Hot Time - Summer in the City - Not!

Still no closer to sidewalks, on a permanent basis. We've visited a few...lately in Vermont and Massachusetts, but only to slide into town and slide right back out, same day!

I have been keeping a little busy, reframing some art work and painting a bit...until I get back into the rhythm of writing more frequently, here are a few pieces of art work that have found their way out of storage and into new mats and frames:

Seven Steps to Paint the Perfect Portrait

After a dozen classes regarding painting portraits, I've come to some conclusions.

If you've looked at some of my paintings from those classes, you've probably drawn some conclusions, as well.

Not to be dissuaded by any of those thoughts, know that I will not be stopped.

In fact, I am more determined than ever to conquer this topic and herein present my list of seven steps that will bring one success in the art of painting a picture so that it looks like the person whose painting you are trying to do, even if I'm tempted to poke out my eyes with my paint brush handle.

Here you see, from top to bottom, class #1, #2 and #3, as you study my guidelines.  One more class to go with this one!

1.  Determine whose picture you want to paint.  (It will help if they have just one eye,  a very small nose and can keep their mouth shut the whole time you're working on the painting so that you don't have to worry about all of those teeth!)  Being bald solves a lot of issues, too, or at least a band of cloth of some sort to wrap around their head that covers most of the hair, eyebrows, forehead and ears is a blessing!

2.  Determine just to paint their face.  The more you can stay away from clothing and arms and hands and feet, the less you have to fret about.  Also, if they can comb their hair over their ears, you won't have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out all of the ins and outs of ear canals and lobes and, heaven help us, those ornate earrings that belonged to a Victorian great-aunt or great-grandmother.

3.  Let the person who is sitting for their portrait know that they have to sit completely still for eight to ten hours.  Some studios and class settings allow for breaks for the sitter every twenty minutes or so, but I find that about the time the break is called is when I've just decided to finish a freckle or add an eyebrow.  Better they bulk up ahead of time and just sit for the whole thing.  I may take a break, but I don't want them to move from the preassigned spot...once they move, some tend to come back and face a completely different way.  Too confusing.

4.  Remember, you're not painting a face.  You're not painting a nose.  You're not painting and eye.  You're painting shapes and shadows and highlights and tone and value and color and texture, and you're capturing mood and expression and probably twisting your back and your arm and your neck into contortions that will lead to sore muscles and a headache, and an overwhelming thought that having taken a photo would have been less trouble and more satisfying!

5.  You are going to want to pose them in that antique chair, the one with all of the animal carvings and intricate shapes and designs.  Do yourself a favor...put a white sheet over the whole thing. If you have any thoughts of painting any part of it, don't.  Draping is so much more effective and you can cover that area in one or two brush strokes that way, rather than spending the remaining years of your life trying to get that darned antler armrest to look like what it should be instead of a piece of deer scat.

6.  Let the instructor, or other class member who paints better than you, take over your brush at any time they are available.  Just nod your head up and down a lot as they guide you through the finish.  If they look like they are going to stop and give you back the brush, ask questions quickly.  "What would you do with that eye?" Or, "Do you see any problem with the forehead?"  About twenty questions should do the trick.  The last question could be, "Do you know of a good place to buy a frame for this?"  They might have one in the trunk of their car!

7.  Once done, hide the painting for about seven years.  It'll give it time to dry and the sitter will appreciate the fact that, once they do see it, they look younger.


In the meantime, go back to landscapes and seascapes...you know, where trees and waves and rocks and weeds all look the same.              

A Break In The Code

I've been watching the news about Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," where some are speculating that there are codes embedded in the painting and that, due to these hidden clues, there is a secret waiting to be divulged!

In her eyes, they see letters and numbers; elsewhere in the painting, other letters and numbers.  Given the never-ending questions about the famous "non-smile" in this painting, questions about "who this really is," and the recent works of Dan Brown, including "The Da Vinci Code," "The Lost Symbol," and others, it's no surprise that people are still trying to figure out what important secret Da Vinci was hiding or what message he intended to leave us.

If you're not familiar with Dan Brown and what he puts forth about the hidden secrets, check out his website:

http://www.danbrown.com/

I should get right to the point of the matter here and let you know that I have solved the mystery of the letters and numbers, that seemingly appear within the painting, and what Da Vinci was up to with the "Mona Lisa."

However, I'll give you another glimpse of Mr. Brown's deduction processes before I proceed.  Check out this video...




Now, the answers to the eternal questions!

I did not come to this glibly...I am an artist, so I have some experience in putting forth meaning and messages on canvas, and I have listened to and heard some of the "evidence" put forth by others.

1.  It has been touted that Da Vinci toted this treasure to Tuscany and back, from the moment he started it until he finished it just before he died. 

2.  The picture has many elements of painting types...portrait, landscape, seascape, and still life.

3.  There's the "enigmatic" smile.  No fun, no emotion, straightforward.

4.  Numbers and letters, such as "D," and "L," and "7", to name a few, appear in various spots within the painting.

5.  According to records, it was never finished while Da Vinci was moving around...he didn't put the last brush stroke on it until after he couldn't travel anymore.

