Been a little busy

Sorry for the lapse in posts. I had a great family vacation in mid November and then the normal holiday stuff the last couple weeks. Hopefully I'm back to normal now (at least till Christmas).

I forgot to post some previous photos from a Putney Painter day a few weeks back, so here they are below:


This is John Smith . . . he brought along an old wood drawer from a desk of his, and set up his Still Life inside. I thought that this worked really well with the overhead lights. I generally like my light source coming from the side (like from a window) or downward, at a 45 degree angle, and this method is great to keep in mind if you can't control or are painting under standard room lighting.



Richard Schmid had a great start with a Chinese doll. I wish I had some better pictures of this, but it was really stunning in person. Richard painted the background tone the night before (using paint and some medium) and then wiped out the dolls face. This technique creates a great effect of luminosity. Below is another in-process shot of one of his paintings that uses the same pull-off technique:




Above is Richard Schimd demonstrating his techniques of painting sticks and twigs on Tatiana Sink's painting. He used a combination of palette knife and brushes to create the shapes. He keeps the shapes fairly rigid and his paint mixtures are thick and not over mixed, making sure all the various colors are very visible.

And finally, below are two in process shots of my study from that day. I still have a bunch to do on it, and I will take some more pictures along the way.


Another day with Richard and Nancy

in

Yesterday, I had the amazing privelage of spending the day at Richard Schmid and Nancy Guzik's house. My friend Taaron and I met up with Daniel Keys and Michelle Dunnaway and painted a figure in Nancy's studio.




The painting time was fantastic and a lot more intimate and focused than the Putney Painter days that I have been to. Both Richard and Nancy's studio have great north daylight windows that are about ten feet in the air and 20 or more feet wide. This was the first time that I had painted in pure north daylight . . . most of the time I use 5000k lights that have a similar effect. The light was much softer and diffused than my bulbs, and the shadows were a little brighter and smoother (especially in the morning hours).



During a break, Richard took us into his studio and showed off some recent stuff. We also got to pick through some of the hundreds of paintings he has stacked up. After we finished painting, we persuaded him that we all needed to look through more paintings, and he pulled out two stacks that had about 75 studies that were done over the years at the Putney barn, and at the Palette and Chisel.



If that wasn't enough, we watched a performance by Nancy and her cat Zorro, and spent the rest of the evening talking over dinner at a local restaurant. This kinda stuff gets me so excited about being an artist, about learning and painting in this time period, and about the real value that it holds in our society.


My painting:

Couple paintings

I just ran across these two paintings that align nicely with some previous posts of mine. I enjoyed them, so I thought you might like them as well.

Gustave Klimt: Two Girls with Oleander 

Little side note: I used to work in landscaping during art school, and Oleander is an incredibly poisonous plant. If we were trimming the plant, we had to make sure we didn't touch our let any of the plant touch our mouths. Oleander gradually slows your heart down till you eventually die. Another landscape worker was trimming the bushes after a rain, and some of the dew and drops from the leaves landed in his mouth, he was found an hour later almost unconscious and was rushed to the hospital.

I wonder if there is some message in this painting . . . having two young girls looking and playing with such a poisonous plant.

Thomas Dewing: The Piano

Edmund Tarbell

in

In a previous post, I spoke of Thomas Dewing and highlighted some of his extraordinary paintings. Dewing was a member of a small group of elite painters in the New York/Boston area known as the Ten American Painters (referred to mostly as "The Ten").

 
Seated (left to right): Edward Simmons, Willard L. Metcalf, Childe Hassam, J. Alden Weir, Robert Reid
Standing (left to right): William Merritt Chase, Frank W. Benson, Edmund C. Tarbell, Thomas Dewing, Joseph De Camp

Another member of this group was Edmund Tarbell. He was born near Boston and graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, along with two other artists that would also became members of The Ten, Robert Reid and Frank Benson. After continuing his studies and traveling in France and throughout Europe, he returned to Boston and soon after held the position of his former teacher, Otto Grundmann (Edmund was 26!).




Tarbell also co-founded The Guild of Boston Artists in 1914, and in 1919 became the principal of the art school at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in D.C.


Most of the examples here are of his interior figures which he painted later in his life. I can see some similarities to the work of Dewing, and I wonder if that was the composition and subject style of the time, or if "The Ten" influenced each others works and subject matter. In either event, I absolutely love these paintings.








More on Edmund Tarbell:
Art Renewal Center
Wikipedia
flickr

More on "The Ten"
Antiques and Fine Art Article
Amazon
Wikipedia

Modeling for the Putney Painters

in

I got to spend another day with the Putney Painters -- but no painting for me, today I was the model.

