Suzanne Lago Arthur 11/10/21 Suzanne Lago Arthur 11/10/21

Workshop Wednesday: Edmond Praybe {Part 2}

The finished Week 3 Full color palette painting demo by Edmond Praybe.

This post is a continuation of last week’s post on Edmond Praybe’s 4 week “Floral” class that I took with him through the Winslow Art Center back in January of this year. The following are my notes and screen grabs that I took during the final Week 3 and Week 4 classes.

Week 3, 05 Feb 2021

-”When working in a secondary palette it is helpful to approach it as if you were working in black & white. Approach your color decisions more as temperature decisions. This is especially helpful in landscapes when you have too much green.”

-”You can introduce and element of change to a painting by repainting an object again in a slightly different location on the canvas (elevating the object, etc.) or by painting it again at a different time of the day.”

-Edmond will move an object in a painting. Often painting it out and putting it back in. “It opens up the painting in a fresh way.”

- The "Euglow approach is to look at the subject frankly each session and to redo the painting each time, not just add details on top.

-You can experiment with a fresh, (quick) first pass in acrylic and then paint in oil on top of that.

-”It is the color of the flower that draws us in. Today we let loose with a full color palette idea.”

-Consider the 4 main aspects of Color: Hue, Value, Saturation, Temperature.

-Simultaneous contrast: what color is next to a color influences the reading of the color. See Joseph Alber’s color experiments.

-”Sometimes it is the colors that are around something that are not working. It is all about the context.”

-”It is helpful to “name” what is wrong with your color. Is the temperature off? Give a vocabulary to the phenomenon that is happening in your painting. Be more analytical.”

-Edmond will sometimes use colored tissue paper as backdrops for still lifes.

Full Color Palette Painting Demo

Palette: Titanium White, Tin Yellow, Cad Yellow Light, Indian Yellow, Cad Orange, Cad Red Medium, Quin Red, Manganese Violet, Alizarin Crimson, Ultra blue, Cobalt blue, Cerulean blue, Cobalt Green, Pthalo Green & Mars Black

-Edmond instructed us to “Use any of the above colors and any tint (color + white) mixture in your paintings this week” for our assignment. In addition we were allowed to create up to 4 specific mixtures as needed during the development of our paintings. The result of this exercise was that the majority of our paintings would be painted from the tint strings or pure color.

-”Pthalo green and Indian Yellow will make some really beautiful greens.”

-A good strategy in this exercise is to save two of the discretionary mixes for the end of the painting to use as needed. Or use only tints in the beginning and then create your mixes to bridge any color gaps.

-”The idea is to give everything a very nameable color. Be very direct with how you are seeing the color.”

-For this exercise Edmond will leave a little space blank in between objects and fill it in later so as not to unintentionally mix the adjoining colors.

-Add fast drying mediums from the beginning so it dries quickly enough to work in layers without the layers mixing.

-Edmond will do this exercise in his studio after he has been doing too many “grey” paintings to remind himself that painting is all about handling color.

-”It may be pretty blunt at first which is fine, you start fine tuning as you go. Give up the idea that this is about beautiful painting. This (exercise) is about understanding color - but there will be sections that turn out very interesting. These discoveries are what can inform future paintings.”

-”(On abstraction) Look at flat pieces of form and less modeling. Accent the idea of certain types of flatness. A flat form and then two flat forms coming together. Let them sit together not blending them too much.”

Edmond Praybe’s Week 3 Full Color Demo early on. Notice how he began first with the bottle on the left and then works his way through the composition.

-“Henshe would use the saturation of color as a light in his paintings. Even his passages of white have color in them. “

-Look at Carl Plansky’s work (founder of Williamsburg Paints).

-”Think of (this) color string assignment as a collage that you are adding pieces of color on top of each other. You can scrape down. Yes, you can refine shapes smaller and smaller as you go.”

-”Sita Saxe thought that this type of exercise got you closer to a Diebenkorn and Bay area way of painting. Pure color in shadow, etc.”

-”This exercise is meant to heighten your sense of color.”

Week 4, 12 Feb 2021

-”This week’s assignment is about complexity and composition in the floral arrangements.”

-”(On composition) Consider placement of objects: on floor, on shelf. Where is it in relation to the foreground, background? Where are the objects in relation to each other? How many things are you using and what is their placement?“

-”Start out with a couple items then decide what you want to add of take out. Then analyze and step back".

