Jana

The purpose of this painting was to study the light on the model and mix the exact value, temperature and color spot, then apply it in a stroke. No blending, no "licking" (a term used to describe repeated strokes in the same area). If a color spot is wrong, it must be scraped and repainted, but the goal was to make any mistakes on the palette. By the time the brush was touching the canvas, all the guesswork should have been done.
There is such an energy between the model and the artist when this kind of work is going on. The model is working to keep the pose and the artist is working to capture the pose, so they're unified in their purpose and exerting great electric fields of concentration. The main difference in their experience, having sat in both seats myself, is that time passes very slowly for the model and unbelievably quickly for the artist. That's why the model should be the time-keeper. 

Madame G

Madame G reminds me of John Singer Sargent's Madame X.
She's one of my favorite models and I painted her all day recently, studying the non-linear approach to portrait painting.
In the top shot, you see her on the model stand in the background. In the foreground, you see my stage-2 effort to capture her. Stage-2 is the light and shadow shapes, plus the next dark and next light shapes. For the most part, the color on her cheeks and lids is the same value and temperature as the light.

Beneath that is a canvas that I used half of in the morning and half of in the afternoon. The morning work is the upsidedown image on the left, showing my first stage-1 effort. My purpose at this stage was to show only the shape of the light as it bathed her face and dark value shape surrounding that. Rightside-up-side is a shot of stage-3 from later that same day. The details were just beginning to reach expression: more value and color were added to the light shape, letting the contours of her face emerge. Had I continued, I would have next blocked in the light of her hair and then the background. I only hope that this beautiful woman would have become more and more beautiful on the linen, that I might return the honor of her posing. Thanks for your visit. 

Go Figure

I promised you I'd cover the Clayton Beck workshop and all I learned there. This was my favorite: paint small, quick studies working up from the darkest light and the lightest dark on the model. It required the most strict concentration and restraint on my part but it forced my brain to actually understand some things that it only thought it understood until now. These flanking paintings were the most successful, in my opinion. The more detail I added in these paintings, the weaker they got and the less I liked them. Food for thought.

Longpool Window

I did 2 paintings at Longpool in Arkansas; this is the afternoon painting. The morning painting was weaker and my excuse is that I was suffering from motion sickness after the windy backseat ride to this primo spot. This was my "window of well," as the trip back was worse and that evening was the only time that I didn't go out on the town with my peeps after painting :-(  But that was the night that I got to paint the cooling tower so it was not a total loss. This 8x10 was done in the shade on top of a cliff, looking through an opening to the longpool below. I was mostly in love with the sinewy arm of the tree trunk, twining down to the determined fingers of the roots that grabbed and clung to the side of the cliff. It reminded me of a strong old man.

Arkansas Nuclear One By Night

I have a hat. It's a ballcap that has flashlights in the bill. I'm not trying to make you jealous but there are 3 of them: click once and 2 crossbeams light up and point at your palette; click twice and a super beam points straight out in front of you, at your canvas; three times and all 3 are lit and you look like a real goober :-) I found out that the front beam is too bright to use for painting in the dark, it wrecks your night vision. Also, you need to really know your palette and what your colors will do when you mix them because the eye (at least my eye) is not very color-discerning in the dark. It's kind of funny, when you think of the subject matter, that only the rods are working. Get it? It's funny on a subatomic level. This painting is also very small: 5x7. With it, I've tried to show the beauty of that cooling tower at night.

Arkansas Nuclear One by Day

On our painting trip, we camped in the state park on Lake Dardanelle, directly across from the only nuclear power plant in the state. This is the view of the cooling tower from our site. It was endlessly fascinating to watch: sometimes the plume was small and acted like the vapor that pours from dry ice; sometimes it was a beautiful thick column of white that drifted to a graceful end at the top; other times it seemed to make its own clouds. It sort of reminded me of a vase that was filled with different flowers and every time I looked at it, I wanted to paint it. I got 2 very small (5x7) paintings done and a larger painting started, this being one of the small works.
The reflection of the plume was so clear in the foreground water but the more distant water was blown by the wind and did not offer the same clarity. I debated whether to show it as a constant reflection but elected to depict it as it actually was that day. I'll post the other one next~ thanks for visiting!

Pontoon Pier

I painted this in Arkansas one afternoon, standing on the shores of Lake Dardanelle. For awhile, two of my favorite peeps were with me but they finished up and took off. Soon after that, a group of people arrived, consisting of two couples and someones mom. They sashayed past the "No Fishing From Pier" sign with their fishing gear and proceeded to fish off the pier, right across from Arkansas Nuclear One cooling tower. I tell you, it made a great poster. Their colorful lawn chairs and the big red "no fishing" sign would have made a very nice painting. I hope you'll accept this painting as a suitable substitute, since it was nearing completion when the new painting arrived.

