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A close-up detail of the center section of the original painting “High Country”.
This is a detail of the previous blog entry “Painting with Pointillism 7″.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
Partially completed pointillism on original painting “High Country”.
I’ve begun to define the distant mountains with pointillism, and have applied several layers of dots to the sky. The midground is greyed back giving a distinct illusion of a foreground ridge rolling down hill. I’m working hard to create depth in the painting at this stage. Underpainting still exists on the distant mountain to the right and the very far mountains on the left, as well as the ridges behind the lake.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist
Original painting “High Country”.
I’ve applied pointillism to the foreground in multiple layers and it is partially finished at this point. The midground is in the beginning stages of development, and the distant mountains and sky are still the original underpainting. Notice that the blues in the lake have been toned down and greyed back to create the illusion of distance.
More tomorrow.
Gaill Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
Close up detail of pointillism in the foreground of original painting “High Country”.
This is a detail of the previous blog entry “Painting with Pointillism 4″. As you can see, several layers of dots have been applied, underpainting is still showing through along the tops of the orange, brown and gold bushes.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist
Progress of pointillism on the original acrylic painting “High Country”.
I’ve added more pointillsm to the foreground to define the vegetation, and I’ve started the first layer of pointillism in the midground. The lake is underpainted with shades of blue.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
Underpainting and first layer of pointillism on original painting “High Country”
At this point I’m establishing the shapes of the bushes and areas of scattered snow with the first layer of dots (pointillism) in the lower third of the painting. Much of the underpainting is still visible under the dots in the foreground.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
Second layer of underpainting with acrylic on “High Country” original painting.
I continue to rough-in the image with several layers of acrylic paint, and work very fast at this stage. I’m extablishing stronger areas of dark and light and intensifying the colors.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist
Acrylic underpainting for “High Country” original painting.
First I sketch the subject with pencil onto the painting surface, in this case a 22″ x 48″ Sintra PVC plastic board. Then I begin to quickly apply underpainting, establishing the light and dark areas and base colors that will show through beneath the hundreds of dots of pointillism that will be applied during the course of the painting.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
I designed the logo for the Copper Basin 300 sled dog race in 1989 using research from my visit to the village of Atmutluak, Alaska. (more…)
“Race Day” 18″x24″ pen,ink and watercolor painting ©Gail Niebrugge
Another image painted as a result of my visit to the village of Atmautluak, Alaska. New subject matter can be overwhelming, sometimes it takes awhile to absorb what you see and find the true gems that should be painted.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
“Yupic Funeral” 22″x30″ acrylic painting on rag paper ©Gail Niebrugge
If my memory serves, the painting “After School” is underneath this painting. I painted this from my research in the Yupic village of Atmautluak, Alaska, showing the overflow crowd at the funeral of a village elder. (more…)
“Cruisin’ the Boardwalk” 12″x30″ watercolor painting on rag board ©Gail Niebrugge
Here is another painting from my visit to the village of Atmautluak, Alaska, showing my eskimo buddies that shadowed my every move. I was fascinated that the houses sat in pools of water during break-up, and no one seemed to mind.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
“After School” 22″x30″ acrylic painting on rag paper ©Gail Niebrugge
This original painting was inspired by my stay in the village of Atmautluak, Alaska. Unfortunately I was not satisfied with the image and after a year of working on it and fussing with it I painted another image over the top. I’m so glad that I had the foresight to photograph this artwork before it was destroyed. Today I find the painting charming. I learned a valuable lesson from this experience; Don’t be too quick to judge your work, let it rest awhile, sometimes it takes a few years before the true value of a painting can be determined.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
“Atmautluak Village” 3′x 8′ acrylic painting on four joined masonite panels.
Several years after this project was complete I heard that the Atmautluak school burned to the ground and was a total loss, so I do not know if this painting still exists. Unfortunately this is the best photo I have of the finished work. This project was commissioned by the Alaska State Council on the Arts Per-Cent for Art Program.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
A close-up detail of the fourth panel of “Atmautluak Village” painting for the Atmautluak, Alaska, school.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
Close up detail in the “Atmautluak Village” painting for the Atmautluak, Alaska, school. Look closely and you can see the seam connecting panels together.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
A close up detail of the “Atmautluak Village” painting for the Yupic eskimo school in Atmautluak, Alaska. (more…)
Here is a photo of my work space in the Atmautluak, Alaska, school library with the nearly finished painting of race day in the village.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist
This photo shows me (on the left) and an employee at the Atmautluak school, Alaska, standing on the library coat rack inspecting the wall painted by the students to be used as a dark frame for the original artwork.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
Atmautluak students preparing the wall for artwork photo.
After the funeral things came back to normal at the Atmautluak school. The location for the finished painting was a white wall above the coat rack in the school library. Since the painting was a winter scene consisting of shades of white we decided to paint a rectanglular background of a dark color on the light colored wall to frame the artwork. The above photo shows students preparing the wall for paint.
More tomorrow.
Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
This artist journal blog is about daily life in Alaska with professional artist Gail Niebrugge and her business partner husband Bob, and will discuss shows and exhibits, research in the field, the creation of original paintings, and art prints. See Gail's fine art here.