Edmond Praybe’s demo on arranging still life objects.

-”Paint” the objects (in your mind) first by how carefully you consider the set up the still life itself.”

-”There is no real right answer (compositional solution). It is about finding the balance or off balance between objects.”

-Edmond admits to often spending half a day to set up his still lifes.

-Use a color family or strong color association as your basis for your composition.

-Edmond is thinking about “fun shapes of color” when he composes. He is thinking more about the color and their relationships to objects. Composing purely on color and shape. What the objects are about is not as important. Working in this way pushes the sense of abstraction and the design of his paintings.

“Don’t neglect the power of lighting situations to create interest in your still life.”

-Think of breaking up edges in a fun way. How the color of a white plate on a white fabric flows together.

-”Paint abstractly - but with your objects.”

—”Groupings are a fun way to set up a painting. Clusters of things.”

—Edmond will tape out the edges of the composition of his still life objects so that he doesn’t “get lost”. This helps him to see the actual proportion of shape in a more complicated painting.”

-Edmond thinks that “Susan Jane Welp paintings break all composition rules”.

Week 4 Demo

-In this week’s demo Edmond will use the approach that he calls “quick painting”. He will get some kind of notation of where the placement goes and color and then come back to it the next day so that he doesn’t get too stuck in describing it.

-”Constantly bouncing back and forth between one color or another, one element or another.”

-”It is important to get “notes”, some kind of feeling, for what is happening in the broader areas (background). I think the sooner that you get around into putting these notes of the broad areas of color, the better. It forces you to make color decisions and it will make the painting have a better sense of unity and harmony overall.”

“The important thing is not what it is but where it is. What is the main color, etc? You don’t have to draw everything perfectly but where you put things matters.”

-”This way of working (color notation) is really good for very literal painters.”

-Quadrangulating and triangulating where things will be. Considering your corners in relation to where things will be.

-”You are having a dialog of comparisons.”

-’That struggle of back and forth gives the painting a sense of energy that cannot be achieved by locking in right away.”

-”I kind of enjoy when the painting doesn’t look like anything for a while. I hold onto that feeling. The paintings come out better. There is a more pronounced sense of being seen.”

-“I try to resist the urges to finish a line, resist the urge to draw out the edges and contours of everything just because I know it is there,”

-”As I think of “notes” I am thinking of temperature shifts.”

-”Slowly things emerge out. Like the fog is lifting.”

-”Another good trick is to use brushes that are two sizes too big for what you need in the initial block in if you have a tendency to get too detailed in the beginning.”

-”If you leave too much of a “halo” around objects you don’t really understand how the colors are interacting.”

Edmond Praybe’s Week 4 demo painting at the end of the session.

The final finished painting by Edmond Praybe.

I want to thank Edmond Praybe for allowing me to share my notes and images with you during this post and the first blog post I wrote on him. He is an extremely generous teacher as you can see from all that I have shared. If you have enjoyed what I have shared with you today, then I really would encourage you to take a class with him yourself if you have the opportunity.

Thank you Edmond!

Suzanne Lago Arthur 11/3/21 Suzanne Lago Arthur 11/3/21

Workshop Wednesday: Edmond Praybe {Part 1}

Artist, Edmond Praybe, Oil on Yupo paper, 2020. Private Collection.

All painters have a list of other painters they admire for one aspect or another. Some artists are admired for technique, others for the conceptual idea behind the work itself. Edmond Praybe for me falls right in the middle of both considerations. He is one of my favorite contemporary painters working in a very modern feel of realism, one full of abstraction and yet his paintings are still ripe with mood, representation and sense of place. The perfect mix if you ask me. And I am not alone in my admiration of Edmond’s work. He was one of the 2021 finalists of the Bethesda Painting Award, a recipient of the Hohenburg Travel Grant, a two time Mercedes Matter Award winner and was recently profiled in the Painting Perceptions Blog by Larry Groff.

I was lucky enough to get a spot in his “Floral” class at the Winslow Art Center in January of this year when we were still under lock down and at a time before the vaccines were widely available. Winslow Art Center was one of the first to pivot to online classes during the pandemic and it continues doing so with a really robust line up of classes including more from Praybe in the future.

