Une peinture de maquereau

Maquereau (French) = Mackerel

On Google Translate, there are definitions too

and it says the mackerel is:

"a migratory surface-dwelling predatory fish, commercially important as a food fish"

I do not know why 

but I have been wanting to paint some mackerel 

lying on a plate or a board. I don't even remember what it tastes like, 

or if I have even ever had any! or why I wanted to paint some!

So I took a screenshot from the interwebs 

of some mackerel (they happened to be in France),

and flipped them around and messed with the colors

and made my painting.

The following photos show my process.

  Sketched in my mackerel with a thinned mix of burnt umber and ultramarine blue.

Got a little more detail in, making sure ...

Now some color, mostly a blue wash. 

I think there is a little bit of Pthalo blue in here at this point.

Mackerel/maquereaux on ice! (not a painting)

Maquereaux pour votre dîner    12 x 10 inches    oil on wood panel

For your continuing fishy enjoyment, 
I give you this beautiful painting of mackerel by Van Gogh  💕💕💕

... and a quote from Maria Popova, about a little book she found, 

 (writing at her wonderful Brain Pickings site), 

about a boy and a fish ... and poems: 

 "Every once in a while, you stumble upon something so lovely, so unpretentiously beautiful and quietly profound, that you feel like the lungs of your soul have been pumped with a mighty gasp of Alpine air.  

This Is a Poem That Heals Fish (public library) is a vitalizing gasp of loveliness — a lyrical picture-book that offers a playful and penetrating answer to the question of what a poem is and what it does. And as it does that, it shines a sidewise gleam on the larger question of what we most hunger for in life and how we give shape to those deepest longings.

Written by the French poet, novelist, and dramatist Jean-Pierre Simeón, and illustrated by Olivier Tallec, this poetic and philosophical tale follows young Arthur as he tries to salve his beloved red fish Leon’s affliction of boredom."

(I might need to find this book!)

Thank you so much for taking time to check in!

Happy fishing and happy painting!

Cold Wax Medium (part 2)

the birds (NFS)      4 x 9 inches      oil and cold wax medium on Arches Huile paper

We began each workshop day by doing quick 30 minute "quickie paintings" 

prepared by taping 2 pieces of 9 x 12 inch Arches Oil paper 

to the table and dividing them 

up into four painting surfaces.

"the birds" seen at the top of this post was one of those.

If you are calculating it, yes - that meant we had 20 small paintings

by the end of the week!

It was a way to learn about the medium

and to warm up for the day.

Beginning layers of paint drying (in the shade) outside the workshop venue.

My workstation and two wip paintings.
I think that small one at the bottom turned into Rainforest! (the painting at the top of my last post)

The Pacific NW Art School space.

Of the many techniques we learned, 

one of the most valuable for

me was learning how (and why) to layer.

I guess everyone has the tendency to stop or "save" a pretty area of their painting.

 We learned that you will never see how magical it can be if you don't keep going, 

- keep layering -

even if you do have a cool texture or shape or color or even line!

keep putting paint down! and then taking it off again!

One of Jerry's sayings that sticks for me is:

"It's just passing scenery" 

... it may be gorgeous but you are just motoring along, 

taking note and passing it by. 

True, it takes a bit of bravado, but if you think of that quote, it helps.

-ok-

So ... how much oil paint and how much wax? 

You can find the answer to this 

(and much much more) 

in the Cold Wax Medium book,

but I can tell you that the wax:paint ratio ranges 

from 30:70 all the way to 50:50 ... and actually

it simply is a matter of choice! Experiment!

Some of the techniques for applying 

oil and cold wax medium are -

Use:

1 - a brayer

2 - a brush (not that easy, I found)

3 - a painting knife

4 - a squeegee

5 - your hands!

Another thing to be thinking about as you consider your blank slate:

Why are you desiring to use this wax and oil mixture?

What is your Intention?

(To be honest, for me, this question should be answered 

before ANY painting, of any kind, has begun.)

The last thing I will say for now is

that you should give it a try. 

Trying new things is good for your creative brain. 

Most of all,

have fun.

I did walk around a bit in Coupeville before and after each day,

 and noticed the mussel beds out in Penn Cove (they were delicious btw),

the beautiful Pacific Madrona trees, and

during the week, the smoke from the forest fires got pretty thick. 

Note the sun in the last photo.

As I finish the paintings I started here in this great workshop, 

and make new ones, of course ...

I will post and try to talk about them.

Thank you so much for checking in!

Happy Painting! ... and let me know if you try CWM

and what you think.

Cold Wax Medium (part 1)

Rainforest      oil and cold wax on prepared panel     10 x 8 inches     (tgr)

CWM = cold wax medium

Wow!

I went to a painting workshop in August.

On Whidbey Island, in Washington state ...

there's a teensy little town

called Coupeville.

There is an art center there called the 

Pacific NW Art School, 

where art classes are held.

 I was so pleasantly surprised

that I worked and worked and worked 

along with my fellow workshoppers 

and the week went by

-

like nothing!

Dr Jerry McLaughlin

was our instructor.

Please click on that link and it will fill you in on how Jerry is turning from 

a Pediatric Critical Care Physician 

to artist, author and respected instructor/mentor in the art world.

First, you are maybe wondering what CWM is. Here is a link
for more a thorough definition ... and, directly from the
site is this definition:
"Cold wax medium is a medium composed mainly of beeswax 
with a small amount of solvent and other ingredients to aid in drying time, 
for use with oil paint. It has a soft, paste-like consistency."

Our first day was spent 
preparing boards for the week, which meant: 
1 - staining the white, blank space of the surface 
2 - thinking about layers for contrast
3 - using the tools

Some of my first layers looked like this:

These are on Multimedia Artboard 16 x 20 inches.

Next post will be photos of our workshop space 
and a little more about how you can use CWM.

Stay tuned ...

Oh! and in the meantime, please look up
Jerry and Rebecca Crowell's
book about Cold Wax Medium!

There is a wealth of information about CWM!

... and, as always - happy painting!