Workshop Wednesday; Casey Childs' Painting Oil Portraits From Life

When I take my copious notes during workshops I have a system of highlighting certain passages by assigning a number of stars to them or by calling some things out as "money tips" (my terminology for thoughts that truly add value to your painting). When I looked over my notes for Casey Childs' painting workshop, I found stars and comments littered through out the pages. What I am giving you here is some of the best advice to painting that I have heard, at least that is the way it struck me. Part of Casey's genius as an instructor is that he is a really good communicator and can easily explain both his working process and (more importantly) his thought process in ways that students can digest.

The following  notes I took during Casey's Painting Oil Portraits From Life Workshop in October of 2017 at Francie's Studio in Purcellville VA:

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-Casey believes it is good for your painting to work on charcoal drawings in between, because it forces you to work on values.

-Working with a limited palette is also good if you are having problems with color.

-It is well documented that Sargent used lots of paint. You should too!

-Casey uses a palette of 3 reds, 3 blues and 3 yellows. Ivory Black, Flake White (lead white -does not use titanium white). Genuine Naples Yellow Light (Vasari), Yellow Ochre, Raw Sienna, Transparent Red Oxide, Cad Yellow, Cad Red Light, Alizarin, Ultramarine Violet, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Blue, Viridian, Bice (Vasari), Ultramarine Blue,  [Writer's note: may not be transcribed as a complete list of his palette nor in the correct order].

-Casey believes in pushing primaries together to make subtle grays. He finds & mixes color accordingly.

-Makes his own panels with gatorboard and linen canvas that he glues together using  Beva Glue Film. He hand irons it together.

-When beginning a new painting he lines up the canvas at eye level.

-Starts with a thin wash of neutral color. A red + a blue + black.

-If anything is too warm he hits it with the complementary color. He is always thinking  what he needs to adjust.

-Then he begins to wipe (with a blue paper shop towel) out shapes which immediately makes him think only in regards to lights & darks.

-Raw Sienna + Alizarin + Blue for the under-drawing. Today he is pushing the mixture towards warm because of the models red hair.

-"Get the shapes to relate to each other and you can start to get a sense of likeness without even drawing."

--"This simple block in approach is so important - spend the most time on that. You can't fix poor drawing with colors or edges."

-"Try and be a perfectionist. If you are tackling portraiture you have to be."

-Maintain the relationships of light & dark. Meaning, keep the values in the general same range.

-Starts working with color by jumping  into the darks (Aliz + black).

-Observing where else you can use a specific color is a good way of harmonizing a painting.

-"Think of the biggest brush you can use for something then go one brush bigger. You get better marks that way."

-Uses the following mixture as his initial flesh tones; Ultra Violet + Lead White + Cad Red Lite + Yellow Ochre + Bice.

-Lays in color swatches to test value.

-"I'm slowing down. Just looking at big shapes."

--He purposefully dulls down the flesh color so he can sneak in more primaries, pushing the greys into one chroma or another.

-Casey observes on the model a blueish tint in between the shadow & the light (known as "the last light") and paints it that way. He uses subtle color to turn form. It is one of the cornerstones of his painting.

"I am trying to build the eye without building the eye (by building the large shapes). I put in my shadows, then suggest a color and then another value change. All those little notes come together & build the eye."

-"The areas that are not necessary I blur out or leave intentionally out of focus. With eyes for instance, I take my time & detail them well and in focus."

-"I often draw something by drawing the things AROUND it."

-"People often make the value of the crease near the nose way too dark".

"You can hold more paint in a bristle brush than you can with a soft hair brush so I often switch brushes to lay in more detail."

-"As I lay down piles of paint, I utilize them in creating new colors-- it helps harmonize the whole painting." Grabbing from the "mother puddle" to create new tones.

-When working on larger paintings he often starts the under drawing in charcoal and then works in a similar way to his demo, working general to specific. He works ALL the figures up at the same time. This allows him to bring areas into fuller focus and leave other areas more finished which gives more life to a painting.

-"Notice that I haven't really drawn the eyes or nose. I've been concentrating on the big shapes but because I have done that it suggests the other parts."

-Highly recommends Harold Speed's Painting Book.

-"Sneak up around the eye. Find the eye socket first then suggest the eye --only then do you add eyelashes."

-Thinks darkest dark, lightest light. The highlight on the eye is the purest white. All other lights are local color.

-Always maintain the relationship between shadows and lights.

-Local face color usually appears in the following "banded" manner (based on the amount of blood seen under the skin)---Forehead: Yellow, Nose: Red and Jaw: Green.

-Around the eye sockets things lean more blue.

ON REFINEMENT

-"Lead your viewer to the areas you want to stand out by how much refinement you do to that area. Think Rembrandt. Closer to the light has more detail. You can focus on a couple of features and bring them to refinement--but be choosy."

-He prefers filberts in bristle rather than flats.

-Makes corrections first (color, drawing etc.) when choosing what areas to start back into.

-"I paint like I am a millionaire (meaning use paint like cost is not a concern)."

-Color has a tendency to cool as it goes into shadow (last light) although on fleshy areas like cheeks & nose it can be warmer.

