RayMar's November Competition

I had to write this blog, after a long absents, to congratulate an artist and judge for a job well done.Thomas Jefferson Kitts was the judge for RayMar's November on-line art competition.  When I received the results I was literally blown away, not about who won but the narrative Mr. Kitts submitted with each painting.  Reading the narrative for all twelve chosen paintings was packed with so much information both subjective and objective that it made viewing each painting a real joy .  Normally these competitions have a four or five sentence narrative attached with little real painting information.  Acts of creative endeavors and judging those endeavors can be fought with ambiguous statements and platitudes that does nothing to help those understand what made a creative work worthy of the win.  Not so with November's winners.  To view these winners click here.
I think you will agree.

Just a reminder that there are few spaces left for my March still life workshop.  For more information to attend click Mood and Atmosphere.

The Real Start

My last post dealt with the different ways to start a painting.  But what is even more important is what should happen before you start the start.  As a still life painter, I have the ability to totally design my composition.  I have to know what I want to say and how I am going to arrange my cherished objects to achieve that goal.  Some call it concept or intentions.  Whatever you want to call it, much has to be decided as you move objects around and make choices about color and value.  One of those decisions is how to design your image.

My work now reflects something that I'm finding is a must in my compositions--strong lights and darks.  Chiaroscuro is the term used to mean light/dark in paintings.  This was a classic compositional motif used by the Dutch masters of the 17th century.  Does this mean that your major mass is dark with small shapes of light?  Not necessarily. 

A strong pattern can have lights connected with lights on a major dark field, but you can also have darks connected with darks on a major light field.  Your middle tone needs to marry with one or the other.  The fewer the values the better to make for a strong pattern!  This idea is supported by  Daniel Gerhartz in his Technical Insights from his book "Not Far From Home."  Design at its simplest, in my opinion, should be an arrangement of shapes that have a dominance of either dark or light and should be woven together with a thread that lyrically carries the eye to the focal point and around the canvas.  The thread is often comprised of the least dominant value that is either literally connected to or leading to the next progression of shapes that follow the pattern.

Some artists are calling themselves "abstract realists."  This idea makes perfect sense to me.  A Chiaroscuro painting, for example, makes use of light and dark patterns; if compressed into a grayscale and then posterized the resulting image looks like a black and white abstraction (Notan).  Such an abstraction can be powerfully seen from across a room. I am personally drawn to paintings with strong patterns of light and dark .  Here are a few that curl my toes.

                                                                 Daniel Gerhartz

                                                                 Nancy Guzik

 

                                                            Deborah Elmquist

Are there other compositional designs?  Of course.  But for me a strong pattern is my first choice when my concept is about capturing the path of light or dark.  Remember, there really are no hard and fast rule, or formulas for good compositions.  Knowing what you have to say comes first, then the design follows. 

"I Don't Get It"

In my long journey of learning to paint, occasionally I come across a concept that alludes me. I think that I understand it, but then realize that I really don't. With all the resources available to me, I pursue understanding like a hunting dog after a raccoon.  And usually I tree that raccoon but there are times when that varmint gets away.  I'm feeling rather Southern today in touch with my Carolina roots.  I know when I don't know.  If I can't describe it in my own words and either give examples or demonstrate it, then I know it falls under the category of I Don't Get It.  

This was the case with the concept of local tone.  I came across this idea when Quang Ho gave the keynote demonstration at the Oil Painters of America National Exhibition in 2012 in Colorado.  He explained the eight visual intentions/approaches available for painters to use to express their intentions for an image.  The first was light and shadow, then local tone, followed by six more.  Hmm . . . my head tilted a little.

Upon returning home I ordered all three of his DVD's because I know an excellent teacher when I hear one and he was the genuine article.  Watching Nuts and Bolts, a six hour DVD in which Ho explains the painting process as a whole including the visual approaches artists have used over the centuries (well worth buying) I still was a little fuzzy on this particular concept.  Being the person I am, I had to stay with it until I could make it my own.  I truly believe the statement made by Nelson Shanks.  "We train to become enabled by competence not restricted by inability."

The internet is a wonderful thing and soon I was googling anything I could find about Local Tone.  A helpful site was a description of Kevin Weckback's workshop.  Here he talks about the visual approaches, and is a former student of Quang Ho.  Read it, sorta got it but I knew I still couldn't own it so I gave up and pulled my Scarlette O'Hara attitude-"I'll think about that tomorrow."

