If you've seen many of my barn paintings you may have noticed some similarities between them (other than the fact that they are all of barns). These similarities include things like brush stroke and color. They are what makes my paintings unique to me. In the case of color, also known as an artist's palette*, I generally employ two blues, two reds and two yellows plus white.
*Side note - the term palette can refer to the flat surface an artist uses to hold and mix colors (I use an enamel butcher's tray - more on this later) or the range of colors used by a particular artist.
THE BLUES
Phthalo Blue - Short for Phthalocyanine Blue (do not ask me to to pronounce that - just know that the "ph" is silent). When mixed with Cadmium Yellow Light, this blue creates a lovely bright green that, I think, perfectly depicts grass in bright sunlight. Combine it with white and you have a brilliant blue sky. I will also add this blue, lightened with white, to shadow areas to liven them up.
Ultramarine Blue - A very appealing blue that leans towards deep purple. Mix it with Alizarin Crimson (sometimes I call it Lizard Crimson just for fun) and you get just about the prettiest violet you can imagine. I will also add it to the very top of my blue skies for added depth.
THE YELLOWS
Cadmium Yellow Light - As I mentioned above, a must have for creating the greens of spring and summer. On its own or lightened just a bit with white it creates sparkling highlights for trees and bushes or just dots of yellow flowers. Its considered a "cool" yellow as it skews ever so slightly towards green on the color wheel.
Cadmium Yellow Medium -A very warm yellow, almost orange. I add it to the red of my barns to give them the soft glow of sunset light. Because it is so warm, it makes a nice olive green when mixed with Phthalo Blue. I also find it helpful, for depicting the golden color of dried summer grass when mixed with white.
THE REDS
Alizarin Crimson (a.k.a. Lizard Crimson) - If the barn I'm portraying is red, I paint a layer of Alizarin Crimson first. This establishes the depth of "redness" of the barn. It's also part of my recipe for black along with Phthalo Blue and Cadmium Yellow Medium. Some may disagree, but I believe a "mixed" black has more richness and depth of color than one from a single tube.
Cadmium Red Medium - A bright, medium red. I had to get around to this color eventually, I am painting barns after all. It is also my go to color along with Cadmium Yellow Medium for creating the oranges of autumn.
So there you have it. These are the colors I use to create my paintings. They are the tools of my trade along with my brushes, canvases and butcher's tray palette. Speaking of my palette, I have no idea how it got that name, but it is a pretty handy little device. Not only is it easy to clean, being covered in enamel, but the outer lip makes it almost impossible to spill your paint. The little metal round container pictured along with my butcher's tray holds painting medium that I mix with my paint as a I work. It speeds up the drying time of the painting.
Well, now you've met all of my colorful friends. The next time you see one of my paintings, look closely, they are all in there working together to create a piece of art.
Jenne Farm Barn
5" x 7", oil on linen canvas, 2015
The painting below is currently for sale at auction.
The Jenne Farm Barn
The historic Jenne Farm is one of the original farmsteads on Whidbey Island, WA. The farm cluster consists of the original house and outbuildings and is surrounded by 140 acres of crops, forest, and scrub. Edward Jenne, an immigrant from Germany and a Coupeville, Washington resident, built the Jenne Farm cluster in 1908. It is said he built a sizable house, barn, summer kitchen, workshop, and granary with a barge-load of wood at a cost of $5,000. He grazed sheep, harvested the largest per-acre-yield of wheat of his time, and had majestic work horses. We have photos in the gathering house of the Jennes playing croquet in the backyard with long skirts and formal hats.
The farm was bought from the Jennes by Robert Pratte, who died in 1999. Though he left much of his property to The Nature Conservancy, he willed the Jenne Farm to an heir on the east coast. The property was put up for sale and looked as if it would be chopped into development parcels, losing its historic size, form and character.
The current owners bought the farm in 2000 with the goal of preserving it as a working farm and historic site. In December, 2002, the Jenne Farm became a preserved farm in Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve. Today, the farmhouse is available for vacation rental. For information on renting the Jenne Farm Gathering house visit jennefarm.homestead.com
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