Gail Niebrugge's Blog
“Magenta Marsh” 16″ x 20″ acrylic on Masonite © Sold. One of the last paintings in my Denali Highway series, “Magenta Marsh” was completed in 1992 and depicts the Tangle Lakes region during a serious cloud cover. This was one of those moments during a storm when the rain takes a pause, the air is [...]
“Storm” 24″ x 36″ acrylic on canvas ©1986 collection of the artist. This is my painting style before the accident that led to bed rest and the development of the unique technique of pointillism I use today. “Storm” is painted from a research trip to one of my favorite places, the Denali Highway, a 135 [...]
“Termination Dust” 10″ x 24″ acrylic painting © Sold. Another in my Denali Highway series, “Termination Dust” was painted in 1992 using pointillism and was made into a limited edition print that is now sold out. A few artist proofs are still available. The scene depicts the last vestige of fall when colors are deep [...]
“Rivervalley” original watercolor/acrylic 22″ x 30″ © Sold. This is one of the last paintings completed before I started using pointillism, a technique that came about as a result of mandatory doctor ordered bed rest to heal from injuries to my neck and back. “Rivervalley” is another one of those paintings that saw re-painting and [...]
The finished original painting “High Country” in pointillism. This original painting is available as a giclee on canvas and can be ordered on my website. The giclee is slightly smaller (22′x44″) than the original painting, but can be custom ordered larger or smaller. My technique of pointillism is slow and painstaking, but very satisfying. I [...]
Close-up detail showing a section of the original painting “High Country”. The pointillism on the midground ridges is shown here as shown in my previous Blog entry Painting with Pointillism 11. You can also see the detail in the lake. More tomorrow. Gail Niebrugge, Alaska Artist
Finishing details are added in pointillism to original painting “High Country”. I’ve been concentrating on the lakes and the ridges directly behind the lakes, adding detail in pointillism. I’ve also added more detail to the distant mountains, the painting is nearly finished. More tomorrow. Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist
Partially finished painting in pointillism “High Country”. At this stage I’m adding detail, more in the immediate foreground and much more to the midground valley. You can see patches of snow in the greyed back valley tundra. The dark ridge in the distance is taking on structure with details of forests of trees creating interesting [...]
Close-up detail of a section of the original painting “High Country”. Another detail from a previous blog entry Painting with Pointillism 7. This illustrates how I achieved depth between the foreground ridge and the midground valley by using greyed back colors in the valley applied in pointillism. More tomorrow. Gail Niebrugge, Alaskan Artist
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. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
Gail Niebrugge (Knee-brew-ghe) born and raised in California has pursued art since childhood, winning a poster contest on the Johnny Jet television show at the age of twelve. Gail began her career as an illustrator for the US Navy and Marines in San Diego, and later established the Instructional Media Center for the Grossmont High School District in La Mesa, California. The Niebrugge family fell in love with Alaska while on vacation in 1976 and never returned home, instead they established a residence and studio in the remote interior settlement of Copper Center where the artist painted … [Read More...]
Wikipedia defines pointillism as; "a style of painting in which small distinct points of primary colors create the impression of a wide selection of secondary and intermediate colors." It goes on to say that the mind and the eye mix the color spots into a full range of tones and that it is closely related to Divisionism. Divisionism was practiced by Georges Seurat during the Neo-Impressionism period. He broke his color into basic elements and painted very small and regular dots. His dots are carefully placed as to not touch each other, so the white under painted canvas shows around all of the dots. I call my painting technique pointillism, but technically it is incorrect according to Wikipedia. The difference between my technique and true pointillism is that I use … [Read More...]