Dear Artist

Path, River Bend has been accepted for display in the September 2016 Art League of Alexandra gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 16:08:00 +0000

This is 11 x 14,oil, limited palette.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 18:30:00 +0000

Federal Poets Reading at the Writers' Center, Bethesda

Sun, 31 Jul, 2016 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Readers include Pam Coulter Blehert, Marjorie Sadin, and Mary Sesso.

The reading will be followed by a reception.

Location:

The Writer's Center

4508 Walsh Street

Bethesda, MD 20815 Fees: Free admission. Contact:301-654-8664

Please Note: I am sending this notice to my basic facebook site: pam.blehert, to my facebook "page" pam.coulter.art and my blog: dearartist.blogspot.com. Please don't be upset if you get more than one notice. It's just a measure of my liking for you! I hope you can come.

Cadmium is very expensive but worth it in some instances.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 20:28:00 +0000

For some time, since I have been teaching beginning to intermediate art students and wanted to make the process of buying colors less painful, I have omitted cadmium reds and cadmium yellows from my palette. These are traditional colors, made from ground pigments (minerals) and their cost is in part due to the difficulty of obtaining the pigments. But I attended a plein air workshop this fall where the teacher insisted that we have cadmium red medium and cadmium yellow on our palette.

And I found something very interesting. they are opaque colors. Because of this, the visual message that they send to the view is very strong.

If you are painting yellow flowers in a green field and you DON'T have cadmium yellow on your palette, you have to find a work-around to the fact that nearly all yellows are transparent. So if you paint yellow over green, you will find that the yellow is overpowered by the green behind it.

So it may be a good idea to purchase the cadmiums but use sparingly. And, of course, shop around. paints sold in retail art supply stores are often 2 times the price as on line.

October 2013 is a busy time for shows!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 21:01:00 +0000

August 27 – October 6, 2013: Group show by League of Reston Artists at Unitarian Universalist Church on Wiehle Avenue. I showed Great Falls, 2006, Beauty Spot 2, and Path, Riverbend (Limited Palette).

September, 2013: Reston’s Multicultural Exhibit (“Art Mirrors Culture”) at Lake Anne. I submitted Fisher Boats Unloading, Pine and Station Herndon, and Universal Liquor DC

October 1-28: at Reston Community Center Lake Anne, Show: “artReston”. I have three paintings entered: Orange Trees, Lake Fairfax Park, Waiting—Model in Black. (variable hours due to meetings in gallery room.)

October 1 – November 3, 2013: Portrait show at ArtSpace Herndon. Hours as posted on web. I’m showing “Cellist.”

October 4-6, 2013: 70^th Annual Waterford Exhibit in the Red Barn. I am showing Carousel at Glen Echo, Great Falls in Early Spring, and 20 shrink-wrapped works in the Art Mart, ranging from $40 to $350.

October 5-20, 2013: “Art @ the Mill”, 3 Tannery Lane, Millwood VA (hours?) Hanging: June Morning, Riverbend and Lucketts’ Antiques, with Mute Swan with Reflaction and Bouquet and lemon in reserve.

October 12, 2013 – January 11, 2014: “Small Wonders at Parkridge 5, 10780 Parkridge Blvd, Reston VA, open during business hours in main floor corridor. Small works (under 12” by 12”) by local artists. I’m showing 4 paintings.

October 19-20, 2013 – 10-5: “Art @ The Park”, 600 Quiet Waters Park Rd, Annapolis MD 21403. I’m in booth 9 with 20 or more paintings.

Coming in December: I will be showcasing a selection of recent works at the Reston Association, 12001 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston VA 20191. Hours: 8:30-4:30 Exact dates not yet known.

What is reality, REALLY?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 23:19:00 +0000

Every once in a while I think, as a teacher, "am I steering my students right?" With beginning students, working from "reference" materials, such as photos or even other artists paintings, there's a great emphasis on correctly duplicating what is there.

It is important that the artist have sufficient confidence in his or her ability to duplicate, whether it be a photo or a live still life or figure.

But it's not the end-all and be-all. A work of art is not a copy. Long ago I was impressed by the idea that, if you sit 5 students in the same room painting from the same still life, you're going to get 5 different still lifes.

Let's take a painting recently done by student Greg Pirio. Greg "interpreted" the scene of a fisherman (shown in the resource photo below) and in so doing, came up with a painting that is very bright and alive. Much livelier, in fact, than "reality."