Then last week I was rereading some of Daniel Gerhartz's Technical Insight blogs and my eye caught a simple phrase-value, tone, AND color . . . . Bells went off-duh!  Value and tone mean two different things.

Fast forward to yesterday and a pleasant day spent with a student of mine and a visit to a fellow artist's open house.  The conversation on the way home was where I made the connection and that raccoon was dead meat.  The point of this post is not necessarily to teach you what local tone is although it is well worth knowing but that learning anything is not a straight forward linear process.  It's filled with stops and starts, confusion and sorting out.  Learning to be the painter you want to be is not easy but it sure is an interesting, spiritual, and purpose-filled journey, one well-worth devoting your life to.  My "tool box" is now a little heavier with new found understanding.

If I have peaked your interest in this particular visual approach, another useful link is Victoria Ekelund's post.  Once you understand what local tone is you will see it and be able to recognize it making viewing art more enjoyable.  Here's one of my favorites by Mary Cassatt.

                                                                   The Child's Bath

Enjoy the journey of learning and Happy Holidays.

News for the New Year

Beginning in January I will be offering a once a month "workshop" class.  How is this different than the weekly classes I teach, you ask?  It will include a two to three hour teaching/demo in the morning and then after lunch, students will paint with input from me.  I realized after many years of three hour classes that students needed to see me in action and hear my thoughts about why I do what I do in order to make  greater gains in their own work.

I'm excited about this unique opportunity for my students old and new. The first class will be Friday, January 3, 2014 and will go from 9:00 till 4:00.  If interested contact me by e-mail for more information at dbelmquist-artist@cfl.rr.com

Grays and Whites

What's the big deal about grays and whites you ask?  Everything.  Atmosphere between you and and an object you are observing makes the chroma of that object somewhat gray or in other words, less intense.  For representational painters understanding how to gray a color is essential.

White objects are effected by the temperature of the light on them.  Warm light of pure sunshine is warm where light reflected from the blue of the sky filtered through clouds are cool.  Reflected light off a surface also effects the temperature of white.  Short explanation but there is a lot more to it.

Now Gamblin Colors has created grays and whites that help with the issue of changing intensity and temperature of your colors.  For a more complete explanation of their colors click here. 

A big thank you to Scott Gellathly for a well written article and for including me as one of the many who use Gamblin colors.  


                                                    

Small Bites

If you have been following along on this painting, you may ask yourself, "How do you paint the intricate lace patterns?"  Okay, one bite at a time isn't a sufficient enough answer but describing the process in a verbal linear fashion may be impossible-but here goes.

 First, there are about four areas that are treated somewhat differently in the approach.  Top left lace is folded and draped on top of itself which means there is no distinct pattern and the values, in places, are very close. Brushwork is varied-dabs mostly.  I look for distinct open areas where the dark of the rug shows through.  That is painted in as the shape that I see.  Those small areas must be somewhat dry before I try to put in the small strings that cross the dark area.  You can see where one area has the strings and lower down it is still just a dark pattern.  On to the right of this area.

Top middle: one must see that value pattern that is underneath the string pattern and continue the light/shadow pattern first ignoring the lace (that was done earlier in the block-in).  Squint down on the band of lace in that area and ask yourself-"Where is it darker than the dark shadow already there?  Is it  warmer or cooler than the shadow pattern?"  I do this all across the top band.  On the far top right there is very little pattern showing because it is totally in shadow. This is about four hours of work.    So far so good.

Looking at the bottom, you can see the left block-in looks differently than the right.  That's because the left lace is draped such that the folds overlap in places.  That's where you see no blackish background.  In contrast, the bottom right is flat against the background with only a slight fold.

The same questions are constantly being asked in my head about values and temperature.  My colors are still pretty much the same,  I'm using Warm White from Gamblin to keep the light side warm.  Next installment, I hope to have the bottom finished. 

Love Maybe

     Here I have massed in the light shapes and the shadow shapes.  This is the stage that goes quickly because I only have to decide is it light or is it dark.  It's like sorting laundry into two piles.

