Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2017 i Artists Magazine

WITH THE INTENTION OF paying homage to Holocaust victims by recording their likenesses and voices, artist David Jon Kassan joined forces with journalist Dan Maccarone and filmmaker Chloe Lee. The portraits and interviews constitute the Edut Project, which is destined for the Visual History Archive of the University of Southern California. Eerily real, the pictures bear witness, revealing not just the older person who presents himself to the artist but also the younger one who was forced to hide. We are proud of showcasing this important work (“Portraits of Survival,” page 40) yet saddened that horror and injustice have not vanished from this earth. The late Carrie Fisher’s advice, quoted by Meryl Streep at the latest Golden Globes Awards ceremony, is, as a consequence, everyday more true: “Take your broken…

EYES HAVE ALWAYS FASCINATED ME; so much of our communication with others is expressed through eyes: emotions, moods and thoughts. The subject’s eye in a drawing even makes a strong statement when it’s barely visible or not looking directly forward. Ten years ago I started a series of graphite drawings featuring isolated eyes, which I called Through the Iris. Some of the drawings were quite large, 16x32 being the largest. The eyes were usually part of a somewhat surreal, narrative drawing. For the series, I not only observed the human eye but also studied it in a scientific way. I asked myself, why does the eye appear the way it does. The more knowledge you have about your subject, the more decisions you’re empowered to make about how to draw…

1. HIGHLIGHTS: True whites are critical to the appearance of shine and sparkle, so first, map out the highlights in your windows with masking fluid, alternating between circles, lines and rectangles set on a diagonal for a natural, irregular look (I recommend working on cold-pressed paper). Also mask the centers of any streetlights. Because these true whites will draw your viewer’s eye, consider where the painting’s focal point will be and make sure these whites direct the eye accordingly. 2. DIFFUSED LIGHT/ UNDERPAINTING: Once you’ve masked the whites, wet the entire page and, with broad strokes, add bands of diffused light. I used cadmium yellow, alizarin crimson and just a bit of phthalo blue. These bands of color will become the lit areas of the windows, implying “something inside” without…

In the years between the development of colored pencils for fine art in the first decades of the 20th century and the establishment of the Colored Pencil Society of America in the last, it remained something of an esoteric medium. Artists who work in colored pencil are still outliers—in part, because it’s a labor-intensive method that demands commitment to the process and perseverance to achieve proficiency—and are largely self-taught. LEARNING THROUGH ADVERSITY Two artists who have embraced the challenges of this medium, Tanja Gant and Jesse Lane, produce work that exploits the brilliant pigments of colored pencil to create realistic portraiture. Neither are strangers to negotiating obstacles of this nature: Lane struggled with dyslexia in school and sought a way to distinguish himself. Influenced by his father’s example as a…

For the series, I not only observed the human eye but also studied it in a scientific way. I asked myself, why does the eye appear the way it does. The more knowledge you have about your subject, the more decisions you’re empowered to make about how to draw it.—ARMIN MERSMANN STEP 1: I start this drawing by making a very simple outline of the eye. I do use grids for drawings 16x20 or larger, but, between reference photos, a mirror and my knowledge of the anatomy of the eye, I can work from a minimal outline as long as I’m careful to get the exact shape correct. Once I have the major shape drawn, I work from that as I would a grid, using landmarks and angles. I start…

1. REMOVE MASK: You’ll have masked the area of the lamp when you began your painting (preferrably on cold-pressed paper). After you’ve laid in the underpainting and are ready to begin the darks, remove the masking fluid. 2. WASH AND LIFT: Prepare your wash and begin applying it to the paper, being careful to avoid your lit windows. Notice the nuance the color takes on as a result of your underpainting. (The lit windows will also begin to take form as the contrast with the darks builds.) As you approach an area with a street lamp, cover it with the wash as you do other areas, but then, with a round brush, quickly drop in some clear water where the center of the bulb would be. Dry your brush slightly…

When David Jon Kassan paints portraits, he often seems as interested in his subjects’ interior lives as in their physical appearances. One can feel as though Kassan is trying to tell the entire story of his sitter’s life in a single painting. This aspect of Kassan’s work is taken to a new level in the Edut Project, an ongoing series in which Kassan interviews and paints survivors of the Holocaust. The purposes of the project are manifold. It aims to document firsthand the stories of the ever-shrinking number of survivors of the Holocaust, or Shoah. By exploring the entire lives of these survivors, from before World War II to the present day, it tells stories of perseverance and of life in America from the postwar period to the 21st century.…

