Kathie Odom “Bold Brushwork” **FREE OIL LESSON VIEWING**

the following presentation is a gift from the team at streamline publishing publishers of fine art connoisseur plein air magazine and weekly newsletters fine art today realism today plein air today an American watercolor and events the plein air Convention and the figurative art convention we offer over 400 different art instruction tutorials in ultra high quality video by the world's leading artists if you like what you see help us support our artists and our team with your purchase each video aired has a special discount code for today only in the comment section with a link to the video offer and to see everything we do or if you want to receive notice of new releases new products and new events for artists simply click the other link which says see everything we do thank you hi i'm eric rhodes publisher of plein air and fine art connoisseur magazines today's video bold brushwork with Kathy Odom [Music] hi everybody I'm Kathy Odom and I'm so glad that you've joined me in this instructional video just to give you a little bit of Who I am I was raised in West Tennessee and Jackson went to the University of Tennessee where I was an art major took everything but painting I started my painting career 10 years ago I'm a late bloomer when it comes to this but I have worked really hard at it I love it and I can't wait to share with you how I've painted this painting now that you know me a little bit and I've introduced myself now I'm going to dive into what's really important to me as I am in the middle of a painting and starting a painting I have all my materials where I know where they are and this keeps my mind and my emotions into the painting that I am and the subject that I'm about to paint so this is more than ample here normally I am a plein air painter and spend a lot of time outside I have a little camping table that I use and but here we've got this gorgeous big table and so everything fits and we're ready I'm ready to show you what's going on the poche box is it's the first thing I set up I get it set up to where I can see my scene and know that I am in a good place to capture that I don't have to worry about looking around things or it's it's in a good place more importantly I get it set up to where I feel good physically my posture is good and can feel good about where I'm standing how I'm holding the brush and that's real important to me also my palette knife is in place this box is a ella prima poche box and it has magnets it works on magnets and it's awesome and so anything metal I can have in a place and it stays there and that is really good for me now not the fact that it will stay there the whole time is probably not the truth but because we all get wrapped up in what we're doing but I start with it where I can find it my brushes that I normally started my wash with are actually standing up over here in the panel and are in place for me to get started the paint's I've loaded my box before I get started with ample amount of paint I don't really want to be searching for the tubes or the color in the middle of my painting so they are pretty much organized in this plastic container in a situation in the studio like I am today I even have them in order at home in my studio I have drawers of paint and they are in order so I can find them in a hurry but my goal is to fill up my box with ample amount of paints I'm sure that we have all heard that in all the workshops that we take it is very important to me I don't worry about the cost I don't worry about whether I put up too much it's it's it's going to help me create a painting and that's worth a lot to me so the palette is full I have my paper towels my aviva paper towels on either side on these wings because that helps me control the viscosity the paint on the brush if I need to wipe the brush or get it a little dryer that's there in place this brass container here is a brush holder that connects to my box and I put my dirty filled brushes that are that are dirty as I'm painting into that box just to keep my space a little cleaner and neater then also I have my mineral spirits can here and it's connected by this little ring that connects to my box and the ring is called a wine glass holder I have never used it as a wine glass holder but it fits perfectly on the brush cleaner and so it's attached to my box and stays pretty stable so I'm very comfortable with that I hope you can find those I don't even remember where I had purchased one but it's been a great tool for me my also my scraper is here on the box and it is there to help me clean my glass as I'm painting when I need a clean spot I like freshness in my paintings and so there are times that I need that dirty mud pile to mix in but there are times that I need clean and so I will use the scraper and get a spot clean for me so that stays right there where I can grab it also my cane is here and that helps in keeping my hand steady when I'm doing detailed work and it hangs right there I think this is a stolen idea from Richard Smith who I have studied and enjoyed and I the fact that it will hook on my canvas and steady my hand I think is brilliant so wonderful tool in painting and when I'm traveling I have a back scratcher when I'm flying and can't take the the came along the back scratcher works just as well and is a fun tool to have it fits in everything also here on the table the setup the first thing I'd show you is my cards which are reference cards they're on index cards and I will be talking more about these later they help me keep on track it's words or small phrases that keep me in to what I'm doing are great reminders of of where I need to go with my painting what's next so we'll talk about that later but they're here they're part of my materials they're in my box also my brushes which I have a sufficient amount here are here and they are pretty much organized with the softer brushes together and the bristle brushes also I have pulled out blender brushes and my favorite brushes that I think make some of my work unique is the 279 series by rosemary and I draw with them with the paint and I also lay paint on it keeps me from getting muddy on my canvas also very valuable to me is this lotion invisible care it what it does is it for me it takes the place of rubber gloves we all have to think about safety as we're doing this thing that we love to do this is my way because I really paint with my fingers more than I thought I would so the lotion is just a way for me to put some on it it prevents the paint from soaking in a lot your hands get cleaner a lot faster I highly recommend it now as far as other tools here on the table believe it or not I'll use a square every now and then and this one has really been used but it is there because oceans don't go uphill they don't go downhill they're as straight as they can be and there's other things that I paint as far as structures buildings and they're built plumb yes a barn can be leaning and it can be going in a totally different direction than it should be because of the age but this is a tool that can be really handy to have it also can be a crutch so when I talk about it I also say when you're using it to get that line that needs to be pretty straight on your canvas take your brush and paint it painterly don't just do a strong hard line with it be painterly as you use it also some of my canvases are a little bit large for the my box but I have found that I can put a canvas that fits on the box and then put the larger canvas on top of that and use this clamp to connect that larger canvas so I always have this with me because as I'm out in the field the subject matter tells me what size canvas I'm going to use so I don't want to be limited that clamp makes a difference also gambling is great to give out some of their products so that we can all use them and this this little bottle going out with me when I'm playing air painting you never know when that