Karin Wells Studio

Grape Expectations: A Mini-Lesson in Massing Small (and Large) Objects

2012-01-22T23:22:00.014-05:00

My friend Paul Pedersen* sent me a copy of his latest still life painting.

He was kind enough to allow me to stomp on his grapes as a way to teach you all a mini-lesson in correcting a common mistake.

I am grape-ful for Paul's nice little original still life above.

Paul has painted perfect little portraits of each grape - but he failed to "paint the bunch."

I photoshopped the painting to show how to "mass" this bunch of grapes together.

The bunch of grapes need to be painted as one entire unit - with both light and shadow as shown above.

In painting "reality" you paint the desired illusion (not merely what you see). In this case the "illusion" is meant to be "a bunch of grapes" - and not just sixty eight individual portraits of similar grapes (even though that is what they really are).

On the overall mass of grapes, the part nearest the source of light are the lightest - and the portion farthest from the light turns into shadow.

Massing small objects will always strengthen a painting.

Here is Paul's picture - photoshopped to show the result of massing. You can see that the overall light and shadow are maintained.

In painting the individual objects (in this case, grapes) you must not violate the light and shadow pattern you established underneath.

In other words, the values of each individual grape will completely respect the light and shadow you have established in massing the bunch.

Massing is so easy to see when you know what you're looking at. Chardin masses the bunch of strawberries in his still life.

Or when George Inness masses foliage in his landscapes...everybody does it - or they'd go nuts painting each tree branch and leaf.

Corot (and every other master painter I can think of) masses objects . . . trees and even those buildings in the distance.

Titian masses hair and fur in this portrait. Just imagine how impossible it would be to paint individual hairs?

Raphael masses hair and landscape elements.

Raphael masses hair and fur. You can see massing is everywhere - go to any good art museum and look at the Old Masters.

*NOTE: I trust Paul will forgive me for "raisin a fuss" about those grapes. (Groan - I ust cannot seem to help myself with those puns).

Who knew that Leonardo da Vinci liked Kitty Cats?

2011-12-19T14:53:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

My eBook Update

2011-12-18T13:16:00.006-05:00

In case you're wondering where I went - the answer is "nowhere." I am busy writing a book on "The Nuts and Bolts of Classical Oil Painting."**

My focus: Painting is a Craft that you need to master - before you get to the "art" part.

My aim is to write a basic textbook for someone who doesn't know a darn thing . . . except that they wish to paint in a classical realistic manner.

So many of us are visual - and need to be shown, rather than told, "how to make it look real." (There are rules for this, you know).

The format of this blog maddingly does not allow me to go into the detail I wish. So I am writing/illustrating an ebook to teach classical realistic painting.

So far it's a technical nightmare - but I'll eventually figure it out.

Stay tuned.

** This is only a working title, suggestions welcome.

Obvious Advice (for the Oblivious)

2011-11-01T22:36:00.013-04:00

I keep this painting around the studio to remind myself that some lessons are really painful.

This is a detail of an oil sketch I did many years ago. In those days I was a bit too "casual" with my work and set this painting on the floor next to my easel to dry.

One day I discovered that I had managed to splatter paint all over it - which was dry and could not be removed.

Still . . . I left this work on the floor until a week later - my full-time-dog and part-time-art-critic evidently mistook this piece for a fire hydrant.

Sarge (named after John Singet Sargent) never did that again - thank heavens.

So the point of this story is: Treat your work with the respect it deserves and don't leave it laying around where it can get damaged.

Some of My Favorite Ready-Made Frames

2011-11-01T21:58:00.011-04:00

Every artist wants their work to look good. And here is a way to do it if you are on a budget.*

*"Budget" is a nicer word than "cheap and lazy" like, er . . . me.

I like a ready-made frame. I tend to paint on "standard size" canvas in order to fit my work into a ready-made frame.

Some standard sizes below:

I have gotten a lot of my frames from JFM.

The purpose of a frame is to visually separate the painting from the wall it is hanging on.

I like a wide gold frame - at least 4" wide to do this - just because I paint in a classical style.

Sometimes I choose a frame by placing my painting in a frame in Photoshop. I like to "try it on" before I buy if possible. Like this recent reject below:

I'll have to keep trying "Doris 'Granny D' Haddock" in frames until I find one I like....maybe something with a touch of silver perhaps?

There are many framers and frame companies - but fast, elegant and relatively inexpensive appeals to me.

FRAUD ALERT: Djordje Prudnikoff

2011-08-27T14:34:00.008-04:00

I am not pleased.

Not one bit.

I just got an email from (con)artist and world-class braggart Djordje Prudnikoff who sent an email to his "group" shamelessly complementing his own work ~

- and then he signed my name!

I did not send anybody this email.

I do not support this good-for-nothing shyster who used my name without my knowledge or my permission.

I am stunned that any artist would do such a moronic thing.

How to Draw an Ellipe by Eye

2011-07-28T15:19:00.003-04:00

I moved this up from an earlier posting as I have had so many questions about how this is done.

Knowing how to draw an accurate ellipse "by eye" can be an extremely useful tool...i.e., from rendering vases and teacups - not to mention its use in portraiture.

Here's how it is done:

Determine the outside dimensions of your ellipse with a rectangle.

Connect the corners of the rectangle with straight lines (CC).

Where these lines intersect is the center, point B.

