Terry Strickland Portrait Workshop at The Florence Studio, Fall of 2018!

I'm so pleased to announce that I'll be teaching again in Florence, Italy this fall. Here's a video created from a few clips one of the students took, (thank you Leslie) and other miscellaneous shenanigans from our trip last year.

I didn't have room to include pictures of the delicious gelato, so much great art, picture-postcard sunsets, our wonderful hosts, and the food, oh the food. You'll have to experience those for yourself.

Dates: Oct 1-5, 2018 - 
The Florence Studio

What: Oil Painting Portrait Workshop
5 days instruction Mon-Fri 10am-3:30pm

Price: 875 Euros, 50% non-refundable deposit due at time of registration. That price includes model fees. Students are responsible for their own airfare and accommodations. Register through The Florence Studio or Email me for more info at terrystr@terrystricklandart.com

About the workshop: This is a back to basics, oil painting, portrait class working from a live model. All skill levels are welcome from beginning to advanced. We will spend the first two days working on drawing, value and color mixing. The last three days we will put it all together in a painting of a single pose. I will give step-by-step demonstrations and individual easel to easel critiques. Most of all it's going to be fun!

Have you seen my TEDx Birmingham talk about empathy and realism?

Women Painting Women: In Earnest

A Traveling Museum Exhibition 

I'm honored to have my painting The Seamstress, included in the show. The list of artists includes many whose work I admire and have followed for as long as I've been doing this professionally, so pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Curators’ Statement

Women Painting Women: In Earnest is an exhibition that honors the human spirit and shares the thoughtful and unique vision of 34 artists who explore the complexity of being a woman today. Each artist looks beyond the surface of her subject, beyond mere replication of the physical world before her, in search of deeper realities. These artists have found a freedom to avoid voyeuristic depictions of the female form to examine honest and sometimes personal narratives about the struggles and resilience of the indomitable contemporary woman. With a sincere conviction to their craft, these artists raise such ideas as role association and identity, fragility with dignity, and emotional complexity to engage the viewer. Our hope as curators is that this exhibition will elicit an emotional response or unexpected connection that grants access to a greater depth of experience for both artist and viewer. As a noun, the word earnest can mean “a promise of what is to come." Indeed, these artists serve as the bellwethers at a time in history when women have the freedom to define how we see ourselves.  

~Alia El-Bermani - Curator and Co-Founder of Women Painting Women
~Diane Feissel - Curator and Co-Founder of Women Painting Women

The Seamstress, 39x32, oil on canvas over panel.

Important information: 

Exhibition at Customs House Museum & Cultural Center, Clarksville, TN

August 1 – October 1, 2017 

August 10,  5-7pm -  Opening Reception 

Sept 16 - Artist and Curator Walking Tour  5-7pm I will be in attendance for this event

Exhibition at J. Wayne Stark Galleries at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

Oct 16 - Dec 31, 2017

Oct 18 - Panel Discussion in the College of Architecture

Oct 19 - Afternoon Demo in Stark Galleries or College of Architecture

If you are in Clarksville, TN, or College Station, TX, do stop by! And if you can't get to the show in person, there is a beautiful catalog available online.

Do women paint women differently than men? The WPW movement is giving us a chance to see these paintings in a collective way and an opportunity to contemplate the question.

I have painted a male model wearing this superhero shirt many times but never painted a woman wearing it before.

This is one of those paintings that for me began as a story inspired by an individual and personal story but has transcended into a universal theme.

The model is my daughter, Carly. Rather than wait for her time to come, this young heroine is taking her destiny in hand. Who doesn't want to be a superhero? ‘Tis better to create her own reality, even though at times it may feel as though she’s holding it all together with safety pins. She can be in charge and look feminine and sexy as hell at the same time.

Click on Read More below to see details of the painting and musings.

The Florence Studio Painting Workshop

I'm so pleased to announce I'll be teaching a workshop at The Florence Studio, in Florence, Italy, my first international class.