Glen Echo Labor Day Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 13:45:00 +0000

Glen Echo Labor Day Weekend: I have two paintings in the student show: Glen Echo View and Carousel at Glen Echo. These were both "plein air" (on site) oils paintings with some finishing later in the studio.

Glen Echo View, 8 x 10, oil

Technical Info for Oil and Acrylic Painters

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 14:22:00 +0000

Winsor and Newton has a collection of videos on this link which explain various mediums for oil painters and acrylic painters.

One of the mediums discussed is Liquin (for Oils) which I've used for years instead of one of the "traditional" oil-plus-turpentine-plus-dryer mediums. Liquin dries in about 1/2 the time of traditional oil used alone. Since students have repeatedly asked about Liquin, I offer this as a helpful link.

Red

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 16:52:00 +0000

Uhaul by Coulter

Regarding both oils and acrylics, the degree of opacity or transparency may be very important to the effect you can create. For instance, most of the "new" synthetic colors, which can be identified by their unfamiliar names (such as quinacridone, napthol and hansa) are more or less transparent. They also tend to be quite a bit less expensive than the traditional organic colors, such as the cadmiums.

Not realizing this, for a number of years I bought the synthetics. They look as bright. But in the case of Red (for example) they don't cover as well as Cadmium and they interact with other colors differently when blending.

The jury is still out on this point. However, you (as artist) should be aware of the differences and perhaps allow yourself some of the more expensive colors (such as Cadmium Red Medium, Cadmium Yellow, Cobalt, etc.) for use when the brilliance of the color is important.

Some of the traditional colors, on the other hand, like Alizarin Crimson, were manufactured from plant dyes and are notoriously "fugitive" (they fade.) Alizarin Crimson has been replaced by Alizarin Crimson Permanent (which I don't find as delicious a color as the original). I buy instead, Quinacridone Rose, or Magenta.

I did not intend this to be a lengthy post, but I've been holding off for a long time, so you get an extensive regurgitation. There's a terrific book, if you like to read about this kind of thing, called Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay. It's well written but is dense text. If you're more into experimenting then reading, I suggest you experiment with differences in Cadmium Red Medium and other warm reds in that band of the color wheel. Cheers.

Delicate pinks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:45:00 +0000

Flower by Matt Courtney

This lovely painting (Flower) by Matt Courtney, one of my students, is notable for the careful rendition of delicate pink in the flower. Matt probably used Permanent Rose, a better choice than Alizarin Crimson for this particular pink. Setting it against the dark and underplayed background also helps. The camera used unfortunately doesn't capture some of the nuance of the original painting. Well done, Matt. Here's a link to his web page.

As part of the basic color-biased palette, I have been recommending that students include Alizarin Crimson (a cool red) or Magenta. But you might consider trying Permanent Rose for variety.

Some comparison of different cool reds.


Quinacridone Magenta


Alizarin Crimson

Permanent Rose Quinacridone

What is success as an artist?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 18:36:00 +0000

The following are just some musings on "success" as an artist. We tend to define success in this world by money. How much money do you make from your profession? Based on that perception (or conception) many visual artists would feel they were not a success. This is not just a modern day phenomenon. I was surprised recently on reading that many of the well-known French impressionists had financial difficulty throughout their lives. Or, if they were financially secure, it was not as a result of their art.

Edouard Manet — the oldest of the original group —came from wealth. His mother was related to the Emperor and Manet maintained his contacts in the leading circles.

Degas came from the same social background as Manet and was not poor.

Morisot — Refuge in Normandy

Berthe Morisot married Manet’s younger brother and thus had the financial security to pursue her painting career. After her husband died, she continued to paint but was never commercially successful in her lifetime. However, she did outsell several of her fellow artists, including Monet, Renoir, and Sisley. She painted one of the first “impressionist” paintings, called “Refuge in Normandy.”

Alfred Sisley came from a prosperous house and was able to follow an artistic career without any worries. In fact, he seems to have helped some of his poorer artist friends when they were in critical situations.

Because Impressionism wasn’t considered an important style at the time (mid to late 1800s), many of the so-called Impressionists who didn’t come from a wealthy background suffered severe financial hardship.

Camille Pissarro made almost no money, yet he had a family to support. He never found a rich patron.

Monet had financial difficulties as a young artist to such an extent that his wife died of an abortion attempt when pregnant with their fifth child. (She tried to abort because she felt that they couldn't support another child.) Later, in life, he had patrons and seems to have done well.

