Napa Valley Art Camp

Napa Valley Open Studios 2011

2011-09-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Napa Valley Open Studios 2011 • cover art by glass artist Ed Breed

The next two weekends, Napa Valley Open Studios artists (including me) open up their studios to visitors, sharing their work, talking about their processes, answering questions, and sometimes giving demonstrations. It's a wonderful time to learn about different artists and how they work.

You can download a catalog online at www.napavalleyopenstudios.org, and you can find out what demonstrations you might see here.

Jocelyn Audette painting on location (in the middle of a lake)

Here's a photo gallery of artists at work (our workplaces often look a little different than most people's!), at NVOS Photo Gallery, including my favorite of Jocelyn Audette painting in the middle of a lake.

If you come – between 11 and 5 on September 17-18 and 24-25 – I hope you'll drop by and visit me at Studio #9 in St. Helena. I'll be at Ed Breed's studio. Ed, this year's cover artist, will be giving glass blowing demonstrations during the day, too. You can find us at 1734 Scott Street in St. Helena – and you can download a map here. I hope I'll see you!

Underpainting with values – the art of grisaille

2011-09-14T08:30:00.000-07:00

Diego Velasquez's portrait of Juan de Pareja, 1650

Grisaille (pronounced grizz-eye) painting – creating an underpainting with light and dark values, generally using white and black paint – was used by many old masters, including Diego Velasquez, also spelled Velazquez, whose portrait of Juan de Pareja you see above. The color is created by layers of thin glazes painted on top of an underpainting in white, black, and grays.

The method is ably explained and demonstrated in Free Art Lesson – James Sulkowski – Underpainting, a five-minute YouTube video.

Notice first how Sulkowski holds his brush – far enough back – and paints using his whole arm, not just his hand and wrist.

"The reason for this technique," he explains, speaking of the grisaille, "is to get more depth and luminosity." He also demonstrates, briefly, blending edges with a fan brush (yes, fan brushes are meant for blending, not for painting generic "foliage"). This is a wonderful demonstration of painting light and shadow on a form using darks and lights. Although he is using oil paints rather than acrylics, you can get a longer drying time with acrylics by either using a retarding or slow-drying medium, or by using Golden's Open Acrylics, which give you three to four days of blending time before the paint dries.

Painter James Sulkowski demonstrates the process of glazing over the grisaille

He continues demonstrating how glazes are used over the grisaille in Taking the Mystery Out of Glazing, a second five-minute video, showing how classical painters like Velasquez used this process to create paintings like the portrait of Juan de Pareja. He also demonstrates using a mahl stick on the painting's finest detail. If you are interested in classical realism, you definitely want to watch these two videos – they will definitely help you in your painting process.

You can also see James Sulkowski's work at his website www.jamessulkowski.com.

Notes on Plein Air painting

2011-09-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

If you're planning on being a part of the Calistoga Art Center's first plein air paintout (the entry fee is only $25 if you sign up by September 15th), you may want a few tips on painting en plein air (in the open air). So, for you – notes on plein air painting:

Make quick thumbnail sketches of your composition before you begin
Bring your camera to take photos – the light will change, and it will give you a record of what the scene looked like
Wear a hat to provide shade
Bring a mister bottle to keep your palette from drying out too quickly (if you're using acrylic paints – Open Acrylic paints give you more drying time, and work much better on a hot day)
In some places, mosquito repellant is advisable
Don't take too much gear along, especially if you have to carry it a ways from your car

Be prepared for wind – you can tape your palette paper down and brace your easel
Although limiting your gear is good, an old ironing board makes a useful place to put your palette and water, if you are setting up close to your car
If you don't want people to talk to you, and you're in a busy area, ear plugs and a portable radio/iPod helps – even if you're not listening to it.
Most plein air painters work very small on location – perhaps 4" x 5", 8" x 10", or 9" x 12". This is because light and weather conditions can change so rapidly - it's easier to get everything down rapidly when you work small. Often, they will use those studies as the basis for larger paintings later.
You can also return to the same scene at the same time a couple of days in a row, to catch similar light as you work on the same painting.

Calistoga Art Center Plein Air Paintout

2011-09-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Jim Hour painting at our Acrylic Painting class field trip at Judy's house, 2010

The Calistoga Art Center is planning its first plein air paintout – October 7–9, 2011.

(Its what?) The term "plein air," pronounced "plenn air,"is french for painting outdoors. "Painting en plein air" means painting in the open air. It's different from painting in the studio. You have the elements to think about (heat, wind, cold, rapidly changing light, inclement weather) and none of the comforts of the studio as you work. But you also have the great outdoors – you are right smack dab in the middle of the scene that's inspiring you.

Claude Monet painting in his garden, from short film, Impressionists Live, on YouTube

Plein air painting was difficult until the invention of tube paints in the 1870s – and the invention of the French easel, which allowed one to carry the easel off the beaten path and set up outdoors (the wooden easels you see in these photographs are French style easels). In France, the Barbizon School and the French Impressionists began what has become a painting tradition.

Diana, Sharon, and Anitra, painting in last week's Acrylic Painting class field trip

We're lucky that in California we have such good weather – so it may not surprise you to learn that California (the Bay Area, the Central Coast, and Southern California) has been a hotbed of plein air painting for over a hundred years.

Victoria painting in last week's Acrylic Painting class field trip

And with the beauty of the vineyards in the autumn, we'll have lots of beautiful spots to choose from for this paintout.

So what's a paintout?

A paintout is a competition and show (but for us, it also will be an excuse to get out into the vineyards and do some serious brushwork). You begin on Friday, and get your canvases, panels, or papers stamped on the back (that's to make sure you haven't gotten a head start). Then you have two days to paint, en plein air, and you turn your painting, or paintings, in on the second day. On the third day, everyone comes to the show, and you celebrate. Fun, eh?

Sharon painting in last weeks Acrylic Painting class field trip

Most well-known paintouts draw professional painters from all over the country, and participation is juried. But this is a first for Calistoga, so everyone who wants to be a part of it is welcome. Does it appeal to you? You can learn more at the Calistoga Art Center website. There's a $25 fee for participating if you sign up by September 15th – after that it's $35 – so sign up soon!

Painting Trees - IV

2011-08-30T15:19:00.001-07:00

Craig Nelson demonstrates painting negative spaces in trees

More on painting trees! In class, I've particularly emphasized using the negative space to create the shapes of the trees. (Remember how we talked about "sky holes"?) Here's a YouTube video by Craig Nelson demonstrating that – Painting Negative Spaces in Trees and Foliage.

Craig Nelson using an "egbert," or long filbert, to paint foliage

He demonstrates using a particular kind of brush - an "egbert" – also called a long filbert. Notice how very long and slender the bristles are? It gives a delicacy and flexibility to the brush strokes that he is particularly looking for.

Nathanael Provis makes sure you never use a fan brush again

And if I haven't already discouraged you from using a fan brush to create generic-looking foliage, here's an artist who may help you see the light... See Art Disasters 3: How to Paint Trees - artist Nathanael Provis. Be sure to watch all the way to the end - you don't want to miss his rant on fan brushes. (Note: he is using oil paints, which dry much more slowly than acrylics.)

Soft Block Printing workshop - Saturday

2011-08-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

Have you been intrigued by the possibilities of block printing? (If not, I hope you will be... it is a wonderful art form to work with.) Or do you like stamping, and feel like getting more creative?

Iridescence, an acrylic painting created using the same dragonfly soft block

Block printing is kind of a next step up from stamping – and you can combine it with acrylic painting to create mixed media pieces, something I particularly enjoy (you can see it in the painting above, Iridescence). You can also use it to print on textiles – but it stands on its own as a wonderful medium.

Angel of Peace soft block print, printed as a holiday card

You can use it to create handprinted cards and fine art prints, which is what we'll be doing this Saturday in this year's Soft Block Printing workshop. Soft block printing is similar to, but much easier to work with, than linoleum block or wood block printing. We'll also be using non-toxic, water-soluble inks, as well as safety cutters, which have the added benefit of allowing you more control of your cuts, and giving you the ability to cut much nicer curves.

In the workshop, we'll design and cut the block for printing, and ink and print greeting cards and fine art prints. If you'd like to come, bring along some images you might like to make prints of – drawings? photographs? We'll be carving 4" x 6" blocks.

Songbird soft block prints drying, in process, with multiple colors

The workshop runs from 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 27th, at the Calistoga Art Center, 1435 North Oak Street in Calistoga (at the Napa County Fairgrounds). Bring your lunch! You can register online at the Calistoga art center's website, at www.calistogaartcenter.org.

You can also see photographs of the process from 2010's two-day printmaking workshop in my August 2010 blog post. And here's a link to Charles deLimur's block printing process, a marvelous block printing photo essay by Charles deLimur, a Calistoga artist who does Napa Valley Open Studios each year. Charley works with multiple colors and multiple printing runs, a difficult and challenging process, which he illustrates beautifully. If you click on each individual photo, you can read his commentary about the process.

If you'd like to come, I look forward to seeing you! And if you're not able to join us, think about the possibilities of block printing... it's really a wonderful medium.

Painting Trees - III

2011-08-17T09:03:00.000-07:00

Landscape painter Jan Schmuckal takes yet another approach to painting landscapes – and painting trees, but one that also pays close attention to negative spaces. In this time-lapse demonstration video, Painting Demo, which you can find on YouTube, she begins by toning the entire canvas in a deep brown wash.

Next, she removes paint with a Q-tip, creating the basic lines of her composition. While she uses oil paints, which don't dry as quickly as acrylics, Open Acrylics, which have a longer drying time, would allow you to try this method using acrylics.

Next, she removes the color in areas that are going to be light – in this case, the sky and the sky's reflection in the water below – in other words, in the negative spaces. She defines the trees by removing anything that isn't tree....

Notice how she removes paint inside the tree, for the spaces where the light shows through? (Napa Valley painter Vicki Long calls them "sky holes.")

Once the shapes of her composition are established, Schmuckal then comes in with a brush and paint, bringing color and increased light into the dark areas.

Next she further defines the trees by painting the negative spaces around them – the sky, and its light.

Once the light in the sky is established, she returns to the trees, bringing lighter values to the leaves and branches. Throughout, however, she keeps the shapes simple – the details she adds never detract from whole. There is no element of fussiness here – there is, instead a wonderful sense of place, of light and dark, of atmosphere....

And here is the final painting!

You can see the complete video at Painting Demo on YouTube, and you can see more of Jan's paintings on her gallery website (Gallery 28 in Geneva, Illinois). You can also follow Jan at her Facebook page, Jan Schmuckal Tonalist Impressionist Artist. You can also buy her paintings on eBay, at Gallery 28 Originals Jan Schmuckal. I hope you'll follow the links through to discover more of her work – it will be well worth your time.