What: 5-6 day Holiday Workshop
5 days instruction Mon-Fri 10am-3pm with one-hour lunch break with some afternoon and Saturday group activities in Florence with our host, sculptor, and co-owner/operator, of The Florence Studio, Frank Rekrut.

Dates: Oct 9-13, 2017

Price: 875 Euros, 50% non-refundable deposit due at time of registration. That price includes model fees. Students are responsible for their own airfare and accommodations. Email me at terrystr@terrystricklandart.com or Laura at The Florence Studio, theflorencestudio@gmail.com to register

About the workshop: This is a back to basics, oil painting, portrait class working from a
live model.

All skill levels are welcome from beginning to advanced. We will spend the first two days working on drawing, value and color mixing. The last three days we will put it all together in a painting of a single pose. I will give step-by-step demonstrations and individual easel to easel critiques.

Most of all it's going to be fun! As of now, I think there are two spots open.

This is from a quick demo I did at the Portrait Society of Atlanta, last year. 

Here is one of my latest studio paintings. David and Bathsheba, 36x58, oil on canvas over panel, 2016.

See you in Florence.

Reinventing Ourselves from Another Point of View

Opening tonight, August 19, 2016! 7-10pm  

I'm so pleased to have my painting included in this First Annual Poets and Artists self-portrait show and publication. 

Self Portrait With Beard, 20x16, oil on canvas over panel

You may see all the work in the show by checking out

Poets and Artists publication of the show.

Or find more information at 33 Contemporary Gallery.

Also, you may view my recent TEDx Birmingham talk,
it's now up on YouTube.

TEDx Birmingham Talk, Art and Empathy

My talk is up on YouTube. What an honor it is to have been asked to do a talk at my local Birmingham TEDx event. It was a wonderful day, with so many amazing speakers!

I feel like this is THE opportunity one simply has to accept even if it's outside your comfort zone. What a great chance it is to talk about a concept that is important to you, something worth saying and worth sharing. After all, the point of TED talks is that they are Ideas Worth Spreading.

My nine minutes is about how viewing representational art can change our perspective and help us gain empathy for other humans. TEDx asked who might relate to my talk and after quizzing a few people that had heard the talk, the answer came back everyone. Art is merely the vehicle used to talk about human issues.

I could write more here, but why? Watch it and please share it on all your social media! If ever we could use a little more empathy it's right here and now.




You may read more about my TEDx journey and preparations HERE.

How to Paint Alla Prima Flowers

I've had these Amaryllis bulbs for years. They were at the house in Florida that we moved to three weeks before my son was born. Then they made the move to Alabama with us. They are a part of our late winter / early spring experience every year.

They have multiplied like crazy over the years and most of my gardener friends have some of their babies. I've never painted them. I guess because flower paintings aren't really my thing. Maybe I'm just being contrary. It seems like women are expected to paint flowers, so meh...I've just not been interested. Don't get me wrong I love other artist's paintings of flowers. And admire people that do them really well. 

But I wanted to do a figure painting featuring Amaryllis and realized I needed to do a couple studies. It turned out to be super fun. And you know if I had to pick a favorite color, it'd be red, so it wasn't like it was torture. So here's how it went.

Of course, I like a little dramatic lighting so I moved the flowers into the studio. 

I started working with Burnt Umber, Rembrandt, thinned a bit with Gamsol, odorless mineral spirits. I was working on a 20x16 RayMar panel. I used a large fan brush and a #2 filbert for some drawing. I did a rub out with a T-Shirt rag. 

I immediately, while everything was still wet, began laying in the colors. I worked from the background to the foreground and from darks to lights. It's important to work while everything is wet so you can get those really soft edges. 

Scarlet in Winter, 20x16, oil

Reds can be tricky to paint. Many people add white and then they have a pink flower. It's best to avoid white but change the pigments you are using. I used mostly Rembrandts like Scarlet, adding Permanent Madder Deep and other transparent dark colors like Ultramarine Blue Deep, Viridian, or Thalo Greens to darken and adding various Cadmium Reds in the light areas. There might also be some Pyrolene Reds too.

