Mommy Paints

Ryann, who is a mom to a 3 year old and a 1 year old, posed for around 2 hours.  Priscilla did a pastel drawing while Phinny (3 month old) slept in his little seat.  I painted fast and furiously, massing my darks and then massing my lights.

Mommy Paints

Facebook is an interesting way to stay connected with other artists.  It is also how I stay connected to my kids who are living out west.  With many "art groups" to choose from on FB, I joined one called, "Mommy Paints".  The creator of the group proposed a 3 month project where all participants would show what they are working on, with the goal to have something at the end of 3 months.  Yesterday, Priscilla (part of the group and mom of 3) and I painted.  Here is the start of an 18"x24" head study of Ryann (who happens to b a mom of 2).

...and more photos of the big landscape

More photos of the Big Landscape

Progress on the Big Landscape

Jack continues to work on the big landscape.  He has been painting on it since October.  His palette has premixed scales of gray and green, along with his line of cadmiums.  After each painting session, he covers his palette and stores it in the garage, which, at this time of the year, is equivalent to storing it in the freezer.

Mother & Child

Phineus was born in November, and I attempted a Mother and Child painting in late December.  Priscilla was actually doing a drawing, and Phin was sitting in his little seat.  Every time she picked him up, I tried to paint him.  I liked the start, which was painted in one shot,  but I couldn't get back to it.  A few days later, I tried to work on it again, but over did it.  I'll think about this one for a while, and I'll try to tone it down and finish it.  For me, if I can have a solid chunk of time to paint it in one shot, or alla prima,  I am usually happier with the results.

Slow Going

In June, Jack and I are having a 2 person show at the Southern Vermont Art Center in Manchester, VT.  I decided to do a few larger than usual still life paintings.  Here is one that I am currently working on.  Working on a larger painting means not working alla prima, my normal approach, but working in layers.  This is slow going, with a lot of re-working, and trying to keep the painting unified is the biggest challenge.   This painting is 30"x40" and it is an oil on linen.  

Drawing for information

To get enough information to do a large studio landscape, Jack does several very careful, tight drawings.  He uses a mechanical pencil and toned paper.  He is drawing for information, not for a broad general effect or gesture, but for specifics.  This is one of the drawings that he is using to create the big painting, and it is clipped to the easel to the right of the large painting, so that he can refer to it often. 

Working on the BIG painting

Because the painting is 6' tall, Jack uses a step ladder to reach higher areas of the painting, but stands on the floor to work on the grasses and rocks in the foreground.

Jack's BIG landscape painting

Doing a large studio landscape from plein air studies takes a lot of work.  This summer Jack did several plein air, or on the spot, paintings at the swimming hole in Jeffersonville.  He does these outdoor studies over a number of days, rather than in one shot.  Then, he goes back and does several drawings of particular detail that he will need when he composes his larger painting in the studio.  The completed painting shown here is the plein air study, and on the easel is the start to the larger painting (4'x6') that he is painting from the study.  His drawings and paintings are on the skinny easel to the right of the big painting.

Massing

This quote is by Frank Vincent Dumond, who taught painting at the Art Students League in New York for nearly 60 years, and it should be the motto of every realist painter who paints from life.  He taught my teacher, Frank Mason, how to mass, and Frank Mason taught me.  I now teach it to my students.  Massing is the underlying structure that every good painting should have to make it read as an illusion of light, form, and depth.  Massing is learning to simplify and let go of the outline, and instead, think in terms of bulk, weight and advancing or receding in space.  

I have this quote taped to the top of my easel as a reminder.  Every painting is problem solving, and learning to solve your masses is key.

Priming Linen

We paint on various surfaces:  canvas, panel and paper.  Here are a couple of shots of Jack priming the linen.  He usually does this in the summer and in the driveway.  The linen is tacked to a large board.  Later, when this is dry, he stores it to let it cure.  Then, he can cut it (or keep it large for a big painting) for various size canvases.  

Priscilla

Although most of the students in my workshop were working in oils, Priscilla chose to work with pastel pencils.  The principles are the same.  Mass your shadows, mass your lights relative to your shadows, and you will create an illusion of light every time.  Pastel pencils are a great medium.  They are forgiving and can be erased.  They are easy to store, and the clean up is a snap.  It is a great alternative for moms with little kids and limited time for painting.

