What Art Did You Do This Summer ~ Part 2 Donna Vis

What Art Did You Do This Summer – continued

We rented a farmhouse in Provence, France. There were 13 of us together for one week, so I was able to have some time to paint in between meals!

The farmhouse itself was very old and full of interesting details. I enjoyed this view of the hot pink Oleander against the old rock walls and bright blue shutters. I was able to ignore the satellite dish.

Did I mention it was HOT outside?

         Look carefully at the next photo. See the hand bell in the niche?  

Well, it was dinner time, so with pastel dust on my fingers, I picked it up and began to swing it back and forth to call the gang to eat.  Little did I know there was a hornet’s nest inside.

I tried to run, but let’s face it, I’m a lot slower than an angry insect. So with bell in hand, still swinging of course, two hornets came straight at me… I’ve never been stung by a hornet before, have you?  Or in this case stung by two hornets…

The next photo shows where I left the painting for the night.

I enjoyed my dinner with a glass of French wine (for medicinal purposes of course) and ice on my swollen skin.

Here is the finished field study. What I love about painting in plein air is being able to convey the feeling of the day in the the art. Can you tell it was HOT?

 Thanks for this great post Donna! 

Creativity takes courage.

~ Henri Matisse

New Series: What Art did you do this Summer? Part 1 ~ Provence

Donna Vis's Summer Vacation - Part I

Lavender Fields in Provence. Sault, France.

 

Do you remember back-to-school in elementary grades when your teacher asked "What did you do over the Summer?" We usually spent the first day doing a project that covered this subject.

So today I'm going to share with you my design inspirations over the summer. Some ended up in finished art, some as beautiful photos for future work.

Here is the beginning of a few posts to come.

 

I have ALWAYS wanted to paint the rows of lavender in Provence. A month ago, that's what I did!

 

And, I took a million photographs to reference for future studio work.

That's me!

Should I paint the scene vertically?

Or should I go horizontal? (After drinking French hard cider I went horizontal back at the farmhouse!)

I chose this scene for my field study...by then I only had about 2 hours left of good light.

Here is my set-up! I just couldn't grow an arm long enough to photograph myself working alone!

For the trip I bought a new Heilman box, their smaller easel and a very good, lightweight tripod that is wonderfully easy to use.

I borrowed the umbrella. Usually I have the umbrella separate from my box because I don't want everything to fly away with a gust of wind.

The weather cooperated. What a day!

This is where I left it. No sun left!

But look at this beautiful sky!

Next post, a glimpse at our French farmhouse - where I was stung by wasps... at my easel!

Until then, all my best.

Donna Vis

Some spots are the cradle of genius.

Provence is one.

~Lawrence Durrell, 1959

Yosemite Plein Air with Donna Vis!

Please enjoy this plain air art adventure in Yosemite with artist Donna Vis ...

Day before day 1

Found location and worried someone would be in it the next day…

Day 1

Staked my claim! Realized I had forgotten my umbrella so the sun chose the direction I would face for the next few days. I needed to keep the sun off my work, which meant it would be in my eyes. Good thing I had a hat!

Began by drawing several notans. The beauty is everywhere, picking a focal point was almost impossible! I went with a panorama focusing on the river and blocking out the Lembert Dome. Hard decision to make since the dome just screams Yosemite. That’s how this ended up as a triptych. I didn’t bring a full sheet (can you tell we packed quickly for this trip?) Besides, painting outside means improvising, so I taped three 9 X 12 sheets together on a backing board I made with 2 foam core pieces. Whew, ready to start!

I drew my composition and blocked in masses with a watercolor underwash. Before it was time to stop, I started laying in pastel to establish values and see simultaneous contrast as a mentor of mine would say.

I worked 7 hours straight on the first day. When I returned to camp, I had been standing so long my back hurt badly when I finally sat down. (Chiropractic adjustment later…)

Day 2

On day 2, I established my afternoon starting time, claimed my same spot and started to draw a crowd. Folks recognized me from the day before and wanted to learn more about what I was doing. It slowed my progress down a bit, but after the day before, I needed to take it a bit slower!

I built up shoreline on left side and water movement around rocks. Established the relationship between my colors. Began correcting some of my angles.

Was I focusing on rocks and water…or avoiding working on the boulders?

 

Day 3

I spent a longer day outside again on day 3. My “groupies” had grown requiring more of my time and I simply needed to look more and paint less at this point.

Boulders complete! Now it was time to battle with the dome’s reflection in the water. Would anyone know what it was away from site? Should it stay, should it go??

Day 4

I resolved the water on left side of painting on day 4. I also decided to leave the dome in. This is what the painting looked like after 17 hours of painting outside. I still needed to work the trees on the bank and more but it was time to leave!

 

Day 5 – Into the studio 

The trees received attention the first day in studio–

 

Day 6 and 7

Then I decided to take the dome out! Clouds with a suggestion of the dome were much easier to interpret away from site. I cleaned up a few areas and had to step away and call it finished!

“Early Autumn, Tuolumne Meadows”, Yosemite, California by Donna Vis.

Currently hanging at the Ojai Art Center in California for the month of November.

Framed size 19” X 46”.

Donna Vis is a member of the Pastel Society of the Gold Coast, Ventura County Pastel Artists and IAPS. Her website is www.ritarie.com, and can also be found at the PSGC website, http://www.pastelsocietyofthegoldcoast.org/DonnaVis.html

You can see this pastel in person, in our current show, Fall Into Pastels, (thru November 29th!) or come by this weekend for art and holiday treats! Information below.

Thanks for coming by and thank you Donna 

for sharing your Yosemite art adventure with us!