-"When painting the iris I am going to make that whole circle dark & then place the color on top. It is more pleasing that way."

-Likes using Trekkel Brush Restorer for keeping the shape of his brushes.

-Likes to paint with the corner of larger flat brushes.

"I think in terms of time when painting, especially in front of the model. For instance I will say to myself "spend 20 mins on that eye and then 20 mins on the other eye."

-Eyebrows--make lighter initially and then darker as it turns.

-Paints the darker circle of the pupil and then places the highlight on top.

-Don't paint a hard edge around the pupil.

-Load up the brush and add the lead white highlight to the eye, but be careful & delicate when placing! For this application he uses a Rosemary 279 flat 0 though he would have preferred a 2 or 3.

-In general key the nostrils lighter.

-"Refinement of value is all you need to turn the form on the nose."

-"It is important to work in value strings so that you can go up and down in value as needed." Incidentally, his value strings are not grouped by color so different colors merge together according to value to create his value strings.

-"Value is more important than color. If the color is close that's good but what is important is the value."

-He built his eye (with this particular model) using the value of the neck shadow and then simply adds more strokes of value on top, either lighter or darker, to build form as needed.

ON HAIR

-Lays in a middle value then will paint the darks & lights over that. Using a #6 brush or bigger. #10 for laying in the initial color. Used a palette knife on the shoulder to scrape back a little.

"Squint and paint the passages of light over the hair. Paint hair in one session because it will change."

I will end this post with one of his best tips so far: "Start everything with the middle tone value & then paint lights or darks into that (air, jewelry, features etc). And paint back to forward, always thinking about things in terms of depth."

Casey will be returning to Francie's Studio to teach another Oil workshop this April. He is honestly one of the best instructors I have studied with.  I would highly recommend him to all of you and there are still spots available in this workshop. If interested, please email me at lagoarthur_studio@yahoo.com for more details.

2016 WLAST Studio Tour

I will be exhibiting again with the Western Loudoun Artists Studio Tour (WLAST) next weekend June 18 - 19, 2016. Come see my work along with the work of potter, Carrie Althouse and jeweler, Dana Jansen at STOP #1 on the WLAST tour. In addition I am excited to share that all 3 of us will all be conducting art demonstrations,  Tarara Winery will be giving wine tastings, Jules BBQ will have his yummy food for purchase and there will be LIVE music performances on both days of the event! Pack a picnic blanket and make a real day of it. Afterwards continue your tour at the other 30 open studios across Western Loudoun Co. If you live in the Washington DC area, this is an event you will not want to miss!

WLAST STOP #1 June 18 - 19, 2016 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM 42498 Farm Lane, Leesburg, VA 20176

Workshop Wednesday: Robert Johnson

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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:

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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."

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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.

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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."

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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

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The Making of "Mortui Spinus Tristis"

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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.

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Workshop Wednesday: Rick Weaver's Abstraction for Realists

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I've had the pleasure of taking two workshops from the artist, Rick Weaver. Rick has extremely impressive credentials having received his formal art training in New York at the National Academy of Design, the New York Academy (now known as the Graduate School for Figurative Art), and the Art Students League.  He studied painting and drawing with a number of notable art instructors, including Robert Beverly Hale, Ted Seth Jacobs, Ron Sherr, Harvey Dinnerstein and he earned his Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, where he was influenced by the sculptor Billy Lee.

I can tell you from experience that he is a deep thinker who stretches your mind alongside your skills. He seems to come at things always from a new angle and perhaps this is because he is both a sculptor and a painter, and extremely accomplished at both. I've discovered that the best teachers show you how they think which is much more powerful than learning someone's style. Rick is definitely that kind of teacher. If you ever have the opportunity to take one of his workshops, I would strongly encourage that you do so.

Below are my notes and photos I took during his workshop this past July which was hosted in the beautiful studio of Francie Freitas. Thank you Francie for having included me in this wonderful workshop.

Rick Weaver Workshop Abstraction for Realists July 22 2014

[Rick began Day 1 of his workshop by having us look at prints of masterpieces he intentionally distorted digitally (using filters) to better show us the degree of abstraction underpinning the work.]

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When you look at a great masterpiece in a museum, if you pay attention you will always notice an emphasis on composition.

"Ask yourself why an artist did things. Why a cloud there? Why that shape?"

Great painting is a combination of formal elements; line, shape, color & value organization.

Space is not a formal element but it collects form together for us. So does rhythm, so does light. Visual weight etc.

"There is a natural trade off between the amount of resolution (finish) you want and the base abstract power of the painting."

"Making a painting is not copying nature. Old masters made significant changes to what they observed in making their paintings. Be aware of this and be sensitive to it in your work."

"Make yourself make changes for the better in your work."

There are 3 main elements of painting 1.  Subject Matter, what you see in the painting, direction of etc. 2. Form= line, shape, color (value) 3. Content

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The early stages in a painting are an opportunity to give your painting a strong abstract power to build upon.

Don't think of objects as separate. Think of them as joined, like in their shadows & forms, color.

