WORTH REPEATING

Mar19

This subject was addressed a long time ago, but it is so critically important that it bears repeating. Of course, it’s about values because, without a thorough understanding of them, you cannot create significant paintings.

Many teachers assume that we all know what “value” in paintings means, so they don’t really elaborate and tell us HOW to see them. The concept is easy to understand when we’re talking about a greyscale, but extrapolate that to color, especially the various colors juxtaposed together to make a painting, and the values concept becomes murky.

You can make an entire painting a monochromatic green or even pink and, as long as those pinks have correct values, your painting will “read” and make sense to the viewer no matter what color you make it. Value is simply how dark or how light that color is.

Yes, but so what? Where’s the “how?” Well, first you have to learn to squint enough at something until the color disappears and you are left with a percentage of light. What amount do you see? Make your own value scale and go around your house placing it next to various objects; squint to make the color disappear so that you can just see the value of the object and not the color. This is a great way to train your eye.

Here is a value scale you can print, showing values 1-9 with the addition of black (which is the absence of light) and white. The lowest value is 1, or 10 % light; the next is 2, or 20% light and so on, up to value 9 at 90%, with white being 100% light:

When making a painting, values aren’t actual light, of course, but values create the illusion of dark and light in varying degrees (shadows and highlights). Value deals with the lightness or darkness of a color.

Here is part of Bouguereau’s Vendangeuse (The Grape Picker) in color:

And here it is in greyscale, showing just the range of lights and darks (aka “values”):

And here is the pink version:

So, even in pink values, we still see the little girl, instead of a Botox Babe.

When we do a value-scale underpainting, we are separating the problems of seeing values in one hue vs. seeing those values in juxtapositions of many colors (hues). This makes the painting much easier to execute, and more accurate, because now you have a process.

And that’s why I say you must know how to see value because value analysis and then value duplication is the basis of all perception. It is the common denominator for the replication of all things, whether landscapes, still lifes, or portraits.

Follow my blog to get the latest post sent to you.

All the best,

Marsha

PART 6, CLASSICAL ACADEMIC APPROACH, CHARCOAL DRAWING AND INDIA INK

Mar15

Kind Readers,

My sincerest apologies for the extended hiatus since my last post. There has been a long illness in my family that required my full attention, but gratefully, the outcome was positive. Thanks to some dear art friends inspiring me today to start posting again, I am doing this one especially for them. I’ll try to make it up to you all in this post by adding additional pictures of the process for you to at least see where we’re going. I’ll comment on them as needed in later posts. Feel free to posit your questions or comments as well.

A few more points to make about handling the marble gesso before we go on with the process~~Remember that you must smooth the edges of each successive application of gesso either with your finger while it’s wet, or with sandpaper (about 100 grit) after it’s dry. It is easiest to do it with your finger, followed by the sandpaper only if necessary. Some illuminated areas you may want to sculpt, in addition to those mentioned in Part 5, are clothing (especially folds) , the nose bridge and tip, the forehead, the forward shoulder, the forward knee, and the part of the lower lip in the light.

At this stage, remove the gridded acetate cartoon, and render a complete charcoal study by referring to the grayscale printout of the artwork reference. It’s best to start with the easiest squares or triangles, piece by piece, then progress to the others as you gain more confidence. Use a tortillion to really blend and push the charcoal into the gessoed surface. You can always lay the grid back on to check your drawing if you lose your place or make a mistake. Repair mistakes on your drawing with a kneaded eraser, or scrape it carefully with an exacto knife or single-edged razor blade. Periodically, take the drawing outside and spray it with fixative as you progress and are sure it’s correct. As you continue with the rendering, keep asking yourself, “What value is it on my reference?” Then place that value on your surface. If the values are right, it will look like the form when you’re finished.

When your drawing is complete, take it outside with a final coat of fixative, sprayed rather liberally. Be careful with this stuff–it’s toxic (see the label). The photo below shows the wet fixative reflecting on the lens. At this point, put the fixative away. It will not be used again for the duration of this painting and, for the sake of archivability, you do not want to accidentally mix it up with the retouch varnish.

As far as India ink is concerned, inking can be done at any stage of the drawing. I personally like to do it after I have applied the gesso or gelatin and have refined my cartoon into a full-value detailed charcoal drawing. Use a very fine brush and keep some water handy. It’s very difficult to remove dried India ink, and it dries very quickly. Or, if you prefer, you can use the greyscale prefilled Faber-Castell Pitt brand India ink brush pens.

