Kim Morin Weineck's Art: pastels

Showing posts with label pastels. Show all posts

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Day #3 :: WINTER FIELD :: January Daily Painting Challenge

WINTER FIELD
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $5 shipping

It's chilly and here is another snowy painting. This piece was such fun to do! I started with another notan sketch and then the color laying over it was easy as pie!

Not much to say tonight because Downton Abbey starts up again tonight. And Alaska the Last Frontier. Funny how I watch so little television and then blam, both are on tonight. We'll have nothing else to watch for the remainder of the week (a good thing when a painting challenge is underway!)

OH! And I ordered some art supplies today. Can't wait to talk about those that will be coming in shortly!! :)

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Friday, September 4, 2015

Day 4 :: LATE IN THE DAY :: #30in30 Painting a Day Challenge

LATE IN THE DAY
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

$125 + $8 shipping
(Some day I'll figure out how to center the "Buy Now" button.)

Tim asked me what the purpose of #30in30 was and I told him it's to set a discipline of daily painting and, with daily exercise, to expand my artistic repertoire.

Holding true to this aim, I've been struggling with green in so many aspects for so long.
*Green in shadow versus green in sunlight.
*Green that's in the foreground and greens in the background.
*Green that's muddy versus green that is intense.
Green causes problems especially in summer when everything is green.

For a big birthday present a few years ago my family gave me the Terry Ludwig set of 90 greens. Ninety! You'd think if you have 90 greens you'd have them all. Not me. I found I was always wanting a variation of the color that wasn't available. Eventually I figured it wasn't the selection but the user. I wasn't using green to its best effect.

This painting is a study in green in sunlight and in shadow. It's from a field near my home near where the town school buses are stored. This field is beautiful all times of the year, and it's a place that I find intimidating for it's simplicity -- gorgeous field, a stone wall, the sky, tall grasses. When a composition is simple, it doesn't allow for hiding a weak result in the architecture of a farmhouse or the dancing light and shadow on clouds. As an artist you're exposed and it's rough.

This painting went through some rough spells. Apply pastel. Keep applying more pastel. Wipe that all off. Do it again. Wipe it off again. Start over. Here's where I ended up. I love it. It's better in person. I need a better camera or the real Photoshop not Photoshop Elements.

Thanks for reading. We'll see what I paint for tomorrow. -kmw

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Day 1 :: DAY'S END :: #30in30 painting a day challenge

DAY'S END
by Kim Morin Weineck
original pastel, 6x6"

Sold!

The first day of Leslie Saeta's #30in30 painting a day challenge is a daunting prospect. Staring at September I wonder what my collection will look like at the month's end. Questions come to mind: Will I paint daily? Can I keep up with the demand? How will I find the time? What about Labor Day?

As a mom to young girls starting school this month I have to think I'll be afforded new time. Summer is wonderful but finding time to paint has been its own challenge. We shall see....

DAY'S END is a piece I was jazzed up about when began the painting process. The light was just so. The colors were intense. In my art studio I've been pushing color in terms of hue, value, intensity, and temperature. This composition allowed me to stretch color in all of those ways.

When I was finished I was happy enough to fledge this into a larger piece for an upcoming show in November. Can't wait to show you how it came out!

Friday, April 4, 2014

Salt Marsh Spring :: Pastel, 6x6

Ah, spring and marshes! These things make me so happy!! After a winter that beat us all up here in the northeast, it's nice to see sprigs of green popping up.

This piece, SALT MARSH SPRING, was painted from memory -- a big thing for me. I also pushed some color and had SUCH FUN doing so.

Thanks for looking! -kmw

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Put yourself out there

As an artist, I honestly find art shows a bit scary. Having your work out for all to see is an invitation for a response. Talk about vulnerable! I've always felt that by the time you're ready to put yourself out there, you're ready for the response, whatever it may be -- good or bad. It's easy to say but harder to pull it off.

Gallery9 hosted a wonderful group show called "The Great Frame Up" where we had to create a piece to coordinate with a frame we selected in a blind draw -- totally backwards from the norm. When I opened my frame and saw the 1" flat turquoise wood burl I'll admit I knew this wasn't going to be easy. My still life came together well and three judges awarded me 3rd place. Hurray!

