The PainterA monthly newsletter from Christopher Leeper

May 2012

The Painter

Spring has sprung!Every spring I am awed by the transformation

that occurs in the Ohio landscape. We go from an earthy palette of siennas, ochres and umbers to the most extensive range of greens possible.

I have been enjoying daily walks in the morn-ing and evening and have accumulated quite a few reference photos. Our walks have also netted us some interesting wildlife encounters. Brian’s favorite is searching in the woods for salaman-ders. He has become quite proficient in identify-ing where to find them. See the photo below.

I took a break from my night series to indulge in some green inspiration. I have an acrylic that is still on the easel and completed one new spring watercolor as well as an acrylic workshop demo. I am featuring another article on using green since that seems like a popular topic with my students.

I am continuing to use the Arches 300 lb rough paper. It has really renewed my enthusi-asm for watercolor.

We will be going on a vacation (New York City and Nova Scotia) for a couple weeks in June. I won’t be painting but certainly will be shooting lots of photos.

Happy painting!Chris

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Current exhibitions: Richeson 75 International Landscape ExhibitionKimberly, WIapril 16 - June 8http://www.richeson75.com

upComing exhibitions:Annual National Juried Show: 76th National Midyear Exhibition, Butler Institute of american artJun 24, 2012 Through aug 19, 2012

neWs:Vista was accepted in the Fort Wayne Museum of art, Fort Wayne, IN, Contemporary Realism Biennial Exhibition, august 11 - October 28, 2012.

I have three paintings in the Spring Fling Exhibition april 30–June 24, 2011 at the Gateway art Center, Sidney, OH. The paintings were awarded First Place in the Oil/acrylic category and also received an Honor-able Mention.

The Lounge Life (above) was accepted into the Ohio Watercolor Society annual Exhibition Watercolor Ohio 2012 at the Riffe Gallery, Columbus, November 1-January 13, 2013.

Step by Step - WatercolorEast Liverpool

Holiday, oil on canvas, 24x30

The reference for this painting was a nightime foray to East Liverpool, Ohio. East Liverpool sits on the Ohio River. I like the angles and views you get with the river towns. There are lots of hills and curves.

My procedure like most of my watercolors was to establish the warm under-painting first.

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The black sky was painted with very saturated color. The mix is Pthalo Green, Pthalo Blue and Permanent Brown. To get the proper richness there were two layers painted. As the sky got near the lights, I would switch to washes of New Gamboge, Cadmium Orange and Hansa Yellow Light. The sky was painted around the poles-no masking fluid, please!

Below the Brine, acrylic on linen, 30x48

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Values were deepened and the color adjusted. Notice in the detail how each wash has subtle color variety. This keeps the shapes from be-ing too flat. The warm underpainting comes up thru the cooler violets and blues.

detail

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Curve27x37Watercolor on Arches 300 lb., rough

The wires were rendered by taping off very fine spaces and using a Magic Eraser and rubbing out the color. Highlights on the wires were put in with white gouache.

The lighter grasses and weeds were scratched in while the final, rich washes were wet.

I am fairly satisfied with the painting. I think it might be a bit over the top with color. It seems a bit heavy on the violet side.

About the Magic EraserOne of the neatest tricks I’ve seen recently is using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to lift color. It removes color without damaging the pa-per. It was shown to me by the great painter Mary Kay D’Isa. She is also my former watercolor teacher. Thanks, Mary Kay!

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Titanium White

Hansa Yellow Light

Cad. Yellow Deep

Cad. Orange

Cad. Red Light

Quinacridone Red

Quinacridone Magenta

Diozazine Purple

Ultramarine Blue

Pthalo Blue

Burnt Umber Quin,. Burnt Orange Pthalo Green Brilliant Blue

ACRYLIC PALETTE

Here is my acrylic palette. It is very similar to my oil and watercolor palette. The paint is Liquitex heavy-bod-ied. The palette is a Master-son Sta-wet palette. I have removed the sponge and replaced it with wet paper towels. This eliminates mold and bacteria which seem to thrive when using the sponge.

Notice the position and arrangement of colors-warm to cool. I use this same set-up for every medium. It is easier to go to the same area each time when mixing a color. It saves you time hunting around your palette for a color.

TIP: Always use the same set of colors (full palette) for all your paintings. This is the best way to learn and retain color mixing info.