The following are my notes (and screen shots) that I took in class that I will happily share with you here over two blog posts (that will be published a week apart). I found his class intellectually fascinating on so many levels and definitely left feeling inspired. So much so that I taken two more classes with him since then and will happily sign up for more.

Week 1, 02 Jan 2021

-”Treat the flowers as a portrait. Treat them as an entity. (Painting flowers) can become cliché when the attention to specificity is lost.”

“Think about yourself as a botanist when approaching your flowers. The specific shapes - the light catching certain planes, the shards of color. Patterns of shape & lines & value.”

Edmond likes to save flowers after they have dried for a “spot of color” in his still lifes. (And a bonus being that they don’t change after they are dried).

Week 1 was comprised of two demos of the same hibiscus flower (students were assigned later the same exercise). In an effort to maximize his time Edmond, prepped both studies with a simple under-drawing that he did beforehand. He painted on Arches oil paper for both exercises. Same toned ground.

First Exercise: Tonal Value study

Palette: Titanium White & a Neutral Dark (Mixed Up of Primaries).

The goal in this exercise is to decipher the internal shapes and forms of the flower, not paying too much attention to the composition. To be used more as a value study for the second color painting.

Limited palette painting of the same hibiscus flower.

Second Exercise: Limited Palette Painting of the Same Subject

Palette: Indian Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue and Titanium White.

-“Think about basic shapes, breaking it down by values.”

-“Working with a palette knife helps you to make broad decisions about value without getting too fussy.”

-Generally starts his paintings by laying down the darkest darks and lightest lights from the start.

-Is interested in specific shapes and how they exist in space. “What is moving toward me, what is moving away.”

-“You will mostly be operating in the middle values. Ask yourself how do you translate saturation into a value that makes sense?”

-”Scrape down and simplify when things get too overly complicated. When the painting gets “too brushy” etc. Chances are it will make more sense the second time around.”

“Constantly re-evaluate the edges. How soft is it? How hard? How about the proportions? Keep your view point constant.”

“The spaces in between forms (negative shapes) will key you into what is the true form of your subject.”

-”Keep asking yourself, "What is the value next to that value?”

-”You can be as “detailed” as you want or as “open/painterly” as you want.”

-”Don’t lose sight of the big planes if you are the type of person who likes to dive into detail.”

-Uses a palette knife to soften edges and transition values.

-”Slowly a sense of the movement of the forms begins to emerge.”

“Always ask yourself: “How light is this light? How dark in that dark?”

-”Never assume that the values are the same as you move across your subject. Most of the time there is a shift. Look for the dynamism.”

Limited palette painting demo using the previously painted value study as a guide.

Limited Palette Demo

-Use the Value Study as a guide for the underpainting on the limited palette.

-In addition to using the palette knife to soften edges, Edmond also uses it to fill in surface, re-state/erase form.

-Uses Impasto Medium for thick passages (C.A.S. Alkyd Texture Impasto Medium).

-When laying out his limited palette Edmond will often mix up the secondary colors; an orange, a violet & green. Then adds white to each to make a mid-tone & light value of each (he likes to have the visual of what gamut of colors and values he has available when working with a limited palette).

-He has a solvent free brush cleaning routine. Just uses Linseed oil. soap and water to clean his brushes.

-Starts painting the red flower with a mid-tone red. Then paints a light red and the background at the same time, varying the color along the contour.

-”Striping off the excess paint with a knife allows you to get more of that ground through and makes things more luminous.”

-Will “blast in a little color” broadly & suggestively when describing form then will come back and describe negative space (which simultaneously describes the subject). This is also a good way to re-evaluate your shapes when working.

-”The color of the area that trumpets out of the flower is always the most subtle. Has more green in it, is duller. If you get it right it makes the color “pop”. A bright colored neutral scumbled in {will do it}.”

-Lays in a mass of color again at the end of the stamen - then cuts back into it to create the form.

-During the lecture portion of class he shows a slideshow of art work to consider and advises, ”Look at Conrad Gesner’s work (German botanical artist). And Margaret Meed. Also Jim Dine’s Sunflower charcoal drawing and Antonio Lopez Garcia. (Look at) Euan Uglow’s Freesia painting.”

-”Morandi painted a lot of dried flowers.”

