Art Blog - Art In History

I turn now from Degas and Manet to Claude Monet - THE Impressionist. This is another of those artists, like Leonardo, whom I would not really call a "favorite", but whom I recognize as a towering figure in the development of artistic vision in his time. I respond more to the works of Degas and Manet. But as with Leonardo, no artist in the period following Monet could work without coming to terms with his redefinition of painting. You could follow him or reject him, but you had to deal with the terms which he had established. Monet redefined painting on several levels: the enterprise, artistic vision, palette and technique. First, he finally stated that the work done directly on the scene was an end in itself… Continue reading… 5 comments

The colors of water are endlessly fascinating, and a source of everchanging interest in landscape. If the sky (according to Constable) is the "chief organ of sentiment in nature", then the water is its mirror, reflecting its many moods and colors, and mixing them with colors of its own. I have just returned from a week in the Carribean, on St. John, and the colors of the tropical ocean were one of the singular glories of the visit. It was a week of broken clouds, driven by high winds, creating an endless succession of light and color conditions, duly reflected in the colors of the water. In addition, there were the unique tones of the tropical ocean: turquoise where the bottom was sandy, lavender when the bottom was reef, and a deeper blue over deep water… Continue reading… 2 comments

A new artist has joined our community at the Indian Orchard Mills this year who has me stunned and envious. She is Christina Mastrangelo, recently returned from three years of study in Florence, study in the age old tradtion of Academic Realism, such as would have been practiced 200 years ago. She is young and very,very good; one source of my envy. The other is that she practices an approach which I admire greatly, but know I could never emulate. In one way our vision is very similar: we are both seeking to capture what we see in the world, the truth of form, color and light. On another level, our vision is totally different. Christina paints what is permanent and eternal in reality; I paint what is immediate and transitory… Continue reading… 1 comment

I was a young man - a young artist - when Marshall McLuhan came out with his seminal statement: "The medium is the message". The idea had tremendous power, since it seemed to sum up a century of change in attitudes toward the art object (visual, auditory, written) and its purpose. The work of art was its own reason for being; it did not have to serve any outside purpose. For me this is not only an exciting idea, it is a justification for what I secretly often feel is a failing of mine: my work isn't serving a higher purpose that I can define. Which means that, deep down, I don't fully accept that my work has no need to "teach" or "advocate". There is this suspiciaon that the work that deserves the most respect is the one with a higher purpose… Continue reading… 2 comments

It is something of a truism that portraits are the hardest subject for an artist. This is certainly true for beginning artists, but NOT because the human head is the most difficult thing to render. A head is far less complex than a grove of trees, a bed of flowers or a meadow. In fact, the natural symmetry and order of a face makes it a relatively easy subject to capture in general. What is difficult is the demands we place on ourselves when doing a portrait...and which the sitter places on us as well. This is the portrait attitude. When I teach portraiture, I say there are three levels to "truth" which are at play. The first is the truth of form in space: size, shape and organization; this is the head as still-life… Continue reading… 8 comments

This post is another holiday from my art history pieces; in fact, another in my series of artistic tips, though my theme applies as much to studio painting as to painting plein air. From the title one might suppose I was going to talk about fantasy, or more generally about work not springing from observation of the world. In fact, the opposite is true: triggering the imagination is the key to painting convincingly realistic works… Continue reading… 1 comment

It has been a chunk since I did a post in my series on plein aire tips. However, I got some tips myself in my recent week at Casa del los Artistas in Boca de Tomatlan. For more on this week, see my personal post under Peter Barnett. It was a plein aire workshop, and I came away with three tips that will add flexibility to my repertoire. The first had to do with Sumo Brush painting on the go. Bob Masla had me experiment with a special travel brush and "ink pencil". I drew first with the pencil, much as I would with a soft graphite pencil, but doing only cursory shading. I then used a brush with a hollow plastic handle with a self-contained water supply, much like a dish sponge with its own supply of soapy water… Continue reading… 2 comments

My painting method is certainly influenced by my predilection for plein air painting, but it in fact the same whether I am painting outdoors or indoors. I t is based on organizing and realizing a work quickly, even if the circumstances do not require it. I find that I am seldom able to work for more than an hour at a stretch, and tend to lose the acuteness of vision if I try. As I have said in an earlier post, I begin with a toned panel or canvas, which among other things allows me to establish relative tones and values much more quickly than working on white. Often I am able to choose among several toned panels the one which best matches the color character of the subject I am doing… Continue reading… 2 comments

