Star at the Edge

In response to those who ask me about how I create a painting, from the beginning stages to the finished work, I'm posting a step-by-step description of the process of one painting, Star at the Edge.

Every painting I do evolves a little differently. Sometimes I am painting on location and I know right away that my plein air sketch will need almost no compositional changes to turn it into a larger studio painting. Or the small oil sketch might become part of a larger painting. But in this case, I was working in Gull Cove on Monhegan Island, ME, and I had a vague idea of painting a figure with the trees and rocks as the background. The only problem was, I wasn't sure exactly what part of the scenery, and what angle, I would use. I didn't even have a clear idea of who was going to paint, or the idea behind the painting. So I decided to just focus on some trees and rocks that would make a pleasing composition, and worry about the larger painting later. Here is my oil sketch, Rocks and Trees, Gull Cove, 14" x 11".

While I was in Gull Cove, I also took some photos of the rest of the scene.

You'll notice that the oil sketch gives me an accurate idea of the color and value range, while the photos provide some additional information, but certain things are washed out, like the sky. Even with Photoshop you can't bring that back, so I often take more photos of just the sky. It's better to have too much information than not enough.

A few months later, a friend of mine, Nancy Bea Miller, came to a turning point in her career. After many years of working as a professional artist, she decided to go back to school and get an MFA. I decided to paint a portrait of her at this turning point. We had been discussing the idea of "star quality" in art, and how much was determined by popularity, publicity, and connections, as well as talent and hard work. I thought of the starfish, a sea creature with five arms, i.e. a five-pointed star. Here are some symbols associated with the star/starfish: the eternal, the undying, constancy (the Pole Star), aspiration, education (five-pointed star), spiritual wisdom, and divine guidance.

I was also "playing" with the tidal zone between ocean and land, where the waves churn up things that are beneath the sea and throw them onto the shore. To me this brought to mind the border between unconsciousness and consciousness. If we can go to this "zone" we will find all sorts of treasures that can lead to a fuller, richer life.

One thing that I wanted to convey was the uncertainty of finding a star and wondering what to do with it. Because we can find a treasure and use it in many different ways, or not use it at all! So in Nancy Bea's expression I wanted to convey some of this uncertainty.

Since Nancy Bea didn't have time to pose, couldn't hold the expression very long (the sideways look led to dizziness), and the weather was becoming too cold, I took photos of her and worked from them. I made sure that the lighting conditions in the photos were the same (time of day and direction of sun) as they were in the setting.

Now to the nitty-gritty of painting. I decided it was important to show just a bit of the ocean. There were a few days of tremendous surf that created a golden haze (visible in the distance), and this added a feeling of mystery and excitement to the "zone" between water and land. So I decided to set NB's figure against the long view. My oil sketch of rocks and trees was just to the right of the composition, but nevertheless it came in handy for nearby colors, values and brushstrokes, and also the color of the sky and clouds.

When I plan out a composition, I like to print out photos, paste them together, and move borders in and out until I like the balance. I also print out photos of the figure, and play around with size and position in the same way. Making a polished reference in Photoshop doesn't interest me. I'd rather do this cut-and-paste stuff, because the motley-looking photo-pastiche that results from this process is just a compositional guide. I don't want to just "copy" a finished-looking photo with every detail already worked out. I also have my oil sketch to refer to. The real synthesis is in my head.

Here are some progress shots:

I stretch my own canvases with unprimed Belgian linen, prime them with acrylic gesso, and tone them with a warm neutral wash of black, burnt umber and white. First I drew a grid on my photo-pastiche and a corresponding grid on my canvas. Since I work large, the grid helps me to place complex things like rocks. I keep the grid very large so I don't feel like I'm connecting the dots, and I am still drawing freehand.

Here I'm starting to fill in the dark trees behind NB's backlit head--the focal point and area of greatest contrast.

Starting to differentiate light and shadow areas and put in a color mosaic.

More "puzzle-pieces" of color."

Adjusting values, colors and refining the figure.

Further refinements and adjustments.

The finished piece, Star at the Edge, oil on linen, 34" x 42".

Here are details of the head and hands.

This painting, along with 30 + others, will be in my upcoming show, RIGHT HERE: NEW MAINE ISLAND PAINTINGS, opening August 5th at the Dowling Walsh Gallery in Rockland, Maine. The gallery is located on 357 Main Street, right across from the Farnsworth Art Museum. Catalogs include an essay by author Carl Little, and will be available through the gallery.

Painters Painting Each Other

Nancy Bea Miller and I have reciprocal portraits in the Painters Painting section of Outdoor Painter! Both our paintings were done on the same trip, one year ago when we went on a "business trip" to Maine and stayed with Diana Cobb Ansley(who appears in my piece, too) on Mount Desert Island for a few days. Click each image to enlarge and read the article by Steve Doherty.

What a fun and fruitful trip that was! For a time at least, you can see the piece online by clicking here.

Art Makes Life at the Butler

I'm very pleased to announce that my portrait of Marina Dieul, Art Makes Life, was selected for inclusion in the 75th Midyear Exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art.

