Thick and Thin

[Richard Robinson]

"Evening Glow" Oil on Board 8x10"
Price: $200us 

 

 

The start with all the darks dashed in with plenty of thinners.

 

Photo from the Crown Range above Queenstown, NZ.

 

 

Hi guys, I did this wee painting today trying out a slightly different technique inspired by a great Slovakian artist by the name of Tibor Nagy. His style is very Richard Schmid in a way, using very thin washes in a watercolour fashion to begin with and thicker paint in the lights. It's a very invigorating technique which has the benefit of the random textures of thin washes combined with the directness of impasto passages.

 

For this painting I printed out the photo I had (above) in black and white and invented the colors from there, a technique which allows you much more freedom in your colour choices. It does cause you to paint from your 'symbols' (your current understanding) which dumbs down the color a little in my case, but at least it's not confined to the limitations of photography. Lots of fun anyway.

 

Hey thanks to everyone who's confirmed their interest in joining me next year at the Plein Air Convention in Las Vegas. Sounds like a hoot. If you didn't get my email about it though I attach it below:

 

"Have you heard about the huge plein air painting 
convention being held in Las Vegas Red Rocks in 
April 2012?

You can learn more about it here: 
http://www.pleinairconvention.com

Today I was asked to come and teach at the convention 
and I'm giving it serious thought. Of course it's very 
expensive for me to fly there from New Zealand, but the
organizers said they'd pay for all that if enough of
my readers join me at the convention, which I thought 
was nice for me but what's in it for you? 

So as an incentive for you they're offering a $100 
discount to any of my readers who buy earlybird tickets
which normally cost $795 for this 4 day event. 
(price does not include accommodation)

It looks like it's going to be an amazing event to be part
of so I am really keen to get there and meet as many of 
you as possible. Apparently they want me to do some 
teaching on stage too which sounds a bit scary but hey 
how bad can it be?

It's a whole year away yet, so all we're looking for at the
moment is a show of hands to see who might be interested
in coming along. If you're keen just reply to this email and
we'll go from there.

Thanks everyone!


Here's what the convention website says about the event:

"The Plein Air Convention & Expo presented by Plein Air 
Magazine is designed to be the largest gathering of outdoor
artists and collectors in history. Artists and collectors will 
gather to share ideas, paintings, tips and techniques. 

The event will be held at the Red Rocks Resort in Las Vegas, 
however it’s at the edge of the Red Rocks State Park which 
is filled with wonderful paint spots. Its also close to Old Las 
Vegas, an old Western Film Set town for painting some fun 
Western scenes. You can literally “paint the town”!

Sessions will include demonstrations by high-level artists, 
tips from collectors and galleries, marketing ideas and 
workshops on how to improve yourself as an artist and and 
how to better run your art business. We’ll connect you with 
galleries and we will have all the big suppliers showcase 
their latest products. 

Stay tuned for a major announcement of a keynote speaker 
you won’t want to miss! Plus you’ll make history when you 
participate in the World’s Largest Paint Out. We plan to get 
you in the Guinness Book of World Records and do a photo 
of the largest outdoor painting session in history with painters 
from all over the world. Plus, you will compete for prizes in 
our painting competition judged by a major panel of important 
art experts."

http://www.pleinairconvention.com


Happy painting,
Richard Robinson"

 

[Linda Wilder]

Funny, when I saw this painting I instantly loved it and it reminded me of Tibor Nagy! He is one of my favorite artists and you have done him justice.! I use a palette knife alot in my paintings and have attempted somewhat his style but I find it very difficult with acrylics. Thanks

[Richard Robinson]

:-) Thanks Hector.

[hector ruiz]

RICHARD  YOU ARE JUST GREAT, EVERY WORK YOU CREATE IS A MASTERPIECE...GOD BLESS YOU....MY REGARDS

 

[Richard Robinson]

Yeah having that memory is important. I guess it's just replacing your old symbols with new and more accurate ones, so you build up a library of symbols (knowledge) you can use in your paintings. As for having the courage to move things around, I think it really helps if you think of it in purely abstract terms - colored shapes, so squinting and doing those little notan studies first really helps with that. Great to her you're getting out there too! More power to you.

[Denise Maxwell]

Thanks for clarifying 'dumbing down' the colors, I see what you mean now. I find I need a reference for subject matter always and need more and more to work from life, never tried working with black and white photos though and imaging the colors. Don't think I could do that any more then imagining a scene to paint. I've just begun moving objects around in my landscapes to better my compositions and managing to leave stuff out but I seem to have very little imagining powers. The more I paint outdoors the more I can see I need to develop a memory for what I'm looking at as the light changes so quickly. The last couple of months I've been getting out more frequently and maybe this is part of the solution, just doing and then doing more and knowing what you wanted to express in the first place.

By the way congratulations on your invite to the plein air convention that must be very exciting.

Spent an evening flipping pages in Schmid's Alla Prima book, I think he is going into my list of top favorite artists.

Denise

[Richard Robinson]

Thanks Denise. Yes it looks like he uses the palette knife a fair bit for those crisp edges and impasto lights. What I meant by painting colors from your imagination 'dumbing down' the colors is that we simply can't imagine all the colors that might be in a real scene - all the complexity of it, so what we paint is a pretty simplified version of it when painting from our imagination.

 

I love Schmid's Alla Prima book too - it's a classic.

R.

[Denise Maxwell]

I have been following Tibor Nagy for awhile now and keep watching the videos of how he develops his paintings. Can't say I've figured out how to keep it loose yet like that, I think you're getting it. Love the way he captures sun light also. His color harmonies are very subtle though, same as yours above. I really like what you've done here and don't really get what you mean by dumbs down, but maybe I'm not there yet. Would you say he uses a palette knife to apply the thick whites?

My book just came in today 'ALLA PRIMA Everything I Know About Painting' by Richard Schmid which I'm very much looking forward to reading.

Again and always thanks for sharing.

Denise