Painting Trees - II

2011-08-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

The final painting - Changing the Light, by Robert Genn

It is a joy to watch the landscape painting process of Robert Genn, a British Columbia artist who works in acrylics. Luckily for us, he has filmed the process of creating several paintings, and shared the results on YouTube.

Robert Genn begins painting what will become Changing the Light

Changing the Light begins with Genn working on location on the shores of a lake. He begins to sketch the basic structures of his composition. Unlike me, he does not step back and turn his canvas upside down to check the composition (it's still a good idea!), nor does he begin with a thumbnail. However, he has been working en plein air so long that he no longer needs what is pretty useful to many of us.

Developing the painting

Notice that he is working on a toned canvas? In this case, it is toned a mid-gray. You can tone your canvas any color you like, if you want to try this – it is one way of pulling the colors together and harmonizing them.

Covering the painting with a wash

Genn then wipes a wash over the entire painting – another method of harmonizing the colors.

Changing the light... a good reason for the title!

Now the magic happens, when he brings sunset light into the sky (changing the light). Notice how he paints the negative spaces around the tree branches?

You can watch the video online at Changing the Light. Robert Genn's username is painterskeys, and you can also watch his other videos. To study the painting of trees, I especially recommend Forest Spirit and Cuckoo. You'll enjoy his studios-on-wheels, too.

You can see more of his paintings, and learn more about him, at www.RobertGenn.com.

Genn also writes a thoughtful, perceptive newsletters, with thousands of subscribers. Each week he writes two letters, and then posts some of the responses on his website. You can read them – and subscribe – at www.painterskeys.com. I've been subscribing for over ten years now, and I always learn something new. I heartily recommend it.

Painting Trees - I

2011-08-10T09:36:00.000-07:00

Image from Sheldon Borenstein's instruction video on How to Paint Trees

For my students who are working on painting trees, here's a great video resource online.

Sheldon Borenstein demonstrates how to paint an oak tree, a palm tree, and a group of trees, in his Youtube video How to Paint Trees.

Image from Sheldon Borenstein's instruction video on How to Paint Branches

He develops it a little further in How to Paint Branches. They're short, succinct lessons that I think you'd find helpful.

Alfredo Tofanelli's painting Light Play,

and his show at the Napa Valley Museum Spotlight Gallery

through the end of September

Also - THIS Saturday, Alfredo Tofanelli will be teaching a painting workshop at the Napa Valley Museum. Tofanelli is a wonderful landscape painter who works with the methods and palette of Henry Hensche, whose work you can see here.

Henry Hensche's landscape painting Ada and Wags

If this palette looks familiar to you, then you may have seen the paintings of Camille Przwodek, a well-known student of Henry Hensche, who lives and works in Petaluma, California, and with whom Tofanelli studied. It's a four-hour workshop for $60, and should be well worth it. Reservations are required, so give the museum a call at (707) 944-0500.

Making lines with Robert Joyner

2011-07-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

Virginia painter Robert Joyner demonstrates three ways of creating lines in this YouTube video, Acrylic painting tutorial. Brushwork Part 1.

First, he demonstrated using a liner brush, a very long, slender brush beloved by signpainters.

Next, he demonstrates sgraffito – the technique of scratching lines into the paint and letting the paint color underneath show through. He shows how to do this first with a palette knife, and second with the end of the handle of your paint brush.

Joyner's style is very loose and painterly, with thick layers of paint laid on lovingly. It's fun to watch him lay down the paint, and cut back into it to create lines. You can see his work at http://www.robertjoynerartist.com/.

Painting demonstration follow-up

2011-07-18T15:01:00.000-07:00

Wondering how that demonstration painting turned out? You can see the results (so far – it's not completely finished yet) above, and I posted the process here:

Painting Demos at the Napa County Fair (the beginnings of the painting)

"My Calistoga" - continued progress (everything done after the fair ended)

You can see lots of scumbling and tinted collage elements, and get some ideas about combining collage and painted elements in an art piece.

If the collage elements intrigue you, I teach them in my Painting Collages workshop, which is coming up this Saturday, July 23rd, at the Calistoga Art Center. You can find more information at www.NapaValleyArtWorkshops.com/painting-collages1.html.

Painting demonstration at the Napa County Fair

2011-06-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

I'll be giving painting demonstrations this Saturday and Sunday, July 2nd and 3rd, at the Napa County Fair. From 5 to 8 p.m. on both days, I'll be at the Calistoga Art Center, which is a part of the fair for the first time.

I'm still debating as to what I'll be painting... maybe landscape painting one day, maybe mixed media the next? Come by, and be surprised! (I hope in a good way.)

Another little review

2011-06-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

Remember focal point?

No? Here's a review of my posts on focal points to date.... If it's new to you, start at the bottom and work your way up. Understanding how focal points work is essential in the process of painting, if you want to create paintings that work (in abstract work, too).

A little review...

2011-06-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a collection of some of the posts I've written on different painting topics over the course of this blog. If you want to learn - or refresh your memory - about how to start a painting, you'll find some good information here.

Click here for posts on Thumbnail sketches

Click here for posts on Blocking in a painting

Click here for posts on Negative space

Happy painting!

By the way, my next Painting Landscapes workshop is this Saturday, June 25th, at the Calistoga Art Center, in Calistoga, California. It's the only time I'll be teaching it this year. You can learn more about it here at my workshops website, NapaValleyArtWorkshops.com.

Jackson Pollock dancing with the brush

2011-04-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

Hans Namuth's photograph of Jackson Pollock at work

Inspired by Jonas Gerard's dancing to paint? (If you haven't been introduced to Jonas Gerard yet, see my post from December 7, 2009, Dancing with the brush.) We are lucky to have film of Jackson Pollock painting, too – see examples at Jackson Pollock 51, which you can see on YouTube.com. Although he did not paint with the same sense of joy you can see in Jonas Gerard at work, he worked spontaneously, dancing with the brush (or stick) and paint.

Ed Harris, from his film Pollock

The scenes of Ed Harris as Pollock, painting in the film Pollock, are wonderful to watch, too. Here is a scene on Youtube.com – the clip is called Jackson Pollock dancing colors – he is painting his first monumentally large piece, after having torn out the walls of his studio in order to fit the canvas. Harris gives the viewer a good sense of the visceral, subconscious, dancing quality of the act of painting as Pollock practiced it.

It makes me want to get out a very big canvas, and dance....

Spring 2011 painting class schedule

2011-03-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

We're into the second week of the March/April session already (remember, no class this Friday) – and here's the class schedule for the rest of this spring:

April/May: (Note the week off for spring break!)

Wednesdays: April 13, spring break, 27, May 4, 11

Fridays: April 15, spring break, 29, May 6, 13

May/June:

Wednesdays: May 18, 25, June 1, June 8

Fridays: May 20, 27, June 3, 10

Location:

The new Calistoga Art Center,

Napa County Fairgrounds, Cropp Building,

1435 North Oak Street, Calistoga, California

Remember scumbling?

2011-03-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

Scumbling (sounds like stumbling, but with a "k" sound) is, for me, one of the most useful techniques an artist can learn. I've used it in several places throughout the painting above. It's a particular kind of brushwork – using it, you can create wonderfully magical effects. To scumble, you drag a dry brush lightly loaded with paint across another color.

When might you use it? Anytime you want a transitional area between colors (in portraits, in landscape paintings, in painting skies, for example). Above, it not only helped create an atmospheric effect in the skies and distant mountains, but it also added a kind of laciness to the palm fronds. Scumbling is a way of blending color that allows the viewer to blend the colors with their eyes....

Want to learn more? Here are two earlier posts that discuss it thoroughly:

Scumbling shows how scumbling was used by Rembrandt and Modigliani in portraits.

Scumbling video lesson with Jan Blencowe links to a demonstration of the scumbling technique that Blencowe uses to create a beautifully atmospheric sky.

Remember negative space?

2011-02-23T10:27:00.000-08:00

It's good, every now and then, to review some of the basics that are critical in developing a good composition. If you have a tendency to think, when you paint, mostly in terms of the subject, and not so much of the space around the subject, revisiting the concepts of negative space will help your painting enormously.

And if this is new to you, you will be amazed at how an understanding of negative (and positive) space will change the way you see – and the way you paint.

Here are two posts from 2010 on negative space that will help.

Negative space – it's not just background

Karl Blossfeldt's use of positive and negative space

Winter is a wonderful time to practice seeing negative space. Take a look at the shapes of trees in fog – study the shapes of oak trees or grapevines without their leaves. Notice the shapes of the trees and vines themselves – and notice the spaces around them. In a painting, you can use the negative space to shape the positive space in ways that make both work better.

Painting a simple still life - IV

2011-02-21T10:02:00.000-08:00

The painting is finally beginning to come into its own. Here, I've worked on the edge of the box behind the left apple, thinned the vertical charcoal line, and brought a pale apricot-ish color into the background on the right. I've also brought more yellow into the background on the left, evening out the color somewhat.

I've used scumbling extensively. (To see a scumbling demonstration, see "Scumbling video lesson with Jan Blencowe.") Not only have I used it to soften the shadows under the apples (I've also brought some of the red of the apples into the shadows), but I have also used it to soften the colors of the apples themselves, as well as their highlights. On the apples, I rubbed the paint around with the edge of a paper towel (and used my fingers - but please, use the paper towel - it may be less expedient, but it's just as effective, and much safer).

Where will the painting go next? When a painting gets to this point, it's wise to step back and consider well before each step – one little brush stroke may be all it needs. In my dialogue with the painting, my job here is to listen well. It may take the painting a while to speak to me, so need to sit and look and listen for as long as it takes. I'll let this painting tell me where it wants to go next – but I think I'm likely to tone down the intensity of the yellow in the background. I may also bring some layers of glazing over the apples - but we'll see.

Painting a simple still life - III

2011-02-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

Back to the three little red apples.... Finally, I've added the stems! And a little bit more highlighting on the apples....

These apples have, for me, had specific personalities and interrelationships since I redrew them in charcoal, leaning them in directions slightly different from reality. They've also had a title, since soon after I began blocking in the color – which sometimes happens for me in a painting. New Kid in Town seems to sum up the sense of an outsider approaching a pair, with each apple in the pair leaning in or away in different relation to the "new kid."

These later stages of the painting are where the personalities of the apples are really seeming to emerge – but where I can take them now depends on the big shapes of the composition underneath, and getting the composition right in the early stages.

Here, additional work on the highlights on the apples and their stems really brings the viewer's eye in to these focal points.

I've also corrected the edge behind the apple on the left. The increased intensity of the yellows are now crying out to me for change. With the details on the stems, the vertical line of the charcoal no longer works for me – so these two things will probably be the first things I develop next.