Rainy Petit Jean

One of our paint days in Arkansas was rainy. We were caravanning up to Petit Jean State Park, hoping for clearing, but twas not to be.
Protection was found in a great pavilion that had a rope across the entrance; very easy to step over. We set up our gear and had been painting for about 30-40 minutes when a park ranger happened by to see if we'd paid to be there. Not really good public relations. I won't tell you about how they charged us $50 for an hour and a half (by-the-half-day). I'll focus on the positive: it was truly beautiful, in a moody, meditative way. I tried to depict the feeling of the many trees, the changing season, and the water down below, without getting too busy with the forty-two billion leaves. I stood in the doorway of the building, listening to the rain on one side and the people I love talking on the other, my dog by my feet and a brush in my hand. It does not get much better than this.

Piney Point, Lake Dardanelle

I'm back from New York and ready to get to work, starting with this blog!

As far as I know, this piney point has no name, so I'm giving it one for free.

The painting is from our trip to Arkansas. Our vantage point was the headquarters of Dardanelle State Park; this is my morning painting. I was with 3 of my favorite people, 2 of whom painted nearly identical paintings from slightly different perspectives, and we weren't even cheating! The captivating thing for me was the way the early sun was lighting the sides of the trees on the point and the fall colors on the distant shore, while the actual point still rested in the shadows.   

Sol Mates, 8x10. sold

Oh my dears, what a fantastic time I have been having. I spent a week painting in San Antonio with the fabulous Kathryn Stats, turned right around and went to Arkansas on a campout/paintout trip with some of my favorite peeps.
This was the very first painting that I did, as the sun was setting on our first day, of some boats at the marina across from our campground on Lake Dardanelle. It sold to another painter and very dear friend who was also there for the week.
I surely would have spent another couple of hours playing with this but here's my new MO: quit while you're ahead. *sold     

Anita

I'm leaving for San Antonio for a week to paint once more with landscape painter, Kathryn Stats. My focus for the rest of the year will be toward the outdoors but I still have a lot of figure work to share with you. I chose Anita to be the perfect bookmark till I get back; she just looks like San Antonio to me. 
My intent with this study was to paint in a fairly high key and yet still show that the light was cool and bright, leaving distinct warm shadows.
I was nearly done with the painting when I left the portrait group so I finished up when I got back to my studio, with no model. Because of that, I quit thinking "Anita" and just focused on my goals for the painting. I do like the look that ended up in her eye; I think she's remembering the Alamo. I just saw Pee Wee's Big Adventure, so now I know there's no basement at the Alamo. To be honest, I don't know if I'll even have time to visit the Alamo while I'm gone, so I might have to just remember it my own self! See you soon :-)

Pretty in Pink

This is Chelsea, the same Chelsea from a couple of posts ago. She has naturally curly hair that also looks very natural straight, so when she came to the studio one day with curly hair, I was taken aback for a moment! I very much love the curls.
This may look like all my other studies but the approach is so different that the whole thing feels different to me.
I spent a week painting with Clayton Beck and he really pushed me to see the darkest lights and the lightest darks in my subject. That's what I was concentrating on while painting Chelsea.
They should hook an artist up to a brain machine while he's working and look at the activity. Choosing and mixing paint, listening and talking, seeing really hard and translating very quickly... it's a 3-ring circus between my ears when I'm working!
There's more to come, I've been learning a lot. 

The Grand National Exhibition 2011

James' Game of Risk has been selected for the Grand National Exhibition in New York City, sponsored by the American Artists Professional League. This organization has existed since the 1920's and was founded "to advance the cause of the fine arts in America through the promotion of high standards of beauty, integrity and craftsmanship in painting, sculpture and the graphic arts (and) to emphasize the importance of order and coherent communication as prime requisites of works of art through exhibitions and publications."
The exhibition opens in November.
I'm so thankful to organizations like this who have kept representational art alive long enough to see a real revival. There are a few who have held the torch all by themselves for a long time. I wish I'd known them all along but I'm glad that I know them now. Thanks for visiting :-)

 

 

Chelsea Study

Chelsea and I worked very hard our first day together.  We had many plans but our plans were altered when the studio was invaded by college men who evidently are very interested in the creation of art. There can be no other explanation for their hovering and hanging around.
The canvas is 20x16 and the image is larger than life. I did not intend to make the face so large but I think that my subconscious wanted to study this lovely face. Sargent says to begin the head smaller than life since the tendency is to enlarge it as you work. I think this is an interesting psychological phenomenon.
I met Chelsea recently at an art show and was simply struck by her enchanting eyes. I feel fortunate that she is available to model and I hope that I will be able to do her beauty justice as I become more familiar with her lines.
Well anyway, I appreciate your stopping by to visit :-)

Blue Tutu

I haven't been posting much because I've been working on larger paintings and have been very focused on that~ I hope you'll forgive me.
I'm in 4 groups that meet together to paint the figure: Mondays and Fridays are 3-hour poses, Tuesdays are ballerinas, Saturdays are nudes. I am also in a group with my friends who plein air paint when possible. These groups generate lots of sketches and a few finished paintings.
This is one sketch, from last Tuesday, that I brought back and finished. The model was in front of a white wall but when I got to my studio, I hung a paisley pillowcase on the wall with thumbtacks and loosely used it's pattern for my background. My studio light and our group's light are exactly the same so it was an easy insertion. The model actually held multiple short poses and this "long pose" I believe was only 60 minutes long. She was quite lovely and I think she inspired everyone there. Thanks for visiting!