Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2020 i Artists Magazine

Even when traveling on a slow-moving barge, one must work quickly to create watercolor sketches. Before starting my four-sketch series, I’d already taped off four panels on a cold-pressed mounted board and had the paint mixed and ready to go. As the vessel glided past the magnificent farmland turning to fall colors, there was no time to wait for the watercolors to dry; I either let them run together or strategically deployed dry, white areas between colors.…

Much like Rubens’ preplanning of his paintings, prep work plays a crucial role in creating fresco murals, such as those painted by Michelangelo (Italian, 1475–1564) for the Sistine Chapel. Like many other fresco painters of the time, he made small sketches that he often enlarged to full-sized “cartoons” of each figure, as in Studies for God the Father and Attendant Angels (at right). Michelangelo subsequently scored or traced them into the fast-drying wet plaster into which he quickly painted. Preplanning is just as crucial when working in oil, as seen in the two examples here by Kenyon Cox (American, 1856–1919) and that of John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). Both painters used the grid method to transfer smaller, fully realized sketches to larger sizes. Today’s artists can take advantage of modern…

One truth about the art of painting is its flatness, its two-dimensionality. The realization that any sense of depth or projection can only be the result of illusions—manufactured by the painter through overlapping shapes, simulated shadows and linear perspective—provides evidence of the impossibility of painting to overcome this deficit. Renaissance masters argued the relative merits of sculpture and painting in a debate known as the paragone (Italian for “comparison”), in which visual artists weighed in with clever, compelling arguments. Among the most incisive opinions is one found in the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, who—writing as an expert in both media—pronounced his verdict on the side of painting: “In the first place sculpture requires a certain light, that is from above, a picture carries everywhere with it its own light…

As an aspiring artist, my time painting with Schmid was the greatest asset I could have imagined. He spared nothing in sharing his wisdom on painting, life and the arts, and he offered it all with such kindness. Schmid’s approach—opening our eyes to seeing the subject in its simplest terms—was revolutionary. His insistence on accurate values, edges (as your eyes see them) and color temperatures to turn form are still the foundation of what I try to pass along to my students. I hope that I can do so with the same unselfishness that he has modeled. —Daniel Gerhartz (danielgerhartz.com), a former student…

Reference Photo The floral still life setup features a lot of items. The peonies are past their prime, but I like the droop of their heads. At this point, I’m not sure how much of this information will appear in the final painting. 1 While looking primarily at the still life and not the paper, I make free-flowing gestural marks in my first sketch. I love the feel of the graphite pulling across the gessoed paper. I like using Golden gesso for its smoothness. 2 I’ve got quite a bit of a foundation going, using watercolor sticks and water-soluble graphite layered with paint. I add plenty of yellows and a diluted cadmium red light to give warmth to the underpainting. I’ve also turned the paper sideways. 3 I determine that…

CENTURY OF STANDOUTS For the book 100 Years, 100 Artworks: A History of Modern and Contemporary Art (Prestel), art historian Ágnes Berecz selected one iconic painting, photograph, sculpture installation or performance piece for each year from 1919 to 2018. The splendid result traces art currents of the past century, revealing the influences of trends, significant events and technology. Each work is presented visually on its own page with a facing page of insightful commentary on the work and its artist. Chart Your Palette One of the best ways to gain mastery of your color palette is to chart its hues and value gradations—but setting up grids for those charts can be tedious. ColorFrontier (colorfrontier.com) makes creating beautifully organized charts easy with its Color Mixing Templates and Panels. Each panel features…

Sometimes I made visual notes by devoting a sketchbook page to small thumbnail sketches laid out quickly in pencil and then painted equally fast, either with the scene before me or right after it slid from view. The two sketches on the left show the narrowness of the locks—often just wide enough to let a barge slide in with mere inches to spare. Between locks, the canal is wide enough to permit two barges to pass, as seen in the sketch above. I later developed that sketch into a separate finished watercolor (see Cruising on the Vermenton Canal, page 8).…

