Three Day Palette Knife Workshop

Wednesday March 28th - Friday March 30th, 2012

This 3 day workshop will be an in-depth study and practice session using palette & painting knives and working both plein air and from photos provided by me.  I will be doing demos and perhaps present a slide show, or two, of artists who have inspired me.  The workshop cost is $325; with half serving as a deposit to secure your space.  You should plan as well for an up front investment in materials and supplies (paint, palette & knives, medium, rags, canvases, etc.).  If you have nothing at all, a good estimate is $150, not including an easel (which you will need to bring).  My recommendation for shopping is ASW online.  They have everything that is needed at the best prices I've found. A detailed supply list will be sent out once you sign up. I can also offer to order through ASW for you, and request reimbursement once you arrive.  Below is a nutshell description of what you can expect from your time with me (subject to change - of course).

I have arranged to have the workshop at my favorite location - Mead Gardens in Winter Park Florida. We will be painting primarily outside. During our 3 days together I will share with you what I experienced during the beginning of my palette knife adventure. You will be guided towards freedom and urgency in your painting and will be encouraged to work larger than what you may be used to.  Moving shoulder/elbow to wrist, rather than wrist to fingertip; concentrating on the shapes and movement of the knife across the canvas; pre-mixing a variety of colors instead of mixing as you go. Short demos throughout the workshop will show and explain how and why I paint the way I do.  If all goes well, you'll begin to see the excitement and passion in this technique. I will make regular rounds to see how you're progressing and to offer suggestions and insights.  Demos will be here and there so that you can take breaks and get encouragement when needed.

The ultimate goal is a clean and decisive application of paint that tells more about what moves you than about how detailed and accurate you can be.  I guarantee at least two things throughout this workshop; excitement and frustration!  First hand experience has shown that you must feel some pain before experiencing any gain.  Please contact me right away if you are interested. This will be a very 'intimate' 3 days, and space will be limited.

This workshop will be about painting large and loosening up.  If there's time, I will show you the 4x4" paintings and procedure, but will not be teaching about it during this session.

 

"Walking with Ellie"

"Walking with Ellie" (4x4") - 201205

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I really am happy with this one, which I have to admit, feels great.  Some paintings come out horrendous; some are acceptable but the gut connection isn't quite there; and some I love. I feel the light in this one, and working with predominantly cooler colors (except for the spots of rose, pinks and corals - and the green in the hair) isn't something I lean towards.  There is a compositional glitch at the bottom where I didn't hit the mark with placement of the figures, but I feel the rest has enough virtue to overshadow that mistake.  Some day I will venture into larger scale canvases, I think.

I am going to send out the formal workshop announcement later tonight or tomorrow. Again, there will be 6 spots available. Three day workshop; end of March; $325.

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"A Dip in Nature's Pool"

"A Dip in Nature's Pool" (4x4") - 201204

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Compared to the last post, I think this one is a little more self explanatory.  It always helps when you can make out a face, right? I've been tied up these past few weeks with commissions and more medical illustration work (my 'real' job).  Maybe someday I'll post a little sampling, just for kicks.  Many of you are asking about workshops.  I WILL have a workshop in late March.  I have decided to follow my original workshop format, working relatively large scale with emphasis on learning (by way of force - sort of) how to loosen up.  I still believe that what fellow artists are responding so positively to is the freedom and looseness I've achieved in my painting.  It came from working large and out of my comfort zone; working with putty & cement knives, as well as palette knives; preparing a palette of carefully mixed colors before starting (and mixing enough to get me through the entire painting without having to stop); and working outside with nature.  I will demonstrate my methods for you, and I plan to spend maybe an afternoon doing a small 4x4" just so you can see how it's done.  An announcement will be posted and sent out soon.  I'm thinking 3 days; probably Thurs., Fri. and Sat.  There will be 6 spots available, and the cost will be $325 total.  

Contact me regarding purchase and commission requests.

Unless otherwise noted, listed prices are offered to my subscribed blog members. If you are interested in purchasing a painting, but are not yet subscribed, simply enter your email address in the join box on my home page. As a subscriber you will receive special values on your purchases and periodic promotions will give you the opportunity to enjoy my paintings in real life at even more affordable prices!