Divide line BC into thirds by eye and mark with dots.

Point D is the outermost dot and will be moved verrrry slightly outward so that it is a little less than 1/3.

Mark the center of the sides of the rectangle (Point A).

With a dotted curved line, the elipse will only touch the rectangle at Point A and pass through Point D.

Thank heavens this works with any perspective view too and that is when you REALLY need it.

NOTE:

When drawing a circle or any curve, it will always be easier to be accurate if you use a dotted line rather than a solid line first.

CLASSICAL REALISM: My Teachers Are Teaching a Workshop

2011-04-25T22:34:00.044-04:00

October 24th - 29th, 2011

My teachers are offering a very intensive week long workshop on Classical Realism.

And what an opportunity this is!

Numael and Shirley Pulido are not only great painters, they are the best teachers I ever had.

You can enjoy some of their work below while you read about this workshop. Numael's works are in oil and Shirley's works shown here are in pastel.

Portrait by Numael Pulido

This five and a half-day course is meant to accommodate artists looking for a unified approach to picture-making and oil painting technique.

Portrait by Numael Pulido

This is an intensive course of instruction and open to only 8 students per workshop.

Still Life by Numael Pulido

It is a teaching applicable to all levels, - for beginners or for advanced painters who are looking for a more classical approach.

Still Life by Numael Pulido

Each student will start a start a still life with the same instruction and advance according to his/her own level of experience.

Portrait of Shirley by Numael Pulido

Some time will be devoted to advice for doing more effective set-ups for both still life and portrait painting.

Portrait by Numael Pulido

This is a workshop which provides the student with a great amount of procedural information and time-tested principles that allow the natural talent of the student to become more accessible.

Flowers (pastel) by Shirley Pulido

Schedule:

Students will arrive on Sunday, June 19, and there will be a three hour (3 - 6PM) introduction and preparation for Monday’s first class.

Friday 24 will be the last day of formal instruction. Saturday morning, 9-12AM we will be available for further questions or discussion for any one wanting it.

Flowers (pastel) by Shirley Pulido

The price of the course is $750 which includes some materials such as non-toxic medium.

Portrait by Shirley Pulido

Accommodations are abundant in the area - and New England’s oldest, beautiful inn is right in town.

Good lunches, a five minute walk to town center.

And Peterborough, a cultured and elegant town, 7 miles down the road from Hancock for relaxed evenings.

Portrait by Shirley Pulido

The Manchester NH. airport is 45 minutes from Hancock.

The Pulido Studio is located at #6 Forest Rd. (Rte 123) Hancock, New Hampshire.

Portrait by Numael Pulido

We urge anyone considering this course to call so that we can discuss in further detail any of the above.

Portrait by Numael Pulido

Emails are fine, but we would also like to establish a personal contact by phone if you are planning to come.

Contact:
pulidoshirley (at) gmail (dot) com

Portrait by Numael Pulido

Numael and Shirley Pulido, Hancock, New
Hampshire

CONTACT HERE

Still Life (pastel) by Shirley Pulido

Intensive 6 Day Workshop

Study Form, Composition, Light, using the limited palette: ideal for artists wishing to enhance their knowledge of master painting technique and classical composition.

Still Life (pastel) by Shirley Pulido

This is a real opportunity to study with two masters of classical realism. And they are only accepting 8 people.

I recommend The Hancock Inn (one of the oldest inns in the country) as a delightful place to stay. It is within walking distance of the Pulido Studios, dining, library, grocery store....and a large picturesque pond.

"The Classical Realism Workshop" is a rare opportunity - so grab it if you can. I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Last Workshop:

I stopped by the last workshop toward the end and snapped a quick picture of the students busy working. This studio is small - but very comfy. The Pulidos have painted a mural on the far wall that gives their space a delightful "airy" (and classical) atmosphere.

I never met anyone who wanted to paint that was totally lacking the talent. But without solid instruction it is nearly impossible to get to a professional level.

For a lucky few, Numael and Shirley Pulido took their workshop participants through a step-by-step classical oil still life painting. Having experienced this procedure first-hand, the student can now return home and bring this traditional knowlege to all of their future works.

As I expected, they all "got it" - and the resulting work is most impressive. It is really exciting for me to see what happens when "Talent Finally Meets a Teacher."

Visiting the Pulido Studio Workshop made my day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T23:21:00.005-04:00

St Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland.

I wonder if we could get him to stop by the House of Representatives? The Republicans just cut NPR's funding.

Kiss me! I'm Irate!

I like to listen to NPR in the studio when I paint. I am in rural New Hampshire where the hate talkers rule the airwaves 24/7 (Limbaugh, Hannity, ad nauseum). NPR saved my sanity.

Losing NPR really gets my "Irish up."

Your Name Tastes Like Purple - or - Living With Synesthesia

2011-02-15T15:52:00.012-05:00

By Teri Floyd*

In my head, the letter N is green. The number 5 is blackish gray, and in his early 20s. The month of February is lavender colored and covered in ice.

So in case you haven’t guessed, I have Synesthesia.

I’ve had it all my life, I suppose. People who are experts on such things say that we are born with it, that it is a brain disorder.

The wires in your brain get crossed, and you experience all five senses simultaneously. They overlap where they should be separate.

Everybody who has it has a different form of synesthesia with minor undertones of other kinds. Mine mainly exists with letters and numbers. I see numbers, letters, words, etc in color.

