Watch Me Paint: World-Class Art, World-Class Instruction
The paintings that catch our eye aren’t necessarily the ones that are perfectly executed. American Eagle in Drydock, by Carol L. Douglas While I’ve had an Instagram account for a long time, I’ve only recently understood how it really works. I’m not talking about its mechanics, but the algorithms that drive it. It has the …
John Morra recently wrote an excellent essay examining the nature of plein air painting. I’m assigning it to all my students; it’s that good. Most of us have been in a competitive plein air event and seen something passed off as outdoor painting that was clearly not painted from life. How do we know this? …
I’m studying Francis Cadell before a portrait commission takes me to his home town. Portrait of a Lady in Black, c. 1921, Francis Cadell, courtesy National Gallery of Scotland. Winston Churchill hated his state portrait, painted by Graham Vivian Sutherland. It so rankled that his widow, Clementine Churchill, had her secretary burn it more than …
Canadian painter Prudence Heward was an audacious post-Impressionist, and so much more. Rollande, 1929, Prudence Heward, courtesy National Gallery of Canada. When I first saw the painting above, I laughed aloud. I was painting badly, my nose dripping horribly. Young Rollandeperfectly echoed my mood. Kudos to the aficionado who texted it to me. Rollande’s discontent …
The coldest winter day I ever painted in Maine was actually in the Brandywine valley in October. Morning Flight Path, 16X12, by Carol L. Douglas. I’m at Brandywine Plein Air. We must paint in specific venues each day. That’s a good thing. Chester County, Pennsylvania is historic and hilly, and has no two roads that …
A painted value study is a great tool for understanding your subject. Pile of rocks value study, by Jennifer Johnson Last week, I had you find and identify the simple shapes within a drawing. The prior week, we learned how to do abstracted value studies of our own homes. This week I want you to …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: ditching the color”
If you think it’s too complicated to draw, you’re looking at it all wrong. Winch (American Eagle), by Carol L. Douglas, courtesy of Camden Falls Gallery. This exercise builds on last week’s Monday Morning Art School, where we did simple drawings of our homes and then experimented with cropping them. The idea was to see beauty …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: finding the super simple shapes”
Interested in fall foliage? This is the ultimate road trip for a leaf-looker. Glade #1, by Carol L. Douglas. Watercolor on Yupo. We haven’t had a frost yet, but with each day I see a bit more color. To date, it’s mostly the sumacs and undergrowth, but the top of the birches are starting to glint …
Continue reading “Autumn color is hitching up its skirts and getting ready to sprint”
Words have the power to inflict or bind wounds. May we choose ours carefully. Posted, by Carol L. Douglas. Watercolor on Yupo paper. I never did figure out a color for those water-lilies. I was checking into an event when the canvas-stamping person said, “Oh, you paint on a red ground? I’ll have to check …
How much of what we know is truth and how much is the convention of our times? After the final cutting, Carol L. Douglas In the 21st century, we are being driven inexorably toward higher and higher chroma (color intensity). This isn’t just happening in painting, but also in photography, home furnishings, and hair coloring. …