Vogeler’s Barkenhoff at Worpswede
I was at the Barkenhoff, Heinrich Vogeler’s place he bought for his wife, his kids and himself. During the time living there, he doesn’t just paint his romantic art, but also designed most furniture, cutlery and even wallpaper himself.
His fine art start very romantic, went through impressionism after travelling to France, through art deco to cubism when he moved to Russia – a very moving life.
My recommended Palette
There are so many different paints to buy, not just companies also colours. It’s seems so easy to buy that colour you need, but then you collect much more tubes or bottles than you need. What about spending less money and learn more?
Titanium White
With this one you get every colour lighter and using it more and more white you get pastell tones. In a seemingly colourless sky there’s still the sun in the background that makes our day more or less light. To show that you need rose, yellow and blue tones. That means, white is never only white. Instead there’s always another colour with it.
Cadmium Yellow
– best middle – is a warm yellow that looks like sunflowers oder other summer flowers or the back colour of DHL. It is great for mixing other warm colours. With Vermilion Red you get a bright orange. You get to see those colours in the early mornings and evenings in the sun. This tone is mostly half transparent.
Lemon Yellow
This is a bit lighter and cooler next to Cadmium yellow. For a deep olive green you can mix it with a little(!) black. Usually, it’s transparent. This is helpful for a meadow in the early morning, when you see the first yellow light over the green of the grass. You just need this yellow thinned with a lot of water and put is on the greens. You see, there are reasons for colours being transparent or opaque.
Vermilion Red
This red tone reminds us to the warm red of tomatoes. It is really saturated. Wild poppys are the same. This colour and also the flowers should be seen. This mixed with a little black makes a nice rusty brown, but there are also a lot of things at the sea to make good contrasts to blues.
Crimson Red
This colour you already find in school painting boxes. In this tone is more blue and it is cooler than Vermilion. It’s often already darker. On the contrary to the other red it is transparent. Just with this red tone and ultramarine blue you get a bright violet. If you use Vermillion it would look dull.
Phthalo Blue, Windsor Blue
The names vary from company to company. It is a warm blue, if you can talk about blue es warm. As good blues are mostly very dark you can’t find out at once which blue is it. Mixed with white you get the typical sky blue. So, you know which blue you’ve just used. This tone has not only as acrylic one the reputation to be hold in the brush very well. You mostly have to clean it really well before using somethings without blue.
Ultramarine Blue
Not only loved by Matisse. For me this one is – except white – the most used colour: in the top of the sky mixed with phthalo blue and white or as part of shady areas. Shadows are never just black. Doubt photographs it you see just black in shadows. Put ultramine with a little white in that areas so that you can see.
Black (Lamp Black etc.)
When you have a choice of black tones in front of you, always take the darkest. You probably get the most pigments. Black is always the last remaining tone because you don’t need a lot. It is always opaque and strong. Be careful using it, better less than too much.
Gesso?
You’ve heard of it, but you don’t know what to do with it? I use it to prepare my wooden supports to use it for painting with. Why buy celicate stretched canvases… With wood, you’ve got somthing solid in your hand. Mine MDF plates are 16mm thick and before painting I have to do something so that paint and wood really make a unit. Otherwise oil paint that works for a long time cracks.
Because I had a remains of acrylic paint, I tried that as connections, but it failed, and after half a year I saw the first cracks. They were not everywhere what would be a kind of acceptable. If I want to repair it, I have to rework it again and again. So, better user gesso from the start.
Besides, it’s better not to use pure gesso, because you see the brush’s stripes that remain visible after drying. You can thin it with water. You find the right amount printed on the container.
It takes some hours to dry. So, it’s better to prepare some more supports in one go instead of getting out gesso every time you want to start a new work.
Happy Painting!
New Year, new Happiness!
Hopefully, you’ll have such a year’s crossing you wish and such a 2025 as you can’t imagine brighter and full of colours, keep your resolutions and keep or become healthy.
All the best,
Ulrike
A late One in Progress
I harvested this pumpkin back in October and it is always great how long they stay as if they come directly from the field.
As you see, I added a slice of cucumber. There you have to paint fast. After one day there will be just half of it left.
So, I started with the cucumber and went on with the pumpkin.
I find it hard always to stay ahead on time so that I had to paint the cucumber probably in September to get it ready for shipping in October.
Finally, it’s almost finished.