"Evening Shell Hunt"

"Evening Shell Hunt"
(4x4") - 201203
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Boy - I'm hesitant to ask you what you see! When I'm skeptical of the view, I better be cautious when I ask my husband. Today he grinned and said "Yep - I can see it .... it's a lady walking towards me! Right?! Ugh.... Yes, it is a lady, but it's her hind quarters - duhhh.

So - this was an extremely difficult view point for so many reasons I'd need to start a new blog to cover everything. No - actually, I think I can fit it into my next newsletter. I took photos throughout, so I'll be sharing the development of it and discussing my thoughts along the way.

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"Looking Back"

"Looking Back" Sold
(4x4") - 201202
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Thanks so much to everyone who sent along a 'welcome back' note! It's great to be painting again. This scene was tricky, mainly because it should have been simpler to puzzle together than I made it. There are many decisions that go into creating a successful image, and sometimes it's easy to get off track with what the goal is. Balance is always the key. I talk about this constantly - the right balance of light-dark; crisp-soft; saturated-subdued; textural-slick; real-abstract; movement-static.... The list can go on and on. I always aim to finish a painting in one go. In so doing, the stopping point can be elusive and very hard to reconcile. For me, this is when things get much deeper than just finishing a decent painting. All kinds of questions and beliefs start swimming in the sea of doubt! I won't go into that right now (if you're an artist, you know what I'm talking about anyway). Learning to let go when the mental chaos starts is a big goal I have for this year.

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"Big Sis, Little Sis"

"Big Sis, Little Sis"
(4x4") - 201201
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Been so long since I last posted that I nearly forgot how to log in. Late last fall I went through a major guilt phase for abandoning my painting - once again; turning to the business of the midlife crisis. Or something there-abouts. Had lots of time to redefine and clarify what makes my life tick in ways that don't interfere with fate. Feeling great these days and much better balanced. Mom had a great experience back up in NY for 6 months and then decided, with our support, that she'd be best off here in Florida. So she returned 2 weeks ago. Last Wednesday marked the first anniversary of my dad's passing. Time has healed us a great deal, and we're able to talk often about what a joy he was without drowning in pools of our own tears, snot and drizzle.

As for my painting, I'm going to pick up where I left off last summer. Figures in stark sunlight, near the water, are still intriguing me and I feel there's more to do. To start off, I'm revisiting the roll of photos that I have from our summer vacation in NC. This scene is from the same swimming hole as in my last post, "Playing on the Rocks". I've dropped the frilly bells and whistles (no bows or petticoats...) and gone straight to the actual scene. Changed the color of the girls' bathing suits, but other than that, it's true to the times.

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"Playing on the Rocks"

"Playing on the Rocks"
(4x4") - 201143 Sold
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It only took 3 times, but here it finally is! A painting of my very own, heavily influenced by my good bud Potthast. While in NC, I took lots of photos to be used as reference in my new work. As I stated in my last post, I worried about keeping what I felt would be appealing color and style in the clothing and hair. Call me a prude, but I just don't get today's fashions that kids are wearing these days. So I drew from what I learned in the past month's studies, and am quite happy with the results. I know you'd be hard pressed to find girls wearing dresses & bows while playing on rocks, but I just couldn't help myself. I hope I'll get some feedback from ya'll!

I also wanted to talk a little about 'stuff'. As many of you who read my blog know my dear father passed away in January. He would have been 87. Had I not had the privilege of spending the last 7 months tending to my mother's new needs as a widow - getting to know and admire who she is and learning more about love, nurture and care - I think I'd have gone off the deep end with despair. My father and I were the best of friends, and I am honored to have been raised in the care of a truly delightful man. And now it seems that my mom's destiny is to return to central NY, where the Cummings clan hails from. My feelings are mixed; some happy; some hopeful, some anxious, some heartbroken, and some relieved. And many more in between. What I do know is that I won't spend a minute of my life believing that any stone was left unturned. Mom is thrilled to be closer once again to my sisters and their families. She's been getting to know her great grandkids, which is undoubtedly her greatest joy in life. She has much to look forward to - visits with extended family, fall colors on the leaves, snow on Christmas eve, and a sense of 'home'. I will miss her in my daily life, but I know she's in the right place and I will see her soon. God bless, mom!
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"Beach Scene - revisited" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Beach Scene - Revisit" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201131 B Sold
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It's always kind of hard to get right back into things after setting out on a trip. Had a wonderful time in NC. Did lots of outdoor things with the family, much to my 12 year old daughter's dismay. The rest of us reveled in the chance to be in the mountain region. I even crossed an item off my outdoor bucket list. My first time rock climbing! What a thrill! In fact, it's back on my bucket list because I definitely want to do it again. Today's post is actually a revisit of the painting I did several weeks back. After completing a second one, much like the first in approach, I wanted to do a third, trying for a more direct & decided approach. I like the result very much and am hoping that what I've now learned in these studies will carry over to my own work. I've got lots of photos of youngsters playing in the water and on the rocks, so I'm excited to try. My only real worry is that people nowadays just aren't as romantic looking as those from a hundred or so years ago. The colors are much more harsh. I'll be using a lot of what I learned by my Potthast studies in the colors of skin and clothing. We'll see....
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Off to North Carolina

