Innholdsfortegnelse for June - July 2019/ No.127 i International Artist

To us, the best magazines are the dirty ones. You know what I’m talking about. Just look in the corner of your studio or next to your easel and find the latest copy of this magazine. Look at it. Are the pages worn, folded rabbit-eared and drawn upon? Are their paint splashes, sample brushstrokes, sketches, color studies and assorted comments written in the margins of each page? This is what we love to see and hear about. This is why we have been creating this magazine every other month for over 20 years now! We want it to not just be read and flipped through, but to be used! As you know, we go to great lengths to find top artists from around the entire world to submit articles to…

FULL COLOR DIGITAL PRINT-OUTS Use the Official Entry Form over the page ONLINE Visit our website to upload digital files of the images you want to enter and pay for them using our secure server. www.internationalartist.com To upload your entries you need to prepare your image files to be at least 400 pixels at the shortest edge. Once you are in the Official Online Entry page simply select which challenge you wish to enter then follow the prompts and finally pay the entry fee via our secure server. There you can also see other entries received along with past winners of our competitions. CHALLENGE ENTRY FORM SCHEDULE AND CLOSING DATES HINTS FOR PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR ARTWORK • Set your camera to the highest quality available. • Shoot your paintings dead square…

Are there basic sales steps? Usually introductions and getting to know one another comes first. Investigating is next and is crucial when making a sale because you must know why someone is going to buy before you can sell. In this phase, it’s too easy to be the expert and tell people what they need. What’s needed is to ask questions and avoid being the expert. Asking questions is critical at this point. » Questions get the prospect talking and controls attention (as a response is required). » They also persuade. Sales success depends on how questions are used. » If they uncover reasons why people buy that can advance the sale. » But they must first uncover implied needs. » Then they must be developed into explicit needs. This…

John Singer Sargent was a master at making the most complicated subject one could decide to paint look as though it was a breeze or a walk in the park. His method in recording detail laden subjects was to first see it in its most simplistic essence of shapes and values. He could hold areas together, such as a rock-strewn mountain slope or a looming forest wall, by first just getting its overall shape using only limited color and value. Next, he could go in and by staying within this set range, add a few accents or hints to bring dimension to those forms. This is illustrated best in Sargent’s watercolors where you can see a broad wash for an area, and then with just a few brushstrokes you have…

I spent a long time learning how to draw portraits, starting with the outline of things, then working my way inward to core features. There was a strong emphasis on linear aspects of a portrait where I went to school. Somehow, that technique never felt quite right for my temperament, and I often spent a lot of time trying to figure out how the painters I admired got such fresh paint effects. At one point about six years ago, I was totally fed up with this technique. I picked up my palette knife and laid in the portrait I was working on, focusing on color, value and placement, but did not overly concern myself with the drawing initially. Somehow, this act led me down the path to find a technique…

STAGE 1 THE SKETCH The full-size sketch helps me decide what I do and what I don’t want to show in the painting. I determine the ratio of the height to the width, and I pay close attention to the eye level (the horizon). Because this still life is not much lower than eye level, there is a very strong foreshortening. Being a bit farther away from the subject or even sitting more upright already makes a difference. It’s important to be aware of this and to take it into account. STAGE 2 THE DRAWING The second step is an extensive drawing that serves as a construction for the painting. This is drawn with charcoal directly onto the 40 x 100 cm panel. When the charcoal drawing is finished, I…

Here is a brief evolution of emerge, an oil painting on canvas, measuring 67 by 150 centimeters, completed in 2018. I begin with the drawing stages and end at the finished product. These images I provide give a run through of my general practice. I use a few paint mediums that all use turpentine, liquin and stand oil. I tend to use a 60 percent turps and 20 percent liquin and stand oil, or 50 percent turps and 25 percent liquin and stand oil. Sometimes the painting medium is made thinner or thicker depending on how many layers I paint. STAGE 1 COMPOSITIONAL STUDY This is one of a few postcard sized sketches I made as compositional studies. It was drawn in the studio using reference photographs and thumbnail sketches…

After graduating from college with a degree in art education I began my teaching career working in several schools and a variety of grade levels. At that time art teachers were frequently the victims of reductions in force and I was no exception. I attended some classes and began a career in programming. This paid the bills and allowed me to pursue other interests, all the time continuing to draw. Years later, I entered my first Colored Pencil Society of America International Exhibition. Attending the national CPSA convention, I saw what fabulous work was possible with colored pencils and was hooked. I have continued to work in that medium ever since. Upon returning to work after the convention I found that the outsourcing of my programming job had given me…

» Art Spectrum These are from Australia and the colour range reflects their origin. They pride themselves on their pure colours. These pastels are at the harder end of the soft pastel range, but this allows you to build up more layers before the tooth fills up. They have some great colours, there are quite a few of my go-to colours in this range. My signature colour (Amanda’s) Jacaranda was one of my recipes plus a few others—greenish umber, grass green and blue grey. Art Spectrum will have released a new range of soft square pastels by the time this article is in print. Call me biased… they used some of my recipes to develop the new pastels, so I know there will be great range of useful colours! I’m…