paint brush cleaner is going to tip over or the winds gonna get it and there you are stuck with no mineral spirits so I always make sure I have one of these little containers with me in my bag and if I use it I go home and refill it just to make sure I've got some with me I'm here you'll see makeup applicators yes they're not q-tips they're Mak makeup applicators one end is flat and larger one end is pointed and it's really got pretty a hard surface on it and I use this as a drawing tool it will lift off paint and give me some reflective things going on in trees and you will see me use this as we paint the painting Hilltopper that we're doing today I also have these baby wipes with me and they're really great because I'm a messy person and need them last but not least my sketchbooks are here and I am one that wants to get a sketch done if I have found my subject and I want to I'm really interested in it if I sketch it and get it on paper I know the lay of the land I may not be painting land but I know the flowers and I know where they are or I know exactly where the objects are and I've learned the subject before I even start painting that's huge to me and I think it could be great for you too my setup is huge and being courageous as I paint knowing where things are I don't have to be distracted I can also I can just be ready to paint and I'm already excited the subjects out there waiting for me and you and if we know where things are we can do a better job of it okay let me tell you about one of my favorite tools and that's these cards that I have just written down words and phrases on that helped me get into what I'm about to do they kind of help me focus and they give me great recall really on the stages and the different things that I do while I'm painting okay at the top of the card I've written sketch which is huge to me to get that subject down on paper and to draw it so I know basically the lay of the land even if it's not land I know where things are second is composition I'm looking for where to place the focal point on my painting in my canvas next let's get some paint on the palette and I'm going to put my wash on my canvas there is nothing scarier than a white triangle or square in front of you let's get a wash on and I want to do that first not that any of these things are in the right order they're just reminders so the next thing I have written down is what do I see and am I really looking at the subject and seeing that that tree the limbs don't always go straight up in the air some of them are broken and go down to the ground and are really looking at when I'm about to paint hugely we need to think about shapes here the large shapes are they interest and it's just something that I need to have in my mind as I'm about to paint after the wash I draw and I draw with paint on the subject matter and I have the word draw on the car just to also let me know that I need all of the darks in before I start adding whites also on the card I've written no White's yet this is so important to not be adding any of the white paint before I've gotten my darks in that's how we come up with all the cloudiness in our paintings so that one's pretty huge okay the next two things I have on the card our values and squinting if you want to see the value of what's out in front of you the dark and the light squint take your eye sight out of blur your eye sight squint and those values will become so clear to you and it'll be a great that's just a great tool already I'm thinking about color mixtures as I'm looking at the scene I'm just getting ready to paint but I'm looking for the right colors or thinking about the mixtures that will make that color as I look at the scene and the subject matter I don't want mud but yet I'm also thinking can I add or mix a color with the mud that will be a more beautiful pleasing color so that's next on the card okay the next word it's not a word it's a phrase share the love and this this is probably something that just came to me one day is as I'm adding a color to the painting and it's a great color I look at the scene and see is there another place that that color would be good so I share the love the color is the love one thing that I'll have on my mind is I'm painting is the temperature of colors are they cool or are they warm it's just a great thing to read this before I start painting and remember all of these different elements on the back of this card the first word is texture and I'm always looking for texture in my paints and different ways of doing it but texture is a big part of my paintings next on my card I have the word scrape scraping is one of the greatest tools I've learned in painting how the palette knife or a credit card or a tool that can actually scrape the surface can make something go from really hokey looking to really natural and nice so that's one of my favorite terms and things to remember to do pops of color is another thing that I've written down here another phrase it is something that I'm looking for actually for the end of the painting that'll bring interest but all along and even at the very beginning of a painting I'm looking where can those pops of color be that'll draw the eye into the focal point huge on this card and I even wrote it in caps is the word resist I think sometimes we find a favorite color or we are really into one of the objects in the painting and we spend way too much time there or we use too much of that beautiful color where we need to resist and remember that it needs to be special sometimes or we need quiet spaces in our painting one strange word that's on my card or it could be strange to you or different is the word peel and I had a light bulb moment in a workshop where the description was used if you could peel all the darks off your canvas they would connect to all the sides there would be a beautiful connection with your darks this made a huge difference in my paintings so I want to remember the word peel the phrase on the card do not chase the light is there mainly for when I'm playing there painting and I hope all of you are getting outside to paint it's been one of the greatest tools in my painting career is to be outside but is do not chase the light this don't like don't start painting a subject where the light is in certain places or the shadows are certain places and then try to chase them later when it's an hour later and they're different make reference to where the shadows are quickly when you're drawing and getting started in your painting when I have started a painting and the shadows are in a certain place I make reference to those I paint them in with my drawing brush I get them to where they are because they're going to change as as the day and the light changes so that I need that reference and I will oftentimes go ahead and get those shadows painted in quickly the word atmosphere is here on my card and atmosphere is something I'm looking for when did the values get lighter in in distant places where are them things up close to me darker and clearer I'm looking for atmosphere so that I can tell that story in my painting another phrase I have here on the card is is the sky speaking meaning that's a way to tell my is the sky so beautiful that I don't want to miss what's happening so I'll paint the sky first because it is going to change it's going to be different and real important on the card which I've written last is focal point and maybe that's a great place for it to be on the card because I'm about to start drawing or sketching and then painting and just to reassure myself of where the focal point of the painting is going to be what is it and usually I start to draw at that point and then it moves out from there to supporting characters in the painting things that I want to be a little bit more loose and painterly after the focal point has been chosen so give these index cards a try they have been so helpful for me you'll get to the point where you can't even read