Gulls just wanna have fun

They don't hold still long but they do return to earlier poses -- frequently.

This page of sketches is from last summer, but the weather here on Long Island is getting warm enough to sketch at the beach again.

Starting with the highlights

One of the interesting aspects of working on a neutral ground is that, if you choose, you can begin with the highlights. I find this to be a very refreshing way to work. We are so used to putting dark marks on light surfaces that to do the opposite kind of forces me to stay engaged in a way I might not when beginning a painting like this.

This one is large (see comment from my mathematically inclined son on my earlier post) at 36 x 48 inches. And while Chris can tell you why that not only seems much larger than 30 by 40, but in fact IS much larger (by about 44%), for me, it's the practical consideration that in my crowded little studio I can just fit this baby on the easel.

Robin again

Done this afternoon in James Lancel McElhinney's class at the Art Student's League in Manhattan.

Are you peeking at my underpaints?

There's a conscious effort on my part here to create some interesting colors and optical effects by laying in some complimentary colors as underpainting. You can be the judge as to how successful this is when I'm finished.

I did this kind of underpainting in the composition at top. You can see traces of the orange underpainting peeking out from beneath the pale blue surface on which the two shells sit.

Finito?

Sometimes I sign these things and then a few days later come back and add another couple of daubs...

And speaking of signing, I have used only initials here. Can you blame me? With a name like this? On a canvas that is only 9 x 12?

My son, Chris, is going to a reception tonight at the Chicago Public Library which is exhibiting, among others, the poster design he did for them. In an email to me he made reference to his incipient fame as a graphic designer on his way to becoming a 'household name.'

"With a name like ours?" I replied.

Ready for Spring

In preparation for the warm weather, plein air painting and, in particular, for a trip we are taking to Little Cranberry Island in Maine at the end of May, I've been priming small canvas and linen panels with gesso toned a neutral gray. The advantage of working with toned surfaces is that one can go as easily toward highlights as toward shadows.

In fact, I found that once I started working this way it was more fun to start with the highlights. If the top two panels look like a different shade of gray, they are: those two panels are linen that came from the art store already oil primed white. Because they're oil primed the toning in gray has to be oil based as well, so that's a different mix.

I still tend to tone these things a bit too dark. One doesn't really want an exact 50% tone. It should be a little toward the light side ideally because all the subsequent glazing later on will tend to darken the canvas anyway. But at worst that will gie it all that warm, old master look.

Robin

From the model Saturday afternoon, Art Students League NYC.

The shameless promotion of one's offspring

My son, Chris, a web-developer/entrepreneur and math teacher in Chicago, has never really thought of himself as a graphic designer but the above image is a finalist in the Chicago Public Library's poster contest.

Some of the photos in the collage were taken by the wife of a friend and Chris took the rest to fill out his idea that combines architectural details of the main building with some of the city-wide transportation signage that spells out the library's web-site address. The outer rows of photos are black and white while the library 'comes alive inside' in color.

Chris is quite pleased to have made the cut to the final 30 (out of more than 160 entries) and has been invited to the opening reception of an exhibit of these posters. He professes to be practicing up on his art-world jargon so he can go head-to-head bantering with the windy city's most effete designers.

You can vote online for the "People's Choice" at http://www.flickr.com/photos/notwhatyouthink/3426491411/sizes/l/in/set-72157616580862699/

The Next Big Thing

The canvas is 36 by 48 inches. The last one was 30 by 40. Doesn't sound that much bigger but somehow it feels much bigger. Maybe because at this size it barely fits on the easel and in the studio. And it's more noticeably awkward to maneuver around.

About the studio: It was once upon a time (under a previous owner) one large bedroom in what was a four bedroom house. This room at some point got subdivided and a wall put in creating two smaller rooms each about 10 by 14 feet. More or less. (So it's now a five bedroom house for this couple who have no kids living at home.)

How I use the space: I use it messy. Just ask my wife. I am Mister Piggy with a capital P. She is Missus Floor Scrubber. All caps.

The first room has a computer and old printer's case. There are built-into-the-wall bookshelves here on either side of the window which is over the radiator where I assemble many of my seashell still life arrangements. The second of these subdivided smaller rooms is where I paint and store the most recent two or three dozen paintings I've done. The rest are in the basement. (It's an essentially dry basement with a linoleum floor.)

Anyway, there is something appealing to me about painting these little seashells on a scale much larger than life. Reference photo above. And, yes, as a matter of fact I do like the back-lit look of these still life arrangements.

Do I use photography and projection to paint my pictures? Yes. So did Thomas Eakins and if it was good enough for Eakins, it's good enough for me. Actually, the sum total of the degree to which I use any sort of projection is here in charcoal on the canvas, and that does not include the horizontal and vertical lines which I drew in with a straight edge.

But you might be surprised at what a hot button issue this stuff is to traditional painters. Just mention David Hockney's book, "Secret Knowledge" now a number of years old. Mention it to artists who work in traditional representational modes and see what varied reactions you get. Be prepared to hear some long harangues.

Personally, using a photograph and a projection device is no big deal. And this was Hockney's point: it's just a tool.

Almost every artist, if he or she lives long enough, will be using an optical device to aid in rendering a picture anyway. But nobody gets upset that I wear glasses, so why should anyone get upset that I have used a projector to quickly scope out some large-scale proportions.

As Hockney points out, a projector doesn't make the brush strokes.

Finished - This is why they call it 'Slow Art'

I believe I started this at the beginning of March. The first photo of the monochromatic under-painting (drawing really) was taken for this blog on March 20. Slow art.

Almost finished

I still need to adjust the highlights in the smaller shells. And that cone shaped whitish shell in the lower center is still too bright but I'm fairly happy with how this has gone. A little more work and it might be signature time.

Sketching in Starbucks, painting in the studio

The drawing was done at Starbucks on 8th avenue and 53rd street in Manhattan late yesterday afternoon. The painting, well, if you've been reading these posts you've seen this painting in various stages as it moves along. I think at this point I just have to define the beach grass in the lower right foreground and I'm finished.

Embroidered Portraits

The title says it all. They're by an artist named Cayce Zavaglia and they can be seen at the Lyons Weir Ortt Gallery in Manhattan which specializes in showing the work of young artists who work in representational styles. Here's the link to Zavaglia:

http://www.lyonswierortt.com/Cayce_Zavaglia/index.html

Monica

Sometimes even though the model is nude, the most interesting drawing is still the face. This is Monica, an actress who also models at the Art Students League in Manhattan.

Colors not all there yet but this is just one layer of glazing in most spots. The far right edge has two layers of Indigo glaze and I'm going to experiment with a few more to see how deep and rich I can make this dark shadow. One of the things I'm going to try is glazing a layer of clear medium between each layer of pigment glaze - to try to heighten the optical illusion of peering into some depth.

In the highlight areas I want to get more color as well. Initially I'll do that by glazing but ultimately I'll replace the glaze with a thoroughly opaque equivalent.