Paul Cezanne came from a wealthy family but had serious financial difficulties for years because he was afraid of admitting his love of art and somewhat illegal living conditions to his father. (He later inherited, but by then was well-known as a painter.

Auguste Renoir came from a very poor family and was in difficult financial straits until about the age of 36.

I have embedded Morisot's "Refuge in Normandy" in the above blog just to show you another concept of success. We have a badly mixed up world. People with professions (or scams) that don’t really contribute to the survival of mankind often pull down extraordinary amounts of money. While artists of all kinds not infrequently either take a “day job” to supply the necessities of life or give up their passion for art entirely. And yet, it is art that contributes beauty and meaning to life.

Note. Material for this post was taken from several websites which I reference here as (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Admiration is the artist's pay

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:53:00 +0000

Bouquet and Lemon by Coulter

I recently participated in 2 shows, one a 1-person show (mine) at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Reston (32 paintings) and one a 3-person show in which I had 20 paintings at the Rose Gallery in Reston. So there were two receptions. For an "artist's reception", the artist invites guests and provides a spread and hopes that some interest and — yes — sales of work will result. So when there are no sales, or the turnout is meager (one of the receptions was admittedly held on a record-hot day when the News told people to stay home), it can be a little depressing. (Oops. We don't use the word depressing anymore. You can feel the pointy ears of psychs rising alertly.)

So, anyway, I was discussing the lack of sales at the second reception with another participant and said, "well, you know, part of the artist's pay is admiration." She immediately brightened up. Well, it's true. And those of you who've admired my work (but never bought any) should feel less apologetic. I do pay attention to your admiration. It is appreciated.

But also take these words to heart:

"If, of thy mortal goods, thou art bereft,

And from thy slender store two loaves

alone to thee are left,

Sell one & from the dole,

Buy Hyacinths to feed the soul"

- Muslihuddin Sadi,
13th Century Persian Poet

Art is an important part of your world. Art is created by artists. Artists have to survive. If we can't survive by selling our art, then we must become bankers, or bureaucrats, or engineers, or street cleaners. And if you look at the bankers bureaucrats, engineers, and street cleaners of the world, you may find frustrated artists of one kind or another.

Support your own artistic endeavors. And support artists as well as you can. Buy hyacinths for the soul.

Batik - what is it?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:48:00 +0000

Recently, I mentioned batik to a student and got a blank stare — or the equivalent. So I thought I'd blog about it.

Wikipedia defines batik as "a cloth that is traditionally made using a manual wax-resist dyeing technique." When I use the term, I am referring to the process, not the product. Cloth using this process is traditionally associated with Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Azerbaijan, India, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal, and Singapore, but I first encountered a "batik factory" in St. Kitts in the Caribbean.

The process consists usually of 2 or more applications of color to a piece of cloth with liquid wax applied in between to the dry fabric. That is, the artist applies a wax design to the fabric, lets the wax dry, then immerses the fabric in a vat of dye color. Then the fabric is totally dried and the next application of liquid wax is applied. This can go on to many colors, but usually I think the cloth is restricted to 2 or 3 colors.

Some artists have modified the process by using colored wax (like wax crayons) and/or painting on portions of the fabric.

Some years ago, I did a series of batik panels and found the process incredibly tedious. But the results were spectacular!

After you've completed all the color applications, you must remove the wax. In batik "factory" I believe they use kerosene. An alternative for the home artist, and one that I used, is to place the completed piece between thick pads of paper towels and use a hot iron to liquify the wax. After this is complete, there is still some residue, so, if the art work is to be used as a wearable item, it would need further treatment. In my case, I simply mounted the batik on white backing and framed as I would a watercolor.

One thing that is interesting about the process is that you have to think backwards. For instance, if you want to have some white in the final piece, you have to apply wax to the areas that will be white first. Then, you need to chose your colors carefully, because any color that hasn't been waxed will combine with subsequent applications of color to make a combined color.

For example, here's a batik piece I made called "green-eyed woman."

And here's the "color design" that I worked out for this piece.

And here's a piece called "flutist," also done at this time.

I think the process produces spectacular results. It is very time consuming, however.

