Painting from life

The Canvas Wars

2012-01-06T12:22:00.000-08:00

Every painter I know has serious terminal angst over what canvas to use- lead primed, double-primed, cotton, polyester, panels, strainers or stretchers. Whew!

I will only try to address the problems inherent in large life-sized formats- yunno- the biggies.

There seams to be a consensus among conservators that lead priming is superior- however the standard easily available pre-primed canvasses like Claessens 13 DP and Rix 111 are now using oil based primers- not lead anymore. This lead me to my latest unfortunate adventure in canvas stretching- PRIMING MY OWN!

Whoo- I read all the stuff I could get my hand on-in books and on the internet. Got all the right stuff- Rublev lead primer from Natural Pigments- PVA size ( I chickened out on the rabbit skin glue).

and Claessen's unprimed #13 linen.

What a horror show-! Do you have any idea how long and hard it is to properly prepare an 8' canvas. I sized-then primed, then sanded and sanded. It was 8' of total warty crap! I was doing a nude so I did not need something that would make my model look like she has a skin disease. No wonder J.S. Sargent used pre-primed.

More tomorrow.

Well January 31st is not exactly tomorrow.....

Since I was up a tree without a canvas and hired a model- I had to get something. I remembered

a well-respected figurative artist ad recommended some double lead primed linen from the New York Central Art Store. It was fine woven lead primed portrait linen. I have a great deal of respect for that art store and use it frequently- but the linen was a total disappointment. It was sloppily prepared and I had to sand it to get rid of the many imperfections. Even after that when I started to paint the model the were obvious and disfiguring slubs and bumps all over the figure part- even though I had gone to great lengths to avoid this. The worst was a large horizontal slub through the chin.

I ccould not go on so I had to find another quality option ASAP. When I hire a model I cannot in good concious lay her off as she depends on the income. The Italian Art Store- the best and most reliable art store on the planet- dispatched some linen samples- specifically ArtFix. No good- they were either too slick- the quadruple primed portrait linen- the other were too rough. I had bought a roll of this stuff before and gave it away ($900 dollars worth)- it was like painting on a shower curtain. In desperation I saw Blick was having a sale on the RIX 111- not lead primed but oil primed and only about $420 for oil double primed linen (56'x6yds) including shipping. For me the surface was perfection- just enough tooth, and beautifully prepared right here in the USA.

There was an AAAARRGH moment- a few days later I walked into a local Utrecht store in Providence. In the back was a stack of Claessens DP 13- a linen I had used for years. I had called this store and some poorly informed clerk told me that they only had acrylic primed linen in rolls. Ahem.

In the future I will be investigating polyester linen- as I think that is the future.

Born-Again Life Painter

2011-12-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

I am now 68. I did not discover the joys in painting from life until later in life- in fact I only started dabbling in it about 15 years ago and really have gone full bore only in the last 8. I experimented with a combination before that- painting combinations from life and photographs. I would get nervous if I started a large painting using expensive costumes- only to have my model split before I was finished. However the photographs looked so dull next to the model and I could never reconcile the drawing between them- no matter how carefully I took the pictures. The eye and the camera see differently. Now I only use a camera for photographing the finished work. In a word- I became an ADDICT! There is an describable richness to the experience, the difference between a fine wine and Ripple.

I thought I had an image to protect of this really expert draftswoman, she of perfectly rendered and painted pieces-but I was so bored- licking stamps seemed more exciting.

So if anyone is worried that they are too old or it is impossible- unless you are in a nursing home you can always make a belated stab at it.

However today- I am done in. I was hauling around a 50lb painting yesterday. I am not Georgia O'Keefe who in her dotage had a buff studio assistant name Juan to help her. Next year!

Before you hire a model!

2011-12-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

Like many of you I worked from photographs. Blush. The 'art school' I attended- the wretched Boston Museum School gave us no instruction in painting from life. They just stuck a model in the room and we whaled away thinking that this was it. It seemed it was beneath the instructors to show up.

After getting pretty depressed about the the whole affair and their emphasis on simply expressing ourselves, (we were more like a bunch of untutored chimpanzees with paint and paintbrushes than art students) I stopped going to classes.

But, I had to support myself and thus became an illustrator. I used photographs. Sniff.

