THE VALUE OF VALUES, PATIENCE AND TIME.

Images here reprinted by kind permission of Mr. Everett Raymond Kinstler, N.A., from his one hour workshop demo at The National Academy of Design, New York, November 200

It takes me ages to process a workshop with Mr. Everett Raymond Kinstler, (hence the delay in posting here). I have to chew over the fat and there is a lot to consider. I have a light bulb moment at every single workshop with him. There is just nothing like watching and listening to a master artist. Mr. Kinstler also teaches in a very hands-on concise way that is clear to understand.

However I do find it  hard  sometimes to put new learning down on my canvas. Rather like a baby, I need burping - all this new knowledge to digest.  Time at my own easel to process. I have often thought I am a very slow learner. But once I get it, I REALLY get it! BURBP!

I remember the first time I saw Mr. Kinstler on stage doing a demo in front of oh, only around 600 people. No pressure or anything. He painted away with such mastery while entertaining the crowd with witty stories.  I was gob-smacked by him.  (British translation..jaw dropped)

He advised that one "paint a mile of canvas" to make real progress and I have never forgotten this except  in my case it might be three miles.

Even though I am posting pix here from Mr. Kinstler's demo, and mighty fine it was, I don't think it really my place to describe his technique. That is for him to do as he does so well. I would however advise that each reader of this blog go to his website, www. everettraymondkinstler.com, and check out his many books and DVD's.  I have two copies of a couple. They are that good.

I think it o.k.  however to give a brief overview, as I understand his approach, around the pix posted here. 

Mr. Kinstler works on a DRIED mid-value canvas. He thinks of value first, color second. He mixes a 'soup' of mid-value color for the flesh, matched against the mid-value of his wooden palette. Everything is related to the mid-value. He will mix his shadows from this soup, placing other colors into the soup to adjust. He makes color vibrate and relate by taking a dab of the same color note, and placing it wherever he sees that color-value appear on the canvas. Marvelous to see him do this! He advises "make you color swim'", meaning take it through to other areas. Cheek color into hair color, underplane brim of hat, etc.

For a demo, where he works faster than the speed of light with great accuracy, he does a quick drawing block-in going for 'signposts' of the features, not thinking likeness but proportion at first. He will advise to go for the big shape of structure and form and the overall simple "light effect".  General to specific.

One thing he says all the time is "to paint the illusion"of what you see. For instance, if you are doing an eye socket don't paint it all.  Squint. Are you really seeing that highlight in the eye? Each individual eyelash hair?  Of course not, silly. I get a bit Zorn-y here. Look at his etchings to see how he keeps the masses simple, simplifying the light effect. Look at Mr. Kinstler's etchings too.

Come to think of it...come up and see my etchings any time. Sorry.

Mr. Kinstler quickly moves on to applying thicker paint to his sketch initially drawn with a big brush in a thin-ish wash. He will often hold onto the the original canvas using the dried untouched areas for a half tone in various places, in the hair, turning edges, etc.  Just yummy. Swish, swash, swish and he is soon done TALKING all the way. His saves his lightest light on the skin for the forehead but this is not a highlight just the lightest plane.  Highlights are for shiny things like eyeglasses and gold, he always points out. How many times have I made that mistake?

Mr. Kinstler talks all the time about values describing himself as a value-painter. People often ask me what is the single biggest thing I have learned from him over the last few years, and this area would be it. An understanding of value painting but many more miles of canvas to go to develop that understanding.

That's where the patience comes in. I have felt incredible frustration in myself at times. Not being able to paint to a level that I want to. Not understanding why I couldn't do this fast enough. 

 Well, darn it, it just takes time.  Repetition leads to mastery it is said. So I repeat, repeat, repeat and then suddenly when you least expect it,  the art learning penny will drop. I will see Mr. Kinstler do something he has done before many times, but FLASH!!! My brain is ready to understand it. It is the SINGLE best feeling in the world outside of childbirth. 

I tell my students you cannot rush the learning process. Ha! You can read the same art book two years later in your journey, and it will be a different book in terms of your understanding.

That's the magic of it in a way.  Now back to that mile of canvas and burping.

Tres Bon! Dinan!

As the New Year approached I was feeling somewhat ho-hum glum like a lot of other people. Gnarling over the economy, the belt tightening, and not just because of over-indulgence, and that post-Holiday feeling of putting all the tired-looking decorations away even though I am back to work already with root canal follow-ups and a daughter who had surgery today. Never fun.