them they'll have so much paint on them but take them with you take your take or pin them up on your wall in your studio it's great reference now let's get to where how I choose my subject matter and I usually say what stops me in my tracks as far as subject matter what speaks to me what is telling a story that I want to portray on canvas okay y'all it's the fun part now it's the part of what are we going to paint and for me it's something that stops me in my tracks it's something that appeals to me so much that I have to paint it and there's usually story involved it touches something in me from either past or it's just it may be just beautiful and I really really want to paint it but I'm finding myself more and more looking for a story to tell and we're going to show a few images first the photograph of that I took when I spotted the subject and then I'm going to show you what the painting looks like afterwards one of my favorite quotes is James gurney and this came from to me through David Boyd and I'll use it forever but it's well wonder what that looks like painted because sometimes the subject matter may not have the cake or the pop that you want it to or just the beauty that you want it to but after you paint it it could because you're the artist and you get to express what you want to see and what others what you want others to see so let's look at the first image this image is from cabbage town in Atlanta Georgia and I was on a plane air event and cabbage town is where a lot of the Germans lived when they came to Atlanta years ago and they would say the smell of cabbage was always in the air but the fun part about it is that they some young people have gone in some folks that love the architecture and they have started turning these homes and to really fun places to live and that caught my eye and just the whole story of what cabbage cabbage town is but look at this place I mean what great subject matter and fun and it was just so enjoyable to stand in front of this three to four hours and paint it so we'll go to what I ended up with and here it is you want to talk texture you want to talk pops of color I love architecture just the story of the satellite dish with all of Christmas and this was in the springtime but there was a lot here that spoke to me and really captured the place where I was this next image is a vine that grows that's a trumpet vine and it will stop me in my tracks every time my husband's granddaddy took me for a walk one day when he was first meeting me and he said I've got something pretty I want to show you and he walked me down the street and he called this vine horse rope and it will stop me every time and when it's a great place to paint it I'll do that but this was an event in Leber's fork which is a part of the Nashville area south of Nashville in Tennessee and here was this gorgeous vine so I was able to paint there on the spot or a plain air and did a piece that you could say is a study and that image is next this was my study I found a while I found a lot of ways to be an artist with this it let me take parts of what I was seeing and bring them all into the canvas but try to really I really try to keep the composition in mind where would it be interesting to have the flowers and then the colors were great to play with the next image is of a large painting I did from the smaller one and there was a lot more room to do more painting of course and also how like more the trellis or fits that the vines were growing on but I had such a great time painting those leaves that bugs had had a party on and with the holes and this painting now resides in Memphis Tennessee and a collectors home this image is was part of the Olmstead plan air event I painted this north of Atlanta they give us a few days to go and paint anywhere in the state which is awesome for an artist because we can explore places that probably speak to us more than a big city and that's definitely true with me and this was a actually a museum depicting just a lot of the older ways of doing things and what I saw was the water spigot for one there close to the middle of the photo also a whale where at one point they got their water from and then up on the porch which is a little harder to see is an old old one of the first clothes washers electric clothes washers well all of that spelled out to me the story of water the name of the painting is chores which I guess I related to for sure because of water being such a main part of a woman's life at the time that this was viable and when this woman may have lived and where she would have lived and what she needed to do her chores so this was a really fun image to look at the painting is there and to me speaks the story of just getting the water to your home at that time and how important that was and it was just a great fun for me to be able to capture it in a painting this image is a house and Door County Wisconsin and we were driving by on the country road and hollyhocks are a favorite of mine also there was a woman sitting out drinking a cup of coffee early morning it just all of a sudden came alive to me it the house looks like it's kind of sitting up on a hill a little bit from where the road was and gave it a great composition for me in a challenge also with two porches where is my focal point going to be a lot of good things to put into a painting here a secondary building and then there were red flowers in the window box that's always an eye-catcher for me just lots of things about this painting I would love to see an old antenna hanging off of the house and even when it's crooked that appeals to me and so this one had a lot going on and the exciting part is I'm going to get to paint that for you in this video so will will do that I'm going to show you the image of the plenary piece that I did and here it is it became my own and as you can tell the connections between the house and the little secondary building with the with the powerlines and the clothesline and the the pops of color on the flowers kind of help your eye to travel through this was a no-brainer this one stopped me in my tracks immediately one of the most exciting and the fun part and fun parts of what I do is the sketch and I would encourage all of us to do sketches before we paint I can't give it enough value with words what it does for me is it helps me get a lay of the land it lets me know where things are it lets me correct things if the sketch if it showed the sketch shows me that it's just not quite right then I know what to do when I'm about to paint so I know where to make the changes so as far as sketching and drawing so important sit in front of your televisions at night with a sketchbook in your lap let's sketch let's let's learn how to draw I don't really know how anybody paints without knowing how to draw so as far as this sketch it's not really a value study although there are some values there I just love to draw so I'm gonna spend time doing it anyway but I know that it makes me a better painter so let's get the sketch books out let's do it find out where that antenna is on the sketch fund or in the scene find out where that good-looking evergreen tree is going to land connect the building to the secondary building in your sketch have fun with it it's not a perfect in fact it's done really fast because I really do want to get to the painting but I see the importance of this step okay it's time to start painting and you'll notice that the set is a little bit different we had all of my materials out in front of me when I was talking about just having everything in its right place but now the materials and everything I need are on my right-hand side which is exactly where I need them and we'll start filling the pallet I'll use solvent free gel as my medium and I will place it in two different places one up by my whites and then the other is down in the corner and I like it fresh and clean so I have two piles of that then I will put the equal amount