Pastel Journal December 2011 Sample - Artist's Network

A crucial lesson in value helpedBarbara Courtney Jaenicke movebeyond theory to an interpretative,more expressive approach to color.BY DEBORAH SECORawakening36 The Pastel Journal • December 2011

Early Morning Reflections (20x30)December 2011 • www.pasteljournal.com 37

UPON SEEING THE DELICATELYcrafted color in the rolling hills and softlyshadowed trees of a Barbara CourtneyJaenicke landscape, you might identify theartist a “natural talent,” but the artist woulddisagree. “Color wasn’t always intuitive forme,” she says. “I had to really study howit worked, and then I had to move beyondapplying the principles of color theory onlyto local color.” Over the years, Jaenicke hasspent a lot of time examining the work ofother artists she admires, searching for theirsecrets to a more interpretive approach. Notsurprisingly, then, she delights when othersdescribe her work as emotionally striking.“I don’t think I have inborn artistic talent,”Jaenicke says. “It’s a skill that I’ve developedwith a nose-to-the-grindstone vengeance.”Necessary ObsessionJaenicke describes her relationship with artas an obsession. She always knew she’d be anartist, although at first she headed into theworld of advertising as an art director. But inReference photoStretching ColorAfter having awakened to the possibilitiesof interpretive color, Barbara Jaenicke nolonger seeks to copy local color. A comparisonof the reference photo for QuietMorning By the River and the finished piece,which she painted on location, demonstrateshow the artist took liberties in hercolor selections to create a meaningfulexpression of the scene. “Most of the yearhere in Georgia, we have an enormousamount of green to work with when painting the landscape,”Jaenicke says. “ This is something most people love about theSoutheast. I, however, don’t like the color green enough tofeature that much of it in my landscapes. It became motivationfor a more interpretive use of color.”Quiet Morning by the River (12x9)38 The Pastel Journal • December 2011

up with her art journals and books. “It’s likesitting down with friends to see how they’veapproached similar subject matter,” she says.She’s learned that often the paintings thatvisually grab her are the ones that possessparticularly strong contrasting color combinations,“like striking shades of vibrantcolors contrasted against muted grays,” shesays. “My favorite paintings have nice harmonythroughout, a balance of warms andcools, and often use good transitions, placinga particular color between two others, such asalong the edge of a shadow—between it and ahighlighted area.”Jaenicke points to the color sense of artistSusan Ogilvie (see pages 26-27) as havingbeen particularly instructive. “At one time Iwent through a phase when I tried to increasethe color temperature I used in my paintings,”Jaenicke says, “but after awhile I learned thatvibrant colors need to be balanced with moresubdued ones. That was the time when mypaintings seemed to require sunglasses, but anice set of Terry Ludwig grays helped me outwith that. When I learned to save the brightsand use muted colors first, I found the saturatedcolors had more impact. They direct theeye around the painting.”Puzzling It OutAs an art student, Jaenicke hated taking timefor thumbnails; now she finds it an essentialfirst step. “I remember not really understandingthe goal of thumbnails. Why draw itsmall and then just draw it all over again?”she says. “But as an art director, designingads back in the 1980s before computers, weused tracing paper to quickly design andmake adjustments, and I’ve come to like thatapproach for my thumbnails.”Today she prints out her reference photo(at about 4x6 inches) on high-quality whiteprinter paper and then puts tracing paper ontop to redraw the elements. “I can quicklysee the overall impact,” she says, “whetherit helps to make the horizon lower or higher,or helps to change a vertical to horizontal.Quiet Stream at Sunrise (12x14)Reference photo and thumbnailThumbnail SolutionsMaking a thumbnail, says Barbara Jaenicke, “is a bit like solvinga puzzle. My goal is to map out the placement of each major shapeand decide where the focal point will be.” She does this quicklyby laying tracing paper (with the outer “frame” already markedin proportion to the size of the painting) over her referencephoto. “I move the tracing paper over the photo so each elementis placed exactly where I want it,” she says. She marks the centerpoint on each of the four sides of the sketch to avoid placing anoticeable shape or line directly in the center. Then, using the ruleof thirds, she decides where her focal point will be.“Sometimes it’s simply a matter of shifting some of the shapeshere and there to place them nicely in the composition,” Jaenickesays. “But if I’m unsure about the composition, or just wantto explore ideas—such as a vertical versus horizontal format—this process allows me to quickly and easily envision thoseoptions.” Marking where key lines intersect the outer framehelps the artist quickly and accurately size up the thumbnailto her painting surface.December 2011 • www.pasteljournal.com 41

