Summer Shadows - Figures on Friday

Summer Shadows, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2023

Available - Click for Information

This summer sure has gone fast!! It has been a full one, with LOTS of great family time and LOTS of fun. We are still having very hot weather, but school is back in session, and it's time to get back to some routines... like, Figures on Friday!

I painted this piece back in June on a trip down to the Georgia coast, and am just getting around to posting it. I loved the light on this little pathway to the beach, AND the light on my painting buddy as she searched for the perfect view. (It's nice to have a painting friend for a subject... she was willing to walk out there a few times for me! Thank you A.T.)

Wherever you are, enjoy these few days of summer!

Park Gazebo - Fix It Friday!

 

Park Gazebo, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2023

I do love a Friday Fun Day... A different perspective and freedom to play... 

Today I am revisiting FIX IT FRIDAY - a practice from the cooped up Covid days of 2020! During that time, I posted a new "fixer upper" for 25 straight weeks in a row! It got me through the dog days of staying home and social distancing. From there, I moved to FIGURES ON FRIDAY (like the one I posted HERE last week). Both practices offer a little break and are good for my soul. ;)

BEFORE

AFTER

Problem - Lighting is overall muted and flat.

Fix - Increased the contrast by "pushing" the darks and lights on the structure and foreground trees.

Fix - Brightened the sky with a more intense blue and contrasty clouds.

Fix - Changed the gazebo roof to a cooler, crisper color (which makes its shade below it feel like a cooler place to be too.) 

Problem - Figure on left was not working for me. Too large? Proportions off?

Fix - When in doubt - DELETE! What a relief!

Fix - Narrowed the path which got too wide trying to accommodate my odd figure. 

OBSERVATIONS

Sometimes I can see that I have fallen short with my value range. (It's always so much easier to see after the fact. We get retina fatigue and just stop too soon.) That was happening here. It just needed that final pop of values to set the light and overall tone of the painting. 

Now I can feel the ocean breeze and the sunshiny reflection off the water. Ahhh!

2023 SPRING WORKSHOPS (click HERE and join me):
April 14-15 - The Contemporary Austin Art School in Austin, TX (Full with wait list)
May 4-6 - Anderson Fine Art Gallery in St. Simons Island, GA

Field of Cactus - Fix It Friday #24

Field of Cactus, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2020

Texas cactus! It's beautiful, especially when it blooms and... it's very invasive. Once it gets started, it just duplicates itself over and over. If an "ear" falls off, stick it in the ground and it will happily survive, grow, and spread!! All that to say, my fix today is all about better depicting ranch land full of propagated cactus. 

BEFORE

AFTER

CHANGES

Problem - Layers of cactus were not "laying down" on the picture plane.

Fix - Created a definitive scale shift from front to back, making layers incrementally smaller as they move into the distance. 

Fix - Muted layers incrementally as they recede.

Problem - Field just didn't have enough cactus!! 

Fix - Added another layer of cactus at the fence line.

Problem - Overcast sky was lack-luster in color and interest.

Fix - Intensified the purplish color that was there and popped the bit of light. 

OBSERVATIONS

Working with elements in the landscape to push them into the distance is a great challenge. Today's fix was a wonderful exercise in doing just that... scale shift, atmospheric perspective, overlapping, and layering were all used here. 

Soaring - spring workshop information

Soaring, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2018

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Back to the Golden Isles of Georgia... Out on the marsh, birds love to feed and perch at the "hammocks". Hammocks are stands of trees or bushes that have grown up in the wetlands... where two different eco-systems collide. It's fun to watch the birds playfully helicoptering in and out. On this day, they seemed to be having a convention!

I have three plein air workshops coming up in the spring and would love to have you join me. Put it on your Christmas list! ;)

Workshop Dates (click HERE for details and descriptions on my website)

March 25-28, 2019 - Wimberley, Texas

Contact Helena Hauk, Wimberley Artists Workshops, 800-327-1913

April 11-13, 2019 - St. Simons Island, Georgia

Contact Mary Anderson, Anderson Fine Art Gallery, 912-634-8414 

May 10-11, 2019 - Austin, TX

Contact Registrar, Contemporary Austin Art School, 512-323-6380 

Circle of Lilies - Cancer Vaccine Fund Raiser

Circle of Lilies, 12x12, oil on gallery-wrapped canvas, L.Daniel©2017
AVAILABLE in an auction this weekend... and you can be a part!

