New Paintings with Grumbacher Oils!

Did you know that the name "Pre-tested Professional Oil Colors" refers to the fact that each paint is tested by qualified professional artists, before it is offered for sale? I'm thrilled and honored to be added to the elite ranks of the world's top renowned artists chosen by Grumbacher to test and review new colors. 

I love these fabulous new oil colors from Grumbacher! This is a great collection of colors for my plein air paintings, as I can mix up a vast variety of greens to depict any landscape I see. The selection of colors in this set contains wonderful darks and lights, warms and cools, and both transparent and opaque pigments. In addition to SuperbA Titanium White, the set includes three incredibly unique colors for each of the three primaries. The range of secondary and tertiary colors that can be mixed from these 10 tubes of paint is practically endless, and they allow me to create exceptionally deep values as well as brilliant lights with ease.  Even a wide variety of browns, greys, and blacks, are easily mixed from these colors.

(Kirkwood Plein Air I, 8x10 painted with Grumbacher Pre-tested Professional Oils)

The blues are my particular favorites. The Artic Blue is a wonderful pale neutral grey, and it’s the exact match for the color of the shadows on the underside of clouds on a sunny day. I love it for lightening up the values of my cool colors on my palette and also for depicting an atmospheric distance in my paintings. The Manganese Blue Hue has long been one of my favorite colors in my watercolor paints, and I’m thrilled to see it produced by Grumbacher as an oil paint. It’s my “go to” color that I use to infuse the feeling of warm tropical light in my seascape paintings of the Caribbean and Indian Ocean. The Cobalt Blue Deep is cool, dark, and vibrant, and it rounds out the selection of blues in this set so well that I need no other blues to paint my seascapes.

(Kirkwood Plein Air II, 8x10 painted with Grumbacher Pre-tested Professional Oils)

The yellows in this set include everything I need, with the warm earthy color Terra, cool Bismuth, and bright Hansa. Used at full strength or mixed with the other colors, these yellows provide me with the wide range I need for my plein air paintings, so I don’t have to pack and carry a bunch of other colors with me. Mixed with the blues in this set, the range of greens that can created is endless. There’s not enough room on my palette to even try all the possible combinations!

(St Croix Beach, 8x10 painted with Grumbacher Pre-tested Professional Oils)

The reds are perfectly represented in this set with Perylene Red, Pyrole Red, and Transparent Orange. These reds provide so much variety that I’m able to mix up an amazing array of colors to round out my palette. These paints are heavily pigmented, so I don’t have to use very much at all to mix up the deep violets for my shadows or the dark greys and browns in my landscapes. The Transparent Orange is one of my favorite colors, and I try to find a place to include it in many of my seascapes to make the blues in my paintings “pop.”

I found that this set of 10 oil colors is all I need to carry with me when I go out to paint en plein air. It contains my favorite primaries, and I can easily mix them to create all the other colors I could ever need, and then some! The extra bonus is that it’s from Grumbacher – the brand that has consistently provided artists with quality art materials for over a century. 

Interview on Jackson's Art Supply Blog!

I'm thrilled to be interviewed by Jackson's Art Supply for their blog! This particular feature is all about my painting en plein air, and describes my painting process pretty throroughly! Be sure to check it out!

(Pensacola Beach, 12x16 watercolor by Annie Strack)

Lisa: What common problems can one face in painting out of doors and how do you avoid these?

Annie: Wind is my worst enemy. On breezy days, I can lean on my easel and push the legs down into the ground. I bought some little stakes for the legs, and I’ve tried weighing it down with rocks, but I’ve found the best way to paint successfully on windy days is to stay in the studio. And I’m not fond of rain, either. That will quickly drive me indoors. Or cold temperatures – I don’t like painting when my fingers are numb and my teeth are chattering. I’ve learned to avoid plein air competitions in the wintertime, unless there are palm trees at the location (Read more...) 

(Claire's Garden, 12x9 Watercolor and Ink by Annie Strack)

Recent Plein Air

I finished up three paintings using the new oil paints from Grumbacher last week during two great plein air painting trips!

Chatting with fellow plein air painter Radhika Srinivas at the Kirkwood Preserve.

On Wednesday I went to the Allentown Rose Garden to paint en plein air with fellow artist Nancy Reidell.

Artists have to make their own shade on sunny days!

The 1st of my 3 oil painting during the Philadelphia Watercolor Society plein air event.