Coeruleum Blue

Plein Air Class, Week Two

2012-01-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

This is last week's panting completed. It is in oil, on a 11 x 14 inch canvas.

Plein Air Class, Week One

2012-01-21T18:54:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a plein air class at the Drawing Studio. For week one, we went to Agua Caliente Park, on the east side of Tucson. There we had a scene of reeds in water, with palm trees and vegetation in the background. Below is what I painted. It is using one color, a mix of transparent oxide brown and ultramarine blue. Next week, I will add color.

New Painting In Work

2011-12-05T20:29:00.001-08:00

This is my newest work in progress. It is another painting from our trip to Italy last May. This is a large one for me at 24 by 30 inches, and is in oil. I will update this post as I complete the painting over time.

Below are the notes I've taken as I've painted it:

Session one was the beginning of a long process. This painting is complex because there are two light sources, a cool blue light coming from the left, and a warm yellow light coming from the right. For this session, I wanted to lay in the the dark shadowy background. It had to be graduated because of the two light sources, going warm to cool from left to right. I got carried away, though, and threw in the appliances on the right, which to me was the weakest part of the session. Those will have to be redone.

With session two, I started on the first figure. This one is tricky because even though it is closer to the warm light source, the face is also in shadow. I used two warm pigment for this, transparent oxide brown, and terra rosa. So far, I'm still using transparent pigments, and will continue to do so until the under-painting is done.

Session 3 was an emergency repair job! I looked at the image the next day, and I noticed that the jaw line right around the ear was messed up. Unfortunately, the paint had dried, so I could not just remove the paint. I had to go in with some titanium white mixed with terra rosa and transparent oxide brown. That, of course, being opaque rather than transparent, did not quite match up with the rest of the face, so now the jaw line does not match my nice transparent face. Argh! It need to be repaired though.

In session 4, I finished up the first figure. I spent a lot of time on the hands trying to get them right, after that I started on the table and the towel in the background. The towel turned out nice and painterly, I will likely have to put a glaze over it to send it further into the background, however.

One thing that I also did in session four is that I added white paint to the face of the figure in the foreground. This is because I tried to patch it up last session, but I did not like how it turned out. I am hoping that when the white paint dries, I can cover it with the same transparent pigments as the rest of the face and seamlessly blend it in. If that does not work, I will paint over the entire face and redo it. I hope that it does not come to that, because I like the rest of the face.

For session 6, I finally got the face patched up the way I want. My next problem spot: I did notice that the shadows under the bowls are too dark and too warm. Those will have to wait though. I will go in with opaque paint when the under-painting is done.

If you want to check out the progress over time, check out the links below:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6

Under-drawing

2011-12-04T14:57:00.000-08:00

Here is the under-drawing for my latest painting, on a 24 by 30 inch canvas:

Artist's Statement

2011-12-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

I have been working on my artist's statement over the past week or so. It took a lot or writing and rewriting on my iPad to finish it.

They say an artist's statement should be two to three paragraphs long and about 100 words. Mine is three paragraphs long and about 150 words, which is a bit long. That is about as short as I could make it and still say what I wanted to say, though.

This is what I came up with:

Some have described me as worldly; I enjoy international cuisine, fine wine, and world travel. All that would be meaningless, however, if I could not put it on canvas. I guess then that I am a worldly painter.

Many of my paintings show scenes in the kitchen, the most important room in the house, a meeting place for friends and family. Others relive the travel adventures my wife and I have taken to intriguing places. Through it all, I try to use the classic techniques of the old masters but with modern pigments and mediums.

Painting time is a peaceful time, a time of deep concentration. It is alone time. It is a time spent between me and the canvas. Each painting I do is like a journey to a city that I've never been to before. No matter how much I prepare, I do not know what it will be like until I get there.

"Pumpkin Pie"

2011-11-19T21:04:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest painting. I wanted to do a kind of Fall themed painting, something that would be good around Halloween and Thanksgiving. This is what I came up with.

This painting is an oil on linen, 24 by 18 inches.

Below are the notes I've taken while painting it:

Session 1 was basically the under-painting. I used transparent oxide brown for the whole thing. I think it turned out pretty well. The transparency of the pie dish comes through. You can tell what the various things are in the painting. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. I may go in with a glaze of ultramarine blue to really darken up the deep shadows.

For session 2, I started on the pumpkins and the rim of the pie dish. I used terra rosa, cadmium yellow deep, cadmium yellow pale, cadmium red medium, transparent oxide brown, and a touch of ultramarine blue.

