New from Matter Deep Publishing

There's so much going on today with our family publishing company!

The Expedition and Beyond Catalog is online and ready for purchase,

The Expedition and Beyond

By Matter Deep Publishing

58 pages, published 1 MAR 2012

The Expedition and Beyond- Work by 13 artists, introduced through the Women Painting Women phenomenon of 2010, who continue to be challenged and inspired by each other. They come together once again in a show at Principle Gallery, Alexandria, Va, April 2012.

and my daughter-in-law, Amy Strickland's novella Kissing Corpses is free for today, Happy Leap Year. This is Amy reading the first chunk of her book.


Never fear if you missed the freebie for Happy Leap Year Day, it's only .99 the rest of the time.

 

Here's more about The Expedition and Beyond. Here's Amy's website so you can see what all she's getting into. Here's my daughter, Carly Strickland's website, she's our designer.

Painting a Head Study, Part 3

This was the third session with my oil painting class working on this head study. If you're just now joining in, here is Part 1, and here is Part 2.

Before I began painting I did an oil out using a bit of Res-N-Gel, odorless mineral and linseed oil. This is a couching layer to restore the color to it's wet look and help the previous layer accept the new paint. I only oiled out the area previously painted.

It seems to be going slowly but I'm spending only about an hour demoing. Then the class has time to paint and I go from easel to easel answering questions.

As I work I try to see in planes, modifying the color subtly as I go. I only worked on the section I thought I would get to that day, the forehead, hairline and eye.

Lyndsey, original reference

For the kind of work I do, I find working from photos is necessary. It has positive points and negative points.

On the positive side:
~The model doesn't move, the artist isn't shifting around so the view doesn't change
~The image is already flattened so there is no translation from 3-D to 2-D
~One can capture a momentary expression that a model cannot hold for hours.
~Model fees are less expensive

On the negative side:
~Because the image is already flattened the painting could look flat.
~If the original photography or print is inferior, there won't be  good or accurate information to work from and the painting could be lacking.
~Working from a photo puts more distant between the artist and the model which some artists find less fulfilling. (Let's face it staring at a print or a computer monitor is not as fun as having a model to interact with)

However, there are things one can do to counteract the few negative aspects of working from photographs.

~Work from life as much as possible. It will help fill in the blanks so to speak when a photo is lacking. That life experience will come out in the paintings.

~Have long and fun photo shoots with the models. I find myself remembering our time together while I'm working on a painting. It's much like remembering an experience you've had when you hear a song or smell a certain scent. Enjoy those sessions and pay your models well as you will most likely get several paintings from each one.

~Paint people you know, then you can stare at them over dinner to figure out that extra little something that's missing in the photos. (My kids and husband love it when I do this)

~Watch people closely and pay attention to how light affects the color of skin, shines through ears and penetrates irises. (People might think you're a creeper but it really pays off in the studio)

~Have models come back in to model a part that needs clarification. (Or use another model, my husband has modeled the hands on several paintings including The Ascent)

~Invest in a good camera and learn how to take the best pictures possible.

~Use a software program like photoshop to help get the most out of the reference pictures.

Enjoy, see you for Part 4.

My New Black Velvet Matador Painting

I had an entirely different post planned for this morning but just had to share with you the awesome present my family pitched in on for my birthday.

"Gold Cap #106", 3'x5', Vintage Black Velvet, 1960's-70's

Painting a Head Study, Part 2

In the second session with my oil painting class, I demonstrated premixing a palette that we'd be using for the flesh tones, the background and the hair. If you missed it, here's Part 1.

I'm a firm believer in premixing strings of color, it takes a little patience, but I think it pays off when you get into it.

I started with the background and worked forward, and in adjacent areas so that I could have good control of the edges.

I store my paint in a Masterson plastic palette with a cover. It's then wrapped in a trash bag and stored in the freezer. The paint will still be usable at our next class so all the mixing time and paint will not be wasted.

My understanding is that a home freezer doesn't get cold enough to actually freeze the paint but slows down the oxidation process which is what actually dries oil paint.

There is debate among artists about this but it makes sense to me. What everyone agrees with is never freeze your brushes or a painting! The cold will adversely affect your painting surface, the wood in the brushes, etc.

Be prepared to have your family complain about losing freezer space, a mini turf war of sorts. Especially when you have multiple palettes in there. (I'm up to three). The war generally fades to a rumble if you have your defense prepared.  Go on long enough about saving time and money and you shall prevail!