Below is Richard Schmid's start. He probably painted for 30 minutes total today, he was bouncing around between all the other artists, helping and instructing.


The best of the day was Nancy Guzik. Below is her start and finish. I really love those drawing lines . . .




Here is Katie Swatland and her final painting.



Finished fall still life

Last night I was able to make some final adjustments to the still life I painted last weekend. I think I'm going to paint one more still life while the things I've seen and heard from Nancy Guzik and Richard Schmid are still fresh in my mind. I find that I don't have to worry as much about drawing and other things while painting still lifes (figures and heads need to be much more exact) and I can focus in on developing color and brushwork. Richard and Nancy both take a slightly different approach to still life painting, but both are very concerned with getting notes of color in right away, and then judging all other decisions off of that. Richard will directly paint the shapes in the exact color, while Nancy creates an initial drawing using the local color of that object for the lines, and then puts a stroke of the exact color into the shape. I have always done notes of the lightest light and darkest dark for the sake of my value judgements, but never all the major color notes. I think this new approach will help me create more colorful and life-like paintings.

Painting with the Putney Painters!

in
If life had a check box for "Painting with today's living Master," then tonight I would be cheking it off my list.  I honestly never thought I would have the privilege to paint with Richard Schmid, Nancy Guzik, and the Putney Painters -- to be a part of that vibrant painting environment is just as much an encouragement as it is a learning experience.

To top off the day, the Putney Painters threw Richard a mini birthday party with 3 cakes, a pie, great conversation and apparently Richard's favorite present, jokes.

Here are a few pictures from the day:








Nancy Guzik Painting:
 

Kathy Anderson:
 



Richard's Birthday Bash:

 

My Painting: (Still a little work to do, but not to shabby for having Richard and Nancy across the room!)

Last Day: Weekend with the Masters

Sorry it has taken me a few days to wrap up the final day of the event, but after an early flight, no sleep, and a lot of catching up to do back home, I'm finally getting back to a normal routine.


I had the privilege of having the entire morning of the last day free, and sat in on Nancy Guzik's still life workshop. Nancy is such and incredible teacher who talks non-stop about how and why she is doing each stroke or color mixture. She works slowly and accurately, making every stroke, shape, and color exactly what she wants . . . if a color isn't "pretty" or the stroke doesn't give her an "ahhh" feeling, she removes it and tries again. She reveals that there are no tricks or secrets to a good painting, just focus and a determination to make it exactly what you want.




Later in the afternoon, my friend Taaron and I were also able to get a critique from Richard Schmid. It was a memorable moment for us both, and I will take to heart the comments he had and apply them to my work.

American Artist magazine has really created something special with this event. I have no doubt that it will alter the world of art for the better, continuing to create and instruct artists into technically skilled and passionate people, advancing high-quality representational painting for the good of us all.

Thanks to Allison and the other editors and staff at the magazine for giving me this opportunity, it will be a memory that will never be forgotten.

Day 3: Weekend with the Masters

Today was a little more relaxing. I checked out a few of the various workshops and demos during the morning, then jumped into Dan Gerhartz's workshop and watched a few minutes of the demo and then set-up with the class and painted the model.

I didn't take many photos today, but here are at least a few from Morgan Weistling and Carolyn Anderson's workshops.




Here is the plein air I painted on Friday and the quick head study from today:


Day 2: Weekend with the Masters

I can't write much because it's getting very late, and I'm getting very sleepy, but below are a bunch of photos from today's events. I made my way into many of the workshops, including Gerhartz, Lipking, Mundy, Weistling, CJ Beck, Albert Handell and Nancy Guzik.

There was also an evening duel demo with Scott Burdick and Dan Gerhartz that was really fantastic. It was great to see each of them tackle the same subject (which was artist Michelle Dunaway) in a unique way, while still resulting in well-executed final results, Scott Burdick was more immediate with a "slap it down" style, blocking in everything and then refining from broad to focused, while Dan Gerhartz was more slow and reserved, getting down an initial drawing and then working right with final color and placement.

In addition to the crazy day, I was also able to get a little painting in,  I'll try to get a photo of it later and post it tomorrow night. Till then, here are a few of the pics.

Lipking Workshop


Morgan Weistling Demo






Dan Gerhartz Workshop






Nancy Guzik Workshop






CW Mundy Workshop



Evening Duel - Brudick and Gerhartz









Richard Schmid book signing





Day 1: Weekend with the Masters



Had a great first day at the event, both seeing many great demo's and lectures, and also meeting many of the top painters alive today.


