April 5, 2009

Today was a day of contrasts! Snow, the typical ‘winter wonderland’ morning, a couple of inches of snow covering everything. My second painting of the day was an exercise in tolerating wind and watching the snow melt in front of my eyes. The middle of the day found me surrounded by cliffs and rocks, a nice makeshift out of the wind ‘oven’. Very nice there. Not to be kept contained, I wandered into the countryside for the end of the day. It was warmer, temps had climbed up to 45˙ F, not bad. The only issue was the wind. But I’ll take sun (WARM) and wind, at this point, over cold and wind. Like I said, a day of contrasts.


‘Soft Morning’ oil, 5x7, © Marc R. Hanson 2009
Nice start to the day, winds calm and a frosting of fresh snow. It didn’t last, I’m glad that I had the chance to try to understand it for a brief period of time.


‘Cold Creek’ oil, 5x7, © Marc R. Hanson 2009
Following the morning I found this little creek along a county road. I’ve painted it before, but not in winter. I’ll say this, I don’t know how cold the creek was, I didn’t stick my big toe in it. But I know how cold I was so that’s the name like it or not! I required warm soup before the next one.


‘Cliff Hugger’ oil, 5x7, © Marc R. Hanson 2009
I mentioned the rock oven above. Seems like my neighborhood state park is my retreat when the elements are stacked against me. I’m glad that it’s there. This painting was painted almost entirely with a palette knife, a little bitty one. There is some brush work, mostly knocking down too much detail or definition. Still might be to much of that, but I am happy with the results.



‘Treeline Farm’ oil, 5x7, © Marc R. Hanson 2009
I’m nuts, okay! Let’s just accept that for now. The afternoon warmed up, but the winds picked up to what must have been 20 kts at least. I had to weight my tripod with the backpack to keep it upright. I love the farmsteads around here. By the end of this project I’ll probably have spent a lot of time exploring them. Especially if the weather is a little nicer. They’re just so full of character and history and I love that about them. It’s not easy to say a lot about how you feel about them on a 5x7 inch surface, but I hope that I at least can portray the emotional response that I feel for each one’s character. This one caught my eye due to the backlit sky silhouetting the buildings.

April 2009 Painting Marathon Redux

April 4, 2009

I'm going to consider today a good day! Compared to what is in store for tomorrow, today is a good day. Yep, snow is on it’s way. I’m not titling any more of these “Last of...”, “End of...”, “The Remains of...” or “Winter’s Last...”.... SNOW! It doesn’t appear that it’s going to end.

I stayed close to home today and it was good. First painted on the main drag through lovely Taylors Falls. Stood in the parking lot of the ‘The Drive In’, that’s the name, to paint the Bench Street house. From there on to the paddle boat boarding area in the state park to paint the beautiful rocks in high water. Those rocks are normally about 15ft out of the water. The rest of the day was under more of those grey skies.

I’ve had a lot of questions about size, surface and how to purchase, thank you! So here’s that scoop. These are all 5”x7”, oil on 8-ply 100% rag museum board with a shellac primer. Once in awhile, about once a day for a change of pace, I'll use one that has had linen mounted to it. They are for sale for $110.00 plus shipping, insurance and tax for MN residents. To purchase you can go to my website and into the collection on the ‘paintings’ page called ‘April Painting Marathon’. The link will take you right there. When you enlarge the thumbnails you will see a Paypal ‘Buy Now’ button below the image. If you want to use that, click on it and Paypal will do the rest. You can either create a Paypal account or use a the one time credit card feature. That is the easiest way to purchase these paintings. The other way is to call or email me if you want to purchase one. If you don’t want to use Paypal but prefer to send a check, that is the method to use. I will tell you though that a couple of people who wanted a painting were emailing me while the one they wanted sold via Paypal. Paypal is fast. Paypal figures the shipping, insurance and tax for us. If you want to use another method I will have to tell you the additional charges above the $110.00 sale price.

Well... I hope that covers that.