Complexity Made Simple Landscape is often called the most difficult of painting genres; however, I think it depends more on what you’re used to painting. I blanch at the accurate drawing required for portraiture for instance. Certainly I can see that landscape painting requires more skill in wielding our artistic license. We can’t move trees and mountains around in the scene like we can apples in a still life, and we can’t adjust the lighting as we would in a figure setup. Most beginners get confused by all the detail and variation in the landscape so learning ways to simplify our subject is one of the biggest keys to successful landscape painting. As I said in the previous article, we need to learn to see more and paint less. Why…

www.internationalartist.com Visit www.internationalartist.com and click on the Virtual Art Academy® button to access instant downloads needed to master the art of painting. The Virtual Art Academy® Apprentice Program A structured four-year program of 192 lessons that will help you systematically build up your foundational skills from the ground up to help you master painting. A key element of this program is series of 350+ assignments specially structured to help you build your skills, and an Online Campus where you can meet other students from all over the world to share your artistic journey, and support you along the way. Each lesson includes an overview of the principle or technique, one or more short videos to demonstrate the skill you are learning, many examples of how to do it, and one…

Rukiye Garip Balikesir, Turkey, Reflection, watercolor, 56 x 38 cm (22 x 15") Grand Prize Grand Prize is a four-page editorial feature in American Art Collector magazine Emotional Links Using classic watercolor techniques, Rukiye Garip is able to translate the elements of the natural world in a style that is realistic but filled with emotion. She takes photos in nature of scenes that have strong observations of light, shadow, texture, atmosphere and the details of the subject matter. “What I feel about the subject is effective in adding elements and leavings out others,” she says. “Sometimes I make the changes that I want when I see a negative effect that does not meet my feelings in the drawing or painting stages.” Garip grew up in the small town of Bartin,…

ENTER OUR NEW ART COMPETITION CHALLENGE No. 113 Still Life See your work published in International Artist magazine and also receive a 4-page Editorial Feature in American Art Collector, the prestigious magazine read by collectors and galleries looking for new art work in the world’s biggest art market. Winners and Finalists in our competitions don’t just win awards to hang on their walls. The real value of entering and being one of the winners is that your work will not only be seen by hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide but also by leading galleries and collectors in America, the biggest art market of all. Our Grand Prize Winners receive a 2-page spread in International Artist magazine and a 4-page Editorial Feature in American Art Collector. Publicity at this level…

» Choose Your Tutor » Choose Your Medium » Choose Your Dates SPAIN / Dalvaro Art DIY Workshops! Along with our workshops, tutors and art groups are welcome to Las Orquideas for private bookings. We offer you an art retreat venue and the ability to create your own schedule. You can relax in the knowledge that we take care of all the organization that goes on in the background. _ is ensures a problem free week of painting pleasure that leaves you to enjoy your art and surroundings. UPCOMING WORKSHOPS Watercolors / Francesco Fontana / July 3-9, 2019 Watercolors / Igor & Ekaterina Sava / July 22-29, 2019 Watercolors / Manolo Jimenez Sánches / August 18-24, 2019 Pastels / Les Darlow / October 5-12, 2019 Watercolors / Michal Jasiewicz /…

Human beings are very complex animals. In our everyday lives, as well as the arts (painting, music, literature, etc.), we demand that which is new as well as familiar to keep us engaged. The new is exciting, and the familiar helps us feel like everything is right. To neglect these elements typically means losing the interest of an audience. The familiarity in a work is derived from our biology and the environment in which we have been raised. Our biology draws us to patterns. In fact, our very survival has depended on recognizing them (configurations of animals, other people, movement of the stars, etc). Our environment is a function of our history as a species. In the case of art, it is represented by the history of art/architecture/interior design, as…

My watercolor paintings focus on the Japanese landscape, cityscape, vehicles and waterways. Light and shadow, seasons, texture, transparency and dynamics are all inspirations for my paintings, and I want to paint a real representation. Because of that, I believe drawing precisely is the best way to convey beauty and excitement. My works depict a number of scenes, including the grass swaying in the wind, buildings in the middle of a forest and the glow of water. All of my artwork is painted from photos that I have taken for reference. For each piece, I keep the size of the painting less than 12 by 16 inches (31 by 41 centimeters). This small scale allows the viewer to grasp the entire image instantly. It also allows me to understand the composition…

STAGE 1 GATHERING REFERENCES AND MATERIALS The drawing surface is a piece of 24-by-16-inch travertine stone, honed and filled with a chiseled edge. I rarely work from a single reference. In this case, several photos I had taken on a caving trip were used to create the composition for Inner Beauty. STAGE 2 SKETCH This is the sketch used to transfer the composition to stone using graphite transfer paper. I am just laying out larger shapes and darkest values. Details will be applied directly to stone as we move along. STAGE 3 DARK VALUES Sometimes it can be difficult to achieve dark values on stone. Each piece is different and accepts or rejects colored pencil in its own way depending on the surface texture and mineral deposits. I decided to…