It’s a bit like working a Rubik’s Cube; youshift parts over and over until all the piecesfit together nicely. I find it’s an easy way toquickly see all my options.” (See “ThumbnailSolutions” on page 41.)The thumbnail process also helps the artistto interpret the photo, rather than copy it.“I’ve found that some of my more successfulpaintings were from photos that needed lotsof help during the thumbnail process, forcingme to use more of my own artistic visionto create a piece of artwork instead of a directcopy of the photograph,” says Jaenicke. “NowI actually enjoy making thumbnails.”Barbara Courtney Jaenicke (www.barbarajaenicke.com) earned a B.A. in art and advertisingdesign at The College of New Jersey and workedin advertising and marketing communicationsbefore focusing on fine art. She has studiedwith pastel artists Susan Ogilvie, Albert Handelland Duane Wakeham, among others. Her work,which has appeared in numerous exhibitions,has received several awards including theConnecticut Pastel Society Award in the PastelSociety of America’s 38th Annual Pastels Onlyexhibition and an honorable mention in the12th Pastel 100 competition. She lives in Roswell,Ga., with her husband and son.This crucial first step launches virtuallyevery painting. “Even when working en pleinair, I do a quick thumbnail in a tiny sketchpadjust to see where my main shapes will beplaced within the four borders of the painting,”she notes. “On location there can be somuch pressure. I know things will go betterif I think ahead and plan. I draw out smallrectangular boxes in my little plein air sketchpad ahead of time, using a proportionalwheel to make it easy and be sure they’re inproportion to the size of the board I intendto use. I then set my ViewCatcher so I knowthe proportions will match.”Preparation and ProcessJaenicke currently prefers to work on Gatorboardthat she prepares with Golden’s FinePumice Gel. First she tones the board usingliquid acrylic paints, in order to allow a colorto pop through from beneath, most of thetime choosing a warm color, medium-darkin value. She brushes the pumice gel overthis tone, experimenting with various thicknessesto allow more or less of the brushtexture to remain apparent. “I can put the gelon really thickly or thinly, making it morewatery and smooth,” she says. “I apply itusing random strokes, brushing in differentdirections to give it an oil painting texture.”Occasionally she prefers to paint on a whitegessoed panel coated with the pumice gel.42 The Pastel Journal • December 2011

She’ll roughly lay in pastel colors, over whichshe’ll brush Turpenoid or alcohol to makean underpainting.With the ground prepared, Jaenickebegins lightly with Nupastels, followed primarilyby softer pastels such as Unison, TerryLudwig or Schmincke. “I avoid caking it on,”she says. “I put in very dark values becauseI can layer over them with strong dark colors,but I also add some of my light values. If Igo to the lightest lights too quickly the colorcan get chalky, but I want to view the wholevalue range right away.” She avoids using thelightest of the light values, however, until thevery end, which gives her more informationwhen pushing the brightest highlight areas.“I also try to avoid using too many highlysaturated colors until later in the process,allowing them to pop out among the moremuted values, and to be sure I don’t overusebright colors,” she says.Teaching and PersistenceAt her home studio in Roswell, Ga., Jaenickehosts weekly classes for a few students, aswell as workshops and classes throughoutthe Atlanta area. “I try to help my studentsunderstand what I see,” she says. Sometimesshe uses magazines in the classroom to illustratewhat other artists have done successfully.“Now when I look in my copies of The PastelJournal from years ago,” she says, “I see thingsI missed before. Teaching forces you to analyzethis way. I believe that artists who have toreally work at learning and struggle to figureout what makes a really good painting tendto be effective instructors. I very much enjoyteaching, and I fall into the category of artistswho learned the hard, painstaking way.”Knowing this, Jaenicke is determined toencourage others to persevere. “Learning topaint is a process that takes years, one paintingat a time, not simply learning a particularmagical technique,” she says. “Once I figuredthat out, I relaxed and enjoyed the processmuch more. I no longer look at a failed paintingas a waste of time or materials, but asmuch needed practice time.”With an active 7-year-old boy at home,Jaenicke has to carefully arrange her paintingand teaching time, but her obsession withpainting remains. “The gift I have is the passion,”she says. “I can’t imagine not giving itmy all and taking it as far as possible.”Pastel artist Deborah Secor (www.deborahsecor.com) is a longtimecontributing writer for The Pastel Journal. She is currently on the rosterof art professionals offering individual critiques for Artist’s NetworkCritiques (www.artistsnetwork.com/artists-network-critiques).Aspen Road at Sunset(far left; 9x12)To the Chattahoochee(center; 12x16)Across the Field(above; 16x12)To see more paintings by the artist, visit www.artistsnetwork.com/medium/pastel/barbara-jaenicke-gallery.December 2011 • www.pasteljournal.com 43

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