What do you see?

Henri Bergson - "The eyes only see what the mind is prepared to comprehend. "

Person in the Garden

Last Saturday I painted with David Curtis' group working on a person in the garden.  We did have a good time.

Last Saturday I attended David Curtis' Person in the Garden painting workshop in Gloucester so had the opportunity to visit both art associations.  It was a beautiful day and it seemed that these shows must be the best of this season.
I haven't been doing plein air lately and there is such a difference painting outdoors from the controlled environment of the studio.  The lighting is the biggest difference but the effect it has on your eyes and how the colors look on your canvas is also something that is hard to adjust to.  Because the light is constantly changing, the eyes are changing focus and the pallet looks different.
I concentrate so much on the work that I didn't even notice that my umbrella had fallen over and was no longer covering my pallet!
So David's biggest comment for everyone is that we were searching for the effect of light on the figure.  I believe everyone had a good day and was rescued by David's magic wand.

Flowers in the Garden

6x6, first flower painting 2013

Finally I started to paint my 'flowers in the garden' series.  I thoroughly enjoyed it I have to say.  I tried the clayboard by Ampersand and it really sucks--in a good way, ha!  The surface absorbs the paint like crazy but I like the effect.  While my painting student works I need to be busy so as to not hover over her too much, so my plan will be to work on these flower paintings.  I like bright color and usually you don't use it in regular landscaping paintings--lots and lots of greens instead.

What have I been doing?

Sorry all, I don't know why I haven't been posting but I have been busy painting and perhaps it was all the yard work one needs to do in the spring that has interrupted my blogging flow.
Everything that I've been working on, portraits, the bartender painting, the new web site, teaching painting, doing some plein air painting, has been cruising along at a good pace.  I just don't have anything finished enough to show it to anyone.  This year is flying along, my Italy trip is coming up fast, I guess I should post a photo of my yard, since that's the only thing that is up-to-snuff.
I am enjoying the portrait painting, and this coming Saturday I'll be painting a portrait or person in the garden at David Curtis' workshop in his yard.  David won the Popular Award for his new painting pictured here on the Northshore's NSAA website. 

Portraits are coming along.

I was pleased so far with my progress on portraits.  Mark introducted me to a new color (to me) and it is great, almost like a burnt sienna but not as brown.  I have another session in the morning with the model and I can practice with this new color.

I sketched on the big "George the Bartender" painting (about 5 feet high) and will work on that a little tonight to get some blocking-in done to see if the design will work out.  It's on my to-do list for this year so I'm determined to get it done. 

Afraid of the dark!

It's true.  Regarding portrait work, I've been over correcting, not putting the darks into my "faces" because I used to be too dark and it took me a while to lighten up.  Now the reverse is true.  We are always making adjustments to keep on course, or is it 2 steps forward and one step back?  I guess that's why we are so happy when we have a really good day and feel like we actually got somewhere.

I heard some nice comments about my painting at the North Shore Art Association's current show, nice nice nice!  Maybe on Sunday I'll take a ride over to see the show.

Paintings

I guess I didn't say much about painting in my last post.  I finished the Carol's Market Day little 6x6" painting but haven't posted it, and I did a portrait that I liked at the Haverhill Portrait Group at the church in Bradford, and I'm working on a portrait of John Kane which is one of the things on my to-do list for this year.  I want to say thanks to Susan Manning O'Briant for recommending Mark to me. 

100 things a day

That's the way it feels these days, way too much going on.  The days are flying by, as usual, but somehow, maybe its the wonderful weather, a lot is getting done--I just don't get around to posting it here.  Sorry.

I've been painting portrait work and getting help with Mark Hayden.  I have a little break from teaching art because my student had an operation.  I'm meeting with a new student today who is joining the 1st phase of my program.  Teaching skating lessons is coming along, we drew the qualifications for this years regionals on the 1st of May but his is the first year in a decade at least that I don't have anyone skating official events.  We may have a new senior skater from Maine.  Gardening has taken my focus this past week or more and it looks like at least another week might get things in some kind of good shape.  Along with the usual reading of art books and magazines, etc., I've read a few fiction books (not art) and it feels like cheating.  I guess my brain needed a little change of pace.

I reached a point with computing and making new web pages where I was NEAR finished and then got sidetracked, so nothing to report there.  Here is a new site where you can play with photos and make some very interesting things:  http://ipicey.com/
Make a photo collage, calendar, and other things.

It feels good to be strong and physically active which is partly to blame on the weather and I'm walking, gardening, and just enjoying being outside again. 

Yesterday's student and my small painting

My art student is coming along by leaps and bounds.  She wants to have a show next fall to celebrate her one-year anniversary.  This woman is very focused and determined and fast.  Teaching her is like riding on a run-away stage coach where you lost the reins.  Seriously though, she's trying very hard and most likely is being very patient with me.

Since she is moving forward at lightning speed, I'm trying not to hover over her so today I worked on a small painting while she worked on her painting.  I'll check it later today, do any last minute touchups and then post it to my facebook art page and it will go on auction on Carol Marine's Daily Paintworks page.  I'm with PayPal now so anyone can quickly and easily purchase a painting. 

