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My client is delighted with the painting. After a little discussion about adding more color to the planter rocks she agreed. So, I added more color and definition to the rocks, punched up detail and contrast in the flowers, softened the tree shadows on the driveway and checked that all vertical lines on the house were straight. I am finally satisfied and the painting is finished!
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

After contemplating the nearly finished painting for a few days, I’ve made some subtle changes; darkening the shadows on the garage, highlighting the rock trim on the house, and defining details throughout. I refined the gradation in the sky from light to dark, emphasized shadows in the gardens, perfected shading on the figure, and gave three dimensional values to the rocks around foreground planter. The planter rocks could use more work, but at this point need to show my client and involve her in the final decisions.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska pointillism artist

At this stage in the development of a painting I let it rest for awhile, and think. It looks almost finished, but it is not. This is the time for some serious evaluation. I will turn the painting upside down and sideways, looking for compositional flaws. I haven’t added finished detail yet and save that for the very last. My first quick impression is that the seated figure needs some work, as does the garage door area of the house where the tree shadows seem weak. I’ll think on this while the painting is upside down. I’ll probably do some more work on the rock trim of the house as well, it looks a little strange at the moment. It is a little bland and does not read as rocks but more like multi-colored paint. Odd. I can become too familiar with what I’m painting and not see objectively. Let it rest, and think. I remind myself not to get caught up in the rush to finish.
More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Pointillism Artist

At this stage of the painting the house and background are partially finished, the foreground flower garden is barely roughed in. I’m establishing depth in the scene with color, and carefully choosing values. The seated figure is not painted at this time, and the rock borders are unpainted. I will work on those areas next, and further develop the foreground flowers.
More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Pointillism Artist

Again, I like to save time while painting. So, instead of taking down all of my photo references so that I can have an uncluttered background to evaluate the painting, I keep a bunch of empty mats in a variety of sizes handy to create a temporary mat around the artwork. This working mat helps separate the artwork from the busyness of the surroundings and makes it easier to evaluate the composition.

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Gail Niebrugge, Pointillism Artist

Through the years I’ve used many, many different kinds of palettes.  Some are made from molded plastic, wood, and glass, I’ve even tried using pie plates, and muffin tins. Acrylic paint dries fast.  In order to eliminate the job of cleaning the surface of the palette each time it is used I’ve settled into using disposable palettes.  I just peel the used sheet from the pad and toss it in the trash.  The same goes for brushes.  Acrylic paint destroys brushes, so I purchase cheap white sable by the dozen and throw them away when they quit holding a point and begin to resemble a fan. Cheap and easy, that’s my style. I hate wasting time setting up and cleaning up, I just want to paint. So, the easier the better for me. I have, however, used the same jar for water for nearly 30 years. It is like an old friend. I just rinse it out at the end of the day and let it air dry.  You will not find any special magic painting tools in my kit, just hard work!
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Gail Niebrugge, Pointillism Artist

Last summer a client commissioned me to create an original painting featuring her house and flower gardens. Here are the steps I use to create a painting with specific subject matter. (more…)

Glacier Patterns original painting acrylic/watercolor by Gail Niebrugge. Sold.

I never tire of painting the amazing shapes, patterns and colors of glaciers. Having flown over and hiked on glaciers, I think I like the aerial view the best. Because they are so immense, hiking the surface gives the opportunity to see but a tiny speck of the entire ice-scape. It is important to traverse the surface on foot so that a clear understanding of the structure and cause of the various shapes and forms exists. With this knowledge an artist can create a painting that will be true to life. In my opinion, it is nearly impossible to paint a believable scene relying only on photos without a personal study and understanding of the subject.

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Gail Niebrugge, Artist Alaska

Sunflower 36″x48″ acrylic on canvas original pointillism painting.