“Bench Street Red Door” 5x7 , oil, © Marc R. Hanson 2009
Taylors Falls has many wonderful old houses that I’ve been wanting to paint and for whatever reason haven’t. This is a good opportunity to get to work on that. I had planned to paint houses (lot’s of people ask me if that’s what I do...) all day. That was until the sun disappeared and I lost the shadows. Houses in flat light aren’t that interesting to me.


“Latte On The Rocks” 5x7, oil, © Marc R. Hanson 2009
The water up here is at least as dark as good french roast, maybe espresso. The grays and cool top light on the rocks were irresistible today. Because of the high water the dam up stream is producing a lot of foam and froth. The ingredients for a good Latte!


“St.Croix Falls Dam” 5x7, oil, © Marc R. Hanson 2009
This was painted from a vantage point above the dam. The dam stretches to the left of the picture about another 75 or 100 yards. It has a very graceful arch to the edge of the spill way. The water level is always right at the top of the dam itself. Big fish live in that area!


“Tin Roof Saturday” 5x7, oil, © Marc R. Hanson 2009
Why didn’t I paint this tomorrow... Tin Roof Sunday? It was a relief to be out in the open after so much myopic study and concentration earlier in the day. It was a sigh of ‘Aahhhh, sky and breadth.” The buildings are the last of the old farmstead still standing. The house is a pile of rubble, it wasn’t last summer. Very sad. But the color was beautiful and the sense of what used to be in those two buildings was omnipresent.

April 3, 2009

April 3, 2009
At the start of today I was thinking that I’d have to drag out my tube of ‘grey sky’ color once again! I followed the weather report and it said that the sun would be out in Minnesota except north and east of the Twin Cities. That’s pretty much where I live. I wasn’t putting up with that. So I took the truck south towards Stillwater hoping that I’d get an extra hour of that warm friend. Until noon it was grey there too. But then the sky opened up and despite needing to wear the same amount of clothing as I have since this thing started on Wednesday... Man did that sun feel good! I’m not complaining, but the added little bit of warmth was Welcome!!!


‘High Water’ © Marc R. Hanson 2009
While waiting for the sun to come out I went down to the flooded waterfront in Stillwater to warm up. The entire walkway and park is under water. So that’s different than normal and the colors this morning were quite rich and attractive to me. This was a quick one, just under 40 minutes.


‘Dancing Reeds’ © Marc R. Hanson 2009
I love the rich color in the water along the edges of ponds at this time of year. The water reflects the color of the sky but is tempered by the color of the water and the depth of the water. Shallow water darkens the value because you can see into it, the bottom color modifies the sky reflection. The result is usually a very rich, dark color. Add in the light, warm color of the reeds from the previous season and there’s compliments and value contrast galore to have fun with. As I painted and observed this scene, I had the impression that the reeds were moving about, almost like thin legged dancers on a stage.


‘Duck Playground’ © Marc R. Hanson 2009
Beautiful cerulean sky with light violet clouds cutting into the horizon of the sky. Ducks, Eagles, Loons all sounding off in the marsh. Sounded like they were having a great time, and so was I.


‘Berg!’ © Marc R. Hanson 2009
I visited a large lake in the afternoon that was still icebound. But what a treat it was! This place was full of whooping swans, sandhill cranes, geese, shorebirds, and a bunch of eagles out fishing in the open pockets of water. The entire time I was painting, I was hearing the ‘wooop- whhoooop’ and the paddle like splashes of their enormous feet as they went through courtship activities. The painting subject caught my eye because it was the only snow of any amount along the shore and really stuck out like a sore thumb. I like that kind of contrast.

April 2, 2009

This morning started out promising, full sun and temps in the low 30’s. A little bit of wind, dang wind, but manageable. I was able to use an umbrella to block the sun without the easel taking off. By late morning, early afternoon we had a sky full of very chilly looking clouds, broken with little bits of sky showing, but the wind had picked up and it just felt and looked cold. I was going to explore the farmland all day but by the last painting I had had enough of the open landscape and headed to the park down along the river to get out of it. The afternoon light just never materialized into strong sunlight for the rest of the time that I was out. I’m eagerly anticipating more sun... and more heat! A good day none the less. Met some kids who are also artists and who thought that I was doing an OK job.