Later in life I decided to go back to my first love- damn the abstract expressionists- full steam ahead. I did what I always did- used photographs to launch an anemic portrait career.

There were no ateliers then - I did not know what sight-size was- imprimatura, massing, you name it. I had photographs blown up, traced them, put a piece of plastic in top and matched the color to the photograph.

I thought I was FABULOUS- until I went to the Boston Museum and saw the Sargents, the Stuarts and the panoply of magnificent figurative work. I realized that I would have to learn how to draw and paint properly.

To cut to the chase- DO NOT run out and hire a model until you have your drawing down cold. Do not use color at first. Stick to monochrome. Really nail the basics. There are no shortcuts even though it may look like there are. Trust me. I wish I could run a knife through most every early piece I did from photos.

There are some excellent books on this- one is http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823006573/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_2?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0823006581&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=05ZW0Q7DS43VPQKM7A6T

If you can go to an atelier or a decent school where they actually teach you the classic way. Even one year is worth it. Stay away from overpriced, overrated schools like the Rhode Island School of design where there is no instruction in this whatsoever. Students have to go to optional classes and pay for their own models.

Exploiting the suffering of others to win the Outwin Boochever

2011-10-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

I have decided not to enter the Outwin Boochever 'portrait' contest. I do not have someone I want to exploit. I do not know down-syndrome victims or burn victims- two sure fire prize winners.

The paintings that have won are mediocre photo copies at best and without a verbal explanation would be overlooked- except for a natural visceral reaction to human disfigurement.

I also am not a photocopier. The paintings that are admired are taken pixel by pixel from photographs. There is no 'contact', one of the contests requirements except for very few clicks of a camera.

The Outwin Boochever judges are overrated hacks with no more knowledge of how to paint figuratively (or even paint at all) than a pig knows how to lay eggs.

Also the storage rooms of galleries and museums must be strained to capacity with paintings of past outrages. What will we do with all the "Hell No I Won't Go" Vietnam era paintings, George Bush parodies, 60's women's lib bra burnings excreta and the cartloads of Twin Tower paintings.

Painting from life with Jacob Collins- The New Avante-Garde

2011-07-19T05:40:00.000-07:00

In a recent article in the New Yorker by the major critic Blake Gopnik, write about he is learning to draw from life with Jacob Collins.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/06/27/110627fa_fact_gopnik

A lot of figurative painters are really angry with me- really angry- good, they should be- not at me but at themselves. They have taken the easy way out and now many will be ignored.

For too many years I have been flattened by criticism about my insistence on painting from life. This is slow art, folks and it is coming, slowly- but coming.

I have been working as an artist for many decades. I have seen the trashing of the figurative arts. Artists persisted however, but far too many of them resorted to painting from photographs- photoshopped or otherwise. Working from models was too expensive and tedious. Frankly most of them, I think, are not good enough to do it. Even the New York Times critics are bored with the photoshopped work of Will Cotton and Photo Realism in general.

In actually looking at your subject, not through a lens but actually looking at it over a period of weeks refines your perception of it, changes it it subtle ways as you yourself are changing. Some days I am angry at the model, some days I see her beauty- these emotions affect your work.

I had a student in a workshop who would only paint while he was looking at the model through the camera. People text now as they find talking to each other awkward.

Models are expensive yes. What to do? This is a really challenging question. Dennis Miller Bunker http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Miller_Bunker would buy a few roses and paint them. Landscapes are cheap to paint- they are outside your window. They don't have to be grand, just well and honestly observed. Still-lifes- just try not to make them trite. Really think out what you put in them. I think it it better to paint one beautifully observed egg than to paint what you think is a masterpiece from a photograph.

Here is a brilliant essay by Bill Whitaker on the subject.

