Tag: painting

Taking a break from painting the figure.

Image

Painted today. Taking a seriously needed break from painting the figure. There’s freedom in not having any pencil marks or guidelines to follow on the canvas. The pure artistic desire to just paint. Taking the time to figure out on your own where everything belongs, how it visually looks and how it all relates.

I always start with the under painting. I use raw sienna and prussian blue and a little white for a change basically establishing my value study as I covered the whole canvas with paint.

I am working from a photograph I took some time ago in North Carolina while we staying at the Hilton. It was a summer night and we would stroll down the boardwalk. The evening lights and water reflections were a delight to be around while we would watch the sun set and then stop at a nearby bistro for a local beer and southern platter. Our little get away from the party at hand. The ocean breeze was so warm.

“The boardwalk in Charlotte” I have a few other photo’s so this could turn into a series. When I finish this one I’m hoping to bring it down to the local coffee shop called Smith Bros located right along Lake Michigan/one of the great lakes. Some very interesting array of artwork is on display there and some by a couple of friends I have unexpectedly come to know by chance. My work is not on display at this time because I had a piece disappear with the owner from another coffee shop that closed it doors unexpected. Stolen in other words…we take our chances as artists not like it’s worth a million dollars yet. There are a couple of other galleries that have pop up in Port Washington lately I need to inquire.

Picasso’s Genius Revealed: He Used Common House Paint

I thought this was an interesting article about Picasso the artist we all love and/or hate.

By Clara Moskowitz, LiveScience Senior Writer | LiveScience.com – Fri, Feb 8, 2013Email0Share558Share24PrintRelated ContentView PhotoAmong the Picasso paintings in …

Pablo Picasso, famous for pushing the boundaries of art with cubism, also broke with convention when it came to paint, new research shows. X-ray analysis of some of the painter’s masterworks solves a long-standing mystery about the type of paint the artist used on his canvases, revealing it to be basic house paint.

Art scholars had long suspected Picasso was one of the first master artists to employ house paint, rather than traditional artists’ paint, to achieve a glossy style that hid brush marks. There was no absolute confirmation of this, however, until now.

Physicists at Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Ill., trained their hard X-ray nanoprobe at Picasso’s painting “The Red Armchair,” completed in 1931, which they borrowed from the Art Institute of Chicago. The nanoprobe instrument can “see” details down to the level of individual pigment particles, revealing the arrangement of particular chemical elements in the paint.

The analysis showed that Picasso used enamel paint that matches the precise chemical composition of the first brand of commercial house paint, called Ripolin. The researchers were able to compare the painting’s pigment with those of paints available at the time by analyzing decades-old paint samples bought on eBay. [9 Famous Art Forgers]

What’s more, the detailed study, which used X-rays to probe the painting’s pigmentdown to the scale of 30 nanometers (a sheet of copier paper is 100,000 nanometers thick), was able to pinpoint the manufacturing region where the paint was made by studying its particular impurities.

“The nanoprobe at the [Advanced Photon Source X-ray facility and the Center for Nanoscale Materials] allowed unprecedented visualization of information about chemical composition within a singe grain of paint pigment, significantly reducing doubt that Picasso used common house paint in some of his most famous works,” one of the research leaders, Argonne’s Volker Rose, said in a statement.

Art scholars think Picasso experimented with Ripolin to achieve a different effect than would’ve been possible with traditional oil paints, which dry slowly and can be heavily blended. In contrast, house paint dries quickly and leaves effects like marbling, muted edges, and even drips of paint. Still, experts couldn’t be sure house paint was the key to Picasso’s look without proof.

“Appearances can deceive, so this is where art can benefit from scientific research,” said Francesca Casadio, senior conservator scientist at the Art Institute of Chicago. “We needed to reverse-engineer the paint so that we could figure out if there was a fingerprint that we could then go look for in the pictures around the world that are suspected to be painted with Ripolin, the first commercial brand of house paint.”