All of my letters and numbers have different colors, personalities, textures, ages and gender. I literally see them as living beings. Colors themselves also have gender. When I was a child often I’d play ‘house’ with my crayons instead of dolls.

Seriously, I’d have red and blue get married or green and orange have a sordid affair. My Grandma used to think it was so funny. It was just normal to me. Words have colors – for instance, my son’s name, Callum, is a bright, sunny yellow with flecks of baby blue, particularly in the L’s.

The inside of my head kind of feels like a Jackson Pollock painting. All splotches and globs of brightly colored paint, roads leading nowhere, just an explosion of thick, goopy color with a nonsensical message.

Convergence, 1952 by Jackson Pollock is my favorite painting. Probably because it’s the colors of my name. Yellows, a hint of orange, lots of black, and a little fleck of blue peaking out; all of it streaked into oblivion. My name looks just like that; it did long before I ever saw a Pollock painting.

I also have synesthesia with regard to music. Certain songs bring vivid colors into my head. If I listen to ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’, by the Beatles, my head fills with alternating flashes of mustard-yellow and bright, silvery white. It has a distinct pulse and a gritty, sandpapery feel.

David Bowie’s voice always invokes a bright sky blue that sometimes turns darker, or has shades of gray, depending on the mood of the song. Rap music invokes a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes all spiralling through my head at warp speed.

Artist Gene Davis gives us all a taste of synesthesia as he paints the street leading up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I prefer one sole theme, which is why I think I don’t usually care for rap music unless it’s really unique or exceptional (for instance, Lil Wayne’s voice is a silvery gray with purpleundertones that I find really pleasing).

Classical music takes me through a landscape of color, shape and feeling. Usually I close my eyes when listening. It’s like having my own personal DVD of Fantasia playing through my head whenever I listen.

Usually when I tell people about my synesthestic experiences they look at me like I’m some crazed hippie. I probably am a crazed hippie in reality, but what I experience is more than just psychadelic. It’s spiritual.

My synesthesia is so ingrained into me that if I lost my ability tomorrow, I would feel as if I’d been blinded or deafened.

Occasionally I experience the other types of synesthesia that have to do with taste, sensation and smell, but only occasionally. Smells and tastes definitely invoke a distinct color in my brain.

For instance, the smell and taste of fresh garlic makes my head fill with bright, vibrant green. Diet drinks with their saccharine sweetness always appear in my head as being a shimmering, blinding silver.

It can be strange, having synesthesia. If I’m out to dinner with a friend, and they scrape their fork on their teeth, my brain fills with unnamed metallic colors, and my ears roar with the sound of it. I can’t stand it.

I can taste the metal on my own tongue and it is unbearable. It can cause obsessive compulsive behavior sometimes. Occasionally the sound and taste of silverware is so loud in my brain that I have to use plastic cutlery when I eat.

Synesthesia certainly enriches my life as an avid reader and a writer. It always helped my poetry and as I become better at essays and stories I find that it enriches them, too. Certainly F. Scott Fitzgerald was synesthetic. No-one can read The Great Gatsby and tell me that he wasn’t. I think that is why I feel so decadent and wistful when I read his books.

I’ve read Gatsby dozens of times and never tire of the language and the way his words flow in an endless barrage of color. Many artists and celebrities are synesthestes, including Tori Amos, Eddie Van Halen, Frederick Nietzche, Stevie Wonder, Vladimir Nabokov, and many, many others.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t grateful to have synesthesia. I have had it so long that it is like second nature to me now. I often forget that I do have it, and just go through life assuming that people are experiencing the same sensations as I do.

I see the months of the year like a giant rolodex, spiralling through an open space. They all have colors, genders, ages and personalities. I also benefit from having a somewhat photographic memory with directions, phone numbers, addresses and names, because I see them as a pattern of colors.

It all tastes blue to me.

* By Teri Floyd and Reprinted from Persephone Magazine, 2/3/2011 - Original article here.

A Tapestry of Artsy Quotes

2011-01-30T13:06:00.013-05:00

An artist's career always begins tomorrow. ~James McNeill Whistler

William Morris (1834 -1896) was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and passionate socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement.

His colors reflect the beauty of an earth palette.

William Morris Self Portrait

His chief contribution to the arts was as a designer of repeating patterns for wallpapers and textiles, many based on a close observation of nature.

I have included some of his works here along with a little mid-winter art inspiration.

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures. ~Henry Ward Beecher

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~Scott Adams

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. ~Pablo Picasso

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. ~Twyla Tharp

The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life. ~William Faulkner

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. ~Pablo Picasso

Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. ~Stella Adler

Painting is silent poetry. ~Plutarch, Moralia: How to Study Poetry

Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen. ~Leonardo da Vinci

It has been said that art is a tryst, for in the joy of it maker and beholder meet. ~Kojiro Tomita

Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in. ~Amy Lowell

To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist. ~Schumann

We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies. ~Pablo Picasso

I don't paint things. I only paint the difference between things. ~Henri Matisse

The artist uses the talent he has, wishing he had more talent. The talent uses the artist it has, wishing it had more artist. ~Robert Brault

An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one. ~Charles Horton Cooley

Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression. ~Isaac Bashevis Singer

To make us feel small in the right way is a function of art; men can only make us feel small in the wrong way. ~E.M. Forster, Two Cheers for Democracy, 1951

