{"id":554,"date":"2026-08-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/?p=554"},"modified":"2026-08-22T02:41:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T02:41:10","slug":"afternoon-stillness-6x8-15-minute-painting-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/?p=554","title":{"rendered":"Afternoon Stillness 6\u00d78 \u2013 15 Minute Painting Session"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/kJp_V_-XPSM\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Transcript and Key Insights<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I painted this six-by-eight on three mil MDF, my favorite surface to work on. It\u2019s totally smooth, very secure, and very inert. I like working on hardboard, but it has a subtle lump depending on the sheet. MDF doesn\u2019t have that problem. Just don\u2019t get it around water, ame constraint you\u2019d have with watercolor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The underpainting is burnt number with a bit of Mars black. Sometimes I like that little extra flatness it gives you. It depends on what you\u2019re after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Afternoon Stillness 6\u00d78<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Note: I\u2019m now adding new paintings to my store again every week. So if you love this you can buy it HERE<\/a>. Also note if you find it\u2019s not available any longer it\u2019s because the painting has been sold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Composition and Reference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re painting a false scene by a pond, a theme I\u2019ve been really into lately. This isn\u2019t a riff on any one George Innes painting, but it\u2019s informed by his compositional approach and sensibility. You can check out the reference image in the members area, along with a color mixing session where you\u2019ll see my thoughts on the basic palette and which colors I think are key to pre-mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pre-mixing is a really great plan. If I didn\u2019t have time to finish a painting I started, but I wanted to come back in the afternoon, I\u2019d do a color pre-mix and have it sitting there waiting for me when I returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sky and Reflections<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The sky is fairly natural, gray clouds, blue, and creamy white tones. When I\u2019m being clever, I try to get these sky colors down in the pond while I\u2019m painting the sky. I did a couple here. The sky gives everything a fairly crisp feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the most part, I prefer to work alla prima, fresh every session, without additional layers on top. That said, with pond scenes I sometimes get mixed up with reflections. On the last couple I put on the channel, I had to come back the next morning with the camera still in place and make necessary changes. This pond turned out fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not the world\u2019s greatest reflection painter, but I think it\u2019s best to keep it simple. If you\u2019re going to get real fancy, you better know what you\u2019re doing. I know a little bit about ponds and reflections, but I\u2019m always trying to get better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trees and Dimensionality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the reference, the three trees were samey. The center tree wasn\u2019t distinct from the others. I made an aesthetic decision to make that tree lighter, ame coloration, but lighter value. This creates separation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other thing I was trying to do with these trees is have dimensionality while maintaining a distinct flatness. Georgia O\u2019Keeffe used this technique extensively, and I did my best to do my impression of it. I didn\u2019t have the reference on screen while painting, but I\u2019ve done a lot of studies of her work. There are playlists in the channel if you\u2019re interested. O\u2019Keeffe is in my DNA. What I love about her work is the feeling of mystery and quiet artisticness. She was a true artist who believed in the power of making art, and I\u2019m just a huge fan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t really get the desire to make straight-ahead studies anymore. I did so many for so long that these days I\u2019m doing paintings that are informed by the masters rather than direct copies. It\u2019s quite the evolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making Sure Your Horizons Are Square<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve got a T-square out because I\u2019m painting at an angle for the camera, I\u2019ve been doing that for 10 years, so I\u2019m used to it. But sometimes it\u2019s hard to judge the straightness of verticals, and there are more than a few of my paintings with a bit of a tilt. Always make sure your horizons are square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing I was pointing out in a recent underpainting session: make sure you\u2019ve got at least a few trees that are very straight. Then you can tilt all you want with the rest of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photographic and Synthetic Reference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Creating photographic reference is absolutely critical to the success or failure of your painting. That\u2019s not going to be the case so much if you\u2019re a plein air painter, you\u2019re doing a lot of stylizing and simplification, just doing it outdoors. There\u2019s a lot to be said for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my big influences early on was Stapleton Kearns. Every year he\u2019d paint in the spring, summer, and late fall, sometimes winter. He\u2019d take those efforts painted outdoors and finish them indoors later. He was a big believer in that approach and not really using photo reference, although he\u2019d take lots of photos. His blog is still up and is so comprehensive, he covered every aspect of painting twice. I learned a lot from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we\u2019re all different. I live on an island where the weather is very changeable. Multiple seasons in one day is the joke, and it\u2019s just not for me. I do like to use photographic reference, or these days even synthetic reference. It\u2019s all just reference, my friends. At the end of the day, no one cares about your reference except you and other painters, you have a professional interest. But the common person is going to take the painting for what it is. They\u2019re going to judge it for what it is. The reference won\u2019t be moving along with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s the thing: much of the lifetime of your painting, you won\u2019t be around. People won\u2019t know who you are or what you were about. They may have your name if you signed it, but that\u2019s about all. The painting will be speaking for itself. How you got there, what you did, it\u2019s less important. That goes for plein air, photographic reference, synthetic reference, digitally altered reference, whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texture and the Golden Field<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We got the big payoff of the golden field. I decided to bring in another layer of highlights on the trees. This was a little flatter, and I was enjoying that, but I couldn\u2019t help myself. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m happy with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because the trees were that color and the ground color of the board was the way it was, I was able to mess around quite a lot with just laying down dabs of paint and leaving bits of board around them. I got some very interesting textures that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the center tree, I\u2019m trying to dab in the paint without just brushing it in and covering everything up. That could be a challenge when you\u2019re working on top of wet. My approach is to move my brush around and change the angle of the brush. There\u2019s a lot of times if you\u2019re doing a straight-on dabby stroke, you may not be getting the paint to move down onto the board. But if you turn your brush a little sideways, you will get the paint you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medium and Darks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is another reason why we need medium. I\u2019m using Archival Oils brand odorless lean. I\u2019ve also used the classic and don\u2019t really see a huge difference between them. It has a consistency very close to linseed oil, and I use it much like any painter in the past would have used straight linseed oil or stand oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I use it to get the paint moving, and I use it quite a lot with the darks because I want my darks to go in nice and thin so I can put paint over the top. You definitely don\u2019t want your darks too thick. If you\u2019ve got big thick heaping helpings of dark paint, they\u2019re going to be reflecting the light and the environment they\u2019re hanging in, and that\u2019s going to mess with the illusion of depth you\u2019re after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glazing and Final Tones<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The bifurcation of the lawn area was cool. I think this painting could probably benefit from glazing, omething I started to mention earlier. When you glaze, it only affects the lightest colors, not the darkest. I used to glaze a lot. I couldn\u2019t help myself. But these days I do it very rarely because my work already comes off as quite dark, and glazing will make it feel darker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, those light colors in the clouds, you can get effects and tones with a light glaze that you could never mix any other way. I think I will do that to this piece. I think it will bring home the whole tonal feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t shy with the saturation in this painting, and I\u2019m pretty happy with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take good care of yourself. Stay out of trouble. And fight the power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike’s New Site<\/a> | Substack<\/a> | Painting Website<\/a> | Mailing List<\/a> | Store<\/a> | My Music<\/a> | Support<\/a> | Members Area<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

M Francis McCarthy, Your Painter in Residence<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Transcript and Key Insights I painted this six-by-eight on three mil MDF, my favorite surface to work on. It\u2019s totally smooth, very secure, and very inert. I like working on hardboard, but it has a subtle lump depending on the sheet. MDF doesn\u2019t...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","rsfv-has-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554","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=554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":555,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554\/revisions\/555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mfrancismccarthy.art\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}