of titanium white next to it and then also up in the ditch of my palette which I'll explain I love to work on glass and in the middle of trying to get the glass cut from my palette there was a reason why they couldn't cut it the full size there's a piece of wood that was in the way and as I thought about it the glass being smaller gave me this perfect area for the paints so they don't run everywhere if you work on glass you'll close your box up and paints could end up anywhere but in with this setup it's great and it's it actually is something that just thrills me to have a setup that I don't have to worry about also here is the CAD lemon and notice how much paint I'm putting on palate it that's CAD yellow pale it I know that I'm not going to run out in the middle of my painting if I put ample amount of pain out and I would say this is something I run into a whole lot with students is them not putting enough pain out worried of the expense or worried of you know just having leftover paint the value of having enough paint out where I don't have to think about reloading the palette is so valuable and you're worth every bit of it and the painting is - Here I am putting in some of my reds ped red light and this order I keep I have kept actually for ten years I love color I love paint and I actually talked to myself into not searching the the row of paints in a art store because I really wanted to get to know my palette and my mentor use this palette I will admit I've added a few extra colors but it has served me really well and I know what I'm mixing I know what to go to in my mixing I would HIGHLY highly recommend getting a pilot and sticking with it for a while I know that I have stuck with mine for a very long time I think it was in college I couldn't make up my mind what art form I really wanted to be in and so when I ten years ago started oil painting knowing myself said I am going to keep things simple I do have an extensive palate I know that I've got lots of colors here but ended I'm keeping these and I know them I felt like I wouldn't be as scattered getting to know my palate I'm starting to put on my blues I forgot my transparent red oxide which is really a vital color for me most of my drawing uses that cobalt blue a color that I know will cool things down ultramarine blue I use as I mix with transparent red oxide from my drawing color and here's a little bit of indigo blue that I added to my palette later when I want things to go really dark in the indigo blue will do it I have not added black to my palette and I think because I like the warmness I can get from darks if it's not using the black it's just something that I have refrained from and it works for me these last few colors 2 of them I really just don't need that much of they are more expensive the cobalt violet and but it's just such a great paint for the pop at the end of the painting so it a little daughter that lives here and and in this painting it will definitely be used violet gray by hold on it's the only whole bottom color that I use but it is a great paint color to have on my palette for shadows and also just to mix in with my sky at times when the sky's a little bit more Moody and then radiant turquoise by gamblin just a great happy wonderful sky color also can be used in different pops in other places on the painting so that is the palette and we're ready to get to the wash the wash may be one of my favorite parts of painting it's so free and I don't have to worry about anything if anything it's just getting rid of this white that is so scary so let's get rid of that but before I start the one thing I didn't do when showing you my palette is I didn't mix the titanium white and the solvent free gel together I'll mix that in a puddle and the reason I do that is it will flow better also it will add the medium to most all of the paint mixing that will occur later when I start to add color to the painting which also gives it a vibrancy that it times as your paintings are drying you'll notice them to get very cloudy or the what's happening is some oxidation is going on and this solvent free gel will keep things bright and shiny and I think helps encourage me along the way as I paint I know it has great benefits okay let's start with the wash I will dip my larger brush and this brush I use is not a natural bristle it is a manufactured bristle and I don't it just moves the paint like I want it to during the wash I start with Viridian green and then I mix in a little bit of yellow ochre and then also just a touch the corner of my brush with my transparent red oxide and you'll notice I haven't really mixed this completely I want to see all the colors present and that to me gives a little bit more of interest also just need a little bit more Viridian this makes my posh a box talked to me a little bit because it's something that you do with a lot of energy a lot of life because it's so free to miss that white square up that I've got in front of me and also I'm going to add just a little bit because of the scene I'm looking at it had a little bit of a lavender cast in the sky and around the house so I'm going to use a little bit of alizarin and cobalt blue and really water it down with my mineral spirits and just add a little bit of that and that probably the upper part of the canvas where I see that color happening in the scene next I'll take my vive paper towels and and just give it a swish I'm just softening what I did kind of spreading spreading it out the wash has so many benefits not just getting rid of the white but also it will create a harmony that goes on in the painting that that you will actually feel and see as the paint goes on it's something that's under everything and cause this just a great under painting look that creates that harmony and to me that that does what I need it to do and we'll start with our drawing I'll use my brushes that I talked about earlier in this segment the 279 s by rosemary masters choice I believe they call it and it's just a great tool for getting the drawing going now I'm also thinking about composition if I'm out in that out doing clean air that job is a lot larger than it is here in a studio situation that it also I'm having to figure out where that composition is where is the focal point what's going on and the house is definitely the focal point the hollyhocks are blooming all around it and that's really what stopped me in my tracks so that is the way I want to start it spread the mayonnaise and I will first start by just getting important angles of the house put down and it may just be a little dot that lets me know where I am or pull on and you'll notice is I'm doing this pressure is happening and then I'm lightening up I enjoy drawing so much it's one of my favorite things and so I want to enjoy this part of the painting and I do so by varying the lines letting them be a little harsher or harder and then lightening up a little bit don't ever be afraid also to just change your drawing when you know you need to which may happen here and I'm not going to completely stay with the building the whole time because other it relates to things that other things in the painting so I will also get this tree in you'll also see that I changed the position of the brush a lot I'll use the tip of the brush and then I'll use the side of the brush and also then the cane really does come in handy when I get to a point that I really need my hand to have a something to rest on it's um it's great to hear from an instructor or somebody that's around it's just paint it can be wiped off it can be changed it's still wet also I will use my brush my image is right beside the camera so I will use my brush to get an angle and if you noticed from the photo to the painting a few of those things aren't exactly right but they're close enough and if they're close enough they tell the story and if they're not exact to what you see it may be more interesting so I allow or give myself freedom