Carol's Flower Market, 6x6" oil

Later today I'll try to emphasize the sun and shade aspect where some of these flowers are shaded by the umbrella. 

Video Art Magazine

Video Art Magazine
This site has wonderful demos and stories about today's master artists.

I'm still working on learning web building software, so even though I want to paint today, I have to get this web learning curve behind me.

There is a free video on the APVM site, and it's almost 2 hours long.  You can skip through it and there are 4 or 5 segments.  A surprise for me was one on Michael Klein's watercolor technique which is an oil painting approach to watercolor.

Happy Spring!

Best Art and Art Website Links

Great resource page, Business & Marketing Of Art – with Leah Markham

This site rivals the ever so popular blog page of.Stapleton Kearns.

Stapleton's is about art and Leah's is about marketing.

So today, I'm concentrating on my art web page redesign which is smaller than that other site I'm working on, and easier I hope, and with a snow storm blowing outside, it's just the right atmosphere for working on the computer.  OK, maybe I'll have to take a break to read an art mag in the comfort of my cozy bed.  Paint?  Nope, not today.

Share my pain-website trouble

Well, it's not the art site, but I've been working for days on a web site using a software called WebPlusX4 and first thing this morning I lost the whole thing, yes I saved it many times, but the page that comes up is practically blank.  It's taken me all day to get over it.  Well, now I will start all over again and try to save it more ways than one.  I guess I'll be pretty good at it by the time I do another one, then, hopefully, there won't be any more surprises like this. 
The good thing about all this is that I was in a very happy place while I was involved with the production of this site, feeling good about learning things, and making good progress.  I hope all that optimism and satisfaction returns for the second time around.

The Piggy

I bought this pig a long time ago and just never got around to painting it.  I enjoyed doing this little painting, its rough really, just a sketch, but now I know that it is fun to paint it and I'll do another one.  I did it today during the class with my art student and the lesson was about using fewer strokes.  Neither one of us could remember to count our strokes, but it helps to do this to slow down and put the stroke where it belongs as well as loading the brush and putting down the paint.
The student's subject was the vase of flowers--these photos are my paintings of it after she left.  I wanted to go over the lesson with her subject to "see it from her perspective" more or less.  I'm using alkyd oil paints which dry faster than regular oil paints but they don't seem to have the same intensity as regular oils.  I guess I was in a painting mood today. 
I've been struggling with portraits for so long now that a quick still life was a joy.
The student who didn't think she would be able to paint flowers, did a very good job.  She is trying to learn to slow down and lay on the paint--just see the shapes and values.

Zorn research

Link to Anders Zorn website, complete works and bio.

Here is a marvelous link to Zorn with a biography and slide show of 144 of his works!

While not well known here in US he was a rock star in Europe at the end of the 1800s.

I'm revved-black for blue

Spending the day watching Zorn videos, holy cow, there are so many wonderful ones I didn't know about.  Anyway, I found this link about his palette that interests me a lot.  I can't wait to give it a try.  It's primarily one yellow, one red (Robert Lewis uses Aliz, ltblank commented that Zorn used genuine Vermillian), white and black and the range of colors is amazing.  The Zorn Palette Video

His Left Ear

Solving problems with a portrait of George.  After finally figuring out that his head was not wide enough, and realizing that it needed to be wider on only one side, it was sad to have to block out his left ear and start over AND it was the only part of the portrait that I liked so far.  Here is the portrait of his (now painted over) left ear taken in warm and cool light.  Notice  how different it looks depending on what light is on.  The cool light is the overhead studio light and the other is normal lighting.

I also finally (I hope) figured out how to get the palette I want to use for portraits.  The old KISS principle, three primary colors.  I've done a lot of research looking for a palette that would work for me, and by that I mean, make sense to me.  Perhaps I'll branch out after using this for a while, but for now, I like it.  I mixed up a kind of mother color and from there mixed a cool and warm version with steps from light to dark, etc. keeping the cool colors on my palette to the left where the cool colors are to the left on the portrait itself, and the warm on the right, etc.  This way I don't cross my warms and cools.

The DaVinci Club, Phase 2

Today started the first lesson of the second phase of my class program referred to as The DaVinci Club.  This student has completed the requirements of the first phase of the classes which are loaded with lessons and information of an academic nature that provide the underpinnings of skills needed to become a good painter/artist.  The DaVinci Club blog page.

I am very proud of the accomplishments of this student and here are a few photos of her work today.  She is the second person who has completed the course.  Both of these students have made amazing progress, so either they were exceptional students or my course curriculum is very successful or both.  I will continue to provide this very necessary course and monitor the results.  

The subject of our exercise

3 10-minute paintings and 1 30-minute painting

Learning to Gesso

Close up of the color versions of the 10-minute applies.

Student at work at easel with still-life.

