Painting Nature

Toward Evening, Anza-Borrego Desert, CA, oil on panel, 2020 by Alexia Scott

Paint along with me as I visit our National Parks and local landscapes.

How To Begin Large Paintings

2/22/2021 11:41:22 AM | By Alexia Scott, MFA | 1 Comment

Tiny caterpillars are making their way, crawling and climbing the twigs and branches on a journey to reach the sun-soaked leaves of their species-specific plant for food. The caterpillars nibble the leaves that have converted the energy from the sun, through photosynthesis, to their food. The Virginia landscape is alive with caterpillar activity. Our native birds depend on these soft, tasty morsels to feed their young. The next time you see leaves with notches realize that this is a good thing.

Constitution Garden, painted in 2018, began as a commission to paint a lush garden, and the garden painting would travel to Utah. This is a size-able painting 82" x 65" before stretching, created from the landscape at Montpelier, Virginia, President James Madison's home. It is a beautiful drive from Falls Church to Montpelier, and our August visit was noticeably cooler than back in DC. Things grow exceptionally well in Virginia, almost too well. The Virginia Garden Society manages this large garden of native plants; it was the perfect reference.

Image 1: Underpainting for Constitution Garden by Alexia Scott

While I worked on this commission, I sent images out to Utah. By sharing a few pictures of the painting, you can see how I work from general toward specific and that I often begin by stapling the canvas to my studio wall. It is essential to work all over the painting during the process. All artist have their way of conceptualizing and beginning a work; there is no right or wrong. Garden image #1 is the color underpainting I created to begin. I cover the canvas with color using a limited palette, making suggestions and working out how I want to build the painting's structure. It is loose, messy, and with absolutely no detail. This process will allow me to work color next to color because color is relative to its surrounding color. I try to complete this underpainting in one day.

In the garden's actual location at Montpelier, the wall ran all along the edge of the garden and divided it from the lawn, but I decided to add a path to give the viewer a means of escape from the bees. All too often, I have accidentally disturbed some of our less than friendly pollinators.

I paint with a limited palette for this part of the painting: Burnt Umber, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Cadmium Red, Chromatic Black, Dioxazine purple, French Ultramarine Blue, Raw Sienna, and Titanium White or Titanium-Zinc White along with Neo Megilp oil painting medium. Neo Megilp or any such oil painting medium help the painting to dry evenly and stay flexible. I use many different kinds of oil brushes as well as rags, sponges, and even small rollers from the hardware store; however, for this work, I began with Pro Stroke Premium White Bristle Creative Mark brushes, sizes 6 and 8 are essential. I do not tone the canvas first. I try to cover this part of the painting in one or two days and avoid any ridges of paintbrush marks that might become troublesome later on while painting. I let this underpainting dry completely before going further, and I send this very unfinished image to my client for their comments.

Image 2 is about a week later. Flowers and more contrast begin to form. The tape is to remind me where the painting edges will be when the canvas is stretched.

Image 3, the third week into painting, I am still making choices and working with the structure. I hope the viewer will feel part of the painted landscape. This type of painting is a slow process because there is so much canvas to cover. I want to give you a working outline for the management of the painting.

Next, we will evolve to the middle process, more suggestions of detail such as the image above and hidden creatures.

Progress of My Pollinator Garden and the Witch-hazel.

February 2021, winter has added extra water to my emerging pollinator garden. There is an abundance of white aster brush that I leave for the seeds until the bottoms sprouts.

The Witch-hazel in February by Alexia Scott oil on panel 11"x 9" Green Springs Farm

Winter of 2018 was unusually warm; one warm Wednesday, I drove to Green Springs Farm to paint. Displaying her beauty was a Witch-hazel right next to the path where I could set up to work. I only had about an hour, but in that short time, I learned to admire any plant that could brighten my spirits in the winter.

The Witch-hazel is a woody shrub and flowers in the winter. There are pollinators present even with the lack of flowers. Amazing to me is a remarkable species of owlet moths that are active in the winter. They become active by shivering, which raises their body temperature, and this allows them to fly to a food source and feed off the Witch-hazel. Then, of course, they will lay eggs and make more caterpillars. The pollinated flowers will make seeds in the spring and produce more Witch-hazels. A Witch-hazel will be my next plant to add to the garden.
This painting is the Eastern witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana). They flower best in full sun but can take some shade and deal with a small amount of wet feet. They will grow 10 to 20 feet.