       Someone asked about the colors I use.  First let me say I paint with a small north light window but it's not enough light so I augment it with a 5,000K bulb up next to the window.  That "leans" the light a little warm.  Remember 6,500K is close to north light coolness.  Next because this beautiful fabric is old and has a yellowed aged cast to it, I want the light sides to be toward warm making the light perfect.  I'm using the new Gamblin Warm White as my base white.  It holds the warmness when mixed and does not cool the color or make it chalky like some whites.  This is an indoor atmosphere so I'm not using all the brilliant colors of the outdoor palette.  Shadows in the studio tend to be warm also.  My light is a mixture of the Warm White, a touch of raw umber (green shade) and a touch of Cobalt blue.  My lights are massed in at about 2/ 3 in value and all my lights then can later be adjusted with a range of the lightest light at a 1 and the darkest light at about a 4.  You can see the pattern clearly.  Shadows go darker and start at about a 6.  Again I can go up to a 5 and the darkest darks get to about an 8 but only in the dark creases of the folds.  Translucent lights need to be ignored at this point. 

How do you eat an elephant? Yea, one bite at a time.  At this point the progress slows down and my love turns to labor, like in pains.  I have to remember the elephant question or else I would give up.  How do I know?  Because when I paint this type of lace, it takes concentration and focusing on the values of the surface changes.  Then and only then do I focus on the strings of the lace.  One stroke then about thirty seconds to a minute before the next stroke is made. 

The open lace work is treated differently since the rug shows through in some areas.  The basic rug color is painted in and here is where I have negative thoughts running through my head.  When I look at the entire surface I feel like I can't do it but if I focus on one area and tell myself that if this one area gets completed today, that's great. Small bites.   I'll  think about the other lace sections tomorrow.  Now I sound like Scarlette O'Hara.

 Not finished but good enough for today.  Comments and questions are welcomed. 

A Love Affair Continued

Day 2- With great anticipation day two began.  One of the bad habits I engage in and need is not cleaning my palette.  I do clean my brushes the same day but the big glass palette is usually left without cleaning the days previous mixed colors.  My first 15 minutes or more, first thing, is scraping the glass and getting it pristine clean.  It's sort of a meditation for me and gets my thinking transitioned into what I will be doing.  While I'm scraping I think of my next steps.  It works and I can't do without it.  I guess you could call it a form of foreplay.

The dark background is still wet so the vase needs to be blocked in and the edges worked into the background.  The blue is a low chroma blue almost gray so out comes the grays-Portland and Torret Grays from Gamblin (not an ad but they are wonderful).  Cobalt blue is added into the grays.  Two values are mixed for light shape, shadow shape.  The mantra plays in my head as I look at the form-light shape, shadow shape.  Say that three times fast.

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I also thinly block in a dark blue/umber value for the rug.  Having a dark surface to paint the pattern of the rug on is a must.  The dark gives the light threads a three dimensional look which adds to the texture feel.

This is the progress after about four hours at the easel.  I have blocked in the light and shadow shapes of the white cloth leaving the lace area untouched.  Painting the open lace work needs a different process.  When blocking in the light and shadow, my light value (about a 2/3) is the middle value for the light.  That way I can go lighter and a little darker to build the form.  Same in the shadow area.  The shadow value is about a 7.  Translucent light areas are ignored at this point and I have to simplify, simplify, simplify.

This will need to dry so tomorrow will probably be the rug area.  Stay tuned.

A Love Affair

Now you were probably thinking you would be reading about some kind of sorted affair and were looking forward to the juicy details.  Sorry but it is about love.  These last few months have been a search for self and what really inspires me to paint. Plein air painting is not one of my favorite endeavors, but I decided if I try it---I might like it.  I now have all the right equipment, have been out in the field, and have actually completed several small pieces that aren't too shabby but not ready for prime time.

Above is "The Cottage." The cottage was built back in the early 1900's and located at Cracker Creek here in Port Orange. The early morning light on the front porch glowed along with the metal roof.  My Maine experience didn't produce anything great, but with practice I may be able to relax and truly enjoy painting in the great outdoors.

So back to this love thing.  While in Maine, we stopped in Kennebunkport and visited North Light Gallery and True North Light Gallery.  It was great to see Jill and Harry.  As I walked from one gallery to the next, I saw a small little store front with Asian imports.  The owner had been an diplomat and now had friends that sent him items to sell like small chests, garments, and vases.  I found two treasures; one was a jacket made of silk and a vase from Korea.

