Back to the Drawing Board

   

Left: Value study of twins from a photograph

Right: Copy from a Sargeant drawing of Mrs. Horace Webber

Here is my drawing board. Both of these were basically quick studies, done in less than 30 minutes (I think). The Sargeant portrait is from the Dover book of his drawings which are black and white studies. It makes it pretty easy to copy exactly what he did, although if you compare mine to his you will see how many places need to be fixed.  I need to work on how to do the nose and mouth, so this is really helpful.

The value study from the photograph presents a completely different set of challenges and learning. First of all, I had to find a photo that lends itself to becoming a portrait. Then I realized that I don't have much experience drawing from photos. I chose this one because the two boys are identical twins, but don't actually look exactly alike. I wanted to see if I could capture the difference. Shane is pretty close but Nathan got lost back in the shadows. Those shadows again!!

It is also interesting to put these side by side. Clearly Sargeant had an eye for composition and contrast. He knew how to accentuate the features that he wanted to describe. Striking.

Flowers in a Blue Vase

 Flowers in a Blue Vase

I had fun with this painting done in class. The challenge was to represent the bright light. The colors were all over the place. I thought I wasn't going to like the set up - I was itching to reposition the flowers into a better arrangement. But as I painted I found I liked the balance and the confusion of the huge blossoms. Sonny, the teacher, helped me to simplify the shadows on the wall behind the flowers. It reminded me of Anne's caution: "Don't stare into the shadows!'

The teacher's overall comment was to continue to paint more and practice better drawing skills. Hmmm. I thought drawing was a relative strength. I guess it is, relative to anything else I can do! 

So, I need to work on my drawing and hope it will draw the rest of my skills along with it:)

Fruit with Pitcher

Cropped to show the part that I like best

 I have started a workshop class at 3Kicks Studio in Pasadena. Here is the first still life set-up that I painted. There was another still life choice and also a live model. I will do those in future weeks.

I got good feedback from the teacher. The challenge, of course, was to paint gray on gray, with very subtle value and temperature differences. He wasn't too impressed with this, but not too critical either. He guided us along, suggesting ways to keep it simple and focus on what was important. Mostly he said to "just keep painting and you'll be able to train your eye..." I feel like my eye is okay, it's my ability to render what my eye sees that is the problem!

Classwork

 

I may still go back and fix up the parts that are weak, or I may just move on and paint something different. I haven't decided yet.

I did two homework paintings of a gray on gray set-up. The teacher liked the set-up with the silver tray, and liked the solid feel of the objects. But the fruit looks flat - not enough light contrast - and the bottle highlights are too much. You can see that I kept this in mind as I finished my painting in class. Nice round fruit and not too much on the bottle. As for the wobbly lines, such as the edge of the plate, that's just me getting used to oil paint. It doesn't stay where you put it! I started with a nice even curve, but by the time I got the shadows in there and added the print to the fabric, the plate was a wobbly mess!

Homework

I will definitely move on in class to the next still life set-up. Enough of the gray on gray.

Color and Light

Ugh.
I am glad this class on color is over! I did learn a few things. But mostly I wasted a lot of paint.

Color Blocks

My art teacher was a student of Henry Hensche. It was his teaching method to have students paint colored blocks in different light as a way to study color. So our assignment is to collect and paint wooden blocks to represent the different color attributes: value, intensity and hue. Then we paint them over and over in different lights. I can see that this will really help me to SEE the colors and the light more accurately. It will also give me the practice and discipline to mix paint efficiently and effectively. It's like playing scales on the piano. Sigh.

I finally found a way to get a little bit more excited about this. I did the study, using cool colors on a cool cloudy morning. There really were no shadows at all. Bowing to the importance of simultaneous contrast (please be impressed), I carefully found the color of the cool, dull cloth underneath the blocks. But what about the rest of the background? It defines the color, too.

And so, kind viewer, can you guess what is at the top of my composition? It is the lovely camelia branches hanging down over the dewy wet garden bed. The color of the soil is accurate, and the three blocks of color for the leaves are very close. I'll see how my teacher reacts to this before I dare to paint in the hummingbird.

Hollyhocks

I am supposed to be painting blocks of color using a palette knife. I find it so boring and uninspiring!
Sooo, I went outside and painted our hollyhocks instead, using my brushes on a canvas board instead of the gessoed masonite we use in class.

My family and I have been watching these flowers slowly grow from a a mass of huge undefined leaves. We joked about the Little House of Horrors flower while we waited to see what these flowers would finally look like. They finally began to open and now are in full bloom.

The challenge in painting them was first, to simplify the composition enough to make the flowers stand out. They are against our fence with the oaks and sycamore behind them. The second thing was to somehow make all that green on green look both different and interesting. I am happy with the way they came out.

It was especially fun just to do what I wanted and be free of the requirements of my art class.

Dan McCaw Workshop

 Dan McCaw put on a painting workshop and demonstration this past weekend. He has a fabulous career as an artist, teacher,  and author. He spent most of the morning with a slide show and powerpoint presenting and commenting on his many years of work. It was really interesting.

He works closely with his two sons, who are also becoming successful artists. The interplay of ideas, and the physical support of having others to help build and transport the works, has clearly brought Dan a great deal of pride and joy.

 For his demo in the afternoon, he did this "head" as he simply calls this new phase he is in. He has done a large number of them, working from his imagination. He emphasized that he is exploring his own choices in art now. He feels freed from the demands of gallery success and popularity. He is aware that these heads are not "light and pretty" like the lovely beach scenes he has done, that they are not to everyone's taste. He has finally given himself permission to not try to please everyone!

 I love the pictures he has done of cafe scenes, with the lovely indoor light dramatizing a character or group of people in a seemingly leisure moment. His dark, brooding heads are not my preference. But despite that, I applaud Dan for finally following his own vision and imagination. It takes courage!