My painting with the 3rd place
Golden Brush award above it
©2013 Kim Morin Weineck
BLUE JAR
original pastel, 10x8"

The very next day my work was shown in the Norwood Art Association's 35th Annual Arts in the Park event. Imagine my feeling when I walked up to my piece and saw this blue ribbon on it! The beautiful sunshine-filled day got even better!

For all the painting going on in solitude, it feels quite nice to have my work recognized, and I'm so appreciative.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Monday, June 3, 2013

Art supply order!

After a self-imposed hiatus of nearly two years, I splurged and ordered a BUNCH of new art supplies.

As a pastel painter, I always want to try another brand to see how I like them and if their colors will be the resplendent glories I imagine. The problem is I probably will like them and then I'll simply need EVERY color in the line. Since I began pastel painting in earnest, I dreamed of the day when I'll order the complete set of some brand of my choosing. What a day that will be!

Diane Townsend's Soft Form Landscape sets A and B were my selection this order. They are beautiful and the sticks handle well on the Pastelbord I have and the Hahnemuhle velour paper. Lovely. If there's any negative it's the selection in these sets - a LOT of muddy warm greens that I seem to have too many of in my general pastel collection. If you're looking for a go-to set to bring with you on a plein air painting outing, this would not be my set. Instead I'd bring the Sennelier plein air 80 half stick set. The colors are perfect.

At a workshop with Deb Quinn-Munson, she mentioned that she uses Cretacolor hard pastels rather than Nupastels. I figured I'd give them a shot and so far so good. The color assortment is just beautiful!

Since the pastels arrived I've been squeezing in painting time. So far so good. Love getting new supplies. What a treat it is!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Marsh Morning

Yes. Please, just call me Marsha. I loved making this painting. Each color made me happy happy happy. This particular marsh is the bees knees of marshes. It's up in Newbury, MA and I love it in every season.

Usually one to rush and make hasty decisions, I took this painting slow and deliberately, and I think it shows. At the end, I tried to stretch the local color and make more exciting, exuberant choices. In person, the cobalt, violet, and earthy browns are noticeable in the foreground.

Can't wait to do another marsh!

Thanks for reading!-kmw

Monday, April 8, 2013

"Purple in the Marsh"

At all times of the year the marsh offers abundant color -- well, maybe not wintertime!

Can you guess when this was painted? What month is it from?

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Thursday, April 4, 2013

"Speckled Beach Sand"

Water and the beach! It's April and I'm a summer girl. Seeing this piece brings me back to the beach.
Can't wait for June.

This piece was the first time I experimented with an oil underpainting. When viewed up close, there are some rivulets of color that make the water particularly pretty cool.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

"Marsh Greens"

Marsh Greens is a pastel of one of my favorite subjects: Marshes! My husband jokes that my name should be Marsha.

There is something wonderful about painting greens and making the painting have space that recedes into the distance. I love that!

Thank you for reading! -kmw

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

"Sunlit Path"

Sunlit Path is one of the pieces on display at the South Street Gallery in Hingham. For the next few posts I'll be showcasing the pastels that are included in the show.

This pastel is from a trip we took to New Hampshire last summer -- it was a sunny, beautiful August day. Tim and I were driving back from Story Land with our little girls and decided to take in the scenery. When driving by this bucolic happiness, I yelled to stop the car, and my husband was already prepping to pull the car to the side.

Love looking at the light in this piece.

Thanks for reading!-kmw

Monday, April 1, 2013

South Street Gallery, Hingham, MA

If you're in the Hingham, MA area, please stop by the South Street Gallery and see the Pastels show.

I'm quite honored to be included with these wonderful artists.

Thanks for reading! -kmw

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Small works :: Snow Day

My subject matter was pretty consistent with landscapes and such. When I looked around at what was going on in my life, I was inspired to try new subjects from our everyday.

My girls make snowmen any time there's enough snow. I thought I'd try to paint their latest creation - with some liberties!