The grayish blue with the crane design had me at first sight and of course I brought it home.  It is unusual in that it is three sided and not spherical.

Here's the love part.  I put it with my lace fabric and created a new setup to paint.  The drama of the light across the vase and the glowing translucent light that passes through the fabric makes my toes curl.  Is that love?  You bet!  I juxtaposed the textures of the smooth ceramic glazed sides with the delicate lace and folds on top of the rough threads of the rug.  My intention is to capture the light across all these diverse textures.

Yesterday after setting it up, I loosely sketched in the folds and placement of the vase.  Under the white fabric is one of my favorite blue rugs.  Here is today's progress.

                                                              Actual still life

                                                     Ultramarine blue and burnt umber sketch

The dark background is a "black mixture" made with all transparent colors with a leaning toward reddish orange.  This mixture is made of sap green, ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, a little ivory black, and trans. red oxide.

Here the background is blocked in on this 30"x40" linen canvas.  The reddish glow at the top gives what Adrian Gottlieb calls optical red; an illusion of light in a dark shadowed area. He referred to paintings by Rembrandt and how this red glow gives a feeling of space even in the darkness.  I have used it many times with great success.  Thanks Adrian.

I will post my progress this week.  My work today felt like a love affair.  I got up this morning with excited anticipation and throughout the day was almost giddy.  Yep, this is where my passion lies. Did I say that I just love painting fabrics?

Learning and Growing

It's been quite a while since my last blog post.  For me, my art journey ebbs and flows like the waters of our beaches here in Florida.  After months of daily painting, I felt a need to refresh myself with new information and strengthening my skills and knowledge.  This usually produces a different daily routine with little actual creation of new gallery quality work.  Even my writing goes on hiatus.  So what have I been up to?

Let me begin by saying that as a painter I am always evaluating my strengths and weaknesses and setting goals to move in a direction that I have deemed worthy.  Basically, I look at what I am good at and determine what needs to be improved in order to create paintings that say what I want them to say.  Upon close examination of my work, I felt I could improve on composition and design.    My studio is filled with paintings that are basically painted well but lack a strong composition that pulls you in from a distance.  Any professional, seasoned painter will tell you design/composition is critical.  My background on composition is not what I would like it to be and so I set out on a journey to fill that educational void.

By accident, I came across a school that offered intensive instruction in drawing, design, and color.  The Barnstone Studio seemed to fit the bill.  With further investigation, I discovered Juliette Aristides was a student of Myron Barnstone, the master teacher of this Pennsylvania school.  One of my students purchased some of the DVDs and from that I decided to invest in the experience.  As some of you may know I don't take workshops anymore because I believe we are our own best teacher and have to seek out the information we need.  The Barnstone Studio DVDs are intensive and require hours of work outside of just watching the many hours of instruction.  I'm excited by what I have learned so far, but I am a long way off from finishing the course. 

One element of the design portion of this course is the Golden Rectangle.  Now I knew that many of the old masters used the Golden Rectangle as an armature in design their paintings, and that putting your focal area in one of the four "eyes" make a more pleasing picture design.  That's about all I knew.  After watching, and watching again (four and five times) and taking copious notes, I have gained a better understanding of how to apply this concept - plus the other route rectangles - to compose the elements of my paintings.  Here is an example of some of these rectangles.

Looking at the diagrams above, you can see why it is taking me some time to become proficient at using this designing system, and why I have been so silent online. Is it worth the effort?  In one word, YES! More later, but for now it's back to the books and the DVD's.

Value Suppression/Compression

     As we all know as artist, we are always learning.  Sometimes a little tidbit and sometimes a huge Aha!  Yesterday was somewhere in between.  A few years back I came across the idea of compressing values into value groups so as to strengthen one's composition.  I remember the example given was about viewing a Sargent painting from a distance and how one could see three, no more than four value groups.  Only upon closer inspection can one see the subtle value changes within the value groups. Then this pass year at the national Oil Painters of America exhibition, Quang Ho shared his idea of the different intentions in painting with "Local Tone" being one of them.  Essentially, local tone is value compressing.  I think you get the idea.

