Kurt Plinke, Artist and Naturalist |
This week's Painting
Finished or not
![]() "Badly Stacked Bales" by Kurt Plinke waxed watercolor arches 140 lb cp 11" x 19" image size This is another transparent watercolor that I completed a number of weeks ago, but neglected to post on Today's Painting, Finished or Not. So here it is today. I've also worked on a second version of the garden tools and skink painting today, but nothing worth posting at this point. I gotta say, I really liked painting this one. The sky feels voluminous, the ground recedes well, the color palette is muted but there, and the image itself, in my eyes, is hilarious. Having grown up at least for a time on a farm, and having baled a little hay, (I was a mite young up on the farm to have been a big bale-tosser) I can appreciate well-stacked bales. The hayloft in the big barn up on the farm was carefully stacked, and the bales were so tight I can remember running around on the top of a fifteen bale high stack, with nary a wobble. But this poor stack, after a short storm outside of Easton, collapsed in the middle, spilling bales out into the field. As a country-raised boy, I have to smile. And as an artist who sometimes likes to tell stories and inject humor into his work, I have to paint it. When I finished this watercolor, rather than matting and putting it behind glass, I mounted on a board and coated it with a well-rubbed layer of wax. This protects the paper from moisture and dirt as well as the glass would have, but avoids the distraction of mats and the glare of glass. If you would like to purchase this piece, contact kurtplinke@kurtplinke.com for information. Visit www.kurtplinke.com to see more of my paintings, read my blog, find out about upcoming workshops, classes and shows, and, of course, to pick out and purchase your favorite paintings.
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![]() "Blue Tail, Blue Handle", by Kurt Plinke 11" x 14", Arches 140 lb cold press Watercolor This one is not finished. In fact, I may start a second board using a different style, one that incorporates a much more sparsely populated color palette. As I sit at the edge of my garden shed and look through the doorway, I see all of these hues of blues, oranges, browns and violets. But when I paint these colors as I see them, they feel a little contrived and overworked and in need of editing. On the other hand, I like this painting in many respects. I think I managed to get the feel of light coming through the doorway, and I like the series of varied verticals that are the doorway and tool handles. I like the brushwork in places. I like how the repetition of shovel-shapes feels. Pretty sure the next attempt will be much looser, quicker, and closer to monochromatic, but with a similar sort of composition. (I used a lot of the tools today out in the garden, and they are in different places now. The composition will have to change.) I may wait a few days, too. And yes, I do have a hoe with a handle being held together with electrician's tape. Lots of it. Visit www.kurtplinke.com to see more of my paintings, read my blog, find out about upcoming workshops, classes and shows, and, of course, to pick out and purchase your favorite paintings. ![]() "Dogtooth," 4 1/2" x 7" (image size) by Kurt Plinke waxed watercolor, framed This little painting was actually completed several weeks ago, but I didn't post it here on Today's Painting Finished or Not, so here it is. I have a few more of these that I'll be posting from time to time. This is a watercolor painting of a small plant called Dogtooth Violet. It grows down near the riverbanks along the Choptank. I found this one tucked up along a fallen log. I like the contrast between the flower and the dark shadow cast by the log. I started this painting with a value study in pencil down by the river. When I went back up to the studio, I completed the watercolor. Visit www.kurtplinke.com to see more of my paintings, read my blog, find out about upcoming workshops, classes and shows, and, of course, to pick out and purchase your favorite paintings. ![]() "Old Blue Bus", by Kurt Plinke transparent watercolor Arches 140 lb cp Plein Air study, 6" x 10" About a mile from the studio, across a field sits an old blue school bus in the back of a farm yard. I've always liked the play of light and shadow on the old bus as it sits behind a row of Loblolly Pines. I sketched it quickly in watercolor, thinking it may eventually become a bigger painting. Sometimes small paintings plow the row for larger works, either as a color experiment, a compositional play or as a glorified thumbnail sketch. I bet this one will be a little of all three. In any case, I really like the simplicity of this little painting. Visit www.kurtplinke.com to see more of my paintings, read my blog, find out about upcoming workshops, classes and shows, and, of course, to pick out and purchase your favorite paintings.
I'm about three-fourths finished with this painting. It is a transparent watercolor, meaning that the pigments are transparent, and colors are layered upon colors to develop depth and variety. No white paint is traditionally used in a transparent watercolor. I expect that I'll finish this painting in the studio this evening. When finished, I would like to see more warmth in the foreground, as well as, of course, a black-and-white cat on the steps. Visit www.kurtplinke.com to see more of my paintings, read my blog, find out about upcoming workshops, classes and shows, and, of course, to pick out and purchase your favorite paintings. ![]() (UPDATE: finished) That evening I finished the little painting. Visit www.kurtplinke.com to see more of my paintings, read my blog, find out about upcoming workshops, classes and shows, and, of course, to pick out and purchase your favorite paintings. ![]() "Fern Shadow," waxed transparent watercolor by Kurt Plinke 140 lb Arches CP, mounted on board At Plein Air Easton! this weekend, my entry in the Quick Draw competition was this little painting of a fern hanging in front of a shop across from the Tidewater Inn. This painting took a little over an hour and a half of the two hours allowed in the competition. I was looking at shadows and diagonal lines as I painted this, although I would up looking at a plain brick wall by the time I had finished the piece. Before I began, I sketched what I wanted to see, based upon the conditions at 10:00 am. I think this is my best Quick Draw entry so far, and I've entered a few. I usually am too ambitious, and wind up with a less-than-satisfactory piece. However, I'm happy with this painting. |
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14210 Draper's Mill Road Greensboro, MD 21639 (410) 200-1743 kurtplinke@kurtplinke.com |
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