One more Robert Genn twice weekly letter "The Alchemy of Art"

Another excerpt from Robert Genn's twice weekly letters, this one is dated April 15th and is titled "The Alchemy of Art":

Painting is not a witch's brew. With applied curiosity and reason, a
dedicated student can grasp the processes. Often straightforward and
practical, the best processes are the ones you figure out for yourself.
Further, there are laws. They're not like the law of gravity, wh...ich
pretty well guarantees an apple will fall on the head of a Newton who
sits under it. The laws of art are conventions, and are there for the
breaking. Lots of them exist, both for practical and eternal reasons.
Here are just a few:

Too many colours mixed together make mud.

A poorly thought-out painting is almost always weak.

A beginner's scales lead to a professional's concertos.

Painting is easy, but painting well is difficult.

Most art is not improved by a committee.

Chance and accident are best guided by a knowing hand.

Good artists never blame their tools or their situations.

Doing it is better than talking about doing it.

Asking "What could be?" leads to what is.

Paintings are for all time. Quality is always in style.

You can't put in a nickel and expect a dollar tune.

The flame of uniqueness still needs regular stoking.

There's no such thing as an undiscovered genius.

In painting, drawing is still the bottom line.

Great artists know well the joys of studenthood.

Better work is made by workers who love their work.

Robert Genn's twice weekly letters.. they are real gems...

I am getting caught up on Robert Genn's twice weekly letters, and I found this to be thought provoking ( this is an excerpt from his May 17th email on the art of negative thinking):

"Success, it seems, favours rigorous self-criticism. Here are some other
interesting items I gleaned from the book (by former
Indiana and Texas Tech college basketball coach Bob Knight, aided by Bob
Hammel: "The Power of Negative Thinking: An Unconventional Approach to Achieving Positive Results."):

Never gloat. Don't talk too much. Don't seek praise. Failure is endemic.
Success is being hard to please. Be intolerant of failure. The easiest
person to fool is yourself. Know your weaknesses. Be tough. Never let
scanty positives override glaring negatives. Don't be a good loser.
Don't satisfy yourself by just knowing you can do it. Do it."

Yes indeed, food for thought.....

 

I know, I haven't posted an image and my blog is all about images, (art is visual)..... I just thought this was worth sharing with those that haven't seen it.

Maritime Museum Plein Air Painting on Canson Paper, 8" x 10"

It was a beautiful day today here in New York. Breezy, not too hot, sunny, just beautiful. I went out with a good friend to do some plein air painting. The last time I tried this (2 weeks ago), I trashed everything I did. Three paintings (and I use that term lightly...) went into the garbage. I used primed paper that I made, I think it was Golden pumice gel.

Back to basics. I like Canson paper, I don't have to think about an underpainting, all I need to do is select the color and have at it. That's what I did. This time I didn't use the ever popular tobacco, but instead I used an all time favorite of mine, dark gray. It's a nice cool neutral, and it proved to be an excellent starting point for this particular subject. At least for me it was, it felt right.

Here is a photo of my subject:

Here is what I ended up with:



© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

Size is 8"x10" ish.... a bit shorter than 10" on the long side. I'm hoping the more I do this the better I will get.... I didn't capture all the colors I wanted to, I think more greens might have been nice. I also wanted to capture that redish color in the tree (the one with the light trunk), but I was having a hard time finding that right color. I sort of danced around it and never addressed it properly.... but I am a fan of blues and purples, so it works I think.

One hour black and white pastel portrait study, done on Canson dark gray, 14" x 12"

I thought I would try to paint a black and white pastel at a portrait workshop that I attend. It definitely is different than using charcoal or graphite. I was still thinking pastel, yet no color... kind of weird. But... I did enjoy it, and I think I will be doing it more often. It's a neat way to just do something different, yet still do pastels. And it's a great way to concentrate on values, which are so important.

I know the size of the pupils aren't quite the same and need tweaking, but this is for learning's sake, I will just apply the knowledge to the next one.   Not perfect, just an hour's worth of pasteling, a good exercise.

I painted this on dark gray Canson paper, and I used black, white and gray pastels, both warm and cool. NuPastels, Giraults, and Grumbachers (very old...) were used. Size is 14" x 12" ish....

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

"Lilacs", another painting without a sketch, 18" x 12 1/2"

The lilacs are in full bloom here, and they are beautiful. Last week I just had to paint them, but what's a person to do, there are sooooo many little petals. I tried the same approach as I did with the pansies, it was the only way I could manage these beautiful flowers. The last time I tried to paint lilacs was probably 20 years ago, and it was a disaster. I actually tried to paint all the little petals , not a good idea. Since then I'd always avoided painting them, as I wasn' t sure how to simplify. I'm more comfortable simplifying theses days, it's definitely the way to go for a subject like this. I may noodle a bit more with the background on the right, I used a really nice red violet in there and I may want to put a bit more in. I don't want to overdo it, but a little more might be nice.

My daughter likes this one, and she's asked if I can frame it and put it in her room. Of course I said yes .

This is done on Canson Mi Teintes, paper color tobacco. I used mostly Schmincke and Giraults, the size is 18" x 12 1/2". 

I am having a difficult time getting an accurate photo to post here.  It looks fine on my computer, but once I post it here the colors and values change.  This is the best I could come up with:

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

Here is the setup I painted from.  As you can see, I've worked on this a bit more, refining the flowers and playing with the background.  This photo is a bit washed out, it's difficult to get a good photo with lights on the painting, it tends to distort the values.

"The Architect", Pastel, 16" x 18", Painted on Wallis Belgium Mist

I do believe I am finally done with this painting.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process, so much that I am fired up to do another portrait.  I'm not sure who my next victim will be.  I'm thinking about my daughter, maybe......



This is very close to the original painting, I think I got the colors and values represented accurately.  Taking photos of my work is always a science experiment, I keep on trying until I get it right.  Thank goodness for digital photography, it makes things so much easier.

I ended up with almost a square format here, and I quite like it.  I've always been partial to either square formats or landscape formats for portraits.  I know, it's not what most people expect, and I think that is what I like about it, the fact that it's unexpected.

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

Painting without a sketch.....

.........is something I find very difficult to do.  I thought I would try painting some pansies today, taking a break from my commission.  Sometimes I need to do that to clear my head and relax. 

I painted with some friends this morning, I always appreciate the opportunity to do that.  My friend's wife had some pansies in a pot outside.  They were beautiful, but there were so many!  I figured if I got lost in the sketch I'd never get to paint, they'd die first!  So, I quickly put some abstract shapes where I thought the flowers should go, placed where I wanted the pot to be, and started painting.  Like I said, for me this is definitely out of my comfort zone. 

This one is painted with mostly Senneliers and Schminckes, such soft lucious pastels.  I had one green Girault too.  It is done on Canson Mi Teintes, the color is Ivy.  Size is  18" x 12 1/2". 

This first photo is just the painting:

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

This next photo is the painting with the set up, you can see my set of Senneliers on the table.  The colors in the painting here are a bit washed out, there was a light over my shoulder, and when I light up my paintings and try to take a photo, the colors get washed out.  You can see that even the paper doesn't look dark green, it looks gray.  This is to show what I painted from:

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.