Suzanne Lago Arthur 9/13/20 Suzanne Lago Arthur 9/13/20

Online Classes

Finished oil painting demonstration for the upcoming “Sunflowers and Pumpkins” workshop.

One of the few silver linings during this crazy COVID time definitely has to be the ability to take online classes.

I have recently rolled out my own online art classes for both adults and teens. Next up will be my “Sunflowers and Pumpkins” online oils workshop for beginners - intermediate level painters.

During 3 hours each day, I will demonstrate and break down my painting technique in simple terms so that students can follow along at home. Students are encouraged to email a photograph of their finished painting for feedback once the workshop is over. A Zoom conference link and materials list will be emailed closer to the start of the workshop.

Sept 19th & 20th. 1:00 - 4:00 PM. I hope you will join us!

Suzanne Lago Arthur 10/2/19 Suzanne Lago Arthur 10/2/19

Workshop Wednesday: Kathleen Speranza

“Yellow Cluster”, Oil on panel. 11” x 11”. Artist, Kathleen Speranza.

There are few floral painters today who can conjure up the sublime in their paintings, Kathleen Speranza is definitely among the best of them. There is a palatable, moody atmosphere in her paintings which envelopes her still life subjects. This atmosphere simultaneously ensconces and reveals the delicate forms of her subjects, often English roses. And since I have been in search of the sublime recently in my own work, I jumped at the opportunity to study with her when she came to the Art League in Alexandria VA this past summer.

She will be returning to the area to teach a private sold out workshop in Purcellville VA in early December 2019. If you are interested in getting on a wait list should a slot open up, please contact me directly.

The following notes and photos I took myself so that I could continue to study on my own. Hopefully they will inspire you to spark a little moody magic in your paintings.

Day One/June 11, 2019:

ON THE SUBJECT OF ROSES:

-Kathleen has been working with the subject of roses for the past 4-5 years. She is still working on unlocking the secrets of subtly.

-”The growth habit is more beautiful in a garden rose”. A living plant twists and spirals into form. In nature this is called “Equiangular Spirals” or in design it is known as “Dynamic Symmetry”. Other terms for this are the Golden Mean and the Fibonacci Spiral.

-When she does work from florist roses (long stemmed), three of her favorites are “Juliet”, “Patience” and “White O’Hara'‘, all from David Austin. She recommends purchasing the cut flowers from Florabundance.com, an on-line retailer of flowers.

-When working from the rose she thinks of it as occupying space, and the background around it as space as well.

-She often composes her arrangements with a tiny vase so that flowers spread out - not tall and narrow. Also loves using just the floral frogs to allow for “more air”.

Kathleen Speranza’s charcoal drawing on Fabriano Ingres laid paper.

ON THE SUBJECT OF DRAWING:

-She does drawings constantly. Her drawings help her to “think” about her compositions.

-She uses her prepatory drawings to help her edit her vision for the painting. Kathleen has discovered that if she works directly from the roses when painting that she often ends up painting everything and losing the essence of subtly and restraint.

-When working with charcoal she prefers Nitram and will lay down the charcoal & then lifts the light. “The light is everything”.

-She will also draw with graphite.

-Prefers Fabriano Ingres laid paper. Tip: Place a thick pad of paper behind the Ingres paper when drawing.

-She draws and paints in natural light. Natural light is ambient - it envelopes the subject.

-She thinks in term of “light to dark” and “dark to light” when setting up her still lifes and also when drawing/painting.

-”Feel the gesture, the curvilinear marks”. Create compound curves w/straight edges.

-”You can’t get momentum if you hold the pencil like you are writing - that kind of detail comes later in the drawing”.

-”Make an ugly drawing first - structural, a boxy block in”.

-Lays down several lines with each angle - “feels'“ her way through. Makes cross hatches to indicate the end of a petal. Angled dashes that break the edge.

-”The edge tells you everything about the interior. They are hugely important”.

-”Veils in” the overall shadow.

-Recommends watching Sadie Valerie’s video on shading a sphere.

-”The viewer will see your experience- not your goal. Slow down and enjoy every detail”.

-”The background creates your edges.”

