"Nothing But Blue Skies For Me" ... Really?

If I ask you what color is the sky, you will probably say "blue".

(I don´t mean at sunrise, sunset, or on a cloudy day.) You are right.  But, an artist sees several shades ( temperatures) of blue and so can you if you observe carefully.

It´s all about knowing what to look for!

Look at the beach photo I took. The strata of clouds make it easy to see the separations of the blues. 

Why does this happen?

Think of the sky as a dome above you. Right above your head, there is less atmosphere (curtains)  and the point is closest to the darkness of outer space).  As you descend your gaze and move it towards the horizon,  more curtains of atmosphere are coming between you. ( See previous posting for explanation of curtains of atmosphere.)

So, right above you is the sky´s true violet-blue, then it very gradually assumes a true blue, then a green-blue and eventually along the horizon a rose-grey haze.

Another interesting thing about skies... Look at the "holes" inside the folage of a tree. Inside these "sky holes" the sky looks bluer.

Don´t take my word for it. See for yourself. I hope the sky will never be just blue for you again.

www.mdiggsart.com

Seeing Like an Artist - Curtains of Atmosphere

I hope you have been noticing the temperature of GREENS this past week ( see the previous posting ).  Remember that cool color is one that has blue in its makeup and warm color has yellow or red in it. Having said that, distance can change color temperature.  All colors become cooler as they recede from the eye, except white.  I mentioned curtains of atmosphere, and promised to explain a bit more. 

Atmosphere has moisture that is like a mist, sometimes dense, sometimes light.  It is like a series of very thin films or "curtains" between the spectator and the distant horizon. Although atmosphere itself is apparently colorless, when it is seen in great depths it develops an opaquish blue hue.

 The more curtains of atmosphere, the cooler the color becomes. (Adding white to a color also cools it down.) Near objects are seen more sharply and the colors are richer and darker. The further away we look, details and color fades and get cooler.

When a realist artist paints landscapes she makes use of this fact to create distance on her flat canvas. 

But here is something you might not know...Even with still lifes ( objects, flowers, fruit) depth can be created by dulling colors and creating "curtains of atmosphere" on objects set up to paint, even if we are talking about objects sitting on a table. The artist finds the "star" of the painting and paints it in a way to make it stand out, while the other objects get treated differently.

In portraits where the head is turned  a bit, often the eye closest to the spectator is darker than the other, to  give the illusion of 3-dimensions ( volume). The shoulder closest to the viewer is richer in color, than the other which needs less clarity  to make it go back into the background.

So, if you practise staring off into the distance, notice this in nature. See how colors get fainter, bluer the farther you look! Now you´re seeing like an artist.

Seeing Like an Artist - GREEN

I was on a bus heading to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, when I looked out the window to see a breathtaking sunset.  I can still see it. The pinkish grey Andes were covered with snow.  Voluptuous pink and peach colored clouds were caught on the peaks, and above those, puffy cumulus ones - in all the tones of grey, billowing like cotton candy against a turquoise sky. Spectacular! Fascinated by the colors and nature´s beauty, almost hypnotized, I looked at my traveling partner and said, "Ginny, look at the sunset!"
She responded, " Oh yea, it looks like it's going to rain," and  returned flipping the pages in a magazine on her lap. I thought, "Thank you, God, for my eyes that see the beauty of nature."

What a privilege it is to be an artist. I´d like give you some insights to seeing color like artists see color.

Let´s talk about temperature. Let´s start with green. Many people think, "Green is green", but that´s not so. Colors have temperature! There are warm green and cool greens. Look for yellow in the green to find the warm ones. Blue shades will indicate the cool ones. It is easy to see this in the samples here! A. has yellow in it, while B. has blue.

If  we observe a terrain whose vegetation is identical, we find the grass closer to us has a yellow cast while the grass further away has a bluer cast. Why? This is because curtains of atmosphere cool the color ( I´ll talk more about that in another blog).

Now,  observe the leaves of a tree. Notice that when the sun is behind the leaves, the green is yellowish and the leaves becomes almost transparent. See that same leaf with the sun coming down at a different angle.  The leaves are darker, cooler and opaque. So the leaves in the same tree, at the same time, show both warm and cool greens, depending upon how the sun catches the leaves.

