“Sfumato”

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Announcing…
The Grand View Ranch Has A New Web Site!

By popular demand, we have created a new web site which artists can go to and find information about workshops, events, painting tips and receive a FREE book on “how to” paint on location.
Please check it out and let me know what you think at :

http://www.TheGrandView.com

Just south of The Grand View Ranch is an isolated forest that contains an incredible tapestry of canyons and waterfalls. Many of these destinations are unmarked and without visitors. I learned of a place like this, and knew that I had to explore it for myself. Faery Falls is exceptionally beautiful. In the spring, the water in Ney Springs Creek powerfully rushes to form a lovely 60-foot high, fan-shaped waterfall that crashes into a deep, clear blue-green pool of water below, while butterflies dance around the edges of the cascading waters like little fairies. Because of the huge amount of spray and mist at the base of the falls, the one difficulty I had at Faery Falls was finding a dry spot to paint without getting wet.

A secret key that unlocks the mystery of painting waterfalls is to paint them as if they are dry. Start by painting the rocks in cool, dark colors, and sculpt them first. Novice painters usually paint the white of the waterfalls first, leaving the rocks flat without depth. The best water effects are created using shadow and form. Notice also that the highlight on the water is not white but a light, warm color. Try using Cad lemon yellow and Cad orange with white to paint the bright, shimmering sunlight that dances over the falls.

Capturing the feeling of the water free falling to the earth below is what distinguishes the master artist from the Sunday painter. Leonardo da Vinci would call this subtle ability to paint feelings “Sfumato,” referring to a technique which overlays translucent layers of color to create perceptions of depth, volume, and form, requiring a delicate approach as though one was trying to grasp and hold smoke (fume). Painting is personal expression, and most artists learn to paint objects. However, when an artist challenges himself to paint the elusive qualities of his own response to objects in life, he becomes a great artist.

I hope that we can build a community of artists that can share information with each other.

If you know of any artists that might appreciate being included, let them know about this blog.

I hope to offer more painting tips as this conversation continues.If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please don’t hesitate to email me anytime.

I welcome your feedback. Stefan_Baumann@yahoo.com

The First Impression Counts

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The First Impression Counts

In our weekend workshop at Mt Shasta, we experience some of the most extraordinary places in America. Most of the locations that we paint are accessible by car. Participants who have never painted on location before find that plein air painting is very rewarding, and by working right from the car, they can focus completely on the task and begin painting from life. However, on the east side of Mt Shasta, deep in woods, there is a place that is so awesome, so breathtaking, and so grand, but the only way that you can see this sight is by hiking to it. The McCloud Middle falls are so beautiful that I was inspired to include a “hike and paint” in our itinerary for the workshop.

One key to painting on location is getting your first impression on your canvas as fast as you can. The effects and feelings change every moment, and a skilled painter must remember the scene that called the artist to want to paint it in the first place. Painting is a series of memory exercises, and the act of painting requires practicing this skill. Most artists lose the feeling of a painting because they spend most of their time chasing the light and changing what they are painting, moment by moment, as the light changes before them. When you find a subject that engages you, look at your subject and ask your self, “Why do I want to paint this?” Then, freeze that image in your mind and stay focused on the first impression you had of the subject.
Painting from life will help you develop somewhat of a photographic memory, and your memory will support your ability to create landscapes that are more convincing and captivating, both on-site and in the studio.

The Grand View Ranch will have a new web site this week; we will provide updated information about it as the week progresses.

I hope that we can build a community of artists that can share information with each other.

If you know of any artists that might appreciate being included, let them know about this blog.

I hope to offer more painting tips as this conversation continues.If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please don’t hesitate to email me anytime.

I welcome your feedback. Stefan_Baumann@yahoo.com

A View From The Grand View Opus 1

A View From The Grand View Opus 1

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Self-Doubts and Criticism

The spring weather is here at The Grand View Ranch, and with spring’s beauty arriving, there are incredible compositions to paint. Today’s painting is just one of many views that caught my eye at the ranch, and I painted it during a demonstration at the May workshop. With each workshop, I learn more about what art is, and why so many people feel intimidated when they are creating art.

Let us examine the enemy within ourselves that creates our doubts and fears about our ability to be a successful artist. Where does this self-doubt come from, and why do we have it? Most of our self-doubts and criticism originate from experiences that happened in our childhood, and we make it to mean something important about ourselves. For example, if you were five and you drew a horse, and your mom said, “That’s a funny drawing of a dog,” you could have felt that everything you create will be criticized, and could have decided that you will never let that happen to you again. When we listen to the internal story that we created when we were five, we are influenced by the strong opinions formed at that young age about the world and ourselves. Self-doubts are real and powerful and can stifle creativity. It is important to recognize where the story comes from, and go on creating.

If you want to paint great trees in a landscape, here is a secret. Notice the setting sun behind the trees in “View from the Grand View Opus 1,” and how it provides an interesting effect as the light comes through the holes in the tree. If you paint the sky first, and then lay a tree on top of it, the effect will look flat and not real. If you paint the trees first, and then paint the sky and the sky holes in the tree, every sky hole can be a different color and value, because the holes vary in value according to their size and the consequent amount of light they admit through them. The smaller holes are darker or grayer than the larger sky holes which are lighter in value and similar to the sky color and value surrounding the trees.

I want to thank you for all your emails asking when the next blog and painting would be posted. I am inspired and touched by your interest and comments, and am happy to say, that after a busy month of Workshop preparation and website construction, I am eager to resume posting my blog for you.

The Grand View Ranch will have a new web site this week; we will provide updated information about it as the week progresses. I hope that we can build a community of artists that can share information with each other.

If you know of any artists that might appreciate being included, let them know about this blog.
I hope to offer more painting tips as this conversation continues.

If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please don’t hesitate to email me anytime. I welcome your feedback. Stefan_Baumann@yahoo.com