George Allen Durkee - Expressive Oil Painting: An Open Air Approach to Creative Landscapes

expressive

oil painting

an Open Air Approach
to Creative Landscapes

GEORGE ALLEN DURKEE

NORTH LIGHT BOOKS

CINCINNATI, OHIO

www.artistsnetwork.com

EXPRESSIVE OIL PAINTING. COPYRIGHT 2009 BY GEORGE ALLEN DURKEE. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45236. (800) 289-0963. First Edition.

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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Durkee, George Allen.

Expressive oil painting : an open air approach to creative landscapes /

George Allen Durkee. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-60061-151-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)

eISBN: 978-1-44031-727-9

1. Landscape painting--Technique. 2. Plein air painting--Technique.

I. Title. II. Title: Open air approach to creative landscapes.

ND1342.D88 2009

751.45436--dc22 2009014678

EDITED BY SARAH LAICHAS

DESIGNED BY JENNIFER HOFFMAN

PRODUCTION COORDINATED BY MATT WAGNER

Metric Conversion Chart

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When George Allen Durkee began painting in 1965, there were no art schools nearby, so he enrolled in a correspondence course designed by some of the great illustratorsAlbert Dorne, Robert Fawcett and Norman Rockwell. Coached by knowledgeable teachers, he worked a night job in order to study and practice during daylight hours. Without the imposed structure of a classroom schedule, he learned to work on his own. After completing the course, George quit the night job, and with twelve days worth of vacation pay in his pocket he became a full-time painter. For the next few years, he painted his way from town to town, selling art to passersby. Trading a painting in San Francisco for a few hundred dollars, he moved in. Within six months, his paintings appeared in a prominent gallerybetween the work of Picasso and Mir. Hundreds of Georges cityscapes were dispersed worldwide. In 2001, ready for a quieter life, he moved to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Northern California to paint landscapes. Durkee is a past contributor to The Artists Magazine and American Artist. A knowledgeable teacher, he prefers to work one-on-one with a few select students. He and his artist wife, Sharon Strong, are co-owners of an art gallery in Murphys, California.

First Light oil on canvas | 24" 30" (61cm 76cm)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Very special thanks to my ruthless North Light editor, Sarah Laichaswhat a journey we have traveled together! Thank you Carolyn North, Nancy Roberts and Hlne Cartier for your thoughtful and reasoned feedback. Tom Cole, your nitpicking critiques have made this a more comprehensible book. Jane Boon Brown, you are better than you know. Buzz Eggleston, thank you for generously offering your expertise.

DEDICATION

For Sharon Strong: artist, psychologist, wife and best friend. If theres any poetry to this book, give Sharon the credit.

For my stepdaughters, Lisa Boyd and Christa Thompson. For Andrea Broglio, future star!

And in memory of my longtime friend and mentor, Vic Gioscia.

table of contents

Sonoma Mountain Road oil on canvas | 8" 10" (20cm 25cm)

part one: bedrock basics
Simplified Principles Every Painter Needs to Know

Pigments and Light

part two: 9 painting demonstrations
Basic and Advanced Techniques

DEMONSTRATION 3: BALANCE YOUR INTENTION
WITH YOUR INTUITION

Big Tree oil on canvas | 30" 24" (76cm 61cm)

Introduction: A Short Chat

Knowing a range of oil painting techniques is like having a large vocabulary. But a collection of big words is not poetry. First, you need to know how to handle your paints and brushes, how to mix colors, how to draw. When you can replicate the physical appearance of a scene, your paintings will say, This is what I see. The next level will be to discover and develop your own aesthetic so you can show how you feel about what you see. Learn the principles that are true for all painters and apply them in your own way; your work will reflect the world you live in and who you are within it.

If you need the concepts of oil painting explained in a straightforward way, youve chosen the right book. According to your learning style, work your way carefully from start to finish, or scan the entire text before returning to a section you want to study in greater depth. If you are an experienced painter, you may choose to go directly to the painting demonstrations in part two.

Do you grope for understanding while repeating the same formulas over and over? If your methods havent produced the results you want, maybe its time for a new direction. New ways of thinking and doing can feel disorienting, but thats OK. Discomfort will ease as the new ways take hold. To begin, take time to think honestly about the following four questions and write down your answers.

Where am I now as an artist?

What is emerging in my creative life?

Is anything blocking this emergence?

What do I need to become the painter I want to be?