Introduction
Painting has been my passion for as long as I can remember. From time to time, I keep a journal about painting—principles, notes, quotes I want to remember. The notebook is where I keep them. (I have tried to attribute the quotes where I could find or remember them. But some are included without attribution just so I can remember them. My apologies to those left out.) You can also visit the Plumazo Art Gallery to see some images of my paintings.
I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel, with my camera and sketchbook, almost all the way around the world, from Australia to Kuwait and from Alaska to Costa Rica.
My bachelor's degree is in science, but my art training came after college, mainly during six years of evening classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia.
During that time, I took classes in Life Drawing with Margaretta Gilboy, chalk pastel painting with Jill Rupinski and Edith Neff, and Still Life and Landscape painting with Jan Baltzell and Patrick Conners.
My work is shown at FrameMasters and Awards in Cary, NC and has also been shown in various exhibitions in the Delaware Valley, PA and the Raleigh/Durham/Cary/Apex area of North Carolina, including:
- the Ninth Annual Juried Exhibition of the Fine Arts League of Cary, NC (2003)
- the Annual Juried Exhibition of students' work at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA (1988 to 1994).
How to commission a painting
Since I do have a 'day job,' I only have time for a few paintings a year. I try to pick my projects carefully. If you have an idea for a painting or a photograph you'd like to have turned into a painting, let me know. Here is the way I work:
I look at your photos (or whatever). If I think it is something I would like to try, I will. I'll give you a price and if you give me your approval to go ahead, I'll work on it until I am happy enough with it to add it to my portfolio.
Then, I show it to you. If you like it, you pay for it and take it. If not, I keep the painting and you keep your money.
I've been working this way for fourteen years and have only had to keep two paintings. The price depends on the size and complexity, that is why I need to see the photograph, first. Prices start at $50.
The chalk pastel paintings are extremely fragile and require special attention to frame them. A fair estimate is to count on spending double the price of the painting for mounting, matting and framing.
I work with FrameMasters and Awards in Cary, NC.
Art notebook
While talking about hitting a baseball, Yogi Berra once asked how someone could hit and think at the same time. I've read about musicians and other artists who have talked about being in the 'zone.'
I think the same is true with painting. While painting, just paint. Thinking is for before (the plan) or after (the critique).
What principles do I try to use in the 'plan' and 'critique' phases of the painting process?
Design considerations
Design considerations form the basis for:
- Selecting Images — Criteria include the visual energy, excitement or interest the image generates; the power of its symbolic meaning; its importance as an idea (the literal meaning, e.g., the image is of a friend or someone's child) and the compositional element.
- Synthesizing Images — Criteria include the ability to add to, or re-enforce the meaning; or to achieve a new meaning.
- Composing Images — Criteria include the organization of the entire page to form a clear, understandable whole; arranging the shapes, lines and colors to arrive at a pleasing structure.
Making space
There are several ways to create the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional canvas (or paper or computer screen). These include:
- Perspective — Techiques involve the use of foreshortening, diagonals and others to create the illusion of depth and visual interest.
- Overlap — Visual interest created by 'hiding' parts of objects 'behind' one another, adding to the illusion of depth.
- Pattern — Repeating patterns of objects of equal size tend to make the observer's eye move 'across' them, 'flattening' the space.
Repeating patterns of objects that diminish in size tend to amke the observer's eye move 'through' them, creating a sense of depth. - Position — Objects placed on the edge of the picture tend to look as if they lie on the picture plane.
Objects that do not touch the edge of the picture plane tend to look as if they are below or inside the picture plane. - Contrast — This refers to the interaction of positive and negative shapes (i.e., the shape of an object or the shape of the space around that object). To make an object appear 'close' to the viewer, increase detail, add more tonal variations, more colors and more intense colors.
To make objects appear 'farther away' from the viewer, include less detail, use similar tones and colors and the colors should be more 'faded.'
More notes on composition
Form is the visual element of structure. It can be realistic (e.g., an image of a known object) or naturalistic (i.e., abstract). The 'form' of a picture is almost neutral. (e.g., A landscape or a vase of flowers doesn't usually 'mean' something else.)
However, other forms usually do 'mean' something else. A sign states its meaning openly. (e.g., "Stop" or "Click here.") A symbol stands for something more and opens the viewer's imagination.
This can be a good thing (making an image more interesting) or a bad thing (making an image more confusing).
Texture is the visualization of the sense of touch. It can be actual or implied. Texture tends to 'flatten' an image, but it can also add detail or create interest as a background.
Balance contributes to the sense of harmony in an image by building 'tension' within its components. Its attributes include:
- Mass or gravity — Think of clouds floating in the sky. Now, think about a cloud laying on an airport runway with a 747 on top of the cloud. It creates a very different feeling in the mind. Doesn't it?
- Symmetry — When images are arranged in a picture in an asymmetric manner, the viewer often perceives the picture as 'out of balance.' While symmetric arrangements appear more harmonious. However, too much symmetry looks boring. Asymmetry, used well, can create interest or tension. (That's why this is called 'art.')
More notes on color
Color has three characteristics:
- Value — The quantity of the light falling on an object. The range varies from light to dark.
- Intensity — The quality of the light falling on an object.
- Hue — The wavelength of the light falling on an object. The range varies from warm (red, orange and yellow) to cool (green, blue and violet).
- Primary colors: red, yellow and blue
- Secondary colors: orange, green and violet
- Complementary colors: (colors with the highest contrast when placed close to each other):
- red and green
- yellow and violet
- blue and orange
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Speaking of art
There is a lot of good advice about art. I need it all. Here are some of my favorite quotes about art:
From Paul Cezanne:
The decision to paint requires the strength to overcome doubt and to progress with no guide other than oneself.
Literature expresses by abstraction. Painting gives concrete shape to sensations by means of color and outline.
From George Seurat:
The means of expression is the optical mixture of tones, hues and their reactions (shadows) in accordance with perfectly fixed laws ... Art is harmony. Harmony is the analogy of opposites (contrasts) and the analogy of similar tones, hues and lines. These diverse harmonies may combine to produce expressions of emotion.
From Kimon Nicolaides:
Look to play up light vs. dark and straight lines vs. curves. Look for dominant areas of light and dark and then smaller areas within them. Analyse famous works in these terms.
A plan of attack for portraiture: light colors building from the center of the form; gesture considerations (gesture of body, features and character); and inside and outside contour considerations.
From Yoda:
Try not. Do or do not. There is no 'try.'
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