equipment « A Pigment of Your Imagination

Covino Portrait1 P1070431 PaintingWorkshopCovinoFrank4-2015

Dear Artists and Friends,

It is with ineffable sadness in our hearts, that I must report this news. Our friend and long-time art teacher and mentor, Maestro Frank Covino, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, February 16, 2016, after being pronounced “cleared of cancer” just last week.

If I may use a bold simile, his loss feels like looking up at the mountains in Sugarbush, where Frank worked hard to build the home he loved, and seeing that the grandest of summits has disappeared from our sight.

Here is a note from his wife, Barbara Covino, that you will all want to read:

Subject: It is with a deep abiding sorrow in my heart that I write this letter…forgive the delay but it has taken time to believe this is true…

Beloved friends and family , one and all,

After two days of profoundest shock, and countless tears I realize I must write you. It is with a heavy, heavy heart that i must inform you that dear Frank has passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday night, February 16th. It was quick and he did not suffer–a death we would all prefer–but he had been progressing so well, it was a gut-wrenching shock that still is unbelievable.

I truly cannot imagine a world, or a life without him…32 years of happiness and adventure. Life was never boring with him!!! What an amazing talent, a brilliant man with a wealth of knowledge, a gentle and sensitive man who had to excel in everything he did, and was thus an inspiration to all who knew him. He encouraged others to strive for excellence and to believe in themselves, giving them the tools to create a positive reality in their lives, whether it be art or health. We all can repeat that golden maxim: IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO AMELIORATE! Wise encouraging words, those.

But he was more than the sum of his parts; he was a genuine force of nature, a real Renaissance man, but above all else, he had a kind heart and a very great soul. We all loved him so; there will never be another Frank. But I know it is now time for each and every one of us who was touched by his life, to take that spark and pass it on. He gave us wings and it is time for us to fly…Make him proud!!!

I am too choked up to continue writing. God Bless each and every one of you who had a place in his heart…family, friends, students….He loved you all sincerely and without guile….

We are in the process of collaborating with the family and planning both a smaller family funeral as well as a larger set of celebrations of his life and legacy open to all who loved him–one in Vermont and one on Long island. As soon as the Covino south clan and Mark and Jennifer and I hammer out the details, I will email you all, soon as can be done.

We are going to give that wonderful man a send off he won’t soon forget!!!

Love and blessings , Barbara Covino

PS: PLEASE FORWARD THIS to everyone you can think of. It has grown into a cast of hundreds, and forgive the delay but it has taken time to believe this is true.

The other item you will need right away is a 9-value (+black and white) palette. 12″x24″ is the most useable size. Any smaller and you won’t have enough mixing room; any larger and it gets cumbersome and harder to reach over it. Making this yourself is an excellent learning experience and begins to train your eye to see nine values in 10% increments, plus black being the absence of light on one end, and white being the absence of dark on the other end (based on the Munsell system). You will have eleven value strips total.

Frank Covino created this and he calls it the “Controlled Palette.” As of this writing, I don’t know if he still sells it. A couple of years ago, he began making it smaller than the one I bought (and love) from him nearly ten years ago, and now I see on his site that it seems to be all a 5th-value gray, similar to Richeson’s Grey Matters palette paper (another excellent tool to provide that extra paint mixing space you sometimes need). I suggest you contact Frank if you would prefer to buy a palette that is ready to use. If you find that it is now indeed all gray, I strongly advise you to make it yourself instead. Your acuity for values will be considerably heightened and, in the long run, you will become a much stronger artist for it.

Here is my palette in use. I still have Saran Wrap (the most non-permeable brand–I have tested this) over the colors. The flesh is still in verdaccio, since it’s always best to remember that “what surrounds the form affects your perception of the form’s values”:

Here is what it looks like:

Front

Back

You can print this value scale for reference. Remember, there is a white strip to include at the right end:

Supplies needed (all available at Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, etc.):

2 pieces 12″x24″ thin Plexiglas–glass is better for scraping or cleaning if you’re not going to be traveling with it.

1 piece 12″x24″ 1/8″ Masonite

6′ length of 2″ wide gray Duct tape

1 piece of 12″x24″ Contact paper of your choice (wood grain shown)

1 12″x24″printed or painted value scale on lightweight card stock, not paper

Coat one side of Masonite with contact paper, then assemble “sandwich” from the bottom, up, as follows: 3. Masonite (Contact paper on underside), 2. value scale, face up, 1. 1 piece of Plexiglas (or glass) to cover. Duct tape edges with half the tape width showing on top and half on bottom, long edges first, short edges last. Palette is complete. The extra piece of Plexiglas is used on top of the palette to mix paint on and keep the actual palette clean. When you use it, make sure to very lightly rub it with olive oil before you put the paint on, thereby making it easier to clean. When the top gets scratched and mangled after many uses, just toss it and get a new top to go over your palette.

Test the measurements of this palette before you make it to ensure it fits in your freezer (adjust, if needed), as that is the way to store your paint for as much as six months. This saves money because when you mix a flesh palette, for example, you can just use the remaining paint for another portrait.

All the best,

Marsha