Art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on wings of misery and travail. ~Theodore Dreiser, Life, Art, and America, 1917

The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep. ~Paul Strand

All art requires courage. ~Anne Tucker

Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter. ~Oscar Wilde

Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. ~Edgar Degas

It is a mistake for a sculptor or a painter to speak or write very often about his job. It releases tension needed for his work. ~Henry Moore

Pictures must not be too picturesque. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better. ~André Gide

Anyone who says you can't see a thought simply doesn't know art. ~Wynetka Ann Reynolds

But that's what being an artist is - feeling crummy before everyone else feels crummy. ~The New Yorker

Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass. ~Fran Lebowitz

Great art picks up where nature ends. ~Marc Chagall

When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college - that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, "You mean they forget?" ~Howard Ikemoto

Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame. ~G.K. Chesterton

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit. ~John Updike

The artist is the opposite of the politically minded individual, the opposite of the reformer, the opposite of the idealist. The artist does not tinker with the universe, he recreates it out of his own experience and understanding of life. ~Henry Miller

No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist. ~Oscar Wilde

Let me ask you something, what is not art? ~Author Unknown

The painter puts brush to canvas, and the poet puts pen to paper. The poet has the easier task, for his pen does not alter his rhyme. ~Robert Brault

An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them. ~Andy Warhol

The buttocks are the most aesthetically pleasing part of the body because they are non-functional. Although they conceal an essential orifice, these pointless globes are as near as the human form can ever come to abstract art. ~Kenneth Tynan

God and other artists are always a little obscure. ~Oscar Wilde

Art consists of limitation. The most beautiful part of every picture is the frame. ~G.K. Chesterton

What art offers is space - a certain breathing room for the spirit. ~John Updike

No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist. ~Oscar Wilde

Let me ask you something, what is not art? ~Author Unknown

The painter puts brush to canvas, and the poet puts pen to paper. The poet has the easier task, for his pen does not alter his rhyme. ~Robert Brault

An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them. ~Andy Warhol

God and other artists are always a little obscure. ~Oscar Wilde

For me, painting is a way to forget life. It is a cry in the night, a strangled laugh. ~Georges Rouault

Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale 'til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The progress of an artist is a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality. ~T.S. Eliot, Tradition and the Individual Talent, 1919

There is no surer method of evading the world than by following Art, and no surer method of linking oneself to it than by Art. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Art is... a question mark in the minds of those who want to know what's happening. ~Aaron Howard

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for. ~Georgia O'Keeffe

Man will begin to recover the moment he takes art as seriously as physics, chemistry or money. ~Ernst Levy

Modern art is what happens when painters stop looking at girls and persuade themselves that they have a better idea. ~John Anthony Ciardi

As far as I am concerned, a painting speaks for itself. What is the use of giving explanations, when all is said and done? A painter has only one language. ~Pablo Picasso

The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do? ~Pablo Picasso

Sometimes, to pursue a new idea, the artist must forfeit his deposit on an old idea. ~Robert Brault

I want to reach that condensation of sensations that constitutes a picture. ~Henri Matisse, Notes d'un peintre, 1908

Great art is as irrational as great music. It is mad with its own loveliness. ~George Jean Nathan, House of Satan

Art is the colors and textures of your imagination. ~Meghan, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

Art is your personal diary where you may color your thoughts and emotions on a page. ~Sara, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

Art is a shadow of what a person is thinking... a small glimpse of what they hold inside. Little secrets, regrets, joys... every line has its own meaning. ~Sarah, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

Art is your emotions flowing in a river of imagination. ~Devin, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

Art is an adventure that never seems to end. ~Jason, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

Art is pictures straight from the heart. ~Ben, Los Cerros Middle School, 1999

If Michelangelo had been straight, the Sistine Chapel would have been wallpapered. ~Robin Tyler

Art is the triumph over chaos. ~John Cheever

All great art comes from a sense of outrage. ~Glenn Close

Art is indeed not the bread but the wine of life. ~Jean Paul Richter

Poets do not go mad; but chess-players do. Mathematicians go mad, and cashiers; but creative artists very seldom. ~Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Orthodoxy

One of the best things about paintings is their silence - which prompts reflection and random reverie. ~Mark Stevens

God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style. He just goes on trying other things. ~Pablo Picasso

Art hath an enemy called ignorance. ~Ben Jonson

What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art. ~Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Art... does not take kindly to facts, is helpless to grapple with theories, and is killed outright by a sermon. ~Agnes Repplier, Points of View, 1891

Art disturbs, science reassures. ~Georges Braque, Le Jour et la nuit

As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life. ~John Lubbock

It is frequently the tragedy of the great artist, as it is of the great scientist, that he frightens the ordinary man. ~Loren Eiseley, The Night Country, 1971

Art is spirituality in drag. ~Jennifer Yane

The artist's talent sits uneasy as an object of public acclaim, having been so long an object of private despair. ~Robert Brault

Coloring outside the lines is a fine art. ~Kim Nance

Reflexes and instincts are not pretty. It is their decoration that initiates art. ~Martin H. Fischer

What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself - life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose. ~Willa Cather

An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world. ~George Santayana

Art is like a border of flowers along the course of civilization. ~Lincoln Steffens

