Art Blog - What Makes A Painting Work

Painting people is a pleasure, and art lovers usually enjoy paintings with humans portrayed in them. After completing a recent watercolor of two children exploring a sea star and barnacle bedecked rock at low tide, I gave some thought to portraits, figure painting, and the market. There is definitely a market for portraits of celebrities, and portraits by master painters from the past can command large figures when they come on the market. Surely the Mona Lisa is one of the world's most cherished and visited paintings, and one cannot imagine any circumstances that the Louvre would let go of it_thus placing it in the category of "priceless". However, I think in the more ordinary world of art marketing, the successful portraitist works largely on commission… Continue reading… 0 comments

In creating portraits an artist has a lot of points to tie into reality and produce a recognizable person. Individual faces are so distinctive that properly done a caricature is as recognizable as a photorealistic portrait. Distinctive features such as full lips, an upturned nose or one that has been broken, a dimple, a jutting chin, thin or heavy brows and the like come in an almost infinite number of combinations to make faces memorable. But how do we recognize a person from a distance, or how do we recognize a person portrayed with a three inch expanse of paint pigment? These details from a wedding painting I did in watercolor fit that category. You cannot paint facial details. That would simply result in a cartoonish or grotesque look… Continue reading… 4 comments

There are no self taught artists, but there are many lessons beyond the formal walls of the classroom. Museums have long been places where artists can sharpen their skills, and many welcome students with sketchbook in hand. Some paintings within the museums you frequently visit may become old friends that you must spend time with even when you are there to view a special show. At Stockton's Haggin Museum "Sophistication", a 1908 work by Harry Wilson Watrous, is such a work for me. So are the Albert Bierstadt works in the museum's permanent collection. My fascination with "Sophistication" led a young friend to give me the box pictured here from the Haggin's gift shop… Continue reading… 3 comments