Last Day: Weekend with the Masters

Sorry it has taken me a few days to wrap up the final day of the event, but after an early flight, no sleep, and a lot of catching up to do back home, I'm finally getting back to a normal routine.

I had the privilege of having the entire morning of the last day free, and sat in on Nancy Guzik's still life workshop. Nancy is such and incredible teacher who talks non-stop about how and why she is doing each stroke or color mixture. She works slowly and accurately, making every stroke, shape, and color exactly what she wants . . . if a color isn't "pretty" or the stroke doesn't give her an "ahhh" feeling, she removes it and tries again. She reveals that there are no tricks or secrets to a good painting, just focus and a determination to make it exactly what you want.

Later in the afternoon, my friend Taaron and I were also able to get a critique from Richard Schmid. It was a memorable moment for us both, and I will take to heart the comments he had and apply them to my work.

American Artist magazine has really created something special with this event. I have no doubt that it will alter the world of art for the better, continuing to create and instruct artists into technically skilled and passionate people, advancing high-quality representational painting for the good of us all.

Thanks to Allison and the other editors and staff at the magazine for giving me this opportunity, it will be a memory that will never be forgotten.

Day 3: Weekend with the Masters

Today was a little more relaxing. I checked out a few of the various workshops and demos during the morning, then jumped into Dan Gerhartz's workshop and watched a few minutes of the demo and then set-up with the class and painted the model.

I didn't take many photos today, but here are at least a few from Morgan Weistling and Carolyn Anderson's workshops.

Here is the plein air I painted on Friday and the quick head study from today:

Day 2: Weekend with the Masters

I can't write much because it's getting very late, and I'm getting very sleepy, but below are a bunch of photos from today's events. I made my way into many of the workshops, including Gerhartz, Lipking, Mundy, Weistling, CJ Beck, Albert Handell and Nancy Guzik.

There was also an evening duel demo with Scott Burdick and Dan Gerhartz that was really fantastic. It was great to see each of them tackle the same subject (which was artist Michelle Dunaway) in a unique way, while still resulting in well-executed final results, Scott Burdick was more immediate with a "slap it down" style, blocking in everything and then refining from broad to focused, while Dan Gerhartz was more slow and reserved, getting down an initial drawing and then working right with final color and placement.

In addition to the crazy day, I was also able to get a little painting in,  I'll try to get a photo of it later and post it tomorrow night. Till then, here are a few of the pics.

Lipking Workshop

Morgan Weistling Demo

Dan Gerhartz Workshop

Nancy Guzik Workshop

CW Mundy Workshop

Evening Duel - Brudick and Gerhartz

Richard Schmid book signing

Day 1: Weekend with the Masters

Had a great first day at the event, both seeing many great demo's and lectures, and also meeting many of the top painters alive today.

I started off the day helping out in a David Leffel demo. He doesn't use any solvent like mineral spirits or turpentine, and only cleans his brushes by wiping them off on a paper towel. He said that he can't waste the time of washing his brushes or palette . . . He does use a gel medium from a tube. (I'm trying to find out the exact name and brand, so I'll post it if I find out.)

I then jumped into Scott Christiensen's demo where he was painting from a previous study and explained his approach and techniques.

The highlight of the day was Richard Schmid's demo. He painted a still life of oranges, peaches and carnations, and had a ton of light conversation and jokes--keeping the crowd very well pleased. (Sorry for the poor photos, it was really dark in the large hall.)

The rest of the afternoon was spent peaking into Sherie McGraw's head study demo of Morgan Weistling, Scott Burdick's lecture on the beauty of art and the craziness of the modern art movement. I was also able to jump outside for a minute and peak in on a plein air workshop.

To top off the day, there was an absolutely extraordinary panel discussion with Richard Schmid, Quang Ho, Sherie McGraw, Jeremy Lipking, Scott Burdick, Rose Frantzen, Dan Gerhartz and Carolyn Anderson. The topics began around technology and it's place within representational painting, and then also drifted into modern art, social media, and photo manipulation. If you can find a video out there on the internet, it will be well worth the watch. I was literally on the edge of my seat, and each of the artists statements had some great nuggets of truth and inspirational little quotes.

Well, it was a great first day, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow which is very workshop intensive and filled with even more demos. I hope to do the same as today and as I'm around helping out with the event, try and jump into all of them for at least a few minutes.

Blogging from Weekend with the Masters

I'm headed off to CA tomorrow for the Weekend with the Masters event held by American Artist magazine. A friend of mine, Taaron Parsons, and I will be assisting the staff and master artists during the event. I'll try and post each night some pictures and any of the great info I hear.

Can't wait to meet anyone else that is going . . . See ya there!

Stillscape - The Art of Sean Beavers

Golden Light, 34 x 21

Still life as a subject matter has always left me underwhelmed. I'm not sure if it's the in-animate objects, artificial light or over planned compositions, but even the most well executed painting will lose my interest much quicker than a figure, landscape, or even interior.

Flowers or other natural items certainly help, adding that touch of life and nature to the still objects, but yet a certain aspect of "air"and life always seem to be missing.

