Blog
4/24/2017 7:31:24 AM
Last week a friend and I went plein air painting. It was a perfect spring day where the temperature was just right and all the trees were bursting into bud. There is a brief window of time when the greens are fresh and infused with yellow. In my painting I wanted to capture the saturation of the green and the sunlight and how the color was reflecting into everything.
I chose an old gnarly tree as my subject. I loved how the light skimmed the trunk and the color of the sunlight, sky, and grass reflected onto the underside of the thick branches. The building behind the tree was cast in shade; it was close in color and value to shadows on the large branches and acted as a backdrop to the lit edge of the trunk. The sky was a soft blue and the buds on the trees were unfurling in a speckled haze of reds and yellow-green. In the distance the ocher earth was plowed into furrows and a stand of young trees stood veiled in newly sprouted green.
Reference photo taken at the start of the painting session
I snapped a photo for later reference and began to paint. We worked for a couple of hours and during that time the building came into full sun and the light crawled across the tree as the leaves unfurled further. I did not get to finish but had the bones of what I wanted.
Painting at the end of plein air session
The next day I looked at my painting and at my reference. The photo looked flat and showed little of the light and reflecting color. I turned to my memory to continue the painting. My palette was still wet and all that I described above went through my head as I painted the haze of red and green buds with the bits of sky showing though and the grayed stand of trees in the background.
Memory is a powerful tool for an artist. It helps distill the idea of why you wanted to capture your subject in paint. The experience and the study of light was the idea I wanted to convey. I don’t feel like I am finished with this image and would like to play with it in watercolor. I will use the oil study and the photo reference but my memory will supply the transient color of a perfect spring day.
Spring Has Sprung 8x10 Oil
Below is a great quote from Degas with regards to visual memory:
“It is all very well to copy what you see; it is much better to draw what you only see in memory. There is a transformation during which the imagination works in conjunction with the memory. You only put down what made an impression on you, that is to say the essential. Then your memory and your invention are freed from the dominating influence of nature. That is why pictures made by a man with a trained memory are almost always remarkable works.”
-Degas
4/17/2017 7:49:20 AM
Walter Hunt Everett (1880-1946)
Every once in a while you come across an artist you have never heard of whose paintings make your heart beat a little faster. Recently I came across the work of Walter Hunt Everett, an artist from the Golden Age of illustration.
Everett lived for painting. He showed great promise as a young artist and rode his bike thirty miles to study under Howard Pyle. By his early twenties he had a busy career working for publications such as The Saturday Evening Post, Scribner’s Monthly, Women’s Home Companion, McCall’s, Collier’s, Ladies Home Journal, and illustrated numerous books. He was a standout among illustrators through the 1920s and early 1930s.
Pan
Detail from Pan
Although brilliant, Everett was difficult to work with. His art was everything and his drive for perfectionism caused him to neglect responsibilities. He missed deadlines, skipped paying bills, and eventually lost his wife and son because of his temperament. Unfortunately for us his temper got the best of him. One day in a fit, he burned many of his paintings so there is little of his original work to be seen.
Eventually he left illustration to pursue his own interests. Here he found time to create work for his personal joy.
A painting post illustration career.
Everett’s work stands out even among the giants of the golden age of illustrators. His combination of beautifully drawn figures played against flat colorful shapes creates strong design. And the color - oh the color - his palette changes but the color always sings. Even though his work has aspects of the era he lived in it feels contemporary.
Sketch for Washer Woman
Washer Woman
Enjoy Everett’s work and see if your heart beats a little bit faster.
For more information about William Hunt Everett you can check out these blogs. Thank you to the authors who generously shared this information.
David Apatoff’s Blog: Illustration Art http://illustrationart.blogspot.com/2008/07/walter-everett-1880-1946.html is a wonderful blog on Everett’s work. Make sure to read the comments section where Everett’s family members share insight into his life.
Armand Cabrera’s blog: Art and Influence http://www.artandinfluence.com/2012/01/walter-hunt-everett.html
Greg Newbold’s blog: Life Needs Art http://gregnewbold.blogspot.com/2011/11/more-walter-everett.html
Young Everett in his studio
4/10/2017 7:52:28 AM
After writing on a regular basis for several months now I am noticing the same rhythm of creation that I have with my art work. I am a much more practiced artist than I am a writer so painting does not have the arc of highs and lows that I am experiencing in writing. Still the process of creation is similar from start to finish.
Inspiration: An idea comes to you that seem so easy to articulate. I am sure this will be a brilliant painting or blog.
Outline/ Study: This is the map of my idea. This will be my rope to the original inspiration if I lose my way.
Writing/ Painting: The act of sitting down and working feels exhilarating and intimidating all at once. How do you make an inspiration compelling and real? With painting I usually begin with the largest shapes, and simple color values to see how the composition will work. With writing I begin with what I call word vomit - everything and anything goes down on the paper. I will sift out the good stuff later.
Slog: The part I hate is when the work that had so much promise now seems like a muddled mess. My brain starts going in different directions and I want to give up or start something new. I usually walk away at this point knowing that space and time will give me a reality check. On rare occasions the muse is kind and I avoid the slog altogether and skip to editing.
Return: When I look at the work with a fresh eye I am better able to judge its success. Now I know if I should abandon ship or press forward.
Editing: When the main idea is fleshed out, editing becomes crucial. In painting I take away anything that distracts from the visual story. I look carefully at edges, choosing which are important and softening the rest. More time is spent looking and thinking than actually painting. In writing I sort and organize my thoughts and then go through each sentence to see if I can be more concise. In both cases this means that a precious passage is often sacrificed. While a paint stroke or a phrase may be pretty, if it distracts from the main message it goes out. I continue to edit until the piece holds together as a clear representation of the original idea.
Release: This is where you call the piece finished. It has usually fallen short of the original inspiration but I am satisfied that I have worked it to the best of my ability. I review lessons that were learned which leads to new inspirations to follow.
4/3/2017 11:50:55 AM
It is so frustrating when you want to replicate an image onto a larger canvas but the composition is not the same. To do this correctly you have to consider the aspect ratio of the original reference. An aspect ratio is simply the proportional relationship of the width to the height of the painting surface. To make the process easy I have a list of aspect ratios of common canvas sizes taped to the wall of my studio that I refer to whenever I want to resize an image.
The outside dimension of the painting surface is the most important shape to consider in composition. It will dictate how the shapes will be placed and the mood of the painting. If you are painting a portrait where would you place it on a 8x10 canvas verses a 12x12, or 12x16? How would it look on a 12x24? Each one offers different possibilities of placement and will tell a different story. If I am planning to do a large studio painting or commission, I paint a study first. The study is a smaller, looser version of the final work on a canvas or paper that is the same aspect ratio as the proposed larger painting. This way I can figure out the composition and replicate it exactly on the larger canvas, using a grid.
"Wait for It" is a 16x20 painting that I did as an experiment in painting water. I like the composition and feel that this would be a powerful image if it was painted on a larger canvas. The 16x20 is a 4 to 5 ratio and the painting could be sized up to a 24x30 and still have the boy and the waves in the same placement on the canvas.
In the case of a commissioned portrait I am often given the final size by the client and then use the aspect ratio to figure out what size the study should be.
I also use this list to create thumbnails, which are very small studies done in pencil, to work out small compositions quickly without worry of images being too large or small on the canvas.
Below is the list I keep in my studio. I hope you find it helpful in resizing your work. I have included a downloadable PDF so you can keep the list in your studio too.
Aspect Ratios of Common Canvas Sizes
3 to 4 = 3 x 4 - 6 x 8 - 9 x 12 - 12 x 16 - 18 x 24 - 30 x 40 - 36 x 48
7 to 5 = 5 x 7 - 10 x 14 - 20 x 28
4 to 5 = 8 x 10 - 16 x 20 - 24 x 30
6 to 5 = 10 x 12 - 20 x 24
11 to 14 = 11 x 14 - 22 x 28
1 to 1 = 6 x 6 - 12 x 12
1 to 2 = 6 x 12 - 8 x 16 - 12 x 24
7 to 9 = 7 x 9 - 14 x 18 - 21 x 27 - 28 x 36
2 to 3 = 2 x 3 - 6 x 9 - 12 x 18 - 16 x 24 - 20 x 30 - 24 x 36
To download and print your own list click here: Aspect Ratios of Common Canvas Sizes downloadable pdf