Session 3 saw a lot of changes. First, I laid in the background, a mixture of permanent green light, transparent oxide brown, titanium white, and a touch of ultramarine blue in the light areas.

Second, I worked on the pie dish. Here, I really struggled to mix the turquoise of the transparent glass. I mixed up all sorts of combinations of cadmium yellow, ultramarine blue, permanent green, and titanium white with no success. I then searched my paints to find another green. That is when I found viridian. I had never really used it before. However, I found that it was the turquoise I was looking for. I used that directly, and then some mixed with titanium white. It was perfect.

Lastly, I darkened up my darks with ultramarine blue, mixed with transparent oxide brown. I also added a light glaze of ultramarine blue to my wood areas. I may go in with another glaze of transparent oxide brown again, to darken things up and add a little warmth back in.

For session 4, I worked on the whipped topping container. I like the container because of its blue color, the compliment of orange. That works well with the pumpkins.

For session 5, I worked on the reflections in the table. It really made the painting pop. I think it might be done. I will sit on it a few days, and see if I want to change anything.

If you want to see the progress over time, use the links below:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Final

Under-drawing

2011-11-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

Here is the under-drawing for my new painting. This one has sort of been a long time coming. I set up the still-life, took some reference photos and was getting ready to put it on the canvas when I scrapped it, panicked, and had to reformulate the idea. I am happy with my second go-around, though. I think it has a nice fall theme. I'm hoping that I finish the painting before fall is over.

"Tunis"

2011-10-08T17:01:00.000-07:00

Here is my new painting, a scene taken in Tunisia from a hill at Carthage, overlooking the city of Tunis and the bay of Tunis. It is on a 36 x 24 inch canvas, and is in oil.

The pigments that I used are as follows:

Van Dyke Brown
Permanent Green Light
Permanent Green Medium
Green Earth
Naples Yellow
Transparent Oxide Brown
Permanent Rose
Titanium White
Paynes Grey
Cadmium Red
Yellow Ochre
Ceruleum Blue
Terra Rosa
Ultramarine Blue

Below are the notes I've taken while painting it:

For session 1, the under-painting, I went is with a neutral gray-brown, Van Dyke Brown. This is unlike my other under-paintings that use a warmer brown, like Transparent Oxide Brown. Originally, I was not going to do an under-painting at all. I was going to go straight in with color. However, after the under-drawing, I was having trouble telling my darks from my lights, so I thought a simple monochrome would help. I am pretty happy with it, though I think the figure gets lost a bit. That will change when the warmer colors of the figure will be put against the cooler colors of the vegetation.

Session 2 was another long session. I went from happy to frustrated. After painting all day, I scraped off a whole section of the painting. I was that unhappy with it. The part remaining I'm not totally happy either. Maybe there is a reason I don't do landscapes.

After some time to think about it a bit, now looking at the painting, the one thing that does seem to be working is the idea of atmospheric perspective. As things move to the horizon, they do seem cooler, and more faded. At least that works.

During session 3, I solved some of session 2's problems (sort of). I'm beginning to realize that this painting is going to be somewhat more abstract compared to my more representational portraits and still lifes. Maybe that is okay. Maybe I'm just resigned. I don't know.

During session 4, I focused mostly on the figure. One problem until now is that the figure never stood out because it is similar in value to the painting around it. However, now, the warmth of the figure differentiates it from the surrounding image which is quite cool. That was my goal, and I think it worked.

Session 5 might be it. It might be done. I'll give it a week and see if I want to make any changes. Then, I sign the damn thing.

Nope! Session 6?

If you want to check out the progress over time, use the links below:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Final

Under-drawing

2011-09-22T20:35:00.001-07:00

Here is the under-drawing for my new painting. It is on a 36 x 24 inch canvas, the largest canvas I've ever done.

The image is a bit small on this blog, to see what is going on. Click on the image to embiggen.

"An American Lost in Genoa"

2011-09-05T22:05:00.000-07:00

Here is my new painting, a scene from our recent trip to Italy. In this one, we were lost in the narrow streets on Genoa.

This is in oil, on an 18 by 24 inch canvas.

Here are the notes I took while painting this painting.

For the first session, the under-painting, I used transparent oxide brown, a warm brown, for the shadows and van dyke brown, a cool brown, for the light areas. I also went in with some terra rosa.

For session three, I added some cool colors to my light areas. I'm realizing, however, that my warm shadows are too warm, and it is kind of throwing the painting off a bit. I don't want to mess up my detail to fix it. Perhaps, I can go in with a glaze and cool things off a bit, and it is just a little bit. That is my plan for session four. I always agonize over little details like this.