The scientists detailed their findings in a paper published last month in the journal Applied Physics A: Materials Science & Processing.

http://news.yahoo.com/picassos-genius-revealed-used-common-house-paint-155124899.html;_ylt=Ap0DcsWQgEwSGIHvhxzBPm3zWed_;_ylu=X3oDMTJtcTZjYXRiBG1pdANIQ01PTCBvbiBhcnRpY2xlIHJpZ2h0IHJhaWwEcGtnA2lkLTMwNDY2NTcEcG9zAzYEc2VjA01lZGlhQkNhcm91c2VsTWl4ZWRIQ00EdmVyAzE2;_ylg=X3oDMTNqb3BsYjNuBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDMmI5YjFjMDItYTZmNC0zNzcwLWIzOWQtMDQxOTI3NTg2NmM1BHBzdGNhdAN1LXMEcHQDc3RvcnlwYWdlBHRlc3QDaXB0Y19za3lzY3JhcGVyX3JlbGF0ZWQ-;_ylv=3

Galleries set the stage with food, wine and music.

Galleries set the stage with food, wine and music. Inviting the public to participate as special guests as they mingle, engage in conversations and share ideas. And of course…meet the artist.
It’s a funny thing all the time and work it takes for artists to line up a show that when it comes down to attending the opening reception it’s a sudden…dreaded obligation. Personally I could never get comfortable with just hanging around and mingling with my family much less with a bunch strangers and I consider myself seasoned. The questions? Like what does one say at these things? What does one do? How does one look? If I dress modern I should have dressed more retro and if I dressed retro I should have played it safe with contemporary. At my last show I saw that we had some commonality of wearing tweed referring to the other artist that shared my show so I was thinking I was safe.  

Most artists that I encountered defy the stereotype that we know as unsocial and are usually eager to talk about their work and themselves as they stand in the fore front. I am so stereotypical when it comes to talking about my art. I can talk about anything even the weather for hours but when it comes to my work which I’m passionate about I’m short, succinct and all preparedness is nowhere to be found.So I was reading about some artists that go to great lengths of being late, or not showing up at all and or last having someone else show up in place of them. My first thought was why didn’t I think of that. I have to admit I was a half  hour late for my show only because a bridge was out and the road was under construction so I had to take a detour in a city that I’m not too familiar with anymore. Did I mention it was also raining. The other artist was fashionably late an hour. 

Most importantly what I discovered was that no one buys anything unless they have an emotional connection to it and that I’m the one that needs to make that connection happen for them. So some where and some how? I need to work on getting my passion across to the viewer and forget about sounding esoteric or elite.More often than not people want to see the artist only a few want to talk to them.
I want to conclude by saying I must have done something right aside from showing up because in the end I had finalized a couple of sales during my Danceworks showing in october 09.

Looking back before taking that leaping forward.

    As a passionate or most times obsessed artist I always have to reflect back on what I painted in the past and relate it to what’s on my plate now.  I earnestly try to strive for a higher level of execution or thought. Having said that  I still believe that ‘ I myself do nothing the holy spirit accomplishes all through me.’ William Blake. I went back to 2010 in an earlier blog but felt the need to go back one more year to 2009. Great things happened that year sometimes it never hurts to relive and relearn. I started the year out working on some portraitures. My top 10 for 2009. 

1)   Oil painting portrait 24″ x 36″  ‘Deana and Reid’

2)   Oil painting portrait 24″ x 30″  ‘Jeff and Gloria’

3)   I lined up an art show at  ‘ The Dance Works gallery’ 

4)   Grava gallery: put on display “Layla” throughout the summer.


5)   Co-written and published 1st e-book.

6)   Finished a nude figure painting in oils 30″ x 40″ for sale $2,500.

7)   Worked on series for up coming show: Started (2) large  paintings 24″ x 30″ called soul-searching and finished up the 11″ x 14″ smaller version of soul-searching.

8)   August/pool party at The lighthouse: Displayed and delivered portraitures.

9)   October: Gallery night opening at The Dance Works art gallery. 

10)  Flew to North Carolina for a wedding stayed at the Hilton. Took a lot of photographs plan to do a large painting of the boardwalk. I have new ideas about flying. Thank God it was only an hour flight! 