Boy and Granddad by Phyllis Simard

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:05:00 +0000

Boy and Granddad by Phyllis Simard

This is a painting (yes, a painting) done by a student of mine, Phyllis Simard, in acrylic (yes, acrylic). It's done from a photo with some editing of content to enhance the composition. I think it's very impressive and wanted to share it with you. The style is reminiscent of Norman Rockwell, who painted more than 300 covers for the Saturday Evening Post.

Rockwell was looked down upon by some in the "Fine Arts" community as a "mere illustrator" until after his death when the pendulum swung and his body of work was recognized as art. Too late for Rockwell, but Wikipedia remarks that he didn't mind being called an illustrator. It's what he called himself.

I would encourage all my students: follow your personal dreams. There will always be people who make less of them; you are the one who can make them come true.

Color attributes and their relationship

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 21:37:00 +0000

A rough color value scale

I have often heard the plaintive cry from students that "I just don't know how to mix color." So I decided to offer a course in color theory, and I'm currently running a class of 8 students at the Reston Community Center. The major attributes, and those we're doing exercises on first, are hue, value, saturation and temperature.

I realized yesterday, from a student's question, that the relationship between these attributes is sometimes not well understood. For instance, "hue" refers to the quality that distinguishes red from green from blue. But hue refers to the saturated color: pure red, pure blue, etc. So a grey or a beige is a color but not precisely a hue. It's a neutral. In tinting or shading a pure hue, you're always going to affect that hue to some degree. Addition of white always cools the color. Addition of an analogous color (such as adding yellow to red to lighten it) changes the hue. Adding black or a complement to darken the hue brings it off the outside of the color wheel and it becomes a neutral.

Also, the beginning student may not realize that the neutrals include not only "grey" in various values from white to black, but warm and cool greys, beige, and the whole spectrum of neutral and partially neutral shades and tints.

When I'm having the class do an exercise to establish the "home value" (or basic value) of a hue (red, for instance, is considerably darker when applied as a fully saturated hue than yellow) against a grey scale, The hue will be modified as to its value, saturation and even temperature as we lighten and darken it.

What splendor we can add to our paintings if we understand and can work with all the attributes of color.

Mixing Blacks

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 18:28:00 +0000

I have for some time omitted black from my palette and have depended on mixing blacks and grays using complements or near complements. My favorite combinations to date have been 1) ultramarine blue and burnt sienna and 2) (when I have green on my palette) Thalo green and alizarin crimson. I have so far not found a combination on the yellow-purple complement that I care for as "black" (although I've gotten some good muddy colors), but I assume that I just haven’t found the correct combination. Yellow is so light a value that any combination with purple that gets close to neutral tends to be too light for a rich black. This could probably be remedied by selecting one of the dark yellow neutrals such as raw sienna or yellow ochre rather than high-hue yellow.

By the way, a student asked me the other day if I was familiar with “Payne’s Grey” so — curious as to what its mineral components were — I looked it up. It turns out that (according to Wikipedia) Payne’s Grey is simply a mixture of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue. So now you don’t need to go out and buy Payne’s grey.

But I wrote a poem with a Payne’s grey sky in it some time ago, and I include it here:

It’s a Payne’s grey watercolor sky,

blotted clouds grumbling in anticipation.

Somewhere it’s started to rain.

I will weep, weep with the rain

which hurricanes my heart’s ache

descending in typhoons.

Strong trees may break

before this is over.

It is a long slow rain,

flooding the path to the house.

In a distant land, men are fighting.

I will weep with the rain

for their lost lives.

Exercise: If you have old tubes of paint lying around or you don’t mind the expense of trying new colors, here are some possible colors to try mixing for blacks and greys. A familiarity with and ability to mix various blacks and grays will give your paintings more richness.

1) alizarin crimson and thalo green. (Also try any magenta or cool red with assortment of greens.)

2) cadmium orange and cobalt blue. (Also try other orange and blue combinations. Try also blues with warm browns – which are actually dull oranges.)

3) Indian yellow and dioxazine purple. (Also try raw sienna and other yellow-browns with purples.)

Quinacridone Magenta

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:24:00 +0000

OK. First of all, Quinacridone? What a funny word.

Wikipedia says "Quinacridones are a family of synthetic pigments used to make high performance paints. Quinacridones are considered "high performance" pigments because they have exceptional color and weather fastness." The Wiki article is brief and interesting, but I didn't find any origin of the word.

in my last post I stated that I was going to change my basic palette to include Quinacridone red instead of Alizarin Crimson. Having ordered Q. Red from a color chart, I found that the red is a bit too warm, and that Quinacridone Magenta is more nearly the "cool" red (slightly bluish-red) that should be used in place of Alizarin. The WIki article on Alizarin is also of interest.