Voice of the Tiger, Step-by-Step Oil Painting Video

I recently reworked a video of my in-progress slide show of Voice of the Tiger. It now has a voice-over with thoughts about my painting process. Enjoy!

The Expedition and Beyond at Principle Gallery Video

This week was (between painting sessions) about putting the finishing touches on a preview video for the Women Painting Women, The Expedition and Beyond Exhibition at Principle Gallery, which opens April 13, 2012 and runs through May 15.

Catalog is available if you can't make it to the show. Preview catalog.



Here's a complete list of artists that will be in the April show at Principle Gallery:
Mia Bergeron,
Linda Tracey Brandon,
Rachel Constantine,
Alia El-Bermani,
Diane Feissel,
Catherine Prescott,
Cindy Procious,
Shannon Runquist,
Kate Stone,
Terry Strickland,
Stefani Tewes,
Alexandra Tyng,
Sadie Valeri

Hope you enjoy and share away!

Painting a Head Sudy, Part 1

I've started a new project with my Tuesday class. We are doing a head study working from a photo. This is the first time I've done this project with them, so it's kind of an experiment.

We are all working from the same photo, one of mine. I chose a mostly full front view of the face. It is classic Rembrandt lighting, in which there is a triangular patch of light on the shadowed side of the face.

I printed an 8x10 grid on a transparency to lay over the image. The grid dissects the image into thirds. This helps with the drawing, placement of the head on the canvas and of the features on the head. I think it is also helpful in learning to draw.

It helps to start to see things flattened and in relationship to each other. Drawing the individual shapes within one square helps to see it primarily as shapes. This shift in the way of looking at something is very crucial in learning to draw.

We first drew the image in a graphite pencil.

Next we redrew it with a Faber Castell permanent sepia pen.

I noticed (after it was drawn in the pen) that I had the right side of her face too wide, but that's okay. Oil paint is very forgiving and the marks will be covered eventually with paint. 

The important thing, listen up here my students, is to make the correction as soon as you see it! It's much better to have caught and corrected it at this stage than later after I had perfectly rendered the ear.

Next I did a rub out using Burnt Umber thinned a bit with linseed oil, mineral spirits and res-n-gel (to speed the drying). I painted in a few of the darkest areas.

My intention was for everyone to get to this stage in the first of four 3 hour classes dedicated to this project. None of the students got to this point. I spent about two hours additional after class, getting  this far. Most of them had their drawings well along. Next time I will know to leave two class sessions for this stage of the project.

You  may recognize this model from another painting. I'm excited to be painting her again.

"Cardea", 16x16, oil on canvas over panel.

She was part of my Elements series.

Here is a post I did about under painting with Gamblin Fastmatte,
And another about this under painting technique, "Aye, There's the Rub".

Would That Art Could Heal the World

I'm deeply saddened by the murders of five young African American men here in Birmingham, AL last weekend. I'm utterly heartbroken for the three African American teenagers arrested for the murders.

Like ripples in a pond, the devastation of economic inequality moves through our world. I wish that art could heal.

I post this in dedication to those 8 beautiful young men and their families.

Home, Building a Life Series, 24x24, oil on canvas over panel, 2007

All About the HeART

Current exhibit up at Peterson-Cody Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. It is all on a Valentine's Day theme and the color red, My favorite!

The show is up Feb 1-29, 2012.

Here are a couple of mine in the show.

Fast Lane

Oil 32" x 47"

The Bribe

Oil 11" x 14"

Here is sampling of a few others.

David Kassan Workshop

I was lucky enough to go to a three day David Kassan Drawing Workshop in early December 2011 at the Townsend Atelier in Chattanooga TN.

The weekend started with a free public drawing demo by David at the Hunter Museum of Art on Thursday night.

Artist Mia Bergeron helping David set up.

David with his initial block in using pan pastels.

David uses binoculars for seeing detail and true shapes. I've seen demos of his using them before on line and I always thought they would be used at the end for details but they are actually used early on, to see areas of dark and light more accurately.

Here he is using a mahl stick with a hook on the end that can rest on the top of the drawing when he isn't using it.

Alia El-Bermani and Cindy Procious enjoying the demo.

David's finished drawing from the demo which was about three hours long. You could tell he really wanted to work on it longer. He called it "cursory," but of course we were all impressed.

Early Friday morning at the Atelier, David spent a bit of time setting up the model, experimenting with a dark or light background and adjusting the light. The class was structured around him demonstrating for three hours in the morning and then after a lunch break the class drew for four hours. 