Model

My first weekend workshop was an intensive that touched on:  still life, landscape (plein air) and portrait.  All of the disciplines are connected.  They all feature problem solving with light, form, depth and movement, and one discipline helps the other.  The portrait segment was on the last day, and we had a spectacular model.  In this photo, she is taking a break, but you can see the skull and the "planes" head that I always use to help students analyze the form and structure on the model.   Future workshops, as well as weekly classes and "Open" sessions (no instruction) will focus on portrait/figure painting.

First Workshop

This past weekend, I taught my first workshop in the studio.  I limit my classes to 8 students, and I had 7 in this class.  We all fit in pretty well.  Six still lifes were set up around the room, so the students are facing in various directions.  Squinting is a big part of learning to simplify and mass.  The student on the left is squinting and using her brush to measure.  A workshop format is very intense, and we are using comparative relationships to gage space and value.  All painting is from life and done in alla prima, or one shot.  So, we are drawing and painting simultaneously.

Using Both Tables at Once

In this photo, I am painting 2 still life paintings.  You can see both set-ups.  The still life table with the brass and flowers has had the backdrop removed, so that I am using just the wall color for my background. 

Everything in the studio is movable.  Different configurations can be quickly arranged to best suit my needs, or get the desired light effect.  In this photos, you can see 2 still life tables.  The one with the cast also serves as a storage unit for new canvases or panels.  The top is painted in a faux marble, and the whole thing is on casters so it can be moved around the room.  The other table is his new invention.  I can change the height of my still life by moving the table to a different position on the black blocks, which you can see under the table.  This is very handy because I am a foot shorter than Jack!  Along the sides of the table, and behind my set up, are 2 slots in which different colored backdrops can be placed.  Again, the whole thing is on casters.

Studio Interior

Here I am in the studio.  Behind me, you can see the model stand, an adjustable still life table that Jack made and a large canvas on Jack's easel.  He plans on painting a large landscape, over the winter, from one of his smaller plein air studies (and drawings) that he did this summer.

Studio Sign

The sign went up over the front door.  2009 marks our 30th year in Vermont.  

Over the last 6 months, we have been building a studio.  The skylights face north, so the light is cool and consistent.  It measures 24'x28', and it is large enough so I can teach.  Prior to this, most of my teaching was done out of state and in the form of "workshops".  Now, with the studio, I can set up a weekly schedule, as well as workshops for serious students who want to learn to paint in a realistic manner from life. 

..and back at the studio...

...Meanwhile, back at the studio... I love summer, and this set-up says summer to me!  This was painted in one day.  It is an oil on panel that is 12"x24".  When you have fresh fruit, you have to paint quickly or else fruitflies have a field day.  My first session on a painting is generally my longest, and consequently, most important, so I paint as long as I can before the light fades (natural north light).  This is where I get my forms, colors, masses, and rhythms set.  Anthony VanDyke (17th century, Flemish Old Master) is credited with saying:

Endeavor as far as possible to complete your picture alla prima, because there is always plenty left to do afterwards.

To me, this is very true and logical.  It also keeps your work fresh and the fruitflies at bay. :)

Lake Champlain

Yesterday was a perfect summer day.  So, we headed in to Burlington to paint along the shores of Lake Champlain, New England's West Coast.  Looking across the lake, you can see the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York.  Jack set up in the shade (very smart) and chose a long view.  The clouds were magnificent and changed continually, so it would have been a good day to just paint clouds, too.  You can see the start of his painting with his toned panel, not yet covered by paint,  at the bottom.  We always paint on a toned canvas. 

I chose to paint the shore, where the light, that was filtering down and hitting the rocks, caught my attention.  When I forget my mahl stick, I use my left arm as a mahl stick.   This helps to steady, or brace,  my right arm so that I can make more precise brushstrokes.  

Painting with friends

Painting with other artists is always fun.  Recently, Jack & I had the pleasure of painting with Jeffrey Freedner, who also studied with Frank Mason.  We set up overlooking Boyden Winery in Cambridge.  The farm field has a lovely dirt road that snakes its way down to the Lamoille River.  Jeff really caught the movement and a nice sense of depth.  He also has a blog:  www.jeffreyfreedner.blogspot.com.  

