Say "NO" to Flesh Tone!

Lindsey (8x6 0il)

Figure studies are done quickly -- just long enough to capture gesture, shape, colour. Something to consider when working quickly in an editing mode is the use of exaggeration of colour and contrast. Often in figure drawing studios, the lighting is less than optimal so improvisation is helpful if you know what to push...

(12x9 oil pastel)

Think in terms of temperature, not colour. The phrase "Skin tone" has a premeditated effect on your choice of colour so I try to not use it. "Flesh tone" is even worse (not to mention prejudice) -- it immediately conjures up pinks where greens, violets, and a variety of unnameable grays & browns are much more accurate. Skin (of any race) has a unique, absorbing surface and is always visually effected by it's surrounding light and background colour.

Sue (12x16 dry pastel)

In most cases (especially with lighter skin) the larger the form, the grayer it appears/ the smaller the form, the redder (or warmer). Blood runs closer to the surface on small forms; the nose is redder than the face, the face redder than the head, the head redder than the torso, etc. Exaggerating the temperature of forms helps define them while adding interest palette-wise. Extremities such as wrists & ankles, fingers & toes, ears & nose, knees & elbows have a warmer tint compared to broader parts such as thighs, torso/back, etc. By keeping the larger, broader areas of the body cooler and the smaller parts warmer, you will have a more convincing palette of colour in your studies as well as your finished works of the human figure.

On the EDGE...

Study for Betty Carter (16x8)

Edges -- there are several kind; Soft, Hard, Broken, Lost... Without a variety of edges, a two-dimensional painting will appear either out of focus or as flat as flat can be. Edges of course turn objects in space, and give the illusion of space itself as well as make the subject of a painting relate to it's background plane. Edges also create texture, energy and movement...

In this study sketch, all of the main edge categories are present -- mostly created without much thought by painting rapidly with little investment. One of the joys of painting this way is not worrying about the outcome -- it's a "study" not a final product, so there's plenty of bandwidth for mistakes along with happy accidents -- stuff you leave behind or carry over to the next version. Her cheek on the left side of the picture has a soft to lost edge -- this soft edge turns the curve of her face away from us. Conversely, the drop-shadow of her lower lip casts a hard edge on her chin. Those edges create form. Other edges present in her hair, dress and even the edges of random strokes in the background express energy & movement...

Banjo Player study (detail 16x12)

Broken edges are interrupted lines, either skipped along with repeating staccato-like strokes, scrubbed in with a coarse brush or achieved with a dry brush technique (thicker paint, dragged on lightly). Sometimes a wet-into-wet squiggle will suffice for a broken/soft edge as with the banjo player's shoulder -- this also creates energy within the composition.

Lost edges are just that -- they don't really exist where you know an edge really does. These edges are atmospheric tricks of the eye where the value of one shape runs into the area of another shape without any defining border. These edges are often found within shadow shapes because of the lack of defining light, but can also be used (or exaggerated) in the light areas as well to create moody effects or to help in unifying the subject with it's background. A lost edge gives a receding effect to a shape adding extra dimension to the picture plane, but of all the edges, this one should be used the least -- too many times or in too large an area it can read more gimmicky than believable. Back lit objects have a halo effect of soft and lost edges and are a good exercise to render along with hair or folds in clothing and when studying edges.

More Life Drawing...

Heather (oil pastel 16x12)

Kira (charcoal 12x9)

An Accent Waiting to Happen...

Kira (12x16)

Study sketches -- their either good, or good for you (but preferably both). When you squint your eyes looking at your subject, details fall away and all that's left are a variety of shapes and values... This is the best approach to doing a study from life, stripping down to the bare essentials (pun intended). What I wanted to blog on here are the accent strokes... Accents can be light or dark, usually hard edged and potent (high contrast within it's particular context). Accents are usually small and serve two purposes; to link together bigger shapes and to draw attention to an area...

Detail

Here, the accents are the 2 dark cast shadow strokes of her knee against her shin, and the robe against the couch. Accent strokes are only effective when executed with an obvious spontaneity -- a deliberate single stroke. In other words, not rendered, finessed or smoothly overworked in several brush strokes. Make it work like an exclamation mark to amplify a statement. Used properly and sparingly, accents marks can say a lot with little and lend integrity to the overall picture.

For far better inspiration than mine, study the trinity of Sorolla, Sargent & Zorn; masters of the accent stroke and saying more with less...

Happy Mother's Day!

Sun Hat (20x16)

Heading up to the Seattle area for the Howard/Mandville Gallery anniversary show opening (and mom's day getaway) tomorrow, but was able to do this study yesterday... this model, Quinn has posed a few times for us before and I've always been happy with the results. Sometimes no matter how good the model is, you just can't keep up (which is why I don't post everything) but I got out of this session what I was after; interesting strokes and texture, lighting and edges... working information that contributes to the next painting.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Just the facts, ma'am...

Grace (25x15)

When sketching from the live model in one session, you just go for the facts; light & shadow, edges, value & colour....but no details. Details will bog you down with unnecessary information and cause you to lose spontaneity and kill the overall freshness of the picture. Instead of trying to record everything you see in the time allotted, edit as you go, deciding what's essential and what is extraneous -- it's surprising how little information is actually needed to capture the spirit of a subject. A few accent strokes will will do for the illusion of detail and help hold the shapes together... the tricky part is to know when to walk away and quit messing with it (something I have yet to learn my lesson on...)

And now back to our program...

I just can't stay away from painting blues and jazz subjects...and I have no idea if anyone would buy such a painting, but they're going to have to pry that #6 flat Simmons Signature series hog bristol from my cold dead fingers before I give it up...

Tenor Sax (9x12)

These are more or less studies for possible larger pieces (or parts of larger paintings) but are O.K. to stand alone as small works. I'm both a music lover and an art lover, and the older I get, the more I appreciate the music of my parents generation and am inclined to explore that as subject matter.

Fascinating Rhythm (9x12)

Since my mother passed, I have repeatedly returned to the popular Samba influenced pop that was in the background when I was small (Astrid Gelberto, Sergio Mendez & Brazil 66, etc.) perhaps I'll venture into that genre for subject next... Interesting how much of the memory of our lives music can store and trigger when the timing's right.

Time on your side...

TIME usually gets a bad rap since most of us want more than what's allotted, but when painting outdoors on location, time can actually be your ally...the setting sun, moving clouds -- elements we can't control that change the shadows, values and colour can keep you from overworking a piece, which is a good thing. Spontaneity is a desired and important quality in a plein air painting, and too much time will steal it from you. In the case of the piece below, a delivery van parked right in front of me just as I was nearing the finish -- I thought I wanted more time, but later realized it would have gone down hill from here (maybe it already had a little, but it still has some freshness to it).

Urban Assault Vehicle (9x12)

Bridge of Size (9x12)

Like many landscape paintings, urbanscapes are more interesting in the hours of early morning or late in the day when shadows are long and more interesting things are happening abstract-wise... Of course you're asking for it when staying in the confines of an hour or so, but that hour of golden light is worth the pursuit. For the piece above, I took a reference photo so I could add the white van later when I got home. Moving vehicles are almost impossible to paint, but leaving them out of a city scene (along with pedestrians) can sometimes have the "neutron bomb effect"...