“I’m a representational painter, but not a painter of appearances. I paint representational pictures of emotional situations.” —Howard Hodgkin “Hodgkin’s quote would make a challenging and rewarding curatorial theme for an exhibition focusing on the enigma of form as a signifier of emotion, something that I explore in my highly personal flower paintings.” JIMMY WRIGHT ARTIST AND PRESIDENT, PASTEL SOCIETY OF AMERICA Sunflower Head Orange by Jimmy Wright, pastel on paper, 41x29 “Whether my cathedral views, my views of London and other canvases are painted from life or not is nobody’s business and of no importance whatsoever.” —Claude Monet “Monet’s quote is a reminder that, ultimately, a painting has a life of its own. Debates about whether a work created on location is more authentic than a studio painting or…

In his classic book The Art of Color and Design, Maitland E. Graves says that all good designs are built on seven basic principles: balance, movement, pattern, emphasis, contrast, rhythm and unity. When you’re composing a picture, these principles can act as a checklist to help you make sure your composition is as rich and engaging as it can be. Let’s look a little more closely at each. PRINCIPLE 1: BALANCE Every well thought-out composition should feel balanced. There are three ways to classify balance: symmetry, asymmetry and radial symmetry. Symmetry means that if you were to draw a line down the center of an object, you would see that the left and right sides are exactly equal—mirror images of each other. A very symmetrical composition is one in which…

Schmid didn’t teach us as in a class, but we all painted with him in a group known as the Putney Painters. He’d generously come around and help us, and the most amazing part of all was that we were able to watch him paint, have discussions with him and ask questions. One of the best pieces of advice I received from him is, “Do the color charts!” He advocated creating charts for the main colors on the palette. The charts combine two colors and white, broken down into five different values. One can then mix almost any color. Rather than mix piles of paint that don’t make what I’m looking for, I simply pull out my charts and find the color. It’s also amazing what new colors I’ve learned…

Richard Schmid, who holds a doctorate in fine art, has been the focus of 50 one-man shows. He’s a recipient of the John Singer Sargent Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and his masterwork, Abbotsford House was presented to Queen Elizabeth II at the reopening ceremony of Abbotsford, home of Sir Walter Scott, in Melrose, Scotland. The artist currently lives in New Hampshire with his wife, painter Nancy Guzik. SCHMID’S VIDEOS AND BOOKS, INCLUDING HIS LATEST RELEASE, MY STILL LIFE ART, ARE AVAILABLE AT HIS WEBSITE, RICHARDSCHMID.COM.…

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much is made in today’s fast-paced world of the desire to reduce speed. As plein air artists, our choice to carefully record with our hands and eyes in lieu of (or in addition to) snapping a picture is a strong vote for slowing down. The good news is that, even in the jet age, it’s possible to spend six days traveling fewer than 30 miles on a restored cargo barge, or peniche, on one of France’s most historic and picturesque canals. It’s a journey that could be made in less than an hour by car. The Canal du Nivernais, deep in the wine region of Burgundy, connects the medium-sized cathedral town of Auxerre with the decidedly smaller town of Clamecy, and a journey along this segment is possible in either…

My canal travels ended at the city of Auxerre. Walking through the town in late afternoon, a view of the Auxerre Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Étienne d’Auxerre), built in 1215–1233, caught my eye. The transept, bathed in golden light with a backdrop of dramatic dark clouds, rose at the end of a narrow, inclined lane. Spending no more than five minutes, I captured the composition and light values with a soft Derwent Graphic pencil (see Cathedral sketch, above). I also took a reference photo of the Gothic tracery in the window and portal for a subsequent studio painting (see Cathédral Saint-Étienne, Auxerre, at right). For the studio painting, I laid successive washes to arrive at the simplicity and chromatic density required to convey the drama of the lighting. The initial wash, done…

