Monday, October 25, 2010

Smoke and Dust, 9 x 12, oil on panel, by Ron Donoughe

I did this study for a larger 16 x 20 painting last month. So often the quick sketch turns out to be the better of the two. Maybe I'm trying too hard on the larger pieces? The bigger paintings are usually on linen, they take more time, and are meant to be more "serious". The relaxed feeling combined with concentration is what all the golfers talk about to hit a ball. Could golf and painting actually have something in common? Both require an enormous amount of practice and a lot of skill. So I guess it is possible. I have found that the smaller I work the better my results. Also, I have fewer expectations and the materials are not that big of an investment. Generally I'm enjoying the process a bit more and if it doesn't work, scrapping off a small loser is no big deal.

8 comments:

Island Gal said...

I don't think I ever seen an industrial painting, very good work great detail

Pat Koscienski said...

Ron, this is really nice. They say that about Constable's plein air studies...now being considered better than the large studio pieces he did. They are looser and more painterly. Larger paintings are harder to do, though. I once asked an instructor how to achieve a larger painting much like my smaller paintings...he said, "use larger brushes". However, not quite that simple. LOL

Claire Beadon Carnell said...

This sure works for me - it has a wonderful, subtle strength to it, Ron. I always wish that I could retain the looseness of my underpainting in the final painting...still working on it!

Cecelia Lyden said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Cecelia Lyden said...

What can I say? You have turned a sooty, grimy piece of real estate into a beautiful work of art. Honestly, Monet's railroad station masterpieces, are no better, bigger, maybe, but no better.

blah said...

Love this. Something different. Caught my eye as soon as I came on the blog!

Julie Riker said...

I feel the same way about my smaller plein air paintings...the larger ones painted in the studio don't have the same fresh quality. Maybe it is because we treat the small works as "sketches" and with the larger pieces there is more pressure to create a masterpiece?
I love this little panel. I love the spontaneous strokes you use to capture the smoke. I can see how that would be difficult to repeat on a larger scale.

Bottini - Classic Realist Landscape said...

Beautiful use of gestured brushwork and a tertiary palette, Ron. Your grit and glow mingle in the best of the Ash Can School tradition and your Western Pa roots add ironic monument & vigor to the subject.