     Having said that, I read this week on Stapleton Kearn's blog post about his students not using the full value range in their paintings.  Now I was confused.  Which was best and which of the two ways of seeing should I teach my students.  I'm attaching the original blog post first and only the first point he makes.  For the entire post check out his blog on my Blog List.  Mr. Kearns writes:

      There seem to be common problems that many students have, and recently I have been aware of how most of the students have the same things to learn. I get a broad range of students in terms of ability and experience, from beginners to semi-professional, so some of them don't have these shortcomings. Most of them do. Remember, I am not talking about you, or anyone you know, I am  talking about those "other" people who are far away. The common problems are these: (let me chamber a few bullets here)

• Failure to express the full range of values in the scene before them. Most of the students seem to paint in a few middle tones. I always seem to be telling them, "when you look out there, you see a dark and paint it a dark value. When I look out there, I see a dark and ask myself, which dark is it? I have several to choose from." The students use a single generic dark and a single generic middle tone, etc. They command too few values to explain that at which they are looking. I have been telling them this ;:" Did you learn to read from the Dick and Jane books? " (for you younger readers, Dick and Jane were drab children who said things like "look Jane! see Spot run! Run,run run. See Dick run!!" Spot was a dog. Dick was once a common male name. Jane was a girl's name then, much  like Krystle or  Brittney might be today). he teacher went up to the blackboard and wrote a list of about ten words on the board before she even handed out the book. You had to know about ten words to read even this simple story. The authors of this sorry tome couldn't tell even its banal story without at least ten words. They couldn't write the book with only say... five words, they needed at least ten. If you imagine your value scale to be words you will need about 10 or at least six or seven anyway, to tell the story that is in front of you in the landscape. You students don't have enough words (i.e. values) to tell the story of the landscape in front of you. I suspect that the best cure for this problem would be cast drawing under the eye of a master, but that is atelier training and most people just can't leave their real life behind and do that. I am trying to come up with a systematic approach to curing this problem, I do have an idea. I will get back to you on that.

So I asked the question in the comment section and he responded yesterday and his words were very insightful.  Mr Kearns states my question and responds this way:

     A reader on the comments page recently asked me:
Please help my confusion on values. I have read and been taught to not use the full spectrum of values because it weakens the painting. Their instruction has been to narrow your values to three no more than four value groups by compressing the values together. By doing this you make a stronger pattern of shapes that holds together, especially from a distance. Please clarify. Looking forward to your response.

This is a big question and I may need more than a single post to answer it.

1)  There is the appearance of nature in light as it sits before you. I think I can readily discern and express about ten different values outside. Before the cast, as an atelier student I was taught with ten values. In practice I use maybe one or two less than that if I am trying to the the look of nature. When I teach, I generally try to point out the difference between nature and the students work. Most of the students I meet in workshops are struggling to get the image successfully and halfway accurately onto the canvas. That is the first skill that a student needs, transcription. This is not necessarily art, it is a skill and anyone can acquire it with some hard work.

Until a student has this ability it seems important to me, to help them "see" nature more clearly. I talk a lot about design, arrangement, color etc. but if I neglect to steer students closer to the look of nature I run the risk of teaching them "how I do things" rather than broader skills they can use themselves. So when I teach I would only suggest to the most advanced students that they paint their values any differently than they see them.

That artists who work in reduced numbers of values agree there are more values than they use seems clear, as they speak of compressing or limiting their values.

2) It is possible, perhaps desirable, to reduce the values in a design to get more unity of effect, a broader look and a clearer assembly of shapes. Usually the effect is one of a stronger, simpler arrangement. But, this is a lens  through which painter looks at nature, and not the appearance of nature itself. Compressing values, means to change them to something else, hopefully more desirable artistically.

This is a design method, and as such, a convention, a personal choice. That's OK, it is art after all, and the art lies in the choices we make about how  the painting will look more than in cold transcription. Below is a sphere with the parts of the light labeled on it.
The sphere above has five separate lights. A tree in light or a head or figure will generally need five separate values to explain itself. Where these five different values come from on the value scale, whatever size (but ten for the sake of this explanation) can be chosen and they could be derived from the middle of the scale or one end or even spread across its length from Stygian darkness to unalloyed white. I find it difficult to work effectively with fewer than five values. I  sometimes will design pictures using three premixed values, but when  I make that into a picture I feel the need to add a few more values here and there. Even this five value system precludes the representation of halftones. Each halftone (modeling in the lights) would add a separate value to the list. I don't present all of this to discourage the practice of suppressing or compressing values. This topic arose out of my listing problems that plague workshop students. I would suggest that the artist should first be able to render in  a full and not a truncated panoply of values before reducing their number.