I have more pastels than I know what do with these days, but there are a few colours that I would not be without. I am predominantly a landscape artist, so my choice of colours might be different from those of an artist who has prefers another subject matter, or who lives in a different area. » CAPUT MORTUUM a lovely greyed pink. I particularly like the paler tints. Wonderful for many things but especially great for toning down overly bright greens to send them onto the background. » RAW UMBER, all shades. A very versatile colour. The lighter tints are great for dry grass, while I use darker shades for some trees, particularly eucalypts. The lightest tint works well in clouds or on the horizon. » BURNT UMBER. I…

Do this: Sit down with a piece of paper on a table and write down just how you feel at that moment. How clear is your thinking? Mood: Happy? A bit drab? At ease? Curious? Whatever. Have a 9B pencil and a kneaded eraser ready. Start drawing anything you see in the room, or work from a photo. Draw for 20 minutes. Stop. New piece of paper. Write your feelings now. Let them pour out for threeminutes Back to your drawing for another 20 minutes. Then stop. Again on new paper, write personal feelings. Honesty three minutes. Now read all your words and consider your inner feelings for those moments of your life. Same person, same mind, happening within an hour. Have your art friends do this and compare the…

Raymar’s mission and passion is to make the finest quality painting panels for professional artists. A second-generation family business, Raymar has been dedicated to the craft of fine art for more than 21 years. As a company of artists, Raymar knows quality materials are essential to advance an artist’s work and uses the world’s finest surfaces to craft their panels. Raymar is proud to introduce a new surface to their line of archival panels, Artfix L21C Belgian Linen. L21C is a strong, tight weave all-purpose Belgian linen. The linen is hand primed in a small village in Provence, France, with a single coat of lead-like oil primer for more surface texture and the traditional qualities of lead without toxicity. Artfix is internationally recognized as the finest quality linen and L21C…

Lucas Bononi Jordán, oil on panel, 18 x 14" (46 x 36 cm) INSPIRATION I was in pursuit of a model that had a special characteristic in his or her portrait. When I came across Jordan I was convinced he would be one of the most exotic models who has ever sat for me. Being half-Parisian and half-Ethiopian I was intrigued to capture his likeness as one of my objectives. DESIGN AND COMPOSITION When composing this portrait I decided to leave the background as untouched bare wood. My reasoning behind this was to quiet the background, as well as creating a unity with the portrait and off-white shirt. The process of placing the portrait started with a drawing in my sketchbook that I then photocopied in various different sizes. This…

Last year T. Allen Lawson began a work that was made up of 11,520 individual squares of paint, each one an individually mixed color on a half-inch square. Like pixels on a computer screen, Mosaic looked almost abstract when viewed up close. But viewed from farther and farther distances, the work blossomed to life. It was only at about 70 feet away that the final image, a top-down view of a pile of leaves, finally emerged with stunning clarity. Mosaic is not only a magnificent experimentation with color and design, but it serves as an appropriate metaphor for any artist and their work, especially on the occasion of a midcareer retrospective as they look back on where they started and on the road that led them to where they are…

The most notable aspect of my work is the way I portray light in vivid street scenes and vistas overlooking the city. I am mainly interested in exploring light and colour. Colour is light and is thus subjective to changing light conditions. This interest draws me to depict scenes at dawn or dusk, which enables me to capture the dramatic change in light at this time of day. My style is influenced by a broad range of artists who are all interested in how we see the world relative to changing light conditions. These include Claude Lorrain, Hasegawa Tohaku, Charles-François Daubigny and J.M.W. Turner. Josef Albers is someone who is currently at the forefront of my mind. I particularly like his statement, “The aim of our studies is to prove…

When our kids were little we would often take them camping. We would take sketchbooks, pencils and pens for them, but what they enjoyed most was making pictures from things they found around the campsite—charcoal, grass, flowers, dirt—anything that would make a mark. Some masterpieces were produced with just a burnt stick and a used tea bag! We can become overwhelmed by the quality and variety of available painting materials. Sometimes it is good to step back from the comfort of familiar tools and materials and experiment with the unfamiliar. Experimenting with these makeshift materials is great fun. There is no pressure to produce a masterpiece—or even a successful painting. It’s just a process of playing with what’s available and seeing where it takes you. The biggest problem would be…

We conclude this instructional series on the use of pastel, which also has application to artists using all mediums There are many varieties of soft pastels. Different brands have different attributes and qualities, including soft buttery textures, intense pure colours or wonderfully muted tones. We all have our favourites. Just as our work and styles are all different, the features we admire in a pastel will also vary. Most pastellists have a variety of different brands in their collection. For the beginner, deciding on which pastels you want can be pretty daunting. It’s good to have a variety of tones and colours available, as pastel is not so easily mixed. Colour Where do you start? A good basic set is a starting point, I often recommend ½ stick sets as…