Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Photos from my recent seascape demo

A student from my workshop in Rolling Fork has graciously e-mailed me a series of pictures he took of the progress of that demo. I will post them tonight. I often see this done with commentary like " and now I put in the wave" I will spare you that. I think you can see the process. I will answer questions though, or evade them and answer them in the later series I intend to do. This is a live demo in front of a class. I think I worked about three hours. I had no photos or reference of any kind and this is an imagined scene and not a real place I have memorized. It was invented using knowledge of wave anatomy and something about how light reveals form. I have also painted hundreds of these invented seascapes.

This is not the seascape chapter I promised, but I thought it was such a good series of pictures I would post them. I have to do some prep work for that or I would start it now. The man behind the curtain is paddling furiously.















And there you have it , my dear.

42 comments:

Gregory Becker said...

That is what I'm talking about. Beautiful.

Mary Bullock said...

Why are you wearing gloves?

Linda Crank said...

Such a beautiful painting in such a short time...amazing! I'm surprised that the brown underpainting didn't smear up into the color that you were applying on top of it? Was it oil paint?

Robert J. Simone said...

The value planes read very well, especially the horizontal plane!

Jo-Ann Sanborn said...

Reflections in front of the rock are exquisite! Such a wonderful little painting. Love seeing the process

Unknown said...

To quote one of my favorite literary characters, Junie B.Jones,
Wowee wow wow!

Incredible, Mr. Kearns, and even more so for having been done in a demo setting. As Junie would say, you were "speedy fast".

Todd Bonita said...

This really is impressive. You've got major skills Mr. Kearns. I need to see this live someday. I hope to catch one of your workshops.

R Yvonne Colclasure said...

I missed that you had no reference and this was from your imagination!! There aren't a lot of artists who are able to pull off one this beautiful with the scene in front of them!! You really do ROCK! :)

Mary Byrom said...

Imagination wave #2 demo is even snazzier than wave #1 demo... That warm cloud light is delightful over that cool wave action Stapleton.

mariandioguardi.com said...

Poetry inspired by the words of Kearns:

Painting the Sea
by Marian Dioguardi

The sea is a broken mirror
tossed into the clouds of the day.
Rocks into sand;
it will all wash away.
Memory remembers.

Woodward Simons said...

I'm amazed! Can't wait to see you paint in real life at the "Lupine World" workshop.

Jan Blencowe said...

I strongly suspect that this is magic and not an actual painting demo at all LOL

You are amazing!!

cindy lee jones said...

Fabulous!

billspaintingmn said...

LOOK!! Up in the sky!! It's a bird..It's a plane.. It's, It's ..
Stapelton Kerns with a brush!!

You lead the field Stape.

I have never been so impressed with an Artist as I am with you!
Thanks for all you do.

Barbara Carr said...

You MADE THIS UP!?! I worship at your gigantic, Cabela-clad feet!

Unknown said...

I can really see the mastery of your paint handling in this demo. I am assuming this was alla prima, and no mud or smeary edges where you don't want them. For example, your colors in the sky don't look over-mixed even though you were painting wet into wet. I keep struggling to keep things separate.

This demo brings up a question about layering colors and color intensity. Some painters seem to lay in an intense color first, and then scumble over that with grays closer to local color to form variation. Others seem to start out with a grave color (painting the value more than anything), and inject colorful passages on top of that. In this painting you seem to do both. The sky seems like you start with an intense color, and then gray that with blues, while the rocks start with a darker and graver color, and then you add variations of more intense color on top of that. Any thoughts on the separate processes and when you use them?

Chad said...

Awesome...

Peggy Kingsbury said...

Fabulous! When you catch up on your paddling, maybe some "sky" lessons. This one is beautiful.

Carol Nelson said...

I think one has to paint a LOT of waves, skies, rocks and sea foam before one can wing it like this in a three hour demo. Totally shocked and awed am I.

Stapleton Kearns said...

Gregory:
Thank you. I wondered what you were talking about!
...............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Mary:
I almost always wear gloves I don't like paint on my hands. I am VERY messy.I don't however wear them on hot summer days. If I wear them in the sun my arms tan and my hands stay white. I end up looking like Mickey Mouse!
.............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Linda:
It is sienna and I don't mind if a little bit gets up into the painting. It looks OK when it does. But I washed it in with my solvent and it flash dries.
I enjoyed meeting you and the talent twins in Cincinnati.
..................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Simone:
I had to lay down to paint those!
.........Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Jo-Ann t
The painting is a 16 by 20.
.......Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Deb;
I don't know Junie Jones. Was she in a band with Rod Argent?
...............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Todd:
Why don't you come to LupenWorld?
.................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Yvonne:
Thank you. I couldn't pull it off with nature in front of me either. It is an imaginary scene that operates according to its own internal logic .
....Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Mary:
Thank you. It seems everybody likes this one. It sold the next day.
..Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Jan:
Thank you. I feel better as I struck out when we painted together.
...........Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Woodward Simons;
It should be a lot of fun up at the inn with no outside world distractions. The outside world actually freezes into stasis while we are there.
................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Cindy:
Your avatar gives the impression that you yourself may be fabulous also.
..............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Marian:
The sea is a writhing problem,
It simply won't hold still.
But if you do it from a photo
Its always run of the mill.
....Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Bill:
Gee thanks.I hope I can live up to that.
.................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Barbara:
I didn't need em down in Mississippi.
.............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Jeremy:
I work either way, whichever gets me to my result.
...............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Chad:
Thank you.In person though, I am loathsome.
..........Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Chad:
Thank you.In person though, I am loathsome.
..........Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Peggy;
I intend to do a series on skies eventually.
..................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Carol:
I have painted a lot of seascapes and done many as demos.
...........Stape

Unknown said...

By the way, Todd here has a solo show starting this weekend at the Rockport Art Assoc... If anybody's in the area, it will be a good one.

Stapleton Kearns said...

Todd:
Good luck with that! What are the dates?
................Stape

jeff said...

Excellent! Thank you for posting this.