Paint the poetry

Garden Stroll

Original oil painting 24x18"

by Susan Roux

I've had the pleasure of interacting at length with some of you lately via email. I have to tell you how fun and helpful it has been for me. I hope you feel the same way.

Have you ever noticed when you try to explain something about your process to someone, it helps you improve? We already know what we're doing (well at least most of the time) but putting it into words helps bring every aspect of our process to the forefront.

While talking to another I spoke of attempting to paint the poetry. My dictionary describes poetry as a special intensity given to the expression of feelings and ideas by the use of distinctive style and rhythm. I like these words. Special intensity, style, rhythm, the expression of feelings. Nowhere in this is anything about details or precise representation. The focus is on feeling, style and rhythm.

Doesn't that just put a whole new spin on everything?

All these years I've been trying to paint the elements in my composition and it turns out that wasn't the challenge after all. Paint a unified feeling on your canvas. Think of ambiance. You know, like that nice candlelit table setting you'll be preparing for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day. You'd pay attention to every detail so the whole entity, including tablecloth, candlesticks, dishes, flowers and vase would support an unmistakable feeling of romance. Yes the wine and dinner are probably your focal point, but everything about the table supports this feeling of love.

And so it must be with art...

I thought I finished Garden Stroll the other day. I knew she wasn't as strong as my other girls in this series. I placed her in a garden and trying to interpret this new style in a landscape was challenging. I had put her aside, but was left a bit dissatisfied. After talking to an artist about how I take a long time tweaking my paintings with the idea of painting the poetry in mind, I looked at her and realized I stopped short of what I wanted to capture. Does this happen to you?

You set a painting aside and next thing you know, it calls you back.

I couldn't ignore her. She was really urging me to continue. I'm glad I put her back on my easel. I'm much happier with the results. I may not be capturing the whole poetry thing, but I think I'm on the right track by having it in mind.

Do you ever paint the poetry?

Purple

Shaker Orchard

Original oil painting 18x24"

by Susan Roux

When in doubt, use purple.

These words of advice echoed out of my mouth to my students last night. They were received as a wonderful proclamation of wisdom. In all fairness, with the color palette we use, it does hold true.

I love how different artists have their own favorite color. They've learned to incorporate it into every painting. Their ability to manipulate it and make it "sing" reaches beyond others. They've studied it and tried it in every situation. It becomes more like a in-depth study on that particular color. For me its purple.

Dioxazine purple.

I don't have a painting that doesn't include it. Naturally I teach it to all my students. The first time I have them block in a tree with a purple underpainting, I get a lot of strange comments. Purple trees? By the end of the painting, they become lovers of purple as well. They can see its value and appreciate its many uses.

I find it universal. I don't paint with browns. Yellow ochre is the closest brown on my palette. Rather, purple becomes the substitute. Mixed with yellows, it neutralizes. As a dark in greens, it holds such depth and excitement. With blues, well its just real pretty...

So when in doubt, use purple. It works nicely with everything. It gives your painting a shot in the arm. There's a deep richness that it brings to your art. No wonder it was the regal color of kings robes. It holds the property of standing above the rest. Its interesting and noticed, yet can be so understated. Don't underestimate the power of purple!

It belongs in the sky. It belongs in water. It belongs in the trees and in every dark portion of a composition. Once you unleash the power of purple on your canvas, you will have to agree. When in doubt, use purple.

Magenta runs a close second. Though not quite as versatile as purple, it energizes and accompanies it very well. Try some in your trees next time...

So here is my completed painting. The sky has been warmed and the weathervane added. Thanks to Roisin O'Farrell's email telling me it looked finished to her, I took it easy to preserve the feeling I'd already captured. In her words, "I wouldn't touch it. It's charmed the pants off me, just as it is!" Thanks Roisin. Sometimes we need to here it from someone else. STOP!

It felt so good to paint...

Happy painting and have some purple on me today!