to maybe not have the angle exactly right but at least believable so it's an interesting home with two porches that mimicked each other on either side and in the photo you can see that they're almost exactly equal to each other in my painting I will choose to maybe make them a little bit different just to create some variety and the angle where I was sitting helped that you check myself on a few of these wands then often my finger will come into play and I do have on my lotion invisible gloves or invisible care looking for the tip of that little building out front which was so interesting to me sometimes just getting shapes painted in it's an easier way to draw than some of the lines that you see those were rose bushes kind of right beside this building I guess one of the my favorite things to paint is a window or an opening into a building and these brushes will give a feathery feel which almost creates the reflection in the window for you not needing to go in and paint it with white or a reflective color it happens by just the feather enos of the brush and I love it when the windows are open or there's something going on in the scene that lets the lets there be different placements of the mo Lian's or the the wood of the window it just shows that there's life there and there's somebody staying there and they have the window open after looking a little bit harder at what I've drawn so far I've decided I've got a few things I need to get in the right place so I'm gonna really study what is going on here like I said earlier it's just paint my mixture again is transparent red oxide and ohter in blue and sometimes I err on the side of having it a little bit darker or bluer and sometimes a little bit more Brown and it depends on what I'm looking at in the scene which one of those I choose looking through the porch here see some of the landscape use my paper towel here and get some of this dark off in this place right here because that will come back to haunt me if I don't soften it nail and they're going to be times when I really think this is pretty ugly there's always an ugly stage and while I'm painting and that I have to push through and I have to be courageous enough to change or live with until I know that the paint is going to keep happening and it's going to be better those side windows are one of the easiest things in the world to paint if we just let ourselves be okay with one brushstroke that captures it it's it's funny how we will labor over certain things that can be pretty easy to pay I'm pretty passionate about getting into my painting the things that I see even the telephone wires or the telephone pole to me it just kind of talks and shows where we live and what we have done to the land in a way how and what we need in the world that we live in now and that that talks to me and so it's definitely something that I will paint in if it's too distracting I won't but most of the time I do there's that window on the porch that seems to be pretty important to me it's it's an entry in you'll notice that my finger hits the canvas and kind of rides along with the brushstroke it's I don't know I guess it's another way I steady my hand I'm looking for the darks I'm drawing but I'm also looking for the darks and knowing that if I get them in now I'm gonna be really happy with that toward the end of the painting or as I'm laying color on it just gives a great under painting to where some of those bright wonderful marks of color are going to show up a lot better if I have the darks in also I'm going to try to leave the purity of actually the marks I'm making now that will let them it will keep things from getting muddy as I add white to my colors and to the painting I'm trying to get the feel of the land now my supporting actor or actress is this little shed and it's down here on the side and any time I would come upon a scene and I've got more than one structure that is that's something that I I want to paint it just brings interested this structure may not be as important but it really adds to the scene it tells the story of the farm and fortunately enough it had this great little window with a flower box see that opening there in the brush marks awesome it just kind of gives life to that window and the flowers will go in later just kind of giving them a backdrop our underneath color shadow with my drawing you know have encouraged to change some things in the middle of your drawing is a good thing I'm going to take a few minutes here to correct a few things that I see that aren't quite where I want them this is a little too large this portrait so the darks are in and that area so the paint will take care of some of it I just need to get some of these angles right when I drove by this scene I may have talked about it earlier but there was the owner was out on the front porch drinking her morning cup of coffee and that definitely caught my eye and she was sitting right here and I will because it's really from a distance I won't try to capture her but at some point I will put some dots of color there that represent maybe some life going on and so I want the darks in before I get to that point there were steps leading down into the yard this right here I'm not real happy with let's go to the q-tips which I dip in my mineral spirits and then I just actually squeeze a little bit of that out to help me carve out what I'm looking for sometimes I don't use the mineral spirits it all depends on how much pain I want to take off just helps give some clarification it's another way of getting even even another color in on the under painting a little the transparent red oxide stains a little bit and actually works in a great way for me also I'm thinking about everything needs to be grounded not just floating up in the air so some of these darker marks of my drawing helped accomplish that ends up being a little bit too large so I'm going to make that into the background landscape that's back there that hillside really helps that runs throughout the painting behind the house really sets it in here sets it in to wear into the landscape one thing I'm also trying to accomplish and think about is the connection between all of these things in the painting to connect them to each other I talked about it earlier the word I use for it is Peale it's like if I could take one edge of the canvas and peel off all the darks somehow they would be connected and they would go to each side of the painting surface also and they don't have to be real thick and harsh but they could they can be very thin but just something about the connection connection of the dot of the darks really gives me a feel that everything is harmonious with each other this right here plus a clothesline that connected the house to the little shed and if yes that's what I see in the photo and if anything is ever which it may be in this case lined up with each other from your viewpoint to put it over to the side a little bit will make it just much more interesting in your composition actually that one went the clothesline went from porch to post to building and I will go ahead and draw it in even though I'm going to be doing a lot of painting in that area it's just I'm getting the lay of the land when I'm drawing and I'm into my this part of the process and I'm actually thinking about stages of the painting that are going to happen later on right now just the transparent red oxide if I come over here to the side of my palette or to the side of the darker pile and just use it I didn't wash my brush but that color underneath a green will just make it sing and even though this subject matter was in Wisconsin it had a feel of where I'm from in Tennessee and we have a lot of greens in Tennessee really not this time of year in the winter but for spring summer and fall lots of green and so to live there you've got to embrace it and you've got to know how to paint it and that was putting the transparent red oxide underneath was a great thing