This piece is included in the Neponset Valley Artists' Winter Show at the Walpole Public Library.
My painting class, the NVA, is full of talent and I'm delighted and proud to have the work of my students displayed!

If you're in Walpole, MA - stop in and see.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Monday, December 10, 2012

Small works :: Pear pairing

A gallery owner had told me years ago: "Pears sell!" In my years in galleries, I find this to be the truth!

Recently I started looking at still lifes by pastel artists and focused on their edges. Result of the exploration? Work quickly, with aplomb, and have fun playing with the marks and pigment. Take risks. Be messy!

I set a timer on these pieces, too, so I wouldn't get too tight. Any guesses on how many minutes I permitted each piece?

Contact Gallery9 for information on these pieces.
Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Small works :: Peppermint Candy

For the holidays I do love the look of red and white. Starlight mints are the most perfect showcase of this color duo. Make me so happy!

To date I've made three iterations of this one mint. Love them all!

Email kimweineck@gmail.com for information on this painting.
Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Small Works :: Red Summer Sky

The same spot as a prior post, these trees silhouetted by the changing sky have been holding my interest of late. So beautiful - and sort of intimidating to paint - and such fun!

Email kimweineck@gmail.com for more information on this painting.
Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Small Works :: Eight Cedars

The first pastel I posted was a cedar tree. The second was a cloud. I present you with a hybrid: Cedars and a cloud! In class I often discuss the benefits of working in a series and it's evident I practice what I preach.

Email kimweineck@gmail.com for more information on this painting.
Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Friday, September 21, 2012

Pastel to oil

Yesterday I tried to paint with pastels. Oh, I wanted them to work!

Instead the first try went into the trash and the second was scrubbed off with a high-pressured hose.

As is my usual pattern, I went to the studio, put away all my pastels and took out all my oils. The switch is on! Last week I'd used my oils for an afternoon after oiling out paintings in my 'painting graveyard' and figuring out which I wanted to finish (or attempt to finish) for my upcoming show.

SUNFLOWERS
original oil, 20x24"
not quite finished but almost...
The scale of this is a bit skewed,
but the colors feel right.

Pastels are wonderful things. When I use them my color sense gets honed to a great level. "I need to use a middle value, warm yellow green" and I find it. When I venture back to oil the decisions are helpful. Now I can mix whatever color I would search for in pastel stick. And the great thing about oils: There is always the color possibility you were looking for!

SUNFLOWERS
original oil, 20x24
in progress
The colors in the original are
much cleaner than this photo.

The pastels I attempted yesterday were unsuccessful because of the nuances of color. One image had too much subtlety in the sky blues. My collection of pastels didn't have the colors I needed. Honest. And then there's green. Never the right one in pastel.

Going back to oil yesterday was thrilling. I mean it - THRILLING!

And I had every green I needed.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Interview with Smart Creative Women

Mid-August I was interviewed by Monica Lee of Smart Creative Women. It was a humid, gorgeous, summer day and the conversation was easy and fun.

We talk about all sorts of art-related things and Monica is a delight - so upbeat and at ease.
I had a great day and seeing the interview now brings me back to those dog days of summer only a month or so ago.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

A series of sunsets

Often in my classes I discuss the importance of working in a series. A wonderful tool for delving into color and composition relationships, series work lets the focus shift because you're not concerned with subjects to paint.

Here I post my latest series in the order they were painted.

We also discuss the issue of painting a sunset. "Sunsets put a lot of pressure on you because it's not a photo. If not done well, the validity of the piece is suspect." People may question if the landscape could really look like that.

Like with so many things, I find myself in a contrary position and often explore further the subjects I bring up with my students. Here are four sunset paintings, done in quick succession, where I play with light, color, and composition.

All the paintings were such fun to do and these photos don't capture the vibrancy of the light that the original does. Also, they don't quite feel as wonderful as when I was in the moment, taking photos, notes, etc.

Such fun. With each go-'round I learn. Can't wait to take on some more. I've been working from my color notes made on location and black and white photos. An interesting approach that seems to be helping me out.

Thanks for reading! ~kmw