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I am honored to join 70+ artists who created original artwork for the "Mandalas for Kristin" fundraiser at the Davis Gallery in Austin. Every dollar raised will go to the Peabody Fund: The Cancer Vaccine Project. Click HERE to learn more about this ground breaking cancer trial, and Kristin Peabody, the brave, young woman who inspired it. It's an amazing and compelling story. Circle of Lilies... painted with much love and many prayers.

"Mandalas for Kristin" Silent Auction

September 23, 2017, 6:30-9pm

Davis Gallery, Austin, TX

TO BID: EMAIL kevin@davisgalleryaustin.com 

Provide name, email, phone number and your highest bid.

Minimum bid: $250 (market value $800).

Peaceful Sky and Artist Reception

Peaceful Sky, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2016

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Please join me at the artist reception for my solo show this weekend!

"Laurel Daniel's Works of Nature" 

Reception: November 13, 1-3 pm

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

McDermott Learning Center

4801 La Crosse Avenue

Austin, Texas

If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by! Admission is free for attendees (just tell them at the kiosk that you are my guest). Hope to see you!

Click HERE to see entire show online.

Seaside Lookout

Seaside Lookout, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2016

Available

Perfect shade... dappled light... ocean breeze... oh, the glad freedom of summer!!! Painting this view was really delightful. Until... I looked up and saw a girl with her cell phone looking for Pokemon. Let's just say I was a little worried that I was about to be swarmed. Then, she went away and I was back to my peaceful, seaside quiet. (Apparently, Pokemon was somewhere else. Thank goodness!)

Please join me at these upcoming fall workshops:

Still Life: Color and Form - September 16-17, 2016, 9am-4pm.

En Plein Air: Shape and Movement - November 4-5, 2016, 9am-4pm. 

Contact: The Contemporary Austin School of Art 512-323-6380, or click HERE.

Sunlit Terrace

Sunlit Terrace, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2016

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This is one of the summer cottages in the millionaire's village on Jekyll Island in Georgia. It's especially dramatic in the slanted morning light. I love imagining a family "taking tea" on the terrace next to the house. It must have been a great playground for the kids in those families!

Please join me at these upcoming fall workshops:

Still Life: Color and Form - September 16-17, 2016, 9am-4pm.

En Plein Air: Shape and Movement - November 4-5, 2016, 9am-4pm. 

Contact: The Contemporary Austin School of Art 512-323-6380, or click HERE.

Ranch Path - En Plein Air Texas!

Ranch Path, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2015

En Plein Air Texas!

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Ranch day in San Angelo offered many beautiful views for painting. After a hearty lunch, I drove around hunting for just the right spot. I ended up next to the corrals where sheep were being tagged. The lambs had to be separated from their mothers for this process, so they cried all afternoon. (They were not hurt, but it sounded a bit haunting.) Just as I finished, the lambs and ewes were reunited, and the crying stopped. Whew! 

U.S. Post - En Plein Air Texas!

U.S. Post - Cristoval, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2015

En Plein Air Texas!

Available - Click for information

On Tuesday of the competition, we were invited to paint in and around the little town of Cristoval, TX, south of San Angelo. This little post office is the main meeting place for the townsfolk there (according to several who stopped to chat), AND they had recently gussied it up with new awnings (just for me, I decided!) Something about the tiny building, the striped awnings, and the giant flag was just too hard to pass up! 

Have I mentioned the wonderful San Angeloan hospitality? They provided lunch every day and dinners most nights. On this day, one of the volunteers brought hot fajitas and a HUGE piece of chocolate cake right to me, where I was painting. It was way over the top! THANK YOU ALL!!!

Quiet Place - And news about En Plein Air Texas!

Quiet Place, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2015

Available - Click for information

If you watch the news, you might know that we just had a big "weather event" in Austin that brought us much needed rain. In central Texas, this also means flash flooding and treacherous road conditions. Since precipitation was in the forecast for several days prior to the big event, we all adjusted plans and canceled activities while we waited. On one of those days offered a break in the gloom, so I grabbed my paints and went out to our garden. I didn't want to go far, "just in case". As it turned out, I had an entire morning with no drops from the sky, and the sun even broke through! I was so glad I ventured out, if only in my own backyard. Lesson learned...  

