Bernie goes back in time...

I donned 1860's period attire two weekends in a row portraying a civilian plein air artist. Last weekend Olivia and I attended the Civil War reenactment at Fort Branch. The weekend before Olivia, my grandson, Christian, and I attended a Living History program at Hammocks Beach State Park. The three of us are pictured above.

Here I am working from my small cigar box pochade box painting an old house on the grounds of Fort Branch near Hamilton, NC. Marsha Harris took this photo of me while I was painting.

Here's the 6x8" finished painting from the sitting. Olivia met some friends and they all played in the old house while I painted it.

I met some nice people as well and had many interesting conversations while painting. One was Tom Whelan, a photographer who was kind enough to share these photos with me. Thanks again Tom!

As I was painting I used the "Complementary Color" technique where I paint the opposite color to what I see in the first stage. The spectators that dropped by while I was working this stage must have scratched their heads and asked themselves, "What kind of drug is this guy on?"

I chose an more intimate setting for my painting on Sunday morning. This 8x10" painting is a view across the field where the battle took place later that afternoon.

At the Hammocks Beach Living History program I portrayed a younger Claude Monet and gave a demo on plein air painting.

In 1863 Monet discovers Manet's painting and paints "en plein air" in the Fontainebleau forest for the first time. My age and impression are closer to Monet as seen in his self portrait painted in 1886 posted here.

The day was full of excitement!

I gave my finished painting to Charlie Wilton who commanded the artillery battery in above photo.
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Two GREAT weekends spent with old and new friends, Olivia, and Christian, topped with plein air painting... PRIMO!

Art Imitates Life... and Vice Versa... An Impressionistic "En Plein Aire" Demonstration by Bernie Rosage Jr.

An Impressionistic "En Plein Aire" Demonstration...

It has often been said that "art imitates life and life imitates art"... and there is valid truth to that statement. Life is a progression, a maturing movement, and is often... not what it seems. Ones art talent naturally is a progression (at least hopefully) that matures with time, practice, and experience. Artwork, in many cases, through technique takes on a progression through stages and matures to completion. What about those in between stages where things aren't as they seem?... a stage that can actually be UGLY! Just like in life... patience, perserverance, and hard work produce masterpieces that we never dreamed of. I often think of God in this way... he has so much patience with us, his artwork... He molds and fashions us into his masterpieces.

This next painting is a great visual example of the statements listed above. Another one done "en plein aire" on location in the mountains of North Carolina. Once again, Tami dropped me off, this time in a field where I had been observing these haystacks all week. In the Blue Ridge Mountains near Boone, NC, the open fields are covered with these haystacks (haybales is probably a better name) in the early summer... a beautiful site. I wanted to try and paint them similar to Monet's impressionistic style since we both seemed to have a thing for haystacks.

Stage 1...
Find a spot similar to Monet's in composition.

Stage 2...
A simple charcoal sketch for composition.

Stage 3...
I blocked in areas with the complimentary color as an under-painting per say to the colors I planned on using. Nothing fancy... used a brush and a palette knife. You could call this the UGLY stage.

Stage 4...Painted sky and tree line with small dabs using a paint brush. Painted the stacks and field with short linear strokes with a small palette knife.

Stage 5...
Refined and refined some more... and at last finished in about 2 1/2 hours time.

"Haystacks near Todd, NC", 12"x9" Oil on Canvas Board, "en plein air", 2005. Honorable Mention, Onslow Art Society Spring Show 2006.

Close-up showing brushwork.

OK... looks a little more Van Gogh-ish than Monet-ish.... but.... what the hay!
Bernie
Orginally posted 11/2005 on my Art Journal blog...

Masters Study... William Bouguereau... A Demonstration in the Technique of Glazing by Bernie Rosage Jr.

A Demonstration in the Technique of Glazing...