Session 4 was a long session, about 5 or six hours, twice as long as I usually spend. The painting is almost done.

If you want to check out the progress over time, check out the links below:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Final

Impressionism/Expressionism Class

2011-08-22T20:18:00.001-07:00

These two paintings were done in class. The idea was to work with a large brush and put the painting down a quickly as possible. Both these paintings are in oil on a 16 by 20 inch canvas. Each were done in about 2 hours.

Under-drawing

2011-08-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here is the under-drawing for my new painting, a scene from our recent trip to Italy. This one is from Genoa. It is on a 18 by 24 inch canvas.

"Juicy Fruit"

2011-07-31T22:15:00.000-07:00

Here is my new still-life. It is on a 16 by 20 inch canvas, and is in oil.

Over time as I painted it, I took notes after some of the sessions. You can read those below:

For session 1, the under-painting, I used two pigments, terra rosa, and transparent oxide brown.

For session 2, I filled in some of the background. Rather than using one pigment for the whole thing -- what my painting instructor calls house painting -- I mixed up some various shades and tints of green, the lighter ones being cooler, and the darker ones being warmer. I dabbed it on making subtle variations, pushing darker foreground items with lighter paint, and the opposite with lighter foreground items. It was a little bit of an experiment. We'll see if it works.

For session 4, I toned back the background a bit. I thought that the texture of the background was competing with the rest of the painting. Also, each session, I darken up the wood using transparent oxide brown. The reflections in the wood are quite bright, so I may tone them back with a glaze later on.

Session 5 was supposed to be done. In fact, I signed it. Over about a week, however, I did some touch ups. As a result, I made it into its own session below.

If you want to see the progress over time, check out the links below:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Final

Under-drawing

2011-07-24T13:51:00.001-07:00

Here is the under-drawing for a new still-life, another kitchen still-life. It is on a 16 by 20 inch canvas.

"Gnocchetti"

2011-07-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

This is my new painting, from a photo of Julie and I making pasta from our recent trip to Italy. This painting is bigger than my other paintings, 30 x 24 inches.

It used a very limited palette of pigments:

Terra Rosa
Transparent Oxide Brown
Ultramarine Blue
Titanium White
Cobalt Blue
Cadmium Red
Sap Green
Naples Yellow

Here are the notes I made during the progress of the painting:

I plan to take a long time doing the under-painting on this one, doing one section at a time. The idea is to start out with warm transparent pigments, and glazes. After that, I will move in with some color. So far, the two pigments I've used are Transparent Oxide Brown, and Terra Rosa.

Between the second and third painting sessions, I really struggled with Julie's face. I broke my rule and used an opaque paint, Titanium White, for session three to correct some of session two's problems. I am still not totally happy with it, however.

For session four, I started filling in some of the background. I really like the painterly quality of it. I hope that I do not lose that when I put some glazes over it.

For session 5, I finished up the figure of me on the under-painting. After that, I added a glaze of medium and ultramarine blue to some of the background.

By session 7, the under-painting was complete.

Could session 14 be the final version? It just might be. I will let it dry over the week, and see if I want to make any changes. After that, it is getting signed and is DONE!

Nope! Fifteen?

If you want to check out the progress over time, use the links below:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
Session 11
Session 12
Session 13
Session 14
Session 15
Final

Under-drawing

2011-05-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

This is the under-drawing for a new, as of yet untitled painting. It is a portrait of Julie and I making pasta, from a photo from our recent trip to Italy. This painting will be on a 24 by 30 inch canvas, bigger than I usually do. It will definitely be a stretch to pull this one off, since I have never done a portrait of someone I know. I hope I can pull off the likeness.

Portrait Painting, Week 6

2011-04-30T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here is last week's painting finished. To be honest, I liked it better as a monochrome. It think it was very striking with the difference between light and shadow. Still, it is not bad, so I'm putting it up.

Actually, my instructor likes it better with color, so who knows.

This painting is in oil, on a 11 by 14 inch canvas.

Portrait Painting, Week 5

2011-04-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

This week we had a live model, a (rather masculine) woman with a mohawk. We will have the model next week as well, so this is a painting in progress. In fact, it is a monochrome using one pigment, transparent oxide brown, that I plan to use as the under-painting. Next week, I hope to finish the painting.

Portrait Painting, Week 3

2011-04-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

This is my painting for this week's Portrait Painting class. It is in oil, on an 11 by 14 inch canvas.

Portrait Painting, Week 2

2011-03-31T22:38:00.000-07:00

My new class, Portrait Painting, continued this week. This is the painting I started in class, and finished at home. It is in oil, on an 11 by 14 inch canvas.