-“Laid paper slows down your darks - allows for the marks to breathe. Much more interesting that way”.

-”The more shapes you put down the more variation in tone you will have”.

-”The whole thing is straight lines. Take extra care around strong contrasts. Make sure each petal is where it should be exactly at this stage of the drawing.

-”if you go into details too soon you will make it too complex. This is not what you want. You want to simplify and go for subtly”.

-Use a grey scale with 9 steps and work toward those values in your drawing.

Kathleen’s paint mixing demo using the Munsell Color System to dial in on the exact value, hue & chroma of the rose petal above.

INTRO ON THE MUNSELL COLOR SYSTEM:

-Comes out of the French Academic system.

-Hue + Value + Chroma = Subtly

-It is based on 9 value color chart.

-Kathleen creates a mixture she calls “blumber”. 2/3 ivory black + 1/3 raw umber. She then adds white to this mixture to achieve the correct value and finally adds a color hue to arrive at the final value and color of whatever she is painting.

-Always add dark to your white. If you go the other way you will use too much white. Conserve your white.

-The student Munsell book contains 60 colors.

-Practice the color system by doing master copies. Use Google Art Project for references of the highest resolution.

-Be aware that the influence of black in the Munsell color system makes everything you mix a little greenish.

-It is a good idea to tube your paint in advance (blumber + white to achieve the 9 values in a value chart).

DAY TWO/June 12, 2019:

NOTES ON PAINTING DURING HER DEMO:

-Kathleen set up a split compliment for her demo composition. Yellow & grey.

-”Color is relative- edge to edge”.

“The classic still life is light to dark, or dark to light”.

“Look for structure, large mass & contrast”.

-”I have to believe the space I am making. Sometimes I get it right away. Other times I have to sand it, mash things around first”.

-Quotes Flannery O’Connor, “I don’t know what I think until I read what I write”. Feels the same way about her work.

-Uses a colored sheet, studio wall or box as her background.

-Degreases panel first with gamsol on a brush.

-Starts the underpainting with yellow ocher and plans to work in values 1 - 5 with a little darker for the leaves.

-Her set up has a nice horizontal arc so she is creating her composition horizontally on her panel.

-Does not start with “darkest dark” works in mid tones first.

-Starts her under-paintings with a floppy brush. For this demo a large comber.

-Masses in background with fluffy brush. Leaving object as negative space within.

-“You are making a space, not an object”.

-“Don’t think roses, think midtones, large shapes etc”.

-Consider light, height and spread of plant when composing.

-Wipes out as needed.

“The one thing your eyes can hold is light. So we are after that one thing our eyes can truly hold. Think about that for a minute”.

-”You have to look at the whole thing or you won’t make a space”.

-“It is much better to do a “raw underpainting”—meaning not too developed because otherwise I won’t want to cover it.”

-“If I put an edge there it will pull everything forward. I want to delay those decisions until later”.

-”If I am struggling with a painting I will overlay a grid on it to look for the path of composition. But I don’t start out rigidly with the grid”.

-”I work around an object until I understand how something is unfolding”.

-”Keep the edges soft”.

“Save your best drawing for the end of a painting. Delayed gratification”.

“Think about the paint and not about what you are painting. You have to trust that you can paint your way out of anything”.

Establishing the darkest green shapes of the painting.

NOTES ON PAINTING WITH COLOR:

-The understanding of color is all about relationships.

-The color of roses is deepest always in the center or in the creases (unless it is red). The color compounds by the overlapping of each petal. In other words the petals are all actually the same color but they appear darker as they overlap.

-She uses just a simple yellow & black mixture for her leaves & stems. Try black + yellow ocher, black + lemon yellow, black + cad yellow med and black with indian yellow.

-For blue greens try; lemon yellow + ultramarine blue, cad yellow med + cobalt blue, or cad yellow med + cobalt blue + ultramarine blue.

-Think “dark, blueish green”. Think in 3 descriptive terms when mixing, it will help.

-When people paint flowers they tend to use too much chroma.

-Sargent is known to have said “Use fewer colors & more values”.