For example, in the charcoal drawing above, I have inked the entire background, the edge of the upper eyelid, the edge of the iris, the deepest recesses of the nose hole, the crease of the eyelid, and the pupils of the eye. Ink only the areas that are either black, or value 1.

Regarding the pupils, always make sure that the one farthest from the viewer is slightly lighter than the closest one. Even though the naked eye cannot really see this difference, you must nevertheless paint with aerial perspective rules in mind, whether it’s visible in the photo or not. Aerial perspective rules say that dark-valued objects become lighter and grayer in recession. Thus, the pupil farthest from the viewer will be ever-so-slightly lighter. The converse rule is that light-valued objects appear darker and grayer in recession. Keep these rules in mind with any painting because you cannot trust what you see in the photograph.

Some other areas to consider inking are the center edge of the lower lip, where the lower lid touches the iris, and the very thin line between the lips.

When inking, refer to the grayscale printout of the Old Master artwork you are duplicating. Ask yourself, “Where are the black areas located on this painting?” As you identify them, no matter how small, that’s where you put ink. Ink everything that is receiving no light. Forget what object you are painting and just look for values, remembering to refer to the photo and not your acetate sketch.

Remember that any mistakes made with the ink must be ameliorated–you cannot just cover them with paint. Why? Because over time, oil paint becomes translucent and your mistakes will begin to show through. The Italians call this “pentimenti,” meaning “the emergence of earlier mistakes that have been painted over.” Take a look at Velázquez’s horse that now has five legs.

Here are additional steps in the process:

This is the completed verdaccio underpainting, ready for color:

All the best,

Marsha

P. S. Just a note to let you know of an upcoming workshop—

Hello, readers. The Arizona Renaissance Art Guild is hosting a one-week workshop with Maestro Frank Covino, art teacher extraordinaire. If you will be in the Phoenix area on April 6-10, 2015, we would like to invite you to attend and make some new painting friends. The cost for the week is $695. Respond to this post if you are interested. We still have two spaces available.

PART 5, CLASSICAL ACADEMIC APPROACH, MARBLE GESSO

Sep13

Did you complete your cartoon transfer yet? (See Part 4) Keep in mind that working from a photo is not a lifetime sentence–it is a great beginning and learning tool, becoming simply reference material later on as you gain skill and begin to build a morgue of artist references.

At this stage, you should have transferred what is in each acetate grid section, box by box, triangle by triangle, to each identical grid section of your painting panel. If you begin to think about your drawing as specific objects, turn the panel and acetate upside down and continue. This way, it helps you to stay in the abstract and be more objective.

Are the acetate and panel drawings exactly the same? When the acetate tracing and the panel look exactly identical, you can either erase most of your grid lines, or just leave them in case you need refer to them later at some point during the charcoal drawing and underpainting. I usually just leave them. If your drawing has been accurately reproduced, spray it with fixative so it won’t disappear on you. Remember that the Old Masters taught and used this same grid method to execute extremely accurate drawings, so you are in the best of company.

Now, it’s time to move on to the marble dust gesso and gelatin padding, and inking of the drawing. Your surface should look sculpted when complete, but only to the degree of the Golden Mean. In other words, you should aim for about thirty-three percent or less, or sixty-six percent or more of your surface area “sculpted,” but never 50-50. Of course, this will generally be applied in areas throughout, so you will have to guess the aggregate amount. Also, make sure you emphasize the illuminated, higher-value areas only, areas you want to advance. The lighter the area, the more gesso or gelatin you can add. Darker-valued areas should remain smooth and recessional.

If you plan to add any gesso or gelatin for textures, do it now during the drawing/charcoal/inking stage. Remember that the process of sculpturing your work with the marbled gesso is completely optional. I don’t do it for every painting, but whenever I do, I never regret having the additional dimension that oil paint alone can simply not provide.