He has a great hat that keeps his neck from too much sun, and it offers good protection against those sneaky mosquitoes!  

Drawing at the Swimming Hole

When we painted and drew here the other day, it was gray and started to rain, and we returned home before I was really "finished".  So, my plan today was to go back and try to finish, or clean-up and tighten-up a bit, my other drawing.  However, when I arrived sun was hitting my tree, and it was so lovely, that I was inspired to do another.

Drawing can tell you alot about yourself.  I discovered, or I am beginning to realize more and more, that I draw more like a painting.  I am attacted to the light effect and the movement, more than the details, and I work from the general to the specific, as I do in painting.

Again, I am using my sketchbook (Fabriano Quadrato Artist's Journal), and I am drawing with pencils and white chalk.

More Drawing & Painting at the Swimming Hole

Jack & I decided to go back to the swimming hole in Jeffersonville.  Jack usually works on one of his plein air paintings for several sessions.  He works slowly and deliberately, carefully thinking out his form and light, while modeling and drawing with the brush.  This is the third session with this painting.  Working this way, he has to return to the same spot, at the same time, so the light is the same.  

Big Easel

We got out early this morning, and Jack took me to a place that he had painted in early spring.  The weeds were over my head, but we managed to get to the little brook with the view of Mt. Mansfield, the highest mountain in Vermont.  The space was pretty limited.  Jack had a large canvas, so he took his "big" easel.

This easel was owned by Thomas Curtin, who was a friend of my sister-in-law, and was an artist who had lived in Cambridge, VT.  He had passed away in 1977.  Before he died, he gave the easel to my sister-in-law to give to us.  It is a Gloucester easel manufactured by Oscar Anderson, and it is a very ingenious invention.  It is very simple, and Jack's paintbox and landscape palette fits nicely on the v-shape in the middle.  The canvas is sits on pegs, and the top of the canvas is held by a stick.  

Jack is working on linen with an oil priming, and it is 24"x30".  He will go back several times to the same spot to finish the piece.  This was just the start.

I am working on a small gessoed panel, and instead of getting in the big mountain, I decided to concentrate on the bank just across the brook.  You can see that my landscape palette box is held onto my easel by a small bungie...works great!

Here is a close-up of my palette box.  I need to fix it up a bit now.  When I mix a fresh palette, I can keep it in the freezer, and this will keep the paint from drying out.

Landscape Palette

Sometimes I use a smaller easel, which is lightweight, compact and good for camping trips.  When I use this easel, I do not bring my normal "landscape palette" box, because it is too large. So, I came up with the truncated version that you see here.  The colors shift prismatically, as well as in value, which I find very useful.  

Jack was smart and painted in the shade.  

Drawings

I decided to do more drawing this summer, so while Jack was painting this morning, I took out my trusty sketchbook and drew this tree.  It is done with pencil, a little ink and it is highlighted with white chalk.  When it started to rain, we packed up.  I may go back to try to finish it.  I have painted an oil sketch in this same spot, so now I am trying to do a little more detailed drawing, which will enable me to do a larger studio landscape, using my plein air sketch and the drawings that I hope to accomplish.

Make Art

The local swimming hole in Jeffersonville, with its little waterfall, is a great painting spot.  Early in the day (especially a gray day) is quiet, whereas later in the day (if it is hot and sunny), the place is packed with bathers.  Jack took advantage of the quiet to paint here.  

You can see his set-up, with his "landscape palette" of premixed value scales.  Premixing a palette gives you control, as well as freedom to explore color harmonies.  It also enables you to paint quickly, which in outdoor landscape painting with its ever-changing light and other challenges (bugs, wind, rain, etc.) is important.

Our local art supply store came up with this bumper sticker.

Modes of transportation

With summer finally here, outdoor landscape painting (plein air) goes into full swing.  Jack's favorite mode of transportation is this old Helix (Honda) scooter.  It gets over 70 mpg, so it is very economical. You can see his easel strapped to the side, his basket with supplies, and he built a special box to carry the wet painting, which goes in the trunk.