Another Alla Prima

I thought that it would be fun to do a painting with my granddaughter, Violet, and my daughter, Priscilla.  Violet had her little easel set up in my studio.  Priscilla was on the other side of her 2-sided easel, painting a picture of Violet.  Somehow, I forgot how hard it is to get kids to cooperate.  So, the painting kept morphing.  Priscilla started looking more like me, and Violet stopped posing altogether.  This was a one-shot attempt, but I think I will try to keep working on it.

Alla Prima Study

Recently,  I have been painting with 5 other artists in Stowe, VT.  We meet at Dee Macy,s studio which is large enough to accomodate all of the easels, painting supplies and a model.  The model takes a pose, which is repeated for 3 hours.  In that time, we all paint like crazy.  This is the result of one of those sessions.  It is an alla prima oil of my daughter's Mother-in-Law, Nancy.  This is one way to solve the expense of  hiring a model.  All of the artists pitch in to pay the modeling fee.  This would have been one that I would have loved to work on just a little longer.  Perhaps, we can get the model to pose again, but it was a fun study, at any rate. 

Still Life

Here is a little still life that I just started working on when I had to stop and take care of my grandchildren.  When I got back to it, it was too dark to paint in the studio.  The next day, the paint had dried.  I prefer painting wet-in-wet where I can manipulate the paint and carefully work out my forms, modeling and editing as needed.  So, I had to re-work the entire surface.  I need  to finish this painting soon (the berries are getting a little spoiled).  The actual vase has a blue print, but I refrain from putting it in until I am satisfied with the form and light.  When the paint is dry, I will carefully apply the blue.  In this way, I can keep the print very clean and crisp..

Margaret Hampster

There are times when our children do some pretty strange things.  My daughter invented Margaret Hampster,  an odd character , who has become her pseudonym.  She poses as Margaret when she hosts the Community Calendar for a public access television station.  Margaret is never seen without her "mink".  This painting is a work in progress.  Margaret, of course, is wearing her "mink", and she is holding her "pearls" (which I haven't painted in yet).   This is the first portrait painting that I have tried under electric lights.  I never paint under artificial light, but in order to get the model...I had to work at night.  It is certainly different than under natural light, but I am still having fun.  Hopefully, I can get back to working on it soon.

OK. One more old photo. Here is Jack painting outdoors in 1975. This was during the Art Students League days, before moving to Vermont. We used to take Frank Mason's Landscaping Painting class every June in Vermont. It always struck me that an entire group of artists would put their jobs on hold, go to Vermont, and take this month long plein air workshop. It was intense, and we worked really hard. The classes met 3 times a week: one was a sunrise class, one was a sunset class and the other one was a class where you brought in work that you did on your own for the critique. We would spend the entire month camping out, on the land where we now live, and doing landscapes. It was a lot of fun. Frank, who is now 86 years old, is still teaching this workshop every June, as well as still teaching at the Art Students League. He imparted a love of painting from life that has left an indelible mark.

Here is a view of the north wall in 1983. Paintings used to hang all around the room. The cabinets are now along the north wall under the window. We heated the studio, in those days, with a wood burning stove that stood in the middle with a long stove pipe, that vented to the outside, just above the window. It was pretty cold in there, and it took a while to get toasty. You can see a homemade easel and Becky is peeking out at the bottom left of the photo. This picture has good light (no flash). The light is soft and the shadows are luminous.

Here I am in 1983. The baby is my son Daniel. You can see the still life set-up and the painting. We painted a lot of hexagons for a while, and this one is on linen. Another table for still life is set up on the model stand, which is on the east side of the studio in the photo. This picture, too, was taken with a flash, so you are not getting the real light, which was very dramatic.

Here is a picture of Jack in the studio in 1981. He is sitting on the model stand against the south wall. Note that this is pre-water heater and pre great shelf. We used to have paintings hanging all around the room and stacked along the floor. You can see the door to the outside, which is on the east side of the studio.

Well, here I am in 1981. The baby in the backpack is my daughter Elisabeth. As you can see, some things never change.....I still paint and hold babies at the same time (see the first photo at the beginning of my blog). My old easel is holding a still life that I did that year of nasturtiums. Behind me is the south wall of the studio with the door that leads into the house. The studio was a cream color then, and we didn't envision having to have so many shelves and storage racks. You can see another one of my casts on the wall. The camera had an automatic flash, so you are not getting the real "studio light".

I thought it would be fun to take a look at the Winslow Art Studio in the 80's and 90's. We only have a few pictures to share. Obviously, this is before we had a digital camera . This first picture is of the sign we hung on our garage in 1980. Yes, Jack made the sign.

