Intersection, 9x12"

Intersection, pastel on paper by Adriana Meiss

 
    A few years ago my daughter and I went on an exploring trip to neighboring Madison county, mostly to see the numerous windmills that dot the area.
    This view of a half hidden barn captured my attention, but it wasn't until very recently that I finally had the chance to paint it. I pushed the colors to give the idea of a warm afternoon.

Canandaigua Plein Air Competition

Roses on Main, pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord 9x12" by Adriana Meiss

Yesterday was the last day of  the Finger Lakes Plein Air Competition in Canandaigua, NY,  my first en plein air competition event. I'm still exhausted but it was worth it! Not only did I produce four decent paintings--three of which sold yesterday during the award ceremony and sale, but I got also an invitation to show in the Finger Lakes Gallery! I couldn't ask for more...well, it would have been nice to win an award but after seeing some of the great work I realize that there is a long way to go.  Other pluses were the chance to meet other artists, some whose work I have admired for some time, and seeing all the work produced in one place.

The painting above was my first one in the early morning. My friend Linda and I were heading to Sonnenberg Gardens but the place was not open yet so we painted in the surrounding area. For this scene I kept on thinking how Lois Griffel would had painted the fence and that kept me from giving it too much detail.

I Love Roses, pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord 12x9" by Adriana Meiss

-- SOLD

 Painting #2 was at the entrance of Sonnenberg Gardens. The plan was to go to the Japanese Garden, or the Rose one, which we had visited two weeks ago, but the profusion of color in this area captivated us, besides, it was noon and we where looking for a sheltered are from which to paint.

Fast Moving Clouds, pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord 12x9: by Adriana Meiss--SOLD

Day 2 was cloudy and threatening to rain at any moment. My friend and I went along the west side of the lake looking for a location that would allow us to paint aerial perspective. We ended up at the south end of the lake in Woodville and settled for this peaceful scene.

Pier 1, pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord  9x12" by Adriana Meiss--SOLD

Back in Canandaigua we went to the pier to have lunch and decided to paint the colorful boathouses under a still cloudy sky. Just like the previous day, there were lots of artists painting. I wanted a different view from what I had seen other people paint so I settled on this scene. I did not look that difficult to me until I realized that I had spend one hour just painting the roof tops and checking their angles and their line up with each other.

All in all it was wonderful and it whetted my appetite for more vents of this sort!

Peaceful Night, 10x8" - Sold

Peaceful Night, 8x10" pastel by Adriana Meiss

This painting happened by chance. I had painted a sunset with very warm pinks and yellows, some trees in the foreground and a field of daisies in the middle ground. I wasn't that sure of the results and after looking at it for several days I just did not like it anymore so I took it to the sink and washed it off.

A ghost was left on the board and fearing that some of the tooth might have been lost, I applied micaceous iron oxide to the board. This liquid acrylic produced by Golden, dries as an iridescent gunmetal color due in part to the mica particles. It did not completely cover the previous ghost, but that was to my advantage because the idea of a night scene immediately came to mind. This piece became a conversational piece at this weekend show when people commented on the sparkle of the night sky.

Dragonfly Heaven, 9x12"

Dragonfly Heaven by Adriana Meiss

    I am so happy to have finished this painting that for months sat on a shelf in the studio. A dead tree in the middle of the pond had kept me from working on this one. I debated whether  to move it to the right or to the left, making it the focal area or to not include it at all.  As I remembered the day I was at this location and how at peace I felt listening to the insects and the wind I realized that the dead tree wasn't important; all it needed was a mood that invited the viewer to be there. I hope it will strike such feeling in people.
    This is on Rondaxe Road, Old Forge, NY. The road divides the pond in two, so there are nice views on both sides.

The View from the Green Bridge, Old Forge, 10x8"

View from the Green Bridge, pastel by Adriana Meiss

I was in Old Forge this past weekend to see the opening reception of the pastel exhibit at View Arts Center, and to take a portrait workshop with Alain Picard.

While there, some friends wanted to see how I painted on location and for that purpose we went to the Green Bridge, which offers nice views in both directions. The "demo" was very short, perhaps half an hour, and I pointed out the most important aspects of painting outdoors: 1. select the subject,  2. Make small sketches first to determine the right composition and what the focal area is going to be,   3. pay attention to color temperature and values,  4. block in the main masses, and finally 5. provide some detail. I like to work as fast as I can so that the changing light conditions do not tempt me to make too many adjustments to my painting. This is the original piece:

en plein air, View from the Green Bridge

In the studio I continued working on it and did some minimal changes to the composition.  What took me the longest was giving the idea of a swift current. I realize that the freshness the original had is gone, but I needed to bring it to a level  I felt comfortable with.
 
About the workshop, all I can say is that it was very informative to see the 2-hour demo Picard did the day before the workshop. I tried to approach the portrait as if it were a landscape, but one thing  is sure, you won't be seeing portraits in this blog anytime soon.

Last Year's Grasses-Green Lakes, 18x24"

This painting will be at the St David's Celebration of the Arts which runs this week only.

I had started it last year but had to put it away when it was 80% done because I had to prepare for an art fair;  I knew that if I tried to finish it in a hurry I was going to mess it up.  Anyway, I finished it last week, in time for the upcoming show.  It's a nice feeling when you finish a piece without looking at the reference material and you know (o think that you know) exactly what needs to be done.

Starry Night in the Adirondacks, 7x5"

Starry Night in the Adirondacks by, Adriana Meiss

This recently finished painting was done on an impulse from a photo reference taken during daytime.

I have never painted outdoors at night, but I do go out then very often just to see the colors and to take mental notes. It only takes a few minutes for the eye to get used to the darkness. Then I ask myself  how many colors can be easily identified.  It always helps me to imagine myself painting and looking for a particular color in my pastel box. The house that was red during daylight, is it now blue or purple? What color does white take in darkness? Whatever the answer is, in my experience some of the colors need to be exaggerated just a little bit, and you do not necessarily have to rely on black. The darkest areas in the painting above were done with dark blues and dark olive greens.

The trick about night scenes is to make them believable enough. Just look at Rene Magritte's painting The Empire of Lights: cover the bottom part and you have a daytime sky, cover the area of the sky and you see a night scene, yet the whole scene seems to be so real...