West End Roof Tops

For  a number of years I have been painting a series of  the roof tops of Provincetown. To me they are the quintessential  Provincetown scene.
Artist's  have been painting this scene for over a hundred years.
With all the trees and buildings there aren't very many views from which to paint it from.
I usually paint this view from my house. I like the scene because of the perspective you are challenged with. You are looking down on the horizon line.
They are like my haystacks, I am always learning something every time I paint them. I try to paint these scenes in different light keys.
This summer I think I will do a grey day painting of the roof tops.

Painting the Figure on the Beach

For thirty years Charles Hawthorne taught outdoor painting  on the beach in Provincetown.

By sitting the models with their  backs to the sun the artist is able to see masses of color better than in an indoor studio.

Hawthorne usually used the local Portuguese children to pose.

Because of their dark complexion they affectionately called the  paintings
"Mud Heads".

I attended the Cape Cod School of Art ,

during the last eight years of the School. The Barn on 46 Pearl Street was everything a summer art studio should be. The barn was insulated  in the 1930's with these Mud Head paintings, that students left behind after the summer.

When the school closed, these paintings where removed and sold around town.

Today the painting of the Mud Head continues. Here we are on the beach yesterday painting the outdoor portrait. This is a great way to learn the light key because you have a few patterns to tackle, the Model, water and sky, or beach.

Mud Head 1930's

John Clayton Painting the Mud Head

My Studies

Here is my study from this morning. I am now moving beyond mud head, and beginning to model the planes of the head with color. When you develop the study it becomes more of an outdoor portrait than a Mud Head. The reason Charles Hawthorne made his students paint with a putty knife was to keep them from modeling and creating details.

Pathway to the Bay

When I first came to live in Provincetown I lived on this street, Johnson street. Painting here always brings back memories.
I love the way the light pours in from the right.
I came back to this scene four times to work on it, so that I could study the color variations within the mass.

I wanted to study the light key, so I came back at the same time and the same light conditions over a period of a week. I might have been able to cut the time in half but people kept stopping by and talking to me.
Provincetown is a very social town so beware, it can be at times distracting, however it's great to be outside painting in the sun and enjoying the sea air and all the colorful characters who inhabit Provincetown.

Outdoor Still Life

The outdoor still life, is the best way to learn about the light key. On a sunny day still life sitting in the sun is the clearest way to see color.

Many find painting the outdoor still life boring, or they find them hard to sell.  The  idea that they don't sell is what attracts me to paint them. It frees me up from pressure and I can enjoy discovering color notes that I haven't seen before.

Try to think about painting still life as a way to study color. You are not likely to see colorful objects that are in a still life in a pure landscape unless you are painting roses.

I took Charles Hawthorne's advice and got some stuff that's supposed to be ugly, like this rusty frying pan.
Hawthorne said ''Still life gives the widest range for study.

I start the outdoor still life, the same way I approach the north light still life, I start with spots of color one or two colors for each mass. The difference between the north light still life and the out door still, is the light key. The sunny day light key is  much warmer and expresses sunlight.

 In the sunny still,
I find the shadow notes cool and the light planes warm in some cases hot!
This start look very abstract, because I have made very broad notes of color so that I may develop the painting, by studying the color in clear distinct masses.

The study is not a exercise in drawing, it's meant as a study of color. By constantly relating the spots of color the painting will begin to emerge and look  less abstract.
The Study is done when you no longer see any new color notes.

This is very difficult for professional artists they are not able to control themselves and want to finish the painting.
This sort of thinking is dangerous.

Give yourself permission to fail and you will have a wonderful time painting and learn something in the end, that's my thoughts.

Jug and Onion

My process of starting the still life all starts with studying the color. First step establish the masses or big shapes with color. I organize the notes of color through light and shade.

The second day I being to work the masses a little and see a few more color notes.

The third day even more variations of the masses are established.

The painting is not so much finished but in the process of developing.

Donna Summer Morning

I wasn't listening to Donna Summer when I painted this, however lines in Mac Arthur Park are perfect for todays post. "Someone left the cake out in the rain, and I don't think I can take it cause it took so long to bake it and I'll never have that recipe again".
"Formulas"
 Today's rant is all about recipes. What everyone wants is a successful recipe to make their painting better.  There is none!

There are many "how to books".
especially for painting with color. The big secret is really getting the masses to stay related to the light key.
When you are able to see the color you can mix the color. When you get the color right the value will be right.
When I'm out painting I'm not trying to make a picture, I am studying the light. This is what as known as the "Art of Seeing".  Of course a little knowledge of picture making (perspective, composition, design), are essential.
By learning to explore the long term procedure of studying color you  automatically avoid using recipes for painting. It's challenging, but what the heck, it makes painting fun and you open yourself up to see the world  interestingly  and beautiful.