If you haven't been to the Butler, it's worth a trip to Youngstown, Ohio to see this small gem of a museum full of truly magnificent examples of work by American artists of all eras of this country's history. The Midyear show is a lot of fun to see. There will be 100 works on display, selected from over 1,000 entries. You might see some artists you know there. Last year at the opening reception I met Jeff Gola, Stanka Kordic and Leslie Adams, all of whom had work in the show.

75th NATIONAL MIDYEAR SHOW

The Butler Institute of American Art

524 Wick Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio

Meet the Artists Reception and Awards Ceremony, Sunday, June 26th, noon to 3 p.m.

Show Dates: June 26th--August 28th, 2011

Color, Light and Shadow Workshop Update

Color study in warm light

Color study in cool light

There are still places available in my Studio Incamminati workshop, June 20-24.

Do you follow the maxim, "Paint what you see?" Do you ever stop and wonder WHY you see certain colors in the various planes of the face, or objects, or whatever you are painting? Understanding how the light generates color, even in the shadows, takes the mystery and struggle out of color mixing.

Call 215-592-7910 if you need information or you would like to register for this 5-day workshop.

Vision to Hand awarded PSA Certificate of Excellence 2011

I'm happy to announce that Vision to Hand (oil on linen, 36" x 26") received a Certificate of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America this year!

It's what I call a "figurative portrait" because it is both a portrait of artist Diane Feissel, and also a figurative work that conveys an idea that is relevant to the subject, and also goes beyond the subject. I guess you could say that I "use" the subject to explore a theme, but she's not just a model, a tabula rasa onto which I project that constellation of ideas; she's an individual who is also partly the source of these ideas.

Matthew Inness asked me to describe my thoughts about this painting, and he posted the painting and description in his wonderful blog Underpaintings. (If you like realist art and you haven't yet read Matt's blog, check it out. You won't want to miss all the interesting news and commentary.) Thank you, Matt, for including my work along with all the other Portrait Society award-winning entries. Congratulations to all these exceptional artists!

Realism: Legacy and the Gene Pool

I look around at all the schools of realism today and marvel at the diversity of styles and viewpoints that are emerging out of the teaching of highly respected artists. To name a few off the top of my head, there are the Putney Painters, the Water Street Atelier artists, the Novo-Realists, and here in Philadelphia, the Studio Incamminati artists and the "Direct Painting" heritage at PAFA. Of course there are many more. All of them have different approaches, and the artists emerging from them are doing exciting work.

I've noticed that these groups tend to stay together and show together often, for obvious reasons. The artists share a common teacher, of course, and they know each other very well from learning and painting together. Sometimes there is a painter whose style jumps out from the group as markedly different, but more often the uniqueness is consistent but more subtle. It's easy for these painters to get a show together because just the distinction of belonging to a school of realism is in itself a valid reason for a show.

But what if we mixed things up a little? What if artists, galleries and curators organized more themed shows that reached across these different schools of realism and invited artists from all kinds of different backgrounds?

There is a lot to be said for the "legacy" that is passed down from one artist to another. The legacy idea is not really stylistic, although artists may be initially drawn to study with an artist (or one who studied with that artist) because they are attracted by the style of the work. The legacy has more to do with learning that artist's way of seeing, methods of working, and putting conceptual understanding into practice. The best "masters" (I use that word although it has a slight cringe factor for me) are those who would not want students to copy their style, who would help students become the kind of artists they are meant to be. So if "masters" do not want artists to copy them, that's all the more reason for artists to look beyond their own inner circles and appreciate, even embrace, what other artists are doing.

Then there are all the artists--myself included--who do not belong to a specific school. There are so many realists working today who add fuel to the fire of the realist art movement. We need more and different shows. We need to widen the gene pool a bit, shake up the mix, and try new combinations. I can think of so many people I'd like to show with--and the list varies with the themes that I come up with in my head. And I'm also thinking of all the wonderful accomplished artists I know who do not have the advantage of belonging to a group, but have the strength of their own artistic voice. Just think if we all raised our voices together in a single group that transcended our various allegiances!

A few years ago, I was asked by the director of a local center to help organize a portrait and figure show of Pennsylvania artists. I wanted a variety, so I suggested artists from across the board stylistically. At the time, I didn't know any artists from Studio Incamminati. For some reason, I thought of that school as separate from the rest of the Philadelphia art scene. Right after the show was over, I started meeting some of these really exceptional artists, and I wished I could have turned back time and included them in the portrait show.

But fortunately there are always new opportunities. Last year I served on the exhibit committee, helping to put together the "Inspiring Figures" show at the Butler Institute, in which some of these artists participated.

If realism is to thrive, we can't just stay within our safety zones. We can make a much greater impact on the art world in general if we hang together and help each other. We are working toward a common goal to see representational art, in all its traditional and contemporary permutations, achieve widespread acceptance and validity.

Studio Incamminati Workshop in June

Head study in cool light

Head study in warm light

Color, Light and Shadow: Painting the Figure

June 20-24, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
$550.

Using complementary colors to paint people and objects as they "turn" into shadow involves creating a unified color ramework for each painting, based on the color of the direct light source, which determines how we see the ambient (indirect) light and shadow.

Join me for five days of intense fun as we paint white plaster casts in warm and cool light, then progress on to live models in full color setups. I'll also be doing a power-point presentation, examining the "turning plane" in detail.

For further information or to sign up, check out Studio Incamminati's website.