4) I didn't hear the idea of compressing values until perhaps fifteen years ago, no doubt because of the enormous and beneficial influence of Richard Schmid. I learned something similar in the Gammell Studios though. It was  called the "BIG LOOK". The idea was this....Not to  cut up your big shapes with lots of varying values or details within them. One was to keep their shapes big, or uncluttered. Shapes of similar value would be  conjoined and darks or lights deliberately linked. All of these plus suppression of  detail gave a broader simpler look. Gammell often derided what he  called "looking into the shadows" that is allowing yourself  to refocus your vision  and examine separately from  the lights   the value  changes and detail within the shadows. That is the shadows  would be mistakenly painted as they appeared when examined individually and not as seen  in relationship to the entire scene including the  lights. This was seen as the enemy of the big  look.

     From the comments that followed this post, it appears that his explanation was very valuable and I hope that it will help you.  As a teacher, I have to remember not to teach what I do personally but to teach them to transcribe first in full values.  Later they can choose their own artistic interpretation.

Thanks Stapleton.  Don't forget to check out his blog.

Quang Ho and What I Learned

This month I attended the National Exhibition of Oil Painters of America in Evergreen, Colorado.  One of the many highlights of this weekend was a three hour demonstration by Quang Ho. His alla prima approach was extremely informative both in what he looks for when judging--that info can be found in his DVD, Nuts and Bolts--and his thinking/approach to painting.  What was new to me was a brush called an Egbert (it sounds like a cartoon character doesn't it) and in Quang's hand was amazing.  Here is what it looks like.  It's an extremely long filbert.

This one is a Robert Simmons Signet but other companies make them.  It gives you the ability to make bold beautiful sweeping strokes like a Japanese calligraphy brush and can twist on its edge for expressive thin/thick lines.  As soon as I got home I ordered two.  I had to condition the bristles before I used them in order to get rid of the stiffness.  Quang used this brush to apply the initial layer of paint in a soft, loose manner and continued to use it throughout the entire painting.  If you want to see him in action, check out his DVD, Painting the Still Life.

Artist Tip

PAINTING IN MASS - Learning to Simplify - The secret to creating an illusion of light, form, space and depth depends on the artist's ability to simplify what he/she is looking at (still life set-up, model, landscape, etc.) into simple value shapes, or patterns of light and dark.

The words seem so easy and yet each day I teach, I struggle to get this idea and ultimately skill across to the painter sitting at his/her easel.  Painting a grasaille as the image above, is what painting mass looks like.  Squint down and see only values.  Limit those values to three or four.  If you can do that, you can paint anything.

Demo Booklet

Just finished publishing my first booklet demonstrating the process of painting my last painting, "Italian Repast."  Documenting the process with images and writing about each major step was enlightening for me and I hope for those of you who want to see my process.  I share many techniques, products, and tips, as well as, color recipes for this 16 X 32 inch painting.  Check it out on the right side of the blog.  I would love to have any comments or feedback on it if you decide to  purchase it.

Voice - A Journey Worth Taking-Cont.

Back from a road trip to North Carolina and the changing of the leaves.  Road trips always foster interesting conversations with my husband.  It's great; he's a captive listener!  After a quick stop in Charleston, SC, we headed toward Asheville. Somewhere on I-26  I brought up the topic of Voice and asked David. . .  Was voice something that could be identified by the viewer or did the viewer need the artist to provide words of explanation?  This was prompted after seeing a collection of work by an artist at the Robert Lange Studio in Charleston.  We both agreed we could identify some artists because of their brushwork, color palette, subject matter, and unique elements such as backgrounds.  Is this voice?  Or is voice something deeper in the concept or meaning the artists is trying to convey?  The more we talked, the more I wasn't sure I could describe voice or would even  know it if I saw it.  As a reader of literature, I can usually tell who an author is after a few chapters without looking at his or her name as long as I have read three or four of their works.  So maybe voice is just that , a definable style.  Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with a message you are trying to convey?

