"Forenoon, Mendocino" - Oil - 14" x 18" - SOLD

"Mendocino is one of the most picturesque locations in California. It has the feel of a New England town set in California light." --- SFG
More info about this painting eBay Auctions http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Work in progress...

I'm designing this painting so that the diagonal of the trees runs along the back, with more diagonals to show the slope of the hill and also in the water at the bottom. There are lines in the sky that are perspective lines. They are helpful in bringing the viewer's eye back to the center of interest. Next, I'll refresh the paint on my palette, to start with fresh, juicy paint.


This second photo shows how I've divided the space using the darks, which are put in first. I back away often, evaluating how each new area works in the composition.


The bluff in the foreground was added next in a broad, loosely painted way. This is still part of the darks and, along with the trees, forms the largest mass of the painting.


Next, I laid in the shoreline and a little bit of the water. Loose and sloppy is often the safest way to paint a foreground. Then I went to the sky, putting in a light color that is still dark enough to be able to make the sunlit buildings the bright spots in the painting.


I want to make the buildings really glow, so I put in the shadow sides carefully and even some of the roofs to add color and balance. These color notes will also keep the eye moving through the painting. I reminded myself to hold the brush at the end. When I do so, I make completely different strokes, more desirable strokes, than when I hold it midway or near the bristles.


Now I have the lighted sides of the buildings in and I will soften the edges where needed as I go to keep the focus on the most attractive element, the church. Softened edges also reduce barriers for the viewer's eye as they travel through the painting. Also, I've added a little action in the sky.


This is moving pretty well with the white buildings stair-stepping down the slope and the larger white building on the right to balance, and so I'll continue to develop the more interesting elements.


Here I'm nearly finished. There are always areas to tweek. I've added dark accents to lead the eye where I want it to go. Rather than reproducing the town's map, as a photograph would, the artist's objective is to produce a pleasing painting. With this one, I've moved the buildings around for compositional reasons and changed the foreground as well.

"Laguna Palms"

"Laguna Palms" - Oil - 11" x 14" - SOLD

”I took the reference photo - I call it 'photo sketching' - on a visit to Laguna last fall. Tempting subjects are too numerous to paint in the week I was there, so here's my impression painted in the studio.” SFG

More info about this painting
eBay Auctions
http://www.susanfgreaves.com/
ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Work in progress...

I started with a simple sketch for placement. I find that doing a detailed one causes me to relax my attention to drawing during the remainder of the work and leads to errors. I must continue to draw from start to finish. The only difference is that I'm using color instead of thinned paint, charcoal, or pencil.

Here I've gone to my middle darks first. (I consider my darkest darks to be accents only.) I knew that I wanted the slope to reflect the light of the sky, though it was in shadow, so I kept the paint so thin that it trickled down. That's OK as long as it keeps me in the right value range.

I moved to the lighted areas, the ocean, and the sky next. No color in these areas can be as dark as any area in shadow or backlight, so I will re-evaluate the darker blue band in the water as I go.

Next, I go back into the shadow side of the bluff and restate the value. In doing so, I see how much I should lighten the blue band in the ocean. If I had not done that, it would be confusing as to whether that area was in light or in shadow.

I varied the color of the foreground to anchor the palms and added detail and color in the palm fronds. I did the same with the palm trunks and added the lightest values in the painting on the sunlit side.

In the final version, I added detail to the beach and wave and more texture to the foreground. Most of my signatures now go wet-into-wet.

"Soaring on Sunshine"

"Soaring on Sunshine" - Oil - 11" x 14" - SOLD

"There really are PERFECT days in California. The sunlight shimmered, bouncing off the water and the wings of gulls. Even the wind cooperated.” --- SFG

More info about this painting
eBay Auctions
http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Work in progress...

On my usual toned canvas, I drew my subject, composing as I went. I worked for lines that repeated a parallel line, stopped and were continued further on, and lines that oppose one another. For example, the shape in the sky area was intended to repeat the tree outline and oppose the angle of the bluff.

