Abbotsford House

I had the privilege to work with Richard Schmid and West Wind Fine Art to film and edit this short video for Richard's recent masterwork, "Abbotsford House, the home of Sir Walter Scott." All the footage here was shot either in Scotland, where he painted several studies from life, or from the American unveiling and exhibition that was held in Wichita this past September. Enjoy!

Putney Painters - from back in May

I'm finally able to play catch-up from a busy schedule and I wanted to post a couple pictures from a long past Putney Painter day (I've got a lot of posts to write till I catch up with the present!). Half of us painted outdoors underneath a grove of apple trees behind the barn and the other half were inside finishing up paintings that they had started the day before.

Richard was fairly inventive with his landscape and used all the information around him to create the start of a great composition. The orchard was on a slope and he was positioned at the very bottom. There was a good hundred feet of trees and then a clearing where the sun was bursting through.

Richard started with an underpainting that was all about harmonies and large, interesting shapes with the light cutting through the top third (which he wiped out to the white canvas with a paper towel). His underpaintings have maximum randomness in the colors, textures, and transparency . . . this really helps to carry a natural feeling throughout the rest of the painting.

It's obviously been a while since this day so I can't remember all the details past this initial impression, but hopefully the following photos will help you out and give you some inspiration.

Here's a look at what they were doing inside!

It's official, I'm a "Putney Painter"

I had a great painting session with my friends up in Putney this past Saturday. We painted a 15? year old boy that had such a great contemplative demeanor (and a cool nose). Richard started the day with a really unexpected announcement where he invited myself and Leigh Brady to be official Putney Painters. It's such a privilege to learn and paint with these people and this association is the icing on the cake -- I hope my paintings and character will be a reflection of the generosity that these amazing artists have shared.

Here is Nancy's start (about 50 minutes in I think). You can see my start over there on the left.

 Here is Richard's painting at about the third sitting. I love looking at his paintings close-up . . . he has an amazing economy of brushstrokes and his colors are always so pure and vibrant which breath life into his paintings.

Here is my painting about 3/4 of the way through. I kinda wish I would have just fixed a few things and stopped here. The grandparents of the boy wanted the painting and I thought it only right to take it to more of a finish.

Here is Nancy's painting at the end of the day. The biggest thing I learned (which Nancy does so well in the hair for example) is that in the dark areas (and especially the darkest darks), it is always better to plan ahead and carefully place the strokes and then leave them.

You need to make sure that you apply them in a way that leaves some of the canvas showing through. It creates a luminosity that works to your advantage, letting the semi-transparent darks sit into the background and the opaque and thicker paint jump to the front. This illusion is something that I haven't been keeping consistent (having both transparent and opaque darks) which hurts the illusion. To create these transparent strokes, you can use either a dry-brush approach or use thinned paint -- the trick is to use a bristle brush and use a lot of pressure when you make the stroke.

Here is my painting at the end of the day.

Artists on Art Magazine

I have had a secret project under wraps for the last two months and it went live today (maybe you've noticed the lack of blog posts from me).

I have been busy working with some of the top artists around and creating a new quarterly art magazine that will hopefully fill the gaps in the traditional publications.

Here's a synopsis:
Artists on Art magazine connects readers to master artists, their work, and the connoisseurs who embrace it. Readers enjoy a direct, thought-provoking, connection with today’s top artists; learning their techniques and hearing their ideas. Each issue contains at least ten robust articles richly illustrated with high-resolution photography, step-by-step guides, video, and interactivity. Our digital-only model combines the best of print with the power of the web, giving you constant access to your subscription from anywhere, on any internet-connected device.

Here is our Promo Video:



And some previews of the Premiere Issue (which has over 15,000 words, 300+ pics, high-resolution images of paintings and so much more)

 

This premier Winter Issue has articles written by: Carolyn Anderson, Daniel Sprick, Casey Baugh, Julio Reyes, Douglas Fryer, Libby Whipple, Dan McCaw, Daniel Keys, and Susan Lyon with Scott Burdick.

Check out the site and subscribe at: www.artists-on-art.com