Moving Day for the Calistoga Art Center

2011-02-12T09:40:00.000-08:00

The Cropp Building at the Napa County Fairgrounds, new home of the Calistoga Art Center

Saturday, February 5th, was Moving Day for the Calistoga Art Center. The previous two days were a flurry of packing, and Saturday arrived with record warm weather. Board members and volunteers came to help, and John Merchant sent over five men and a truck from Indian Springs.

Dedication plaque for the Cropp Building, Napa County Fairgrounds

Looking in the doorway – just beginning to get things set up

The new Art Center is located at the Napa County Fairgrounds, in Calistoga, in the Cropp Building, the exhibits hall used during the fair for crafts and baking exhibits. The Art Center will move out during the fair to accommodate the exhibits, but the rest of the year now has a big, open 3,000 square feet for new class and workshop space.

Painting area to the right (see the forest of easels?), commercial kitchen straight back, ceramics area to the back left

The office area just to the right of the standing table, and the painting and drawing area to its left

Children's class area on the far left, ceramics area in the center

Looking back towards the entrance - it's a big space!

The Art Center sign, painted by Sequoia Buck, that used to hang from the balcony of the Masonic Building

View of the fairgrounds from the building

Voila! A space for making art!

Another view of the new painting and drawing space

Zoe loves it, too (notice the wagging tail?)

The ceramics space takes shape

Linda Wilds-Beltz, office manager, debates about where to put the sign

Martha Casselman, Art Center board president, and hard-working volunteer Jorge Rodriguez

It was a good day – and now the Art Center is open for a new session of classes in its new location, at 1435 North Oak Street, Calistoga, California! Here's a link to a good map of how to get there. You can get a schedule of classes at www.calistogaartcenter.org.

Found Art

2011-02-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

If, wherever you go, you keep your eyes open to the possibilities, you will find yourself discovering beauty everywhere.

This photo puts into a composition the marvelous disarray of sequins on the wooden floor of the (now former) Calistoga Art Center – cast there by an enthusiastic toddler (and cleaned up, after our moment to appreciate the arrangement, by Molly Francisco, the Mommy and Me class teacher).

Yes, it's true – art is everywhere. I hope you'll take a moment to savor it before you clean it up.

Saying goodbye to the Art Center's old space

2011-02-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

Looking in from the door at the Calistoga Art Center's old space

For the last year and a half, the Calistoga Art Center has been on the second floor of the historic and lovely Masonic Building in Calistoga.

Looking in from the door at the Calistoga Art Center's old space

I took these photos just before our move to the Art Center's new space, in the Cropp Building at the Napa County Fairgrounds.

While indirect lighting is better for painters, the light and view have been lovely. Some students have used the strong light and shadow in still life paintings.

A view from the balcony of the Masonic Building

A view from the balcony of the Masonic Building, looking towards the Palisades

Views from the balcony…. It's been a wonderful year and a half.

Gessoing Panels

2011-02-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

Panels to be gessoed, gesso, a sponge brush (a hardware store brush works well, too), a covered surface, and something to prop up the boards (here, a jar lid)

Hardboard or masonite panels are a nice alternative to canvas, canvas paper, or acrylic painting paper as a painting surface.

Their advantages? They are inexpensive and untextured (nice when you're painting small). If you buy a large sheet of masonite and cut them yourself, you can also cut them to whatever size you want. You can also buy panels at art supply stores in pre-cut small sizes.

Their disadvantages? Larger sizes needed to be reinforced with cradling, so they don't warp. You need to make sure that the panel is thick enough to be a good support for a larger size, too. Panels also need to be primed with gesso.

Gesso on the panel, waiting to be spread out

How to gesso your panels:

It's easiest to gesso several panels at once. Set up something to cover the surface.

Lay down something (here, I've used jar lids and lids for large yogurt containers) on which you can set each panel. This prevents gesso on the side of the panels from sticking to your surface cover.

Squeeze out (if it's pourable, like the gesso shown in the photo) or spoon gesso (if it's thick and comes in a jar) onto the panel.

Use a brush or sponge brush to spread the gesso across the panel. Do NOT use your good painting brushes, if you can help it. Gesso contains both pigment (here, white pigment) and glues that attach firmly to the surface, and allow your paint to stick to the surface well. It can be a little tougher to clean out of your brush – something you need to do right away once you're through.

You may need to thin the gesso a LITTLE with water.

Closeups of two gessoed panels

Here, on the top you see gesso thinned with too much water.

On the panel below it, you see gesso pulled across the panel in one direction, creating a brush stroke texture that is consistent. (When you gesso the second coat, pull it across the panel at a 90° angle to the first coat.)

Closeup of a gessoed panel

Here, you see irregular brush strokes, creating an interesting texture without the strokes all going in the same direction. You can choose which you prefer. I prefer the irregular strokes. The second coat on this would also consist of another layer of irregular strokes going in all directions.

The gesso will flatten out a little as it dries, depending on how thick or thin it is. (I've exaggerated the texture in the photos above, so you can see it more clearly.) You can also sand each coat smooth once it's dry. You may then want to apply more than two coats of gesso to get the kind of coverage you want.

A series of panels with the first coat drying

Then let the first coat dry. I always wait at least a day before applying the second coat. If you wait until it's dry to the touch, the gesso is only dry on the surface, but not yet dry underneath – it's best to add the second coat once the first one is fully dry.

Add the second coat, let it dry, and then you're ready to paint.

Painting a simple still life - II

2011-02-08T00:38:00.000-08:00

Remember them apples?

Here, you can see the progression of the process of this painting, from setting up the composition (missing photos of the thumbnails - but I did them); to drawing and adjusting the composition, to blocking in the big shapes of color, to refining those shapes and colors, and addressing values.

Here, those dark values have been softened by layers of scumbled color. The edges of dark shadows have been lightened and softened (there were multiple sources of light, explaining why the shadows are spread in more than one direction).

I have left the vertical black charcoal line untouched - I like it. It anchors the apples nicely in their place (and divides the space by the Golden Ratio, or the Golden Mean - a blog post for another time - which is pleasing to the eye).

There is plenty yet to do - bringing in the highlights on the apples, painting their stems, adjusting the lower left edge, and further refining of the shadows among them. Depending on how much detail I want to get into, I could push this to a very detailed place, continuing to refine it further and further (something I'm not as likely to do, given my inclinations as a painter). This is how a painting evolves!

Painting a simple still life - I

2011-01-25T14:44:00.000-08:00

Beginning with the drawn-in composition from the last post, it's now time to get out the paint. It is all too human to hear the siren call of little tiny detail – and much trickier to remember to see the big picture (see my posts on Seeing the Big Picture - I, II, and III).

Resist the call! Blocking in the big shapes of the painting will establish your composition, give you a sense about values, and get the white canvas covered. Getting the canvas covered is more important than you may think. If you focus on establishing detail in one or two areas of the painting, and ignore the white of the canvas in other places, that white will become more and more important, and you may feel more hesitant about what to put there. As you wait longer and longer to get something down, it gets harder and harder to decide. Skip the frustration by putting something down right away!

Once you've got the big shapes blocked in – working all over the canvas – then you can begin to break those big shapes into smaller and smaller areas –

The process of painting is like a conversation. At the beginning of the conversation, you will be doing most of the talking (painting). But remember to pause and listen... the painting will have things to tell you – things you won't know unless you stop, back up, look, and listen. Turn it upside down! Let it talk to you. Sometimes you'll need to wait. Don't charge back into the painting until you know where the painting wants to take you next. When in doubt, keep listening.

Here, I'm pushing the values darker – these apples needed a little more solidity. The darks won't stay that dark – but I need these darks underneath, to make everything work the way I want it to. Remember, this is a process – don't expect the middle of the process to look anything like the end. The middle of the process is like green goo – it can get pretty ugly. Don't judge it! Just hang in there, and keep going on to the next step.

Starting an acrylic painting with a charcoal drawing

2011-01-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

Still life set-up • © photo 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Here's a new way of starting a painting with an acrylic drawing. Above, I've begun with a simple still life arrangement.

I've underpainted the canvas in a mid-value color (in this case, Cadmium Yellow Deep). Since these photographs are of a second demonstration over the top of the first, you can see something of the first demonstration underneath.

Still life composition, drawn in charcoal • © photo 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

This method uses vine charcoal, a drawing medium that can be easily erased - but that also can be absorbed into and darken the paints, when you paint over your initial composition. How can you prevent the charcoal from getting into the paint? Some people draw their composition, and then erase it, leaving a ghost of the drawing to guide them. Here's another method that allows you to draw in charcoal, leave the lines, and keep the charcoal from getting into your acrylic paint.

Draw your composition in, using Vine Charcoal (not compressed charcoal). Vine charcoal is easily erased with the edge of a paper towel as you make alterations to your composition. Look at the composition upside down, to make sure it works. Do you see shadows of the alterations I'd made on the first demonstration, underneath this?

In this second demonstration, without the arrangement above in front of me, I also altered it by leaning two of the apples in towards each other, a change that I think creates a more interesting dynamic.

Mixing a gesso solution • © photo 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

For the next step, mix gesso (primer for canvases, pronounced jess´-oh) and water in about 50/50 proportions. I prefer to use a pourable gesso rather than a thicker gesso for this. For my demonstration here I've used Liquitex's student grade gesso. Make sure the new gesso solution is not too thin and runny (the results then would be like what you see above, from my first demonstration. The wateriness of my solution allowed the charcoal to run more than you'll want).

Still life composition • © photo 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Next, you will apply the gesso solution to the canvas, allowing it to fix the charcoal drawing (make it permanent, so it can be painted over). The best way to do this is to brush the solution inside and up to the lines, not brushing it across the lines, which will smear the charcoal into the gesso solution.

Still life composition • © photo 2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Finally, once each area is covered, go back over the entire canvas, painting the gesso solution over any parts of the lines you haven't covered yet. Allow it to dry, and then you can move to the next step, blocking in your colors.

Spring 2011 painting classes at the Calistoga Art Center

2011-01-10T23:52:00.000-08:00

The new year has arrived, and it's time for Acrylic Painting classes to begin again at the Calistoga Art Center. This will be the Art Center's last month in Calistoga's historic Masonic Building, on the main street in town. The light there is spectacular.… Feel like painting objects in light from the windows? This is your last chance.…

Painters at work in the Spring 2010 Acrylic Painting class

The first four-week session runs from January 12th through the beginning of February.

Then the Art Center moves to its new location, in the Cropp Building, at the Napa Valley Fairgrounds, 1435 North Oak Street, Calistoga. We'll have 3,000 square feet of space! With skylights, concrete floors, and a big parking lot! It's going to be a wonderful space for us – I hope you'll join us!

The remaining spring sessions will be:

February 9th through March 18th

March 23rd through April 15th

April 27th through May 20th

You can find more information online at www.calistogaartcenter.org.

