Mediteranean Climb ( 9"x4")

Again, I am enjoying painting stairs. They fascinate me because they take me somewhere if I have the effort to climb them... In this case, I may have to rest a few times on the way up but it looks like fun and the weather is nice and bright at the top.

Thanks to Denise for providing the artistic material for this photo. She and her son David travelled over to the Mediteranean to visit with husband and dad Sandy, currently posted in Afghanistan with our Canadian troops. They took a Med cruise together and wandered a variety of towns and streets... LOTS of great stairs over there!

I think they set a great exampe for our family - when Matthew goes on tour in Feb 2010, I'm hoping we can pack the kids and Christina over to the Med for a week of R&R. It sounds like a great thing to look forward to. One consideration will of course be that a motorized scooter might not do so well on islands covered with stairs like these.

Enjoy your long weekend!

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Black Pots (8"x8")

Stone staircases like these are the norm for old homes in Manitou Springs. I've got a thing for steps and stairs and the bright light and deep shadows on these fascinated me.

I've been thinking about chiaroscuro, the Italian word denoting the contrast between dark and light. Can anyone think of a word in English that means exactly that? No? Interesting concept isn't it? The Italians have been talking about chiaroscuro for ages. Mainly as it relates to art of course. For you Scrabble hounds, chiaroscuro is in my spell checker as a valid "English" word.

Try to imagine these stairs in flat light - no strong shadows, no strong lights... just straight pink rock. If we were to attempt to ascend that shadowless staircase we would have a hard time figuring out where to put our feet. Our eyes are geared to see light and dark and our brain interprets the information so that we can operate our feet, and climb the stairs to the top. Chiaroscuro is vital information for us.

Now, apply chiaroscuro to life. Would we appreciate or even notice a sunny day if we'd never experienced a rainy one? Would we appreciate a beautiful face without the highlights and shadows? Without contrast, our lives are boring, dull, lifeless. This can be applied in all areas of life - physical, emotional, spiritual. The next time I'm having a dull or dark day, I'm going to be thankful that I've got the ability to recognize one from the other. There's really nothing worse than being stuck in the middle... having a "gray day" or pondering a "gray area" of law/politics, morals. I can be thankful for the dark in the past because it contrasts with the light and helps me see. It makes the path clear. Cheers!

The How-to paragraph - The last putzing hour on this painting involved glazing the stair risers darker and warmer or darker and cooler depending on their location. Then I separated the rock wall that the pots sit on from the wall behind. To do this I lightened the staircase wall by scrubbing it with a sponge, then I cooled and darkened the wall of the house (behind the plants) by glazing it with dulled blue to push it back. A bit of dry brushing over the rocks gave them a rough look, a bit of lifting around the pots sharpened them. Then I added a bit of color for the flowers and it's done.

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Puerto Vallarta Out of the Sun

Puerto Vallarta Out of the Sun 9"x14"

This painting was completed about an hour ago. I did all the painting today but the more difficult part was the planning and drawing which I had done about a week ago. I based this piece on a reference photo taken in March 2007 in Puerto Vallarta when I visited Mexico with Maureen and Stu McLellan.

We needed a rest break after riding the blue bus into downtown Puerto Vallarta, walking a few blocks to the beach area and visiting some shops. It was quite hot for Canucks like us... around 90 F I believe. We descended to the River Cafe on a wide, curving staircase which opened out in front of the restaurant. The relief of the shade was immediate and the fans felt wonderful as we were seated. We were in luck - Arthuro (an old friend of Stumo's) was there and he served us like royalty. After eating (delicious) we took our time looking around... what a great location beside the river. Just then one table of diners spotted iguanas lounging lazily in the huge trees above. As I looked toward the commotion I was drawn to this sunlit staircase in the corner. The light was streaming down through the shade of the trees and dappling the stairs and floor below.

For comparison I am posting the photo reference for you below. You'll see that I've used my artistic license to move the niche as well as adding the plant to the corner. I like how the greenery on the overhanging branches turned out - very soft. The left hand wall and the overhanging leaves were painted at the same time. After I laid a wash down for the wall I bled it out to white at the top with clear water. Then I shielded the wash and sprayed the leaf area and waited for the wetness to be "just right" before dropping in new gamboge/pthalo green (some mixed, some pure) with a little bit of ultramarine blue for shadows at the end. Then I sat back and watched to see whether the watercolor would do what I expected and, low and behold, it did.

Alrighty... this has been extremely long-winded. I promise I won't inflict this every day... Hasta Luego!

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