Wonderful. It doesn't matter if it isn't the prettiest scene, it's a beautiful painting. Have you read Ruskin's Elments Of Style? He talkis about painting exactly this type of scene, a falling-apart man made structure, something being reclaimed by nature.
It must be nice to have these little cultural ruins lying around in the neighborhood for painters. I'd be lucky if I find a rusted mailbox in my neighborhood.
i really like that you are including extra photos. it's fascinating to me to see in this painting the actual scene and the colors you selected. these warm tones you selected really brought this scene to life...the photo looks very cold, but in your painting i can feel the warmth of the bricks in the sun. quite a wonderful interpretation!
Eric, you are right. I have not read Ruskin but Hawthorne says the same thing. "Anything under the sun is beautiful if you have the vision - it is the seeing of the thing that makes it so."
Christine, I think that the photos of the scene helps to see how I went about the painting sometimes. I am glad that you like seeing them. Thanks for your comments on the painting.
March 25, 2008 at 5:49 PM
Anonymous said...
I liked to see both scenes -- the real and your painting. You're right it does have character. Very nice job.
Hi Paz, thank you. I appreciate your feedback on including the photo of the scene.
Thanks Cooper! The bright sun and heat down here really throws the whole "cool" shadow thing out the window. There is a lot of reflected light bouncing around. You just gotta paint what you see. Thanks for stopping by.
You have such a light magic touch. You make me want to paint again as I used to years ago before I got involved in writing so much. Yes, I had fun re-designing my banner. It's Mimi the mother cat on our roof. I thought the colors were suitable...... I was getting bored of the look of my blog. All best wishes.
Eric's right, you've made the scene beautiful in your painting, that's not an easy thing to do. There's a lot of warmth to the scene, very atmospheric.
Hi Mary, that is an interesting theory. I wonder if people from other parts of the world think that America's ugly stuff is better looking than theirs. Kind of a dried grass is always yellower type thing.
April 1, 2008 at 8:10 AM
I did this little plein air two weeks ago. It is not the prettiest scene in San Miguel, but I think that it has a lot of character. The raw bricks are laid out in the sun to dry before they are put in this kiln to be fired.
[Image] "Drying Bricks and Kiln", 6" x 8" oil on linen, 2008 Private Collection
[Image] My setup, and the scene at the brick maker's.
All of these colors were pre mixed on my palette before I started the painting. I did not take a picture until I had cleaned off the palette to pack up. There has been a lot of interest in pre mixing of colors. Thanks to everyone who has commented or emailed me about this. I am working on a few posts, but they take a while to pull together. Stay tuned.
posted by Frank Gardner at 10:36 PM on Mar 24, 2008
""Drying Bricks and Kiln""
15 Comments -
Wonderful. It doesn't matter if it isn't the prettiest scene, it's a beautiful painting. Have you read Ruskin's Elments Of Style? He talkis about painting exactly this type of scene, a falling-apart man made structure, something being reclaimed by nature.
March 25, 2008 at 10:23 AM
It must be nice to have these little cultural ruins lying around in the neighborhood for painters. I'd be lucky if I find a rusted mailbox in my neighborhood.
March 25, 2008 at 4:45 PM
i really like that you are including extra photos. it's fascinating to me to see in this painting the actual scene and the colors you selected. these warm tones you selected really brought this scene to life...the photo looks very cold, but in your painting i can feel the warmth of the bricks in the sun. quite a wonderful interpretation!
March 25, 2008 at 4:58 PM
Eric, you are right. I have not read Ruskin but Hawthorne says the same thing. "Anything under the sun is beautiful if you have the vision - it is the seeing of the thing that makes it so."
March 25, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Hi Kate. It is nice to have lots of things that I like to paint close by. That is one reason I am here.
March 25, 2008 at 5:48 PM
Christine, I think that the photos of the scene helps to see how I went about the painting sometimes. I am glad that you like seeing them. Thanks for your comments on the painting.
March 25, 2008 at 5:49 PM
I liked to see both scenes -- the real and your painting. You're right it does have character. Very nice job.
Paz
March 26, 2008 at 5:51 AM
Beautiful Frank. It's really amazing to see how you captured the heat of the day in your painting.
March 26, 2008 at 7:14 AM
Hi Paz, thank you. I appreciate your feedback on including the photo of the scene.
Thanks Cooper! The bright sun and heat down here really throws the whole "cool" shadow thing out the window. There is a lot of reflected light bouncing around. You just gotta paint what you see.
Thanks for stopping by.
March 26, 2008 at 9:19 AM
You have such a light magic touch.
You make me want to paint again as I used to years ago before I got involved in writing so much.
Yes, I had fun re-designing my banner.
It's Mimi the mother cat on our roof. I thought the colors were suitable......
I was getting bored of the look of my blog.
All best wishes.
March 26, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Eric's right, you've made the scene beautiful in your painting, that's not an easy thing to do. There's a lot of warmth to the scene, very atmospheric.
March 26, 2008 at 1:57 PM
Thanks Elizabeth! You should do some painting. Maybe Robert would let you borrow a little paint.
Mimi looks a lot like our cat.
March 26, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Thanks Ambera. I am glad that everyone is noticing the warm color in this one.
March 26, 2008 at 10:03 PM
I notice that 'ugly' stuff is better looking in foreign countries. Here, it just looks like blight :0
I'm loving these lessons.
March 29, 2008 at 9:51 AM
Hi Mary, that is an interesting theory. I wonder if people from other parts of the world think that America's ugly stuff is better looking than theirs. Kind of a dried grass is always yellower type thing.
April 1, 2008 at 8:10 AM