for me to get a hold of now there were actually lawn more streaks in the grass which I thought gave great interest and I'm going to go ahead and get a feel for those now I'm going to switch to a bristle brush and really get some darks in here if I use this position of the brush and actually work down into the lighter part the the roof of this building and push in I get a wonderful edge there not a real clean straight edge it may look that way but it's got some interest and can make a difference in your brushstrokes hey would you like to win a beautiful painting worth almost $3,000 we've got a beautiful Joma girl plein air study that he's done of the sunset in Maine it's gorgeous if you want to have an opportunity to win it go to painting giveaway dot-com just put in your email that's all you've got to do and you only need to enter once we'll be giving away the prize at the end of May go to painting giveaway calm in this video I will be teaching just how I go about a painting how I stay organized how I do my brush strokes and also just how much I enjoy it one thing that I would hope that everyone would know is it took a lot of people to get me to this place I didn't arrive by watching or going to one workshop it took a lot of people to teach me what I have learned I will say that getting the lay of the land is kind of my way of saying what am i painting how to sketch it to know where I'm going with the painting to make drawing a real emphasis in my work it has just been a blast and I believe it can be that way for you to keep your mind open and just paint your heart out I would say I am inspired by nature by man-made things an old building an old structure a clothesline that tells the story of things that I knew as a kid oh my goodness will stop me in my tracks and that's what I want to paint I think the most exciting part of this video is just how I've used different materials to get where I want to get in my painting my painting style I have called nostalgic Impressionism I think because my subject matter is pretty much nostalgic and then to see how people can be so painterly painters can do it impressionistic Lee and I wanted a piece of that I wanted to be able to do that and that definitely has influenced my style I hope that people's skills may be enhanced by the fact that a light bulb moment went off in them that they gained something that they had not heard before and that it really makes them a better painter one idea is all I would hope for [Music] you well that was bold brushwork with Kathy Odom and you can learn more about it at Lille art video.com what do you say we get to know Kathy now in an interview hi welcome to interviews with the artists I'm Eric Rhoads publisher of plein air magazine today we have Kathy Odom a fabulous artist you're going to love getting to know welcome Kathy it's so good to be here well tell everybody where you live where you're from I am from Tennessee I couldn't tell from your ex no grew up in West Tennessee in Jackson went to the University of Tennessee and met my fella and stayed in East Tennessee actually we have just bought a new home about 10 miles outside of the Great Smoky Mountains so I've moved to my office your office now is the Great Smoky it really will be so you're you're really primarily a plein air painter primarily yes love the studio trying to grow in that but I feel like my best work is plenty er you know your work has such incredible energy how do you get that sense of energy into your paintings I think it's pouring out because I had it bound up for so long I I just started this thing I feel like I'm a baby at it I was an art kid never really picked up the paintbrush did everything else and ten years ago went to my first workshop and I have not stopped painting since well you know I I think that first off I want to talk about the the idea of starting late I don't know that there is ever a late now but to accomplish what you have accomplished in 10 years is remarkable yeah congratulations thank you so what what prompted you to take painting up a birthday present my husband gave me a workshop probably 10 years earlier I had mentioned one day I'm going to be an oil painter really and he picked up on that and signed me up for a workshop for a pretty big birthday it was my 50th birthday and the first question I had was I don't have to go by myself do I and he said no I'm going and I'm gonna do outdoor cooking so we had a ball at John C Campbell Folk School and it was the start and it the best gift I've ever been given well you know I have a similar story as a my whole art career started because my wife bought me an art lesson okay so what what has has that process been like for you because you you developed first off you started what you say is late but you know it's a pretty normal time to start because people have a lot of people have their lives their kids etc and then you know they jump into it once they have some of that out of the way it was that the case with you yes absolutely I don't regret the years before painting one bit they led me to this place at the time my children had all moved out of the nest I had unfortunately lost both parents and at the same time frame and I felt a little lost in fact I was saying to myself I'm next I mean there's not much more for me to do and then painting happened well you got to watch your mindset with that kind or mele would scold you but since were on camera I won't do that I've gotten past that and I also feel so much younger I painting has given me some youth and life that I wouldn't take anything for so it's really given you excuse the expression a new lease on life it's really giving you something to look forward to you have accomplished a lot in 10 years time it it's not too difficult for anybody who starts painting especially plein air painting to get to a point where they can be fairly happy and proficient with their work but to get to the level where your you go from being proficient to being you know you're teaching workshops and you're getting national recognition and you're winning awards you know that's that's pretty unusual in that short period of time so for the person who might be watching this what would you recommend the path be for them number one to be have courage to put yourself out there I would say take workshops buy videos learn as much as you can then be willing to put your work out there for people to see that's how it started somebody liked a painting well enough to give it an award right at the beginning of my journey and that push propelled me into well I may be able to do this so what do you say to people who we run into people all the time who who are a little bit afraid to come to something like the plenary convention because they don't want to put themselves out there there might there they're self-conscious about their work and you know and being in front of other people how do you deal with those kinds of issues in your head oh just come I've got to say be there learn give yourself the opportunity to meet people that do this professionally even if it's just to sit and observe what goes in will help the paintings that come out later you know there's a sense of osmosis that takes place if you sit first off you're at a workshop any workshop anybody who's worth their salt to watch just sitting and watching them paint for five days is going to impact your work even if you're not working on it right then if if you're working on it right then then it kind of cements it in your head yeah but if you're you're in an environment like say the plein air convention or the face conference and you're watching demos all day every day from 20 30 40 different people over the course of a week what happens to your painting after that you know like in the year in-between huh how does that change it well tremendously but I have learned just by coming to the conventions and doing workshops that if I gain one lightbulb moment one thing that will make my paintings