Edmund Tarbell

In a previous post, I spoke of Thomas Dewing and highlighted some of his extraordinary paintings. Dewing was a member of a small group of elite painters in the New York/Boston area known as the Ten American Painters (referred to mostly as "The Ten").

 

Seated (left to right): Edward Simmons, Willard L. Metcalf, Childe Hassam, J. Alden Weir, Robert Reid

Standing (left to right): William Merritt Chase, Frank W. Benson, Edmund C. Tarbell, Thomas Dewing, Joseph De Camp

Another member of this group was Edmund Tarbell. He was born near Boston and graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, along with two other artists that would also became members of The Ten, Robert Reid and Frank Benson. After continuing his studies and traveling in France and throughout Europe, he returned to Boston and soon after held the position of his former teacher, Otto Grundmann (Edmund was 26!).

Tarbell also co-founded The Guild of Boston Artists in 1914, and in 1919 became the principal of the art school at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in D.C.

Most of the examples here are of his interior figures which he painted later in his life. I can see some similarities to the work of Dewing, and I wonder if that was the composition and subject style of the time, or if "The Ten" influenced each others works and subject matter. In either event, I absolutely love these paintings.

More on Edmund Tarbell:
Art Renewal Center
Wikipedia
flickr

More on "The Ten"
Antiques and Fine Art Article
Amazon
Wikipedia

Modeling for the Putney Painters

I got to spend another day with the Putney Painters -- but no painting for me, today I was the model.

Below is Richard Schmid's start. He probably painted for 30 minutes total today, he was bouncing around between all the other artists, helping and instructing.

The best of the day was Nancy Guzik. Below is her start and finish. I really love those drawing lines . . .

Here is Katie Swatland and her final painting.

Macintosh still life - 12 x 16

Just finished another still life. I think I'll move on to a figure or head study.

Finished fall still life

Last night I was able to make some final adjustments to the still life I painted last weekend. I think I'm going to paint one more still life while the things I've seen and heard from Nancy Guzik and Richard Schmid are still fresh in my mind. I find that I don't have to worry as much about drawing and other things while painting still lifes (figures and heads need to be much more exact) and I can focus in on developing color and brushwork. Richard and Nancy both take a slightly different approach to still life painting, but both are very concerned with getting notes of color in right away, and then judging all other decisions off of that. Richard will directly paint the shapes in the exact color, while Nancy creates an initial drawing using the local color of that object for the lines, and then puts a stroke of the exact color into the shape. I have always done notes of the lightest light and darkest dark for the sake of my value judgements, but never all the major color notes. I think this new approach will help me create more colorful and life-like paintings.

Painting with the Putney Painters!

If life had a check box for "Painting with today's living Master," then tonight I would be cheking it off my list.  I honestly never thought I would have the privilege to paint with Richard Schmid, Nancy Guzik, and the Putney Painters -- to be a part of that vibrant painting environment is just as much an encouragement as it is a learning experience.

To top off the day, the Putney Painters threw Richard a mini birthday party with 3 cakes, a pie, great conversation and apparently Richard's favorite present, jokes.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

Nancy Guzik Painting:

 

Kathy Anderson:

 

Richard's Birthday Bash:

 

My Painting: (Still a little work to do, but not to shabby for having Richard and Nancy across the room!)

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