Art is not a thing; it is a way. ~Elbert Hubbard

An artist's career always begins tomorrow. ~James McNeill Whistler

The artist is a receptacle for the emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web. ~Pablo Picasso

Surely nothing has to listen to so many stupid remarks as a painting in a museum. ~Edmond & Jules de Goncourt

Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere. ~G.K. Chesterton

Artistry is an innate distrust of the theory of reality concocted by the five senses. ~Robert Brault,

Grammar stops at love, and at art. ~Terri Guillemets

The true painter strives to paint what can only be seen through his world. ~André Malraux

The following are also William Morris images:

An artist never really finishes his work; he merely abandons it. ~Paul Valéry

Artistic growth is, more than it is anything else, a refining of the sense of truthfulness. The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is. ~Willa Cather, The Song of the Lark, 1915

A subject that is beautiful in itself gives no suggestion to the artist. It lacks imperfection. ~Oscar Wilde

An artist cannot talk about his art any more than a plant can discuss horticulture. ~Jean Cocteau, Newsweek, 16 May 1955

The artist does not see things as they are, but as he is. ~Alfred Tonnelle

A man's work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened. ~Albert Camus

For the mystic what is how. For the craftsman how is what. For the artist what and how are one. ~William McElcheran

O, how much simpler things would be, if eyes could paint or brush could see. ~Robert Brault

Art is a kind of illness. ~Giacomo Puccini

A great artist is always before his time or behind it. ~George Moore

A man and his art are like a fool and his king. ~Corri Alius

A painting is what you make of it, besides which, 'Moon, Weeping' has a better ring to it than 'Paintbrush, Dripping.' ~Robert Brault

I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum. ~Claes Oldenburg

Science is out of the reach of morals, for her eyes are fixed upon eternal truths. Art is out of the reach of morals, for her eyes are fixed upon things beautiful and immortal and ever-changing. To morals belong the lower and less intellectual spheres. ~Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist, 1891

While I recognize the necessity for a basis of observed reality... true art lies in a reality that is felt. ~Odilon Redon

The first assumption of an art critic is that the artist meant to paint something else. ~Robert Brault

The question of common sense is always what is it good for? - a question which would abolish the rose and be answered triumphantly by the cabbage. ~James Russell Lowell

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. ~Aristotle

Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul - and you answer. ~Terri Guillemets

Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don't like - then cultivate it. That's the only part of your work that's individual and worth keeping. ~Jean Cocteau

Picasso would give up cubism just to capture your curves. ~Konfal Blyther

Any great work of art... revives and readapts time and space, and the measure of its success is the extent to which it makes you an inhabitant of that world - the extent to which it invites you in and lets you breathe its strange, special air. ~Leonard Bernstein, What Makes Opera Grand?

There is in every artist's studio a scrap heap of discarded works in which the artist's discipline prevailed against his imagination. ~Robert Brault

Art, as far as it is able, follows nature, as a pupil imitates his master; thus your art must be, as it were, God's grandchild. ~Dante Alighieri, Inferno

A portrait has one advantage over its original: it is unconscious; and you may therefore admire without insulting it. I have seen portraits which have more. ~Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers, 1827

The fine arts once divorcing themselves from truth are quite certain to fall mad, if they do not die. ~Thomas Carlyle

Without art, the crudeness of reality would make the world unbearable. ~George Bernard Shaw

A man paints with his brains and not with his hands. ~Michelangelo

Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid. ~Jules Feiffer

All the other colors are just colors, but purple seems to have a soul. Purple is not just a noun and an adjective but also a verb - when you look at it, it's looking back at you. ~Uniek Swain

Architecture begins where engineering ends. ~Walter Gropius

Lying in bed would be an altogether perfect and supreme experience if only one had a colored pencil long enough to draw on the ceiling. ~G.K. Chesterton

Why should I paint dead fish, onions and beer glasses? Girls are so much prettier. ~Marie Laurencin

Art is Man's nature. Nature is god's art. ~James Bailey

The artist gazes upon a reality and creates his own impression. The viewer gazes upon the impression and creates his own reality. ~Robert Brault

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together. ~John Ruskin

Art is what we call the thing an artist does. It's not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it. What matters, what makes it art, is that the person who made it overcame the resistance, ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making. Something risky. Something human. Art is not in the eye of the beholder. It's in the soul of the artist. ~ Seth Godin

Counterintuitive Painting - or - The Problem Might Not Be What You Think It Is

2011-01-08T19:25:00.013-05:00

Grrrrrr. It fools me every time and happens all too frequently at the easel.

I will try to keep a camera handy and make an effort to "grab" this problem as it arises so you can recognize that thorny old "the problem isn't what you think it is....it is probably the opposite" situation.

The problem is often a light/dark thing.

Above is a 6" x 9" oil sketch of a cement angel by Gaudi that I recently saw in Barcelona. So far so good.

I finish the dead underpainting layer (raw umber and titanium white) and there isn't much contrast in my reference photo...it's made out of cement after all. However, I fail to capture the "sculptural" quality.

What to do? I glaze it and build lots of light. And then I build some more and it isn't working.

But then I realize that it isn't LIGHT that is the problem...it is that the darks are not dark enough.

So I stop working on the light and pay attention to the dark. . . duh . . . and then I get it right.

The light is unchanged in the last two pictures...but the dark has become much darker and thus it works now.