Step by Step

Acrylic demoThis is a quick acrylic demo. It was painted with relatively thin colors. It was a good challenge to make interesting color

within a fairly all-green scene. The warm yellow establishes the sunlight effect. Some of it remains in the finished paint-ing. The greens are varieties of blue and yellow mixes. Notice the variety of color temperature and intensity with the greens.

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The darks are restab-lished after local color is brushed in. At this stage you have the basic value pattern.

The light and shad-ow are strengthened. These colors are more opaque. This is the first use of white for the sunlit areas.

TIP: Hold off using white as long as you can. Using it too early makes for “frosted” weak lights that lack color. This is especially true when using oils.

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Creek Trail - May, 18x24, acrylic on linen

This is the final version. Notice the addition of color accents-pinks, blues and violets. These shots of color keep paintings from being “too local” and boring. This is where is helps to have that full palette at your disposal. Because this was a fast and economical painting, many areas of the underpainting show thru.

About the scene...This trail is in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania. It is a former railroad line that has been con-verted to a walking/bike trail. It runs along the Neshannock Creek. The stream is my favorite place to go fly-fishing for trout. I have spent many memorable days walking this road back to some isolated pool. The phlox and wild roses grow in abundance and fill the air with their scent. Often, the best fishing is late afternoon and early evening and I would end up walking back to the car in the dark--quite magical. I am a mediocre fly fisherman so success was just being there.

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Workshops in My Studio

Workshops for six people or less. Topics can include oils, acrylics, watercolor or drawing. They can be scheduled in 2 or 3 day sessions, 9-5 each day, Friday-Sunday. Classes must be scheduled well in advance.

These workshops include demos, handouts and lots of one-on-one attention. I try to provide plenty of information in a short amount of time. I can shape the workshop to the group’s needs. You can bring your own reference or we can work together on the same subject. The workshop can also be focused to learn a specific technique or concept. Weather-permitting, these ses-sions can include plein air painting.

There is a new Hampton Inn just five miles from the studio and many nearby restau-rants and shopping venues. Your workshop can also be combined with a visit to the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio and/or a visit to beautiful Mill Creek Park.

Call or email me if you have any questions or to schedule a workshopChristopher Leeper Studio

4411 Mellinger Road / Canfield, OH 44406330-793-5470 leepart@zoominternet.net www.christopherleeper.com

Fees: 1-2 students: 2 day class: $400 per student / 3-day class: $600 per student 3 students 2-day class: $275 per student / 3-day class: $400 per student 4 students: 2-day class: $200 per student / 3-day class: $300 per student 5-6 students: 2-day class: $150 per student / 3-day class: $250 per student

I have taken many workshops over the years and you have been the most helpful. I learned more in three days than I have in the past 20 years. Plus, it was so much fun!

“”

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Step by Step

Home of the Mink

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The boys and I have a new favorite trail in Mill Creek Park. It is surrounded by huge boulders and towering hemlocks. One evening we saw a mink. A rare sight for us. Jack suggested the title, Home of the Mink.

The key to these early steps is color variety. When you establish color variety it allows you to sim-plify your subsequent washes. You are, in effect, just glazing to the proper value. To achieve these variegated washes, you have to mix up a number of colors and lots of them on your palette before the brush touches the paper.

The difference between steps 3 and 4 is about value and value contrasts. I lightened the background by lifting color and I reduced the contrasts around the rocks on the left. I also changed (Magic Eraser) the shape of the large rock in the forground so that it didn’t line up (coincidence of edge) with the trees.

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Home of the Mink, watercolor on 300 lb. Arches, rough, 17x29

The final step shows the value of extending the value range, I mixed up a rich, very pigmented dark of Pthalo Green, Pthalo Blue and Permanent Brown. It was essentially, black. I used a synthetic acrylic flat to punch in the darks. I used this brush so it wouldn’t absorb much water and dilute my value.

The other features of the final step is the use of texture. The rough paper really helps. I also used a some col-ored pencil to add bits of color accents. I used Teal Blue, Lavender and Pink. I also used undiluted watercolor accents of Cadmium Orange and Manganese Blue.

This painting started out as a demo in the studio and I had my doubts it was going to work. I felt my edges were a bit harsh. The changes from steps 3 to 4 were the key to making the painting work. Most of the time the make or break factor in a painting is value.