George Washington, Jane Stuart, and California history

2011-01-05T15:28:00.000-08:00

Who can predict the ways in which art, politics, and history intersect? Here is the story of one painting and its place in California history....

Painter Gilbert Stuart is most famously known for his portrait of George Washington – in particular, the one Dolly Madison saved during the War of 1812, when the capitol was under attack, and the British burned the White House and Capitol building.

Gilbert Stuart's original portrait of George Washington, in the White House Collection

At the time, painters, sometimes with the help of their assistants, often made copies of their most celebrated paintings. It was a good living - Stuart painted one hundred thirty copies of his most popular portrait of Washington, and twelve versions of the White House portrait. California's life-sized painting of George Washington was painted by Jane Stuart, Gilbert's daughter.

Originally the painting hung in the courthouse in Sacramento, where it was saved from fire by then–Governor John Bigler (governor from 1852 — 1856). Saving the painting was no small feat. Since it was over 7 1/2 feet high and 5 feet wide, with an even larger, heavy wooden frame, he had to talk not one or two, but several men, into entering the burning building — enough men to carry it back out.

In gratitude for his heroism (and, evidently, persuasive ability), the legislature named a lake after him.

Portrait of California Governor John Bigler, by William F. Cogswell

Time passed.... The Civil War broke out. As a state, California sided with the north. But by–now–former Governor Bigler was a Confederate sympathizer. Supporters of the Union protested the honor, demanding that the lake's name be changed, and mapmaker William Henry Knight asked the Land Office in Washington to change the name on official maps. Controversy followed - even Mark Twain complained about the new name, and the state legislature reaffirmed the name of Lake Bigler in 1870.

But the new name persisted, and finally in 1945 the California State Legislature officially renamed the lake – which is why today we call the largest alpine lake in North America Lake Tahoe (not Lake Bigler).

Map source: Wikipedia

And Jane Stuart's portrait of George Washington — the oldest painting in the Capitol collection — overlooks the Senate Chamber to this day.

Art in the California State Capitol

2010-12-15T23:38:00.001-08:00

I spent a wonderful day in Sacramento, at the State Capitol, last week, when painter Molly Corbett Kruse and I picked up our paintings, which had been on exhibit in Senator Pat Wiggins's office. Koren Benoit, art curator, gave us one heck of a great tour of the artwork, which was followed by another marvelous tour with a Capitol Museum docent. So, now, do I ever have stories to share here.... My next few posts will be written about art and the Capitol – the paintings, their stories or the stories people tell about them now – a little bit of the intersections of art and politics here in the Golden State.

Thank you

2010-11-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

Napa Valley vineyards, view of Mt. St. Helena from the foot of Diamond Mountain

To my blog readers, near and afar: thank you! I hope that this blog is helpful to you. I began it for my students here in Calistoga, in the Napa Valley, but it has found readers from all over. The internet is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Scarecrow by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow contest

If you're particularly enjoying this time of harvest and changing colors, I invite you to visit my painting blog at www.karenlynningalls.blogspot.com, where I have posted photos of autumn vineyards in the northern Napa Valley, around Calistoga, and photographs from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow contest (you'll be amazed by the creativity of the scarecrow makers).

You can find specific posts on photographing autumn scenes in the Napa Valley at:

Preparing for winter

More photos from the road

More photos from the road - II

You can find specific posts on the Calistoga Scarecrow Contest at:

The art of making a scarecrow - sculpting his head

Scarecrows as art - I

Scarecrows as art - II

Scarecrows as art - III

And may you have a happy Thanksgiving!

The Green Goo principle

2010-11-21T17:11:00.000-08:00

Someone once told me that if you were to open a caterpillar's cocoon before it emerges as a butterfly, what you would find would be green goo. The caterpillar essentially has to dissolve in order to reconstruct itself in its new form, and go through a complete transformation.

This is a lot like the process of painting!

You start out by creating the essential underlying structure or gesture of the painting, and everything seems very clear as you block in the big shapes.

Then, as you get further into the painting... something happens. Clarity dissolves. You want – what color there? Is that really working? Those shapes look weird. What WERE you thinking? It just doesn't seem to be coming together.

This can be very depressing (if you let it).

What it actually means is that you are right on track. (You didn't expect to hear that, did you?) You are in the Green Goo phase of the painting. It's most helpful (and not easy) to remember that a butterfly WILL emerge, as long as you follow the process all the way through.

Sticking with it at this point can be difficult. You may feel frustrated – you may want to chuck the whole thing. Stepping away from the painting for a little bit – an hour, a day or two or three, a matter of weeks, a matter of months – may be a good solution when you're really stuck. Then come back to it. You'll be surprised how, suddenly, you'll see the next step you need to take.

I have had some paintings wait years. I have some paintings waiting for me now... easily a dozen or two. Morning Celebration has been waiting for a few months now.

But the butterfly will emerge! Don't be hard on yourself; just trust the process. If it feels difficult and frustrating and everything seems confused and unclear, remember: you're in the Green Goo phase of the painting. You're right on track.

One step at a time - beginning a painting

2010-11-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

When you're beginning a painting from a subject, the same principles apply, whether it's a still life, landscape, or portrait, and whether it's realist, impressionist, expressionist, abstracted, or some other style. You can only take one step at a time – and you can't get to the end before you've begun.

Generally, new painters want to skip the preliminary steps and go straight to painting luscious detail. But – you can trust me on this – if you skip the preliminary steps, you will go far awry. Then you'll get depressed and frustrated and want to chuck the whole thing - pain that you can save yourself by just taking things one step at a time.

In this demonstration, Gregg Kreutz "Market Flowers" DVD from Liliedahl Video, on YouTube, artist Gregg Kreutz begins by catching the essential gesture of his still life subject. This also establishes the placement of the subject in his composition.

Next, he begins blocking in the large shapes (he has toned the canvas beforehand).

Then he turns his attention to the background. Notice as you watch the video that he does not paint with black – he mixes his darks, creating a much more interesting color.

Only then, once he has established the basic shapes of the composition, does he begin to break the painting down into smaller shapes and greater detail. Here is the final painting, as he puts down the last brush stroke. Although this video clip doesn't show you the intermediary steps, he is very clear that how he has begun is essential for getting these lovely results.

The process is the same, whatever style or genre you're working in: you can only take it one step at a time.

Robert Genn and The Painter's Keys

2010-11-11T23:55:00.000-08:00

Robert Genn painting on location. His caption for this photo reads, "I didn't like the look of that Toyota over there so I left it out."

Robert Genn is a Canadian plein air landscape painter who works in acrylics, lives in British Columbia, and travels throughout the world painting.

Twice a week he sends out a thoughtful email newsletter, a letter musing on something to do with art, the act of painting, the process of creativity, the business side of art, or life as it applies to art and artists generally. Artists from all over the world respond, and he posts some of the responses, with artwork, on his newsletter's website, www.painterskeys.com.

Robert Genn's painting in process, beginning with the big shapes

In his post, Light and Shade, Genn writes about painting boats on location, thoughtfully explaining and demonstrating his process. He blocks in "general shapes and patterns early on, while keeping only a partial eye on the eventual lay of the light. In other words, the strongest light areas go in at about the half-way stage of the painting." Notice how he is thinking in terms of the big shapes? He's not concerned with details, even the details of light and shadow, as he begins.

Robert Genn's painting, the next step – addressing the negative shapes

Then he sharpens things up by painting the negative shapes, seen clearly in the sky. Notice how he uses the sky to shape the masts and railings of the boats? You can see the photos online above his post "The divided self," from October 29, 2010.

Robert Genn's painting in process, through to framing

His final steps, as he puts it, are "strengthening design, heightening colours, gradating sky," and finally, "Get it stopped and think about it in a frame."

You can enjoy Robert Genn's newsletters twice a week, too, as I have for a good bit over ten years now, by subscribing at his website at www.painterskeys.com.

You can also watch short time-lapse videos of him taking a painting from start to finish, on YouTube, at www.youtube.com/use/painterskeys. (Notice how he uses a glaze of phthalo blue rubbed across the whole painting, as a mother color, to bring everything into color harmony?)

Seeing the Big Picture - III

2010-11-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

I said in the last post on this subject (for both previous posts, see Seeing the Big Picture - I and Seeing the Big Picture - II) that there are two simple things that will help you see the big picture. (Only two? Nyaaah... humor me here....) The first is making thumbnail sketches.

The second simple thing that will help you see the big picture is squinting.

Huh?

Squinting reduces the amount of light entering the eye, and allows us to see things more in terms of value (lightness and darkness) than color. It allows us to mimic night vision, in a way. At night, our ability to see color is limited, so we see objects as variations of light or dark.

Without getting too technical, it has to do with the rods and cones in our eyes, which determine how we see (you can find a scientific explanation of them at The Rochester Institute of Technology Center for Imaging Science, or a more easily understandable explanation at the University of Washington's Neuroscience for Kids - obviously very smart kids).

So squinting helps us see large areas of similar values. If you squint at the photographs above, in this post, where are the light patches? Where are the dark patches?

Arrangement in grey and black No. 1, the mother of the artist

James McNeill Whistler, 1871

If you squint at Whistler's Mother, where are the light patches? Where are the dark patches? Where are the middle values? (Whistler has done a lot of the hard work for you here.)

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone • Thomas Moran, 1893 - 1901

If you squint at this small image of Thomas Moran's The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, where are the light patches? Where are the dark patches? In this most highly detailed painting (you can see a larger version of it here), can you see the bigger picture?

Thomas Moran, like Albert Bierstadt a painter of monumental scenes of the American West (this canvas is 8' x 14' in size), was able to incorporate lots of splendid details into this enormous canvas, but it wouldn't work unless he was very clear about the big shapes – about the big picture.

Squinting allows us to simplify the big shapes in whatever we are looking at – the land before us, a still life setup, a model, a photograph image, a painting – and see them clearly. Use it! Often! It works! (And try it out on those thumbnails....)

Block printing studio time this Saturday

2010-11-01T10:45:00.000-07:00

Calling all block printers! (Well, in the area, anyway....) This Saturday, Calistoga's Community Presbyterian Church (also known as The Green Church) is opening its doors for a special block printing studio day, November 6th, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00p.m.

This is non-instructional time – it will be just printers, inking and printing away, sharing the time, and generally having a lot of fun and making a lot of prints, together. You could think of it as a printmaking quilting bee, of sorts.

If you'd like to print collographs or monotypes in the company of other printers, you're welcome to join us! Whether you're printing cards for the holidays, or a series of prints, or experiemting with the medium, you are welcome. This is time to print and share the printing process with other printers.

So what do you bring? Your block, paper, water-soluble ink (no solvent-based inks!), brayer (that has not been used for solvent-based inks), a surface for inking (plexiglass sheet, disposable paper palette pad for acrylic painters, or printer's bench hook), and your creative spirit!