 

My top ten paintings a year in Review 2010

1)    The year started out with the sale of two paintings at The Dance Works art  gallery. The show started in October and ran through the beginning of January.

2)  Reworked ‘The Lilly’

   

3)   Started taking my photography to a higher level.

4)   I started preparing for my artist video. Release date will be in 2011.

5)   I scheduled to do a speaking engagement at the local elementary school on career day. It was very enlightening.

6)   Displayed art work at The Smith Brothers Coffee shop in Port Washington.

7)   Also had work on display at The Last Drop of Coffee in Shorewood.

8)   Worked on getting the Zazzle store up and running.

8)   MIAD had an Art Sale for alumni/faculty/and students.

9)   Most important completion and delivery of portrait called ‘GRANNY’.

10) Started preparing three new canvases.

Why you should frame your art.

There are two reasons why we have art frames on paintings. They can protect art, of course, but most importantly they can aid to their attractiveness on display.

Since the very early days of painting, frames have served to enhance the visual beauty of art. Pictures were hung on walls and they became furnishings. The first frames were often works of art themselves. They were large and elaborately carved and decorated wooden frames. There was a practical reason also. The frame framed the picture. In other words, it created a boundary that enclosed the image and separated it physically from the surrounding wall.

As the idea of paintings as furniture began to spread, the frame became such an essential element of the entire package that the art was not considered complete until it was framed. The frame often time was more art than the painting itself. The framer was an artist in his own right. One part of his art was the carving and decoration of the frame and another was the matching of frame and picture to create a harmonious whole.

Framing changed dramatically with the introduction of lithographs and prints. These were either original works or copies of works printed on paper rather than actual paintings on canvas. Little was understood about preservation at first and although the art prints were being framed in a similar fashion to oil paintings at first, it was soon realized that certain protection was needed. It also became common to use colored matting to frame the image inside the wooden external frame.

As the lithograph or print became more and more popular, the art of modern framing was developed. The external frame became more than just a frame for the image, but also the platform that allowed glass to cover and protect the image and matting to enhance and create an inner frame. The use of matting inside the outer frame became another art form. Colors in the mats themselves were matched to colors in the art work to create a unified visual image. The mats, the image, the glass, and even protective backing and mounting material was all held together by the frame.

Today, the major reason for the use of frames with art is still the original one. The frame isolates the art from the surrounding environment making it a unified piece. With prints, the frame still serves as a platform for the glass, backing, and matting. Of course, the major reason for a frame from a practical point of view is that we have become so used to them that no hanging picture would look natural without one.

Aazdak Alisimo writes about art framing for ArtFramingGalleries.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aazdak_Alisimo

visit my website at http://www.cedarlodgeportraitstudio.com

Boo Radley lives across the street.

 

It’s that time of the year. When my daughter who will stand at the corner of the lot peering across the street for long periods of time according to my watch shivering and whispering to her little brother who  follows her around faithfully. It reminds me every time of the book To Kill a Mockingbird you know the part where Scout and Jem would wait to see if Boo Radley would come out of the house. Not that this house looked run down, overgrown or there were any rumors circulating about the neighbors that I care to mention, but instead the haunting decorum of Halloween that they displayed in their front yard religiously ever year antagonizing my daughter as she looks to see and not see at the same time. At night it only got brighter as she peaks through the curtains. I’m sure the neighbors were amused and look forward to her curiosity every year.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was a coming-of-age novel told from the point of view of an adult looking back at her childhood something I keep wanting to do myself.  Scout was 9 years old an age I remember very well and she was, as the saying goes, ‘wise beyond her years’. Another familiar line ‘Roaming freely all day, coming home only for meals or the bathroom.’ An era we will only remember as a child and never repeat.