Go for excellence in portraiture
The world of contemporary portraiture is much too dependent on photography. Far too many practitioners can’t draw accurately and believe the only way to go is to copy photographs, even relying on tracing them! The results are all too often second rate versions of the chosen photos. Why not simply cut out the middleman and go for photos alone? The Establishment has pretty much settled on that route and painted portraits are today relegated to a second class position. The real clout resides with portrait photographers such as William Coupon. www.williamcoupon.com Our craft has access to a vast archive of knowledge, carefully built up over a period of four hundred years. For example, there is a best way to place our subjects in light and shadow to bring out the most powerful and sensitive form. Yet how many of us know what that way is and actually use it? There are proven methods, materials and approaches that will give us best results. How many of us struggle with poor paints, bad brushes, bad canvas, painting environments that hinder rather than help, and working photos that are simply awful?For portraits in oil, there is one best way. It is to paint from life in a traditionally lit studio. When you work from a photo, no matter how good the print, you are forever wondering if you are seeing colors and values accurately. When the real is sitting there before your eyes, you have more information than you can handle. It is much easier. Photos should be relegated to an adjunct support role rather than a primary source.If you take portraiture seriously, first study what has come before. The web is full wonderful art sites, such as the Art Renewal Center. www.artrenewal.org Starting there and using leads you find and a good search engine such as Google, you will discover a wealth of wonderful works – many largely unknown. You will also find works done by wonderful young contemporary talents who are doing things the right way.In another thread, Chris Saper introduced us to the fine portrait photography of William Coupon. By applying the art of light and shadow and relying on one light source, he has certainly learned his lessons from the Old Masters and applied them to photography. Far too many contemporary painters ignore or can’t be bothered with those same truths and choose, often out of ignorance, to try and reinvent the wheel, to create something from nothing.If you are serious about furthering portraiture today, or getting really good at it, go to the trouble of setting up the right environment for painting. If you are not serious, you will have many excuses. But understand that young masters like Jacob Collins, Steve Assel, Kate Lehman, Sherrie McGraw, have always made the necessary sacrifices to organize a proper working place. There are many contributors on this forum who can give you ideas and suggestions on doing this.Then begin to paint heads from life. Commandeer family members, long suffering friends, hire high school students to sit. Understand that at first your efforts will be awful. But so would your violin playing be if you were to take it up today. Cut yourself a lot of slack. Do endless practice. Be patient. You will see improvement in your drawing skills, your painting skills, your color skills, your sensitivity. Have a sitter and work from life almost every day for months, then years. I have been a working professional for over forty years and I still do head studies from life all the time. Remember, if this were easy, it wouldn’t be called Art!The world doesn’t need more collections of second rate paintings, paintings worse than the photos on which they are based. What our field needs is respect and that will only come through a large body of excellence.

Vanessa Finito 44" X 30"

2011-07-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sort of. I can see some spots I do not care for which I have just touched up. They always show up when you post.Photographing work has been tough lately- even for pastels as we have had nothing but rain, rain, rain. My model is dying to go to the beach- think tan lines- which I will have to work around- but fortunately the weather has been lousy for that. We are known (RI) as the Ocean State and have a whole Jersey Shore thing going here- with the accents, hair gel, whatever.This was done on a sheet of Pastell Deluxe Ultramarine which I got from New York central Art. Best place do get paper on the planet.The background blue is the most intense blue I could find that was toward the violet spectrum. It was #520 from the Mount Vision pastel Company. Gorgeous.I use primarily Great American Pastels, Unisons, Schminkes, Mt Visions and Senneliers. The Great Americans are my favorite for skin tones.http://www.nycentralartsupply.com/europe/france3.html

Marcel Duchamp- a legend in his own mind or why I think he is pompous and overrated.

2011-07-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

It is his work that has died- this is his own art obituary. He was one of the first artists to pull the wool over the collective public's eyes and the stupid public went along with it because they were too cowardly to do otherwise. Why does a painting to be shocking, outrageous or surprising to be good? He limits the definition of art to suit his own argument and his own work. Why have we ever listened to this charlatan, this art goon?

Marcel Duchamp once said that "after 40 or 50 years a picture dies, because its freshness disappears. Sculpture also dies. . . . I think a picture dies after a few years like the man who painted it. Afterwards it’s called the history of art." The painting and sculpture that seemed so outrageous -- surprising, even shocking -- at the beginning of the 20th century was almost a century old by its end, and had long since become part of art history.

The Art of Cruelty

2011-07-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/books/review/book-review-the-art-of-cruelty-by-maggie-nelson.html?scp=1&sq=The%20Art%20Of%20Cruelty%20Maggie%20Nelson&st=cse

This book is a discussion of the celebration of cruelty and sadism in 20th and 21st century art.