How NOT to varnish a painting

"Lemoncello", oil painting

This painting has been finished for a long time and well-framed with a paper backing, etc, so I didn't want to remove it from it's frame in order to try to even out the 'shine' of the varish.  So I masked off the frame to  use a spray varnish.  Varnish will sink in at various degrees depending on the treatments of paint and the mediums that were used during the painting process.  It still has not evened off to my satisfaction, so when this is dry, I'll try another method.  Learning art is a never-ending process and it takes longer if you try to reinvent the wheel as you proceed.  Sometimes I have had to learn by my mistakes.  As I recall, I did the background of this painting over and over and that is where the variations of shine are occurring.

Today's Outlook Collage I

Today's Outlook, Snapshot, February 2013

This is a collage, 11x14", capturing clippings from a single day's news, which happened to strike me that day as a very dark day in the news.  I'm experimenting with some variations on using newsprint and finishes. 

Museums, Receptions, Talk Radio

Wow, it's been a while, but I've been busy.  I'm working on portraits and palettes for portraits but it seems that the season for visiting museums and attending receptions is back in full swing, weather permitting.  I've been mesmerized lately with listening to "stuff" while painting.  There are so many wonderful videos and radio shows online.  I even use them for bedtime stories, so I'm doing art from when I wake to when I sleep at night.

A couple of art friends had receptions this past week, well, more than a couple but I only went to two.  Also Rockport had a reception and show of their permanent collection on Friday night and Lynn Murray and I went to Whistler Museum in Lowell for the last day of the Atelier show there.  I spoke with the director about painting in the museum, copying a Hibbard, and he will set up an appointment with me!

My favorite art person this week was Rose Frantzen.  Maybe I mentioned her before.  Also art broadcasts by BBC on You Tube, great history lessons on the "isms" and various famous artists and their styles.

Unfortunately I haven't painted for about three days now because of trying to install a wireless printer that even my computer guru couldn't accomplish, yet.

I hope to report soon that I've licked the portrait thing.  In the meantime, I'm off in yet another direction with newspaper clippings embedded as an art piece. My Gemini brain is going nuts.

Also my art student should be returning this week to start Phase II of her art course--Painting.

Results of Rhythm's vote for your favorite painting

The winner of the raffle at Rhythm Cafe's favorites votes and the recipient of the small painting, "Bowl Stack", was Daniel Shaw of Haverhill, MA.  I mailed it to hm today.
The favorite painting was the tryptic Bear Hill Road Sunset by a large margin. 
The second place was Bear Hill Road Sunset, the 12x36" version.
And third place was Tree Shadows.
Surprisingly, there was a small painting called "The Swing" that almost tied for third.
A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who voted.

Settled in at Sage

Since I took down the show at Rhythm Cafe yesterday morning and I didn't think Sage was open on Mondays, I brought four popular paintings there today and removed the place holder painting that I had left there until the Rhythm show was closed.  Then I had to find space to store about 25 paintings here in my presentation space.  Sage is planning a reception in March and trying to purchase a newspaper ad to advertise this exhibit and the reception.
I'm trying to decide whether to pursue an idea to attend Jonathan Talbot's workshop in April. I think it would be helpful with regard to the centurion project I'm planning to do that requires working one way or another with newspaper clippings.  It's a 4 1/2 drive to NY so that's the hangup. It's a great opportunity but on the other hand, there are tons of videos on You Tube that would cover many issues that I would come across.
I'll decide by this coming weekend as I've asked him to hold my seat.  What should I do?

Collage-Acrylic Image Transfer

during the process

finished experiment

another experiment, I figured out how to flip the "100".

newspaper worked very well

See my movie of the same name:  Collage-Acrylic Image Transfer

During the storm I did an experiment given to me by Jonathan Talbot himself!  I was so delightfully surprised to receive a phone call the other night from him in answer to an email I had written mentioning that I had read his book and had problems making transfers.  Let me make it clear that those problems were before reading his book.  As the above movie will testify, doing it correctly resulted in success.

The following day or so I spent making the movie.  Then after it was posted to You Tube I found many other videos on the same subject and handled in many various techniques--a very interesting subject.  My little movie is very short and only gives a brief glimpse of the process so anyone interested in photo transfer should do a bit of research and I recommend Jonathan's book:  "Acrylic Image Transfer, A Handbook for Artists".  He also does seminars, workshops, and has many products to aid in the process such as a hard-to-find paper that would make it easier and quicker to remove the backing once it's gelled down.

Go to www.talbot1.com for details.

Daniel Greene's palette

Today I set out Daniel Greene's palette to work on my first head of George to get back in shape with portrait painting.  So far so good.  I started it yesterday with the drawing, measuring, etc.

Also today I had lunch at Rhythm Cafe with a friend who wanted to see my show there.  I take that show down next Monday morning and bring some of those paintings to Sage Art Gallery until the end of March.
Something is wrong with their site right now, but the hours are Mon-Wed 10-4 and Sat and Sun with limited hours.

Fun, new invention

I'm working on a portrait and having a little trouble seeing the small differences in sizing here and there so I got a piece of 1/4 inch graph paper and photocopied it onto a piece of overhead projector clear sheet and now I have a wonderful measuring device to use to compare small differences and measurements!  I love McIvering stuff to suit my needs.