FREE OIL PAINTING DEMONSTRATIONS

Karen Winslow will be offering oil painting demonstrations from life at the studio in Cambridge.  These demonstrations will be held on one Saturday per month, and they will cover still life and portrait painting.  The demonstrations are free and open to the public, but the space is limited, so please call for more information and to reserve your spot.  Thanks.

Mommy Paints very fast

I took a picture of my palette before I started the painting.  It is basically a cadmium palette with grayscale.  I mixed some "flesh" tones as well.  The palette is a 12"x16" piece of glass that is painted with a mid-tone gray on the bottom.

After about 2.5 hours of work, Phineus woke up, Ryann had to return to her kids, and the painting session was over.  Given a longer amount of time, I am sure I would have developed the painting differently.  But, not knowing whether or when I could get the model again, dictates my methods.  Learning to work with time constraints gives me an incentive to work quickly, deciding what is essential and what is not.  Painting is a journey.  I have discovered, along the way, that I must stay true to my own temperament, and painting fast is how I paint.

Mommy Paints fast

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.   

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.