I laid in the darks in the foreground and the tree on top of the bluff. Initially, I thought there should be two areas in the bluffs that were in sunlight. Later, I decided that there was an almost equal distribution of light and shadow, which is undesirable, so I put all of the nearer bluff in shadow. Such decisions are a part of the self-critique that must go on forever. If you don't see the errors in your own work, and relentlessly expunge them, you will continue in ignorance.

Next, I added color to the beach and near surf. Here, again, I later saw that the beach and the hills in the distance were too near in value and I lightened the distant area.

Now it was time to lay in the sky area. I paid close attention to the value and shape of the cloud area.

A big, messy palette makes it more fun!

Now I've darkened the near bluff with its jumble of rock, soil, and vegitation and I've lightened the distant hills. I softened some edges and made some more crisp. And just for fun, I added the gulls that inspired the title. Just a few more modifications took place before I called it complete.

"Returning from Lompoc"

"Returning from Lompoc" - Oil - 12" x 16" - SOLD

"The lighting at the end of this day was so fleeting, that it changed from the time I saw the scene, stopped the car and raised my camera. It made such an impression on me that I was willing to paint it in the studio. Cool shadows characterized the foreground while the last long red rays grazed the tops of the hills.” --- SFG

More info about this painting
eBay Auctions
http://www.susanfgreaves.com/
ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

DEMONSTRATION...

I started badly. By concentrating on the top line of the mountains, I moved the emphasis there, away from the foreground where I wanted it, so I wiped off the canvas and started over.

Ah, that's better.

The darks go in first. I knew that the trees would be darkest...those upright surfaces rarely catch as much light in a landscape... while the distant mountains need to be cooler to distance them.

More areas in shadow on the nearest hill and by the roadside. So far, I've stayed in the correct value range for all of the area in shadow.

I made the road is a bit lighter than the hills because it reflects the sky, which is still lit even though the sun is nearing the horizon off the canvas to the right. Even the yellow field is quite muted.

I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the values in the foreground, darkening the nearest hill so it read as part of the area in shadow and even lowering the value of the road.

When all of that was in the proper relationship, it was such fun to add the tidbits that were the drama-makers...the dashes on the road, the shapes on the hills, and the headlights that were the sparkle. Their color and value had to be perfect to read properly.

"Sunkissed Grove"

"Sunkissed Grove" - Oil - 12" x 16" - SOLD

"I am always attracted to light as it comes through trees and the pattern of the tree trunks. This painting offered a chance to represent sparkling light varying from hot spots to cool accents. If you look closely at the signature, you can see that it was applied over lush, wet paint.” SFG --- SFG

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"Spiritual Light"

"Spiritual Light" - Oil - 12" x 16" - SOLD

"Light reflected in water is always a compelling subject. I paint it often. Here, the hot yellow sun was behind the tree and that created an interesting effect." --- SFG

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"Sun at the Mission"

"Sun at the Mission" - Oil - 12" x 16" - SOLD

"I started this painting in Santa Ynez, but the wind that day was untenable. After losing my hat several times and, finally, having the easel blow over, I retreated. When I resumed work in my studio in northern California, I found that my reference photos were not sufficient to describe the scene precisely. Instead of an exact representation, I painted what dominated my impression of the scene...the brilliant sun on the walls of the mission. It works as a depiction of a historic icon of southern California." --- SFG

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions
http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"Spring Day at Dry Creek"

"Spring Day at Dry Creek" - Oil - 12" x 16" - SOLD

”This creek usually lives up to its name, but recent rains had provided a melodic flow. I painted in the warm spring air and gentle breeze of this overcast day until a cloudburst forced me to pack up. Finished in the studio, I'm still happy with the result.” --- SFG

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"High Sierra Lake"

"High Sierra Lake" - Oil - 14" x 18" - SOLD

The chilly air kept this lake near freezing and snow patches intact at this lake above Bishop, California. I used the complicated network of diagonals to move the viewer's eye through the piece and enjoyed the contrasts and brilliant sky.” SFG

DEMONSTRATION:


Here's my start, a toned canvas and lines to establish the shapes and angles. I can tell at this stage if the viewer's eye will move through the composition as I planned and whether the masses will balance.