Although I am getting better, I'd say that I still guess wrong about once a week and think that:

1. The lights aren't light enough

2. The darks aren't dark enough

But the answer is frequently the opposite of what I think it is.

UPDATE: This is the final painting ( just couldn't leave it alone).

I picked up the brush to add a little more dark and couldn't resist adding a little lettering in the lower right to sort of balance the odd composition.

Here's a detail of the lettering (above).

I was once a sign painter before I took up oil painting....and I love lettering.

This little 6"x9" Gaudi Angel oil sketch will be part of a fundraiser for the Portrait Society of America.

Happy 2011

2010-12-31T13:47:00.006-05:00

It's cold in my studio this morning. I'm wearing two sweaters, my painting smock and double wool socks.

Here are my (less chilly) predictions for this coming year:

The economy will be going gangbusters.

The people of our nation will wake up and stop listening to FOX News and Hate Radio, begin to check and discuss facts and vote accordingly.

Your boss will give you a raise.

Your family situation will be stable.

You will feel the best you've ever felt.

And the demand for art will be so great that all artists will be employed for years to come.

I could be wrong about something here - but I hope not.

"The three grand essentials of happiness are; something to do, someone to love, and something to hope for"

- Alexander Chalmers

Happy New Year!

Father Guido Sarducci on Art School

2010-12-30T23:43:00.003-05:00

Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) explains the advantages of being an artist. Produced by George Manupelli and William Farley in 1982 at San Francisco Art Institute.

Gaping at Gaudí - OR - If You Must Use Graphite to Transfer a Drawing - Here's How To Do It Safely

2010-12-26T18:11:00.032-05:00

One has to go to all the way to Barcelona to see the work of Antoni Gaudi but it's worth it. Weeks ago I saw his Spanish Catalan Art Noveau Architecture for the first time. Wow.

That's me (lower right) gaping at the ceiling of Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece "Sagrada Familia" - under construction since 1882.

The interior of the church is open and accessible giving a spectacular view of the expansive forest-like interior. The use of external light through the stain glass windows and the 'Glory of God' window in the roof is ever changing and dynamic.

I am making a little 6"x9" painting of the following detail from Gaudi's work - an angel - to illustrate the use of graphite in transferring a drawing.

Normally I do not use graphite for archival reasons. It tends to "rise to the top" of an oil painting over the years and can unintentionally wreck the surface.

However, if you must - here's how I do it:

I never use tracing paper any more - I use acetate instead so I can see through it to correct lines if necessary during the painting process.

On the right you can see a graphite transfer sheet. It doesn't matter if it is homemade graphite paper or commercial - same thing. Even drawing on the canvas with a pencil....it's all the same when graphite is applied to a surface that will have oil paint over it.

I am putting this drawing under the imprimatura. (Over is OK too.)

This is a photo of the pad of Graphix Acetate I used. I often use different brands and weights of acetate.

I always use a fine point black Sharpie to draw on the acetate because nothing else will stick.

I always use clear acetate - never matte or frosted as it defeats the purpose of being able to see through it. Prepared Acetate comes in rolls (which are cheaper) and pads - I use both.

The .003 weight tears easily but wrinkles less.

The heavier .005 weight is stronger but doesn't always want to lie flat.

When the lines are transferred with graphite to the surface, I often use a dip pen and ink (as shown above) to re-draw those lines. I always use a warm color - this ink is orange (you can see it in the upper left hand corner).

To illustrate another way, I will finish drawing over the graphite lines with a fine point Sharpie in any warm color. Shown are orange, red, yellow ochre, and brown.

I finished the job with an orange fine point Sharpie. It is quicker and easier than using ink....but because it is oil based, it can smear if you "scrub" too hard when adding the imprimatura.

Water-based ink won't smear when it comes in contact with oil.

I use a kneaded rubber eraser to lift every speck of graphite from my surface - only the ink and/or Sharpie lines remain.

This is important as I do not want to wreck my work before I even begin.

Next, I add the imprimatura (raw umber mixed with Liquin). I could continue to work but I decided to block my corners and darken my edges and let it dry before the next stage.

Sometimes I forget to tell you the most basic thing I do....like blocking edges and corners as illustrated above.

I begin with a glaze of raw umber over all. And then I paint a mixture of two values of titanium white and raw umber onto the wet surface and begin to build the angel figure.

I finish the raw umber and white rendering the angel in situ. As you can see, I some of my lines "took a walk" - but I let it dry as is anyhow.

Next stage - I correct by laying my acetate drawing over the dry surface to see where I went wrong - so I could correct. I do NOT use graphite if I need to trace a line....at this stage I'd use a chalk (pastel) transfer paper.

This is the finished piece - an "oil sketch" of one of Gaudi's musical angels, 6"x 9" oil on panel. Maybe because it was raining, the different colors were easy to see.

Gaudi's angel was cement but had subtle colors...intentional pigmentation, air pollution...who knows? But I liked the play of warm and cool in his sculptural facade and added touches of red, yellow and blue in my oil sketch based on Gaudi's angel.

I found that angel over the doors of Gaudi's "Sagrada Familia." This magnificent building is so huge and so ornate, my camera just couldn't capture the feeling of it.

Here are some more pictures I took that give you the flavor of some of his other amazing works:

He had a grand imagination and developed his own distinct sculptural style.

He contrived highly original designs – irregular and fantastically intricate.