I was mostly using a large fan brush. I used a Ruby Satin Filbert at times on the edges where I wanted it even smoother like the flower stalks.

I used thinner paint in the shadows and heavier paint in the light. This really gives a sculptural quality to the painting. Also,  I was very careful to keep the values close and in a dark range in the shadow. That way they just fall away the right amount.

The next day, I came back and added a few of the more orange-red heavy paint details.

This painting is all dressed up for a new forever home. Email me at terrystr@terrystricklandart.com if you're interested in inviting her into your home. She is available for $1900, framed and free shipping in the continental US. 

Fall Sepia Oil Sketch Sale and How To Paint Your Own

Fall Sepia Oil Sketch Sale
$275 Framed - Free Shipping in the US, $20 international shipping. Sales tax applies in AL, USA - email me at terrystr@terrystricklandart.com for arrangements.

Add One to Your Collection!

Art Lesson Du Jour : (or how'd she do that?)

The method I've used in these little life-studies has more in common with sculpture or watercolor than with more traditional methods of oil painting. 

Here's why: I first block in the general shape of the figure in a fairly solid area of paint. I imagine it as a big chunk of marble. I'm looking for a pleasing composition and the correct general proportions of the figure. 

 
Kelsey on Tuesday, 14x11, oil on linen over panel

I then use a piece of soft T-shirt fabric to rub out the light areas, leaving the dark. It's this reductive method that is much like a sculpture carved from a block of stone, where bits of clay are chipped off, rather than an additive method where pieces of paint, or clay in sculpture, are added to the artwork to build up the form.

Anders on Tuesday, 14x11, oil on panel

The white of the canvas is utilized for the lighter values, rather than adding white to make the paint lighter. In that respect, this method is similar to watercolor where the white of the paper is reserved for lighter areas. Mid-tones are built by allowing more or less of the white of the canvas to shine through the paint. For that reason, I would only use a transparent or semi-transparent paint to do a rub-out. 

Claire Sits 14x11, oil on panel

Toward the end of the painting, I will add a few strokes of thinker paint for darker accents but only use the one color, burnt umber. At this point, I could add full color but I think these sepia studies are beautiful and sometimes choose to leave them as they are.

I've been practicing these little sketches for years at a weekly life drawing group. They're so much fun, and I find they are great exercises for understanding the human form and values. I then apply that knowledge in my studio work, which also starts out with a burnt umber rub-out underpainting. So artist friends give this watercolor/sculpture painting method a try! 

The studies are framed in a wood frame painted in an espresso color.

 

If you're an artist in Birmingham, AL, consider joining us on Tuesday nights at Forstall Art Center, 6-9 pm for X's 8, ( pronounced Times 8) nude life drawing group. $10 per session or $35 for the month. 

How to Self-Critique Your Art

Art Lesson Du Jour

Spend Less Time on the Ropes to Make Better Work
(dedicated to my champion students)

Fact: It's a simple truth that every painting and drawing are a series of corrections. 

When taking a jab at art, each mark is our best guess in relationship to the other marks we've made. It's the best mark we can make right then, at that moment in time. We make it knowing full well that it is likely to change, and that's ok. Later in the process we will know better. 

Problem: Panic, strong emotions, and harsh self-criticism will defeat the creative process. 

I often see students in a knock-down, drag-out with themselves when things aren't going well in a drawing or painting. Their critique of the work becomes a criticism of self. It's easy to allow the critical voices of one's insecurities or the nasty voices of others into your head. I've been there and done that as well. Trust me, when you let those guys talk, no constructive critique is going on! 

When I see my students hitting below the belt I say, "Hey, don't talk to my student that way," "Would I say that to you?" or "Would you say that to anyone else in your life?" Of course the answer is always "No!"

Panic too can creep in during frustrating moments. We live a fast paced life with instant gratification and the sheer time required to look and see properly can make an artist feel panic. The brain is constantly yelling, "This is taking too long." We feel certain that everyone else is figuring this stuff out with more agility and speed than we are.