‘Prairie Shed’ © Marc R. Hanson 2009
To tell you the truth... I was so ecstatic at the sun being out and blazing onto the face of these grasses and the rest of the landscape that I let the color boil a little bit. Meaning that I wanted to paint the joy I had more than I wanted to paint the color as grey as it might have been in reality. I didn’t go that far out of my way to make it more saturated, but this is a painting that is more about how I felt about what I saw than an ‘exact’ duplicate of what nature presented. On the other hand, this is what nature presented and I was thrilled about it.


‘That White House’ © Marc R. Hanson 2009
I’ve painted this location in different seasons, winter, fall but never spring. It’s just such an attractive little homestead to me that I always enjoy giving it my attention. It sits along a busy road so this is really the only vantage point that can be safely painted. I haven’t captured it’s personality as I’d like to yet so I will most likely be going back again.



‘Cool April Skies’ © Marc R. Hanson 2009
To paint this painting I simply turned in the opposite direction from the previous one. By now I was chilled. But I decided to stay and get # 3 done so that I could head home to warm up before tackling #4. The farm and tree line in this one were silhouetted against the fast moving sky and I found that sort of eerie but interesting to paint.


‘Water Dropping’ © Marc R. Hanson 2009
This one is from along the St. Croix in the Interstate park again. Pretty simple composition, across the river. The challenge again, as in the 4th one from yesterday, was how to deal with a forest full of tree branches without a lot of definition.

April 1, 2009

I'm going to go ahead and post my daily paintings here too. The main reason is that on this blog they can be blown up and that's one of the things that I like most when I'm looking at paintings, the ability to feel like you can crawl into the surface of the painting and see all of the texture, brushwork and surface feel. It goes a long way to understanding how an artist uses the materials. In light of that I will try this. If you want to read about the day, still go to my website for that. Thanks.


'Ice Shelf' © Marc R. Hanson 2009


'Below St. Croix Falls' © Marc R. Hanson 2009


'That Farm' © Marc R. Hanson 2009


'The Only Snow Left' © Marc R. Hanson 2009

These are, as you know, 5"X7", painted on 100% 8-ply Rag Museum board with several different primers on them. As of today, my favorites are those that were primed with two coats of clear shellac. I tone it with some grey pastel dust to kill the white. This is a wonderful surface to paint on. The paint 'sits up' on the surface and doesn't sink in until it's dry. It's a smooth surface, not much tooth. This might be what seems good to me today and tomorrow something completely different might be what I use. 'That Farm' was painted on one that I mounted some very fine oil primed linen on. I suspect that I'll be using a lot of that too.

The first two paintings of the day were painted from underneath the Hwy 8 bridge that crosses the St. Croix river between Taylors Falls and St. Croix Falls, WI. It was snowing pretty good at that time so to stay dry and a little more comfortable, I was a troll. That also goes with my Scand-a-'hoovian' background as trolls are important in their mythology and folklore.

The light today was less than ideal, but the light snowfall made it a great day to paint. As you can see the wet surfaces of dead leaves, grasses and trees reflected an enormous amount of color. By the end of the day the snow was all but gone.

I was surprised to see the large piece of ice left in the painting 'Ice Shelf'. The ledge that I painted, only part of, is probably about 40 or 50 ft wide and pretty thick. It reminds me that this entire area was carved out by glaciers in the past. This little shelf reminded me of a miniature version of one. The color at this time was very, very rich and enjoyable to paint.

After the first painting it was snowing harder so I just turned from where I was standing and looked up river to paint 'Below St. Croix Falls'. What attracted me was the atmosphere, the distance almost a haze due to falling snow. That let up but the river being so high had wonderful subtle patterns of a mix of foam and suds from the dam up river. All of that made for a simple but calming color scheme to paint. There were large 'foam-bergs' floating down with the current. I added a few of them.