 

Taking photo 101 is not the same

Photo by almostfinnish

I take a lot of pictures. It’s a habit I learned not on my own. I have two sisters that insisted I take photo 101 in high school probably because they thought it was an easy credit and all you had to do was show up and then leave to go take pictures as they would laugh ‘skip class’. So it was my sibling duty to follow in their foot steps. I intern took this very seriously in learning to break open your roll of film quickly, transferring it onto a reel and then into a case of solution while being in complete darkness hoping that no one comes in and turns on the lights by mistake. More importantly the challenge was at developing a good image in the dark room under some faint light while being all consumed with these vinegar smells that filled the air and trays. You needed to know by smell which one was which because when adding more solution in the dark your sense of smell was more important than your sence of sight. There was a beginning and an end and you can not mix them up.

So once I was set up and ready I was in no hurry to go and could be there for hours. Each attempt was earnestly made a little lighter here darker there and even the pictures that didn’t turn out had some intrinsic value. I regret I don’t have them now tangible and in hand but in memory I see them a building, a pier, people I knew and pets we had. Black and white, some grainy but all from an adolescents point of view.

Now I take pictures download them into adobe where they show up in a matter of minutes. I enhance them in a matter of seconds and then upload them to another site and have them available for viewing. The images are very nice. Digital has not lessened the image. They are sharper and clearer and more dynamic than ever.

I value what I have learned and have a better appreciation for the camera and photography over all. I look forward to what the future brings.

Summer meant lazy days of sleeping in, sun tanned from head to foot and dirty feet.

Photo by almostfinnishWe had some really amazing days here. The temperatures reached up into the near 80’s and there was a warm zephyr that blew our hairs around in delight. And then there’s this smell of the earth rejuvenating you know that wet mosey damp soil smell that always wisps past us for that first time in a matter of seconds. For me it’s a nostalgic smell, a reminiscent smell, and a smell that keeps bringing me back to my youth. Most of my greatest memories are collected within a smell like the smell of lemons, gas cans, musty old basements, an old paperback book, foggy nights and with that hint of alewife in the air.

So I have been thinking about telling my story as I remember it. It’s about a place and time. There are no antagonists and no sidewalks. Although we battle nature and growing up. Some periphiral characters seem to come to light as we tell the stories amongst ourselves.

More importantly, along with writing, I’ve started a series of paintings originating and departing from some photographs taken during my recent return to the old farmhouse, duck pen, silo, and the trees we sit under or swing from.

As a child, I would lay in bed at night and a warm breeze would blow into the room and the shear curtains would slowly rise and fall. The lights outside would sometimes reflect on the curtains making them more white than ever. I would lay there wide awake, observant and listening to the quietness, maybe a cricket, a whippoorwill, a frog on occasion but my thoughts made me distant to all.  As my mind wandered an old familiar smell passed in front of me it was always sudden and it was always a surprise. Spring was here I wanted to remember this smell and this moment forever. It also brought on a longing as I remembered the anticipation and the excitement that was to come not only was it spring but that school too would soon be over.

When school was out it meant summer was about to begin.  Summer meant lazy days of sleeping in late, being sun tanned from head to foot and bare feet. Summer meant ice cream, watermelon and that smell of fresh cut grass. We would go to town occasionally for a trip but mostly it was long filled days of exploring through the woods and dragging along a red wagon, a coffee can or a butterfly net. We spontaneously created and built these things beyond our imaginations and never to be seen. Our life was of great adventure and our minds full of wonder and possibilites.

I was painting my Scruples?

                                                                                                    

I framed this piece today I’m trying to decide if the gold goes with this odd color combination…or not?

After a time of taking a lot of photographs for my series ‘Behind the Curtain’ and other photo’s of interest that went into a different direction. I began to paint some small acrylic paintings using some of the photo’s as a reference and inspiration. This is one. This was my cat named Scruples who was my faithful companion for over ten years. She was named after the book by Judith Krantz. She was a one person cat but when my daughter was born her maternal instincts kicked in too so she was always there and very concerned until she started crawling of course. So it is nice to have these photos and paintings although she is gone now cat heaven we say.

I keep leaning toward the abstraction. I want it complicated enough and simple enough so it catches the curiosity and brings the viewer closer. Abstraction is harder than I ever thought it to be. So I do a combination of both abstraction as we see things and how we might think we see things. Art and the creative process what’s your process?