Why I recommend a 6 primary-color palette

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:57:00 +0000

I have a lot of half-used paint tubes in my studio, but some years ago, when I started teaching, I limited my palette to 6 primary colors and burnt sienna (and large tube of titanium white, of course.) Why?

Well, a primary reason is that paints are expensive, and a certain percentage of my students were approaching painting for the first time. I didn’t want their first venture to be ugly because of the cost.

In addition, I had just read Blue and Yellow Don’t Make Green by Michael Wilcox.

If you limit your paints to one each of red, yellow and blue, this limited palette may disappoint you. In theory, the “primary” colors should easily make all the colors on the palette by mixing. But commercial paints aren’t exact primary colors. Looking at the exercise shown at the right, notice that the purple and the green (secondary colors) aren't very bright. You will get better results if you have two of each primary color.

The basic theory is that the color wheel as a whole has a warm and a cool side and each color has an inclination to be warm or cool. For instance, lemon yellow is cooler than cadmium yellow.

Since I need to replenish my oil paints in my personal kit anyway, I began looking at my choices to see if I could identify a more optimum selection of colors than I had been using.

The palette I had been using included: zinc yellow, cadmium yellow, cadmium red, alizarin crimson permanent, ultramarine blue, Phthalocyanine (Thalo) blue, and burnt sienna. Zinc yellow, while it is a very cool yellow, I found to be a very weak color, easily overpowered in mixing with any other color. The cadmiums are getting outrageously expensive. Thalo blue (or Prussian, which is essentially the same) is a very strong and staining color and easily overpowers other colors on mixing. But I haven’t found a good substitute for Thalo or Prussian yet.

I am changing my basic palette to: Hanza yellow light, Hanza yellow medium, Napthol red, Quinacridone red, ultramarine blue, and either Prussian or Thalo blue (because I can’t find a good substitute for this color.)Hanza is a substitute for Cadmium yellow. Cadmiums are opaque. Hanza has some translucency and is said to mix well to form secondary colors and tints. Burnt Sienna stays on the palette because it’s essentially a shade of orange, but darker, so it’s easy to mix it with ultramarine blue to make a rich dark.

I did some comparison because I’ve been trying to get alizarin off the palette for many years without success. I learned long ago that alizarin is a “fugitive” color. (That means that it tends to fade.) On the other hand, it’s a very transparent color and is good for glazing. It also mixes well with thalo green to create a rich black. However, some years ago, manufacturers came out with Permanent Alizarin Crimson and I thought they had it handled. But NoooOOOooo. The result was sort of dull and dirty. I wasn’t happy but I didn’t think that I had a choice. Recently, a representative from Golden Acrylics mentioned that Quinacridone Red (in acrylics) is a good substitute for alizarin. Well, I’m switching to Quinacridone Red in both my oil and acrylics palettes.

I did a little experiment (shown at left) to determine the differences between some of the reds in my oil kit. I suggest that you try such comparisons at home. And if you can pick up old tubes of paint rather than buying every color off the shelf, you’ll find that oil lasts quite long in the tube. (Acrylics last somewhat less long, but their shelf life seems to be improving.

Now, to come back to the question: why do I recommend a 6-color palette? Well, I know of one artist who says he puts every color in his kit on the palette every time he paints. He says he uses 72 colors.That’s a lot of preparation. In addition, it uses up a lot of space on the palette that could be used for blending. And, as you can mix any color with the right primaries, putting more seems like overkill.

But some people just like to buy paint, and if that’s you, why go ahead. You’re obviously not alone. Manufacturers keep putting out new colors.

What is composition?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 12:43:00 +0000

Every once in a while, a student asks me: "What is composition?" Or, "How can I know if I have a good composition?"

Composition, as it applies to the visual arts, most closely means combining the elements of art to produce the effect you want. Basically, art is a communication. And the basics of art include line, form, value, color, and ways of representing depth. So the student needs to develop proficiency in the basics, and to the degree that he has that and knows what he wants to communicate, he will have proficincy in composition.

The work of art is a communication, so it will have a different impact on each viewer. You, as artist, never totally control the effect. But you can put together the elements of art so that the communication received by the viewer approaches what you wished to say.