The artist who paints landscapes has to create 3-dimensions on a flat surface. She relies on her sense of color to do this. She will use her knowledge of color temperature to create an optical illusion of depth.   Warm colors will bring her subject close to the viewer, while cool colors create the illusion of distance.

Don´t take my word for it. Observe the green around you and in paintings for now. We´ll look at other colors soon!

www.mdiggsart.com

Museum Exhibit Closes Tomorrow!

My exhibit entitled MARILYN DIGGS BRAZIL closes tomorrow, Sunday, August 15th.                        Yesterday, I donated "Sunrise on the Trail"  to the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Duncan, Oklahoma as a token of my appreciation for the work the  museum staff did to make it a success.                              Opening night was great fun with Brazilian sweets being served, along with tropical fruit on skewers, and cheeses. Each visitor was given a wrist ribbon from a famous Brazilian church which guarantees 3 wishes being granted - AS LONG AS YOU WEAR IT UNTIL IT FALLS OFF! My talented sister, who is a professional singer sang three Brazilian songs to get everyone in the mood, then ended by beckoning the guests enter the gallery with, "Welcome to Brazil!"

I want to thank  the museum staff, especially the director Bill Benson who never said "no" to any of my suggestions! Also, my daughter Denise whose brilliant idea it was to make the show more than just a display of my oil paintings, but rather an educational experience as well. (We had display cases of objects seen in the paintings and short explanations of several of the picture motifs.) She also stayed up until 2 am. making the Brazilian sweets and helped serve at the reception.

A special thanks to those who spread the word in the media, which includes the writers and editors for Distinctly Oklahoma magazine, WorldGuide.com, OklaVision, Duncan Banner and the Lawton Constitution.

Thanks too, to all the visitors, especially the out-of-towners from San Francisco, Detroit, Dallas and several other cities in Oklahoma and Texas. It was wonderful to see you all again, and I enjoyed giving you a glimpse of Brazil!

http://www.mdiggsart.com/

Eastern Elegance Captured in a Still Life

A Touch of Spring

My sister and brother-in-law are seasoned travelers. Visiting their home in France is like going into a museum filled with fascinating treasures. Recently, I stayed with them in the spring, while doing an art show in Mortagne-au-Perche. 

I spotted a small red Tibetan box and  brass ewer (pouring vessel) from India sitting in the book shelves. Without hesitation I set up this still life composition and went to work.The white peonie was the perfect delicate oriental flower to accompany the objects and its green leaves complement the red color of the box. (Complementary colors are often used to give harmony to a picture: red/green, yellow/purple, blue/orange.) 

After the oil painting dried, Marcia took me to a quaint framing store in Chantilly ( yes, the birthplace of whipcream) to find the perfect finishing touch.
For more information about this painting, go to "Featured Events" at http://www.mdiggsart.com/

Taking a Break in Rural Brazil

Rustic Still Life

In the rural areas of Brazil, fresh milk is still put into milk containers like the copper one seen here, to be taken into town. This still life gives the impression that the ranch owner came by and shared a drink of Portuguese wine with the foreman, who would have drunk his from the metal cup rather than a glass stemware. The plums may have been brought in from the orchard. Someone likes sweets, because the cookies that are always stored in big glass jars are gone. If someone wanted milk, the ladle was there to serve it. It is late afternoon, since the lantern hasn´t been lighted yet.

I set this still life up at a friend´s studio and sat on the floor in front of my midget easel, to paint it.  This is not a conventional perspective for a still life, but I wanted the cloth to become part of the composition.
For more information on this painting, go to "Featured Events" at  http://www.mdiggsart.com/

Windows to the Soul

The Immigrant´s Son

Danilo actually comes from Italian descent. No matter where I display this painting, it always is popular with the girls. And so it should be. I hope it expresses the vitality of Youth. Eyes are truly the windows of the soul and Danilo gazes to the future with expectation and confidence. I painted him with quick, vigorous brush strokes which emphasizes his spontaneous personality. The angle I chose shows his strong character.

When an artist paints a portrait, she should put the person´s soul into it. She must capture something about that person, not just what she sees.

A true artist should be able to paint still lifes, landscapes and portraits equally well.  Several of my respected teachers told me this very early in my career and I have always worked towards that goal. I´m a people-person. My personal favorite genre is portrait painting. I enjoy the challenge of going further than a simple resemblance.