 From Available Light, 15 x 10

Like usual, my conceptions of a specific painting style or subject get completely thrown. This time it was by Sean Beavers and his "Stillscapes." They are changing my mind on the art of still objects by infusing life with scenic backdrops and compelling natural light. Not much needs to be said about his technique, he has a highly refined style, nailing each value and temperature creating not photo-realistic paintings, but in-person, life-realistic paintings. Upon seeing them, I was instantly captivated by the beauty and have almost daily peaked back at theses images over the last few weeks.

Anjou Evening, 30 x 30

Sean earned a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York, and graduated with the Rhodes family medal for outstanding achievement. He currently lives in southern Maine and teaches drawing and painting at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, the University of New Hampshire, and The Sanctuary Arts in Maine.

Sand Box, 15 x 9.75

There are many other captivating still-life artists working today,  Daniel Sprick & Daniel Keys are two more of my favorites.  Although this love/hate relationship for still life continues, I can easily respect the artists for their masterful techniques, and perhaps like many things, if I spent more time painting still objects, then I would discover their beauty just like these artists have.

The Secret Light of Dusk, 15 x 15

 Evening Voluta, 22 x 14.5

 In Light of it All, 12x8

Creative Artists: Thomas Dewing

 
The turn of the 20th century was a vibrant and changing time for art. There was the full acceptance of Impressionism, the dominating realists and portrait work of Sargent and other like artists, and the birthing of modern art. It was my naive conclusion that all of the highly "creative" painting that would be done at this time would be from the artists blazing the way toward modernism, but through more study, I have found several that were both creative and yet still distinguished representational artists. I did find one artist in particular that jumped right out at me, he was both beyond his time, and still grounded in realism.

Thomas Dewing (1851- 1938) was an American artist born near Boston, trained in Paris at the Académie Julian, and eventually settled in New York City. Dewing is classified as a Tonalist (the most famous Tonalsits being George Inness, James McNeill Whistler, and John H. Twatchtman), and is one of the first painters to apply this predominantly landscape painting approach of tonalism to figure painting. This use of a tonal color palette, his foundation of classical realism and the addition of more impressionistic brush work created extremely unique and mood filled paintings.

In addition to this fairly new style, Dewing also had a unique compositional style that set female figures in full-body poses with plenty of open air, almost like a present day graphic designers use of white space. This slight twist on composition really made me gravitate to these paintings.

There are some designers today that use white space to add breathing room and simplification, while keeping the elements and layout in perfect balance, and then there are bad designers that when given the same elements will produce a barren, unpleasing design because they have poorly placed those elements. I think Dewing must have been a great designer, making him a well rounded artist that combined color harmony, technique, and highly developed skill to create masterful paintings that were unique for their time, and even today.

 

My Favorite Artists

Christoper Volpe just commented on my last post and asked me who my top 4 artists where. I don't believe I have clearly mentioned them before, so here they are with a bonus of one extra, making it my top 5. They are in no particular order since that depends on my mood and day.

Richard Schmid is the living master. He has been able to absorb almost all of what past art and artists have taught us, and been able to tie it into his own personal style and ideas. I feel his life and painting has set the course and standard for art today and has not only started the revival of representational painting, but also the rise of alla prima and plein air. The day I picked up his book Alla Prima as a freshman in art school was the day I fell in love with painting. I knew then that I wanted to become not just a designer or illustrator, but an artist, and that I would spend anywhere from minutes to hours of each day thinking about or creating paintings for the rest of my life.

Anders Zorn was the contemporary painter of the past. His brushwork, naturalist touches, and everyday beauty makes him just as relevant today as he way back then. I hope that every one of my paintings could have skin tones like his, and could convey the beauty of a person and their surroundings, no matter who the model.

Jeremy Lipking's work echoes the painters of the nineteenth century with his own additions of "wet," long brushstrokes, transparency and luminosity, and moody and deliberate color relationships. If I was asked which contemporary artist in a hundred years would garner the best museum locations and reach the highest prices at auction, Jeremy would be my guess.

John Singer Sargent: Whether a sketch book drawing, watercolor, mural, or oil painting, Sargent holds the place as the greatest artist in the history of man kind. I know all artists and collectors may not hold the same opinion, but chances are, he is still a favorite of theirs. Skill and brushwork are the usual reasons (anyone who can use large, bravado strokes to create an entire arm or pleat of a dress, and sculpt a face with no more that 20 strokes is a genius and master in my book), but another  reason is the reality and mood that he brought to his paintings. The various works of Venice and especially his paintings of bead stringers where the first paintings that made a real mark on me as a high-schooler and got me interested in art.

Quang Ho is a modern day impressionist that holds the ability of creating amazing paintings out of what seems to be random strokes and blotches of color. His paintings are at the top of my list to someday see in person and hopefully even purchase one for my own collection. I secretly have the desire to paint like this, to be able to develop enough skill and technique that I can place the right stroke, in the right place, with the right color and value, combining just enough of them to create a realistic and breathtaking piece of art.

Other artists I adore:

John White Alexander
Carolyn Anderson
Scott Burdick
William Merritt Chase
Nicholai Fechen
Dan Gerhartz
Childe Hassam
Johanna Harmon 
CW Mundy
Ilya Repin
Burton Silverman
Joaquin Sorolla


The list could go on and on, but I've blown enough time as it is, and all this looking at paintings is getting me all excited to paint.  Who are some of your favorites?