-Kathleen uses the following colors from Marvin Mattelson’s flesh palette (with whom she has studied) , terra rosa, indian red and yellow ocher to use when painting roses.

-”Here’s a tip for painting clouds and skys. Start at the top of the painting with ultramarine blue and as you get closer to painting the earth, switch to cobalt blue then cerulean blue and finally manganese blue. The color of the earth affects the air around it - so it becomes greener as it gets closer to the ground.”

FINAL MUSINGS:

-”If you copy from a photograph you are not making space”.

-Do not paint all the edges the same, it will not have a life force. It will turn out flat.

-“Hedge the whole painting with edges that are “open” so that when you harden an edge it leads the eye immediately”.

-When working, Kathleen often pushes the subject “out” and then paints the background “in” towards the subject. She then works that edge. {Sargent is said to have also worked this way}.

“Get rid of the word background. It doesn’t exist. Everything is relative in color. Color exists edge to edge.”

“Do not make pictures.
Make experiences.”

— Kathleen Speranza

lagoarthurstudio 6/1/16 lagoarthurstudio 6/1/16

Workshop Wednesday: Robert Johnson

Twice now I have had the pleasure of taking a Robert Johnson workshop. Both at the private studio of a wonderful friend of mine in Purcellville, VA. This most recent workshop occurred during the record breaking deluge of rain we received in Northern Virginia. However, despite the rain spirits were bright and the painting "spell" cast by Johnson was magical.

Robert Johnson is a master painter of exceptional skill and technique. His marks are in essence calligraphic--and he admits to having been inspired early on by the Japanese art of Sumi-E painting. This influence is evident in his work and separates his approach to oil painting from his contemporaries. The way he applies paint is a performance all on its own. He delicately controls the lift & pressure of his brush to accurately render the ephemeral quality of his subjects. Any opportunity to study with him is not to be missed.

One of the highlights of this recent workshop for me personally, was meeting an honored participant, the noble Statesman from Virginia--Senator John Warner. Senator Warner stands with other notable Statesmen (such Winston Churchill), who have turned from politics to painting later in their career. I thoroughly enjoyed the Senator's recollections of his time both as Secretary of the Navy and as a United States Senator as well as his anecdotal stories of celebrities and personalities he has known along the way.

Below are my notes that I took during both of Robert Johnson's workshops. I have placed them in categories to make them easier to understand and apply:

Composition

-Decide which direction the viewer will travel through your painting.

-Concentrate on negative shapes, variety, design. Decide whether your design will go off the canvas--if so, let it go off in several directions or it will look like a shortcoming.

-You want variety in your set - up. Its inherent in nature.

-Seek a feeling of movement. Good proportion: mass of flowers to greenery to container.

-Using the convention of "polarity"-the juxtaposition of opposites, allows both objects to acquire visual impact. i.e. vertical/horizontal, bulky/delicate.

"The function of the background is to support the "prima ballerinas". It should not detract from the main event. The background should not be as thick, the values not as saturated ed, the edges not as hard, etc."

-"Strive to get depth, even on a front to back composition."

-"The eye goes to hard edges, more paint & bright colors. Be aware of this and design accordingly."

Materials

-Works on double primed lead supports.

-Preferred medium mixture: 5 parts stand oil, 5 parts Gamsol (OMS), 1 part damar varnish.

-Lays in an "imprimatura" wash with cobalt, viridian & transparent red oxide. Puts down marks on top in a rhythmic patter which he sometimes allows to show through in the final product.

"What do mediums add to your painting? They loosen up piles of paint, make longer brushstrokes like in the background and can create transparency"

-"You need flat brushes to get at the delicacy of the flowers. Paint them with the thought that if you blew on them they would move."

-"All brushes should come to a nice sharp edge. Even your filberts."

-Begins laying in his drawing very loosely-brush held way back, long brushstrokes. Thins down paint with turps (OM).

-Paints with only one glove on his "painting" hand.

Rendering

-On levels of importance: Values, then Edges, then Colors

-Johnson wipes out the flower masses with paper towels from his initial drawing to set up the structure . He lifts quite often.

-He recommends creating charcoal drawings on toned paper to get used to "lifting out lights. Wipe out like an artist--your touch should have the feel of going over a peony."

