Watch Me Paint: World-Class Art, World-Class Instruction
Stone walls are a subtle reminder of the vast human labor that has gone into these fields. Clary Hill #2, by Carol L. Douglas. Watercolor on Yupo, full sheet. I ran into Kevin Beers in Damariscotta, and asked him if he’d ever been to Clary Hill, site of a painting by that name by Joseph …
Nothing in a painting is precious because it looks great in and of itself. It must support and add to the painting, or it should be replaced. Electric Glide, by Carol L. Douglas. 24X36, oil on canvas. Among my cardinal rules is to never add tchotchkes* at the last minute to try to balance out …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: when to do major surgery”
Stop looking for something brilliant to say; it’s not about you. Ogunquit, by Carol L. Douglas My friend likes to make “medieval” artwork through her persona in the Society of Creative Anachronism. If any activity ought to be about pure fun, this is it, but she recently told me about a terribly harsh criticism she …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: How to critique work on the internet (and elsewhere)”
Brad Marshall gives me some trenchant painting advice. On the wall at Camden harbor, watercolor sketch, Carol L. Douglas. I paint with my pal Brad Marshall about once a year—generally at Rye Art Center’s Painters on Location, and occasionally here in Maine. He’s retired from his day job as a sign-painter in New York City, …
We humans really have no idea how tiny we are compared to nature. Towering Elm, Carol L. Douglas, painted at Castine Plein Air Trees are the largest living beings surrounding us, but we pay them scant attention. Until one drops a limb, we have no sense of their power or scale. Most of us can’t …
Nice advice. How exactly do you avoid making mush as the light changes? The Thimble, Carol L. Douglas, oil on gessoboard, sold. I’m painting bigger this season, with the goal of doing some very large landscapes during my Joseph A. Fiore Art Center residency. Down the Reach from last week, is 24X20; The Thimble, above, …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: don’t chase the light”
Technique is important, but it’s emotional power that draws people to paintings. Reading, by Carol L. Douglas. “I see artists who paint only flowers, only still life, only barns, only open landscapes, only portraits, only pets, only kitchen utensils, only books, only sailboats,” an artist said. “Why isn’t the artist painting more subjects, and trying …
Sometimes it’s about what you don’t say. Girl with the Red Hat, c. 1665-66, Johannes Vermeer, courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Earlier this month, I mentioned I once had a painting teacher who told me that heavy edges were “my style.” Like many younger artists, I just hadn’t learned how to marry edges …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: the lost-and-found edge”
How to paint in direct sun without your painting getting too dark. Painting in the direct sun at Fort Williams. Not only did I need gallons of water, but I have the most ridiculous tan. (Photo courtesy of Karen Lybrand) Yesterday, Cat Popesaw the above photo and asked me, “How do you work in the …
Continue reading “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun”
Everything you need for pen-and-wash will balance comfortably on your lap, thanks to modern technology. A fifteen-minute pen-and-wash sketch. I slipped my sketchbook in my purse before church, only to find when I got there that my pencil had apparently been eaten by a bear. It was useless. That left me scraping around the bottom …
Continue reading “Monday Morning Art School: Gel Pen and a Water Brush”