As artists there are moments that change your life. I had one of those today when the mail arrived.  The letter, with scrawly handwriting and a foreign stamp that I had been waiting for, sat there for 30 minutes before I wanted to open it. I just kept painting a child's arm badly while looking at it out of the corner of  my eye.

I had applied for an  international grant award last Fall to study in France for a month, a program that has been going since the early 90's in Dinan, Brittany, and host to some artists I really, really admire like Dawn Whitelaw and Charlotte Wharton among others.

The award,  given by Les Amis De La Grande Vigne, funds an artist to paint for a month at the studio of deceased artist Yvonne Jean-Haffen. She left her estate including a studio to the town. Her home is now a museum which picks one of the guest residence artist's paintings at the end of his/her stay for its' permanent collection.  

Applying was somewhat vague. It was hard to find the right mailing address and I was told by a very kind email artist friend, who helped me enormously having received the award also, that the application must be handwritten in very polite french and on very proper linen stationary. The french are just like that and I love them for it. Hard trying to find someone who spoke really good french for cheap to help me, but even more hard to ask how 'polite' their french really was.  I  also wasn't really sure if my swish Mac Book portfolio that took me a morning to do, at least, would get there, yet alone be approved. Maybe it was a bit too Mac Book modern along with the traditional startionary?

So here was the day of reckoning and all I could think of staring at the brown envelop was it doesn't look thick enough for me to be a recipient. You know how you can tell if you didn't get into an art show via mail announcement without even opening the envelope? By how thick the reply envelope is. Slim - NO, not a chance or juicy thick,,,hell, YES!

I didn't want to feel that horrible sting of rejection as I was feeling pretty lousy already for said reasons. Well, I finally took a big deep breath, opened it and I got it. Tres Jolie! Although it took me a while to translate french and make sure I had got it.

I am so thrilled. I don't even care I have to go to the dentist again tomorrow.

Let just hope I paint better there than that kid's arm today. Thank goodness for landscapes.  At least there is no muscle anatomy involved.

FINALLY IN THE MET! (NOT)

Look what happens when you paint from life regularly. You end up in a museum!!

Joking aside...this is a neat Photoshop-y thing doing the art rounds. Have fun with your art/images at http://www.dumpr.net/museumr.php

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL MY BLOG READERS

And you know what your art New Year's Resolution should be! Paint from life.

Don't Count Your Chickens...

I know this is a portrait blog, and that is what I spend most of my time thinking about, portraiture - not this blog, but I was a little taken aback yesterday when I heard a still life of mine has been juried into The California Art Club Gold Medal Show for May 2009. The portrait I had entered which I thought the BEST piece I had done all year did not. And I just put it in a really expensive custom frame. Never count your chickens before they are hatched.

I should add that in reality I have long given up 'expecting' to get into any show. That way it is a bonus when it happens.

I enjoy painting still life. I am not saying they are easy but I find them a really nice break from the rigors of portrait commissions. And I look on them as a little treat to myself between said work. Sometimes a still life set up will stare at me for weeks waiting for me to get to it. And I will kind of talk to it, telling it to be patient. I will get there. Yes, I am certifiable it seems.

I also admire artists who paint still life so well. David Leffel comes to mind. About as good as still life gets in terms of a high level of Rembrandt understanding. Sad that so many Leffel wannabes are out there though.  I get annoyed when I see that. That applies to Richard Schmid wannbes too. I like all sorts of still life painting styles to from Wayne Thiebaud  and Duane Keiser (EBAY Painting a Day Maestro) to Laura Robb, magical soft, soft edges (www.laurarobb.com). One focal point.

In my teaching class at LAAFA, I suggest that an artist must paint it all. There is so much to learn from painting a still life. And if you can paint an apple really well around value, color, and drawing, you can start to approach the head with some understanding of the task ahead. My teacher, the marvelous Everett Raymond Kinstler, N.A., (www.everettraymondkinstler.com) always says a portrait painter should paint landscapes and vice versa to really learn.

I don't feel I am very good at landscapes at all. I just don't really have a desire to paint them. But I make myself do it especially on trips. Easy then to squeeze something in. Especially when you have carried that darn heavy painting box (Guerilla Pochade)  through airport security and customs. You might as well get something out of it. I also paint them really small. Get in and out as fast as I can.

I post here the CAC Gold entry, Pansies and Pear, 16 x 20, and also a still life I just finished this week, Geisha and Mumms, 16x20. 

SPEECHLESS - WHO ME?