Portrait Painting, Week 1

2011-03-19T16:45:00.000-07:00

I started a new class this week, Portrait Painting. This is the painting I did in class. It is in oil, on an 11 by 14 inch canvas.

Pre-portrait, Week 6

2011-03-03T21:32:00.000-08:00

Here is last week's painting finished:

Pre-portrait, Week 5 - Continued

2011-02-28T20:13:00.000-08:00

Here is the under-painting for the next still life we are doing in class. It is 8 by 10 inches, done in one pigment, terra rosa. The still life is of a vase, nectarines, and a flower.

Pre-portrait, Week 5

2011-02-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

Pre-portrait, Week 2

2011-01-31T20:36:00.001-08:00

This week, we worked on a still-life of some pears sitting on a wooden shelf. I did this painting monochromatically using a pigment called Terra Rosa. It is on a 9 by 12 inch canvas.

Pre-portrait, Week 1

2011-01-15T16:26:00.000-08:00

I am taking a new class at the Drawing Studio. This time, the class is called Pre-portrait, which is basically a still-life painting class, to prepare for painting portraits.

This week, we did a small, monochromatic painting. Mine was done using one pigment, Van Dyke Brown. It is on a 9 by 12 canvas. The subject is basically cloves of garlic.

"Moonlight Spotlight"

2011-01-06T13:57:00.000-08:00

This painting is in oil, on a 18 by 24 inch canvas.

If you want to see the progress while painting this painting, session by session, use the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Final

Under-painting

2010-12-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

Here is the under-painting for my latest painting. It uses a limited palette of burnt sienna, van dyke brown, cerulean blue, and raw sienna. This painting is in oil and on an 18 by 24 inch canvas.

Under-drawing

2010-12-29T15:52:00.000-08:00

Here is the under-drawing for my latest painting.

"Finger Pricker"

2010-11-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

This is my latest finished still-life. It is in oil on a 18 by 24 inch canvas. It took about 25 hours to complete from start to finish, over about a month.

If you want to see progress while painting it over time, click the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Final

Still-life Under-painting

2010-10-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

Here is the under-painting for my new still-life.

Still-life Under-drawing

2010-10-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

This is the under-drawing for my next still-life. It is on an 18 by 24 inch canvas.

"A Little for the Cook"

2010-10-07T21:57:00.000-07:00

This is my latest completed still-life, in oil, on a 18 by 24 inch canvas.

If you wish to see the different painting sessions while it was in-work, you can click the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Final

Still-life Under-painting

2010-09-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the under-painting for the new still-life. This time, I used three pigments: burnt sienna, burnt umber, and cerulean blue. The idea was to take the white of the canvas away, and give a little indication of value, and temperature.

Pencil Lay-in of a New Still-life

2010-09-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

Here is my new still-life of a wine glass, corkscrew, and bottle, chef's knife and tomatoes on a cutting-board, and a stack of cookbooks. This one is laid in with pencil on a 18 by 24 inch canvas. I plan to paint this in oil.

"Aisles Six and Seven"

2010-08-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

This is a completed still life in oil on a 18 by 24 canvas.

If you want to review painting sessions on for this painting, you can use the links below:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
Session 11
Final

Still-life Under-painting

2010-07-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

I decided to do something different this time for the under-painting for this still-life. Typically, I use a glaze of burnt sienna and medium, and then go in with burnt umber for darks. After that, I pull out some lights with a little solvent. This time, I went with a glaze of cerulean blue and medium, then using straight cerulean blue for the darks and pulling out some lights with solvent. The still-life has a lot of cool colors, and a cool light on it, so this seemed more appropriate.

Pencil Lay-in of a Still Life

2010-07-23T21:24:00.000-07:00

I am starting a new painting this week, a still life in oil on a 18 by 24 inch canvas. Here is it laid in with a pencil on the canvas.

"Garlic Breath"

2010-04-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

Oil, 16 by 20 inches

Still Life Under-painting

2010-04-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

I started a new painting this week, to keep up my painting skills between painting classes. This one is an oil of a still life of some bottles of oil and vinegar, garlic, and onions. At this stage, it is just the under-painting, using just two colors, burnt sienna, and burnt umber, with some medium.

Advanced Portraits -- Painting 3

2010-03-04T21:58:00.000-08:00

This is the third painting from our advanced portrait painting class. This was a quick one, obviously, since it is not complete. We only spent one class period on it, with maybe 2.5 hours painting. I'm not sure that I will do any more on it, since I only really like painting from a live model. As a result, it will likely stay unfinished. In fact, I kind of consider it a study, rather than a finished painting. I can see a lot of things I'd fix if I had more time.

Middle Aged Black Woman With Wavy Hair

2010-02-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I posted. It is not that I have not done anything; it is just that I have not done anything I liked.

This one is from my advanced portrait's class. Here, we played around a bit with a palette knife, again in oils.

This represents about six hours worth of work.

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 3's Painting Finished

2009-11-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

Finally, I am calling it done -- the Rembrandt-like study. Obviously, Rembrandt was a great master, and I am not. However, I like that it captures some of the ideas of Rembrandt: the dark moodiness, the feeling that is comes out of the darkness, the islands of light. So here is is in all its glory.

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 3's Painting Continued

2009-11-07T14:03:00.000-08:00

In class we are no longer working on our Rembrandt-like study. However, I took a picture of the painting so that I could continue it.

I was not entirely happy with the under-painting for this particular portrait, so I made some corrections, particularly with the shirt and the hands with opaque paint.

In doing that I liked the figure much better. However, I lost some of the transparency from glazing. For instance, the head now looks like a cardboard cutout. After the paint dries, I plan to move in with some glazes, to see if I can get that homogeneous look and feel again.

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 3

2009-11-05T21:27:00.000-08:00

This is my second portrait painting class with Mariana Carreras. In this class we will be studying the works of two masters, Rembrandt and Frida Kahlo. I am working in oils.

For week three, we spent the final session on our painting, attempting to use some of the techniques that Rembrandt used. This time we played with color. We used translucent paints with medium, like raw sienna for some yellows, and burnt sienna for some reds. We also used some opaques like yellow ochre and titanium white. I even snuck in some cadmium red, even though that was not available in Rembrandt's time.

This week I focused in on the face of the model. In fact, the rest of the painting is pretty much untouched. As a result, I am including pictures of the full painting and a close-up of the face, so you can see all the color I used.

Obviously, the painting is not finished. I did take some pictures of the model, and, as much as I hate painting from photos, I plan to continue this painting.

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 2

2009-10-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

This is my second portrait painting class with Mariana Carreras. In this class we will be studying the works of two masters, Rembrandt and Frida Kahlo. I am working in oils.

This is week two of our study of Rembrandt. This week we made a glaze of a mixture of ultramarine blue and burnt sienna, covered the whole painting, and scumbled in some titanium white. In particular, we tried to give emphasis to our areas of focus, leaving the other areas dark, similar to what Rembrandt might have done. In my case, the areas of focus are the model's face and the skull the model was holding.

Here is the result of week two's work:

Portrait Painting, Two Masters, Week 1

2009-10-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

This is my second portrait painting class with Mariana Carreras. In this class we will be studying the works of two masters, Rembrandt and Frida Kahlo. I am working in oils.

For week one, we started studying Rembrandt. In doing that, we tried to create a painting with contrast between light and dark, focusing details on what we want to show, and subduing the details of what is not the focus.

The painting I am posting here is not complete, by any means. This is the result of the first of three classes we will spend on it. In fact, this is simply the underpainting, or grisaille.

Portrait Painting 101, Week 6

2009-10-15T22:34:00.000-07:00

My new class at The Drawing Studio is called Portrait Painting 101, with Mariana Carreras. I am working in oils.

This week, the last week of the class, we continued the portrait that we started last week. Like the first painting, I scumbled in some paint. This time, however, I scumbled in some flesh tone, using Titanium and Cadmium Red, to add some variation. I also went in with some Cerulean Blue in the shadows. Here is the result:

Portrait Painting 101, Week 5

2009-10-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

My new class at The Drawing Studio is called Portrait Painting 101, with Mariana Carreras. I am working in oils.

For week five, we started a new painting. This painting, we went back to the indirect method. This week we painted a model holding a wine glass, starting with the under-painting, using burnt umber over a burnt sienna glaze.

Here is my under-painting. Next week we will complete it.

Portrait Painting 101, Weeks 3 and 4

2009-10-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

My new class at The Drawing Studio is called Portrait Painting 101, with Mariana Carreras. I am working in oils.

For weeks three and four, we worked on the same painting using the direct method. With the direct method, there is no transparency, glazes, or scumbling. We simply mixed up some opaque flesh color and went to town.

It went pretty well. In fact, my painting was the only one in class that resembled the model (which in my opinion had a lot to do with luck).

Here is the result:

Portrait Painting 101, Week 2

2009-09-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

My new class at The Drawing Studio is called Portrait Painting 101, with Mariana Carreras. I am working in oils.

For week 2, we took last week's painting an scumbled in some titanium white and cadmium red on a terra verde glaze.

This is the result:

Portrait Painting 101, Week 1

2009-09-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

My new class at The Drawing Studio is called Portrait Painting 101, with Mariana Carreras. I am working in oils.

The first week, we laid in portrait on a glazed canvas, using one pigment, burnt umber. The highlights are achieved by pulling up paint with solvent.

This is what I did for week one:

Bottles and Decanter in Acrylic

2009-08-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Root Vegetables In A Square Bowl

2009-08-02T20:18:00.001-07:00

I tried to play around with a looser style with this one. I am not sure if it was successful, but here it is in all its glory.

Bottles, Fruit, and Veggies In Acrylic

2009-07-24T20:53:00.000-07:00

Drawing Portraits, Week 5

2009-07-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

This is a series on a class called Drawing Portraits, at the Drawing Studio. In this class, as the name would suggest, we will focus on the human face.

This week, rather than working from a live model, we worked from a photo. I chose a photo of Jazz legend, Art Tatum. Here is the result.

Drawing Portraits, Week 4

2009-07-12T13:23:00.000-07:00

This is a series on a class called Drawing Portraits, at the Drawing Studio. In this class, as the name would suggest, we will focus on the human face.

This week, like last week, we started with some gestures and then settled into a long pose. This is what I ended up with this week:

Barnett

2009-07-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a painting that I did on my new easel. It is a still life of a wine bottle and glass. The wine bottle was a 2002 Barnett Cabernet Sauvignon.

Drawing Portraits, Week 3

2009-06-28T13:42:00.000-07:00

This is a series on a class called Drawing Portraits, at the Drawing Studio. In this class, as the name would suggest, we will focus on the human face.

For week three, like last week, after some instruction, we drew a live model. We started with some quick gesture drawings, and then settled in for a longer pose.

Here is what I drew for the long pose:

Drawing Portraits, Week 2

2009-06-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

This is a series on a class called Drawing Portraits, at the Drawing Studio. In this class, as the name would suggest, we will focus on the human face.

For week one, after some instruction, we drew a live model. We started with some quick gesture drawings, and then settled in for a longer pose.

Here is what I drew:

Here are two quick two minute gesture drawings.

This is a longer pose.

Painting Studio with Betina Fink, Week 4 and 5

2009-06-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

This is a six part series -- well, actually a four part series -- on the class I'm taking at The Drawing Studio, called Painting Studio with Betina Fink. All the work I will be doing in the class will be in acrylic paint.

The reason this is now a four part series is two fold. First, for the last two classes, we've worked on the same painting. Also, I will miss the last class. So, there you go.

Like I said above, the last two weeks we've worked on the same painting. Basically, it is a still life of musical instruments and flowers. This is what I created:

Art Show

2009-06-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

Today was an exciting day. I had a piece of art that I created featured in an art show. The art show took place at The Drawing Studio, and included art from the Drawing Fundamentals classes. The piece of mine in the show was a still life of desert vegetation done in graphite. In the picture below, it is the one at the top.

Painting Studio with Betina Fink, Week 3

2009-05-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

This is a six part series on the class I'm taking at The Drawing Studio, called Painting Studio with Betina Fink. All the work I will be doing in the class will be in acrylic paint.

For week three, we did two things. First, we added glaze -- basically watered down paints -- to last week's painting. Second, we did a new piece. This one was of a knotted yellow cloth hanging under some lights. We primed the canvas with yellow ochre. The idea was to let some of the primed color through the subject.

Below is the one of the knotted yellow cloth:

Painting Studio with Betina Fink, Week 2

2009-05-03T17:49:00.001-07:00

This is a six part series on the class I'm taking at The Drawing Studio, called Painting Studio with Betina Fink. All the work I will be doing in the class will be in acrylic paint.

This week we did a black and white painting of various items lined up with lights over them. There were many items to choose from and we had to choose three. I chose a conch shell, a gravy boat, and a clay figurine.

There are a few things that I wish that I'd done better. Compositionally, the three subjects are not integrated enough. It is a little like a slot machine. Also, scale-wise the gravy boat is huge, and conch shell is small -- again, making it look like three different paintings.

There are some things I like, though. For instance, I think that the texture of the various items are well represented. To be honest, I'm am just glad you can tell what the three items are in the painting. To me, that is mission accomplished, seeing that this is one of the first paintings I've done in about 20 years.

Painting Studio with Betina Fink, Week 1

2009-04-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

This is a six part series on the class I'm taking at The Drawing Studio, called Painting Studio with Betina Fink. All the work I will be doing in the class will be in acrylic paint.

For week one, we did a still life of a platter full of vegetables: heirloom tomatoes, red and yellow bell peppers, root vegetables, and so on. This is what I did:

Acrylic, 9" x 12".

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals 2, Week 8

2009-03-12T22:07:00.001-07:00

This is a series of posts about my second class, Drawing Fundamentals 2, taken at The Drawing Studio, an artist's cooperative here in Tucson. Week by week, I plan to do a log of what we do in class.

For week eight, the last week. we did figure drawing. Each person in the class took turns posing for 15 minutes. The rest of the class drew the person posing. The whole idea is that they were quick. Obviously, they are not polished.

My drawings were all done in charcoal. Here are the best ones:

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals 2, Week 7

2009-03-05T20:50:00.000-08:00

This is a series of posts about my second class, Drawing Fundamentals 2, taken at The Drawing Studio, an artist's cooperative here in Tucson. Week by week, I plan to do a log of what we do in class.

For week seven, we took some of the paper we had textured with gesso and ink or paint, and did a drawing in the media of our choice, using that texture. I chose graphite, using a white pastel and white gouache for highlights. Our subject was a simple still life.

This is what I did:

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals 2, Week 6

2009-03-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

This is a series of posts about my second class, Drawing Fundamentals 2, taken at The Drawing Studio, an artist's cooperative here in Tucson. Week by week, I plan to do a log of what we do in class.

Week 6 brought us to abstract. For this week, we did charcoal drawings, on toned paper, using two pastels: white, and a color of our choice. A still life was set up, of some odd ceramic shapes.

Though I was not happy with it, the is what I drew:

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals 2, Week 5

2009-02-19T20:35:00.001-08:00

This is a series of posts about my second class, Drawing Fundamentals 2, taken at The Drawing Studio, an artist's cooperative here in Tucson. Week by week, I plan to do a log of what we do in class.

For week five, we were back to color. This time we did a still life in a media of our choice. I had never done oil pastel, so I gave it a try. This one was also done on green toned paper.

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals 2, Week 4

2009-02-05T20:44:00.001-08:00

This is a series of posts about my second class, Drawing Fundamentals 2, taken at The Drawing Studio, an artist's cooperative here in Tucson. Week by week, I plan to do a log of what we do in class.

For week four, we were introduced to color. We spent the first part of the class putting gesso and colored inks on paper for use in a future class. Following that, we tried our hand at some drawings using color. I did three, two in pastel, and one in colored pencil. Only two of them were worthy of putting on this blog. They are below:

Three oranges in a blue dish, in pastel.

Two limes in a red dish, in colored pencil and graphite.

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals 2, Week 3

2009-01-29T20:50:00.001-08:00

This is a series of posts about my second class, Drawing Fundamentals 2, taken at The Drawing Studio, an artist's cooperative here in Tucson. Week by week, I plan to do a log of what we do in class.

Week three: ink. This week we used ink and a brush to draw, or paint, if you will, a still life of a plant. After the brush, I went in with a feather quill and filled in some lines. This was the result:

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals 2, Week 2

2009-01-23T17:06:00.001-08:00

This is a series of posts about my second class, Drawing Fundamentals 2, taken at The Drawing Studio, an artist's cooperative here in Tucson. Week by week, I plan to do a log of what we do in class.

For week 2, week experimented with texture. We arrived at class to find a large still life setting in front of us that included some yucca plants, cacti skeletons, and rocks. We all started out by roughing out the outline using graphite powder. We then took our graphite sticks, various erasers, chamois, and other tools to complete the drawing.

Here is the result:

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals 2, Week 1

2009-01-19T17:40:00.000-08:00

This is a series of posts about my second class, Drawing Fundamentals 2, taken at The Drawing Studio, an artist's cooperative here in Tucson. Week by week, I plan to do a log of what we do in class.

The first week of the class we tried our hand at drawing portraits: the close-up of the face. We split into two groups and took turns posing as others in the class drew us.

Here are the best ones that I did:

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals I, Week 8

2008-12-24T15:16:00.000-08:00

To expand my drawing skills, I'm taking a class at the Drawing Studio, an artist cooperative here in Tucson. This is a series of posts outlining what we are doing in the class, week by week.

Week eight was the last week. During this class we tried our hand at figure drawing. Each person in the class took turns posing for 10 minutes as the rest of the class drew them.

Here are the best ones:

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals I, Week 7

2008-12-04T20:49:00.001-08:00

To expand my drawing skills, I'm taking a class at the Drawing Studio, an artist cooperative here in Tucson. This is a series of posts outlining what we are doing in the class, week by week.