It is appalling that this 'art' has been going on unabated for nearly a century. It is the fault of the huge media organs like the New York Times that use this violent drek to sell newspapers, under the guise of 'art criticism'- just as TV shows and movies use gratuitous violence.

I made a search of the the New York Times site using words like exquisite, aesthetic, beautiful, and found precious little in contemporary reviews. These words were used almost exclusively on shows of art from the previous centuries as in 'exquisite drawings by Boucher' or breath taking 16th century Dutch landscapes.

We have generations upon generations of 'artists' and I use that word loosely who have no concept of craftsmanship and a total fear of aesthetics. No-one want to be other than cutting edge- though that is actually the norm today and cutting- edge has become old hat.

"I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart." - e e cummings

2011-07-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

Photo-Realism- A Dead End

2011-07-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

In this essay, a New York Times critic explores the concept and 'art' of photo realism. There are few New York Times art reviews that are worth reading, but they are read desperately and often by many contemporary artists for clues as to what is the next big thing.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DEEDB173BF933A05752C0A9639C8B63&scp=7&sq=painting%20realism&st=cse

Meditation and Ani Marilyn

2011-06-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

It is a mean cruel hurtful world out there for artists. Most of the time you will find that you are the only cheerleader in the stands. I have faced rejection from the smallest local shows and galleries imaginable- the big ones too. Artists are by nature sensitive and the hardest thing to do is to retain that very valuable quality. We are often told to develop a thick skin- I am not sure that is such a good idea. Really feeling and accepting hurt, experiencing it deeply is not such a bad thing. Suffering is real- it come to all of us in one form or another. Even if we live a charmed life of success, wealth and health- this too can come to a crashing halt.

Decades ago I was blessedly fortunate to meet and study Buddhism with this extraordinary woman. At the time- I was 38 years old, widowed and totally at wits end. I remember driving to South Providence to Lexington Ave every Saturday for weeks to take lessons. Ani Marilyn translated the esoteric teachings of Dzogchen from my Tsawei Lama, Khenpo Thupten Rinpoche.
Even at that age I did not really understand just how incredibly fortunate I was and just who Ani Marilyn was. I knew she had given up a life as a photographer after her lover died. I remember giving her the two finger width haircuts as was standard for Tibetan nuns. One day a saw her tenderly moving a wiggling, frightened slug out of of harms way as she whispered to it- "don't be afraid little worm, you will be ok." She ran around Providence with her wine colored robes and wine colored high top sneakers. Her favorite TV show was " "Love Boat", which prompted Khenpo to tell her, " Love Boat is not suitable TV show for nuns."

Here is her biography and work.

http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/east-was-tugging-my-soul

http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.PhotographerDetail_VPage&l1=0&pid=2K7O3R139HRN&nm=Marylin%20Silverston

Rosa Bonheur

2011-06-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

Clinging to photographic reference. Excuse number four.

So many artists feel that they would be stymied in their career without the use of photography. Their ideas are so phenomenal they cannot escape the lure and ease of the unmovable print.

MY GOD! I cannot paint animals! Rosa Bonheur did and in spades. She had a deep love for animals and went to great lengths to learn how to represent them with passion and skill. She always painted them from life and they are far from static images.

http://www.caroun.com/Research/art/rosabonheur.html

http://scriptorsenex.blogspot.com/2010/07/rosa-bonheur.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Bonheur

http://www.lilithgallery.com/arthistory/realism/Rosa-Bonheur.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=Rosa+Bonheur&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7IRFA_en&prmd=ivnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Ab4ATvzQEsXa0QHTjJ2lDg&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=848

Should You Take Paid Commissions?

2011-06-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

This seems like an odd question for an artist. Most of us need money- rather desperately.
I have and have regretted all of them except one- the clients daughter posed for me and I directed the entire painting. The clients were extremely happy. The others were done from photographs- as the clients were too busy and refused to sit. I consider these commercial- not fine art. They looked like what they were- fairly competent copies of photographs. They never went beyond the surface of the photoprint.