“ ‘Don’t love it to death.’ My college professor Dick Dale would say this about knowing when your painting is done. Nearly 30 years later, I still find myself saying it.” —TOD N JANE KITTEL “ ‘Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.’ Picasso’s quote reminds me to work, even when I’m not inspired.” —MARIA MARAIS “ ‘Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad. ... While they are deciding, make even more art.’ Even though my style is far removed from his, Warhol’s quote freed me from worrying so much about what others think of my art.” —JULIE LUND SCHOFIELD LIKE US ON FACEBOOK @ARTISTSNETWORK TO ANSWER EACH MONTH’S QUESTION IN “THE ASK.” RESPONSES MAY BE EDITED…

Whether you’re an abstract expressionist trying to place your brush precisely to create a particular shape or a figurative artist striving for accurate proportions and delicate details, drawing is an integral part of the painting process. Of equal importance, however, are the drawings that occur off the canvas in preparation for and support of the painting. Those drawings—often in the form of “comp” sketches and working drawings—analyze the details of objects and figures in the composition. There’s no better example of these types of preparatory drawings than those of 17th-century Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640). These drawings were pivotal in helping Rubens determine color, value, details, form and placement for his large-scale multifigure paintings. Follow along to see how the master used his prep works to inform his…

You need to love your composition. Find the right objects, and work out a compelling setup that you’ll be excited to paint. Get it right, since you’re going to spend a lot of time working on the painting and need to see it through to the end. Always look for new ways to compose so you don’t get too repetitive. Some of my paintings are composed very easily, but some take a lot of time. Find what works for you and don’t rush the process of loving your setup. Edit wisely. Placing the wrong object in a setup can change the whole story tremendously. The trick is to find the sweet spot where, if you add one more thing to the composition, it will be too much and, if you…

Surface: Schmid says, “I like a fairly nonabsorbent surface and prefer to prep my own canvas/linen with a lead ground.” Palette: cadmium lemon, cadmium yellow pale, cadmium yellow deep, cadmium orange, cadmium scarlet, cadmium red, cobalt violet light, cobalt violet deep, yellow ochre light, Venetian red, terra rosa, alizarin permanent, transparent oxide red, transparent oxide brown, viridian, phthalo green, cobalt blue light, ultramarine blue deep and titanium white Brushes: Rosemary & Co Palette knives: Schmid says, “I use a variety of palette knives, but Holbein No. 35 is among my favorites.”…

Wright began her artistic exploration in watercolor and appreciates how that has informed her acrylics, especially when it pertains to color. “I had such a deep knowledge of how to mix paint to get what I wanted and how to limit my palette for a coherent painting,” she says. “That’s all really helpful when switching to acrylic.” The artist also learned a lot about paint transparency and how to build layers in a way that reveals something of what’s underneath. “Beginning with lighter, brighter colors to form the foundation of a painting is a watercolor technique that I use when painting in acrylic,” she says. The confidence Wright says she has gained while working with acrylics in a more abstract way has, in turn, improved her watercolors. “My acrylic brushwork…

KALINE CARTER • KCARTER@PEAKMEDIAPROPERTIES.COM  • 505-730-9301 | MARY MCLANE • MMCLANE@PEAKMEDIAPROPERTIES.COM • 970-290-6065 Call For Entries DEADLINE: MAY 6, 2020 SAN DIEGO WATERCOLOR SOCIETY 40TH INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, OCTOBER, 2020 Open to all watermedia artists. Online entries only beginning February 7, 2020. Juror, Michael Reardon. For more information and to view the prospectus visit www.sdws.org. $19,000 in cash and merchandise awards anticipated. DEADLINE: MAY 13, 2020 LOCATION: LA. 51ST ANNUAL RIVER ROAD SHOW A national juried exhibition sponsored by Art Guild of Louisiana. Open to all U.S. artists 18+ (except photography, digitally enhanced or non-original prints). Work must be original, 2 dimensional and created within the last 2 years. Juror: Soon Warren, AWS, NWS. $40 for first 3 entries (maximum 10). $4,000+ in cash and merchandise awards. Exhibit is August 3-September 24, 2020 at the…