My favorite artist is John Singer Sargent... but... William Bouguereau runs a close second! The way he painted the human figure is remarkable... his palette colors superb... especially his rendering of skin tones. A lot can be learned from studying this great artist. This painting was a big challenge for me... not only in size at 30"x20" but in the technique of glazing. I briefly mentioned glazing in my Vermeer conversation... It is the layering of color... one on top of another... building up color per say to get the desired and final results. It is a slow process because one layer has to completely dry before another is added. When I finally finished this painting I had 50 hours time devoted to painting alone not counting planning, research, and drying time. It was worth it because it was a special Christmas gift for my wife, Tami, last year.
Adolphe-William Bouguereau (1825-1905)


The name of the painting is L'Amour et Psyche, enfants (Translated title: Cupid and Psyche as Children.) and it was painted in 1889.

L'Amour et Psyche, enfants Original.

Greek legends, Cupid and Psyche, share an interesting love story as written by Kara Ross...

"The story of Cupid and Psyche was one of Bouguereau’s favorite myths. He painted several works inspired from this legend, such as The Rapture of Psyche, Psyche and Cupid, and Psyche. The myth of Cupid and Phsyche first appears written in The Golden Ass of Lucius Apuleius in the 2nd century AD. In the story, Psyche is a beautiful princess of whom the goddess Venus is jealous. In her rage she orders her son cupid to make Psyche fall in love with a monster, but Cupid falls in love with her himself. After several trials Cupid and Psyche make their plea to the gods who turn Psyche into an immortal and allow them to be married in heaven (British Library). In this painting Bouguereau was inspired to paint the two lovers together as children. Demonstrating that fate its self had a hand in there meeting. They were born to be together. The subtle paint handling captures the children’s innocence and illustrates to the viewer that Cupid's original attraction to Psyche was not purely physical, but also platonic, for the innocence of childhood does not allow for anything else. You cannot have true love without also having a mutual trust and respect, and a relaxed and enduring companionship between lovers. Cupid and Psyche’s union then is not just physical: they are soul mates and compliment each other eternally."

On with the painting...

I plan to share some technical info plus show you various stages to help you better understand the technique of glazing.


Stage 1... Primed canvas (30"x20") with several coats of gessoe. Last coat included a paynes gray/ultramarine tint. Sketched in charcoal and fixed.


Stage 2... Blocked in background with paynes gray, ultramarine blue, and titanium white.


Stage 3... I let the background dry then began a grisaille (grayish) underpainting of the figures with ivory black and titanium white. The ivory black gives a slight blue cast which I thought would be appropriate for those great Bouguereau skin tones that have a hint of blue in them. I will be working on the grisaille for the next several updates... a slow process for me with the size of this one.





About 13 hours into it at this point...


Stage 4... Applied my first color glaze... a mixture of Flake White and Raw Sienna over the whole skin area. I am using Liquin as my mixing medium. Liquin is a thinning medium that also accelerates drying time for oils... approximately 24 hours drying time per layer with the Liquin. It is important that each layer be completely dry before applying the next.

My first application of color would be super thin, and I would apply color broadly to "tint" the grisaille underpainting, so that it actually takes on the appearance of a hand-tinted sepia photograph. I'd use, perhaps, one "flesh" hue, that I had carefully mixed, and spread it (scrub it) thinly over the entire flesh area. This layer is so thin that the grisaille underpainting shows through, leaving the tones of the grisaille more or less intact.


Stage 5... I have added a couple glazes over the entire skin area with a mix of burnt sienna/yellow ochre/cad red/titanium white. A layer of burnt umber was applied to the hair and ultra marine to the fabric. Finished the wings.


Stage 6... My last layer of glazing which consists of: Skin tones: yellow ochre, cad red, titanium white, ultramarine blue... Shadow areas: ultramarine blue, sap green, burnt umber, indian red. I work the various colors in (using Liquin as my mixing medium) using the under painting as a guide. Now I simply have to cover Cupid and Psyche in this slow manner (approx 23 hours into this one so far).
Close ups of knee at various stages mentioned to give you a better visual idea...