It is always nice when you do an interview and the newspaper prints 'anything' you say rather than not a word of what you said. 

It is even nicer when the piece is done by a terrific journalist, in this case Nicole D'Amore from The Ventura County Star, who not only got all the quotes right but obviously took the time to digest what one had said in a thoughtful way after a most enjoyable interview (she is an artist herself as well as a writer). There are very few times in life when you get to talk about yourself non-stop for two hours. It leaves you speechless afterwards...all talked out.

I really did enjoy reading about myself in Ms. D'Amore's piece. It explains how I ended up where I am so I now understand it even myself! 

Here is the link  http://venturacountystar.com/news/2008/nov/26/career-path-leads-from-hollywood-to-oxnard/

Many thanks Ms. D"Amore! And also for her photos which I reprint here that accompanied the piece.

WORKSHOP ETIQUETTE...FROM A DIVA

Having just returned from two workshop weekends back to back, one I helped host, the other I took part in, brush to canvas, I am reminded that these things sometimes don't bring out the best in any of us. Me included.

Nerves are high. Tempers flare.  Brushes are flung down along with the art gauntlet. Workshop monitors are screamed at. And even the Master him/herself gets bickered at/challenged occasionally. Lordy Begordy.

So, I was amusing myself today driving on the 101 freeway coming up with a Top 10 (o.k. 12!) list of do's and don'ts at painting workshops based on a few years of me doing them making a lot of the mistakes myself.

1. Don't scream at the workshop monitor at any cost. He/she is not a hired hand. He/she is either really good friends with the workshop teacher, connected somehow to what is going on,  or dating/married/ having an affair with the teacher or a friend of theirs. Word gets back and pillow talk is cheap. 

2. Do take your assigned morning  "placement" painting spot with good grace, no matter what. I have had my fair share of duff calls, my last name beginning with "S", the low end of the spot call-outs. This is just the way the cookie crumbles at these things. A good painter will rise to the challenge or just watch the master teach until the spots are changed to a better one. 

3. Don't move your easel out of it's pre-arranged semi-circle to within 6 inches of the model stand.  They are set up like this for a reason. It's called planning to avoid spats.

4. Don't correct the model's placement or fabric slippage between the breaks. This is what the gracious monitor is there for. This will annoy other people who like the fact the model's head has moved 1o inches south since the sitting first began. I have made this mistake so many times.

5. Don't think people can't hear your headphone music even if you have those posh BOSE ones. 'Nine Inch Nails' is not conducive to being in the Painting Zone for some and Beethoven likewise for others,  even if you think it is. Humming along to ABBA I have done. I admit it. Sorry. But not that sorry.

6. Do accept space is tight. Don't do onions/garlic/borsch soup/wine for lunch. If you stab someone in the back with you palette edge, apologize profusely. Who me? Handle hot drinks carefully. Very.

7.  Don't comment on another workshop artist's work, EVER,  unless he/she asks for it. I have seen this happen. An artist didn't want to paint in one workshop, just wanted to watch, and then suddenly, she was critiquing everyone in the room when the master was out. That is not a good way to make workshop friends. 

8. Don't complain about the instructor EVER. Before, during or after the workshop at the bar. You signed up because he/she had something you were looking for.  If the workshop isn't going to your liking, look within yourself. Work out how you can make the workshop work better for you rather than idle, easy shot,  criticism of the master, how much she/he has ignored you; how he/she is not taking you to the next level. It is all within all of us individually. And it is a privilege to be at any workshop. Remember those rice fields we could be working in? 

9. Do leave your ego at the door. Let go of getting something perfect done. HOW HARD IS THIS???? STOP what you are doing when the master artist comes within a six-easel range of your work. I am stunned at how people carry on painting their own studies when the master is correcting another artist's work near them. We are all making the same mistakes...just at different levels of our journey. Learn from your peers, especially the ones in the workshop room you know are good. I RUN to those critiques.

10. Don't hold up a tube of "FLESH" colored paint and ask the master portraitist how he/she would mix this. That's just plain daft. Ask intelligent questions.  Rehearse.

11. Do bond with you workshop buddies. I have made dear life-long friends through my workshop experiences. Those buddies are a great haven, and give safe feedback, and a friendly hug, when the workshop gets tough and your are teary-eyed, devastated to your core, think you suck, never want to paint again. Boy have I been there. And nothing like a nice glass of wine/soda/appetizer with said trusted buddies afterward shooting the art breeze. THE ABSOLUTE BEST IN THE WORLD.

