Pastoral Landscape w/ mill by Claude Lorraine

[Ben]

Hello. I’m attempting to replicate this pastoral painting by Claude Lorraine in oil.  I am doing it in stages, so I’ll try not to make many mistakes.  I’ll do my best.  

I’m afraid I started it before I started to take pictures; I have already worked out the background sky, but actually that’s the easier part because it’s looser and more forgiving.  I’ll do my best on the middle ground, but it’s out of my comfort zone.  The foreground will probably be last. 

I hope you will enjoy seeing how I personally progress through a painting, though I’m sure there are many more experienced painters who would approach things differently. 

[Ben]

This is the current step. I will try to post as I go but there could be some days between posting. 

[WeekendMiniaturist]

Ben, its good to see you back at the forum.  I like the texture in the painting, and am looking forward to seeing your updates!  I can feel the heat from the sun.

 

 

[Ben]

Thanks WM.  It’ll be somewhat slow going because of my work schedule but I’ll see how things go. 

[Ben]

I’m posting another installment to this painting.  

[ElgaKoster]

Your painting is lookng good Ben.

[Ben]

Thank you Elga.  I’ll post another picture now, but I’ll probably not have time to work on it more until this weekend. 

[Ben]

I’m posting a new one.  I have put the water wheel in and did some other small detail; also worked on the foreground with a trail and the rolling hills and distant hills. 

[WeekendMiniaturist]

I'm learning more about paintings!  I'm going to go search for the original.  I love the blue green on the hill, too, and the lower branches of the tree on my visual right.  What size is the painting?    It is really big on a 27" diagonal computer monitor.  It measures 7" w x 4.25" h on my monitor.

Did you go to Art School?  

 

[Ben]

Well, I just measured it.  It measures   2  3/8” x  3  7/8”.  The original is called “Pastoral Landscape with a Mill” and it measures 23 1/4” x  32 5/8”.  That would make mine not a 1/12 scale, but a 1/9.5 scale.  

I only post at the forum on my phone, so I bet the image is pretty grainy on a computer monitor, but I guess I’ll have to look sometime.  

Thanks for the comments.  Yes, I went to the Kansas City Art Institute and graduated in 1997 with a Bachelors in Fine Art (Illustration).  I wasn’t a painter back then but did a lot of pen and ink, watercolor.  The oil painting I taught myself (later).

 My wife and I moved to Kansas City from Nebraska to go to school here, and we liked the city so much we stayed!  Even though we’ve been here 26 years, we still feel like Nebraska people.  We try to tell our son he is too, but he doesn’t think so because he was born here.  

Last night I made some single bristle paint brushes so I can get very fine detail now, which you will see soon enough.  I’m learning as I go, and one of the things is what size to make a painting in order to get a reasonable amount of detail, because there is a limit to how small I can get with tools that I have available.  Otherwise, you just end up with an impressionist version of a classic painting (dabs of color).  

I also don’t want to just make paintings that are so small that it’s more like an attempt to get into the Guinness book of world records! 

When I met Bill Robertson, he gave me some good advice about methods which I’ve utilized since.  

I like posting on this forum because it motivates me to make the paintings.  It’s more fun to show people than to just them here in the house.  I have a regular job of course so I only do them in my spare time.  

Thanks again.  I’m going to keep posting.  -Ben

[Ben]

I’ve included two more pictures.  But I’m not sure I can post both due to their size.  I will post the second picture at a later time.  At the bottom of the picture are the beginnings of a goat herd.  Each figure is made with a brush of a single bristle.  I’ll be using this brush more and more as I provide more detail.  For instance, I have used it to paint the water wheel of the mill.  

[Ben]

Here is the second picture ( a close up)

[WeekendMiniaturist]

If I get back to LA County Museum of Art, I will definitely check to see if the painting is available to see.  We were just in Los Angeles last October... Of all the items we miniaturize in the community, I think paintings are on the top of my, "This is Art!" list.    I see the goats and I think I see a person?  on the left.

Miniaturizing full scale items to 1/12th scale requires a lot of skill, some degree of patience is required to miniaturize for our skill, but anything where you decide on color and another example the proper shading in petitpoint, requires a different set of skill.  

[Ben]

Thank you WM for the compliment.  I get pleasure doing them and it’s fun to have other people enjoy them.  It’s the reason I post them.  

Of course it’s also fun to look at other people making furniture and rooms, and other things and to wonder “how in the world did they make that thing so small?”  Because, I can’t do that stuff.  I can’t even make a proper birdhouse without buying a kit. 

Take care,  Ben

[Ben]

I painted some leaves, highlighted the mill a little.  I put in some more goats. All together not a lot done, but enough to take a picture of.  

[Ben]

I’m posting an overall picture with the painting taped to a clipboard.  I tape the edges of the painting to give clean edges, but I’ll end with cutting nearly to the edge anyway.  

I have often used the clip board.  I used to clip larger paintings but it is better to tape the painting lower, because the clip can cast a shadow on the painting.  The board allows a lot of free movement; twisting and turning to accommodate small shapes.  

There are some newly painted areas but not really enough to point out.  It’s down to working on details of trees, landscape, sky.  I also have the two main figures and some more goats to put in.  

[Ben]

I put the shepherdess in the picture now. 

[WeekendMiniaturist]

The shepherdess does add to the painting, and I'm enjoying the updates... but no worries.... I have no intention of breaking out any canvas or paints!

 

 

[Ben]

Well, you might enjoy it!   - Ben

[WeekendMiniaturist]

Some Art should not be published and I understand and have fortunately experienced my own limitations--- do they make paint by numbers in miniature kits?  That would be a 'hoot' and I would probably buy one just to say I have a miniature.  I don't think anyone has ever sold paint by number paintings... oh the things that I can come up with for cool products to sell by miniaturists reading the FMF.

I have an advance degree in... doing- everything- wrong, but can still create.

[Ben]

I actually toyed with the idea of making a velvet Elvis miniature painting (maybe I could make him a bullfighter while I’m at it).  I haven’t seen paint by number paintings for a LONG time, but that’s funny. 

[Ben]

I worked on some more tonight, most notably the shepherd and some other things.  But still more to go. 

[Ben]

Well, I wanted to try to post a better overall quality picture with a penny as a reference.  The penny does cast a shadow but this is my solution at this point.  It could be that if I continue to post “painting in process” then I’ll come up with something better.  I just appreciate being able to share the process because it’s not much fun to just do it by yourself without anybody seeing it.  It’s fun for me to post.  

[Ben]

[Ben]