-"Paint the subject as if it is a under single source light. Ignore the ambient light."

-"Don't ever leave anything on your canvas that is confusing. Make it clear."

-Johnson often redesigns as he is painting. He will mutter to himself, "Let's make this little guy (a yellow peonie bud) white."

-"The moment you touch your canvas, everything should be done with artistic intention."

-"Don't think about sugar bowls and roses-think about shapes and how they relate to one another."

-"There is no democracy in art. The big forms always win."

-"Get to your final painting stage quickly so that all you have to do are revisions. Finish the big statement as quick as you can."

-"Always remember that perpendicular planes reflect the light the most. If you are having problems seeing or drawing try to remember that principle."

-"Try to put the light down horizontally-it will stand out more. Implies ridges."

-"The Rembrandt effect": Horizontal then vertical marks, ending on the vertical.

-THE 5 MIN RULE: "When you make a bold statement there is this instant fear that you have done something wrong. When you have that urge to change it-ignore it. Take a deep breath, recognize what is happening. Give yourself permission to modify it--but only after 5 mins."

-"Strength and boldness lead to more strength and boldness. This is the purpose to the 5 min rule."

-"Learn to make good descriptive brushstrokes. As the painting evolves each stroke should be laid down as if it is never getting lifted."

-"Maximize the utility of the highlight. Give them breathing room in your design."

-"The light (within a painting) can describe the intensity of the light on the subject, the surface texture, direction of the light, the contour that it is going over."

-On painting flowers: "Start with the outside shape of the flower, get that accurate. Then strive for the dimensional -the light and dark of it. Only then have you earned the right to paint a petal. Work abstract to detail."

-"Say the most with the least. Be precise and you can get away with suggestion."

-On the second day of a painting Johnson begins reworking the canvas by reapplying the background color so he has something to paint into.

-On painting rugs: " Try to establish a pattern. Don't be a slave to it. Rugs should have a clear, paintable pattern to them. Use the weave of the canvas to describe the weave of the rug (sometimes scratches the paint away with the side of a palette knife to reveal the weave). Say the most with least. Allow the materials to do the work for you. Go back in and restate the design of the rug but avoid getting mechanical & uniform with your brushstrokes. Use a light touch, get the paint just on the tip of your brush and drag it into place."

-"Brushwork should be a muscle memory thing. You should be able to render the object just by looking at it with your eyes."

"Just lay the paint on. No scrubbing. The paint will look better if you just allow it to do what it naturally does."

-"You need a blend of soft and hard edges. Let the soft edges dominate. Use hard edges sparingly. Especially in the background. "

-"If you can do it in one stroke it looks better. Start with a very light touch and then apply pressure-the stem will be painted naturally going from thin to thick."

Values/Colors

-Follows thick lights/thin darks rule.

-Gets a highlight on quickly to key in the values.

-"A trick from Sargent's portraits: Add more light/color to the shadow of a subject--just past its contour. It helps turn form more and gives a sense of air."

-"Within the dark areas there are accents. The opposite in value of highlights."

-"We never think "dark" (values) with flowers but we should."

-On foliage: "Layer light over dark, dark over light--adds dimension. Overlapping planes also give you dimensional".

"Cast shadows are extremely important. Get them in early. They keep everything honest, related. The main thing I think about here is getting them dark enough and in the right places."

-On greenery: "Ultramarine blue + Cad yellow pale + something from the red family. Always sneak red into your greens."

-On painting red roses: "Don't make lights, lighter- make darks, darker. White only makes red look chalky."

-"Be careful painting yellow roses. It is the color most easily adulterated. It turns the key way down when other colors are accidentally introduced to it".

Recommended Reading

-"Painting Techniques of the Masters", Hereward Lester Cook

-"Russia, the Land, the People"

-"The Painted Word", Tom Wolfe

lagoarthurstudio 4/22/15 lagoarthurstudio 4/22/15

The Making of "Mortui Spinus Tristis"

I thought it would be fun to show some process shots of one of my most recent paintings. I found this sweet little goldfinch one day after she flew into my window. Once I got over the sadness of the whole thing, which took about 30 seconds, I ran into the house to get a freezer bag because I knew she would be the subject of a painting one day. Fast forward about a year, I found myself recently in search of a still life subject to paint under artificial light because it had been raining day after day and the light was horrible for the projects I currently had up on my easel.