TIP: Paint you limbs the same time you paint the trunk. This allows them to grow from the tree. Sometimes, we wait be-cause tree branches are de-tails. When added later, the ad-ditional limbs look stuck on and not integrated to the tree. Paint them with a pointed round or rigger-pulling them out of the wet color on the trunk.

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The Watercolor Page

Green Anxiety?

Pthalo BlueManganese Blue

Ultramarine Blue

Cobalt Blue

Cobalt Turquoise

Pthalo Greenand Hansa YellowLight

Pthalo Greenand New Gamboge

Pthalo Greenand Ultramarine Blue

Pthalo Greenand Permanent Brown

Pthalo Green plus Cobalt Ultramarine B. Quin. Red

No color causes painters more anxiety than green. Last year I featured an article about acrylic greens. This year let’s talk about watercolor. When a student comes to me with “green confusion”, I can almost guarantee they have several tube greens on their palette. My solution has been to limit the number of tube greens. I only use one consistently and that is Pthalo Green. By limiting yourself to yellow and blue you control the intensity and temperature of the mix. With that said, I know of several great watercolorists that use a number of tube greens. As you become more comfortable with mixing your green than you can start adding tube greens. The experience you gain by mixing will allow you to understand where the tube green fits, in terms of intensity, value and temperature.

The color swatches below show my two yellows, New Gamboge and Hansa Yellow Light, mixed with various blues. New Gamboge is warmer (it has a bit of red in it) and creates more neutral greens, Remember red is green’s complement. Complements neutralize each other. It is hard to summarize all the possible green mixes. These swatches show the gen-eral range of intensity and temperature that is available using yellow/blue mixes The swatches show different ratios. More yellow and water to start and then gradually more blue and less water. Pthalo Green is such a acidic green by itself but because of it’s wide value range it is a valuable mixer. I love it as a dark color mixer. Most of these colors are Daniel Smith with the exception of the Cobalt Turquoise which is DaVinci.

NG HYL

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On the easel

Spring Storm

This is an unfinished acrylic on linen painting. I have really enjoyed the challenge of rendering the endless myriad of green. Notice, the other (non-green) colors that are added to create color interest. I am thinking of leaving the foreground very loosely painted-contrasting flat, quiet color to areas of busy, almost staccato-like brushwork around the sky.

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New Work

Corner - East Liverpool

Here is another East Liverpool painting. This painting was a bit of a compositional challenge.There are multiple emphasis (value) areas such as the car, light and pole and house. These are competing with the convergence of the street. I tried to remedy this by pushing some values deeper and lightening others. I’m not sure I re-ally figured it out. It is still a bit fractured but I think it is an interesting painting so that is why I am showing it.

The detail shows the wipe out using the Magic Eraser. Notice the mix of warm and cool in the shadow on the house. The granulation of Manganese Blue adds a bit of interest, also.

About my studio classes

One of the quickest and most efficient ways to improve your painting is to study privately with a qualified instructor. It is also a great way to learn a new medium. If you are a watercolor painter and you always wanted to try oils or acrylics or vice versa, starting with solid instruction makes for a much more enjoyable learning experience.

I work with teens to adults and with beginning to advanced painters and tailor my instruction to the specific needs of the student. My instruction is about traditional, representational painting. I draw and paint along with students and offer advice on such things as materials, technique, color mixing, and design.

Students can select the type of subjects that they want to paint. I also have a large library of art instruction books and magazines that are always available for extra inspiration.

If the student chooses and the weather allows, lessons can be done plein air at locations like Mill Creek Park.

For cost savings, you can take lessons with a friend, or with a small group of four or less. Areas of study include: oil, acrylic, watercolor (traditional and on Yupo), drawing and pastel. Figure drawing/painting is also available, how-ever there is an additional model fee.

Fees: Individual: 2 hr. class - $50 per class 3 hr. class - $75 per class

2 students: 2 hr. class - $40 per class/per student 3 hr. class - $55 per class/per student

3-4 students: 2 hr. class - $35 per class/per student 3 hr. class - $45 per class/per student

Call or email me if you have any questions or to schedule classes.Christopher Leeper Studio

4411 Mellinger Road / Canfield, OH 44406330-793-5470 leepart@zoominternet.net www.christopherleeper.com

2012 schedule (June-August):

I will be scheduling classes onWeeknights (6-9)

and Saturdays (10-3)

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