You will find there are many "rules" of composition. Just do a search on the internet and you will find lots of advice. Take notice, but don't allow yourself to be limited by any of the rules. Remember, these are not "physical universe" rules, like the law of gravity. They can be broken.

Your goal in painting is to combine the elements of art so they form a unique and satisfactory composition.

I've been attending a weekly drawing group and wanted to share with you two recent drawings, one being what I would call a "study" and one being a "composition." The study could be complete enough to call it a composition, but you can see that, in the composition, I was more conscious of how the figure interacted with the space, so that the space itself becomes more of an active part of the composition.

Sheila - Study

Lize - Composition

What is a study?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:49:00 +0000

Recently a student asked me "What is a study?" North Light Dictionary of Art Terms defines a study as "a drawing or painting of a section or of a whole composition, usually detailed more carefully than a sketch." Charles Sovak in his book Oil Painting, Develop your Natural Ability (recommended) says, "remember, no matter how beautifully you paint an object, it remains a mere study until it is artfully incorporated into a composition."

Study of a box by Pam Coulter

I think the distinction between "study" and "finished composition" has been somewhat blurred. Consider the fact that Monet painted "Impression, Sunrise" very quickly, generating the name of a whole artistic movement: Impressionism. It was hardly a finished composition in the sense that the "Old Masters" thought of it, so it was a study. Plein air painters today often follow the impressionist lead in the matter, finishing a painting in one session and on site. A study can be so attractive that it rivals or surpasses a finished work. Because of it's freshness and immediacy, it has charm.

But, ok, what is a composition? (Is it unfair to end with a question?)

Ego and the Artist

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 13:13:00 +0000

I’ve sometimes heard it said that the artist has too much ego.

What is ego? Well, it’s a word that originally — in Latin — simply meant “I”. But it was borrowed by Sigmund Freud to represent a concept of self, and is often used in a derogatory sense as egotism, which "characterizes an exaggerated estimate of one's intellect, ability, importance, appearance, wit, or other valued personal characteristics." In other words, ego became identified with selfishness or the failure to take others’ interests and well-being into account.

Looking back over my long career, when I was young, I had a lot of “ego,”a strong sense of personal worth. I say that now, because at the time I had little to show in terms of finished art, simply a sense of greatness. And so I may well have been seen as having an ego, in the bad sense.

But I would encourage my students and artist friends to develop a strong sense of self-worth. First, it’s a bulwark against those who are so afraid of surviving that they would put down anyone with creative ability. Secondly, you probably ARE great; you just need the time to develop a body of work. Third, how are you going to make your work known to others if you, yourself, have been persuaded not to promote your self-worth?

Life can be discouraging. Art is fun. Fill the world with art and encourage others to do so.

Here’s a painting I completed recently:

Floral with brown pitcher

An alternate grey

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:58:00 +0000

I follow the blog of Qiang Huang, who paints little jewel-like paintings. In a recent post, he remarked: "I have found that "transparent brown oxide" (Winsor and Newton) and ultramarine blue makes a wonderful gray." Both are transparent colors. This would be an interesting combination to try. Here is the post where he shows the use of this grey.

On a subsequent day, he tried a different combination of colors to make the grey warmer. Here's his comment:

"I felt the gray I used yesterday is a little too cool. So today I tried a new combination: transparent oxide yellow + ultramarine blue. I like this one better. It made the background warmer." You can see his painting on his blog.

I find the use of complementary colors (or near complements) rather than "tube" black for mixing greys fascinating. There's a painter, William Wray, who uses greys and neutrals to maximum effect. I love his cityscapes.

Great news, had to share it!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:03:00 +0000

I've been accepted as one of 47 artists to be included in the McLean Project for the Arts Artfest, to be held Sunday, October 2, 2011 from 10 AM to 5 PM. I'm very happy as i haven't done any outdoor shows in a while. This will be fun. Put a note on your calendar if you like my art.

Use of Green in Landscapes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:59:00 +0000

This is a very GREEN planet, green and blue. And green can be an overwhelming color, particularly when used by an art student out of the tube. Tube greens tend to be very pure and high hue, often very minty. It's a dominant color. There are some greens that work well in landscapes, such as Chromium Oxide Green or Sap Green. Chrome Oxide is a somewhat dull green. Sap green is sharp and yellowish but transparent so good for glazes. It mixes with other paints but doesn't cover underpainting completely. See more on green in my free art lesson.