Here is an example of Rubens’ Roman charity painting, “Cimon and Pero,” where I extensively padded on the marble dust gesso to varying degrees on the man’s muscles in the light. You can see why it is so important to study your anatomy and know the shapes of the musculature. On the daughter, I added extra gesso to the face, breast, forward arm and hand, and on the dress folds, only on areas of light and those nearest the viewer. Gelatin was added to stone areas only. It is finely granulated, totally permanent and used just as it is, right out of the box. It can be used in gesso or mixed directly in the paint, and creates a more crude surface–perfect for things like rocks, stone and bark:

If you zoom it on your computer, you can actually see where I have added marble gesso (those areas appear whiter) on this painting in progress of Titian‘s “Venus at her Toilet.” I have built up gesso on the pearls, hair, face, the sternocleidomastoid, the breasts, abdomen, hip, arms, hands, jewelry, the angel and wings, and spent a great deal of time on the tiny trimwork of her wrap. It’s an amazing tactile experience to literally feel the shapes as you run your hand over the painting and yes, it takes time, but it is so much worth the effort:

Remember that not just any old plastic-y gesso works for this–you MUST have quite a bit of marble dust in it AND have a surface with tooth to apply it to. You can make your own, or buy Bonded Marble Gesso from Frank Covino. Several other companies are emulating Frank and finally beginning to make it also.

Working on a marbled board allows you to scrape, carve, and shape without ruining your surface. Just remember that this gesso dries very quickly and becomes quite hard (like marble), so whatever your plan is, you should execute it as soon as the gesso is touch dry. For instance, when I build a muscle, I keep adding coats with an older bristle brush until it’s the thickness I want. Then, I sand it thoroughly, paying very special attention to the edges, as soon as the gesso will let me. If you let it cure and come back a couple of days later, you’ll find it nearly impossible to make the edges smooth–it’s just too hard to work at this point. Remember that paint will not cover up whatever textural accidents or sloppiness you leave. The texture will still telescope through the paint, so make sure you are thorough with those edges.

All the best,

Marsha

P. S. Just a note to remind you of the upcoming workshop—

Hello, dear readers. Here is some information I just sent out to all members of The Arizona Renaissance Art Guild, and I would like to share it with you as well. We are having a one-week workshop where we intensively work on our paintings for one committed week. If you will be in the Phoenix area on October 7-11, 2013, we would like to invite you to attend and perhaps make some new painting friends. Respond to this post if you are interested.

Dear Artists:

Great news! Karen has confirmed the dates for the Arizona Renaissance Art Guild’s one-week workshop. So, are you ready to paint those gorgeous works of art???

It’s PAINTINGPALOOZA time, one whole week to devote to your Classical painting for about $60 – $85 (total for the week), where we artists help each other make our work better and better.

The workshop is scheduled for the week of October 7 – 11, 2013, at the museum. Workshop hours each day are from 9:00 a.m. until ?.

Signing up is simple–just send us an email and please include your phone number in case we need to contact you. We have space for a maximum of 12 people. The more people that sign up, the less the cost!

There is no need for you to send a deposit ahead of time: just RSVP via email to confirm your attendance, and then pay your share when you get there.

And as always, if you see someone who didn’t get this email but who should or wants to be on the mailing list, please feel free to forward this on to them and us so that we will be able to include them in our next mailing.

Call if you have any questions. Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Karen and Marsha
Arizona Renaissance Art Guild

PART 4, CLASSICAL ACADEMIC APPROACH, THE CARTOON

Sep8

Although you are copying an Old Master and placement has already been decided for you, here are some thoughts to keep in mind in the future when you begin composing your own work: if you leave a large space above the head, you will signal to the viewer that the person you are depicting is diminutive, whereas, with less space above, you will give the impression of a taller, more imposing figure. This knowledge is especially useful psychologically when you want to make a woman seem more feminine, or a man more masterful. For example, you would probably not want to paint a commissioned portrait of a farmer, a CEO, or a king, with a lot of space above their heads.

Drawing well requires an extensive understanding of proportion, so to help you get a headstart on drawing and line, we will adopt the OMs’ method of using a graph to facilitate a highly accurate enlargement of your chosen painting. Then, as you progress in skill and knowledge of the “rules,” you can begin to break them because you will find you need these guidelines progressively less and less.

Now that you have collected your painting supplies and materials, it is time to do an acetate overlay cartoon, or line drawing, over your 8″ X 10″ reference. Then, you will transfer that same cartoon onto your painting board. Both the acetate AND the board will be gridded. Remember those algebraic equation days where what you do to one side of the equation, you do to the other side? Well, the same idea applies here: what you do to the acetate, you do to the board, no matter how short a guideline may be.