Cost? A donation to the church to thank them for their generosity in opening their space to us, and to cover their costs. Where is the Green Church? 1407 3rd Street, at the corner of 3rd and Berry Streets (just across from the Orthodox Monastery and down the street from Calistoga Elementary School), in Calistoga.

What do you do to participate? Join us this Saturday! It would be great if you could let me know in advance, too - you can send me an email at karenATkarenlynningalls.com or call at 707.942.0197. And our thanks to the church for welcoming us!

New Class Session starts this week!

2010-10-25T17:20:00.001-07:00

Where is the year going? It seems to be flying by. Only two more painting sessions at the Calistoga Art Center remain before the holidays! The nearly-November four-week session begins this Friday, on October 29th, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., and continues on 11-5, 11-12, and 11-19-10.

Then we'll take a week off for Thanksgiving, and return with a three-week session on Friday afternoons, on 12-3, 12-10, and 12-17. Note: the classes are only being offered on Fridays at this time.

I hope you can join us!

The self portraits of Helene Schjerfbeck

2010-10-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Self portrait • Helene Schjerfbeck, 1884-85

Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck's self portraits show clearly the evolution of her style from one that was highly realistic to one that simplified and abstracted the forms of her subject.

Schjerfbeck's life and career was shaped to a large extent by her health. Breaking her hip when she was four, she was left with a difficult limp that made getting around difficult, and kept her home from school. The Independent of London described her work by saying," Imagine the life of Frida Kahlo yoked to the eye of Edvard Munch...." She used her time to sketch, and became a prodigy, accepted into the Finnish Art Society as a drawing student at the age of eleven (most entrants were sixteen).

The support, after her father died two years later, of her mother and a teacher, who recognized her gifts, allowed her to continue to study. By the late 1870s her reputation was growing in Finland. A travel grant and her own determination and continuing marketing allowed her to travel to Paris, and to other places in Europe, including Florence, Prague, and England.

Self portrait • Helene Schjerfbeck, 1912

In 1890, because of worsening health and finances, Schjerfbeck needed to move back to Finland, where she continued to paint. Her paintings were "rediscovered" in 1917, when she had her first solo exhibition. She continued to explore and grow as a painter, and her work had changed considerably during that time.

Self portrait • Helene Schjerfbeck, 1915

In 1921, she wrote to a friend, "Now that I so seldom have the strength to paint, I have started on a self-portrait. This way the model is always available, although it isn't at all pleasant to see oneself." She continued to paint self portraits – at least 36 during her life.

Self portrait • Helene Schjerfbeck, 1939

Schjerfbeck painted most of her self portraits from 1939 to 1945. Painted with a brutal honesty, and perhaps reflecting the fear and panic of the breakout of war with Russia, during which she had to be evacuated, Self Portrait with Black Mouth, painted with both brush and palette knife, is one of those.

You can find an excellent review of her work by Marjan Sterckx at Helene Schjerfbeck: Finland's best-kept secret.

Soft Block Printing Workshop - Saturday

2010-10-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

Join our Soft Block Printing workshop this Saturday, October 23rd! It's at the Calistoga Art Center, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

In it, you will learn to create block printed cards and art prints with easy-to-cut soft blocks (much easier than linoleum blocks) and non-toxic, water soluble inks – for the holidays or any time. Above is an example of the possibilities of soft block printing – it's the holiday card I made a number of years ago. Don't be intimidated! Much simpler designs can be just as effective, and often even more stunning.

Bring potential design ideas (or sketches worked out for a 4"x6" design), and your own materials, if you have them – or you may purchase materials in class. If you have any words you would like to incorporate in your design, bring them, printed out in a font you like.

The Calistoga Art Center is located at 1336 Lincoln Avenue (2nd Floor), Calistoga. You can find out more and register online at www.calistogaartcenter.org.

This post, Soft Block Printmaking Workshop, introduces the process a bit (I posted it before this summer's workshop), and this post, Soft Block Printing workshop - Photos, shows the printing process (we will only have time to print one color per print, though), from this summer's workshop.

Seeing the Big Picture- II

2010-10-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Looking Up Yosemite Valley • Albert Bierstadt, 1865-1867

It's all too easy to lose sight of the forest, for all the bewitching detail of the trees....

When you begin a painting, are you able to clear all the enchantment of detail from your vision? Are you able to see the subject of your painting in its essential shapes, in its large simple forms of light and dark and color?

Albert Bierstadt's monumental painting Looking Up Yosemite Valley (links to a larger image) makes a great test case. There are details of people and horses; of trees and fallen logs; of rocks and mountain crags, of water and a waterfall. Are you able to look at this painting and, while enjoying the marvelous detail, still see the big picture?

Why is it important to see the big picture? If the big shapes of your composition work, the details within them will follow. And if the big shapes of your composition don't work, no amount of beautifully painted detail will make it work anyway.

Two simple things can really help you do this well: the first of those is drawing thumbnail sketches (and that really means small). Practicing by drawing thumbnail sketches of great paintings helps you discover the big picture. You will see how the big shapes in these paintings make them work.

Thumbnail sketch of Albert Bierstadt's Looking Up Yosemite Valley

In a thumbnail sketch, you reduce the composition to its essential shapes (and values, if you are including them). That's when you can see most clearly - does it work? If not, what would make it work better? Seeing this in the work of other artists – such as Albert Bierstadt – helps you see this for yourself, in your own work.

Here's another link to a large image of Looking Up Yosemite Valley, so you can try it for yourself.

Ready for more? Albert Bierstadt Gallery is Wikipedia's gallery of a considerable collection of Bierstadt's paintings – plenty for you to have fun with. Remember, keep it quick, small, and simple. Enjoy!

The paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck

2010-10-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

The Convalescent • Helene Schjerfbeck, 1888

Helene Schjerfbeck (pronounced sheriff-beck) was a Finnish painter who lived from 1862 to 1946, and whose work changed considerably over that time from realism to something much more simplified and abstracted. She was continually pushing her work and growing over the entire course of her artistic life.

The Convalescent is a good example of her earliest work. Painted in 1888, when she was 26 and living in St. Ives, England, it won the bronze medal at the 1889 Paris World Fair.

At Home • Helene Schjerfbeck, 1903

According to Wikipedia, at Helene_Schjerfbeck, Schjerfbeck is considered to have become a modern painter by 1905. In At Home, you can see how she has simplified her forms. She is painting a portrait, but she has simplified the figure to its biggest, most basic shapes.

Katkelma • Helene Schjerfbeck, 1904 – 5

In Katkelma, painted in 1904 – 1905, notice how, in addition to her simplification of the shapes of her composition, Schjerfbeck is experimenting with underpainting and the use of texture.

School Girl II (Girl in Black) • Helene Schjerfbeck, 1908

In School Girl II (Girl in Black), painted in 1908, the girl's figure has essentially become a flat shape in the composition. Schjerfbeck has reduced the figure to its essence, and is working with the composition in terms of two-dimensional shapes.

Under the Linden • Helene Schjerfbeck, 1911

In Under the Linden, Scherfback has continued to simplify the figure, retaining the beauty of the girl's gesture and a lovely sense of the light, but simplifying in a way that creates a rhythm and movement in the composition that is distinctively her own. Her work serves as a wonderful model and inspiration for learning to find the big, simple shapes in whatever it is we see, and to translate them into paintings.

You can read another short, insightful biography at Artists in 60 Seconds: Helene Schjerfbeck.

Seeing the Big Picture - I

2010-10-11T10:39:00.000-07:00

Looking Down Yosemite Valley • Albert Bierstadt, 1865

Have you ever tried making thumbnail sketches of great paintings?

It is a great way to get at the essence of the painter's composition.

The painting above, Albert Bierstadt's Looking Down Yosemite Valley, from 1865, is a wonderful example of monumental 19th century landscape painting. It measures 64.02" x 96.26" (about 5 1/3 ' x 8'), and in every way conveys the grandeur of its subject.

In making a thumbnail sketch (no more than a few inches wide), you want to get down the big picture. There's no room for any of the glorious details of the original. You want to get down the essence of the painting quickly, in just a few minutes.

Thumbnail sketch of Bierstadt's Looking Down Yosemite Valley

Here is my quick pen-and-ink thumbnail sketch of Bierstadt's painting. My objective was to get the essence of the painting down in a few minutes. Because light and shadow are important in this, I decided to include values. Although the proportions are a bit off, it was a good way for me to study the composition.

Ten-minute sketch of Bierstadt's Looking Down Yosemite Valley

Having seen the difference in proportions, I decided to make a second, ten-minute sketch. A little more detailed than the first (though the same size – these are about four inches wide), notice that I am still concentrating on the big shapes.

You might prefer drawing in pencil rather than pen (it feels more forgiving). Look closely at the painting you're working from (try Bierstadt!), keep it small (even two or three inches in size), and see what you can do in a few minutes.

Here's a link to a large gallery of Albert Bierstadt's paintings. Remember, keep it simple. Enjoy!

Mixing it up - II

2010-10-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

In the previous mixed media post, I began with an already completed painting, which became the center of interest in the new mixed media painting.

This piece began with a blank canvas. I underpainted it in red, with acrylics, and used a combing tool to add striations and texture. I added layers of paint and papers (again, scrapbook papers), using masking tape to cover and then reveal different areas of the canvas. (You can see the blue painter's tape masking areas for new layers of paint yet to come.) I attached the papers with Golden's Soft Gel (Gloss), which allows the colors to glow richly. If you like a duller, more antiquish effect, you could use Golden's Soft Gel (Matte).

I had no particular plan – this was just about getting into the process and playing, seeing where it takes me. I could, if I want, use this process on heavy papers, creating art papers for other collages. I could also paint another painting over the top of this, allowing parts of this surface to appear, and disappear, wherever I wanted.

The point of it is to dive in and play with the materials. See where they take you!

Artrails, Sonoma County's open studio tour

2010-10-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

The second and third weekends of October are open studios time for the Sonoma County artists who participate in Artrails (it is their 25th anniversary). Like Napa Valley Open Studios, it is juried – but, befitting a larger county, there are 149 artists this year.

You can download maps and look at artists' work online at www.sonomaarts.com/artrails.

Mixing it up

2010-10-07T17:54:00.000-07:00

It's always good to try something different now and then. It invites you to play. You need to approach new things – whether new media, techniques, colors, or whatever – with a beginner's mind. And that keeps you from getting into a rut, creatively speaking, and expands your sense of possibilities. You learn new things that you may call upon in the artwork you do the rest of the time – or you may find yourself called to explore new directions. All in all, creative play is a good thing.

Mixing it up with multiple media is a good way to play creatively. The piece above began as a graphite still life drawing, with acrylics used as watercolors, on watercolor paper, that I did as part of a series. You can see other pieces in the series at my painting blog, at "A last look at Open Studios" and "Simple Pleasures: Show at Napa Senior Center."

