Skagit Barn

Skagit Barn Study
@6" x 8"
Pastel & Charcoal on Sketch Paper
Casey Klahn


Skagit Barn Sketch
@6" x 8"
Charcoal
Casey Klahn

Who wouldn't want to sketch and paint an image of the Skagit Valley, Washington? This photo is from my collection, and I have been thinking about painting it for a long time. I only had a short hour in the studio this morning, so here is the sketch, a color study on sketch paper and the old photo for reference.

Charcoal Thumbs

Abandoned Barn Thumb #1

Abandoned Barn Thumbs #2 & 3

Thumbnail sketches, in charcoal, of the abandoned barn image. Remember that buildings seen from above suggest 3 point perspective. I'll remand you to the search engines to look up drawing perspective. Note, the query "3 point perspective" works better than a query like "drawing perspective".

I find that after you learn drawing skills, it's effective to NOT think too hard about the technical aspects of perspective. Just trust yourself to draw it and the quicker the better - your result will be fresher and more lively. That's right, I said "lively" in describing a building!

Then, after the fact, if something doesn't look right, review your drawing's perspective.

The 3 thumbs above represent a closely cropped version of the abandoned barn scene. And, each crop is a little different, and the results are very different in my eye. I find this image to be simple enough that I won't distinguish between a line sketch and a value sketch.

Going back to this perspective issue, I want to mention that the barn exists in a 3 point perspective space, but the landscape exists in a zero point perspective. The land in much of the American West is rolling hills with mountains in the distance. The artist must organize his lines for the overall graphic needs of his painting, rather than point style perspective. My own bias is to make the lines lead the eye into the painting, and hardly ever out! Upward directed lines at the edge, diagonals and "Z" shapes are helpful here. I also noticed several triangular patterns where grass patches abut the fields and crop lines. They provide interest and direction.

As far as the barn is concerned, my thoughts are to keep it anchored to the earth. Just like figure drawing, ask yourself how the interface of the feet to the ground of a standing subject appear. Believable? Or floating strangely in space?

Next: Color Studies.

What To Paint Today?

The words subject and content have different meanings to me in regards to painting. The content will be the elemental things depicted, such as trees, hills, sky, persons, etc. The subject, for me, is often never about the content. The tree's will be about "cool against dark warm," or the subject may be the color composition "analogous blues." Get it?

Artists will frequent the same content again and again, partly because the elements are less important than the subjects, or the "oeuvre." The trees and figures become tools to work another formal aspect of the art. Narrow content is another way to become identified by your work.

Eden Compton and Harry Bell are two blogger artists that I read regularly who exhibit narrow content choices. Albert Handell identifies his usual fare in his book, Pastel Painting Workshop. The limits of his ouvre include portrait vignettes, closely cropped trees, rocks and streams, and architectural elements. Handell says that patient study is required, and that limiting content is the key to this.

Bunkhouse Thumbnail Sketch
(Scanned Image)

I am carefully selecting my next plein air site, based on a sketch I did a year or two ago. The bunkhouse at my In-Laws' farm has a lot of the elements that Wolf Kahn uses repeatedly in his narrow content set: looking uphill towards a small rural building, with the elements of sky, vegetation and tree masses.

Rainy Day Plein Air

Back Property Trees
6 5/8ths" x 9 6/8ths"
Magnani
Casey Klahn

Back Property Trees - Pastel
6 5/8ths" x 9 6/8ths"
Magnani
Casey Klahn
Six Unisons Only

Bald Ridge, Pencil & Pastel
5" x 8"
Sketch Paper
Casey Klahn

A rare outdoor trip
usually on foot, but this time in the Chevy.
As I unpacked, a downpour.
I clipped the umbrella to the hatchback
and sketched from the tailgate.

Tips x Five

Erased Trees
@14' x 10"
Pastel Study
Casey Klahn

Thumbnails are useful for establishing value, linear or color compositions.

1. A thumbnail sketch can be any size "rough" out of a painting idea. I often make them about 3" x 1.5", and sometimes even smaller. The one pictured here is full size, though.
2. What's the use in being inhibited in a rough sketch? Try new color ideas, and make mistakes like a shore-bound sailor.
3. Save all of these sketches. I will pull them out of a drawer even a year or two late and have an "ah ha!" moment.
4. One commonly missed opportunity for experimentation is to take a "failed" painting and go back into it with even more experimentation, mistakes and trial efforts.
   
5. My wife will sometimes filch these mini paintings and put them in Christmas ornament frames.