-Edmond works from life on toned Arches oil paper saying that “Even with figurative work, the secret to (successful painting) is engagement. You get more out of it working firsthand and you get a sense of time that creeps in. It creates a sense of depth.”

-He will often follow the decay of the bloom or will use a “stunt model” and substitute a blossom as needed.

Week 2, 29 Jan 2021

Assignment: Create two paintings from a limited palette, one limited time exercise and one from long observation

-Some painters benefit from time frames to help them focus.

-Edmond sometimes works on Yupo paper. Just puts a layer of oil paint on top (it is made of plastic, no need to prime).

-”You can get away with “mushy transitions” if there is a bigger shape to hold it in. Otherwise you will get the amateur look of everything being blended to the same degree.”

-At the end of a day of painting Edmond will scrape down all of his paint in to neutral piles and add a tint of white to these mixtures. He will then use these grey piles to neutralize his colors if needed on the the next studio day. Edmond will also use these mixtures to tone his canvases and papers.

-”Find a visual lynch pin in your object then compare out from there. Especially helpful for something complicated like a pine cone. It also helps you figure out distortions.”

-”Be open to allowing the painting to develop as it wants to. If it wants to be a 2 hour painting - then let it”.

Week 2 Demo

Limited Palette: Titanium White, Cad Yellow Lemon, Cad Red Medium, Cobalt blue, Thalo Green.

-Starts by adding a note of color and then draws the shape of the water in the vase.

-”This is roughly where this blue is going to be” he says while adding his notes of color & initial drawing to canvas.

-He paints very ambiguously not really defining things initially. “Be accurate with color but lose with drawing (in the beginning).”

-”If something isn’t working don’t be afraid to come back in with a rag or palette knife and get that paint off.”

-His demo grows from one point out. ”Build your form out with the paint - not just color it in.”

-If a mark is too forceful he scrapes it down to make it push back into the space better.

-Balance giving enough accuracy to make sense as an image but do not lose the gestural quality of the paint itself (which you get in faster sketches).

-”Sometimes the best solution for a tricky part is just to let it rest & come back to it.”

-Uses his palette knife a lot to incorporate the object in the background.

-As yourself, “Is it there vs. do I need to state it?”. “Do I need it to further the main goal of the painting?”

-”The areas that I try the least are the best, the areas that I focus on too much I overwork.”

-Edmond tries to approach a fast painting like a Diebenkorn with areas of transparency in the paint application.

Stay tuned until next week for Part 2 which will cover Weeks 3 and 4 from Edmond’s “Floral” class.

Suzanne Lago Arthur 12/9/20 Suzanne Lago Arthur 12/9/20

Workshop Wednesday: Dennis Perrin

“Sonata” by Dennis Perrin. 40” x 40” Oil on linen. Available through his website.

"My method flows from page 17 and 18 of Robert Henri's "the Art Spirit" shared Dennis Perrin on the first day of his floral painting workshop.

Over the course of 3 days in May of 2019, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop by Dennis in a private studio. We watched in rapture as he painted not one, but two beautiful demos that long weekend. What I observed was a gifted artist who was also a deep thinker, a man who was as interested in philosophy and meditation as he was in the art of painting.

Among Dennis’ many gifts, he certainly has a gift for simplifying information. It is a trait I have tried to cultivate in my own teaching practice and so his method resonated with me immediately.

The following are my notes that I took during his workshop mostly on day 2 and 3. The photos were taken by me and fellow attendee Lorrie Herman.

The Palette:

Winsor Newton Water Soluble Artisan Paints

Titanium White, Cad Yellow Light, Cad Red Med, Cad Red Dark, Alizarin Crimson, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Viridian, Ivory Black

Day 2

Early stages of the second demo. Notice the quadrant framework underpinning the composition.

-Dennis begins with a very soft gestural drawing in Alizarin Crimson.

-He looks for ”counterpoints of weight” in the four quadrants of the canvas.

-Encourages "intuitive placement" first, then checking for accuracy.

-"Ask yourself ; Do I want drama, poetry, a lyrical feeling?".

-"If background is close in value to the subject then you get poetry. It will all merge together as subject".

-"You are looking for the integration of all the elements in your painting. Bring things together in a much more subtle way".