The Cartoon
Work from your grayscale reference from the grided transfer and cartoon, through to the rendering stages. When you “scale up” your reference material to fit your painting surface, the proportions of that reference material must be maintained; otherwise, you will have a final drawing that is out of proportion with perhaps ears too big or fingers too long. Here is an easy procedure to ensure you get it right.

Procedure for Enlarging Reference While Maintaining Correct Proportion
Let’s say you are working from an 10” X 8” photo reference, and you want to paint it as a 26” X 20”.
1. Divide the long length of your desired enlargement by the long length of your photo reference to get a ratio:

26 ÷ 10 = 2.6″

2. Multiply that ratio by the short length of your photo reference. This will tell you what your enlargement’s short side should be in order to maintain correct proportion:

2.6 X 8 = 20.8″

Your painting size will be 20.8″ X 26″

In this example, the size you wanted was 26″ X 20″ but the closest you can get is 26″ X 20.8″—so what can you do? You have a choice at this point of either:

a) increasing your desired painting size to 26″ X 20.8″ (which would leave you with an odd size for framing),
b) rounding down to 26″ X 20″ (more standard size), or
c) decreasing the photo image content by leaving off a small bit of the sides. This would be a very slight adjustment and probably worth it to be able to maintain a more standard size frame.

The Graph
Once you have the correct proportions, use a thin-point red or blue Sharpie and draw a rectangle on the acetate that corresponds proportionately to the size of your board and place it over your drawing. Use pieces of masking tape to secure each side or corner.

Very lightly draw a big “X” on your surface from corner to corner.

Draw a cross through the center of the “X.”

Connect the cross around to make a diamond.

Finally, divide the graph into fourths by adding two horizontal and two vertical lines.

Lay another piece of acetate on top of the grayscale reference and grid. As with the gridded acetate, also tack this one down with tape. Trace the figure, including as many detailed features as possible. You can use dotted lines or denser lines to indicate shadows or clothing folds. If you make a mistake, remove it with alcohol and a cotton swab, as mistakes made at this stage will only look even more pronounced in your enlargement. Strive for perfection–it will pay off and save you time later on.

*You can take your cartoon outline further, if you find it helps you, by turning it into a value study. Do this by continuing to draw on the acetate to create a value study with lines–closer together indicates darker–farther apart creates lighter areas. When your acetate drawing looks exactly like the reference and you would deem it a good drawing by itself, you are ready to begin transferring it to the painting surface.

On your board, and just as you did on the acetate, draw an “X”, then a cross, then a diamond, then divide it into fourths, both horizontally and vertically. You can use charcoal or pastel pencils for this. Do not use graphite because it can telescope through oil paint over time. You can draw additional lines to aid you, connecting any two points at any angle. Use as many of these as you need to help encase difficult areas like eyes, nose, and mouth. Keep in mind that whatever you do to the board, you do to the acetate. Note where I placed my extra lines:

We’ll continue with inking and gesso/gelatin buildup in later posts.

All the best,

Marsha

P. S. Just a note to remind you of the upcoming workshop—

Dear Artists:

Great news! Karen has confirmed the dates for the Arizona Renaissance Art Guild’s one-week workshop. So, are you ready to paint those gorgeous works of art???

It’s PAINTINGPALOOZA time, one whole week to devote to your Classical painting for about $60 – $85 (total for the week), where we artists help each other make our work better and better.

The workshop is scheduled for the week of October 7 – 11, 2013, at the museum. Workshop hours each day are from 9:00 a.m. until ?.

There is no need for you to send a deposit ahead of time: just RSVP via email to confirm your attendance, and then pay your share when you get there.

Call if you have any questions. Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Karen and Marsha
Arizona Renaissance Art Guild

WORKSHOP PAINTINGPALOOZA!

Sep3

Dear Artists:

Great news! Karen has confirmed the dates for the Arizona Renaissance Art Guild’s one-week workshop. So, are you ready to paint those gorgeous works of art???

It’s PAINTINGPALOOZA time, one whole week to devote to your Classical painting for about $60 – $85 (total for the week), where we artists help each other make our work better and better.

The workshop is scheduled for the week of October 7 – 11, 2013, at the museum. Workshop hours each day are from 9:00 a.m. until ?.

There is no need for you to send a deposit ahead of time: just RSVP via email to confirm your attendance, and then pay your share when you get there.

Call if you have any questions. Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Karen and Marsha
Arizona Renaissance Art Guild