The day has finally come where my family and I are heading out for our annual summer vacation. Thought it'd never arrive! Looks like we'll have fine weather on the way up to Lake Lure, NC. And we're hoping it'll hold out for the duration of the upcoming week. I'll be taking in lots of visual goodies and looking forward to sharing some new material with you on my return later next week. Happy 4th!

"Summer Pleasures" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Summer Pleasures" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201142 Sold
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Today my husband helped me make a smaller version of the knife that I always work with. It's the flat edge, rectangular shape that I love. But the smallest that I've ever found is still a little more than a quarter inch wide. Very hard to get into the smaller spaces with it. My new knife has a width of about 2/8 ths. Perfect for tight spaces! I changed the composition just a little with this one. All of these studies have been smaller passages from Potthast's paintings, and most of the areas I've selected have had balanced compositional elements. I SO wanted to paint this pooch, but the square composition that I wanted to use was weak as it was. I moved the dog in a bit, and added the large hill in the background. I still feel some emptiness right in the middle of the painting and I'm trying to decide what to incorporate, if anything. Keeping things fresh is important though and I hate to go back in and risk getting a blip of something too distracting.
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"Three Girls at the Seashore" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Three Girls at the Seashore" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201141 Sold
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Ahhh - yellow! An ever elusive color to get work with. Especially lemony yellows. One of the 'basic' and commonly used is cadmium yellow pale. I find it very much on the cool side, and often times unnatural looking. My preference is cad yellow medium, but I didn't have any. If you mix ochre with the pale, you'll get a close approximation and a warmer tone.
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"At the Seaside" after Edward Henry Potthast

"At the Seaside" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201140
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This study seems to have the best of what I try for in a successful painting - most importantly the very loose knife work. The original painting of Potthast's has so much energy to it, and I wanted to try and convey that in my own style. The color mixing was key in terms of getting just the right ratio of pigment to walnut oil. Like I've said many times - if the paint is right, it's like doing a watercolor.
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"At Low Tide" after Edward Henry Potthast

"At Low Tide" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201139 Sold
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I am taking note of how difficult it is to nail down a bluish purple that is spot on neutral in terms of warm/cool. Not easy! My favorite part of this painting is the legs of the little one on the right. Just enough of an indication that they are there. It's easy to get caught up in painting 'symbols' of what one thinks a common, easily recognizable thing looks like. And of course once your mind is in that mode and concentrating probably too hard on what you think you see, the harder it is to stop yourself. Particularly true in rendering faces!
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"Young Bathers" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Young Bathers" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201138 Sold
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This painting was delightful to do. Once again, the subtle nuance of color and value in the figures with the bright sun and it's reflections coming up off the water. It's a challenge, but worth figuring out. The white of the canvas could have been left to show through and still read in the areas of skin that are sunlit, but it's more accurate to create a mix. I use soft mixing white (what I always use - either Georgian or Winton from Windsor Newton) and a smidgen (and I do mean smidgen) of ochre, lavender, or pink. It knocks the white down just enough and works like a charm.
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"Along the Mystic River" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Along the Mystic River" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201137 Sold
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Shimmering water isn't an easy thing to paint. I think I've done only a few sunset paintings in my career, and it's because the color, although true to what's actually there, always disturbs me. Probably goes back to my formative years when I did this ungodly painting of a black tree silhouette and a bright neon orange sunset in the background. I certainly hope my mom doesn't still have that stashed somewhere. Nah - no chance. Anyway - I worked this out OK, but it was a trick to get a color mix that would most directly achieve a dusky ambiance.
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"Water Lilies" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Water Lilies" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201136 Sold
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As an FYI - I confused the title of this painting with that of the post from Sunday and have made corrections. Today's post is Water Lilies; the other one is called Girls on the Beach. Potthast had many similar titles for his paintings, as well as some that he used more than once. I can certainly relate to the challenge of coming up with catchy titles! This one has 3 small elements that I changed to cater to my own tastes a little bit more. The magenta bow was more of a light pink/coral. The hand of the far right girl was added where it had continued off the image in Potthast's. And I added a few drips coming off the same arm, to give even more interest to what the girls are doing for play.
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"A Summer's Night" after Edward Henry Potthast

