Innholdsfortegnelse for June - July 2020/ No. 133 i International Artist

We have been publishing International Artist for 22 years now and don’t plan on going anywhere at all during this difficult time in history. In fact, not only are we still continuing to publishing this magazine every other month to help all our friends, artists, enthusiasts, art students and collectors, but we are also soliciting articles and demonstration from all over the world at a record pace. Art has such a wonderful way of connecting people. While we are all stuck at home in this moment, the pages of this issue of International Artist magazine will allow you to be transported directly to the art studios of some of the best artists working today. We hope that our magazine warms your own studio during these difficult times and allows you…

ENTER OUR NEW ART COMPETITION CHALLENGE No. 119 Seascapes, Rivers & Lakes 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…

Everyone says that a painting tells a story. They also say that you put yourself into the painting. In the beginning I don’t think I understood that. I thought I was just creating pretty pictures. My story begins at the end; the end of my high school teaching career, which as it turned out was the beginning of my career as an artist. I learned about the Schuler School of Fine Arts in Baltimore, Maryland, a highly respected atelier that produces some of the most successful artists in the country. The classical program of instruction includes sculpture, watercolor, oil painting, anatomy, still life, figure and portraiture. Students also learn to stretch, prime and tone canvases; prepare traditional gesso for boards; produce paint from powder pigment; and make their own medium…

The most comfortable way for me finish my paintings is to paint only when I want to, when I have something to draw, and by painting in the way that I want to paint. There are a number of things that I value most when painting, but above all others, I value the contrasts of the lights and darks of the object. Without being dragged by the other scenery, I am thinking about capturing the light and dark of the landscape. I try to draw without mistakes. For example, the lightness of a white wall that falls into the shadow is not the white of the watercolor paper. I would like to put my intentions there instead of expressing them on-site or as a picture. No masking ink is used…

Within International Artist’s pages, I continue to pass on to you the “eureka” moments I learned in art that made differences. For instance, in the 1970s on a game farm I had a personal demonstration of how the shadows form on a mule deer along with its cast shadows. This made a major difference between what I had done and what needed to be done in building an artistically dramatic work instead of just anatomically correct work. And I was able to do it with my own unique approach. The results of these moments are what I try to leave on these pages. Since I was a child, I have loved that shadows could make a face, a tree, a house-anything I wanted to bring into existence on a piece…

The primary purpose of the Portrait Society is to find and maintain open pathways of communication from artists to artists. We all know how isolating the creative life can be, so by banding together and sharing our ideas, thoughts and experiences, we all benefit and can grow. Naturally, our four-day international conference event, The Art of the Portrait, is central to this mission and through the years, I have witnessed our individual islands of separation merge into a strong and mutually supportive family. However, during this present COVID-19 health crisis, we have had to delay our meeting until late August. So, in this time of social distancing, let’s look back at a few artist/members’ tips that were shared this year in the “Inside the Studio” section of our Facebook pages.…

PART 5 Creating a Vision It seems to me that I have spent my life learning to see, both as an individual and an artist. I have found that the process is much more complicated, nuanced and individualistic than simply looking at the world around me. It takes focused attention to really see anything in any meaningful way, and that takes time. However, our modern lives don’t encourage us to spend time just observing the world around us, and this can lead to a kind of myopia. The biological foundations of our visual system evolved in forests and then on the savannas of Africa when our primary attention was either finding food or avoiding becoming it. This is still how most of us process the world—either for danger or for…

Born in the Netherlands my inspiration from the Old Masters was there from a young age. It started when I saw the beautiful light in the artwork of the Dutch Masters in the museums—particularly those in my hometown, The Hague, and in Amsterdam. Figuring out how to create that beautiful light and those compositions inspired me as I followed into the footsteps of these amazing artists. For about 20 years, I have painted the human figure with the light, the mood and the contrast of the modern world and taking the audience back in time to the dark ages of the art world. The two often combine with a twist and abstract backgrounds. After years of being successful with my figurative work and female nudes, I thought it was time…

Always, the mystery of women both exhilarates and befuddles me. The young lady in this work is equally an enigma. I couldn’t really see her eyes in shadow. Still I was sure she was looking at me, reading my mind. I wondered what she was thinking with a slight smile appearing on her lips every few minutes. Was she playing with me? I’ll never know. While drawing her, I intuitively grabbed some colors but not for her face. I didn’t want to alter her expression, yet somehow hues were needed in the surrounding areas. So I combined my sketchy pencil drawing with pastels and discovered they met expressively in the aesthetic middle. I brought her here so you can join me observing this work that both inspired me and I…

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 on and…

Closed questions, such as “Do you like my painting?”, tend to encourage simply yes or no answers. Open questions, however, encourage discussion and often have a more complicated response. Let’s start with some examples of open questions. Permission questions deepen a client’s perception of a problem. » Do you mind if I ask you about the paintings you already own? Best/least questions are used to get a fuller picture. » What’s the best (or worst) thing about owning artwork? Magic wand questions explore wants or desires. » If money was no object, what would stop you from buying that painting? Catchall questions build bridges to the next phase in the process and start the transition to understanding. » Do you mean something like this painting? Fact-finding questions are specific questions…

Every year, the Portrait Society of America gives recognition to a small group of distinguished artists with the honorary status of PSS – Portrait Society Signature. This distinction is awarded to artists who consistently demonstrate exceptional skill and a sophistication of aesthetics. “Signature Status recognizes those practicing and accomplished artists who are dedicated to the educational mission and high aesthetic standards of the Portrait Society of America,” says chairman Edward Jonas. Since 2014, over 60 artists have been honored with this special designation, including this year’s recipients of exceptional artists, who are Robin Cole, Joseph Daily, Qiyu Dong, Katherine Galbraith, Johanna Harmon, Kishor Purekar, Timothy Rees, Nathaniel Skousen, Jennifer Welty and Amy Werntz. Each of these artists has a unique story to tell about how the art of portraiture has…

There are two techniques that I use when creating a painting. Both begin with an extensive eff ort to find the composition that provides me with inspiration. The next step is to layout the composition on board with attention to the location of various “landmarks.” This is especially important in the Silk and Steel series, because I want the machinery to be accurate down to every bolt and rivet. For some paintings I create a very detailed underpainting using Maroger medium and raw umber, thinning the paint to create accurate values and a realistic drawing. For other works I might choose to paint directly with a full color palette. MY ART IN THE MAKING Stephanie, Lady of Steam For the painting of Stephanie, Lady of Steam, I searched through hundreds of…

Jos Van de Ven was born in the south of the Netherlands not far from Van Gogh’s village. He became interested in art at an early age due to two Rembrandt-like portraits of his great-grandparents at his home. Initially influenced by the French Impressionists, he received his first prize for painting at only age 19 and serving in the Royal Dutch Marines. At age 23, a meeting with Salvador Dalí at his home in Cadaques, Spain, sparked a lifelong interest in surrealism—an influence that can be seen to this day. Even when his paintings adopt a more classical approach, they have a surrealist touch, which poses a question to the observer. To complement his ideas in art he started studying philosophy. His questions: Why do I want to paint? And…