This week, I am off to San Angelo for the "En Plein Air Texas!" painting event. 34 juried painters checked in on Sunday and we are painting fast and furiously all week. It's a fabulous group of painters, and on Friday night (October 30), our framed wet paintings will be presented at the Art Collectors Stampede at Fort Concho. If you are any where nearby, please come and join us. The work will be on display all weekend - wish me luck! :)

Park Gazebo

Park Gazebo, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2015

Available - Click for information

What could be better than sitting in the shade of an outdoor gazebo, enjoying a steady ocean breeze? It's one of life's simple, delicious pleasures...

Old Corner Station

Old Corner Station, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2015

Available - Click for information

This weekend, Plein Air Austin met up in the little town of Driftwood, just outside of Austin. It's pretty small and this little corner gas station is a piece of the past. There was a grove of trees right across the street that provided a shady spot for setting up. What a lovely morning! It was quite wonderful to paint with old friends that I haven't seen for awhile. :)

Sun Struck Villa

Sun Struck Villa, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L.Daniel © 2014

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Slanted morning light can be so dramatic. When I came onto this scene in a quiet island neighborhood, I was captivated by the slivers of light outlining the home and it's garden. I quickly set up my easel to try and catch the mood before everything changed. And it did change fast! What works best for me is to indicate all the dark values on my canvas first thing, before the shapes of light and dark shift. Then, it's important to hang onto that information and not chase the light as I finish the painting. Easier said than done! 

Garden Square - Demo and Process Notes

Garden Square, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2014

Today I did a painting demonstration at the new Anderson Gallery Annex on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Since the demo was indoors, I decided to replicate this plein air painting completed on location yesterday. Having the finished piece is a great reference because it helps students/viewers get an idea of where I am headed with all my process decisions.  (And it's a great reference for me as I paint the image again!!) I even remembered to take pictures to recap it here for them and for you. Many thanks to all my attendees!

The scene from my easel...

This  is a garden park named Hanover Square in Brunswick, Georgia. 

Block In...

Line and mass sketch establishes composition and value relationships. 

Paint color is a dark neutral mix of Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna.

Upright Plane…

Dark and light families in the upright elements adjust as they recede into the distance - values come together (darks get lighter and lights get darker).

Ground plane…

Since the ground plane reflects the sky, it is usually the second lightest element in the landscape (the lightest element will be the sky, where the sun is). 

Sky Plane and Final Highlights…

Once all elements are working together, add details and final highlights. This is a serious exercise in delayed gratification, but it always, ALWAYS works best to leave those details until the very end!

Arbor Welcome - Georgia Coast

Arbor Welcome, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2013

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I am very fortunate to be visiting and painting on St. Simon's Island, GA for a month. We are staying in a beach community, with wonderful old (and new) beach houses in the surrounding neighborhood. I love to check out the cottages on my morning walks and have always loved the entrance to this one. The vine covered arbor is just so warm and welcoming!

English Garden - Georgia Coast

English Garden, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2013

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English gardens usually have an element of surprise and a bit of whimsy. This front yard garden was a delightful combination of both. Penny, the garden's owner (who is actually from England), was out pulling weeds when I got started painting her house. She was kind of enough to move her car and came out to check on me halfway through. Unfortunately, she was gone when I finished the painting, but I think she knew I loved all the color and textures in her yard. Thank you, Penny!

Maggie's Dress Shop - Georgia Coast

Maggie's Dress Shop, 12 x 12, oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2013

One thing is for sure about the south - people like to dress up. It's not at all uncommon to see linen dresses and seersucker suits across the aisle at church; and even the casual clothes seem a bit more colorful and coordinated than in other parts of the country. Maggie's has been selling women's finery on St. Simons Island for years. The turquoise building, arched window displays, and red geraniums are a true siren song for the shopper in anyone. :)

Beside Still Waters, 12 x 12, Oil on panel, L. Daniel © 2012

This weekend, my son will marry his true love. It is such a happy occasion for both families and we are celebrating with all our hearts! Such joy! Right before I left Austin for the wedding, I was able to squeeze in a morning to paint at the lake. It was a good way for me to avoid the obsessive nature of all things "wedding"... to just get outside and take a breath and reflect on this most glorious event. I am one happy mom. :)