Jerry's Art of the Carolinas...

So glad to have been a part of the Jerry's event at the North Raleigh Hilton this past weekend. The students were great!  My classes were really interesting  - for both of us!...a lecture on The Color of Light, creating color charts for The Color of People, building better portraits through clearer understanding of the individual features in Parts and Pieces, and the busiest class, Great Faces! Special thanks to all the manufacturers who sponsored my classes. Go look at http://www.ampersandart.com/  http://www.savoirfaire.com/ and http://www.sennelier.fr/ and http://www.strathmoreartist.com/ and http://www.richesonart.com/   I love working with your materials...your materials make my art the best it can be...   And those students had such talent and enthusiasm, all ages, all backgrounds - their energy just gave me more energy.  I love, love, love demonstrating portrait sketches. It is always so much fun...really magical... to see an image develop from nothing on a blank canvas. Come back and see me...every one of you!

Looking back at the oil sketch...

Here is a oil portrait sketch I did of a lovely fellow who modeled for one of my workshops a few years ago. I think this is still one of my favorites.  Have you ever noticed how the more spontaneous the work - all while talking, explaning color, value, placement, lighting -  is the real ticket!  All that chatter you are pouring out to the students helps somehow to keep part of your brain occupied so that you don't overwork the painting.  You just do it! And this character study is all in the eye and the corner of the mouth..not to mention the rakish tilt of the hat! I guarantee that you would recognize him in a crowd.

The two hour oil sketch...

Today I would like to share this 24 x 20 oil sketch with you today.  Dana was one of my interns two years ago. She came to me to learn more about figure drawing as she was preparing to go on to the Savannah School of Art for fashion design. We have a great internships program here at Artspace http://www.artspacenc.org/  that works in conjunction with our scool system and the local colleges.  We train them in the business of art, all aspects of creating art, stocking the studio, difference in materials, difference in techniques, the basic daily life of the studio....and in return the students help us with daily work of all types and occasionally assist us with our workshops or classes, deliveries, etc.  This sketch was done in about two hours...note the unfinished hands... but it really caught her in a great spot under the sky light.  Please call for pricing.

I'd like John Singer Sargent's opinion...

When I painted this sample oil portrait, I needed a solid, showy artwork for a faculty show in another state.  In my mind, the real key to this appealing painting is in its simplicity, elegance, and debonaire quality of the gentleman.  Happily, when people see this 40 x 30 oil in my studio, they often say how it reminds them of John Singer Sargent. Well, flattering as that may be (and whether they are educated enough in art to truly make such a comparison may be in question), I wonder what his opinion would be on this comparison? We too often hear something referred to as Sargent-esque.Wouldn't it be wonderful to have an opportunity to talk with a master painter just for a quick critique?  Let me know what you think. What makes a painting timeless and appealing...and maybe - Sargent - esque?

A good lesson...

Try to keep your paintings, sketches, sketchbooks in some version of order. As you keep in touch with past clients, you may find that they wish to purchase historic materials.  Because I do so many compositional sketches for a portrait assignment, there are always more options for paintings than I will end up doing for the client. The parents of this little girl contacted me to purchase several pieces from that earlier project - graphite compositional sketches or watercolor color plans/studies. This is a detail from the final painting - a large double pastel of this little girl and her older sister. I should tell you a secret now...this was painted 17 years ago! It is still one of my favorites. How nice to hear back from those clients...

Working studio...

Welcome to my working studio.  Of the two rooms, this is the back room where the skylight gives me as much good light as I can hope for in an historic building.  My working wall is full of heightened chacoal sketches that I am using to work out sizes and compositions for paintings.  These three are 24 x 30 and 30 x 36. You can see tables with boxes that have just arrived, a couple of oil paintings in progress, and a large ink drawing on newsprint testing out the size requested by a client for their double portrait...the usual jumble of things that move in and out of the space as I work.