The above image is a closeup of a painting I just finished called Italian Repast.  Below is the full 32"X16" canvas.  People always tell me they can tell my work without seeing the signature.  Is that style or voice?  Your thoughts on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

VOICE - A Journey Worth Taking con't.

     As I prepared for a pilgrimage back to my early roots in North Carolina, I checked out my favorite galleries in the area to see who is showing their work.  One of my favorites in Asheville is 16 Patton Fine Art Gallery.  What does this have to do with voice?  In reading artists statements of work that I am drawn to, I found an artists who describes what I am alluding to when it comes to emotions and connections.  The artist is Mase Lucas and I have taken an excerpt from her artists statement to show what I am trying to describe.
   
       "Notwithstanding an occasional portrayal of horses in
        action, most of the paintings are quiet and reflective …
        herbivores at peace … as they are here in my fields.
       The thing about horses that makes them compelling
       art subjects is the same thing that makes them
       compelling to me in their own right. My heart melts
       at their beauty and kindness and my adrenalin rises
       at their power … a power so often restrained to
       accommodate us humans."

When your subject matter can cause a welling up of these kinds of emotions then you know you have to share them in some artistic form; now you are beginning to speak in VOICE.  Is communication through subject matter all there is to artistic voice?  Not necessarily so, but you are coming closer to the meaning of your art and your voice.  More to say about voice in the near future as I continue this series.  How do you speak your artistic voice?  Have you found it yet?  Your comments are welcomed!

VOICE - A Journey Worth Taking

Something magical and mysterious has recently happened in the creation of the last few paintings that have come off my easel. So magical and so mysterious that it has caused me to step back and ask . . . have I found my “voice?” In asking comes the decision to explore the journey that has led up to this eureka. My logical brain has known for years that finding your voice is the key to an artist's expression. It's what distinguishes your art from the rest of the herd. I also know that it comes from somewhere deep inside and is not easily reached. And last I know that when I see this type of expression be it the written word, dance, music, or art, it can bring tears to your eyes or make a lump in your throat. Words like emotion, spirit, connections, and even no words will be on the map for this journey. My road map begins with an inner journey.

Accessing it requires a personal decision to do the work. It requires time set aside away from distractions on a regular basis. My suggestion would be to set aside about 10 to 15 minutes each day and revisits old memories. Write memories of events that have given you the greatest highs or the lowest lows. Feel the moments and write down your thoughts about what you felt back then. These moments will well up and drive the need to put them somehow and in some special way on canvas. This solitary exploration will allow you to pull it apart and make sense of it. It will drive the artistic expression. This is VOICE. Also pay attention to those objects, place, and people that make you not only take notice but resonates with your emotions. Keep a discovery journal either in written or visual form or both. Add pictures from various sources.

Voice for me is an emotion that is aligned with my life experiences that are remembered.  It reflects my story; the good and the bad. It is told with the utmost desire to tell it truthfully without ego putting in its two cents worth. It requires detaching from the outcome and just go where it leads you. Now that I am older and in my crone stage of life, I am free to tell it like it is or was. Painting with voice must somehow connect to this inner journey. I will add more about my journey in the next blog. In the meantime, please share with my readers how you discovered your VOICE.

About Shapes

From time to time I Twitter what I call Artist Tips.  Twitter, as you may know, limits a Tweet to 140 characters, so the necessary brevity can cause confusion!   Sometimes, from these little notes I receive questions from Followers and requests for additional information and explanation.  Recently, I received a question from one of my Twitter faithful followers regarding shapes and lightness and darkness of shapes in a painting. I offer the following explanation with the hope that a more detailed explanation will help.  However, should I fall short, please feel free to ask additional questions to clarify your understanding this or any of the subjects I discuss here in my Blog or Twitter about.

In reference to "a dominate shape being determined by its lightness or darkness," here is a more detailed explanation:  All paintings are made up of shapes, large and small, representing the objects, or subject matter of the painting.  For a shape to have an identity, it must have contrast in value or hue, or an outline (edges, soft and/or hard), to distinguish it from its background.  Otherwise, we can't see it.  A large shape does not necessarily make that shape dominant; dominance is determined by the qualities mentioned earlier with lightness and darkness being two of them.  For any shape to stand out from its surroundings it has to be darker, lighter, more colorful, or difference in texture (example, use of brush strokes or palette knife) otherwise the intended shape is just part of the mass of all that is around it.  Keep in mind that I am talking about representational art here, not abstract art.  Things are very different in the world of abstract art.