What to do about commissions then? It depends on why you have decided to be an artist in the first place. Is the money more important than the images you personally would paint? Do you care what you paint and do not mind being in fact, a hired brush. If you were to be a portrait artist today you would almost be certain to have to paint it from a photograph leading to results like the very unfortunate Bill and Melinda Gates portrait justifiably panned by Blake Gopnik in the Daily beast.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/05/18/bill-and-melinda-gates-portrait-is-this-art.html?cid=tag:all1

I do not want to post it here as it is quite dreadful. The artist was given one hour with the Gates.

The last great presidential portrait- that could stand alone as a work of art was the J.S. Sargent portrait of Theodore Roosevelt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TRSargent.jpg

The rest are simply historical paintings of no great value except for the prominence of the sitter. President Clinton's portrait is insipid and Mrs. Clinton looks like Howdy Doody.

If you are stirred to do ego paintings of prominent or wealthy sitters- do so- but the importance of the sitters will far outweigh any value you add as a painter. I have not seen any examples that contradict this. If this is your idea of what you think fine art is- by all means do it. You will not be alone as legions of contemporary 'portrait artists' are doing the same.

I have done some quickies to survive- but I try NOT to sign them or make an unintelligible cartouche at the bottom.

I think from the beginning of your career as an artist you have to decide what is the most valuable thing about painting. What is it you want to say? What moves you. What, most importantly do you love? There will be times when you are desperate financially and have to paint things you would rather not- but is this what you wanted to show for your lifes work? I cannot give anyone the answer. Read biographies of past and present artists you admire to get some iseas or guidance. There will some bright lights along the way- clients who will actually sit that you would love to paint.

I have had many chances to paint polititians and other wealthy people but I won't because there is no way in hell I would be able to make a painting- a rendering yes, but I value myself and my short time on this earth too much to do this. I would rather bag groceries.

I have always wanted to make pictures- my own in the best way, with the best craftsmanship I could muster. There are some brilliant painters working this way- and strictly from life. These are the painters to be reckoned with. The rest are all wannabees.

This is what Steven Assael has to say about painting from life.

"His paintings have been called Post-Post Modern and works strictly from live models. Arlene Raven describes him as wanting "the greater possibilities of duration. More variety, and a broader range of values and colors, a chronicle of the transformations of changing light, spent over real minutes and hours with his model." In speaking of his work and how it contributes to contemporary art, Assael stated that, "Even though art is dead as we have known it, painting is not." [1]

http://www.stevenassael.com/

http://www.jacobcollinspaintings.com/

And as I have said how you paint is your business, this blog is about how I paint.

Vanessa and the butterfies in progress

2011-06-20T04:45:00.000-07:00

I always plan my pictures. I gather background material and scraps of color-aid paper and tack them up where the model should be. I make sure the colors resonate harmoniously and I try to push the color so it is not always the same old trite combinations. I always plan my color- it is neither accidental nor left to chance. I make color studies for large works. Planning your color ahead of time keeps your colors from getting muddy and keeps them fresh and painted with surety.

Art is Abused

2011-06-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

30 years ago in the summer of 1981, I heard this talk in Boulder, Colorado by Choygyam Trungpa Rinpoche, a very controversial Tibetan Lama. To say he put the wheels back on my car is an understatement. I was thunderstruck by his belief in the basic sacredness and goodness of art. At that time art was in the hands of the neurotic, the insane and the money launderers. It still is and it seemingly goes on unabated. How else to explain the horrors of a Damien Hirst.

He gave strength to my belief in the power of beauty and aesthetics in art. I remember to this day sitting in the audience and sobbing, both with relief and joy.

He has his detractors, but I know people who knew him personally and benefited immensely from his wisdom. One of his foremost students is the inestimable Pema Chodron.

Some of his thoughts are below.

