River Sky study by Karl Marxhausen

A month ago Tuesday I had the urge to go big with on problem, no sketch paper to work on. I bummed some 18 x 24 sheets from local artist Joe Tonnar. Here I am working from reference material (off to the right), looking back and forth, mixing the colors as I go. Soon I was able to rough in the sky. My brother tells me you need a Flash Player program to watch this. Finally, I got the Flash Player downloaded on my computer correctly, and now I too can view the clip.

Out Painting Across The Street From My Yard by Karl Marxhausen

In the summer of 07 I was exploring tree arrangements on a small scale--12" x 9" paintings on watercolor paper. My fellow painter and collegue Joe Tonnar talked me into working on bigger panels--36" x 24". In this video clip you will see me outdoors painting passages of the "Leaning Tree." My easel is set up across the road from my house.

A few weeks earlier, I looked at a recent collection of impressionist works at the Nelson-Atkins Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri. At first I was put off by the work. Leaves on trees had been reduced to slash marks floating beside the branches. Then I noticed a progression of dots that crossed a road. The pink-gray spots were lined up straight as if put there beside a straight edge. It was then it dawned on me, these painters were intentional--methodical--with their brush marks. They took their time recording what they saw. The result of seeing that show and taking it to heart is evident in the above clip.

I did not know when I began "Leaning Tree" what it would look like at its finish. The process of "looking sideways over to my subject"----a leaning tree in my yard----"interpreting the color, mixing the colors from my limited palette"-----then dabbing "here and there and across and above and below" was an EXPERIMENT. I was "trying-it-out."

Leaning Tree

It was later, after doing several 36 x 24 inch panels, looking at what I had smooshed----that I liked what I saw, or, let's say, it grew on me. So that now, that bigness, and that way of "smooshing or dabbing paint" is a part of who I am.

The next clip shows me packing gear back across the street into my yard.