Gaudí's architecture is a total integration of materials, processes and poetics. However, his originality was at first ridiculed by his peers.

"Gothic art is imperfect, it means to solve; it is the style of the compass, the formula of industrial repetition. Its stability is based on the permanent propping of abutments: it is a defective body that holds with support… gothic works produce maximum emotion when they are mutilated, covered with ivy and illuminated by the moon."

- Gaudí

His work is highly organic.

Gaudí, throughout his life, studied nature's angles and curves and incorporated them into his designs and mosaics.

This serpentine garden bench is oddly graceful (and uncomfortable).

"Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the Creator."

- Gaudí

Because of his rheumatism, the artist observed a strict vegetarian diet, used homeopathic drug therapy, underwent water therapy, and hiked regularly.

Gaudí was a devout Catholic, to the point that in his later years he abandoned secular work and devoted his life to Catholicism and his Sagrada Família.

In 1926 Gaudí (at the age of 73) was hit by a tram. Because of his ragged attire and empty pockets, many cab drivers refused to pick him up for fear that he would be unable to pay the fare.

He was eventually taken to a paupers' hospital in Barcelona.

Nobody recognized the injured artist until his friends found him the next day.

When they tried to move him into a nicer hospital, Gaudí refused, reportedly saying "I belong here among the poor."

He died three days later.

Gaudí constantly changed his mind and recreated his blueprints.

Completion of the "Sagrada Familía" is planned for 2026, the centennial of Gaudí's death.

Me again, taking pictures.

As time passed, Gaudí's work became more famous.

Gaudi did not like to have his picture taken - so this photo of him taken by Paul Audouard is very rare.

He stands as one of history's most original architects.

2011: The Chinese Year of the Rabbit

2010-12-19T22:12:00.015-05:00

I love bunny rabbits.

The Chinese Year of the Rabbit is traditionally associated with home and family, artistic pursuits, diplomacy, and keeping the peace.

Therefore, 2011 is very likely to be a relatively calmer year than 2010 both on the world scene, as well as on a personal level.

And now it's almost time to say goodbye (and good riddance) to the feisty Year of the Tiger 2010.

On a National scale, the Tiger was often unpredictable, overwhelming and frustrating. It always felt like danger was just around the corner.

For example, the biggest lie of the Year of the Tiger was: "Government Takeover of Health Care"

This tiger-sized lie stuck like gorilla-glue.

Sadly we had to drop the "public option" concept that was derided as too much "government intrusion."

The bullies smelled opportunity and didn't let facts get in the way of a great punchline.

Is there any animal more gentle than a rabbit?

I am really looking forward to a saner, sweeter and kinder 2011.

Unexpected Art at a Shpping Mall Food Court

2010-12-07T15:51:00.008-05:00

Like all beautiful art - this piece doesn't require a fancy "frame" to delight the soul.

Enjoy the season.

Sometimes I think that no one gets it - then along comes Bernie

2010-12-05T13:33:00.007-05:00

Senator Bernie Sanders makes my heart sing:

Imprimatura Basics

2010-11-14T13:00:00.003-05:00

For starters, think of a brown paper bag...

Imprimatura is a term used in painting. It is an initial stain of color painted on a ground (like my gessoed canvas shown below).

It provides a painter with a transparent toned ground. I prefer to use the approximate color and value of a brown paper bag.

The term is Italian and literally means ¨first paint layer" and it helps the classical painter begin with a middle tone and then establish value relations from dark to light.

I cannot think of anything more impossible to paint on than a stark white canvas!

An imprimatura is usually made with an earth color - for a portrait I like to use Raw Umber mixed with Winsor-Newton's Liquin Medium.

Some people use turpentine + color but I prefer to seal the canvas with Liquin.

Note the cheap "hardware store" white britstle brush above...I "use 'em and then I lose 'em.".

The first layers of a painting establish value and composition, color comes much much later.

Here are some examples from the works of Rubens:

In his oil sketches, you can see the imprimatura underneath it all.

It is easy to see - especially in these works.

I once saw a show of his oil sketches at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and that is when I first understood the importance of the imprimatura.

The imprimatura is the "mother color" that makes it all hang together. The painting above appears to have a darker imprimature - and thus is a darker painting.

This painting bleow - I have not see the original - but it is a mini-lesson in how to (sometimes) underpaint paint dark areas and shadows.

All of the darks and shadow areas appear to have been painted in red - a clever way to make those areas luminous, warm and lively when overpainted.

Note that in a landscape, I'll often use an "earthy red" (or sometimes cadmium orange) as my imprimatura and allow that color to peek through the final layers of the painting.

Even in the Old Master's drawing, a toned paper is used....and it is just the color of a brown paper bag!

Many of my paintings at KarinWells.com begin with an imprimatura.

What The Heck Has Obama Done Co Far?

2010-11-09T10:14:00.003-05:00

Creativity isn't just panting.

Three very clever, computer savvy and progressive young people have managed to do what the entire Democratic party could not do for the entire two years of its majority in Congress.

WhatTheHeckHasObamaDoneSoFar.com

They have done, in one fell swoop, what President Obama himself could not managed to do despite having the bully pulpit from which to send any message he wanted to the American people.

Shavanna Miller, Will Carlough, and Richard Boenigk have put up a very simple, yet all-encompassing web site, aptly named, What the heck has Obama done so far.?