-"The mood of top-lighting is more uplifting - convivial. In almost all classic painting the subject is light form above".

Dennis’ palette for his first demo. He began with 5 puddles of local color/value and then altered them as needed while he worked.

-Begins painting any subject by reducing the visual information to 4 or 5 values of local color and mixing them accordingly. This is based on the writings of Robert Henri where he explains that all masterworks can be reduced to 4 or 5 values. {Try analyzing any masterpiece yourself and you will see he is correct}. Dennis then alters those values within strings as needed.

-"Scumble in the lights, you want to see the pattern of light & shadow".

-"(When squinting) If shapes merge, let them merge".

- Uses a size 20(!) flat brush in the beginning stages of painting.

Blocking in the light and shadow shapes and to the right beginning to shape the forms further.

-Uses the tip of the brush when abstracting foliage.

-"Paint a mass from which the stems will emerge".

-When painting silver uses overlapping strokes of black + yellow + red for the dark value.

-"Blues (and black) put you in the right value slot, then red, yellow and orange tip the color ratio".

-When painting the roses, he used cobalt blue + cad red dark + yellow + a touch of white for the rose shadows.

-"Don't overmix your paint. If you mix with a brush you avoid that".

-"Mixing with a brush allows you to stay in flow and this is what you want".

-Will use the background color in turning the form IF the value is right.

-"Unity over diversity every time".

-Uses a palette knife to remove soiled paint into piles.

-When he has painted for a substantial amount of time he steps back from his canvas and muses, "I tell myself that I am on my way to town but that I am not there yet. So if the color, temp, etc. is off that is ok. I will get to town eventually".

-Switches to a size 16 flat or filbert brush when when beginning to refine shapes.

-"Simple statements. You don't have to be perfect, just convincing enough".

-Recommends that people read the book, "The Painted Word" by Tom Wolfe.

Day 3

Second demo close to completion and final state.

-His painting needs a little reworking because a couple of flowers expired.

-When replacing flowers, do not pull the old flowers out because you will disturb the arrangement. Instead, cut the bloom and insert the replacement with a much shorter stem so that it will merge with the arrangement".

-He paints while wearing a hat in the studio which helps when assessing values.

-Prefers a broad stroke when building form. Lays it down Horizontally and if the area needs to be smaller will look for a smaller brush width to fit it.

-He likes the look of Carol Marine's brushstrokes.

Detail from the second demo (the lower right peach rose).

-”You can create a painting from start to finish with a bright.”

-A more limited palette to try is: Cobalt, Cad Red Dark & Cad Yellow Light + White.

-Suggests keeping values to 3 for exercises.

-Try limited stroke exercises.

-He intentionally makes his table line very subtle so as not to take away from the contrast/balance of the painting.

-”Start looking at painters who say less with their paintings. It is how you build aesthetic. Search them out, study with them and them approach your work with the same intentionality.”

The set up for Dennis’ second demo. Flowers were carefully replaced as they wilted.

At this point I bet you are wondering how you can study with Dennis (smart question)! Luckily for all of us during this time of COVID, Dennis offers virtual courses and mentorship opportunities through his “genius circle” , For more information click here.

Our jubilant band of happy painters at the conclusion of the workshop (I am on the far left). A special thanks to Dennis, his wife Aimee and our dear hostess Francie Freitas for making it all possible.

Suzanne Lago Arthur 5/29/19 Suzanne Lago Arthur 5/29/19

Closing Day of "Bloom" Exhibit

I currently have 15 paintings displayed at Tryst Gallery in Leesburg for my 2019 solo show “Bloom”. This exhibit of oil paintings is coming to an end after tomorrow, May 30th. The overarching theme that unites the show are floral and natural motifs. They are also united in palette with predominantly soft pastels & gem colors. Several of these paintings will be going home with collectors for which I am extremely grateful. But there is still time to snag one to grace your own walls! The gallery is open this Thursday from 10 - 4 pm. I hope you will come out and see it if you are in the greater Washington DC area.

I had the honor of being interviewed for the exhibit by Tryst Gallery owner, Jim Sisley. If his last name rings a bell to you there is good reason. Jim is a descendant of the famed Impressionist, Alfred Sisley.. He casually mentioned that to me prior to our interview when we were discussing my art influences. Needless to say I was a little starstruck after that.

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