“A work of art is created because there is basic sacredness, independent of the artist’s particular religious faith or trust. Sacredness from that point of view is the discovery of goodness, which is independent of personal, social, or physical restrictions.” Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Pg. 130, in True Perception

JTADHARMA ART LETTER, written by Chogyum Trungpa RinpocheIn talking about Dharma Art here, we do not mean art, which necessarily depicts Buddhist symbols or ideas, but rather art which springs from a certain state of mind on the part of the artists. We can call this the meditative state: an attitude of directness and unselfconsciousness in one’s creative work.The basic problem of artistic endeavor is the tendency to split the artists from the ‘audience,’ trying to send a message from one to the other. When this happens, art becomes exhibitionism: the person who gets some tremendous flash of inspiration, them rushes to ‘put it down on paper’ to impress or excite others; or the very deliberate artist who strategizes each step of his work to produce certain effects on his viewers. No matter how well intentioned or how technically accomplished, these approaches inevitably become clumsy and aggressive, towards others and toward oneself.In ‘meditative’ art, the artist embodies the viewer as well as the creator as he works. Vision is not separate from operation, and there is no fear of being clumsy or failing to achieve his aspiration: he simply makes his painting, poem, piece of music, whatever.In this sense, a complete novice could pick up a brush and, with the right state of mind, produce a masterpiece. This is possible. But it is a very hit-and-miss approach. In art, as in life generally, we need to study our craft, develop our skills, and absorb the knowledge and insight passed down by tradition.But whether we have the attitude of a student, who could still become more proficient in handling his materials, or the attitude of an accomplished master, when we are actually creating a work of art there is a sense of total confidence; our message is simply appreciating the nature of things as they are and expressing it without any struggle of thoughts and fears. We give up aggression, either toward ourselves – that we have to make a special effort to impress people; or toward others – that we can put something over them. Genuine art – Dharma Art- is simply the activity of non-aggression.

The Twentieth- the Lost Century of Art

2011-06-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

Souren Melikian, a rare cogent New York Times art critic, gave what I thought was a brilliant summation of the 'art' of the 20th century.

The last paragraph is especially telling.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/arts/11iht-melikian11.html?scp=1&sq=severini&st=cse

The 20th-century visual arts paralleled the multiplicity of ideologies that reflected conflicting conceptions of society and man’s place in it. The rudderless world that exploded in self-destruction from 1914 to 1918 and 1939 to 1945 also tore itself apart in the images it conceived. It desperately tried everything and believed in nothing. The wild aimlessness goes on minus the craftsmanship

Why I have come to paint from life.

2011-06-18T14:42:00.001-07:00

Why should I spend $20 per hour for a model? 4 days a week that is $320.

It takes a lot of effort for me to come up with that kind of money- teaching, a sale ( never enough) here and there. I drive an old car- if the car is of a year that is the same decade- it is indeed a miracle. Yes I do have a husband who does well but he does not, for the most part support my painting.

Then why do it?

I had initially started out wanting to be a painter, but confused by contemporary art and seeing no place for me in it ( this holds true today) I went into illustration. Easy peasy. The work was relatively quick- a couple of days to a couple of weeks to do a piece and a guaranteed check at the end of it. I took photos, camera lucied them, and voila! paid artwork- always- won prizes- had a great rep, made excellent money. Terrific!

THEN- in about 1988 the bottom fell out of the illustration market- I was making 50% of what I was used to making. Then I remembered OH GOD! FINE ART! Let's do some portraits! I'll take some photos, blow them up and copy them. Easy and it was. Started to get commissions.

HOWEVER, I was frightfully close to the Boston Museum where the Sargents are and the rest of the major portrait artists are- you know the Boston School, Tarbell etc. I was aghast- no way on God's Green Earth did my paintings look like them. My brushwork was leaden, my skin tones dull and my color dismal. On went my quest to learn HOW THEY DID IT. OH MY GOD! They painted from ACTUAL PEOPLE- they learned in this in the olden days in art school. I had gone to art school ( the overrated Boston Museum School) where they told me to EXPRESS MYSELF. How was another matter as the teachers were never present in the classes or boinking the students.

I got books out of the library, I bought tapes- Daniel Greene's was the only one available at the time- but very helpful and started with a self portrait(now in the landfill).

I still took commissions, but no-one wanted to sit- but I used my money to hire sitters. I could not stand to do portraits anymore and took a part time job at the overrated RISD to pay for my habit.

Gradually, I left the photos behind- I had started doing combos- but more and more I realized that they were more of an encumbrance than a help. I felt my brushstrokes getting surer. I was feeling a greater rapport with my subject and noticed the changes than came after working with a model for a while. They became real people- not an image to be copied.

Pre-photography.