"A Summer's Night" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201135 Sold
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Finally - I'm getting to a night scene. They always prove to be more challenging than one would think. What struck me most is the very dark warm green placed next to the specular highlights on the girls' hair. Can you see it? It makes the area glow, and somehow tells us the moon is out.
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"Girls at the Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Girls at the Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201134 Sold
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Been a long delay since the last posting. Life has been all consuming once again; kids out of school; mom needing help; niece's beloved pup passing on and most upsetting of all - finding lumps all over my own beloved pup - Sarge. Thankfully the vet thinks they are all just lipomas - benign tumors common in Vizslas and older dogs in general. He removed them and I'm relieved, but still waiting on one of the biopsy results to come back. Finished two commissions last week too! So I haven't had much time to spend on my smaller studies. Since I had completed the commissions with brushes, I thought I'd go ahead and give them a try on another Potthast study. My conclusion is that I still prefer the effect of knife strokes over brushes. They are more decisive and clean. Definitely harder for me to master, but worth the challenge.
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"Sea Nymphs" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Sea Nymphs" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201133 Sold
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We'll see how this one goes over. I feel as though there's something missing that the other nudes have. Much of the work is not as direct an application as I like, and I suppose there's also some lack of color depth. More over, I hate (with a passion) smearing of the paint. For the most part, the skin areas are OK. It's the rocky part of the painting that appears to have very indecisive - overworked strokes. Yick. And the hair is rather disjointed on the girls center and right. The hair of the girl on the left works OK for me. And just to be clear - the white stroke that appears in between the stomach and arm of the center girl is not an oversized breast. It's the stomach of the girl laying down : ). Hmmm what else (I'm in a self bashing mood this afternoon) - I don not at all like the burnt sienna color toward the bottom right. I did mix it with some ochre, but clearly not enough to look like anything other than a red blob. And I'm not sold on the water area. Fought with more vs. less detail. Smooth & flat vs. some variation - both in value and in stroke size and direction. I decided to keep it quite since the foreground is so noisy. And finally, the thing that bothers me about the hair is that the lightest parts really are too light.
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"At Rockaway Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast

"At Rockaway Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201132 Sold
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Can't believe it's actually been since the 19th when I last posted. Last week was a whirlwind of prep for the show that I hung in downtown Orlando. Much, much more involved than I anticipated. But well worth it. I hung between 35 & 40 pieces. It's a good looking show. It'll be up until the end of July, but being that it's in a high security county building, the only way to see it is by appt./tour. Let me know if you're in town and would like to peruse. Be glad to meet you down there. Now then - back to work! Sometimes it's OK to leave the white of the painting surface showing through, and sometimes it's just too distracting. You really have to knock it down to see where you're at with the remaining shapes of color. Can't judge accurately with bright specks flickering all around. Notice that the black bathing suit on the right side woman is actually quite light in value - and totally not black. In fact, it's more of a dark mauve. But it reads as black. A good thing to know. I loved this painting of Potthast's and really was looking forward to delving into the color study. The difference in the skin tones of the man vs. the women - the women have a much softer glow of color to them. It's a lovely creamy pink/yellow/white that didn't look right on the man. His skin has a bit of a harsher feel to it because of the color being more saturated.
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"Beach Scene" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Beach Scene" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201131 Sold
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A tough study to say the least. What did I learn and what that I already knew is reinforced? Red is a tricky color to settle in with; a speck as tiny as a pinpoint can affect the rest of a small painting; a reflection doesn't always need the object that's making it visible in the image; a painting needs areas of play/texture and areas of rest/smooth (not necessarily half of each); bows are like frosting, and no one wears them at the beach nowadays!
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"Confidences" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Confidences" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201130 Sold
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Perhaps another painting that looks fairly simple. And actually, the execution was quite straightforward. It's the paint mixing, almost always the painting mixing, that takes the cake for hard work. The palette for this took about 40 minutes to mix. Can you guess how many separate paint piles I ended up with? Think I'll let you take a crack at it. Just for grins. I did use every single one of them, and in the end had to mix 2 more to get the hues I needed. What I loved about this image was the shocking, eyeball aching, hot white sand! Always a pleasure to paint, but trickier than it seems. I've learned so much from these studies, and it's obvious that the appeal of Mr. Potthast's work is timeless. As I said a few posts ago, I do hope that I've brought something new to the table. It's been a worthy passage for me personally, and I'm very excited to bring the lessons into my own creative process - though I fear I won't be finding many beach-goers in turn of the century clothes : )
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"Wading at the Shore" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Wading at the Shore" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201129 Sold
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Aye yi yi.... This piece looks deceivingly simple; and yet I spent more time finagling (sp?) the tight light value and color ranges. It was kind of like a push and shove couple of hours. What it did for me was (once and again) confirm that it's imperative to have my paint mixes completely worked out and ready to go ahead of time. I spent a lot of time trying to exact the values and temperatures of the reflected light that's bouncing into the face and folds of the dress. Perhaps areas that are inherently too small to worry about messing with. Sometimes I've gotten lucky and with a light, quick flick of my wrist I've been able to pull just the right amount of paint into an area that needs lifting or downplay. But it's tricky, and certainly doesn't follow the early course of my palette knife methods! I'd say it falls into the noodling category ..... uh oh....
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"A Family Outing" after Edward Henry Potthast

"A Family Outing" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201128
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Blogger had some glitches the other night when I went to post this painting, so I'm just now getting it up here. First note to myself with this one was how odd it seemed for the adults to be dressed in such heavy clothing. Certainly not beach attire these days. Especially the dark stockings! It made me wonder how old these folks were - parenting age, or perhaps grandparents of the youngsters? I'm going with the latter. After all, I do see a fair number of older folks in hot weather wearing what would otherwise be considered winter clothing. Not sure how that works.... There was a lot going on in this story; both storytellingwise, and in the composition & colors. Ultimately too busy for this tiny format. Just the same, it was good for me to push the usual limit that I'm comfortable with.
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"Children on the Beach, II" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Children on the Beach, II" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201127 Sold
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I spent some time exploring a different color approach to this study, which I originally worked on last week. It's a tad more contemporary, not only in color selection, but in technique as well. These Potthast studies have been wildly popular with collector purchase interest way, way up there. I'm curious to see a comparison in positive response - traditional vs. contemporary. My feeling is that traditional will be preference, but we'll see. I'll keep you posted!
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"A Walk on the Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL FELLOW MOTHERS!!

"A Walk on the Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201126 Sold
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What I loved about doing this one was the intensity of the blue hues in the background. I usually shy away from blues this bluesy, but wanted to stretch again and see about getting comfortable with it. Lots more ultramarine in this than I usually do in my mixes. I purchased 7 new colors from Gamblin the other day. All very non-traditional. I always mix my own colors, which is very time consuming, so I wanted to see how I would like the more pastelly hues already mixed for me. They're not too bad actually. But I found it necessary to go ahead and mix in a bit of the surrounding colors in order to create the harmony that is needed to bring a painting closer together. My mixing time was less, which allowed more time for the real fun!
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"Nude" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Nude" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201125 Sold
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More good lesson material in this one. Again and again and again, it's all about values! And colors too, but the value shifts are what I'm learning about most. The figure here was quite difficult to bring together because the darkest dark and the lightest light were so close on the value scale, and it took me a while to figure that out. It's an example of painting what you see; not what you think you see, or what you think you have to paint in order to create a good representation of whatever it is you're painting.