The finished painting Sunflower. Next, the completed work will be photographed and digitized for my records, once the photography is complete I will apply several coats of Gloss Acrylic Gel to the entire surface. The gel will intensify color and give a nice tough finish to the surface. Since I prefer to use gloss gel I wait until after the painting is photographed before applying the finish coat, because the photo lighting reflects off the glossy surface and creates tiny white sparkles on the painting. When the gel coat is dry I take the painting to the frame shop for framing. Meanwhile I enter the title and vital information into my original painting database and original painting price lists. The image will be submitted for registration with the U.S. Government Copyright Office. The painting should be ready to exhibit at our annual Open House, October 20-21.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Pointillism Artist

I’m beginning to add details to the lower leaves. This is the fun part of painting, details make the whole piece come together!

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

I’ve made some changes to the composition to keep your eye traveling around inside the painting. In the upside down photo posted a few days ago the strong diagonal lines and highlights on the leaves caused the viewers eye to be drawn off the picture plane in the upper left corner. By darkening the leaves near the upper left corner and darkening the purple/blue spaces between the leaves the composition seems to be working a bit better. I’m still planning to refine the composition as I develop the details. Sometimes the devil is in details, and can throw a very good painting off balance quickly. Constantly checking the painting upside down, sideways, and using a mirror to reverse the image are handy tricks I use to keep the composition flowing.

More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

I am nearing the finish of the Sunflower original painting and it is time to add details, a part of painting that I enjoy very much! The photo above shows highlights and shadows on the seeds in the center of the sunflower. Next I will complete the detail on the yellow petals, and finally the leaves. Detail is saved for the very last.

More tomorrow.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Art

At this point in the progress of the Sunflower original painting I evaluate the composition while the canvas is upside down. Compositional flaws will be quite obvious from this perspective. The upside down view shows me that the upper left portion of this painting is too light, and the diagonal lines of the leaves draw your eyes off the canvas at the corner. Otherwise, the rest of the composition is quite comfortable at this point.

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Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

Close-up of the center of the Sunflower original painting viewed upside down. I am developing the shadows between the seeds in the center of the flower. It is easier to reach this area of the painting by placing it upside down on the easel.

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Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

More visitors to the studio, this time my cousin and his wife Bob and Netia Manning from Mountain Home Idaho. Cousin Bob and I are standing next to the partially finished sunflower painting. The center seed area requires a lot more work, but the rest of the painting needs only highlights, darks and details. I’ll keep you posted.

Gail Niebrugge, Art of Alaska

Close-up detail of underpainting where several layers of dots have been applied to the leaves in the lower left section of the Sunflower original painting. (more…)

A close-up detail showing pencil lines, underpainting, and first layer of dots on the upper left section of the sunflower original painting. (more…)

This is a fairly large canvas, 36″x48,” with the easel positioned as low as it can go. Tall canvases require a lot of adjusting of the easel up and down in order for me to paint comfortably. I work hard to avoid bending over or raising my arm for long periods of time. The problem is that I have a tendency to be lazy and hate to take the time to move my tabouret, pull the easel out from the wall, unlock the stops and ratchet the easel to a new height then lock the stops, push the easel back and reposition the tabouret. So, I end up limiting my painting to one section of the composition at a time instead of moving freely around the whole canvas. For extremely large canvases I use more than one easel, sometimes I’ve used three easels and the logistics become even more complicated.

What I need is an easel with a pneumatic pump, like the one on my adjustable chair. My drafting table works that way too, but I’ve never seen an easel with one. Anyone know of such a product?
More tomorrow,

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

At this stage I concentrated on placing mid-value dots of acrylic paint on the top leaves and begin to develop the petals along the upper portion of the flower in pointillism.

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Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist

First I lightly sketch the subject onto a canvas using a pencil, after that I flung paint all over the original sketch from several large brushes and created a random splattering of various colors. When the splatters and drips dried I applied acrylic paint as a transparent wash to fill in large areas with pale color. Next, I begin the time consuming task of layering opaque acrylic dots in mid-values on top of the transparent wash to begin developing the background leaves, petals, and the seed-filled center of the flower. The research for this painting took place several years ago in my back yard where this giant sunflower sprouted from a stray seed from the bird feeder. Fortunatley it landed in a flower bed and was easy to nurture.
More tomorrow.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist