Clayton J. Beck, III Workshop Recap

I wish I had more time to write about this, but for now I'll have to give a quick recap.

This month I had the great privilege of attending my second Clayton J. Beck, III workshop. This time it was here in Dallas at the Society of Figurative Arts, and I helped organize it, hire the models, even pick Clayton up from the airport. :-) He probably got tired of me after a while, but I sure enjoyed the one-on-one time, picking his brain on all things art-related. :-)

Below are some pictures from the workshop, and my notes with some of the main points from his discourse that I found particularly helpful.

- Every brush stroke you lay down is a reflection of your thought process.
- Making the highlight on the upper eyelid too light will cause the model to look sleepy (ha!)
- Don't add a background to a figure - add the figure to the background.
- Don't constantly try to get the model back into the first sitting's pose, when they were in a different mindset.
- Everything is just as important as everything else.
- Establish from the beginning something that is absolutely correct, and use that as your "key" or "anchor."
- Don't have anything in your line of sight that disturbs the harmony.
- Leave some white on the canvas. If you take it all out, you'll never be able to put it back. Resist the urge to "fill in all the holes".
- Each time you look up at the model, gather specific information.
- A block-in = enough information to move to final painting. The block-in should be a success. Don't degrade it or take away the excitement. Adorn it.
- Ask yourself the right questions, in the right order.
Here's a big one: Don't get bored with your own paintings. Your work should show that you love painting. Love every square inch of your canvas. Each part of it should be a gift to the viewer.

Of course, probably very little of this makes sense to you unless you attend Clayton's workshop and watch him paint. It's truly amazing - and he is a fantastic teacher!

I didn't get photos of every demo, but here are pictures from his first demonstration. For a classical realist, this method probably looks like chaos, but Clayton put every brush stroke down with complete intention and clarity of thought. It was fascinating to watch.

The first three days of the workshop were portrait-focused. We had a different model every day, and attempted to complete two or more paintings each day, with a specific goal for each piece (OTHER than "making a pretty picture").

Here are my efforts from these three days - all different, for sure! I didn't get two paintings in every day, since I was the class monitor, AND I was always the last to get a spot in front of the model. That made it more fun for me, since I had to try and make the absolute most of whatever perspective I was given.

 Above: My goal was to turn the form using color temperature, since the light was so flat from my angle. Below: My goal was to keep the focal point in the light, even though the face was 3/4 in the shadow.

Above: My goal was to have very soft edges, with only 2-3 relatively harder edges based on the contrast in those areas.
Below: My goal was to stay high key and not ever get to "black" in the value scale. That took a great deal of self-control, since I love drama in my paintings!

The last two days of the workshop consisted of figure painting. Below is the setup on the model stand, and pictures of Clayton's first figure demo, which turned out beautifully.

Below: Clayton's second figure demo, completed in perhaps no more than 45 minutes.

 Below: my efforts from the two days of figure painting. Having an absolute blast. When I set up in front of the model for this first painting, the pose and dramatic lighting took my breath away.

I would like to give a big thanks to Michael Mentler for hosting such a great workshop, and allowing me to participate. And of course, thank you to Clayton for coming all the way down from Chicago and doing such an excellent job teaching and demonstrating. :-)

The Art of the Dance

"At the ballet, you really feel like you're in the presence of something outside the rest of your life. Higher than the rest of your life." -  Robert Caro

"It is essential to do the same subject over again, ten times, a hundred times. Nothing in art must seen to be chance, not even movement." -  Edgar Degas

Here are some detail shots of my latest large-scale figurative piece, "The Prima Ballerina," 36x36, oil on linen.  I hope to have my model, Emma back, for many more paintings - she is absolutely elegant!

If you ever want to learn how to paint white, do a high-key painting like this! It will blow your mind! :-)

The Challenges of Self Portraits (from a mirror, or course!)

American Artist magazine is currently running a cover competition featuring self portraits, so that gave me some incentive to try my hand at, once again, the ever-intimidating self portrait done completely from a mirror.

Some things I learned from the experience this time around:

• You have to cope with the model moving all the time. You'd think that since I look at myself in the mirror everyday, I'd have my features memorized. But this time it felt like I had to learn them all over again, in this specific lighting, under these specific circumstances. The lighting changes everything!
• I asked myself the question: "Do I want to idealize myself or paint me the way I look, in this moment?" True to my classical-realist tendencies, I answered with both. The idealization was unintentional, as it is most of the time when I do a portrait. I have a real empathy for my subjects, especially this one! I also included some of the not so perfect things that make me the way I do... like the dark circles under the eyes, the big chin, and the fact that my mouth is always open when I'm concentrating on a painting!
• You can still squint at yourself as a subject, unless you're working on the eyes. :-)
• You can only look at one eye at a time! So, I had quite the challenge making sure my eyes in the painting weren't focused in two different directions!
• Each self portrait should be different in some way from the last. I wanted this one to include at least one hand (mission accomplished, in natural window light, with the addition of my easel and canvas inside the composition.

Self Portrait by the Window - 15" x 14" - oil on linen

I also realized (and this was completely unplanned) that in my self-portrait and the portrait I'm working on of my husband, we are wearing the same color shirts. Weird. I'll post pictures of that one soon.

Meanwhile, here is a picture from this morning's 2 1/2-hour painting excursion at the Dallas Arboretum. It was absolutely gorgeous out today, and I hope that while the beautiful fall weather lasts, I can make this a weekly thing. There are thousands of pumpkins out there right now, as well as azaleas, roses, and chysanthemums. It's just beautiful!

I may tweak this a little more in my studio, but here is my rendition of the Poetry Garden.

"The Poetry Garden" - plein air painting, in progress

A Portrait Painter's Analysis of the Plein Air Experience

Well, obviously since it's been over a month since my last post, things have been busy here at Artwork by Anna Rose! It's a good kind of busy, though - all of my projects are fun and exciting, and I'm doing a lot of teaching this month, which is wonderful. However, even when the business of life is good, it's easy to get worn down. For this reason, I am realizing more and more that it's important for us artists to have fun, zero-stress projects to work on every once in a while. I learned from my trip to Europe that the few times I had to paint en plein air were really moments to cherish, because they were incredibly relaxing. True, there are always logistical and aesthetic problems to solve while working outdoors (e.g. those pesky bugs, or that tree that doesn't quite fit in the composition...), but that's the kind of "stress" I enjoy. Plein air painting has suddenly become for me an escape from life's stress and the mundane, with each hour or two I spend at it like a mini artistic retreat. I have only taken to it this past year, but now I understand why so many artists love it, and why so many portrait artists suppliment their commission work with landscape painting. The adrenaline rush I get when painting a portrait from life has now extended to painting landscapes from life, and I am absolutely enamored with this new branch of exploration in my artistic journey.

As a portrait artist, I find that landscape painting is relaxing, first of all, because there is no need for a 100% accurate likeness. While capturing a likeness has never been too much of a struggle for me, it still requires a great deal of concentrated observation, and demands complete focus. With plein air, even if the scene is well-known (like a famous bridge or mountain), there are many more liberties that can be taken. This kind of painting is teaching me how to simplify, leave things out, or perhaps bring things in from the surrounding landscape in ways that photography simply can't.

Secondly, I find painting outdoors to be relaxing because I've always been a lover of nature. I get cabin fever pretty easily, especially in this Texas heat, so a little field trip to the great outdoors is just the solution. I can spend time outside while still being productive!

I should mention that proper equipment is a must! I've posted several pictures here and there of my plein air set-up, but for my artist friends, I'll describe it in a little more detail. I use a Guerilla Painter Travel Box, in size 9x12. This box is fabulous, as it is lightweight, it can hold all my paints as well as several wet 9x12 panels, and it mounts to a regular camera tripod. It fits inside of a large backpack, along with all my other supplies (paper towels, brushes, camera, etc.). You have to purchase accessories separately, but I highly recommend at least getting the Mighy Mite brush washer, the paper towel holder, and the multi mount collapsible umbrella. I also purchased wet panel carriers in various sizes from Raymar Art, and would recommend Raymar panels over any other brand.

Here is my partial set-up, down by a river near where I live. I wished I had brought my umbrella, on this particular occasion, but at least I remembered to wear a hat!

Here is the first painting I completed while trying out my pochade box. The painting sold at my local gallery after just a week or two.

Stripes of the Storm - 9x12 - oil on Raymar panel - private collection

Below: using my pochade box on my trip to Europe. This was in Florence, overlooking the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio. You can see the paper towel holder in use. My palette was a Jack Richeson "Grey Matters" pad of grey wax paper in 9"x12", which fit perfectly inside the pochade box. The wine glass is optional...

And below: a little gem from this past weekend. I think I'm getting better at plein air. It sure is exciting!

 "Morning Calm in Texas Summer"  - 8x8 - oil on Raymar panel

For me, plein air painting isn't about whether or not I'm destined to be an excellent landscape painter - if that happens, then I consider that a bonus. What it really comes down to is this: with this experience, I've become better at seeing. Suddenly, I'm beginning to learn how to leave my brain out of the equation, and react instinctively to what's in front of me. This added knowledge will transcend to all other aspects of my work -- portraits, commission work, figurative painting... So, dear artist friends, I recommend you do the same - get out of the safety of your studio and head outside for some fresh air, easel and brushes in hand...

Miles logged in Milan = Unknown

Even though I remember well the hours of walking through Florence, I knew I would have to tough it out once again for these first few days exploring Milan. Three days in, my feet are covered in blisters and bug bites that swell up to the size of quarters, and yet, there is so much to do and see that I keep on going out every day to take it all in.

The Church of Santa Maria Delle Grazie (to the right is the refectory with "The Last Supper"

Yesterday Steve and I visited perhaps the most famous of Milan's attractions, Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper." We booked our tickets several weeks ago, knowing that was the only way we had a chance of seeing it. The painting is well-known and has been recreated over and over again, even though it has deteriorated a great deal, due to Leonardo's dry tempera painting technique (unlike true fresco, where the paint chemically bonds with the wet plaster beneath it). Still, when we stepped into the room where it is housed (the rectory of the church of Santa Maria Delle Grazie), it still made me catch my breath. It is bigger than I imagined, and the atmospheric background behind the head of Christ still seems to glow. The 1-point linear perspective is immaculate, and directs the viewer's eye directly to the figure of Christ.  We were only given 15 minutes to view this masterpiece before being ushered out quickly, but I used every last minute to stand in awe of the "Last Supper." No photography was allowed, but the memory of it, and how I felt when I saw it, will stay with me forever.

Other sights from today and yesterday included a walk along the Naviglio Grande (Milan's Grand Canal), a visit to the Science and Technology Museum (which houses replicas of Leonardo Da Vinci's many inventions), and even a soccer game! We bought matching jersies and went with Steve's two co-workers to an Inter-Milan game at the city stadium. This soccer game wasn't originally on my to-do list, but I'm glad we went. :-)

The enormous stadium, with a view of the city behind it.

Sporting our Inter-Milan jersies. :-)

This was definitely the wild side of the stadium. They were waving enormous flags and firing flares. Thankfully, Inter-Milan won, so we didn't have to experience an Italian riot. :-)

The Naviglio Grande

Happy Hour in Milan lasts from 7-9. You buy one drink for 8 euros or so, and get this huge spread of food for free! We filled up tonight on happy hour food and ended up skipping dinner!

Milan, a City that Embraces Old and New

Five years ago after finishing a summer class with the Florence Academy of Art, I left Italy and promised myself that I would return, but not alone... I wanted to come back with my husband, Steve. This week, the dream came true, and it was all made possible by Steve's new job working for a company called Festo. Last week, he was in Germany, where Festo is internationally based, for work. This week, he was scheduled to work in Milan, so on Thursday/Friday, I flew in to join him. After his work week is finished, we will spend the next two weeks exploring Switzerland and Italy. It is an opportunity I never thought would be possible so soon, and I am grateful to be here!

I've promised many of you that I would blog about this experience, so consider this my first little update. Of course, I could write a great deal about all the cultural differences and the little things I've felt silly having to learn the hard way (like how to buy an underground metro ticket...), but everything comes together in the end, and the Milanese are gracious people, willing to help even with the language barrier.

When I first landed in Milan, I felt my heart flutter. I could hardly believe I was back in Italy! Still, Milan, as I have discovered, is very different from Florence or Rome, and I am anxious to learn more about it. My first introduction to the city basically consisted of curious, random wandering for an entire day. I only had one goal on my first day here, and that was to find an art supply store where I could buy solvents for oil painting. Once I finally found one in the Brera district, I continued to wander, wondering what kind of portrait (or series of portraits) I would end up painting of the city of Milan. It's unlike Florence, which feels locked in time, and also unlike Rome, which revels in its historical fame. Milan is extremely urban, bustling with real city folk who go about their day, but dress more fashionably than Americans and yet aren't ashamed to take public transportation. I have yet to see the high-end shopping districts or go into the art galleries, but I've seen enough to realize that Milan's beauty is unique, and it will be challenging for me to find places to paint that really capture this dichotomy between the old and the new. The city, so rich with tradition, is also a leader in the modern age - art, fashion, technology. So, the question I have is: what portrait shall I paint of Milan?

Day 2 (today) - Steve and I unashamedly playing tourist... here are some pictures of our adventures.

Steve and I in front of the famous Duomo, which is charactarized by its numerous architectural styles, as it took over 500 years to build.

One of the impressive views of the buildings and streets below from the top of the Duomo.

Walking through some of the expensive shopping areas in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. This was an impressive window display for Louis Vuitton.

At the Piazza Della Scala, with the statue of Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci was very active in Milan; tomorrow we will be going to see "The Last Supper."

One must have gelato as often as possible when staying in Italy! These flavors were mixed berry and milk (this is branching out for me - I'm usually a stickler for chocolate!).

A typical, beautiful city street.

These strawberries in a Milan fruit stand looked absolutely mouthwatering.

At the Castello Sforzesco, a fortress built in the 1300s.