that much better I am so happy about that one thing and you can be overwhelmed but you if you come away with just something that increases the look and makes your paintings look that much better it is worth every bit and you you will gain more than just one thing I think that's really great advice I you know I could remember when you said that I could remember that one thing and I was sitting in C W Monday's session and he told me one thing told all of us one thing and that has become a principle in every painting I've done ever since that yeah and and it impacted the way my compositions look so for the people who are watching this and want to learn painting from you what's the one thing that you want to communicate to the people watching this I would say oh there's so many that would start with one yeah I would say letting the paint be fresh giving it a chance the color laying it on softly and not digging into the darks below there's I've been told that my paintings have a freshness about them and it can happen well there's space to do it the colors glow in your paintings so can you translate what you just said and bring it bring it down a notch so that we can all understand how to get there it's a commercial but rosemary brushes 279 master's choice are a secret of mine that it's no longer a secret that I just love the way they put paint on a canvas but there has to be something more to your process I mean it's it's a tool but as you know I can buy the same clubs that Tiger Woods has and not hit the shot like he does and so you've got a great tool but what do you do with that tool that helps you preserve the color because I could use that same tool and still get mud keeping my palette clean I work on glass I will scrape it regularly and keep certain colors that I really want to keep on the palette but making clean spots to mix them that I want to really pop I would have to say that drawing actually painting my drawing onto the canvas and protecting it and doing it in a way that I can lay paint on top of that is just something that has happened is evolved in my painting and I think really makes it be Kathy so you you don't strike me as a blender you strike me as a lay it down leave it alone ala prima just that loving a brushstroke and that happened pretty early on in my painting just maybe it was the excitement of getting to paint but I I do love a brushstroke yes now to get the kind of texture that you get are you using a medium are you going straight out of the out of the tube I don't know that the medium has an effect on the texture but 279 brush does and a light touch letting it be feathery not strong and hard on the canvas so some people I was at a workshop at David LaFell recently and he told me to hold the brush at the very end some people hold it right up at the front like a pencil what do you do i I will hold it every way you can I will pull push go sideways twirl let that brush dance that makes a difference yeah okay so let's talk about a couple other core principles because you're you're doing workshops people come into your workshops everybody's got a lot of information from a lot of different people one of the things that you want them to leave there with brush work is obviously one of them what else I want them to leave knowing their palette I want them to stick with some paints for a while hello I have stuck with mine for 10 years really so I have added a few along the way when I just had to from a workshop but I have got the same palette from 10 years ago and and you recommend a certain way to lay it out yes and I don't know that it matters how cool or warm or for me that is not the case all of my yellows are together it's knowing where they are and putting them in the same place for 10 years I know where they are right so it's kind of like playing a piano with your eyes closed the idea that you just instinctively know you're going to reach over and hit that that particular color yes so actually painting becomes a dance in me it's a reaction I'm not having to to think and I'm not having to fill my palette anymore because I put simple pain out yeah it's all that if you don't embrace the setup and actually the cleanup as much as you do the painting I think that that's going to bring a little chaos so I embrace every stage of all of that so when you when you're going out plein air painting and you're walking around and you're looking for your scene and and the scene strikes you you set up your easel what's the first thing you do I set up my easel I make sure everything's in place and I sketch you do it I sketch every time you sketch out a pad I have a sketchbook in fact I have a particular one I really like it's actually a square and I don't paint a lot of square paintings but it allows me to even create the size of the canvas on my paper and that's part of the process choosing what canvas you're going to use so from from the very beginning the scene is telling me what I need to use and what I need to paint on and so you make a sketch a thumbnail sketch I assumed I was a drawing major an absolutely loved drawing did not take one class one painting class in the University of Tennessee but did take a lot of drawing and I love the process of drawing I don't make a perfect one I don't make a piece of art but that sketch and that drawing is just as important to me and I want to really want it to be lovely because I love that medium so how much time if you're out in the field how much time will you spend on that draw I probably 5 minutes 10 I want to do it fast because I do want to get to painting because I've fallen for that but it it depends it a lot of it depends on how much is out there but I adore that process and I have found it gives me the lay of the land not that I'm painting land every time but out knowing where everything is I know what I'm looking at I've experienced it through the drawing so when painting comes around I know my subject a lot better yeah when there's that temptation for our eyes to wander and pull something else in you know your your your going along and your painting all of a sudden you glance over you see a tree again so I'm going to start putting that tree in the next thing you know you get a jumbled mess yeah so don't chase the light and and keep it as simple as possible keep your shape strong so let's talk about plein air painting there's a movement obviously Jean Stern from the Irvine museum says it's the largest movement in the history of the world of the in the art world in terms of why you do plein air painting versus why not just take photos and and do it in the studio oh my goodness I can't say enough about that the vibration that happens in nature the way life hits the little pops of color you see because you're there you're outside a photograph doesn't do it justice and I'll see little nuances that literally the camera will not pick up but I can put it in a painting because I've experienced it I think it has greatly helped my studio work because I know of those things that happen and I get to play around with it isn't it kind of a hassle though to have to go outdoors to paint No never never and I hear that and can't imagine anybody saying it it's where two of my love's come together being outside being and surrounded by beauty and then to be able to cap and capture part of it and paint now do you go out everyday how often do you go no no I have a life besides painting you I do no you're obviously not dedicated enough yet I I would say I work really hard at it but I have I have five grandchildren and one on the way oh that is gonna be born like in two days so I you know I have a life that I love I've got friends and community of people that I'm a part of but this has taken a lot of great time and I'm so glad that I get to do it so your best advice to somebody who wants to become a plein air painter let's assume they've never painted anything before let's assume they've never done any plein air painting what's the process that you would advise them to go through in order to to kind of properly learn this and to get as proficient as possible as fast as possible do not give up do not stop after the first or second go at it they can be disastrous they can be overwhelming it could be windy go back out there do it multiple times if anything just go with a friend and enjoy the time with a friend but don't quit because it it can be hard but then you kind of learn to choose your days that you go out there and you avoid certain you're a fair-weather painter no I've had my feet in the snow and I have been out there in the wind where I'm gripping the canvas and I'm painting at the same time holding on for dear life because that canvas can become a sail and you know you just it is worth every minute of it and the more you do the more confident you are in painting and putting the paint on canvas you you can give none of that matters as much as it does those first few times the wind the rain the there they've got all kinds of things now to keep you dry I mean and I own three shade buddies the umbrellas the umbrellas that go in the ground and I can position those things and paint in the pouring down rain and there's some great effects to those paintings well I I once studied under a photographer who was protege of Ansel Adams and he said the best photographs come from the hardest work from come from the worst weather and the more you're willing to the further you're willing to hike the earlier willing to get up in the morning the more you're willing to stand in the rain the better you're gonna get and and that the same thing seems to be true for for paintings as well it keeps you working and it makes you be more painterly and you get that paint on sooner because you'd like to be more comfortable but really great things happen when you are pushed a little bit you get it and you're painting with instinct the one thing that's out of your head yeah because it you know you're you're overthinking everything if you have plenty of time that's why plein air is so wonderful because the lights constantly changing and and of course weather conditions but your your being more instinctive rather than noodling things in the studio you can just work on that same passage forever does matter yeah so if you were if you were advising somebody new would you say look learn the basics indoors like learn how to mix colors and learn how to apply paint or would you just say go for it get outdoors and go for it I can't help but say go for it what's but what could be better than being in the Smoky Mountains in Cades Cove with my palette and mixing beautiful color outside looking at it nothing can be nothing could be better than that well you have really gone for it you've become a fabulous painter and the other thing is that you've become successful as a painter in terms of selling your work how did you do that courage bravery and letting a husband that really loves me and cares about what I am doing take charge of that part and I would say I always have veto over anything but to let buddy use his gifts and really he's got the gift of sales he's got the gift of marketing and he is crazy about what I'm doing right now and he has fallen for art and all of that combination of the both of us has definitely played a big part in this so he's kind of like your manager absolutely yes and it's a tough job it's we've had a lot of fun and we sit at night with him with the computer in his lap and me dreaming and about where I want to go next to paint and he's over there buying a plane ticket before I can get the words out of my mouth yeah well I think one of the things I've realized about you and probably is the secret to your success is just go for it you know every thing that you've outlined here you've just jumped in and said I'm going for it I'm going to do it you haven't allowed your thinking to get in the way of your progress right absolutely I always thought that my life would be in the art world and it's always been in a creative world but not so much art and what I would call fine art and the minute the door opened and I was shoved in a lovely way being put into the world I want it I want to be in the game and I want to I want to be the best that I can be at it so which is better the art the the act of painting or the act of watching someone pick up your painting and buy it and get excited about it oh well painting has to come first because if the person buying doesn't see that I love what I do through my painting that isn't going to happen so I want to keep the love of what I do first and then if they buy it I'm just okay where's the next one let's do another one yeah yeah great yeah so any final thoughts or advice for the people watching this who who are interested in either getting started or getting to the next level subscribe to plein air Magazine just dive in read about it look at paintings go to museums get outside go to a park bench paint with your eyes leave the paint's at home just paint with your eyes learn to see I think a lot of us try to paint and we don't know how to sit how how do you learn to see oh by observing by seeing that a tree limb doesn't always go up that some of them are broken and they go down toward the ground I mean they're just things out there that you can see that is right there for you but somehow we're in our head a little too much thinking what it should look like so that what you mean by that is the old lollipop tree shape or the all pine trees look like this yes they don't they don't they don't right yeah yeah well this has been an absolute pleasure it's been it's been fun getting to know you you've been staying at our place at the world-famous artists cabin and we've we've loved having you here and thank you it's it's been really a fabulous experience getting to know you thank you it has been for me all of this crew is awesome this has been interviews with the artists with Kathy Odom I'm Eric ruins thanks for watching [Music] that was Kathy Odom in the video is called bold brushwork you can learn more about it at Lille art video.com thanks for watching today in this video I will be teaching just how I go about a painting how I stay organized how I do my brush strokes and also just how much I enjoy it one thing that I would hope that everyone would know is it took a lot of people to get me to this place I didn't arrive by watching or going to one workshop it took a lot of people to teach me what I have learned I will say that getting the lay of the land is kind of my way of saying what am i painting how to sketch it to know where I'm going with the painting to make drawing a real emphasis in my work it has just been a blast and I believe it can be that way for you to keep your mind open and just paint your heart out I would say I am inspired by nature by man-made things an old building an old structure a clothesline that tells the story of things that I knew as a kid oh my goodness will stop me in my tracks and that's what I want to paint I think the most exciting part of this video is just how I've used different materials to get where I want to get in my painting my painting style I have called nostalgic Impressionism I think because my subject matter is pretty much nostalgic and then to see how people can be so painterly painters can do it impressionistic Lee and I wanted a piece of that I wanted to be able to do that and that definitely has influenced my style I hope that people's skills may be enhanced by the fact that a light bulb moment went off in them that they gained something that they had not heard before and that it really makes them a better painter one idea is all I would hope for [Music] you you

Channel: Art School Live with Eric Rhoads

Views: 22,042

Keywords: Painting lessons, oil painting lesson, masterclass, painting, portrait painting, art instruction, landscape painting, landscapes, impressionism

Id: JGOZAwSPqh8

Length: 112min 15sec (6735 seconds)

Published: Wed May 13 2020