In these 2 photos, you can see the model, my painting and palette, Priscilla drawing and some random still life set-ups. I teach on Fridays, so I always have still life set-ups at various stations around the studio. My class is very low-key and friendly, and I paint as well, demonstrating and explaining principles. Students are free to watch me paint, and I am available to answer questions and help them with their paintings.
3 comments:
Hi Karen,
I just discovered your blog. I find your palette very interesting. I occasionally use a Reilly palette, for flesh, which has grey, yellow, orange and pink strings, but I have never seen a vertical setup with blues and greens for landscape.
Where did this idea originate? Is it your invention?
What a great space and setup you have! I am green with envy. It must be wonderful to have all that space.
Hi Laurel,
Thanks for commenting on my blog. I studied with Frank Mason at the Art Students League in New York back in the seventies. We used a cadmium palette with the corresponding grays. I recently started mixing some "flesh" colors as an addition to this palette for indoor portrait painting.
Frank Mason, my teacher, and Frank Reilly (the Reilly palette that you are using) studied with Frank Vincent Dumond (lots of Franks) who taught this controlled palette (with the value strings). My teacher, who inherited Dumond's class at the Art Students League, taught this controlled approach in his plein air workshops, too. When I was studying landscape painting with Mason (in the seventies), our class started organizing our "value strings" in vertical shelves. This kept the mixing area clear. Various boxes with varying numbers of shelves started appearing. My husband has made a number of different set-ups to fit various easel configurations. It is extremely useful and makes doing landscapes outdoors manageable.
The studio space is new. After painting together in a much smaller space for 30 years (my husband is a painter too, and we have 5 children), we finally built a studio large enough to accommodate a number of students. I also, now, host an "Open" figure/portrait painting session each week (no instruction) with a model taking a long pose for 3 hours. The light is wonderful and dramatic.
If you are ever in Vermont, you are welcome to come and paint in the studio!
Thanks, Karen, for taking the time to give more details about your palette. I can definitely see the value in having all your "notes" laid out when painting outdoors, given the time constraints of changing light conditions!
I think you deserve some kind of medal for accomplishing anything at all with 5 children and you have clearly been very productive - congratulations!
I wish I lived in Vermont so I could attend your open studio. I was there many moons ago for skiing, but I just may take you up on the invitation if I make it down that way again some day :)
Bye for now,
Laurel
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