If you paint on site, how much should you do with the painting after you get back to the studio? It all depends what you are trying to achieve. It is a time-honored process to develop works in the studio from sketches done on site. Often these are single-purpose sketches, to study composition, record color, trigger your visual memory. Many artists will begin on a fresh canvas once back in the studio, but many others continue to develop their original image. I do almost no revision once I return from the field. Most of what I do is add specific elements from mental notes, elements that require the paint to be dry, like fine branches against the sky, or grasses against a dark background… Continue reading… 3 comments

I thought I would do a more nuts and bolts piece on how I travel out of the country with my painting outfit. The image is of me set up on the atlantic coast of portugal at the end of November, but I'm not even sure you can make it out. In any case, I will use the Portugal/Spain trip as an example. I repack my paintbox in its original cardboard box, with the styrofoam packing material. I have jury-rigged a rope handle on the top of the box, which is tape shut with packing tape. By the way, I always take a roll of the tape with me incase customs opens the box and I need to tape it shut again. I don't leave me brushes loose in the box; I've found they can work their way out from under the drawer… Continue reading… 2 comments

One of the great pleasures I get from plein-air painting is the oportunity to interact with very special places. It isn't just that these places stimulate me to paint them. Of course they do, and the paintngs then become a wonderful trigger for memories of the place and the experience. But beyond this, the time spent in those places is therapeutic in itself, and the hour is well spent even if the painting fails. For me, there seem to be three kinds of special places. The first are familiar places with an endless appeal, places which show me new pictures each time I visit them. I count among these the northern Berkshires (my family home), the Adirondacks and the coast of Maine… Continue reading… 0 comments

If you're a photographer, you already know. A bright sunny day is NOT the best time to be looking at scenery. Bright sunlight washes out subtle color. It replaces the subtlety with strong contrasts of light and dark, and only the bold colors really survive. That is why bold colors are favored in North Africa, Mexico, South America. That is alos why the majority of postcards you see have been color-heightened: everybody wants to see a sunny day, but a photograph of a sunny day is often without real color. A meadow in sunlight might have 3 or four shades of green; on an overcast day it will have a hundred. Of course, strong contrasts of light and dark can make a great picture in their own right… Continue reading… 1 comment

One of the main choices I have made as a plein-aire painter is to work primarily on masonite panels rather than on canvas. I find that I like both surfaces in different ways; what is certain is that they require a very different application of paint. But for working in the field, panels have great advantages. First, they are inexpensive and easy to prepare. I really do consider this an advantage, because you should not feel the need to make each outdoor sketch a winner. I buy masonite by the 4' x 8' sheet, and will prepare 20 to 30 panels at a time in a range of sizes and shapes. Second, they are very durable, much less vulnerable to damage than a stetched canvas. My panels travel everywhere with me, under a blanket in the back of my Forrester… Continue reading… 1 comment

I think many artists are discouraged from working out of doors by the problems of putting together a kit which is portable and not too complicated. I have settled on the French Easel, an ingenious piece of equipment designed for the purpose. My first paintbox easel, almost fifty years ago, cost me c.$250 and lasted me ten years without complaint. Since then I have tried a number of name brands and found them all a disappointment: none lasted very long without breaking down. There may be a really well made one out there, but I don't know what it is. Instead, I have decided to consider my easel a consumable item. I now buy the easels two at a time at Ocean State joblot for $50 apiece, and assume they will last me a year… Continue reading… 0 comments

Hello out there! I am a plein-aire painter and teacher, and what I most want to do with my new blog is to pass on the tips and techniques which I have shared with my students in the past. This cannot be a substitute for the interaction with a teacher as you work, but particularly for artists with previous experience I hope it can be helpful, and will start some fun conversations. This is the first of many posts in this category. In it I want to define what plein-aire painting is for me. In the broadest sense, plain-aire painting means working out of the studio, in front of your subject. However, this can be done in many ways, notably as preparation for a later finished work done indors, or as a finished work in itself… Continue reading… 0 comments