Spring has Sprung

This post is to inform my viewers that the new website is ready!

Come check it out at christopherjohnsonfineart.com

Below is my latest painting, completed in the middle of April, with the final bits of snow lingering in the shade.

Winter's End 9×12

Thanks for viewing!

Travels and Winter

Here are a few of my most recent plein air (outdoor) paintings.  The first three in the series are from Southern California.  My wife and I, along with our little boy, escaped the bitterly cold midwest winter for a week of vacation in January.  It was a real treat to paint outdoors in the middle of winter with 80 degree weather, sun blazing, sea breeze on the face, ocean birds chirping away, the pacific stretching out to the horizon; it was nice, maybe too nice.

As remarkably pleasant as it was painting atop the sea bluffs, I do appreciate the dramatic change in landscape that occurs here in the midwest, season to season, year after year.  This winter's lingering layer of snow has, ever so slightly, allowed me to gain a greater understanding of the different components (composition, color, and value) of painting.

I have also been working on creating a new website.  It will serve as an online shop as well as a blog to keep those interested up to date on my recent paintings and pursuits in art.  I will keep you posted.

California Dreamin 8×10

Southbound, HWY 101 8×10

January Morning 8×10

Sleeping Giant 8×10

February Thaw 8×12

Thanks for viewing!

Winter is here...

Winter arrived in earnest around the first week of December.  I was eager to get out there to see just how painful of an experience it would be.  I was pleasantly surprised, it wasn't that bad!  The hands presented the main challenge.  Below 20 degrees and it seems that mittens are a must; the loss of dexterity not only presents a challenge when applying paint to canvas, but it also makes all the other little things one does with their hands while painting very difficult.  The simple act of maneuvering different sized brushes from one hand to another takes on the form of an odd juggle with sticks.  I need to do some problem solving in this area.

The paintings were done in varying weather conditions,  the coldest day was probably around 10 degrees fahrenheit, while the warmest day, this past Sunday, was around 35.  It is about -2 right now.  All the days had one thing in common, there was little to no wind.

Quiet Afternoon, Lake Como, MN
8×10 

Steam, Smoke, and Clouds
 7×10

Slippery Slope
8×10

HWY 55 EAST
8×10

Thanks for viewing!

Paintings from Summer into Fall

Three weeks ago I took a plein-air workshop with Saint Paul based landscape painter Joe Paquet.  We spent three days in the cold, wind, and rain; it was great!  What a privilege to be able to take this course and be instructed by someone who thoroughly understands the art of landscape painting.  The last three paintings in the sequence were done during the workshop.

Lake Calhoun
8×10

Another Morning on the Mississippi
8×10

Brilliant Sun
8×12

Bridge Project
9×12

Barges on the Mississippi
9×12

View from Indian Mounds Park
8×10

Street View
8×10

Downtown Saint Paul
8×10

Thanks for viewing!

Morning on the Mississippi

Lock and Dam #1
8×10

I got out for my weekly painting session this Saturday morning, and ended up at lock and dam #1 on the Mississippi.  If it is not obvious, what you are seeing here is the river left side of the channel that the boats use to avoid the falls, which lay just behind this protruding thing.  Only two boats went through while I was painting, one canoe, and one sea kayak.

It was a great day for painting, a light wind and a very comfortable temperature.  I'm not sure if I paint better outdoors, but I still prefer it to painting in the studio.  Popular wisdom seems to share the belief that painting outdoors allows one to more accurately gauge the colors and values of the scene, and that the sensory experience of smells and sounds, combined with the race against the moving sun, contributes to a painting of unique quality.  For me there is something very satisfying about getting out into the world and interacting with all it has to offer.  I often feel fairly uncomfortable as I begin to set up my painting station in the middle of a public space, where I am typically the only one performing such an act, but before I know it I'm lost in the process of applying paint to the canvass, way too immersed to be self-conscious.  An occasional passerby will pause and maybe comment, and when they do it's always positive and encouraging.

Thanks for viewing!

Here are a few of the latest paintings from our new residence, Saint Paul, MN.

Late Summer on Cedar Lake
8×10

Witch's Hat Water Tower
8×10

Bend in the Mississippi
11×14

Now that we are living in a city I have become much more strategic with my painting.  The weekdays consist mainly of me taking care of our ten month old boy, August.  However, at least one day of every week August and I go out to scout for potential painting sights.  He seems to enjoy the long walks into the nooks and crannies of the city, and I enjoy the company.  After returning home, and contingent on Gus napping, I will sort through the photos and create sketches of the ones I like.

Saturday is my day for painting, so with the sight determined I head out.  I believe that limiting myself to this one painting session a week has actually been a good thing for my development as an artist.

Thanks for viewing!

Minneapolis/St. Paul Landscapes

My family and I have arrived in St. Paul, MN.  We've actually been here since the beginning of June, but only recently have I got back into the painting groove.  Here are a few paintings that I've done over the last month.

Loring Park 5"×7"

Fort Snelling 11"×14"

3rd Ave. Pillar 11"×14"

Old Mill   10"×11"

I am finding the urban landscape to be very inspiring.  Beautiful old structures commingling with the natural world.

Thanks for viewing!

Park City Barn 7×14

This is a painting I did a few weeks ago using a photograph reference.  This barn is in Park City, UT;  I took the photo when we were there last summer.  It is a bit monocromatic; in the future I would like to work more color into my grays and neutrals.

It has been almost two weeks since I last painted and it actually feels pretty good.  I think I was beginning to develop a bit of an overuse injury, with the main symptom being that I was becoming increasingly concerned about the end product, and feeling fatigued and frustrated by the process.  I want to apply the less is more approach not only to the construction of an individual painting, but to my painting practice as a whole.  Rather than churning out the paintings with hopes of improvement and recognition, I think it's time to slow down and take a more holistic and sustainable approach.

Thanks for viewing!

Tall Trees 6×9 and Haystack 6×9

I was able to pursue my new approach to painting during my last two plein air outings.  This new approach of scouting sites and making preliminary sketches was helpful.  As I predicted it gave me direction and helped me relax, kind of.  As I was painting the first of these two paintings (the tall trees) I was consistently distracted be the dramatic scene of cumulonimbus clouds unfolding directly behind me, every time I turned around they were stretching higher into the sky.  This scene of clouds was what I was immediately drawn to, but I stayed the course and stuck with my original plan.  Who knows, had I abandoned the original mission and instead followed my emotions maybe the painting would have been that much better.  It seems obvious to me know that painting is an act of balancing the forces of emotion and intellect.

Here are both the sketches and the paintings.

On a side note, my family and I are moving to St. Paul, MN at the end of this month.  I imagine the painting to slow down as the moving process begins.

Thanks for viewing!

Lowden Farm 6×8

I've decided to change my approach to outdoor painting.  After too many unsuccessful attempts my new strategy is to scout potential sites with my camera.  I will then come home and sort through my photographs, making pencil sketches of the ones I like and working on composition and value.  At a later date I will return to the field with my painting supplies and a clear vision of what I want to achieve.  The painting process should be much more enjoyable, I should be much more relaxed in knowing where I'm going to set up, what my basic design will look like, and what my values will be.  The only thing left to do will be to place the right pigment in the right place.  How hard can that be?

This is a painting I did from a photograph.  It's of a very picturesque farm located just west of Walla Walla, WA.

Thanks for viewing!