Tennessee River Serenity

To celebrate his 46th wedding anniversary, Tommy Thompson decided to do some plein air painting while his wife, the writer, wrote this blog post. In rural Lauderdale County, AL, we are blessed with many creeks (like the Cypress and Shoals Creeks), lakes (like the Wilson, Wheeler, and Pickwick Lakes), and the Tennessee River, which provide an abundance of subject matter for plein air painting excursions. We remember well the sage advice of the master painter, Ned Mueller, during the 2003 Scottsdale Artist School/Plein Air Painters of America workshop in Old Lyme, CT. Mueller said, "It does not matter what subject matter you choose to paint; what matters is your perspective--the idea you are conveying."

In other words, when you paint like Tommy Thompson, you begin with one compelling idea or theme and focus on that. For example, he studies the effects of light on the subject. The play of light on elements of a landscape--trees, marshes, water, bogs, grasses, and reeds--can be extremely dramatic. As a painter advances in his painting skills, he is compelled to capture not an entire scene but only that portion of a scene that "tells" his story.



"My purpose in painting this scene was to capture the serenity, the quiet mood of this river scene," Thompson says. "There were no sounds other than those of the buzzing of insects and the bubbling water created by splashing fish and geese. I focused on the patterns created by the light on the trees and the large mozaic patterns of algae on the water's surface."


When you squint as master painter Kevin Macpherson teaches, you can see the main "puzzle pieces" of the composition of this painting. This attention to the large masses is the foundation of all good landscape painting. The "puzzle pieces" of this scene are similar to a marshy area that Thompson painted in Old Saybrook, CT, near the home of the late actress, Kathryn Hepburn.

In creating "Tennessee River Serenity," Thompson painted "thick over thin" using a palette knife, with his Open Box M stationed near a rusty old iron bridge overlooking a tributary feeding the Tennessee River. The marshy area in this scene is home to a family of Canadian geese that were swimming about almost oblivious of their human observers.





To order this painting, click on this link: "Tennessee River Serenity." To see other paintings by Thompson, click on http://www.tommythompsonart.com/

Tommy Thompson--"Morning at Maggie Valley"

Maggie Valley, North Carolina, is located near the Smoky Mountain National Park. It is known for the 318 curves on the road through the Valley. It was on this road that we found this rustic barn and silo. "Morning at Maggie Valley" is a studio piece that was created using a field study painted onsite. The field study was critiqued at Old Lyme, Connecticut by Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA) artist, Ned Mueller , who praised the small painting's "color harmony and its good use of principles." I created the studio piece using the smaller field study and reference photographs. I used a simple pallet of red, yellow, blue and white (cadmium yellow light, cadmium red light, alizirin crimson, ultramarine blue, and titanium white).In his book, Landscape Painting: Inside and Out, Kevin Macpherson emphasizes what I have also found to be true. "Color harmony is almost automatic when you use a limited palette," says Macpherson. "Once they (the primaries) are mixed, it becomes possible to find harmonies among the mixtures." This 16 x 20 oil on canvas painting sells for $950.00 and can be purchased at this link.

Kevin Macpherson's New Book, "Landscape Painting: Inside and Out," and DVD, "Brush with Life: Kevin Macpherson's Landscapes"

We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We have many exciting happenings to look forward to in 2007.

If our fellow artists have not received or requested a special gift for Christmas, you may wish to consider a new book by a master plein air painter from Taos, NM--Kevin Macpherson. His new book is entitled Landscape Painting: Inside and Out. In this book Kevin shows how to use a limited palette as he does, how to incorporate impressionistic touches of broken color to give a landscape painting depth and vibrancy that enhances its realism, and how to control the fleeting qualities of atmosphere and light by establishing a value plan early and sticking with it. His step-by-step demonstrations are presented in easy-to-understand language. You can learn more about the book and order it from Kevin's web site. My wife and I met Kevin and Wanda Macpherson in 2003 at the Plein Air Painters of America Workshop in Old Lyme, CT, and later in Tuscaloosa, AL, at another painting workshop. I am pleased to have been accepted as a participant in Kevin's 2007 "En Plein Air Masters Chateau des Arts Mentor Series" to be conducted at Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies. Kevin is an enthusiastic, entertaining, and inspiring teacher, and Marie and I look forward to another exciting painting adventure with the Macphersons.

Another excellent gift idea for artists is the new instructional video entitled "Brush With Life: Kevin Macpherson's Landscapes," which is available from Brush with Life. This new DVD will be appreciated by artists and art collectors alike. In the video Kevin lets you know what he is thinking as he paints. He shows the scene that he is painting, broken down into value puzzle pieces, and he takes you through the process for two paintings from start to finish. He shares his effective method of capturing the magic of the moment with spots of beautifully related color in an impressionistic painterly style. The setting of the video moves from a location in France to his home studio in Taos, NM and the surrounding area. An additional segment called "Anyone Can Paint," which proved interesting to us, shows how his wife Wanda, who has a business background, has now taken up painting and doing quite well.

For those artists who need a trouble-free method of having a web site and maintaining it, you may wish to check out Clint Watson's ingenious plan at http://www.fineartstudioonline.com This has proven to be an excellent solution to maintaining our web site at www.fineartstudioonline.com/tommythompson

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Tommy Thompson