So I pulled Franken Goldfinch out of the deep freezer and began placing her on objects in my studio. From a previous experience with a Franken Rooster, I know that frozen birds tend to thaw out really quickly under hot artificial light. So my strategy was to paint the bird alla prima (in one session) which took about two hours from start to finish. This includes redrawing the initial under drawing a couple of times until I had the composition just right to line up with the golden ratio.

The next day I began working on the plate. The following day I finished the Blue Willow design. I did the painting in about 8 hours spread out over a couple of days which I was able to accomplish because I put my covered palette, my painting and my subject back in the freezer in between sessions. I simplified the Blue Willow pattern considerably as I was only interested in getting the "feel" of it. However in future attempts at blue & white pottery, I know I will want to approach the design more abstractly.

The title of this painting means "The death of the Goldfinch" in Latin. Spinus Tristis is the Latin name for the American Goldfinch. Coincidentally, "Tristis" means sorrowful in Latin. It adds to the significance of the painting which for me is an homage to a delicate and beautiful life.

This painting, “Death Of the Goldfinch/Mortui Spinus Tristis” is currently available for purchase.

lagoarthurstudio 8/6/14 lagoarthurstudio 8/6/14

Great Painting Comes in Little Packages

Sometimes the work of my students makes me so proud I fuss over it as if I were their actual mother. This painting definitely falls into that category. Painted by the amazing, newly minted 10 year oldEmily (as in she was still 9 only a couple of weeks ago). All from direct observation. Way to go Emily!!!

lagoarthurstudio 6/16/14 lagoarthurstudio 6/16/14

Western Loudoun Artists Studio Tour (WLAST)

I will be participating again in the WLAST tour as a guest artist at Franklin Park Arts Center, stop # 32 in Round Hill, VA this weekend, June 21 & 22 from 10 AM - 5 PM. The paintings above, and many more including examples of my portraiture will be on display and for sale. I will also be conducting paintings demonstrations through out the weekend. Consider making a day of it by visiting the studios of more than 60 artists in Western Loudoun Co. You will see painters, potters, print makers, sculptors, jewelers, fabric artists, photographers and so much more! There will be something to suit everyone's taste & interest. I hope to see you there!

lagoarthurstudio 3/7/14 lagoarthurstudio 3/7/14

Impasto Logs 6: Pure Awesomeness

I have been anxiously awaiting the latest installment of David Cheifetz's awesome painting podcast. It is one of my absolute favorites to listen to when I'm in the studio. Not too long ago I went on a bender and heard ALL of them while painting and was left wanting more. So I was really happy today to discover that he had published a new one, #6 in the series, on the subject of composition which was a topic he covered in great depth at the recent workshop I took with him. Imagine my surprise then when I heard him mention my name, in particular the copious notes & blog post I wrote about his workshop. I was literally grinning from ear to ear when I heard it and somehow managed to keep a paintbrush moving in my hand. Thanks so much for the shout out, David! You totally made my day!

To listen to David Cheifetz's wonderful podcast, please click on the Impasto Logs logo above.

lagoarthurstudio 2/11/14 lagoarthurstudio 2/11/14

Technique Tuesday: David Cheifetz Workshop Notes

David Cheifetz's knife painting demo from our workshop.

"Paint with paint"

The mantra most frequently uttered by the masterful David Cheifetz at the 3 day painting workshop I recently participated in was simply, "Paint with paint". And David really meant it. In his demos his brush or palette knife was always fully loaded with a glob of yummy paint every single time he touched his canvas. We quickly discovered that he wanted each of us to do the same.

It was such a frequent utterance that fellow painter J Lyndon Douglas cheekily observed, "Amazing that paintings are made with paint. I think what I have been producing until now could be called smudgings." After laughing and probably snorting at his statement, I realized that J was really on to something. To see the amount of paint David Cheifetz skillfully uses while painting is a true revelation. Anything less just looks flat & lifeless in comparison. It has me very much rethinking how much paint I use in my own paintings, or smudgings as J would say.