Studio Photo Explanations

Since one commenter requested photos of my studio, I quickly took several shots and posted it below, but I didn't have time to give a commentary....so... here we go: We built the studio when we moved to Vermont in 1979. It is attached to our house, and it is 16'x20'. From the doorway (bottom photo), I am looking towards the north side, where we have a big window that starts about 8' off the floor. This gives us great light. North light is constant. It doesn't change, and since we paint basically paint from life, and we are painting an illusion of light, the light on the subject (flowers, people, whatever) has to be the same. Jack built the cabinets,that you see under the window, around 1990. Our growing collection of props and materials are housed behind these doors. On top of the cabinets, you can see some of my casts.

My easel (present this year) stands on the west side of the room. You can see my still life table with its faux marble top and painting storage racks below. Jack built this, too. I set up still life here, as well as on the dresser to the right of this. So, my light usually come from the above right, unless I get to set up on the other side of the room. Jack also built the painting storage racks to the left of the still life table. Storage is a problem if you are a prolific painter.

On the east side of the room is Jack's easel with a landscape that he is working up from one of his plein air studies. The study is on my old easel which is to the right of this. You can see our skeleton, some pigments, a model stand which is covered with boxes of mat board at the moment, and another storage thing with props in front of a door to the outside.

On the south side, there is a shelf that runs across the room with more stored paintings, and yes, you guessed it....Jack built this, too. You can also see our water heater, the huge frame that was on one of Jack's large paintings that hung in the store, some mahl sticks and a dart board (go figure). The quote that runs along the bottom of the shelf is by J. M. Whistler and reads:

As music is the poetry of sound, so is painting the poetry of sight.

Since I consider myself a poetic realist, this quote says it all. I love quotes and have them around the studio for inspiration and help.

So, that's my studio...somewhat messy, somewhat disorganized, somewhat corny, but with dramatic light that lends mystery and importance to somewhat ordinary objects.

Studio

Another floral

The flowers are at the end of the season. Autumn is just about here, so this is one of the last offerings from the tired garden. This is another start. I have a light colored backdrop behind the set up to compliment the colors. I like to alternate my backgrounds. It keeps me from falling into a "formula". Actively solving a visual problem takes effort. My studio is crammed with props, panels, canvases, paints and supplies, as you can see.

Palette

My palette is made of glass and painted gray on the bottom. I make a gray scale by mixing Permalba white (titanium & zinc mixture) with ivory black. This was the palette I used doing the head study of the young girl in the previous entry.

Head Study

This is another 1 hour (mayble 1 1/2) alla prima head study. It is an oil on panel. Finding the correct pitch and value relationship was imperative. I painted this one as a demo at 100 Main Street Fine Art (www.visionsofvermont.org) where I am currently showing.

More demos

Here I am painting another demo for a plein air landscape class that I taught in CT for Sylvan Gallery (http://www.sylvangallery.com/). Outdoor painting takes a great deal of preparation. I mix a value scale of landscape colors so that I can paint very fast. You can only paint for 2 (maybe 3) hours before the light is so completely different, which of course, changes the whole painting. Most of my paintings are small oil sketches. Painting and explaining why I am using certain colors and principles are very helpful to new artists. It is invaluable to a student to see how an artist works and solves a visual problem. I ask questions so that the students can see what I am trying to solve, so my demos are interactive. Being able to answer the questions is a form of mental painting, and mental painting comes before the physical. It gives you a direction, and by actively being engaged in problem solving, keeps the painting moving forward. The workshop format is intensive. It is for learning how to start and use artistic principles rather than trying to complete a salable painting. All of my classes are process oriented, not project oriented. The student, then, returns home armed with information that they can incorporate into their own work at their own pace.

Demos

So, what have I been up to this summer?....lots of demos & lots of teaching. This was a 1 1/2 hour Alla Prima portrait demo that I did at the Southern Vermont Art Center in July. I am teaching a Portrait Painting Clinic there September 21-22 (www.svac.org) and another at the Lyme Art Association October 6-7 (www.lymeartassociation.org). Executing a quick study involves setting down the right "pitch" and manipulating the value scale decisively to create a relative light effect. Here, my brighted note was in the model's hair.

Easels

This is a plein air painting, or field study. That means that it is done outdoors, directly from nature. Jack will usually make a larger painting, in the studio, from his studies. Good draftsmanship is important, and learning to "draw with the brush" takes skill. To steady his hand, Jack always uses a mahl stick.

Easels

Painting is a solitary activity. The artist is working out his composition, and is actively engaged in visual problem solving. It takes a great deal of thought to paint a good picture. The artist must find equipment that suits his/her needs and temperament. This is my husband Jack. He uses a portable steel easel which fits nicely on his motorcycle. The palette box breaks down into 2 sections, so that it is compact as well. A juice can serves as a brush holder and hangs off the box for easy access. To paint well, your equipment must serve, not hinder, your creativity.

Violet Pepper

Violet seemed pleased with the results. Don't worry...the painting was dry.