For week seven, we drew draped cloth. Using our sticks, we drew the outline of the cloth's shape. Then, we used the concepts we learned from our value class to fill in the details of the cloth.

This one was different for me in that I did not use charcoal. I only used graphite pencil to do this drawing.

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals I, Week 6

2008-11-21T17:19:00.001-08:00

To expand my drawing skills, I'm taking a class at the Drawing Studio, an artist cooperative here in Tucson. This is a series of posts outlining what we are doing in the class, week by week.

Week six expanded the subject of perspective. Rather than drawing boxes, however, this time, we drew the interior of rooms. To do this, we used one point perspective, where walls that do not face the viewer straight on all go to a single vanishing point. We still used our measuring stick to get the proportions of things, though.

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals I, Week 5

2008-11-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

To expand my drawing skills, I'm taking a class at the Drawing Studio, an artist cooperative here in Tucson. This is a series of posts outlining what we are doing in the class, week by week.

Week five introduced us the the subject of perspective. Unlike the perspective techniques that we learned in High School, one or two point perspective, we learned how to measure perspective using our measuring stick.

To draw a cube shape, we labeled the hypothetical corner points with with letters and found the points like this:

Find AB.
Find the distance from AB to CD.
Find point D on line AB.
Compare AB's length to CD. (One face complete)
Find distance of line EF from AB.
Find point F on line AB.
Compare length of EF to AB. (Second face complete)
Find point G on line AE.

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals I, Week 4

2008-11-06T20:47:00.001-08:00

To expand my drawing skills, I'm taking a class at the Drawing Studio, an artist cooperative here in Tucson. This is a series of posts outlining what we are doing in the class, week by week.

For week four, we drew plants. We started out doing quick thumbnails of various plants. We then settled in for a long drawing. The idea was to give just enough detail to indicate what kind of plant it was, but not so much detail that we got bogged down.

Long leafy plant thumbnail.	Aloe Vera thumbnail.
A two hour study of a plant in pencil and charcoal. 18"x24". This particular plant was a cactus with big curly leaves on top.

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals I, Week 3

2008-10-31T17:37:00.000-07:00

To expand my drawing skills, I'm taking a class at the Drawing Studio, an artist cooperative here in Tucson. This is a series of posts outlining what we are doing in the class, week by week.

For week three, we were introduced to a new topic: value. We started out drawing a strip with five boxes. We then attempted to fill in those boxes with charcoal shading, going from light to dark. After we completed that, we did the same thing with seven boxes.

Once we completed our shaded boxes, we went on to a still life drawing. Like the week before, we sketched out the still life using a stick to measure proportions. After that, we shaded our drawings, using our shaded boxes as a guide.

A five step charcoal gradation.	A seven step charcoal gradation.
A two and half hour still life in charcoal and pencil. 18" x 24".

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals I, Week 2

2008-10-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

To expand my drawing skills, I'm taking a class at the Drawing Studio, an artist cooperative here in Tucson. This is a series of posts outlining what we are doing in the class, week by week.

This week we expanded what we worked on the week before, outlining shapes as best we could. This time, however, we tried something new: We held up a stick at arms length, trying to measure the proportions of the objects we were drawing. The items were painted white so that we would be sure to only draw the outline.

Outline of a wine bottle.

Outline of another wine bottle.

The Drawing Studio: Drawing Fundamentals I, Week 1

2008-10-25T12:20:00.000-07:00

To expand my drawing skills, I'm taking a class at the Drawing Studio, an artist cooperative here in Tucson. This is a series of posts outlining what we are doing in the class, week by week.

The first class we were introduced to the teacher, Deb Steinberg. We then began our studies by outlining shapes, such as circles and squares, trying to get them as perfect as we could. We then moved on to more advanced shapes, such as garden tools, scissors, and kitchen implements. The idea was to do the outline only, trying to get the shape as perfect as possible.

Attempt to make the perfect circle.	Kitchen tool.
Scissors. I got in trouble for drawing the interior of the scissors.	Garden tool.

Murano In Acrylic

2008-09-01T13:14:00.000-07:00

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This is a five hour study of the buildings in Murano (an island near Venice) in acrylic on 15" x 11" paper.

Rainbow Bridge In Acrylic

2008-08-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

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This was a two hour landscape study in acrylic on 15" x 11" paper. It was my second acrylic painting in twenty years.

Sedona Landscape In Acrylic

2008-08-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

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This was a two hour landscape study in acrylic on 15" x 11" paper. It was my first acrylic painting in twenty years.

Pencil Study of My Foot

2008-08-24T15:26:00.000-07:00