Now then - I want to write more about the controversial issue of working from another artist's work. It's a sea of factual copyright mish-mash, flavored with varying personal ideologies. In this case here, after torturing myself with the ethical aspect of doing such studies and selling them, I have determined for sure that Potthast's beach paintings are now considered to be public domain and most of them are noted "date unknown". What we do know for sure is that these beach paintings were created in the summer months (in any one of a number of seaside art colonies including Coney Island & Far Rockaway) after his final move to Manhattan in 1896. More specifically, they are generally known to have been painted somewhere between the years of 1910-1920. The latest possible US copyright expiration date would have been 1997, which is 70 years after his death. Sooooo - I have not violated any copyright issues in painting and posting these studies. For good measure, I'll add that my references were downloaded from the internet, and therefore were not copyrighted duplicates of the originals. (Had I referenced a poster, greeting card, book, etc. - it might be a different story). Next up is the issue of whether or not to sign my studies. This too seems to be a confusing topic with differing opinions of what is acceptable, unethical, or just plain rude & disrespectful. My comfort level here lies with signing the front with just initials (SCS), and the back with my full signature, plus "after Edward Henry Potthast". And finally, the issue of selling these pieces. Again - it's a sticky topic with stances ranging from "how dare you" to "sure, why not, you need the cash-right?". Somewhere in between is the subjective area of just how interpretive my studies actually are, and whether or not my derivations bring forth anything identifiable as my own. I believe these studies are unique by way of how I apply the paint; the shape, size and direction of the strokes. My technique, if I may say so without raising eyebrows, is pretty much easy to spot. So there you have it!

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"Enchanted Pool" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Enchanted Pool" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201124 Sold
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Mr. Potthast has many paintings where the figures appear in the same setting. I will have to read more about his process and how he went about posing his subjects. I wonder if, when painting from his own on site studies, he would transpose a figure from one scene to another. I believe so - that would only make sense. I'm not giving up on these pieces where the full on, naked human body offers so many challenges to an artist. At one moment it seems like a simple no brainer - the next it's a conundrum!

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"In the Summertime" after Edward Henry Potthast

"In the Summertime" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201123 Sold
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You guuuuyyyyyssss - come on ....wasn't someone going to point out my glaring and totally embarrassing mistake!!!! Oh my - for the last 1o posts, I have been calling Edward - William. This is just atrocious and completely shameful! Maybe nobody really reads, although I would think there would have been someone among my artist followers who would have spotted the oops. Well - what can I say? Other than life has continued to come at me at nine hundred miles an hour. It just never seems to end and I am honestly completely worn out ... Just the same, I am glad I finally did catch this : ) Maybe I had Prince William on the brain.
Anyway - I think this is the first of these studies where there have been only boys. They just aren't as pretty, are they? Still, I enjoyed the challenge of capturing the boyish stances. This painting would be lovely side by side with "Water Nymphs"!

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"Children on the Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Children on the Beach"after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201122 Sold
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Allrighty - I had a very nice conversation with a highly respected, modern day painter the other day. Amongst other things, we talked about doing paintings 'after' another artist - one who made their significant mark and is long since passed. I had decided in my last post that I wouldn't be including a signature on the front of these paintings, for the obvious reason that they are studies based on another's work. I am now undecided again (did I ever mention I'm a Libra; the scales; every thought must be properly balanced against all others...) and would LOVE more input since this modern day painter believes that my work is interpretive enough to feel comfortable putting a signature on it. (I'd mention you but don't want to put you under any undue speculation!) I'm not convinced yet, but am open to more opinions. This painting has reinforced for me the importance of value relationships and just how much more solid a piece can become with just a tiny little tweak. Geez - you'd think I would have learned this stuff 25 years ago when I was in undergrad studio art class. Maybe I did and I forgot it.

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"Water Nymphs" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Water Nymphs"after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201121 Sold
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I knew I'd eventually get around to study at least one of Potthast's scenes of youngster's in their birthday suits. And now that I have, I intend to do more of them. Of note - I did some research on signing paintings. Mostly looking for a solution on how to sign a thick & juicy palette knife piece. Didn't get an answer to that, but did read some interesting stuff about "the artist's signature" - which leads me to making a decision about signing these studies. The paintings are clearly copies (hate how that sounds - but let's face it....) of another artist's work. In every way except for one. If you look closely at separate areas in Will's work (let's take a body part for example), you see numerous brush strokes of color that are varying degrees of temperature from cool to warm, but in the same value range. In mine, I have mostly chosen only two temperatures of the same color, and applied them very directly. The small size, of course, wouldn't allow for more than two strokes, unless I was using a teeny tiny brush (yick). Just the same, these scenes wholly belong to Mr. Potthast and I will not be adding my Joan Hancock to them on the front. I will, however, make sure to sign the backs with my name as well as: 'after WHP'.
I also want to to address composition here. I am well aware that at dead center of the painting are joined hands of the girl on the left, and the girl in the back. And a bit lower than this are joined hands of the girl on the left and the girl on the right. What's more, there's a fair amount of emptiness around this area because of the lack of any detail in the water. This is an example of not nailing down a mix of color whose value relates very well to those surrounding it. I decided to leave it as it was because changing it carried a very high risk of ruining things altogether. I feel the painting has enough other virtue that the trade off was worth it.

