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There!  It is finished.  Boy, does this one have a lot of tiny dots!  That is what was needed to make the lights in the sky look soft.  I’ve titled it “Northern Lights,” image size 18″x24″ acrylic on canvas.  You can see the dense layers of dots in the photo detail below.

Right now we are traveling to Sydney, Australia and then sailing around New Zealand and will be gone for the next few weeks.  I may not have internet access and may not be able to post to my Blog.  If I can post, I will, otherwise I will catch up when we return.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape artist

I’ve reached the point where I’m going to wait a few days and see if I want to make any more changes in this work. It is succeeding on many levels, depth, color, motion, and composition but I’m not totally satisfied.   I think I need to make some of the dark colors in the sky darker.   It seems a bit bland overall.  So, Ill let it rest and wait a few days.   It is getting close, but not there yet.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Artist

A close-up section of the many layers of dots and colors in the Northern Lights painting. To make the yellow lights look softer and more transparent I’ve started adding another layer of dark dots on top of the light ones.  This procedure softens the edges and gives the illusion of a thin veil, or a see-through layer.   More dots to come, yet.  I can work on refining this piece for many days.  It might begin to look finished, but I’ll let it rest for a few days and work on it again.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Artist of Alaska

Now I’m beginning to get some depth in the Northern Lights, the top band is definitely closest and the red glow is in the background.  Darkening the sky behind the trees emphasizes the need to make the trees into silhouette forms, so I will work on the trees next and create some forms in the red aurora.  Can you imagine how many dots are on the surface of this canvas at this point??  And, more to come.  In person up-close the paint on this work is gorgeous, the photo doesn’t do it justice.  So, next I darken the trees.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Pointillism artwork

Now we’re cooking!  I’ve curved the top band of lights, broken up the stiff line and brought back some of the vertical lines to the tops.  Adding mixtures of red paint to the background light display I’m going to see what shapes emerge.  Lots and lots of dots on top of dots.  Fun, but very time consuming, and miles to go before we sleep.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape painter

I decided to separate the top light display from the lower distant display of Northern Lights and am graying back the color in the distance.  I got rid of the vertical linear look, but a horizontal line is emerging that is stiff and awkward.  I’ll start softening that line after I’ve added more dots of grayed red and blue to the background.  This canvas is full of colorful dots, up close it is amazing.  This turn of events in the shape of the light display is causing me some thoughtful consternation.   No cause for alarm though, just more work ahead
More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, artist of Alaska

Somehow the light show is growing linear, I’m not sure if I like it yet.   I’m going back into the lighter values and applying dots of blues and greens mixed with the powerful Phthalocyanine Blue.   A little bit goes a long way.   Once I begin using this blue, everything it touches is stained.   All my brushes are blue, under my fingernails are blue, my easel is dripped in blue, it is everywhere.   I love that blue, it is intense and invasive and if you are not careful it will contaminate every color on the palette.  Use Phthalocyanine cautiously or it will eat up your white paint like a drunk at an open bar!

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska landscape artist

Now it is time to create some shapes in the sky. I’m using my lighter values to apply pointillism to the light display in the background.  The shapes are hard edged and not soft or transparent yet, but the color is growing more intense.  My goal at this point is to layer multiple values, hues, and tints of color dot by dot and fill the sky.  The final shape of the Northern Lights will emerge from this effort.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, pointillism art

This view of the Aurora Borealis painting shows lighter values of dots added to the dark shapes in the sky and a bit of red is showing in the color mix.  The tree shapes are sporting dots as well.  Nothing is happening yet in the light yellow section brushed into the sky.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, landscape artist

The above photo is a close-up of the layering of dots on a section of the sky in the Aurora Borealis painting.  So far I’ve only used mid and dark values, I’m saving the lightest lights for later.  In this example you can see how the dots overlap each other in a crazy jumble.  I don’t space out my dots, they are randomly placed sometimes on top of each other until the desired effect is obtained.  At this point I am stepping away from the easel often to evaluate the progress.  Up close the painting becomes deranged, wild, and wonderful!  I become very absorbed in my work and stop only when my hand goes to sleep or my shoulder cramps in muscle spasms.  I stretch often and can sometimes be found stretching backwards over the exercise ball that I keep in the studio.  Nothing can keep me from the joy of creating a painting, I will battle old injuries, stiffness, and an aging body until I win!