2011-06-18T08:59:00.003-07:00

Before we had the unfortunate crutch of the photo- artists really had to learn how to paint well. Really well. Now we can keep going back to the photo until we think we get it right. The photo never really changes- it may fade and in time fall apart, but for the most part the image remains the same. Of course maybe the artist has changed, maybe not.

Todays excuses:

A: Models are too expensive- of course artists in the past must have been much richer.
B: They fidgit and move, they are alive. If a model is lousy get a new one. I never start a major painting unless I test out my model on some small drawings first.
C: I can get more work done with a photo and faster . Yes you can- but is it better. Quantity has never meant quality.
D: I can get a more accurate rendering. Just post the photo.
E: The poses are boring and repetitive. Below are some lively figurative painters.

Boucher
http://www.google.com/search?q=boucher&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7IRFA_en&prmd=ivnsulb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=c838TfeXL-Xg0QHLt4GrAw&ved=0CGQQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=848

Rubens
http://www.google.com/search?q=boucher&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7IRFA_en&prmd=ivnsulb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=c838TfeXL-Xg0QHLt4GrAw&ved=0CGQQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=848

Veronese
http://www.google.com/search?q=Veronese&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7IRFA_en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=8c38TabtAqPY0QGxsuS2Aw&ved=0CEIQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=848

Fragonard
http://www.google.com/search?q=Fragonard&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7IRFA_en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=J878Tfy9B-rZ0QGJv4SxAw&ved=0CEAQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=848

D: Painting from life lack expressiveness. I love this one as we are all brought up to think a portrait has to be smiling. Cheese everyone. Yet these masters acheived delightful painting in the past from life. Maybe we have not learnt how to paint well enough as yet. Look at the work of these painters.

Judith Leyster
http://www.google.com/search?q=Leyster&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7IRFA_en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=7c78TdjILOGO0gHFtdXaAw&ved=0CCwQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=848

Frans Hals

http://www.google.com/search?q=Frans+Hals&hl=en&pwst=1&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7IRFA_en&prmd=ivnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Os_8TaWlLajW0QHOo_ikAw&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1259&bih=848

Murillo

http://www.paintinghere.com/uploadpic/Bartolome%20Esteban%20Murillo/big/Murillo_A_Girl_and_her_Duenna.jpg

Hogarth
http://www.abcgallery.com/H/hogarth/hogarth32.html

In New York, one of the biggest new slimeball (that takes chutzpah) movements is painted over photographs.

I am beginning to hare ALL FORMS of current realism- give me Rousseau- at least he was honest.

You can choose to paint the ugliness in your soul or the beauty.

2011-06-14T04:52:00.001-07:00

Painters of the past who painted from life.

2011-05-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Woe is me, this is my blog, dammit! I really hate paintings done from photographs. There I said it. It is making everybodies work look alike. We realists are all trying so damn hard to make it look real (like the photograph) we are forgetting that we are making a painting. And as Rhett Butler said, "Frankly, my dear I don't give a damn" if it is done. I really don't care if you do it. It makes those who do try to work from life paintings so much rarer and more precious.From the Art Renewal site."El Greco's work is typically modern, and from it the portrait painter, J. S. Sargent, claims to have learnt more than from that of any other artist. It immortalizes the character of the people amongst whom he dwelt, and he may be considered as the initiator of truth and realism in art, a precursor and inspirer of Velázquez."Below are paintings that exhibit all the qualities that are lost in todays portraiture- profundity and sensitivity (Rembrandt, El Greco), sumptuous beauties that don't look like magazine glossies ( Goya, Botticelli, El Greco' Largilliere, Manet), tenderness and pathos without treacle (Watteau, Gainsborough) and finally characterizations no standard run of the mill (most of todays) contemporary portrait artists would dare to make- this peeved couple from Gainsborough. No- one-paints portraits anywhere near as good as the ones below today, no-one!

Art is not lying to yourself or anyone else.

2011-05-01T06:29:00.001-07:00

We no longer trust our own vision.

2011-03-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

We see through eyes that have been conditioned by photographic images. We can no longer really SEE an object. Before we can actually experience it it is frozen in our perception as a photographic image. It has lost it's place in space, it's atmosphere. We can no more perceive or experience it's actual reality.

Just go out and really try LOOKING at things- really experience them without judging them- IE, beautiful, ugly, pleasant. Try not to label them.