I started off the day helping out in a David Leffel demo. He doesn't use any solvent like mineral spirits or turpentine, and only cleans his brushes by wiping them off on a paper towel. He said that he can't waste the time of washing his brushes or palette . . . He does use a gel medium from a tube. (I'm trying to find out the exact name and brand, so I'll post it if I find out.)



I then jumped into Scott Christiensen's demo where he was painting from a previous study and explained his approach and techniques.



The highlight of the day was Richard Schmid's demo. He painted a still life of oranges, peaches and carnations, and had a ton of light conversation and jokes--keeping the crowd very well pleased. (Sorry for the poor photos, it was really dark in the large hall.)







The rest of the afternoon was spent peaking into Sherie McGraw's head study demo of Morgan Weistling, Scott Burdick's lecture on the beauty of art and the craziness of the modern art movement. I was also able to jump outside for a minute and peak in on a plein air workshop.






To top off the day, there was an absolutely extraordinary panel discussion with Richard Schmid, Quang Ho, Sherie McGraw, Jeremy Lipking, Scott Burdick, Rose Frantzen, Dan Gerhartz and Carolyn Anderson. The topics began around technology and it's place within representational painting, and then also drifted into modern art, social media, and photo manipulation. If you can find a video out there on the internet, it will be well worth the watch. I was literally on the edge of my seat, and each of the artists statements had some great nuggets of truth and inspirational little quotes.



Well, it was a great first day, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow which is very workshop intensive and filled with even more demos. I hope to do the same as today and as I'm around helping out with the event, try and jump into all of them for at least a few minutes.

Stillscape - The Art of Sean Beavers

Golden Light, 34 x 21

Still life as a subject matter has always left me underwhelmed. I'm not sure if it's the in-animate objects, artificial light or over planned compositions, but even the most well executed painting will lose my interest much quicker than a figure, landscape, or even interior.

Flowers or other natural items certainly help, adding that touch of life and nature to the still objects, but yet a certain aspect of "air"and life always seem to be missing.

 From Available Light, 15 x 10

Like usual, my conceptions of a specific painting style or subject get completely thrown. This time it was by Sean Beavers and his "Stillscapes." They are changing my mind on the art of still objects by infusing life with scenic backdrops and compelling natural light. Not much needs to be said about his technique, he has a highly refined style, nailing each value and temperature creating not photo-realistic paintings, but in-person, life-realistic paintings. Upon seeing them, I was instantly captivated by the beauty and have almost daily peaked back at theses images over the last few weeks.

Anjou Evening, 30 x 30

Sean earned a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, and graduated with the Rhodes family medal for outstanding achievement. He currently lives in southern Maine and teaches drawing and painting at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, the University of New Hampshire, and The Sanctuary Arts in Maine.

Sand Box, 15 x 9.75

There are many other captivating still-life artists working today,  Daniel Sprick & Daniel Keys are two more of my favorites.  Although this love/hate relationship for still life continues, I can easily respect the artists for their masterful techniques, and perhaps like many things, if I spent more time painting still objects, then I would discover their beauty just like these artists have.

The Secret Light of Dusk, 15 x 15
 Evening Voluta, 22 x 14.5
 In Light of it All, 12x8

Creative Artists: Thomas Dewing

in , ,
 
The turn of the 20th century was a vibrant and changing time for art. There was the full acceptance of Impressionism, the dominating realists and portrait work of Sargent and other like artists, and the birthing of modern art. It was my naive conclusion that all of the highly "creative" painting that would be done at this time would be from the artists blazing the way toward modernism, but through more study, I have found several that were both creative and yet still distinguished representational artists. I did find one artist in particular that jumped right out at me, he was both beyond his time, and still grounded in realism.


Thomas Dewing (1851- 1938) was an American artist born near Boston, trained in Paris at the Académie Julian, and eventually settled in New York City. Dewing is classified as a Tonalist (the most famous Tonalsits being George Inness, James McNeill Whistler, and John H. Twatchtman), and is one of the first painters to apply this predominantly landscape painting approach of tonalism to figure painting. This use of a tonal color palette, his foundation of classical realism and the addition of more impressionistic brush work created extremely unique and mood filled paintings.


In addition to this fairly new style, Dewing also had a unique compositional style that set female figures in full-body poses with plenty of open air, almost like a present day graphic designers use of white space. This slight twist on composition really made me gravitate to these paintings.


There are some designers today that use white space to add breathing room and simplification, while keeping the elements and layout in perfect balance, and then there are bad designers that when given the same elements will produce a barren, unpleasing design because they have poorly placed those elements. I think Dewing must have been a great designer, making him a well rounded artist that combined color harmony, technique, and highly developed skill to create masterful paintings that were unique for their time, and even today.