The darks go in first, the shadows and the dark part of the water. I decided, at this point to lay in the surface of the water, making sure it would lay flat.



Then, I moved to the areas in light, preserving the shapes drawn earlier. Notice how the angle and placement of the cloud will contribute to the "eye control".

Going to the lighter areas last, I put in the sky and its reflected shapes in the water. When you compare this shot to the final work, you'll see that I later decided that the sky was too light, and gave it more color.

Since the snow was to be the lightest area, I saved it for last and brushed some over the foreground boulders. Before calling the work complete, I cooled and varied the temperature of the lighted areas of the mountain and added detail.

Over halfway through painting this one, I noticed that I had used the same #8 brush, except for the line drawing at first. As a self-assigned exercise, I finished the painting with it. It's a good trick because it forced me to experiment with ways to vary brushstrokes and I found some that I wouldn't have used otherwise.

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"Last Snow"

"Last Snow" - Oil - 12" x 16" - $500

”I was delighted with the fresh feel and colors of this little landscape. The mix of warms and cools set off the light and dark contrast of the snow and stream. As you can see from the photo, this was a studio painting by a fair weather plein air artist.” SFG

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"Path to a Sierra Lake"

"Path to a Sierra Lake" - Oil - 8" x 10" - SOLD

”With patches of snow still visible, this lake near Mammoth, California, is picturesque and very accessible. A great place to paint a little one.” SFG

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"A Beginning"

"A Beginning" - Oil - 20" x 24" - $1200

”Life is a matter of perception. I used this painting of the setting sun's evening light to describe, not an ending or time lost and unrecoverable, but the beginning of peace and a new period of quiet reflection and its opportunity.” SFG

DEMONSTRATION:

I started with my usual toned canvas and linear sketch.



Next, I laid in the major darkest masses, varying color as needed.



To continue the darker area, I massed in the sky-lit, curved slope and the darker vertical area of the bluff that dropped precipitously in the foreground. I kept them related in value, that is, lighter than the sky would be.



Knowing the sky would have some rosy areas and using its influence, I filled in the bare area of the foreground bluff.



Once the darker values were established, I laid in the sky and softened the edges of the tree to give it dimension and atmosphere.



If you compare the step above to the finished painting, you'll see that I decided to darken and reshape the clear area of the bluff. Then I refined the drawing of the tree, making sure there was a variety of shapes and edges. Lastly, I reinforced the drama of the light coming through the branches and placed the dark accents to balance compositionally. Be sure to look at the large image in the "More info about this painting" link.

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"California's Golden Coast"

"California's Golden Coast" - Oil - 8" x 10" - SOLD

”That wonderful, golden light of California is especially evident in this sun drenched rendition. The site is along the Pacific coast below Monterey, though I couldn't tell you which turn it was on that windy road. What freedom artists have to wander and paint or 'photo sketch' and not care where they are...until they get hungry.” SFG

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"Purple Robe"

"Purple Robe" - Oil - 14" x 11" - $400

"It was just good fortune that this model brought the perfectly colored robe that set off her delicate skin and backlit hair. I took advantage of it when posing the model and had her turn her head so that the light came through her short tresses." --- SFG

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

"North Florida Shadows"

"North Florida Shadows" - Oil - 11" x 14" - SOLD

"When I visit my daughter in Gainesville, Florida, I look forward to painting in the area. This is a site off Tower Road in a park and very near the palm tree I also painted. In December and late in the day, the warm light contrasted well with the long shadows beside this marshy area where waterfowl gathers.” --- SFG

More info about this painting

eBay Auctions

http://www.susanfgreaves.com/

ALL SALES BENEFIT NEW ORLEANS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY