First Decent Abstract Painting

     Though I am moved by many abstract or expressionistic paintings, I never have been able to accomplish one in this style with which I have ever been pleased.  I find paint to be animated and willful, and I often contend with it to try to force it to do something it doesn't want to.  I always lose these battles.
    With my new appreciation for the palette knife, I was inspired to try again.  Here is the result:

      I have an affinity for the color choice, the movement, and the depth of this painting.  My brother and sister-in-law to be liked it so much, I decided to send it to them in Italy, where they are now living as an early wedding present.

Homework Assignment

     Each week our instructor provides us with optional homework assignments, which I have been rather religiously completing.  The exercises are quick, and are meant to help us improve and to discover elements of our work.  All of the activities have been fabulous for me, but most of the results are not worth posting here.  Since, however, this assignment is relative to my new found love of the palette knife, I thought I would display it.    
     The task was to complete two small paintings, one with the instrument we usually use and the other with either larger brushes than normal or the palette knife.  I bought one red and one green pepper and spent only 1/2 hour on each painting.

Brush

 Palette Knife

       Clearly, the result of the painting with the palette knife has more vitality.  I especially like the execution of the red pepper, the green could have used more work.

Class 3: The Palette Knife

       One of my goals during this class is to become less detailed and more painterly, while still achieving space and dimension in my paintings.  My instructor suggested that I put away the brushes for awhile and use only a palette knife. Here is the result of my first painting with only a palette knife:

       I was extremely please with this initial attempt.  I like the movement in the paint and the color variation.  I especially like the depth in the leaves and the shadow on the table.  I think the flowers could have had more dimension, but since this is only a study meant to be accomplished in one sitting, I will leave it as is.

    

What a FANTASTIC suggestion by Nancy!

First Two Painting Classes

      The class I am taking at MassArt runs from 6:30-10:00 pm on Wednesday nights. A student can work in whatever medium s/he desires, and on whatever subject. For students who are beginning and need to work from observation, the instructor sets up still life. I work in oils, and from observation.  Each painting I do in class is produced during that class period, so about 3 to 31/2 hours total per painting. Here are the first two I completed in class 1 and class 2 respectively:

     

        I appreciate the fact that the instructor chooses fabricated objects for us to paint.  I find the straight, decisive lines more difficult to achieve than the arbitrary lines of organic subjects.  With man-made objects, it is important to observe thoroughly and try to exceute the lines correctly, especially for me at this point in my development.  I also have fun with the color arrangements in each still life my instructor arranges.  

       Since I work at tortoise like pace, I found it difficult to "finish" a painting in such a short time period.  Yet, I am becoming accustomed to working more quickly, and this is helping me accomplish more, to  observe my subject in depth, and to discover a mark that is unique to me.  
       The painting from the first class includes some good brush work and dimension in the red drapery.  The purple drapery is not realized, and the box on which it rests looks conclaved, even though it was not in actuality. 

       In the painting from the second class, it took me a very long time to obtain the correct proportion of the pink boxes; hence it is only the foundation of a painting.

Orchid for Flavia

Last fall, I wanted to try a Giovanni style flower.  The result was this gigantic cattleya orchid, which my house keeper loved, so I gave it to her.  The style is not very Giovanni-esque, but there is some depth to it.  After painting this, I decided I needed to take a class.  My goal is to be more "painterly", and less detailed.  The class I am enrolled in now at MassArt is helping me to achieve my goal.

CAVETE IDES MARTII!

Summer Class: Figure Drawing

          During the summer (2009), I took a three week intensive course on figure drawing.  I decided this would be a good first formal class for me so that I might improve my drawing skills, and, in addition, was something I was not able to accomplish at my house on my own time, unless I were to hire a model.  The best thing about this course was that I learned to draw the figure through learning anatomy.  This perspective allowed me to comprehend the placement and the functions of many muscles.  Now when I observe the figure, I see elements that I did not see as a casual observer.  
       Each pose was 10-20 minutes-so very quick.  My instructor wanted us to use 3B, 4B, and 6B pencils in order to achieve accurately the shape of the muscles.  Here I am displaying a miniscule, completely random selection of the drawings I created during that course, in no particular order.  

       






       






       I obviously need to continue this practice.  I believe my favorite subject is the figure, so I will continue to work from the model.

Kaela's Commission

On seeing my portrait of Louie a few years ago, my friend Kaela asked me to paint an angel, South American style. I was horrified at the result. Kaela, because she is a kind person, even though I despised it, and my husband said it looked too much like me (I had used a wedding picture as a guide), indicated she desired the painting anyway. I refused to give it to her, and, fortunately, after a year in my damp basement, it grew mold and was destroyed.

After I painted "Masai Warrior" and Hank last year, I thought I'd give Kaela's request another go. She sent me an Edward Curtis photo (below), which I decided to use as a guide. I wholeheartedly attempted not to copy the image exactly, for the image itself is itself art. Furthermore, I wouldn't want to become another Shepherd Fairy and be accused of plagiarism! In my opinion there is nothing worse than a copied design-very amateurish! Finding inspiration in another artist's work is completely acceptable, but image reproduction is detestable!
       In my attempt to be original, I completely failed.  I feel my rendition is far too similar to the Edward Curtis photograph.  Perhaps this was a result of the fact that I was still too green to produce anything more unique.  The only aspects that are my own are the young girl's eyes and the color added. Kaela thinks the Native American girl's eyes resemble the eye's of her daughter. I tend to agree, but it was unintentional. The color was extremely difficult for me to determine, and I probably will not work from a black and white photograph again until I become more competent.

           It was a great experience, and I am glad Kaela was pleased with the result.

Below you can enjoy one of my favorite photographs of Kaela's:

In the original photograph, the bee is much more detailed, and the purple appears much deeper.  Again, I am still trying to figure out how images work on this blog.

Muse II: King Henry

Hank is my 3 year old bulldog that replaced dearly departed Louie. His personality, however, is opposite Louie's. Hank is regal, loving, and not nearly as smelly. He is more active (he just tore both ACLs from excessive activity), he loves people, and requires constant attention.

In order to illustrate his personality, I chose a 20x20 square canvas, and placed his cuddly head in its center. I blocked out Hank's head in yellow ochre first in order to set up the composition, and then painted details over it. I had to paint the pillow he is reclining on a few different times to achieve a velvety, royal feel. Originally, the blue was much lighter, and took away from Hank's face. The indigo I ended up with here allows Hank's head to come forward and he became the center of the composition as I had intended.

I stylized the black spots under his lips, and I like the effect. Many of his wrinkles pop, but I think I could have worked them more. I am happy with the blue I put into his fur. If I ever paint Hank again, I would want to get a more impressionistic feel to him. The paint should be thicker and here he is a little over-modeled. More movement and thicker paint would add vividness to the portrait.

Masai Warrior

Two years ago, after a failed attempt to paint some orchids, I turned to portraiture. I have a fascination with human faces and expressions. This is the first human portrait I completed. I found a photograph in a National Geographic magazine of this guy whose tribe, the Masai, inspired my MBT sneakers. I was drawn in his by stern face and serious expression.

I believe I captured his earnest gravity and his virility, and I believe there is a great amount of depth in the execution of his face, especially since I was working from a photograph, not from life. I altered his features a bit so that he was somewhat from my imagination and not merely a product of someone else's creative composition.

In addition to the first face I ever painted with oils, it was also the first time I painted clouds. I think the form, color, and texture of the clouds are fine, but I am unsure if I like the them as background. The original photograph included some grassy land in the distance (located at the bottom), but I could not include it in the painting, because I upscaled too much. I feel the grass contributed to the overall effect of the photographic portrait, depicting him as a man of the earth.

First Muse: Louie

My first Muse was my smelly, drooly, sloppy, wrinkly bulldog, Louie. After high school, I accomplished very little creatively. I would draw a little, but rarely painted. After falling in love with Louie, I was inspired to paint again. In high school I primarily experimented with watercolors. At this time, at least 10 years after high school, I wanted to try something different-oils.

Unfortunately, I knew almost nothing about oils. My mother, having graduated from Vespa George, provided me with some pointers, but I still endeavored on this portrait you see here mostly blind. I understood nothing about mixing colors, technique, the troubles of using red, or the texture and consistency of oils.

Yet, there are some aspects about the finished product I like. First, I think I captured Lou's willful personality. He looks stubborn and angry, and he usually was. His coloring is good, and his eyes have some expression. I was also able to find some depth (though not much), and the painting itself has texture. This texture I have been having difficulty reproducing recently.

Obviously, there are some problems with this painting. The red hat, though I like the color, looks flat. The overall composition is horrendous. If I were to paint Louie again, I would not attempt to incorporate his entire rolly figure onto the canvas. The pillow on which he sits was executed well on the right but on the left it is choppy.

I had indicated previously that this oil was composed at least 10 years subsequent to high school. I actually do not know the exact year, but it was at least 6 years ago, but no more than 9. With the exception of one small catastrophe, I put the paint brushes down again for another 5 years give or take a year.

Reasons for a Blog

First, allow me to introduce myself and provide some background for this latest endeavor of producing the C.H. Art Blog. My profession is that of a secondary school educator of the Latin language and Roman culture. Two years ago I decided that I needed a creative outlet and I discovered that outlet residing in a lifelong interest of mine: art - especially, painting.

I grew up in a household that is passionate about art. My mother is a watercolorist, a graphic designer, and was President of LACS for two years. She encouraged me to develop my skills, but discouraged me from pursuing a career as an artist, realizing the hardships many face in sustaining a living as a working artist. (She clearly recognized my somewhat timid personality and guided me away from the art world.) I, accordingly, followed other interests: language and antiquities.

I have been teaching Latin now for fifteen years, and I love it! Yet, I still have a desire to return to creating art. About 6 years ago, I painted a portrait of my dog using oils. It was only the 3rd oil painting I had ever completed, the first in nearly 10 years. I enjoyed the process, but didn't begin to focus on anything creative until a few more years had passed. Then, 3 years ago I picked up the paintbrush again only to be disappointed in my attempts.

After many deliberations with my artist friend, Giovanni DeCunto, I decided that I needed to enhance and polish my drawing skills before transitioning to paint. Consequently, for the previous three years I have been drawing nearly everyday for at least an hour, including a few hours a week under Giovanni's tutelage. (Not much time, but the most I could give based on the fact that I have a full time job.) I have been consistent in my efforts to improve. At this point, I am relatively comfortable with my drawing ability.

During the time I had given myself to refine my drawing skills, I also completed a paucity of paintings, which are indeed the works of a novice, some of which I worked on with a local artist, Edwina Caci. As part of my New Year's resolution for 2010, I decided it was time to give oils my full attention. With this in mind, I signed up for a painting class at MassArt (Painting: Personal and Powerful with instructor Nancy McCarthy). I have learned much thus far, and I am ever improving, but I am still uncertain as to what style will be the true manner of my expression. This is brings the main reason I have decided to blog.  Reflection is an essential part of growing in any field. A blog, if maintained, will force me to reflect. At some point, therefore, I will discover my identity as an artist.  Furthermore, I feel that any critiques from the public would motivate me to strengthen my work.

So there it is. I am making myself completely vulnerable and placing my attempt to paint on the web for the world to observe and critique. Here's to the evolution of my painting! 

Salvete, Omnes!