In this piece, the composition just got away from me. It needed another few inches at the top of the paper to make it work. Last week, in class, we used it to create a mixed media collage. I cut off the top of the painting, and we all chose scrapbook papers (available in single sheets or books at crafts stores) that looked interesting with it. I covered an old canvas in yellow ochre acrylic paint, and, when it was dry, began a collage layering process, combining all the pieces we'd chosen, along with the cut-out painting. I skewed the vertical stripes, to make them a little more dynamic, and I added pink polka dots on the table surface to give it a little more spice.

This painting may not be done – I'm not sure. This was how far we got in class on Wednesday. It was fun, it shook us all up creatively and put us in a playful state of mind, and it used the interesting parts of a painting that otherwise wouldn't have worked.

New class session begins this week

2010-09-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

View of some of Karen Lynn Ingalls's paintings

at the Calistoga Art Center, during Napa Valley Open Studios

Our second four–week fall Acrylic Painting class session begins this week, with classes on Wednesday, September 29th, from 1 to 4 p.m., and on Friday, October 1st, from 1 to 4 p.m.

If you're new to the class, you can find out more, and enroll, and download a materials list, at http://www.calistogaartcenter.org/adultmatureteenclasses.html. I look forward to seeing you!

If you'd like to see something of what you might have missed during Open Studios, if you weren't able to stop by, you can see these posts at my painting blog, Karen Lynn Ingalls: Line, Color, Paint, Joy:

Napa Valley Open Studios 2010 - first weekend

The magic of light

Napa Valley Open Studios 2010 - second weekend

The Birth of Impressionism - my favorites

2010-09-21T15:34:00.000-07:00

The Family of Jean-le-Boîteux, peasants of Plougasnou • Jean-François Raffaëlli, 1876

San Francisco's Birth of Impressionism show not only set the context for the beginnings of French Impressionism, and, ultimately, the revolutions in painting that sprang from it, but it included many paintings not often seen.

Jean-François Raffaëlli and his work were new to me. A contemporary of the Impressionists, he had a landscape painting accepted into the Salon in 1870, when he was only twenty years old. He then turned towards realism, painting the people of his time with an unsparing honesty quite the opposite of idealized salon painting. This painting of a peasant family from the exhibit particularly struck me as contemporary. The composition, with the figure on the left cropped in half, the arrangement of the figures agains a flat wall, and the suspicious, sharp look of Jean-le-Boîteux, seemed very modern. Painted on a heroic scale, the figures themselves are not heroic, but instead worn and work-hardened.

The Tuileries • Claude Monet, 1875

Another favorite of mine from the show was Claude Monet's The Tuileries. I can't find any images online that capture the beauty and subtlety of its color - greens and pinks and yellows that sang.... He drew the sense of the trees with lovely loopy brushstrokes that enchanted me.

La gare Saint-Lazare • Claude Monet, 1877

La gare Saint-Lazare, painted in 1877, was another surprise. Although I'd seen it reproduced in books, I had no idea of the wonderful subtlety and brilliance of the colors. Monet could scumble like nobody's business. Trust me, this lovely little image of it does not do it justice.

The Magpie • Claude Monet, 1869

The Magpie was a painting of Monet's that I did not remember seeing in books before. A docent said that, at Museé d'Orsday, reproductions of it sell more than those of any of their other paintings. I was unexpectedly charmed, and could understand why that was so. Again, it had a subtlety and variety of color that reproduction cannot manage to convey. Monet used his artistic license, too, in reversing the shadows of the magpie and part of the gate (hey, the composition works better that way). A good reminder: never let reality get in the way of a better composition!

The Cradle • Berthe Morisot, 1872

Another painting that was a wonderful surprise was Berthe Morisot's intimately-sized The Cradle. Again, the subtlety and variety of scumbled colors, the beauty of the composition, the delicacy of the line and the sheer drapery above the sleeping child and more wowed me. It's easy to think of both this painting and The Magpie, because of their subject matter, in sentimental terms, but the strength of each makes them far, far better. Don't dismiss either.

Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night

2010-09-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Landscape at Twilight • Vincent Van Gogh, 1890 • collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam

Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night is a current show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Although these paintings won't be among those coming to the de Young Museum in its second exhibition of Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings from Musée d'Orsay, they may give you a foretaste of what is to come.

You can see more of Van Gogh's night paintings at www.artdaily.org.

Save the dates for Napa Valley Open Studios!

2010-08-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

Napa Valley Open Studios offers a great opportunity to meet Napa Valley artists, visit their studios, see what they're working on, and talk with them about their creative processes. (Disclaimer: I am an Open Studios artist, so I'm pretty biased about how great it is!) Now it is only two weeks away....

When I go on Open Studios tours, wherever they are, I like to sit down with the catalog – or look online – and just look at the images, to decide who I want to see. I then see how much time I have (one day? more than one day? One day each on different weekends?), and map out where I want to go.

Napa Valley Open Studios runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on September 18 - 19 and 25 - 26. You can find more information, including maps and a downloadable catalog, online at www.napavalleyopenstudios.org, or at Facebook at www.facebook.com/napavalleyopenstudios.

This year, you can find me at the Calistoga Art Center, which is also where I teach art. I'll be sharing the space with Yvonne Henry, this year's Open Studios catalog cover artist. You can visit us both, and see what the Calistoga Art Center is up to, in the same visit. We are Studio #4, at 1336 Lincoln Avenue, in Calistoga.

You can see what I've been painting at www.karenlynningalls.com, and find Yvonne's work at www.whimsyworks.net.

The Birth of Impressionism - Part Two

2010-08-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

A Studio at Les Batignolles, by Henri Fantin-LaTour, 1870

Eduard Manet is seated at the easel. Also depicted are Renoir (back, center), Emile Zola (right of Renoir), Claude Monet (at the far right, in the background), and Frederic Bazille (the tallest figure).

... more from the de Young's exhibit on the Birth of Impressionism...

The importance of the relationships between the painters was readily apparent in the exhibit. Eduard Manet was the center of a group, sometimes called The Batignolles – named for the location of his studio, that gathered regularly at the Cafè Guerbois to talk about art and life. Painters Edgar Degas, Frederic Bazille, Henri Fantin-Latour, Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Alfred Sisley were regulars, along with influential writers Emile Zola and Louis Edmond Duranty. Paul Cezanne and Camille Pissarro sometimes joined them, too.

Bazille's Studio, by Frederic Bazille (and Edouard Manet), 1870

Bazille, born into a wealthy family, was generous in sharing his studio and materials with his less fortunate compatriots.

Portrait of Renoir, by Frederic Bazille, 1867

The exhibit showed paintings they did of each other. Bazille painted Renoir; Renoir painted Bazille; Renoir painted Monet.

Frederic Bazille at his Easel, by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1867

Bazille, in Renoir's portrait, is painting a still life with a dead heron. Beside it, in the exhibition, was Sisley's painting of the same still life.

The Heron, by Alfred Sisley, 1867

Claude Monet, Painter, by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1875

When Bazille painted his studio, above, he left himself out. It was Manet who painted in the figure of Bazille, at the easel in the center. And although Bazille was tall, Manet gave him the compliment of painting him oversized. Only a few months later, Bazille died during the Franco-Prussian war.

Classes begin again on September 1st and 3rd

2010-08-29T01:07:00.000-07:00

Classes begin again this week!

I will be teaching acrylic painting classes at the Calistoga Art Center again on Wednesday afternoons from 1 to 4 PM, and on Friday afternoons from 1 to 4 PM. Classes begin on Wednesday, September 1st, and Friday, September 3rd.

The classes will run in four-week sessions, so they'll be more affordable up front, and more flexible for people who have to be out of town. You can sign up in advance at the art center's website at www.calistogaartcenter.org.

As always, I will address the needs and interests of students attending each class, in addition to teaching principles and practices of composition, design, values, color, and materials, and introducing both historical and contemporary artists.

I'm thinking of focusing in this next session on seeing the big shapes, and (depending on timing, in this session or the next) making the switch, in consciousness and practice, from drawing to painting. Sound good? I hope you'll join us!

The Birth of Impressionism - Part One

2010-08-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

The Birth of Impressionism exhibit at San Francisco's de Young Museum is marvelous. It places Impressionism, and its beginnings, in its historical and art historical context. The show begins with French Academic painting, and shows successful paintings from the annual Paris Salon exhibition. The Salon was the place to exhibit work, in its day. Success there ensured a painter like William-Adolphe Bouguereau of well-heeled patrons, and a lucrative career.

The Birth of Venus, 1879, William-Adolphe Bouguereau

At the Salon, paintings were hung floor to ceiling, as this exhibit below from the Owens Salon, part of Owens Art Gallery in Canada, demonstrates. Walls were dark - often a burgundy-ish color, as the walls were at the de Young for the Birth of Impressionism exhibit.

Salon-style exhibition at Owens Art Gallery, New Brunswick, Canada

Judges at the Salon determined what work would be hung where. Celebrated paintings of the time were slickly finished, with invisible brushstrokes. Their subjects were idealized, preferably mythological. If the judges didn't like the work, it would be placed high up - where it would be hard to see. One obvious solution for artists was to work very large; many paintings for salon exhibits were painted on a grand scale for that reason. The Bougeureau painting above is nearly ten feet tall.

It's much easier to realize how different the work of the Impressionists was to the eyes of their contemporaries, when you see typical Salon paintings, with their slick finishes and idealized subjects. It's easier to recognize how difficult it was for them, and for other painters who defied the French Academy, to strike out in their own directions. Edouard Manet continued to try to gain acceptance by the Academy, and its Salon, while painting as he chose. The show included beautiful paintings of his, including The Lady with Fans and The Fifer.

The Lady with Fans, Nina de Callias, 1873, Edouard Manet

The Fifer, 1866, Edouard Manet

More subtle, but with a wonderful story behind it, was this small painting of a single spear of asparagus.

Asparagus, 1880, Eduoard Manet

Manet sold another still life painting of a bunch of asparagus to Charles Ephrussi, who loved it, and paid him more than the asking price. In answer, Manet painted this small painting, and sent it to Ephrussi, saying in a note that there was one missing from the bunch.

By, the way, although this wasn't in the exhibit, here's the original bunch of asparagus....

The Bunch of Asparagus, 1880, Edouard Manet

(To be continued...)

To learn more about French academic painting and how Impressionism differed from it, see my blog post French Academic Painting in the 19th century.

Thinking about Claude Monet

2010-08-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

Impression: Sunrise Claude Monet, 1872

Have you seen the Birth of Impressionism show at San Francisco's De Young Museum yet? Are you planning to? Are you interested in joining a group to see it (we'll get a great discount rate if we get ten people together)?

If you are interested in carpooling and seeing the show (for the first time? again?) on Thursday, August 26th, email me or give me a call.