Here are my personal notes from the workshop to share with you all. Many of these concepts were new to me. Enjoy!:

-Emphasize the values in your primary subject and dilute them everywhere else. You want your darkest dark and your lightest light on your primary subject.

-When setting up a still life, contrast secondary objects by picking darker subjects against the light of your primary subject. Always think dark vs. light.

-Think groupings. Don't scatter your subjects too much so or else they will compete against each other.

-"I always go for fear in a painting. If you are uncomfortable about something in your painting that is a good thing, it pushes you. Try to have at least one thing in each painting that makes you feel that way."

-Before you start a painting get a clear mental picture of what you want to paint. Sit, stare at it. Imagine it completely in your head the composition, area of focus, values and edges. Then begin to paint, and only then.

-Think surface/fabric. Do the folds add to your area of focus? If not take them out. Simplify.

-Make sure the light is directed on your primary subject.

-Example: When painting a ball of yarn, subdue any strings that leave the main form (skein). It should not compete with the ball of yarn itself.

-Example: Killing an apple (secondary object). Subdue it by not rendering it as well, more flat. Subdue chroma, value, everything.

-Your set up (composition) is just a tool for your narrative. Don't feel chained to it if it is not right.

-Cheifetz prefers to paint small. Mostly 9 x 12, 8 x 10 or 11 x 14.

-He sets his palette up from transparent colors to opaque. His colors include (but not in order): ivory black, phthalo blue, ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, cadmium red, cadmium orange, burnt umber, raw umber, yellow ochre, cadmium yellow, cadmium lemon and titanium white.

-You want your lights to be painted in mostly opaque colors because they attract the most light rays visually.

-Begin your under drawing by getting in the abstract shape of the shadows.

-Indicates the table line. Positions objects within the composition by making vertical and horizontal marks.

-He prefers compositions that are eye level. They elevate ordinary objects by bringing it to a "human scale".

-He prefers to paint on a dry panel (no oiling in).

-Use enough medium to be able to draw. Prefers Gamblin's Megilp.

-A tip on drawing straight vertical lines by hand: Make micro adjustments back and forth as you lay down the line. The overall impression will be a straight line.

-Jumps right into massing the objects & shadows (like an open grissaile). He immediately moves into his lights with color (direct painting) working first on the highlight of his main subject and moving out from there.

The early stage of David Cheifetz's knife painting demo.

-Put one or two generous strokes of paint before changing colors. PAINT WITH PAINT!

-Paint your backgrounds as lovingly as your objects.

-Lays his color down with filberts in long tiles.

-When painting a portrait, pick your area of focus and then let everything else melt out.

-Begin your painting with your subject and end it there.

I want to personally thank our host for the workshop, artist Tricia Ratliff of Agile Arts Atelier for conceiving this workshop and inviting me to participate. And thanks above all to David Cheifetz for his exceptional instruction and the individual attention he gave to each of us. I'd like to also add that David hosts his own awesome podcasts called The Impasto Logs that are all about painting and are especially wonderful to listen to when painting, or smudging.

lagoarthurstudio 9/24/13 lagoarthurstudio 9/24/13

Technique Tuesday: Super Glue and Richard Schmid

On the latest podcast of Artist Mentor's Online, artist Molly Schmid shares that her father, Richard Schmid (author of Alla Prima and Alla Prima II) often rearranges live flowers on still lifes by gluing them into place as needed to achieve the best composition. Genius, right? Well that's why he's Richard Schmid.

You heard it here first folks. OK, second. To get your own copy of Richard's Alla Prima II before its completely sold out click here.

lagoarthurstudio 9/6/13 lagoarthurstudio 9/6/13

At the Finish Line

I am literally one session away from finishing my copy of Chardin's "Still life with game" in the National Gallery of Art's permanent collection. I basically have a little more refinement in the rabbits left and then I am calling it finished. Good thing too because I'll be putting my copying status on hold at the NGA while I take a full day of classes with Robert Liberace starting in a couple weeks.