Preliminary Work

as a stepping stone

Hi Friends, As I prepare to begin a large cloud/sky painting, I thought it would be fun to share my earlier stages of preparation with you. I hope you enjoy viewing these early stages of development!
P.S. See my previous post as an introduction to this upcoming series.

The sky is the key to the landscape. Its majestry permeates outdoor nature. It is the dictator of conditions and of moods —not alone the moods of nature, but our own as well.

~John F. Carlson

As I embark on this new body of work, I’ve decided to keep record of some of my processes in a new journal. I began my journal with a favorite quote (above), followed by my thoughts (below) of what was the catalyst for this series.

THOUGHTS ~

“After three years of living in a pandemic, I was feeling a strong need for a greater sense of freedom. Wide open spaces, particularly expansive skies began to nurture that desire. I began to find comfort and personal freedom while observing clouds and their transient nature. Thus, began a long creative gestation period of deep observation!” (April 2022 -January 2023) And ongoing!

Journal Entry—Thoughts

A study completed on location that is informing my upcoming larger painting.

Location ~

Caribou Munroes Provincial Park, Nova Scotia is the area I will be depicting in the painting. I spent many hours there last summer/fall creating painting studies/sketches and simply observing cloud formations.

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~References Collected For Future Work (Large Cloud Paintings)

On the bottom section of the first page of my journal, I recorded various references I had collected during this time frame.

Here are my notes:

“Prepartory Work: Plein air studies and paintings, notes from observations, photographs taken on location, time spent studying clouds, reading books, studying old master works. All this in-depth study has served as valuable prepatory work in order to birth an upcoming body of cloud paintings in a large format! Excited!”

Journal Entry—Reference Notes

SKETCHES & NOTES ~

To formulate ideas for a larger painting, I created a few simple thumbnail sketches and notes. The painting studies I completed on location were an important part of this process. Together with a few photos I began to visualize compositional ideas. My main goal was to create a low horizon line so the sky would feel expansive.

Journal Entry—Top Left Sketch

Top Left Sketch:

In this sketch I was thinking about how I would lead the viewer into the space via the land mass below. This section of the park was on a hill with a simple pathway in the grassy area. The back perimeter was surrounded by trees and vegetation.

Here are the notes I wrote beside the sketch:

• Sky much darker on top portion

• Swirls on right side leading into the path—large cloud mass on left

• Lighter blue green on bottom, small clouds along tree tops

• Land about third of composition

Journal Entry—Middle Right Sketch

Middle Right Sketch:

In this sketch, I tested out a different composition for both the land and clouds. This section of the park was where I actually painted a cloud study that was hovering above this land mass. I really loved how strong light and shadows from trees on the left stretched across the land. Vegetation once again followed behind the grassy plane in front. I felt this created some drama and could lead the viewer into the piece effectively. I was leaning more towards this design.

Here are the notes I wrote beside the sketch:

• Gradation in color for the sky, lower section Cerulean blue/yellow

• Large clouds two thirds to one half portion of sky height

• Little clouds along treeline

• Slats of light on grass for lighting effect and interest

• Cloud swirls in top portion of sky

• Like this composition better

• Could show more grass

• Tree and bush tops lighter than bottom portion and inner area

Journal Entry—Bottom Left Sketch

Bottom Left Sketch:

In this sketch I was thinking about Action Lines in the painting—basically how the viewer’s eyes would move around the piece from sky to land.

Bottom Right Notes:

I added some final notes about my intentions in general.

• Test out composition and colors on an 8x10in. oil study

• Play with cloud shapes and land direction in study

• Depict —Feelings of air, lightness, space, freshness

• Sense of freedom and expansiveness

• Sunlit

I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes documentation. Oftentimes we only see the end result of a creative project and not the stages of development. If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to share in the comments!

In my next post I’ll be sharing the painting study I just completed based on these sketches and the discoveries I made along the way.

Warmly,

Debbie xx

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