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, landscape painter

In order to free form paint the auroral light display I need to establish the values and colors of the trees in the foreground.  I’m using a combination of mixtures of Napthol Red, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, and Cadimum Yellow Medium for the trees, reserving the potent Phthalocyanine Blue for the sky.  The trees are brushed in at the moment, I will add multiple layers of dots later after I’ve established their values.  I don’t always paint this way, actually I don’t have a specific method that I follow.  I do what ever seems reasonable and rational at the time.  People are always asking me for a formula for how to paint, I don’t have one and pity those that do, for it would soon become rote and quite boring to paint from a formula in my opinion.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, painter of dots

Instead of spending hours placing dots of very light values on a white canvas I decided to brush an under painting of a greyed back yellow on the rest of the background sky.  This gave me a chance to evaluate the composition and make adjustments.  I darkened the sky along the top edge and extended the light yellow shape higher on the top left to create a more comfortable pattern of light and dark, and one that will lead the eye around the canvas and keep the viewer engaged.  I have no idea at this point what the shapes or colors of the auroral light display in the background will look like.  I’m just going to start painting dots and see what happens.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Pointillism artist

Now I begin to add dots of mid values to the shapes in the background.  The trees are still in their original form.  I will tackle them after I’ve established the light and dark values and patterns of the Northern Lights in the sky.  I am using free expression as I paint the background, and the design will change and evolve radically as the painting progresses.  I’ve chosen this approach to illustrate the value of being flexible and the fun of using unlimited freedom to create rather than following a rigid set of rules.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska pointillism painter

I’ve started by placing dots, tightly jammed together, using my darkest darks, multiple colors of dark blues, browns, greens and reds to establish a pattern on the canvas.  At this point the white space is leading the eye off the top right of the picture plane, I’m sure that will change as I add other values and begin to shape the Northern Lights.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska artist

I have an idea for a new painting.  I want to show a night sky lit by the colorful Northern Lights with several snow laden spruce trees in the foreground silhouetted against the auroral display.  My recent research yielded many wonderful photos of snow covered trees, so finding suitable subject matter is solved.  I sketched the trees on the lower right half of the canvas leaving a large area of negative space free to design a glowing sky.  I’m depending on my memory and the fact that the Aurora Borealis is constantly changing to help me create these dazzling lights.  There are no right or wrong designs for the aurora, anything can happen with them.  So, this could be fun.  On the other hand. creating the soft transparent illusion of light will be a challenge and I’m sure I will be placing a lot of dots over the top of dots before I’m satisfied.  So, let the painting begin!

Gail Niebrugge, Pointillism artist

Now for a bit of shameless self promotion as my son, photographer Ron Niebrugge, would call it.  I was scheduled and planned for a presentation at the end of the day at the Alaska Arts and Culture Conference, in Anchorage, at the Captain Cook Hotel.  The room was small, downstairs, and I was told to prepare for an audience of about 20.  I had 20 handouts, so to be safe I printed 30 more.  For an intimate crowd I planned to use my digital picture frame to show my work as I talked about the “Business of Art and the Artist”.  I have a nice power point presentation but I didn’t bring my equipment because the venue was so small.  Well, the time came and people started showing up, the seats were soon full and folks stood outside.  I requested extra chairs.  Within a few moments it was clear that that plan failed, and my lovely friend, artist Kes Woodward, came to the rescue.   He arranged for my presentation to be moved upstairs to the main meeting room.  In the photo you can see me standing at the podium (knees shaking) with my little digital photo frame and blank power point screen overhead, giving my talk to over 75 people!  It was totally awsome, and a very humbling experience indeed. (more…)

My presentation of “The Business of Art and the Artist” at the Native Arts Summit last Thursday went better than I could have imagined.  The room was packed, standing room only.  Many good discussions and questions were considered and I enjoyed sharing my experience and knowledge with the eager attendees.  The audience was a very diverse group from textile weavers, sculptors, bead artists, basket and jewelry makers, to plain ‘ole painters like myself.  The business of art applies to everyone and lively discussions included dealing with galleries, gift shops or exhibiting in shows, consigning work and record keeping.  Pictured above is the opening reception held at the Anchorage Performing Arts Center for the Art and Culture Conference that followed the Native Arts Summit on Friday and Saturday.  These were excellent events and well attended.  It was a privilege and an honor to participate.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist