{"id":316,"date":"2026-06-16T06:04:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T06:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/?p=316"},"modified":"2026-06-16T06:04:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T06:04:55","slug":"whisper-of-the-forest-8x12-live-painting-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/?p=316","title":{"rendered":"Whisper of the Forest 8&#215;12 \u2013 Live Painting Session!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The making of Whisper of the Forest - Live!\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/o7gOUJNRK5I?feature=oembed&#038;wmode=opaque\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Good morning. I did a painting yesterday, not the most terrible thing I\u2019ve ever done, but it wasn\u2019t the easiest struggle either. It was a 7&#215;12 based on a reference from 2022 that I\u2019d painted before on texture board and gave to my bishop. I missed that painting, so I decided to do it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I pulled up the reference, I realized it was off-center. That\u2019s actually one of the things that made the original good. I got it home and thought I liked it, but I wasn\u2019t happy. There were big bars of stuff at the top. It\u2019s maybe savable, but I put it behind for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Problem With Yesterday\u2019s Painting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The structural problems are clear to me now. One of the things making the original work was how the relationships between elements fit together. Yesterday\u2019s version was too balanced, it took on a stationary feel. The composition wasn\u2019t strong enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I learned stuff from failing. You\u2019re going to fail. Even if you\u2019re super experienced like I am, you still fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Going for Redemption<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This morning, I\u2019m doing this painting again, 8&#215;12, the original proportions. That one inch changes a lot. I decided I\u2019m into redemption today. I can see what I did before and what was good about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the great things about the original was the interaction of the grey with the other tones. A friend gave me a comment at the time about that grey, it was a good insight from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Working on Texture Board vs. Canvas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last one was done on texture board. One of the things about texture is that it forces you to simplify. You\u2019re constantly fighting it. But the great thing about texture is that you can drag your brush and do things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now I\u2019m working on regular canvas, which requires a different technique. I can create more of my own texture with the brush and paint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Drawing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m using a slightly larger brush for the drawing, definitely not too wide, but this is one of the things I love. It gives me more control. I start with my neutrals and build from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One thing I remember about working on texture: it would force me to simplify because of that resistance. What I don\u2019t want is a big wash of stuff at the top, that has an automatic feel. There\u2019s also this bow bit that was an incredibly powerful addition. It\u2019s just sort of intimated in the original reference, but it was a good call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Color Strategy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m going way more yellow in the sky than I did yesterday. Yesterday things went a little insipid. I have good colors, but too much white in the sky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the reds, I\u2019m juicing up cad red, really stepping it down to get a real red that\u2019s dug in but not too bright. That\u2019s very difficult to arrive at without the cad. The key is stepping it down so it\u2019s not bright.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the greys, I\u2019m earthy them up a little with Mars, just enough to make them fit in. I\u2019m doing less colors overall, a ton of yellow ochre tones, so I\u2019ll do two ochres. One deeper ochre with a little grey in it, and a lighter ochre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Brush Work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m using a Dallis bristle 4 brush, which is smaller than anyone else\u2019s 4. For the painting, I\u2019m starting with these neutrals and working into the larger shapes first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I do the detailed work later, I\u2019ll switch to a smaller brush. The key is not jumping right in with the red, that\u2019s what I did yesterday. I need to build the foundation first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The loose framework is doing what I need. I\u2019m creating my own texture with the brush and paint, which gives me more control than working on texture board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Final Push<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The darks are in. I\u2019m moving into the mid-tones and details now, building up the painting carefully. I don\u2019t want to overwork it, it\u2019s doing its job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the end, I\u2019ll do some cleaning-up action with a brush, not too hard, just addressing some of the fuel areas to refine the edges without making it soft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I feel like I got my painting back. It\u2019s similar to the original but a little looser, which I like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take care of yourself. Stay out of trouble. And fight the power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mike&#8217;s New Site<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.substack.com\/subscribe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Substack<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landscapepainter.co.nz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Painting Website<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landscapepainter.co.nz\/mailing-list\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mailing List<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landscapepainter.co.nz\/products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Store<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/abyssm.bandcamp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">My Music<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.landscapepainter.co.nz\/donate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Support<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCS6NSbrJaICWu2Oztt_PXeA\/join\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Members Area<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>M Francis McCarthy, Your Painter in Residence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Good morning. I did a painting yesterday, not the most terrible thing I\u2019ve ever done, but it wasn\u2019t the easiest struggle either. It was a 7&#215;12 based on a reference from 2022 that I\u2019d painted before on texture board and gave to my&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-painting","rsfv-has-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=316"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316\/revisions\/322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}