If you think in terms of object you are ultimately separating. If you think inclusively you will see all kinds of connections.

Like in figure, the shadow is often indicative of the color of the drapery.

Show those connections.

Rounded lines are organic.

Angled lines are inorganic.

There should be a strong connection between form & subject matter.

Square, is a non directional shape, neutral. Look at Lincoln Perry. Be wary of putting something right in the middle because it will be weak.

Look at subject matter and see it as pattern within the rectangle. (Matisse)

There aren't really any definitive books on composition out there that I am aware of but these books are a start:

-Erle Loran book on Cezanne composition

-Andrew Loomis' book on perfect mean

Things you can physically do at the start of a painting to think formally:

Connectivity/Unity-literally make things connect in the beginning.

Always make a rectangle on your page to set up your boundary, picture plane.

"As soon as you put a silhouette you are making an object". Draw a two dimensional shape showing how the subjects link into each other from edge to edge, line to line. Work from the edge of the picture plane in. You can get in touch very quickly with the whole thing this way. Picture remains open, promotes flexibility.

You can use a more organic or architectural line.

No line has anything to do with the object. It functions just form connectivity. Same thing with tone, divide the subject into 2 or 3 values.

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"If I can't get a preliminary sketch to say/do what I want it to in 3 values, I never go further with it."

What seems to visually connect to you? You got to want it. Make it connect. Be on the hunt for those 3 values and only those values.

Vertical spacing pushes things towards you.

Horizontal spacing pushes things away.

Pay attention to your "sit down" (object touches plane) spacing will give you the horizontal space.

Paying attention to negative space will give you the vertical spacing.

Ideally make your circuit within a minute round the entire drawing for that first exploratory line.

Exercise to just allow things to connect more than anything else (mine was too slow).

Am I able to move into the picture? Is there ground plane? Foreground, middle ground, back ground?

Day 2

Demo 4 color palette, primaries + white Permanent rose, Ultramarine blue (or thalo blue), cad lemon

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Subject of demo: Hue-the most problematic issue of color.

Gestural start, linking forms. One continuous line.

Thinned down ultramarine

Uses a brush larger than he's comfortable with to keep him from drawing objects.

Holds brush perpendicular to surface, carving shapes as he masses in.

Tries to think in terms of three values, light, dark mid tone.

When he starts adding local color he looks to see where else it shows up, shadows, reflections etc.

"As I am working I am trying to reinforce my idea (initial gesture/approach) with the way I paint. Being consistent with the same approach through out the painting."

"The last thing I want to do is complete an object with this approach. I want to keep things open."

"I am starting to think about the quality of lights anything in the light has both yellow and red to it. You must use both."

"I really try to keep it formal, stay away from object making as much as possible."

"With the figure, I approach the same way but if I want a more traditional approach I take more care with the drawing. "

I will go back and introduce the (unifying) line in drawing while painting (as many times as needed).

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On a personal note I want to thank Rick for helping me to stretch both my thinking and my technique. I will be back for more workshops. You can count on that!

Face Off Heavy Hitters

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The most happening place to be last Friday was at the Principle Gallery in Old Town Alexandria for their annual alla prima portrait "Face Off" featuring gallery heavy hitters; Mia Bergeron, Elizabeth Floyd and Cindy Procious.

What is that you say? You didn't know about it? Well I guess that just proves you're not as cool as me. Luckily I am feeling generous today and will give you this brief little wrap up.

Veteran Face Off champions Mia Bergeron and Cindy Procious went toe to toe with a new tenacious challenger, Elizabeth Floyd over 3 hours with plenty of breaks in between for schmoozing and attending to their adoring fans. It was obvious early on that all of them had a good likeness of the model, Mr. Franco Landini, who is the owner of several Old Town restaurants including Landini Brothers and is something of a local celebrity.

Events such as these at the Principle Gallery always attract the hippest artists from the local painting scene. Besides my fabulous self in attendance were Jonathan Linton, Rena Selim, Susan Gallagher O'Neill and Abigail Davis Muncy.

Honestly, next time you should really just come see it for yourself. But until then you will be able to watch it on Youtube and I will post that link here when the Principle makes it available.

Great Painting Comes in Little Packages

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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!!!

No More "Redskins"

"Native American Portrait". Oil on birch panel. 2013. Artist, Suzanne Lago Arthur.

Here is a portrait I painted from life in Rob Liberace's class last Spring. The model is a really interesting guy--a re-enactor who makes all his costumes by hand. It is not every day that you get to paint someone dressed up like him!

This painting makes me think of course of the current controversy regarding a suggested name change for the Washington Redskins. For the record--I completely support it. That moniker hails from the days when the colonies closely associated with Native Americans as a way to emancipate themselves from their European fore fathers. But people are not symbols. We have the Bald Eagle and the Stars and Stripes for that. Dan Snyder-get over yourself! We can no longer have an NFL franchise in the 21st Century representing our Nation's noble capitol with such a degrading name as the Washington Redskins. In this day and age when the "minorities" in this country are quickly outnumbering the majority, your position is at best insensitive. And a worst--racist.