Various Palettes

I have been painting a long time (since 1973 when I started studying with Frank Mason at the Art Students League), and since that time I had been using pretty much the same palette, or line-up of colors. This palette was a "Cadmium Palette", meaning I used the full range of cadmiums paints, from cadmium yellow lemon to cadmium red deep. Along with the cadmium colors, I used alizarin crimson, cerulean blue, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, raw umber, burnt umber, titanium white (of flake) and ivory black. Under my standard line-up, I made a series of grays using black and white.

When we built our new studio, I decided to expand my knowledge of color a bit, and I started trying different colors in my line-up. Most of the above palettes were used in different "Open" Figure/Portrait Sessions. The above pictures show some of my experiments. As you can see, the grayscale is the one consistency. I learned that there are other colors that I now use and love. Terra Rosa, Viridian, Orange Ochre, and Cadmium Brown are among some of them. Trying new colors keeps you from falling into a formula. It keeps you thinking and problem solving as use paint.

Open Figure/Portrait Sessions 2010

Twice a month, I host an Open Figure/Portrait Session. With the longer days, I shifted the hours to noon to 5pm. This seems to work for most people. Today's model wore a wonderful costume that she had made. To get the nice warm, reflected light, I opened the shutters on our south-facing window and draped it with material. This stopped the direct sun, but left a nice warm glow that you can see on the right side of the figure. It was fun to contrast the cool north light with the warm reflected light.

Working on Still Life

I added the blue print to the pitcher.

March

With the coming of March, I began painting with renewed energy. The longer days always make me happy. I can paint in natural light until around 6pm, so I have several paintings going at once. Purchasing a bouquet of supermarket roses inspired several paintings so far this month. The top photo shows a previously painted head study that I re-worked by adding a crown of flowers. The other photos show the set-ups and paintings, and the bottom one shows the start.

Open Figure/Portrait Sessions 2010

The Saturday Open Figure/Portrait Sessions are held the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month. So, we have had 4 sessions this year. All of our models were wonderful and offered different challenges. We had one nude, a mother and 6 month old baby, a woman in a medieval costume and a young man with a mandolin and really neat jacket. Here are a few photos from some of the sessions. It is fun to try to complete a study in one session, and it is great to paint with friends.

Jack's Screen

Jack has painted three double-sided screens over the years. All of them had three panels, but this is the only one with the rounded top on the middle panel, and it is my favorite! It stands in the corner of the new studio now, and it serves as the "changing room" for the model. We turn it around periodically, so that we can enjoy both sides. In the top photo, Violet is standing in front of it. On this side is the story of the Fox and the Crane from Aesop's Fables. In the second photo, Violet is peeking out from behind the screen. Can you see her? And in the third photo (which was taken at night), the story of the Fox and the Grapes from Aesop's Fables is seen. Walking into the studio and seeing this wonderful painting (paintings) makes me smile!

Watercolor & Gouache

More winter painting in watercolor & gouache from the comfort of my car. All of these are small and on toned paper. I usually use Canson pastel paper on the "rough" side.

Watercolor & Gouache

Stapleton Kearns's blog, which you can get to from my links, has been discussing painting winter landscapes outdoors. Oils paints get very stiff in frigid temperatures, and I hate painting with cold hands. So, rather than standing outside and freezing, my alternative for doing winter landscapes is to paint from the comfort of my car with the heater on and the wipers going when necessary. I use a combination of transparent and opaque watercolors on toned paper. These samples are very small (usually 4"x6" or 5"x7"), and it is easier to do a small watercolor/gouache in the car, where water is the only medium sloshing around, than it is to do a small oil, where the smell of your solvent can be too strong in a confined space.

I have discovered other artists who do something similar. One is Erik Tiemens who has an inspiring blog called Virtual Gouache Land (great title), another is Nathan Fowkes, and also Marc Hanson (who I discovered on Facebook), Marc has a nice, little winter study from his car on his January 13th post.

Creating studies, using transparent and opaque watercolors, is not new. Turner, Whistler, Sargent, and Homer all used them, so don't let the modern notion of leaving the white of the paper, for your white, deter you from trying this delightful technique.

If you want to paint a winter scene (without freezing or resorting to painting from photographs), I suggest gouache and watercolor painting en car. :D

Trying new things - Painting at other studios

From October - December 2009, I painted twice a month with a group of artists called the High Street Painters. They are located in Brattleboro, VT, which is a 3 hour drive from my house. They meet at the studio of Andrea Scheidler, who is one of the Putney Painters. The studio is located in a storefront along High Street.