I basically kept working in this manner and with this palette until the subjects were complete. Notice the richness in various colors on the last close up... the glazing gives work a translucent appearance allowing many colors to show through. Once the skin tones were done... I finished the hair and the fabric in the same manner.

Some important tips about glazing by my dear friend and mentor Bill Martin...

The first "secret" is that glazing consists of full bodied paint applied.... thinly, with no brush strokes apparent.

The second "secret" is that as you approach the final layers, the paint is often applied more thickly and opaquely, especially in the lighter color tints and highlight areas.

The third "secret" is that building layer upon layer, in this thin manner, creates a depth that is quite believable, and continues to look better after each glaze.

The fourth "secret" is that you always know it's time to call an end when you can no longer step back from your painting and say, "Yeah! That really improved it!"

Have fun with your glazing!

Your friend in art, Bill.


The evolution of this painting...


The grand finale... my completed work....


"L'Amour et Psyche, enfants" Translated title: Cupid and Psyche as Children after William Bouguereau, 30"x20" Oil on Stretched Canvas, 2004.

The greatest part... Tami loved her Christmas present...


Thanks for dropping by...
Bernie


Originally posted 12/2005 on my Art Journal blog...

Plein Air Painting Demo from Appalachian State University Campus by Bernie Rosage Jr....

There's a small park in the center of campus at Appalachian State University (ASU) in Boone, North Carolina that is one of my favorite spots to paint en plein aire. My wife dropped me off with easel and painting gear in hand buying me two hours time while she took the kids to the library. The weather was clear and warm for Boone in late December... around 55 degrees... perfect painting weather!

I positioned myself along a walking path in the park with a great view of the campus bell tower... my focal point.

I met many nice folks walking and jogging along the path... it's a wonder I finished the painting before my wife returned with the numerous conversations I had. Knowing the short time frame I had to work with I had to do some mental editing and only included the

elements necessary to make the piece work compositionally.

Stage 1... First I sketched a "rule of thirds" grid to help position the focal point on my panel. I then began to block in the important shapes with burnt sienna and ultra marine thinned with odorless mineral spirits.

Stage 2... I began to block in with more opaque paint defining the shapes and values more. I mixed Liquin Impasto Gel with all my pigment mixtures to speed drying times knowing I would be transporting this one back to the coast in a Honda CRV packed to it's gills with luggage, kids, and two cats.

Stage 3... I began working in some detail. Note my editing consisted of leaving out a few trees and the gazebo. Often times you know when something in a painting just isn't working... that's how it was with the evergreen tree on the left for me. My evergreen looked more like a sycamore giving half the painting a visual tension with the bare tree on the right... it was as if I had two seasons (summer and winter) within one painting.

Stage 4... With that said... the best thing to do was wipe it out... I could have licked it to death trying to fix it but I learned sometime back it is better for me to wipe it clean and start fresh. Many times the plein air painter has to wipe his whole panel clean... we call that a "scrapper".

Stage 5... Adding more detail and refining areas. My palette for this painting consisted of cad lemon yellow, cad yellow medium, yellow ocher, terra rosa, burnt sienna, alizarin crimson, viridian, cerulean blue, ultra marine blue, and titanium white.

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Stage 6.... The Finished work... just in time... my wife showed up just as I was signing it.

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Click on image to see a larger view...

"ASU Bell Tower"... 8x6" Oil on Panel, alla prima en plein aire, 12-30-2008.

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This original oil painting by American Artist, Bernie Rosage Jr. is available for purchase... email Bernie with the title in the subject line... click HERE... for price and details...

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This painting, on a gessoed panel with painted sides, is easily framed or displayed with a decorative easel.

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All my paintings are signed originals using artist grade oils and archival surfaces. "Certificate of Authenticity" included.

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Packing up and looking forward to the next plein air adventure... Hope you enjoyed this short demo.... Happy New Year!

Bernie

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Here's another plein air demo I did in 2005 in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains that you may glean some info from: Impressionistic Demo by Bernie Rosage Jr.

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