Q Why all the fuss about pouring leftover paints and mediums down the sink or disposing of them in an ordinary trash bin? How much harm can the small amounts I’m throwing out really cause? A Examining this issue from an environmental and waste management position, it becomes clear that art materials hold a distinct position in the processing of waste. Paints and mediums disposed of in a household sink go through a different process from those thrown away in ordinary trash. Materials that are poured into a sink join all other sewage waste on their way to a water-treatment plant. The solids are separated from the liquids, bacteria break down the harmful products and the waste is drawn off to be dried and, in some cases, to serve as…

On travel … “I rent apartments in cities that interest me. I was born and raised in Sweden, and moved to Stockholm at the age of 18 but haven’t been back since. I’ve lived in Prague, Berlin, London, Bologna, Rome, Milan and now Athens, Greece. I stayed in Italy for 12 years, and I’ve been in Athens for the past five years. I just live in cities I like and ship all of my stuff there. Of course, girlfriends are also part of the motivation. It feels like old-school traveling; you rent a house, set up a studio, study the language and get to know the country!” On passion … “I’ve had no formal art education, but I’ve always had passion and knew I wanted to be an artist. Before…

AS AN ARTIST, I’ve always been drawn to strong light and its ability to bring drama to otherwise ordinary subjects, but it wasn’t until a trip with my daughter to Lincoln, Neb., six years ago that I recognized the potential night scenes offered. Our busy schedule disrupted my usual vacation practice of taking afternoon walks with my camera in search of strong cast shadows to shoot as painting references. Instead I was forced to snap my pictures at night in the city’s downtown area. While at first I assumed these shots would provide only a temporary sidetrack from my regular subject matter, I quickly came to notice the new appreciation they gave me for looking at the interplay of light and dark. Since that trip to Nebraska, I’ve made a…

PAINTINGS APPEAR, DISAPPEAR AND REAPPEAR. I’ve been reminded of that humbling truth in the past year, as I’ve rummaged through my old work, sometimes finding forgotten paintings from 30 years ago. Often artists leave estates that include previously unknown artwork; one of Degas’s great early canvases, exhibited once during his life, caused a sensation when it was rediscovered after his death. Entire oeuvres can go missing or be ignored for centuries before they’re plucked from oblivion. And then there are the multitude of works painted over when artists reuse canvases, the ghosts of which are revealed through radiography. But of all the stories of lost treasure found, that of a painting by Gifford Beal is especially intriguing. Beal began studying art with William Merritt Chase when he was 12 and…

Aren’t we all looking beyond the surface of things to find their true meaning? Doesn’t “surface” sometimes refer to superficiality? John Ruskin’s observation that it takes the marriage of head, heart and hand to make a work of art metaphorically speaks to the relationship that painters have as surface collides with brush and paint to make a painting. In this article, I explore surface with many kinds of paints and markers, as well as subjects. It is on the surface that I create each painting. Each surface excels in quality. Each stands up to my processes. The surface is all important, for it provides the substrate for what follows. Beyond the surface, let the paintings speak for themselves. “Fine art is that in which the hand, the head and the…

SCHMINCKE’S NEW MEDIUM W, which turns standard oil paints into water-miscible paints, arrived just in time for my painting expedition in Maui. I go on lots of trips as an artist, and traveling by plane can be a challenge, as many solvents and oils are not allowed on the aircraft. I was thus happy that Medium W and my oil paints were allowed in my checked luggage. I set up my palette as soon as I arrived. Schmincke Medium W comes in two forms: a liquid version in a bottle and a gel in a tube. I discovered that I preferred to mix Medium W gel directly into my paints (Old Holland, Richeson, Gamblin and Winsor & Newton) on the palette. Following the directions, I shook the bottle well, then…

Always try new things. If you aren’t successful in one medium or style, keep trying until you find the right one for you. I HAVE A DEGREE in advertising design and photography from Syracuse University. In my college drawing classes, I would get As for ideas and Cs for execution, so I never thought I’d be able to have a fine art career. When I was a quilt maker, someone asked me once if I was also a painter, and I think that planted the seed. I started painting about 10 years ago. As I walked along the Jersey shore one summer day, I noticed seagulls were flying all about, except for one walking near a crumbling sand castle. It became my inspiration. I started with a sketch on sanded…