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| Hoff, "By the Creek," casein on bristol, 11x14, 2020 |
Back in March, just before the pandemic began reaching us I posted about an art contest sponsored by Jack Richeson & Co. The contest Casein 2020 closes on the day this is posted. Richeson manufactures casein emulsion paint under the series name Shiva (the name of the original company) and this year for $50 sent a set of paint, brushes and supports to artists who agreed to enter the contest. I've enter a few things, most recently "By the Creek," finished this month.
This particular work came about because I've been interested in capturing light and water. Painting outdoors was an awakening for me when it comes to water. Water is maddening. It moves continously, sheds, reflects, and refracts light. Water has no color. Instead it is colored by everything. Water has no shape, no form your mind can grasp. In short, water is elusive.When painting water, what you actually do is paint what water does to everything else.
This painting started with a broad lay-in of dark colors, warm and cool, mostly value 3 or 4. Because casein dries so very fast, in only a few minutes it was possible to go back and begin laying in somewhat smaller patches of color. Working systematically from top to bottom and background to foreground I cautiously layered sky, then trees and foliage patches,, then foreground areas to add definition, then the creek colors and rough shapes. With each pass over previous areas (when dry) I was able to add detail and form. Because casein is opaque, it's possible to cover darks and re-state passages. In the end, "By the Creek" is a good example of my casein technique.
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Casein 2020
It’s wonderful!!
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