In this close-up you can see how he outlines shadow shapes to define them and hatches in layers, building up the values.

 

There were 14 people in the class, David arranged the easels so that everyone had  good view of the model and then we drew numbers, with the lower numbers choosing their easels first. I was number 13 but still had an interesting view,  although not one I might have chosen if I'd gotten a smaller number- a straight profile.

From my spot, you can see the light set up and my first clunky block in with the pan pastels. We were working on a heavy, smooth, medium gray card stock paper.

The pan pastels are scrubbed into the paper with a paper towel, so we were building up layer upon layer of black charcoal pencils of varying hardness and white charcoal pencil. Using very sharp pencils, "Sharp pencils make sharp drawings".

In this one you can see the eraser marks, where an eraser is used as a drawing implement. Even though we were working on toned paper every inch of the paper is covered in charcoal. Some schools of thought leave the toned paper as a mid-value but David actually mixes the white and black charcoal to create a full range of gray scale.

My finished drawing. About 11 or 12 hours total.

Here are a couple close-ups. It is a very subtle cross hatching technique. I could never have seen this kind of detail with out the binoculars. I did have a tough time with them the first day but kind of adjusted to them by the second day.

One of the best parts of the weekend was reuniting with a few of my WPW friends! We worked hard, ate well, socialized plenty and slept little. A perfect storm.

Me, Cindy Procious, David, Mia Bergeron, Alia El-Bermani

Alia with her gorgeous finished drawing.

Mia with her fabulous finished drawing.

The Townsend Atelier was a great place to have a workshop like this. Stan and Peggy Townsend were very organized and did everything possible to make us feel welcome. They have a busy class schedule, painting, drawing and sculpture, and an interesting assortment of fine art materials, check it out!

You can sign-up to receive Townsend Atelier emails on this page. Talks are in the works... looks like I will be teaching a two-day painting workshop later this year. I will keep you posted.

I highly recommend David Kassan's workshops. He has a DVD of his drawing method so if you don't get as lucky as we were to have him in driving distance check it out. David is a generous teacher and freely answered questions about his work. I learned a lot about his method with charcoal and about capturing one area with absolute accuracy, using that area as a map legend to base the rest of the drawing on. 

The Three Fates - Completed

The Three Fates, 30x40, oil on panel

This painting is for Principle Gallery's April 2012 show,  "The Expedition and Beyond" 

Work by 13 artists, introduced through the Women Painting Women phenomenon of 2010, who continue to be challenged and inspired by each other. 

We were introduced through the Women Painting Women Blog, the Robert Lange Studios Invitational Show of Nov. 2010 and really got to know each other during the Expedition, a painting retreat on Sullivan's Island SC. Here is a preview of a catalog about this experience and The Expedition and Beyond.

This allegorical painting of Diane Feissel, Sadie Valeri and Alia El-Bermani as The Three Fates is my tribute to them and the generosity of spirit I find in this group of 14 artists. 

The Three Fates are Greek goddesses who spin, measure and cut the thread of life. Together they each represent a part or portion of the whole.

Rather than spinning, I've changed Diane's job to rolling out the canvas, Alia is measuring it and Sadie is cutting it.

I wanted to have them doing something, building a canvas, that would show them as being the supporters of women painters and the art community that they are. I chose traditionally masculine tools for them to be using.

I've also included items for each of them that is personal to their work. The personal items are not necessarily feminine things, wax paper, weeds or animals but in the incarnation in which I've chosen to use them they become feminine, jewelry, clothing or hair adornment.

As women artists we work and compete in a man's world without losing touch with who we are as women.

Notice Alia is wearing flowering weeds in her hair, a shout out to her recently completed series of paintings honoring southern weeds. Sadie is wearing a ruff made of wax paper to represent her beautiful wax paper still-life paintings. Diane is wearing a bracelet of a cat cameo in tribute to her Fabrication series about animals.

I frequently use symbols in my work, as in this current body at Peterson-Cody Gallery. I include things if they make sense to me and not worry too much if other people will get them and usually it works out okay. It seems if you are talking about universal human themes, since we all have those in common, most people will relate to the work.

The Three Fates - In Progress

Here's a complete list of artists that will be in the April show at Principle Gallery:
Mia Bergeron,
Linda Tracey Brandon,
Rachel Constantine,
Alia El-Bermani,
Diane Feissel,
Catherine Prescott,
Cindy Procious,
Shannon Runquist,
Kate Stone,
Terry Strickland,
Stefani Tewes,
Alexandra Tyng,
Sadie Valeri