12. Do wear light comfortable clothing but especially if you are female and over the age of 45. Hot armpit sweats are unattractive in workshops. This I know to be true. As for controlling PMS rages around workshops.... I am going to write a book on that. Still researching, if you know what I mean?

WISH I COULD PAINT LIKE THAT!

Master artist Morgan Weistling Hosts The Portrait Society of America's CA  Teaching Academy in Los Angeles, November 2008, Glendale.

Images copyrighted.

Morgan Weistling has long been on my "I wish I could paint like that" list. I remember the first time I saw one of his paintings of a blond child dressed in yellow holding roses. My mouth dropped to the floor and remained bruised for quite a while. I consider him one of the masters in my painting orchestra. I am the conductor but when my art baton is shaky (quite often) I pull out these greats to help me solve problems, create harmony in my work,  and I learn from them. 

I was lucky enough to do a rare workshop with Morgan a few years  ago. I left it, yes bruised again, because I painted terribly but he was, and is, one of those rare painters who can teach well. He is gracious and sharing giving his students everything he's got. Brutally honest sometimes which is for the good! He has been very kind to me over the last few years taking time to do a critique of my work once every so often when I am sure he was so super busy carrying home all his awards and shipping paintings to museums' permanent collections.

When The Portrait Society of America first approached me, in my role as a Co-State Ambassador for CA,  about the idea of Los Angeles hosting one of its national teaching Academies for the first time, and who I thought might teach it, well, Morgan was the first name that came out of my mouth. I was 100 per cent sure this was our guy! I was blown away when he agreed to do right away.  I thought I might have to do some severe arm twisting. But that is gracious Morgan for you and we were lucky to have him. And no-one got, yes, you guessed it, bruised in the process. 

Skip forward a few months, and after a lot of preparation, hard work and volunteer hours there he was doing a demo at the Brand Library in Glendale for 100 eager artists a weekend ago followed by a workshop for 32 the next day.

True to form, Morgan did an effortless demo talking, and entertaining the crowd the whole way through taking questions as he went.  Patient with a few wacky questions at that. Just look at those piercing blue eyes! No, not on Morgan, on the model. Although Morgan does have nice eyes too. However those eyes in the painting are copyrighted just so you know, as are all images here.  Most everything about Morgan is copyrighted as so many have tried to lift his award-winning work. The price that a super successful artists pay. Can't wait to be ripped off myself.

The following day he worked on each artists' canvas making his teaching statement more clear. Values: light family and shadow family, keep them apart. Five values: three for the light and two for the shadow. (Students in my class at LAFIG will be used to this!)

Four types of edges, hard, soft, firm and lost. Color and temperature. Get the value correct -color will follow. How true. Shapes...there are good and bad ones. Think "line meets curve", not wiggly Cheesit looking things. Morgan talks a lot about the importance of good drawing.

I have never forgotten in the workshop I did with him, he said the only difference between him and me was drawing. I think that a slight understatement but I got his point and those that know me, know I have worked hard at improving my drawing since. This will continue. I have also learned the value of impeccable draftsmanship from the one and only Mr. Everett Raymond Kinstler, N.A. (www.everettraymondkinstler.com) See earlier posts for more on this marvelous man and one shortly to follow about HIS magical workshop in New York this weekend.

These days I drool over Charles Dana Gibson, Monty Flagg, Howard Chandler Christy, and Harrison Fisher. These are my drawing idols. There is a famous quote that Mr. Kinstler often shares about Charles Dana Gibson being able "to draw white paper". Few people draw like these guys today, in unforgiving pen and ink too! It is a lost art.  Certainly a lost level of drawing.

Morgan talked about the value of Anders Zorn etchings. They fall into the above category. Copy them...as Morgan advises. I now do. You won't regret it.

I don't think people get better at painting, they get better at seeing, observing, and quite simply drawing it with more fluidity and skill.  Students come to class complaining about their progress. I ask them, are you practicing your drawing outside of class, your forms, the structure of the features? I KNOW the answer already. I have often shared what Morgan said to me about my drawing.

For those of  you that couldn't make the Academy, go as fast as you can to Morgan's website and purchase one of his DVD's. I had someone this week tell me it was the best she has ever seen after purchasing it at the workshop. This artist is a professional herself of quite some standing. A good testimonial I would say. I also have both Morgan's DVD's and agree they are fantastic.

Morgan Weistling's website is http://morganweistling.com/

All thanks to Morgan!