Sue Flanagan’s Website

In August, I will be showing about 35 paintings at the Vogt Visual Art Center (VVAC) in Tinley Park. My friend, Marcia Duff will also have her watercolor paintings on display. Both of us are representational artists and we particularly enjoy landscapes.  Here are some pictures of the Vogt Center which is the art center for Tinley Park. It has a gallery on the ground floor and classrooms upstairs. On August 13th, there will be an artist reception at 7 p.m. There will also be free music in the gazebo outside and plenty of refreshments. 

We have had a lot of rain lately, so I haven’t done as much plein air painting as I would like. Here is one of my most recent outdoor paintings.

I recently painted Lake Marmo from a winter plein air study and a photo. Here is the far from completed study on location (I was frozen) and the photo I took.

Here is my painting from these two sources. See My January post for the details of this trip to the Morton Arboretum.

I hope you are enjoying the summer. Until next time,
Sue

Last month I was commissioned to do a pastel painting. It was to be a 16 x 20 in. field of flowers. The flowers were to be primarily yellow. Providentially, there was a nearby field of wild flowers in bloom at the time. So, I took pictures of the field and similar pictures at the Morton Arboretum. I have painted in both of these locations before. From these photos, I did a preliminary 11 x 14 in. color study since I knew that color was a very important element to the client. From the client’s feedback, I learned that she did not want cool colors of pink or purple and that I had too much green, especially cool greens. The client wanted a very warm painting.

I planned another larger quick sketch for myself using rye grass and Queen Ann’s Lace with yellow cone flowers and yellow showy Black Eyed Susans. I have photographed the process. I taped a white sanded paper on foam core. Here is the underpainting of pastel that was then painted with Gamsol odorless mineral spirits. Click on the image to enlargen.

I was pleased with the underpainting because it had the golden look that the client wanted. So, I wanted it to show through as I layered pastel on top of it. I then started working on background flowers that were in the distance and then those that would be underneath the main flowers.

I wanted the yellow cone flowers to the right to be the closest and the focal point. The color in these phots is more green which is a product of my limited photography skills and lack of consistency in photographing the steps.

At this point I had to look at the painting over several days. I decided that I had to add more white flowers (daisies) because the Queen Ann’s Lace was not enough to break up the mass of yellow. Here is the final picture of the painting.

There is always apprehension when a commission is completed. Is this what the client wanted? Did I understand her vision? This is what she wrote, “Words can not express my appreciation for the beautiful painting you created for me. You were able to conceptualize and create my vision and put it to canvas. The vibrant colors along with the beautiful creation of flowers is breathtaking. It will be a wonderful addition to our home. My sincere thanks. Carol”

Yesterday, May 23, 09, the Plein Air Painters Chicago-Southwest (PAPC-SW) painted at a new location for us. We went to Cantigny in Wheaton, Illinois. Cantigny has acres of gorgeous manicured gardens. It is also a war memorial. There is a visitor’s center, a restaurant, coffee bar, museum and golf course. This is all part of the Col. Robert R. McCormick foundation. We were welcomed by the staff. This was a nice place to be on a Memorial Day weekend.

Every where you looked there was a scene worthy of a painting. Our group tried to capture the beauty of the gardens. We met at 8:30 a.m. and reconvened outside the visitor’s center for a critique at 12:30. Here is the scene that I chose. It was a nice composition and I purposely wanted to challenge myself in two areas. There was a lot of information in this scene so I had to work on simplifying. I also had to work on perspective. My view finder helped with this.

Here is a picture of me painting the scene and the result of my efforts. There are some adjustments I have to make. However, I think I have good information from this study and the photo to make a nice studio painting.

Our critique is mostly a group problem solving session. It is so interesting to see what other scenes were painted and the different styles. Artists worked in watercolor, acrylic, oil and pastel. Here are some photos of the group and our paintings.

It was about 70 degrees and sunny with a light breeze. The weather and company could not be better. We agreed that it all made for some “happy” paintings. Yes, plein air painting does not get any better than this!

Sue Flanagan