In the meantime, here are some wonderful articles online, from a special NPR series (you can listen to it, too, if you'd prefer: Monet in Normandy: The Making of Impressionism.... There's a wonderful slide show, too.

1. Eugene Boudin: The Man Who Inspired Monet

2. Monet's Canvas Cathedrals: A Life Study of Light

3. Monet the Gardener: Life, And Art, Grow At Giverny

Painting the costumed model – looking back

2010-08-09T09:58:00.001-07:00

As I thought about this week's workshop, Painting the Costumed Model, I began pulling out studies I'd done in my Costumed Model drawing and painting group in Carmel.

Looking at what I'd painted from ten to thirteen years ago, I could now see so many things I wanted to work on!

It was fun to deduce what colors I'd used in each one. My palette was very different then – mostly experimentational – and included colors I haven't used in years (like Alizarin Crimson - can you tell?). As you can also see, I was experimenting stylistically, too.

Here are some of the results.

Some I may still do a bit more to – and I have more in process. And more waiting!

I like coming back to these with everything I have learned in the interim – it wasn't exactly like picking it up where I left off. I didn't have the model in front of me, too, but that enabled me to work on each study simply as a painting.

Soft Block Printing workshop - Photos

2010-08-03T19:08:00.001-07:00

The soft block printing workshop was so much fun – it's an enjoyable process! Taking two days for it allowed us to spend the second day printing, while we needed much of the first day for carving the blocks and making test prints as we developed them.

We used various methods of printing multiple colors. These photos were all taken on the second day, so I'm sorry to say I don't have any of Connie, who was with us on Saturday.

Here you can see Carolynne's printing in progress. This was the second color of her print. The first run was of yellow, striking against the lavender color of the paper.

Carolynne was making a series of printed cards. This method works beautifully for hand-printed cards.

This printing process was a reduction cut - with further printings from the same block, which you continue to cut more of. The tricky part is that you can't go back to print more of the first run, once you've cut the block further. You have to really plan in advance.

Notice the two blocks? Here you see a second block, using the same design, created from the first, as well as the first block (with its reduction cut), which is being hand colored.

Here are some of Carolynne's prints, including several on rice paper, which works beautifully for block printing. Everyone was pleased with the results they got from printing on rice paper.

Donna experimented with different ways of combining different blocks or parts of blocks in the same print. She asked herself, what would the hive be like both with and without a background? And what would it be like with bees?

Voilà! Bees!

You can see both the cards Donna created from her Isis block and her Isis and beehive blocks.

You can see some of the tools we used in the course of creation during the weekend, in the array Betsy is working with at her table.

Betsy used several small blocks to create sets of gift tags, using different combinations of colors and different methods of creating multiple colors. Here is one of her wonderful gingko leaves.

Betsy's handmade gift tags, printed with multiple colors on different papers

It's amazing to see the variety of results you can get from one simple block....

The subtlety of this hand-applied second color adds a richness to the print. Red and copper make a beautiful combination.

Jane created a series of prints of Max, her dog, using different combinations of red, black, blue, and gold, with white paper.

The liveliness of her carving makes for a fun print. We realized, looking at everyone's results, that sometimes when the registration of the second color is a little bit off, it creates some nice special effects with the paper. Happy accidents!

Look at the variety of possibilities! Again, these were all printed from one block.

This second day of printmaking was a wonderful exploration of possibilities. What a joy! That's what soft block printing is all about, for me.

I'm tentatively scheduling one more Soft Block Printing workshop for the year, in October, for those who would like to learn the process and create cards or prints for the holidays. I'll post the date and time when it is definitely scheduled.

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity

2010-08-01T01:02:00.000-07:00

This talk – Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity – by writer Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love (yes, the same book that's been made into a movie with Julia Roberts) – is a wonderful way to nurture your own creativity or give yourself an inspirational jumpstart.

The website description of this twenty-minute talk (well worth the time) is "Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses – and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person 'being' a genius, all of us 'have' a genius. It's a funny, moving and surprisingly personal talk."

Here's to divine inspiration and creativity - Olè! (You'll understand when you watch the video.)

Soft Block Printmaking Workshop

2010-07-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

I'm looking forward to next week's Soft Block Printmaking workshop (either a one-day workshop on Saturday for those who want to try this out for the first time, or a full weekend workshop for those who want to really plunge into all the things you can do with this medium).

If you have done linoleum or wood block printing before, this is a little different. Soft blocks are made of new materials created in recent years. They cut like butter, and their ease of cutting makes it a much more enjoyable process (for me, anyway). The ones I recommend are Speedball's Speedy Carve blocks – the pink ones in the stack below.

Speedball's Speedy Carve stamps are the pink ones

In addition, Speedball, a printing supplies company, invented safety cutters – called LinoZips – that are easier to hold and to manipulate, and that create beautiful curving lines with much more ease. Besides that, we're using water-soluble inks – so there's no solvent smell. Ain't technology wonderful? Each of these things has made the block printing process simpler and, for me, a lot more fun.

The first day will be about getting your design on the block, and carving the block and printing it. For those who are interested in printing more than one color, we'll get started on different methods of doing that, too.

The second day, we'll continue with different methods of printing multiple colors, including hand coloring, reductive printing, and using a key block. We'll also do a little block printing on fabric, so be sure to bring things you'd like to print on (cotton shirts from consignment or thrift shops, pieces of old sheets (for experimentation and something special!), white dish towels, canvas tote bags, T-shirts, or...?

You can register online at the Calistoga Art Center's workshop page. If you'd like me to supply your materials, please give me a call to let me know in advance at (707) 942-0197.

One additional workshop is coming up this summer – Painting the Costumed Model! Stay tuned....

Abstract Landscape Painting Workshop Photos

2010-07-19T11:26:00.001-07:00

Wonder what you missed in the Abstract Landscape Painting workshop? Here are some photos, taken by Erik Bolijn and myself.

We took three different approaches to painting the landscape in an abstract manner. Here, everyone is working on the first one.

Painting abstract landscapes is a wonderfully freeing thing. We began with ideas or memories of images, or the images of the landscape themselves, but in abstracting it we're free to take the painting in directions we (and it) want to go. We're not tied down, and we don't have to get wrapped up in detail.

Demonstration, the second painting of the day, in its first stage © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Here is the beginning stage of my second demonstration painting.

Erik working on his second painting of the day © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Pat, Jaime, and Lois work on their second paintings © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

And here are some of the results. Pat had to leave us early, and hers unfortunately aren't included. Some of these may be completed – and some may still be in process. Creativity is a wonderful thing – we had a great day of it!

Here's to creativity and taking images, ideas, feelings, and sensations to new places!

Abstract Landscape Painting Workshop

2010-07-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

I'm settling down after the weekend's excitement, what with the county fair and Calistoga's Fourth of July parade (the Silverado parade - it was great!), and looking forward to this coming Saturday's painting workshop.

I've got a lot to pack in to the time, so it will be a full and fun day. We're going to look at several different artists for inspiration – artists who begin with the landscape as their inspiration, but who take it in very different, and abstracted, directions. Then we'll take three different approaches to abstraction, trying them out for size. It's a good way to experiment and find out not only what interests you the most, but find out what approach feels best to you.

Are you wondering which artists we'll be looking at for inspiration? If you're familiar with my classes, you may recognize some of them. But you may not have seen the work of Tina Mammoser, an American artist living and working in England. Her work is inspired by the sea and the English coastline. Notice the layering, the sense of depth and space she creates, all within simplified, abstract compositions of absolute integrity. My favorites among her current pieces are her Black, Coast, and Lake Michigan series, but the smaller works are also lovely. I hope you'll take a look at her work – and take inspiration in what you see.

Painting at the county fair

2010-07-02T16:21:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'll be demonstrating painting and soft block printing at the Napa County Fair, here in Calistoga, from noon to 4:00. I'm looking forward to it! It'll be hot, but I'll be inside, in the Butler Pavilion (where the art is – and where it's cool).

Here's a link to the Weekly Calistogan's article about the fair and Sunday's parade. And here's a link to the Calistoga Tribune's front page, with photos of the fair and parade.

(I've cross-posted this on my art blog, at karenlynningalls.blogspot.com.)

Mixed Media Painting workshop – more paintings

2010-06-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more mixed media pieces I've been working on this week. I'll be teaching the techniques I used to create them in this Saturday's workshop.

The photographic images I've used as collage elements came from my friend Denise's old parenting magazines.

Mixed media painting workshop

2010-06-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

Sweet Old Love Song, © 2009 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Expanding beyond your normal boundaries is a good thing for creativity. For me, mixed media is a wonderful way to push creative boundaries, and explore all kinds of things that are different from the painting I ordinarily do. That's why I'm particularly looking forward to my Mixed Media Painting workshop next week.

In it, we'll combine painting with collage, and use both in combination with fabrics to create different kinds of mixed media paintings. I found a treasure trove of exotic fabrics — velvets, embroidered pieces, gauzy fabric, even a tiny bit of mirror cloth — that call for an approach I hadn't originally intended to cover in this workshop. But, with these fabrics, how can I resist?

So at this point the workshop will cover three different approaches to mixed media painting and collage. I'm pretty excited! I get to play with these fabrics before anyone else does! If you're coming and would like to bring your own materials, add a hot glue gun, with glue, and a third surface to paint on (you may want to bring more than three, especially if they're small), to the materials list you can find at the Calistoga Art Center's website.

The workshop is Saturday, June 26th, from 10:00 to 5:00, at the Calistoga Art Center. For more information, click on the "Art Workshops" tab above.

Our plein air paintout at Judy's place

2010-06-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

Donna and Lynn paint the view

Here are a few photos from last Wednesday's plein air paintout at Judy's place – our latest class field trip. The weather was beautiful, the views were amazing, and we had great food, too. I'm looking forward to seeing how the paintings get finished in the studio....

Zoe sleeping in the shade by the fountain

The view - with Paoletti Winery closest, Barbara Nechis's studio in the middle ground (looking tiny and surrounded by trees), and Clos Pegase Winery further back on the right

Jim paints the view

Jaime and Dan (who's away from his easel) paint the fountain

Thanks to Judy for inviting us to paint her beautiful view and gardens, and for being such a gracious and welcoming hostess!

Classes begin again on June 16th and June 18th

2010-06-08T23:48:00.000-07:00

Acrylic Painting classes begin again on Wednesday, June 16th, from 1:00 to 4:00, for an eight-week session on Wednesdays, and on Friday, June 18th, from 1:00 to 4:00, for eight weeks of classes on Fridays. Look for us at the Calistoga Art Center, upstairs in the Masonic Building.

Questions? You can click on the Art Classes page here on this blog (see the tab above?), and read more, or go to the Calistoga Art Center's website. You can register online there, and download a materials list — or I'll see you on the first day of class. There's a minimum of ten students per class. Give me a call if you need to know anything else.