But I've simply eliminated green from my basic palette. Partly this came about because, when I started teaching painting, I wanted a limited palette that would allow students to mix all colors but wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Here's a painting I just finished (Suburban Spring) that contains a lot of green but was painted using my limited palette. Notice that the parts hit directly by the sun are yellow green and the darker areas are more of a blue green. In mixing most of the greens, I've mixed either thalo green and cadmium yellow and added a tiny bit of either cadmium red or alizarin crimson, or, for a duller green, ultramarine blue (which is cooler than thalo) and cadmium yellow or nickle titanate yellow (a cool yellow) with a little bit of red. To relieve the green-ness of the painting, I've included a significant amount of neutral greys and accents of red (the complement of green.) I hope you enjoy the result.

Painting from photos - The Controversy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 14:40:00 +0000

A recent potential student asked me if I would be teaching from photos or still life. I replied that it wasn't feasible for me to attempt to lug the components of a still life with me for a 3-hour session a week but that she was free to bring her own still life if she wanted. She replied that she didn't want to paint from photos. This is really a bit of a non sequitur. (I didn't say that she couldn't paint from a still life.) However, it raises the question: is it invalid to paint from photos?

Some will say 'yes' because the photo is precomposed. In addition, the colors produced in the printing process are a lower gamut* than we see when working from life. Finally, a photo (often produced in a 4x6 format, contains much less information than the original scene. I don't disagree.

On the other hand, as a teacher who already lugs a complete setup for oils and a complete setup for acrylics to the teaching site, I don't have any inclination to additionally lug the pots, plants, fruit and other paraphernalia (such as a lamp for directional lighting and drapery) with me on a weekly basis.

We need to look at the use of a photo in a broader context. When I give students a reference photo, I want them to use it as a "reference" not something to be faithfully duplicated. Let's call it a "starting point" for creation. After all, why paint it exactly as shown in the photo. There is already a photo.

There is some use in duplicating a reference photo. If a student is just beginning and is shaky about the basics of art (line, form, composition, color) working from a photo is like having training wheels. Having a still life or model or — worst yet — all of nature in front of you can result in overwhelm. Even the old hand may want to continue to practice. I attend a weekly live model drawing group to improve my perception of what is there.Not only does it help me produce better paintings, but it helps me see the world better — a philosophic benefit.

*gamut: an entire range or series (gamut from praise to contempt)
(Editorial Note: in this case, the entire range of perceptible color.)

Regarding Usful and Useless

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 14 May 2011 13:11:00 +0000

I remember once, when I was in college, a fellow seated across the table at the local college coffee shop asked me what I was majoring in. "Art," I answered. He reared back in his chair as if struck. "Art?" he said, "I heard you were smart."

The implication, of course, was that ART was a useless subject.

Of course, in one sense he was right. I graduated with a pretty "useless" degree. Fortunately, it was 1965, I had friends and family and a spirit of adventure, as resources . . . and the world was a more benign place than it is today. At least MY world. There were awful things going on in it, but they were distant.

And by 1967, I ran into the philosophy which was to define my direction for the rest of my life: Scientology.

Now this post is not about Scientology, per se, but about "Useful" and "Useless."

I have struggled with people's perceptions of the role of art and the artist many times. One guy remarked that he didn't understand why I would want to "just paint pretty pictures for the rest of my life." (Life seemed quite serious to him.)"

Another, met in an elevator in New York, asked me who my favorite artist was. On my reply "Rembrandt," he sneered as he got off the elevator and said, "Oh, you're a conservative."

These attitudes about "Useful" and "Useless" (or "Important" and "Unimportant") polarized people's attitudes about me. People pigeonholed me and categorized me and approached or receded according to their attitudes about how useful art was.

Art is useful because it decorates the world. It is useful because it is a communication about perception and truth and beauty. (Not just painting, now, but music, and poetry and dance etc.) It is useful because , in viewing art, or participating in art, we can step outside the too often weary mundane of our lives, the getting and spending.

And that's — to my mind — far more useful than making machines, fighting wars, pushing paper, participating in espionage, etc., etc., many of the things that we consider "important" or "Useful."

As an individual, art lifts me above myself. As an artist, art presents problems enough for solving without having to invent problems. As a teacher, the joy my students find in the exploration of the process of art and in the development of their own communications makes me happy.

I invite you to read my husband's essay on Certainty and Opinion.

Is art useful? In my opinion it is, and I am quite certain of it. Tell me what you think?