saturated blue in the Bailey painting I don’t think would work across the entire sky, but more something in between.
I originally had the cliffs grayer and bluer, but thought a little more purple would represent warmer fall colors better, but either is fine. In the final large painting, (attached it again for your convenience) they are actually grayer/bluer, but still have quite a bit of purple and I would like to leave just a touch of purple on Sentinel Rock, as that draws your eye back into the painting a little more. At any rate, if this sounds OK with you, I will proceed.
As you can see the yellows in the two paintings were similar, and the collectors were satisfied with this study.
I had already started blocking in and working on the large final canvas, but no changes needed to be made as I had not yet reached the stage where colors were an issue.
My palette here consists of Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Quinacridone Red, Cadmium Red Medium, Sap Green, Transparent Iron Oxide, Cadmium Orange, Yellow Ochre, and Cadmium Yellow Medium. I occasionally use other colors, but this is my primary palette.
I usually pre-mix a combination of Ultramarine Blue and Quinacridone Red to form a purple. This is usually the only use of Ultramarine I use in a painting. For most of the blue tones during the painting process, I usually stick with Cobalt Blue. I also mix Cobalt Blue and Cadmium Red Deep to get a rich gray.
My brushes are a #12 Bright for about 90% of the painting. I did occasionally use other brushes such as #12 filbert to do the sky and part of the cliffs. I used the round in order to get a little softer edge in places.
Starting the final large canvas, I first drew in the basic composition. Since I had a fairly complete study to go by, I didn’t need a lot of detail in the drawing. I did however detail Sentintenal Rock in the background. The profile had to be correct as it is a recognizable landmark in Yosemite Valley.
Dear Mary,
Thought you might like to get periodic updates on the progress of the painting. The attached jpg is my initial sketch-in. It doesn’t look like much, just a general indication of major masses. Since I have a study to work from, many details can be left out of the sketch. The one important item though, is the profile of Sentinel Rock. Since it is a recognizable landmark, I have to get it’s profile just right or the painting won’t work. I hope to get the background cliffs done by the beginning of next week as I will be in Tahoe much of that week.
Normally, I would block in much of the painting prior to working in detail. However, in this instance since I had a fairly detailed study to work with, I basically painted the canvas top down.
The sky and cliffs are painted primarily with my pre-mixed gray and purple with touches of other colors such as Cobalt Blue in the sky. I used primarily a #12 filbert bristle in order to keep the edges soft.
I sent a new jpg to the collectors, and received this response:
Dear Donald,
Overall we really love the painting. There is one adjustment we would like to suggest to see what you think. As you will see from the photos (and it’s even stronger in daylight), your painting’s mountains have a purplish cast and the sky is fairly white. These are the elements that most differ from the Bailey painting. And we our best memories of Yosemite tends toward gray granite and bright blue skies–which I think might line up better with the Bailey. Do you think those adjustments would work?
I now begin the painting in earnest. I agreed with Mary’s assesment that the cliffs were a little too warm or purple. I used mainly some Cobalt Blue, white, and some gray to cool them down and lighten them up.
The cliffs are now basically complete and I start blocking in the foliage and stream bank. With the foliage, I block in the rear darker, working my way forward in lighter colors. I use a variety of colors from Transparent Red Oxide to Cadmium Yellows. Highlight areas are left for last.
I will do the stream and reflections last as they need to accurately reflect the landscape.
Continuing to work on the foliage, I paint the background evergreens, the large oaks and continue on the stream bank. I keep using brighter Cadmiums such as Orange and Yellow in more purer colors as I layer in the foliage.
Dear Mary,
Here is another update. Much of the middle ground foliage and stream bank is in, maybe about 2/3 done. When the painting got large, the grassy stream bank looked too monotonous, so have added even more interest with a little erosion, more rocks, etc. Am still on track to finish the bulk of the work this week. Once this is done, I usually put it away over a period of several weeks and look at it occasionally with a fresh eye every few days to make adjustments.
After putting in most of the stream, I was starting to become dissatisfied with parts, especially the stream reflections.
Dear Mary,
Just an update. I have painted in the Merced, fleshed out more of the river bank, and put more definition in the left and right banks. Frankly, I am not happy with the results, but here it is anyway. I painted and scraped parts of the Merced multiple times and it is still not right…the small jpg may look OK, but it is a mess, and the Merced deserves better. I may scrub much of it entirely tomorrow with a fresh look. The rocks on the left stream bank are not right…there is no balance.
I did scrub much of the stream and redo it. It had become too thick and muddy with paint. I generally paint water fairly thin without a lot of paint. This gives it a more liquid look as contrasted with the surrounding ground, which is put on more thickly.
I also scraped out the far left evergreen…
Dear Mary,
Attached is another jpg of where I am at now. Since I last emailed, I scraped and redid the water. Although it still needs more work, it looks much better now, but you may not be able to tell a lot of difference just from the jpg. I also changed the rocks, and the river bank needed something more, so added a redbud to break it up. I also modified the large foreground rocks, and may change them more once I get further along. I also painted out the evergreen on the far left. As I had it, it made the painting look a little claustrophobic. I need something there to bring your eye back into the painting, so might either paint another evergreen with less foliage, or maybe a dead tree or leafless tree.
The evergreen on the left is painted back in with a little less foliage, and the stream is improved.
Dear Mary,
Attached is another jpg. At this point, all the elements are in and I consider the painting basically ‘complete’. However, as I mentioned before, I let it sit for awhile and make adjustments over a period of several weeks with an occasional fresh look.
Although not readily apparent in the jpg, minor adjustments are made all over the painting. After emailing the latest jpg to the collectors, I received this response.
Dear Donald,
I think it’s gorgeous. I have only two things to suggest: (1) The four boulders in a row in the lower left corner (starting at the new tree and reaching into the river) are rather uniform in shape, I might like some differentiation. (2) I also think the sky still looks a little grey–I do love the bright blue mid day sky in Yosemite. What do you think?
This was the response I was looking for. They liked the work overall, but also took enough time to go over it in detail to offer suggestions.
After a few more adjustments and adopting their suggestions, here is a little larger image of the final painting.
Since the collectors live in San Francisco, which is a little over an hours drive, I delivered it personally, which was the first time we met face to face.
I also brought my paints along in case they wanted any minor color adjustments. They liked it as delivered so no further changes were made. Here is a photo of them holding the painting in front of the wall it will hang. The original agreement was to deliver it unframed. They seemed very pleased and I hope they still are!