The third painting of the day, 'That Farm', was an attempt to back off of my view point and get some open sky and open land around me. Of course it was blowing pretty good out in the open country so I decided to pull the gear back in the car and finished this one from the front seat. I knew that I had another 3 hours or so to go and didn't want to become hypothermic while painting and not be able to get my '4' in for the day.

By the end of the day the snow was almost gone. I wanted to keep the snow as a common thread through all of the paintings for today. So in 'The Only Snow Left' I was painting in the Interstate Park near my house, and walked into the woods a ways to find this little smattering of wet snow still laying in the leaves. That was good enough so this became my final piece.

Marathon... No April Fool's Joke!!! ( But I considered it!)

This is what my job for the month looks like at the moment. Of course I need to prime, mount linen, etc.. But 120 panels (5x7) look a little overwhelming when I consider that in 30 days they should all have an image on them.

Would this be a bad time for an April Fool's Joke??? :-) Oh... the coffee cup is just there for scale. Up here coffee is mandatory hydration and many of those being hydrated come from the old country, Norge. I'll be needing some.

My Painting Marathon...in case you want to follow it.

I'm feeling the need to shake off the metaphoric cobwebs that form from being in the studio, for what has seemed like a very long winter, and to get out and enjoy the spring weather (if it shows up... winter isn't letting go yet!). In light of that, I’m embarking on a one month project that I'm calling “My Painting Marathon”.

Beginning Wednesday, April 1, 2009 and continuing until April 30, 2009, I will be painting four (4) small paintings every day and posting them on my website blog. I do have a three day workshop scheduled the middle of April and won't be able to paint the 4 per day during that time. In order to keep the total number of paintings at 120, I'll be sprinkling one in here and there on other days throughout the month.

Why do this? A few years back, about 2005, following artist Duane Keiser’s 2004 ‘A Painting A Day’ lead (which became a world wide phenomenon), I like many other painters started a similar project. Mine didn’t make it too far. I painted daily anyway, whether working on a larger painting in the studio or completing smaller pieces en plein air. I’m a full time artist, that’s what I do! The one painting a day for it’s own sake seemed redundant for me so I let it go.

Now I’m feeling the need for a serious challenge, like being an artist isn't enough of one already. None the less, I think that I’ve found one. 4 paintings a day for 30 days should do it! Admittedly, it's a spin off of the Daily Painting movement, that's obvious. Even while just sitting here typing out this post about the project, the word "DAUNTING" is flashing like a migraine induced - kaleidoscopic image in my head. Committing to 120 paintings in 30 days is A LOT of commitment!

Maybe I should be committed?

Seriously... at the same time I'm eagerly anticipating how much this is going to teach me about painting. Subject matter is in existence all around me that I probably walk or drive past daily without noticing. This will give me more than enough opportunity to pay a little closer attention to my world. In addition to learning to understand how to see otherwise neglected subject matter, I suspect that the experience will build a pretty good card catalogue in my mental library on the subject of atmospheric mood, and seasonal color and texture in the landscape. Then there are all of the discoveries to be made about the tools and techniques that I use from painting this many paintings in such a concentrated drop of time. Efficient use of time! That might become the biggest lesson of all. I don't really know what all of the benefits will be, but I look forward to discovering them all.

You can opt to check in here on your own to view the daily paintings, or you can subscribe to my EMAIL NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTION LIST.

In that case you will receive an email each day of the month of April previewing the images painted that day, or the previous day if I'm delayed in sending it out.

If you are already subscribed to my list but don't care to receive these daily mailings, you can unsubscribe at any time. If you decide to 'unsubscribe' I will be notified by FASO, the web host. At that time I will add your address to a folder that I can then add back to the email list when the project is over and you will be re-subscribed without having to do anything else. Or you can re-subscribe off an on as it suits you.