This painting is presently in the exhibit "Marilyn Diggs Brazil" until Aug. 15th.
For more information visit "Featured Events" at http://www.mdiggsart.com/

Summer daisies warm the heart.

Summer Bouquet

In the summer morning,
Through the fields ye shine,
Joyfully adorning
Earth with grace divine
And pour, from sunny hearts, fresh gladness into mine.

-  from "Daisies" by Rose Terry Cooke ( 1827-1892)

As I was walking back from the open vegetable and fruit market we have on Friday mornings in my neighborhood in São Paulo, I spied these perky daisies being sold by the corner flower vendor. They were begging to be painted. I remembered the antique clock a friend of mine had given me years ago. (It wasn´t working and it would have cost her too much to repair, so before junking it, she asked me if I wanted it!!!) YES.

I´d bought the blue and white plate ( in background) and vase in Chinatown, San Francisco, when I was living there and they would make the perfect dark accents the painting needed. The ribbon leads the viewer´s eye into the composition and lends a lyrical mood to the  still life.

For more information about this painting, visit "Featured Events" at http://www.mdiggsart.com/

Indian Tribes in the Amazon

Amazon Youth

Today Brazil has 460,000 Indians, not counting the almost 70 isolated tribes. Most live in the Amazon region where 40% is Indian land. Nature supplies red, black and white paint for body decoration. Bright feathers from toucans, parrots and macaws become headdresses, arm bands, earrings and belt adornments. animal teeth and seeds transform into necklaces.




Inside a display case next to this painting, presently being exhibited at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, is the feather headdress, a plate made of bright turquoise butterfly wings and a wooden Indian doll.

I´ve been to the Amazon three times. This is a photo I shot at a very small community on the banks of the Amazon River. A couple of years ago I was approached about teaching English to three Xingu chieftains ( they wanted to learn it). While I debated about spending a year in the area, they disappeared from the reservation, into the forest. I was glad I wasn´t with them at the time!


For more info on painting: "Featured Events" at http://www.mdiggsart.com/

Hot pink azaleas

Azaleas and Limes

The hot pink azalea is São Paulo´s state flower and it splashes color in cities and in the countryside.


Until recently I painted with a group of five artists every Wed. The day we painted this, one artist brought in a bouquet of azaleas, another the grapes. The hostess went to her garden and plucked the limes right off her tree. I like painting silver, because of  the reflections.


This painting was the center of attention at a gathering of old friends last month and each related her personal life's story using the objects in the painting as symbols for comments. I liked Cindy saying that we are like the grapes and when we reach just the right point of maturity, we´ll become a fine wine and fill the empty bottle.  Sally said we are like the silver,  because even though we get "tarnished" by life´s challenges, we still polish up and regain our luster!
For more information about this painting see "Featured Events" at www.mdiggsart.com

Colonial cities still exist in Brazil

Devotion

Portuguese and Spanish missionaries brought their architecture to the new colonies in Brazil. Baroque churches became uniquely Brazilian with mulatto cherubs painted on ceilings and tropical fruit sculpted into altars.

It is easy to imagine carriages and merchants making thier way along cobblestone paths  that still exist today in some towns.

It was tough painting "Colonial City by the River", because I  had my easel set up  on a steep river bank to get this perspective and reflections. YIKES!

"Devotion" was tricky to paint since it is white on white. White daisies, white madonna, white candles, white cloth. Each has to be painted differently to  recreate the delicateness of  flowers, the solidity of wax, the weight of gesso, and the whispiness of a flame.
Artists know that white is never just white, as you can see here. Sometimes it has yellow in it, other times pink or blue or whatever color that reflects upon it!

For more information about these paintings, visit "Featured Events" at http://www.mdiggsart.com/

A Black Virgin Mary

The Saint

Our Lady of Aparecida is the patron saint of Brazil. Fishermen were said to have found a small, dark-skinned saint stataue of the Virgin Mary in a river in 1717. Venerated by the population, many miracles have been attributed to this icon.

I was showing this painting at the cultural center at an airport in São Paulo, when a well-dressed lady walked right up to the painting and kneeled infront of it, said a prayer, crossed herself and left. She didn´t even acknowledge my presence. I can only imagine that she was praying for a safe journey!

This painting is in the Marilyn Diggs Brazil exhibit until Aug.15th. For more info go to "Featured Events" at http://www.mdiggsart.com/