All this self-doubt and emotional thinking clog up the creative process, so that's why it's important to have a strategy in place. 

Your brain without a plan.

Solutions: Click READ MORE  below for answers. 

"Celebrating Art Of Women By Women" In Nashville, TN

I'm so pleased to have work in this show at Haynes Galleries, in Nashville, TN. What an honor to be showing with so many artists I admire!

You may see this stellar show through Nov 7, 2015.

Here are a few of my pieces in the show.

Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler, 30x24, oil on canvas

It’s a Man’s World, 20x16, oil on canvas

The Torch Singer, The Incognito Project, 16x16, oil on panel

Life and Afterlife in a Cubicle

I had the pleasure of collaborating on a project with my husband, Daniel M. Strickland. His debut novel, Synergeist, has launched! My part in the collaboration process was the painting for the cover and having the privilege of being an early reader.

One challenge to painting a cover for the book was to try to capture the idea that energy is created when someone makes something. The art created continues to hold some energy after the artist has moved on.

As someone who has cried while standing in front of a five hundred year old painting, been moved to tears in a centuries old church, felt energized by words written by an author long dead and gotten shivers from music, this concept makes sense to me.

As is always the challenge, how does one capture the visceral with these meager visual tools? It sparked many interesting conversations around the dinner table about what something so etheral should look like.

Synergeist, 20x16, oil on panel, 2015 

Click below to see more painting details and info about the book.

Alla Prima Still Life Painting Sale

Add one to your collection

Rare Oil Sketches SALE- $125 Free shipping (in the continental US, Birmingham, AL area local pick-up or delivery, unframed. Sales tax applies in AL, USA)

email me at terrystr@terrystricklandart.com for arrangements.

Berries With the Red Striped Bowl, 6x8, oil sketch SOLD

This following quote is apropos for a post about Alla Prima painting, which is Italian for "at the first." 

“...she took her hand and raised her brush. For a moment, it stayed trembling in a painful but exciting ecstasy in the air. Where to begin?--that was the question, at what point to make the first mark? One line placed on the canvas committed her to innumerable risks, to frequent and irrevocable decisions--- Still the risk must run; the mark made.” 

                                                  ― Virginia Woolf, from To the Lighthouse

Lenten Roses in a Tiny Green Vase, 6x8, oil sketch SOLD

Alla Prima Still Life Workshop

I'm teaching a workshop Saturday, June 13, 2015 at Shelby County Arts Council in Columbiana Alabama. All skill levels are welcome. The workshop is almost full - just a couple spots left. You may register HERE. 

Alla Prima, quick sketch paintings done in a single session, is an art form unto itself. Here's a sneak peek at some in-progress pictures of the type of small,  jewel like paintings we'll be doing.

Basic block-in

See more pictures and information below the break.

Etiquette for Artists and Their Nude Models

I've been asked recently for some guidelines for appropriate artist's behavior when working with models in a life drawing group. This is what I came up with.

Rules for Artists:

1. DO NOT touch the model, NO exceptions. No touching is a cardinal rule, not to be broken, ever. This rule also applies to artists when working with models privately for life drawing or photography sessions.

2. DO NOT photograph the model and do not ask the model if you can take a picture. A model may feel obligated to say yes because you are paying them, so it's best to not even ask. Make a separate appointment for photography because when an artist's model does photographic modeling, they make at least two to four times as much per hour as live models. Photographers/artists should have a model release specifically stating the intended use of the photographs.

3. DO NOT chat with the model when he/she is modeling. Conversation is distracting for the model and your fellow artists.

4. DO NOT make comments about the model's body.

5. DO NOT invade the model's personal space.  This includes sitting on the model stand any time the model is on it, five feet away is a good starting point.

6. DO NOT ask the model personal questions such as their last name, where they live, etc.

7. DO NOT ask the model out on a date.

8. DO NOT remove your clothes when the model does. I bring this up because it happened in one of my drawing classes when I was a college student.

9. DO NOT allow non-artists to wander through the room.