The studio is very different from mine. Where my light source is natural light coming from north-facing skylights, the light here is completely artificial. The model had a strong spotlight with a diffuser-type shade that gave a nice light. Andrea hired lovely models and had very interesting props, so her set-ups were much more elaborate than mine.

It is interesting to paint with other professional painters who have a completely different approach. It keeps you learning and prompts you to attempt new things. Prior to painting with them, I had never really used viridian in figure/portraits.

These photos are from a few different sessions.

Thursday Evening Painting Demo

My weekly Thursday evening class is normally a still life class. However, this week I thought a portrait demo would be helpful because I want to change the weekly format to 3 still life classes and 1 portrait class per month. My daughter Annie posed, and here are a few photos from the session.

I used an extended palette, rather than a limited palette, and the painting is 14"x18".

Drawing - Endings

Trying to continue painting, drawing, or practicing any of the arts when you become a mom takes effort. You are a caregiver. On the other end of the spectrum, you may find yourself taking care of your parents or some older loved one, so you become a caregiver again. The same time restraints exist, if you are taking care of an older person that exists when you take care of young children, and it becomes very difficult to do artwork. Being flexible and often multi-tasking, in both situations, and not placing unrealistic expectations on yourself, is the way to go.

In 2007, I took care of my Mother-in-Law who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Taking care of an Alzheimer's patient, is very similar to caring for a young child, where constant supervision, support and guidance is needed. It takes a lot of work, and there is very little time to do any sort of artwork. During this period, I did several drawings.

I had always wanted to paint my Mother-in-Law when she was younger, but she never wanted to pose then. At this stage in her life, when the opportunity presented itself, she would sit and I would draw her. She seemed flattered that "The girl who whistled" (she couldn't remember my name) liked to study her face. It was a difficult time, but I am glad that I got this chance to draw her. Having my paper and drawing supplies ready made it possible. She passed away at home in February 2007. She was 86 years old.

Drawing - Beginnings

Drawing from life is a very intimate look into the way an artist sees and thinks. I like to draw on toned paper with conte, pastel pencils and white chalk. When my grandson George was born in Oregon, I did 2 tiny drawings of him when he was 3 days old. Being ready to draw, when the opportunity...or that little bit of time presents itself (like, when your child naps) is key to continuing to draw (or paint) when you become a mom.

Like my paintings, my drawings are often fast, notes really, suggesting light and form.

Casts

We began collecting casts when we attended the Art Students League in New York back in the seventies. Drawing and painting from a cast is extremely helpful in learning about planes of light, construction, proportion, and anatomy. Knowledge you gain from this can then be applied to painting from a model. Artists approach the study of casts in a variety of ways. We tend to fall into the comparative measuring group.

The top picture is a quick, little drawing in charcoal, conte and white chalk that I did. The middle picture shows our collection of casts. Some are masks, which hang against a wall, and some are free standing. Others are anatomical studies showing the muscles, one shows the planes of the head, and some are from famous sculptures. Jack is doing an oil study on paper from one of our masks.

Painting with kids

When your children have outgrown the backpack and playpen, you can have them paint with you in the studio. Jack made Violet a pint-sized version of our studio easels (that he also made). She is very proud of her easel and even sometimes lets Emma use it.

In the top photo, Emma is using the easel. She is 2 years old in this photo. Her studio attire includes big rubber boots with ducks! I was working on a floral still life while Emma painted. You can see my set-up and easel, and if you look down a few photos, you can see me working on this painting.

Violet is painting in the middle photo, and she is standing next to the little easel in the last photo. I included this bottom picture because you can see Jack's big landscape, "Vermont Summer" on the wall. This painting was on the cover of American Artist magazine in February 1991, which included a nice article about both of us. :)

Moms who Paint

My daughter Priscilla is a mom who paints. Moms who paint need to be flexible, they need to be able to paint whenever they can (like between naps) but setting aside some time to paint is important. Being prepared is also important. If you have little children, some sort of playpen that can be set up in your painting area so that the child can see you, works well. Priscilla attends some of the "Open" figure/portrait sessions, but she also sets up and paints still life in my studio. A backpack and a playpen become part of a mom/artist's painting equipment.

Moms who Paint

My original thought on my blog was to encourage moms who paint. When I began teaching, around 1997, I discovered that many of the women in my workshops or classes had painted in high school or college, and then they stopped cold when they had children. No doubt, it is hard to keep painting with little kids, but I did it, and I had 5 children within 9 years, so I know it can be done. It does take some planning and a few gadgets, but it can be done. Here are a few pictures of my daughter Priscilla. She attends the "Open" figure sessions when she can. As you can see, she uses a backpack, which is what I did too. You can see many more pictures, if you keep going back to older posts in the blog, where I am painting with a backpack. The backpack is a mom's best friend.