 

My Favorite Artists

Christoper Volpe just commented on my last post and asked me who my top 4 artists where. I don't believe I have clearly mentioned them before, so here they are with a bonus of one extra, making it my top 5. They are in no particular order since that depends on my mood and day.



Richard Schmid is the living master. He has been able to absorb almost all of what past art and artists have taught us, and been able to tie it into his own personal style and ideas. I feel his life and painting has set the course and standard for art today and has not only started the revival of representational painting, but also the rise of alla prima and plein air. The day I picked up his book Alla Prima as a freshman in art school was the day I fell in love with painting. I knew then that I wanted to become not just a designer or illustrator, but an artist, and that I would spend anywhere from minutes to hours of each day thinking about or creating paintings for the rest of my life.



Anders Zorn was the contemporary painter of the past. His brushwork, naturalist touches, and everyday beauty makes him just as relevant today as he way back then. I hope that every one of my paintings could have skin tones like his, and could convey the beauty of a person and their surroundings, no matter who the model.



Jeremy Lipking's work echoes the painters of the nineteenth century with his own additions of "wet," long brushstrokes, transparency and luminosity, and moody and deliberate color relationships. If I was asked which contemporary artist in a hundred years would garner the best museum locations and reach the highest prices at auction, Jeremy would be my guess.





John Singer Sargent: Whether a sketch book drawing, watercolor, mural, or oil painting, Sargent holds the place as the greatest artist in the history of man kind. I know all artists and collectors may not hold the same opinion, but chances are, he is still a favorite of theirs. Skill and brushwork are the usual reasons (anyone who can use large, bravado strokes to create an entire arm or pleat of a dress, and sculpt a face with no more that 20 strokes is a genius and master in my book), but another  reason is the reality and mood that he brought to his paintings. The various works of Venice and especially his paintings of bead stringers where the first paintings that made a real mark on me as a high-schooler and got me interested in art.



Quang Ho is a modern day impressionist that holds the ability of creating amazing paintings out of what seems to be random strokes and blotches of color. His paintings are at the top of my list to someday see in person and hopefully even purchase one for my own collection. I secretly have the desire to paint like this, to be able to develop enough skill and technique that I can place the right stroke, in the right place, with the right color and value, combining just enough of them to create a realistic and breathtaking piece of art.

Other artists I adore:

John White Alexander
Carolyn Anderson
Scott Burdick
William Merritt Chase
Nicholai Fechen
Dan Gerhartz
Childe Hassam
Johanna Harmon 
CW Mundy
Ilya Repin
Burton Silverman
Joaquin Sorolla


The list could go on and on, but I've blown enough time as it is, and all this looking at paintings is getting me all excited to paint.  Who are some of your favorites?

John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women


During a recent family vacation, my son and I stopped by Cooperstown, NY and visited the Fenimore Art Museum. Before getting into the great show, museum, and paintings, I would like to do a little promo for Cooperstown.


It happens to be one of those places that just driving through makes a person consider moving. With a beautiful lake, Rockwell like town, and Catskill mountain landscapes that still hold the presence of the Hundson River School, I could easily picture myself living in this nearly perfect town (to bad it's in the middle of nowhere making family and friends to far . . . perfect place for an art colony or commune though!).

Back to the Museum: The Fenimore's collection includes American and New York historical fine and folk arts, including works from the Hudson River School, collections from the Cooper family, various portraits and life masks of historical figures, and a large collection of American Indian art.

 Rosina Ferrara, head of a Capri girl 1878, Oil on paper, 13 x10 1/4

The reason for my visit was the 23 paintings and drawings in their current exhibition entitled "John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Praise of Women". Sargent has always been one of my top four painters (the exact order switches almost daily) and the more Sargent I see, the more impressed and passionate I become.

Lady Eden, 1906 43 x 34 1/2

I cannot stress enough the pleasure and necessity there is in seeing paintings first-hand. I think this current generation is deluged by digital media, and that we are really missing a key part of art when we see these paintings only through our computer screens. To my personal guilt, I have yet to see first hand the works of artists I consider the masters of today. I'm sure I would learn and be invigorated so much, that my own painting would greatly prosper. I tend to think of it like this: if I can see and study paintings through pictures, I will gain knowledge, if I can see them first hand (and if I'm lucky, even touch the paintings), then it will become personal and a true learning experience, and last, if I could ever earn the privilege to paint with those artists I would become a part of that creation, which will directly influence and change me.