Spring 2010 Student Show pics!

2010-05-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

Left to right: paintings by Cindi Buell, Randa Durell (two), and Judy Revelle

Left to right: paintings by Dan Dinneane, Cindi Buell, Randa Durell (two), and Judy Revelle

Left to right, top: paintings by Emma Klement, Donna Hodges, and Brigitta Weiderhold

Left to right, bottom: paintings by Emma Klement, Diane Kuykendall, and Patsy Hahn (two)

Left to right, top: paintings by Brigitta Wiederhold and Pat Branstetter

Left to right, bottom: paintings by Pat Branstetter and Jennifer Deutsch

Top: paintings by Jamie Zukowski; bottom: paintings by Christina Amore

Left to right: paintings by Judy Revelle, Yvonne Henry, and Sally Briggs

Left and top: paintings by Patricia Campbell; bottom and right: paintings by Corliss Schloemp

Left to right: paintings by Kari Martin, Dan Dinneane, and Kari Martin

Left to right: paintings by Bret Lang, Nanci Smith, Jennifer Deutsch, and Cindi Buell

Paintings by Jay Hodges (from acrylic and plein air painting classes)

Left to right: paintings by Bret Lang and Jay Hodges

Left to right: paintings by Diane Kuykendall, Donna Hodges, Sally Briggs, and Bret Lang

Left to right: paintings by Brigitta Weiderhold (top and bottom), Donna Hodges (top and bottom), and Diane Kuykendall (top and bottom), from plein air and acrylic painting classes

Here are the photos of this spring's painting classes student show!

Angus Wilson's painting process – and a demo

2010-05-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

Still from video – painter Angus Wilson talks about his painting process

Angus Wilson, whose colorful abstracted still life paintings can be seen at www.anguspaintings.com, will give a painting demonstration this weekend, Saturday, May 15th, from 2:00 to 5:00 at Galllery i Fine Art, 685 Cannery Row in Monterey, California. If you want to go, the gallery asks that you R.S.V.P. at (831) 375-1617.

Angus Wilson arranges the still life setup for a photo shoot

You can watch a three minute video interviewing Wilson, "The Painting Process – Angus Wilson," at www.galleryifineart.com/events.asp. In it, he talks about how he doesn't see himself as a still life painter. For him, "it's all about color and form and shape – and the fact that I'm painting flowers and fruit and tables – it's just an incidental detail."

In preparation for painting, Wilson arranges and rearranges the objects in various arrangements, photographing them from different angles. Then he chooses the photos he likes the best. He says he can usually create two or three paintings from each photo shoot. He's often scouting flea markets looking for interesting bowls and jugs and other objects he can use in his paintings.

Angus Wilson with a painting in progress

Here, you see a painting in progress, with a reference photo posted on the right, and his color plan beneath it. He has already decided on the colors he wants to use, and knows where he wants to take the painting before he begins it. At this point, he has drawn in his composition, and is blocking in the big shapes.

Closeup of Angus Wilson's painting in progress

At that point, he just paints - and concentrates on enjoying the painting. He's already made his big decisions beforehand. Enjoy the video!

Painting self portraits

2010-05-10T00:59:00.000-07:00

Em (behind easel) and Judy (in front) paint, while Betty packs up to go.

Here are photos of some of the folks in the Wednesday class – most painting self portraits, all but one of them for the first time.

Cindi paints her first self portrait.

Dan, Jamie, and Diane paint, with collage pieces by high school students on the wall behind them.

Diane, an experienced painter, paints her second self portrait.

Trish works on a painting of a rose.

Em paints her first self portrait.

They did a great job! (Thanks to Dan for lending me his phone for the photos!)

Self portrait demonstrations

2010-05-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

A week ago, I demonstrated painting self portraits in the Wednesday and Friday classes. In the Wednesday class, I was asked to paint myself smiling – a difficult thing, since concentrating on the work at hand draws one's face into a serious, often stern expression.

Karen Lynn Ingalls self portrait in progress ( photo courtesy of Christina)

The Friday self-portrait I spent less time on. It has a longer way to go until it is completed, but you can clearly see how I found my composition and blocked in the big shapes with color. I'm just beginning to define those shapes a little further on the planes of the face. For each of these, I used only a primaries palette – yellow, red, and blue – with white.

Secrets of color harmony - #4

2010-05-03T03:23:00.000-07:00

John Singer Sargent, "A Parisian Beggar Girl"

Tone the canvas before you paint

While the first three secrets I've written about in earlier blog posts work across the board, this — and most of each of the methods to follow — is not something you need to do to make things work. They, however, are great techniques to try, and they will help create color harmony.

John Singer Sargent, "A Street in Venice"

Underpainting the canvas with a solid color will pull together the colors in your painting. What color to choose? Here, John Singer Sargent has used a creamy almost-mid-tone for A Parisian Beggar Girl and a darker ground for A Street in Venice. Notice how he has used scumbling across the surface, allowing the ground color to show through. The creamy underpainting of A Parisian Beggar Girl provides a foil for the subtle lavender brush strokes above it, the eye mixing it into the rough neutral colors of an old wall.

You could also consider something that will contrast with what you will paint on top of it. You might want to choose complementary colors, or warm/cool contrasts. Many landscape painters, because of the predominance of greens in their paintings, choose some kind of red, magenta, or burnt sienna.

Charles W. Hawthorne, "Portrait of Henry Hensche"

Charles Hawthorne, in his Portrait of Henry Hensche, has used a stronger set of yellow–purple complementary colors, with a vivid pinkish-purple underpainting, visible at the bottom of the painting and peeking out from underneath other places, contrasting beautifully with the yellows and greens of Hensche's slicker and the surface of the water.

Charles W. Hawthorne, untitled portrait

In this untitled portrait, Hawthorne used a faintly visible yellow underpainting to contrast with the strong purples that dominate the painting and and pick up and create continuity with its yellow highlights. In each of these paintings, the color of the canvas, toned before painting, creates interest, continuity, and color harmony. Try it sometime!

Class painting demonstration — self portraits

2010-04-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Karen Lynn Ingalls painting self portrait

The class asked for a self portrait painting demonstration on Wednesday. Here's a photo Michael took of the process (thank you, Michael!). When we talked about why people generally look so stern in their self portraits — they're concentrating — I said I would do this of me smiling. It's tough to concentrate, smile, and talk about the painting process — all while painting!

In addition to the challenges presented by the process of painting portraits, we talked about the question of whether people wanted to memorialize their aging processes. As my friend and acupuncturist Rebecca Weinfeld says, we all have the vanity gene.

But painting is not photography. Painting does not require the documentation of every detail of every last wrinkle, unless you really want to paint in a documentary, photorealist method. It's your painting, you make the rules. Look at shapes and values and colors – don't get sidetracked by the details. As always, use what you see as a springboard to greater creativity.

(Or — if you want to approach it this way — as Trish said, painting is better than botox.)

Peggi Kroll-Roberts teaches the proportions of the head

2010-04-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

In a good, clearly explained short video, Peggi Kroll-Roberts Workshop: Painting the Head, painter Peggi Kroll-Roberts explains how to find the proportions and features of the head, with the face looking forward.

She talks about seeing the head as an egg or a cube, in terms of its general shapes. Next you find the spot halfway, lengthwise, between the top of the head and the chin — that gives you the location of the eyes. The eyes are generally one eye-width apart.

She next locates the hairline, and divides the lengthwise space between it and the chin in thirds. Those thirds give you the placement of the eyebrows and the bottom of the nose.

Finally, she draws a small horizontal line halfway between the bottom of the nose and the chin. That serves not as the placement of the mouth, but rather the place on which the mouth rests.

Having located the features, Kroll-Roberts then dilineates the planes of the face and head — first the large essential shapes on the right (above), and then the smaller planes into which the head can be further divided. Knowing these shapes will help painters not only paint them, but also understand how the light and shadow will fall on the face's features.

You can see more of Peggi Kroll-Roberts's artwork at www.krollroberts.com.

Secrets of color harmony - #3

2010-04-27T05:14:00.000-07:00

Mix your neutral colors

The grays and browns that you mix with your palette will ALWAYS be more interesting, and will work better in your painting, than grays and browns you get from the tube. That includes grays that you mix with white and black – a neutral gray that has its uses, but in a painting looks pretty sterile.

Why do the mixed neutral colors work better? They're a little more sophisticated, a little juicier, a little richer and more colorful. They can lean in different directions – you can have cool blue grays, green grays, purpley grays, or beiges, taupes, parchment colors – all created by starting with the same three colors. They give you lots of directions to lean in, which creates a wonderful and subtle variety of ways you can vary the colors in your painting.

And, to continue my family metaphor – they all have the same DNA – the same three colors that mixed to make them. That creates color harmony.

Secrets of color harmony - #2

2010-04-27T02:19:00.000-07:00

Dirty water and dirty brushes

Some years ago, I was visiting the Open Studio (Santa Cruz Open Studios) of two Santa Cruz colorists. While I was there, someone asked one of the artists, what was her secret to good color? "Dirty brushes," was the answer. The second artist laughed and said, "Mine's dirty water!" (We are talking about acrylics here.)

There's a reason for this.... As you paint, using the same brushes and water, you'll get a little of each color into each other color, until — presto! They're all related. They share the same characteristics - they have the same DNA (to use a familial metaphor). And you get color harmony.

The moral of this tale is: use the same brushes and water — and don't think you need to "freshen" the water. I use the same water for days... honest! It works really well....

Secrets of color harmony - #1

2010-04-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

Knights Valley Trees and Vineyards (untitled as of yet), about 8"x10"

Start with a limited palette

The simplest way to create color harmony is to begin with a limited palette. How limited? All you need is one yellow, one red, one blue, and white.

With those colors, you'll be able to mix oranges, purples, greens, and most everything in between. How those mixes differ depend on which yellow, which red, which blue, and which white you choose.

Your three colors, with white, become like a family. Whatever you mix with them comes from them – as I'm fond of saying, all those mixes have the same DNA. They are related. Hence – color harmony.

Now, say you're painting the image of a tree, and instead of mixing your yellow and blue, you pull out a separate tube of green for its leaves. You'll find it doesn't fit in with its surroundings. It's not related. It doesn't have the same DNA as the colors around it.

When you've worked with your three colors for awhile, and know well what you can do with them, you will also learn what you can't do with them. Maybe your red and blue make a plummy brown instead of a vibrant purple. Maybe your blue and yellow don't give you the brilliant spring green you're looking for. Don't feel stuck – that's when it's time to add in a new color. (Only one color at a time works best, so you really get to know all of the new possibilities now open to you.)

Note: In the little painting above, I used primary magenta, primary cyan, a light yellow ( a mixing, or printer's, palette), and Titanium white.