Jack

With the arrival of spring, we are in the midst of a huge snow/ice storm (of course).  Because of the storm, our Thursday group decided not to meet, because we all travel some distance to get to Stowe.  I was pretty sad, so Jack agreed to pose for me.  This is the alla prima that I just did.  Maybe, I'll try tweaking it a bit, if I can get him to pose again.  He reached his limit for sitting, and I didn't press it.  I just realized that  I've only painted Jack a few times, but it was usually a picture of him in the act of painting , and not a head study.  It is funny how time slips away.

George

I'm working on this still life...well, I've been trying to finish it really.  I just replaced the lettuce which had wilted a while ago, as well as some tomatoes,  and started painting, when Roy showed up needing me to babysit for George.  So, I got out my trusty backpack!  Truly, the backpack is the best gadget ever invented.  Well, maybe that's a bit strong, but it sure is handy.  I used this backpack when I painted  with all of my kids.  One more thing...you are never too young to start art training...look how interested George is. 

New Developments

The painting group at Dee's this week held many surprises.  The model was great.  I try to move around the room so that some weeks I have rim light, sometimes side light, sometimes three-quarter, and sometimes flat light. I chose to paint flat light this week. Flat light is always difficult, but it is good to battle it out and try.  Remember, there's work in brushwork!  So, my brain had a workout, and I'll post the results tomorrow.

At one of the breaks, one of the other artists asked Priscilla the ages of her children.  She answered, "Violet will be 4 years old in June,  Emma is 16 months, and NEW BABY IS DUE IN NOVEMBER!!"  What a surprise!  Boy, was it hard to keep my mind on painting.

Yes, I love painting, but I really love being a grandma!  Besides....there will be more models!  

So, here it is by the end of the session.  Trying to figure out where to put the bow is tricky.  But, I will put it in carefully when it is dry.  All in all, it was one of the most entertaining painting sessions ever!  

Jeremiah

Here is my start.  I wiped my first attempt out and flipped the canvas to do a horizontal for the second attempt.  This was probably 20 minutes.  Frank Mason always said that you put down everything you know in about 20 minutes, and in many ways that is true.  My initial lay-in hit the pose I wanted as Jeremiah played song after song.  It was interesting to note that watching him play and trying to get the gesture was better than when he "froze".  The pose, then, became very stagnant and less interesting.  Alla prima painting is sort of like gesture drawing...actually it is gesture painting, which is drawing with the brush at its best.

More pictures from Dee's studio

There's no instruction.  Each artist works in his/her own manner.  Here is Jack.  He is painting with oil on paper.  Our model this week was a local musician named Jeremiah, another one of Priscilla's friends.  He's a fiddler, and he played the entire time.  It was wonderful.  Painting a moving target is no easy feat.  Occasionally, he would "freeze" and we would scramble to try to get in those hands before the bow started moving again.  

Dee Macy's Studio - Stowe, VT

Our Thursday group has grown to around 11 artists.  We meet at Dee Macy's studio in Stowe.  Every one splits the model fee and just paints.  Priscilla has decided to paint instead of model.  

Dreadlocks

After posting the painting of Charles, I decided to add this painting that I did of Priscilla with dreadlocks.  I probably painted it in 2004.  It is also an alla prima painting on panel.  This was the original "Stylin'" painting.  If you go back to the beginning of my blog, you will see me painting Priscilla again in the same theme.  The dreadlocks were gone, but the curly pony tail worked.

Our group on Thursday painted our first male model, Charles.  He is a musician from Bakersfield, and one of my kid's friends. Enlisting models seems to take a standard course...first you get family members and then talk friends into posing. Charles had never posed before, but being used to performing, he didn't mind us squinting and staring at him. It is an odd fact, but there are probably more kids in Vermont with dreadlocks than in most other states.  Yes, 2 of my 5 children wore them at one time or another, and I must admit....they are fun to paint!  This, again, is an alla prima oil on panel.

Head Study

Here is another alla prima oil that I painted during one of the sessions in Stowe.  It is fun to complete (or at least try to get as far as I can) a painting in one sitting.   I am convinced that in order to keep learning, I need to do quick studies like this and then slow, carefully conceived and constructed paintings.  As long as an artist can stay on a learning curve, she/he will continue to improve.  Painting can be frustrating at times.  There are always times when you seem to hit a plateau....and then.....Bingo!  You have a break through.  Advice to self:  Keep painting!

Still Life Revisited

I did a little glazing on this one:  the background, bowl, berries and print.  I might do a little more, but I don't want the painting to get too picky or overworked.  So, I will put it aside for a while and think about it.

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".