Mrs. Abbott Lawrence Rotch, 1903, 56 3/4 x 36 1/4

I was not permitted to take photos of the paintings, so the majority of the images you see are off the web. Because of that, I can't show any great detail, but I can convey some of what I read in the exhibition catalog.

 Resting, 1875, 8 1/2 x 10 9/16

One thought provoking idea within the catalog was the idea that the late 19th century American and European societies were intrigued by more ethnic regions and their people. In the works of Sargent, the people of Spain, Morocco, Middle East, and Southern Italy fit this niche. I find it really interesting that the world at that time thought that Madame X was crossing the line and even extremely provocative while beautiful dancing Spaniards, a nude Egyptian women, and naked men and boys lying on the beach were then and even now hardly ever mentioned. Is this because she was the same race as those making these conclusion? did they view the other paintings as more documentaries on the world, like a national geographic magazine?

 Madame X (Madame Pierre Gautreau) 1883-84, Graphite on paper, 9 3/4 x 13 3/16

The majority of the catalog highlights the history behind each of the paintings, and marries them with Sargent's youth, schooling and travels. It's a great complement to the exhibition, both during the viewing of the actual paintings and as a memento for my shelf. Definitely worth the $25.

 This is my super man telling his mom all about the exhibition (to be completely honest, he was more excited about the path, field, and lake behind the gallery, but he did talk about the paintings a little.)

To see a large gallery of Sargent's work, go to jssgallery.org

One last note about Cooperstown, if you didn't know it already, it's the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Oil on Wood Study

in
I have always been interested in the old masters and their various painting techniques. One thing I have been wanting to try was painting on wood. I have previously painted on gessoed panels I prepared myself, but they were to absorbent and I couldn't get the smooth, wet strokes that I like with a fine weave linen canvas.

After researching creative paintings that still embody traditional techniques, I immediately thought back to the wood panel and how it could be used in a more contemporary way. Being a sucker for the beauty of wood, I knew I wanted to make it part of the painting—not just what the painting is on. This use of grain isn't a new idea, but has predominently been used by illustrators, not necessarily fine art.

I just finished this little study to figure out the technical issues and to find out if painting on wood could work for me. I don't know if I'll continue on and develop a large "studio" painting, but I think there are a lot of creative ideas that can evolve from this.

Let me know what you think.

Weightless

 Jacqueline Marr, Bubble III

As a child I had a recurring dream of my younger self being able to float around our house. Not flying, but being in a weightless state, hovering up to the ceiling and floating around while my brother and sister were still on the ground. There was a while that I actually thought it was true, that somehow I just grew out of this random ability to defy gravity. I know now that I watched enough TV and thought about it so much that it was always on my mind as I went to bed -- now I dream of ice cream cones and falling off cliffs . . . I wonder what that means . . .

Cali Rezo, Levitation (digital painting)

I think we are all mesmerized and interested in this thing that we will probably never achieve—absolute weightlessness. The crowds watching levitating magicians, inventors vain attempts at personal flight, and maybe even the pasts fascination with angels is proof to that. It is a simple twist of everyday life and it creates countless thoughts and stories every time I see an image depicting it.

 Jeremy Geddes, Heat Death

The current fall issue of Poets and Artists highlights artist Jeremy Geddes and his recent work that portrays hyper realistic scenes of cosmonauts floating in barren urban scenes. In a recent interview with Australian Edge, Jeremy commented about this new body of work:
"With these paintings I’m trying to leave the narrative ambiguous and open to interpretation, whilst juxtaposing enough disparate elements to make some sort of interpretation necessary. I’m keen to never give enough clues to block any potential explanation the viewer might bring. I want to spark questions, rather than answer them."

I thought that this concept of an ambiguous narrative was really interesting and something that has been unconsciously drawing me into various contemporary paintings for a while now. Later in the interview, Jeremy mentions that while he is creating his works, he does have certain concepts and emotions that he attempts to convey, but that he tries to leave it open enough for interpretation.


As we have learned throughout the last century, man has a wonderful time figuring out his own interpretation of art, applying his current situation and emotions to the subject and arriving at his own conclusion. It seems that even if the feelings are bad or repulsive, the viewer is much more likely to walk away from the painting feeling positive about it, simply because he solved it for himself.


In the right hands, and with proper technique, this ambiguity could help move the current standard for art toward a more representational foundation. Capturing the eye of those critics and collectors that interpret art with their own ideas, and handing them a better product to write about.

 Jeremy Geddes, The Cafe

For your further enjoyment, here are two videos that portray some weightlessness . . . .





Michael Zavros, Falling August

Cali Rezo