Take a look at some of the images I have posted of my paintings; Simply Ming for example (to find it, scroll down to the Aug. 11, 2011 blog post entitled “Announcing a New Gallery”), is a good example of what I am trying to describe.  Simply Ming has a variety of shapes, sizes, color, and textures, all working together to create a complete idea and image.

Your questions are always welcome!  The only “dumb” question is the question never asked.  How else do we learn if not by doing and asking questions!

Painting Workshop Oct. 17-21, 2011

Through The Glass, 16X20, oil on linen

There is still a few spaces available for my workshop "Painting Like a Master" beginning Oct. 17th through Oct. 21st, 2011.  If you are a budding Classical-Realist or Novorealist painter, this is the workshop for you! You will learn the techniques of the new and Old Master's using the indirect painting method creating    a painting with multiple layers of paint, and the use of various mediums and glazes to achieve the deep and    rich luminosity of the painted surface as experienced in the works of Titian, Rembrandt and Rubens.

    Each workshop day will focus on a technique used by the Masters.  Day one will focus on how to create     strong compositions including value studies, lighting, and color harmony.  During following days, you will come to a better understanding of your color wheel to achieve color hues, tints, and shades and how to achieve beautiful grays for use in your art works.

 A demonstration of the skills needed for that day's work begins at 9.  Shapes, edges and values will be emphasized, as well as the creation of a middle layer painting made from opaque colors to establish the lightest and darkest values of your paining. Finally, you will practice various glazing and scumbling techniques used by New and Old Masters including a final glaze layer that modifies the opaque colors to finish your art peace making the surface very rich and luminous.  And there will be ample time for discussion, questions and answers during and after workshop hours.

Don't miss this opportunity to become an active artist community member of the Resurgence of Beauty and Excellence in Art movement and oil painting in particular.  Call the studio today (386-756-3068), or E-mail the artist and master teacher today (artist@dbelmquist.com) to reserve your workshop place!  A complete Information Packet will be mailed to you by Express Mail. For detail information check out the July 11, 2011 blog or just scroll down. 

5 Day Workshop

I am pleased to announce a 5-day workshop to be held at my studio in Port Orange, Florida, October 17-21, 2011.  Mark your calendars and make your plans now!

Port Orange is a small community just a few miles south of Daytona Beach and about 5 miles from white, sandy beaches of the Atlantic Ocean.  The workshop opens with a meet-and-greet Sunday evening for early arrivals. Q&A's and open discussions scheduled workshop evenings for those wanting a little more info. Lunch is provided each workshop day, with coffee and tea available anytime during the workshop hours.

The focus of the workshop is painting the still life incorporating the indirect method and techniques of the old masters.  Demonstrations and lectures will be given each morning focusing on a skill(s) needed for each day's work.  My workshop features a small group setting of no more than eight students so that I can give one-on-one instruction to better meet your individual needs.  Some painting experience is required. You will be provided with a printed manual with information to cut down on note taking during class.  More information on the curriculum is forthcoming.

Please join me for this great opportunity learning to paint in the indirect method and spend time in a unique and historic area of Florida.  One evening will be spent at Cracker Creek on a wine cruise down the waters of Spruce Creek.  Check out their website here.


Lodging is available within three miles of my studio, as well as, ample motels on the beach which is approximately five miles away. The Daytona International Airport is just ten mile from the studio.   Contact me for information at artist@dbelmquist.com .


Workshop Fee:  $500
A deposit of $150 holds your place; remainder of fee due by Oct 1.  No refunds after Oct. 12, 2011.

Early Bird Special!
Register before August 31, 2011 and pay only $450 (a 10% discount)!

Travel and Lodging:  Workshop participants are responsible for their own travel and lodging arrangements. Port Orange is located about 10 miles south of Daytona Beach, so the Daytona airport is the closest. Lots of lodging alternatives from B&Bs to reasonably priced chain hotels are available within the greater Halifax area and just a few miles from the studio. Lodging suggestions are provided in your registration packet. Limited transportation assistance is also available upon request; call the studio for details.