The site leads to a single major accomplishment of the Obama administration, with a link to an authentic source that explains the legislation in detail. One example reads: Tax cuts for up to 3.5 million small businesses to help pay for employee health care coverage.

The simplicity is what makes this site so effective. One accomplishment to a page, with its source link.

The reader then can click a button with a snarky remark, such as: "I'm Unimpressed, Big Deal, or What Else?" - and move to the next stated accomplishment and its source link.

Clearly expressed and well written, each accomplishment leads to another, and together they result in the most impressive array of legislation ever passed by a single president in his first two years in office in history.

You'll be amazed at how much has been done, despite more filibusters by the GOP than ever recorded in the US Senate by an opposition determined to block any progress by the new President from the day he took office.

Take a guess at how much Obama has done. You'll be wrong. He did far more than you can imagine.

Check it out:

http://whattheheckhasobamadonesofar.com/

When the Right Gets It Wrong: A Truly Brutal Election

2010-11-03T14:08:00.014-04:00

Nice try Jon Stewart - but "Sanity" wasn't restored and our country failed to think outside of the FOX.

There is no doubt that Tuesday's results will make for even harder times for our country.

It is crazy making to realize just how extreme and misinformed much of the new Congress will be.

There is little reason to expect any useful legislation from the Tea Party-dominated House or the dysfunctional Senate.

Swing votes in the Senate have really troublesome names like Lieberman, Nelson, Manchin, and Pryor. In fact, this Congress will do damage to anything even remotely progressive.

The Republicans shrunk the first "stimulus" package and filled it with tax breaks, even as corporate Democrats helped them along, blocking any effort to restructure mortgages in bankruptcies, freeze foreclosures or force banks to lend money.

The election outcome was partially baked in early 2009, when the White House preemptively conceded on the scale and provisions of the stimulus package and chose to coddle the banks. To watch this unfold was simply maddening.

Making matters worse were other factors. Among the most damaging were the actions of the conservative majority on the Supreme Court, which seemed energized by the new President, and took the radical step of rehearing a campaign finance case — now known forever as Citizens United.

In ruling 5-4 that corporations have the right to spend unlimited amounts of money for and against candidates, the Court transformed the electoral landscape in a way potentially more profound than its 5-4 ruling that seated George W. Bush as president.

As many predicted, the Citizens United ruling unleashed the greatest wave of corporate spending in history.

In an astonishing turn of events, the right wing was able to kill — essentially murder in public view — the organization that registered millions of poor and working class African-American and Hispanic voters in the last six years.

I am speaking of ACORN, of course. By editing video completely out of context, and using the right-wing media machine to perfection, Andrew Breitbart was able to convince the mainstream media and eventually Congress, that ACORN was an election-stealing organization that had no qualms giving advice to pimps on how to increase revenues.

Fulfilling Karl Rove's wildest dreams, Congress, including most Democrats, voted to block public funding for any of ACORN's laudable and effective housing or tax assistance programs, and ACORN died a quiet death. There would be no millions of new registrants.

Republicans walked away from any serious healthcare discussion - muttering bizarre comments about reforms "killing grandma" and setting up "death panels." It would have been laughable if it were not so utterly destructive.

FOX News misled and misinformed the American people on every issue, and effectively became the public face of the Republican Party.

How did we get to such a mess where climate contrarians attacking scientists and their work is not only acceptable, but helps win elections?

Glenn Beck's show became so toxic and spewed so much venom that one of his devoted fans took it upon himself to plot the execution of key leaders of the Tides Foundation and the ACLU, who had figured prominently in Beck's rants.

Fortunately, the madman (the fan, not Beck) was stopped before he accomplished his mission.

For those of us who had hopes that the Obama Administration could seize the moment and enact popular progressive changes, this is a bitter pill. And like many, we grieve at the lost opportunities.

But now we need to brush off the dust, suck it up, and plunge back into substantive fights.

Politics is not fair — indeed, U.S. elections are rigged in profound ways - but walking away is not an option.

Are you angry and exhausted at this point? I know I am.

But let us not forget that the values and ideals we fight for are greater than any one election. They still endure, and so must our fight.

So roll up your sleeves, we have a lot of work to do.

-Credo

Vote on Tuesday, November 2nd

2010-11-01T17:31:00.004-04:00

"If you cannot bring yourself to vote for the lesser of two evils - you'll get the greatest evil."

- Steve Baherman

This year, fewer than 40% of voting age Americans will actually vote.

A serious glitch, I think.

If you don't vote because you're trying to teach politicians a lesson, you're tragically misguided in your strategy. The very politicians you're trying to send a message to don't want you to vote. Since 1960, voting turnouts in mid-term elections are down significantly, and there's one reason: because of TV advertising.

Political TV advertising is designed to do only one thing: suppress the turnout of the opponent's supporters. If the TV ads can turn you off enough not to vote ("they're all bums") then their strategy has succeeded.

The astonishing thing is that voters haven't figured this out. As the scumminess and nastiness of campaigning and governing has escalated and the flakiness of candidates appears to have escalated as well, we've largely abdicated the high ground and permitted selfish partisans on both sides to hijack the system.

Voting is free. It's fairly fast. It doesn't make you responsible for the outcome, but it sure has an impact on what we have to live with going forward. The only thing that would make it better is free snacks.

Even if you're disgusted, vote. Vote for your least unfavorite choice. But go vote.