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"Manhattan Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Manhattan Beach"after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201120 Sold
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This was another very challenging study. There's an age old caveat about NOT putting a figure's glance so that it's positioned outside of the image area. It leads the viewer's eye out of the painting as well. I'm toying with breaking this rule here. Actually, I've clearly broken it - haven't I? As I'm choosing what parts of Potthast's paintings study, I have in mind to bring a contemporary aspect to each piece. Obviously you won't find many today wearing 19th century frocks, smocks and big bows on the beach. So I'm hoping that the palette knife strokes and the object design bring us out of the 1800's a little bit. The outward glance is questionable in this piece, but I'm certain I'll be trying it again because I'm not convinced that it can never work.

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"Little Girl in Green" after Edward Henry Potthast

Update to the bottom post: I reworked the painting (see above) to see if I could get it to point that I was happier with. A day away was refreshing, and I think I can better live with it!


"Little Girl in Green"
after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201119 Sold
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OMG!!!!! Degree of difficulty on this one??? sheesh - let's just say I thought about a suicide attempt more than once. Just kidding - but sometimes a troubling painting can make you want to hang up your apron. I don't actually wear one though - I'm truly an utter mess with my paints and also lazy about changing into something that makes more sense to paint in. Anyhooo - i really can't say where the trouble started exactly, but I became determined on the 6th or 7th attempt to get as close to satisfied as I could. So there ya have it!

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"Chums" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Chums" after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201118 Sold
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Wow. Always while I'm painting, I try to make mental notes of the various and sundry things that I'd like to write about. Things that occur to me only while I'm in the mode. When I finished this one, I thought to myself "I'll take a laundry folding break, then come post and blog about the work.... it'll be great because there were a number of ah ha moments this time....surely I'll remember everything!" Not so. What does stand out, once again, is the remarkable way that a very tiny change in any one artistic element can make or break a painting. Scary, don't you agree? What if I don't know what the one thing is? The more I paint; the more that's revealed; the more confidence I have moving forward. Ironically, I suppose, these tiny paintings that I've been doing for about a year now seem at first to be a 180 degree turn from the direction I was heading about 4 years ago. I needed a B I G space to explore my big voice, and I encourage everyone to do that somewhere along their painting way. The space I need now doesn't have to be so big. I'm finding a way to use my big voice in a small space, if you will, so maybe it's just a 90 degree turn. These studies have sharpened my understanding of value and color temperature - how things can still read successfully without so much contrast guiding the eye over the images.

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"On the Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast

"On the Beach"
after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201117 Sold
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What distinguishes the red umbrella on the right and the red balloons is the specular highlight on two of the balloons. It's amazing what a nearly pencil sized blip can do to tell a story. This was another joy to do. Again - hues and their temperatures, values, edge subtleties. This is what I'm practicing. More to come!

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"Rockaway Beach" after Edward Henry Potthast

"Rockaway Beach"
after Edward Henry Potthast
(4x4") - 201116 Sold
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This one was a joy to study. I'm learning so much about the perceived color of white, and how much more effective a painting can be if the artist takes time to note as many subtleties as possible before beginning the painting. A reader asked yesterday if I mix everything before I start. The answer is 99% yes. The difficulty for me (when working so small) is that I like to avoid a lot of fussiness and smearing. If I don't get my color mixtures straight at the get go, and then stay stubborn (maybe even lazy?) about not mixing another color after I'm already into the painting, then I don't have much to choose from. What's more, if the value of the color isn't right, all other areas of the painting are effected and I end up lost in something like a rubic's cube trying to shift each area so that it will line up aesthetically with the adjacent ones. Tricky, and seriously boring to read about... Just the same, it's important to note these revelations, such as they are.

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