What does this all mean?

Simple!

Da Vinci was a traveling salesman.  "Mona Lisa" was his "sales kit."  He took it everywhere.

In order to be able to sell canvas, paints and brushes, he had to be able to show that you could use his stuff to paint any kind of picture!  Portrait?  No prob.  Seascape, landscape, still life?  Go ahead, knock yourself out...do them all at once!

He couldn't paint someone smiling or laughing.  This was business.  People like to know they're spending their money on serious objects that they, in turn, can use to make money.

The numbers and letters? His "cheat sheet!"  While he's showing what the  stuff can do, people ask questions...what color did you use, what size brush, what kind of canvas?

Luigi asks, "Leo, che spazzolla (brush)?  Che colori (color)?"

Leonardo sees "V" and "7" that he wrote into the painting..."Verde" (green), he responds..."Spazzolla numero 7."  It's like  PowerPoint!

And it was something he painted on as he showed his wares.  As he traveled the cities and towns, carrying it about, he would paint on it showing people how his supplies would be the best for them.

When did he finish it?  When he didn't need to use it for sales promotions anymore.  In fact, one day after he retired, while having a cappuccino, he looked at it and said, "Not bad.  I could probably just paint over the numbers and letters and sell this thing...could use a few lire!"  And then he thought, "Probably some day someone will see those numbers and letters and think that I have a great secret or it's some mystic code!  That would be funny!"

And, as for the mystical triangles and squares...they sell protractors, don't they?

It's not that there aren't "things" in paintings.  A good friend of mine gave me a painting years ago.  A very nice watercolor, he handed it to me with the comments, "I hope you appreciate the fact that I broke the tip off my favorite palette knife doing this for you!"   I did.

After framing it, I looked closely one day as there appeared to be something 3D in the picture.  Right there in the painting?  The tip of his palette knife.

The painting is here, above, on the left.

The knife tip is on the right side of the painting, above the top rock on the right...the dark spot in the base of the tree/weed.  Of course, generations in the future will, no doubt, be sure that we were smuggling precious metals via artwork or setting up magnetic codes that, once all paintings with metal tips in them are lined up with magnets, would lead the world to Atlantis.  Whatever!

And, the secret in the painting that I did, below here on the right?

I was trying to paint something that I could put in the hotel gift shop that I thought someone would buy!

The other secret?  It worked...the painting was only in the shop three days. 

There are many things in paintings.  Dust, dirt, sand (see Monet), oil, water, bad chemicals, and many other things, including things we don't want to think about.

Remind me to tell you about the time I sneezed during a watercolor demonstration.

Oh, before I forget.  The biggest idea an artist puts into a piece of art?  A keen desire to sell!

In Plein Sight

Painting 'en plein air,' outdoors in front of the subject matter, is a great experience. A place of your choice, in a setting that's appealing to you, and enjoying the fresh air is a great way to spend many hours in productive pursuit of art.

However, it can be challenging for many reasons, including weather changes, continual movement of light and shadows, hauling all of the necessary equipment, and at times there's just too much in front of you to paint.

First, the equipment.

Many years ago, packing for a day of painting meant remembering to bring paints, easel, brushes, rags, canvases, turpentine, and wine and cheese. You could find a rock nearby to balance your palette on and maybe you had a towel or blanket to sit on when you took a break away from painting to relax a bit and check out your creation.

You painted under the sun, in full abandon, and hopefully came home with a great painting and a nice tan. I remember some artists who painted in their bathing suits and would take their breaks in the surf.

These days it's much more complicated!

Not too keen on steadying palette and goodies on nearby pieces of earth, as we mature, one needs a small table or at least a light folding chair with pockets for glasses and bottles. These days you can become dehydrated out there, who knew that, so water has become the beverage of choice. Now, we have to carry gallons of it and, along with the aforementioned art supplies, we have become aware of how dangerous it has been out there in the wild.

A very good artist will not go out without their SPF50, bug spray, wide brimmed hat, umbrella, and alcohol swabs. Long pants are tucked carefully into socks, in hopes to avoid ticks and perhaps other creepy-crawlers, and a light shirt, hopefully with some SPF protection embedded in it, stays on the artist all day while they are out to prevent the slightest hint of coloration...the only red should be from that tube and placed on the palette for painting only. We also have to remember towelettes for washing our hands between painting and eating, as we learned that lead and other chemicals in the paints can make their way to our fingers, eating utensils, glasses, and bottles and that seems to be a bad thing. Be careful to keep your drinking glass away from your turps so that you don't end up washing out your brushes in your wine and grabbing the solvent cleaner for a quick swig!!! I only did that once and can attest that wine does not clean your brushes well and turpentine has a long way to go to challenge even a cheap Merlot.

One of my biggest challenges, apart from setting up all of the stuff needed to complete a painting mission, is sticking to drawing and painting the subject that attracted me in the first place and not including the entire vista on the canvas. You want to paint a wave crashing against a rock, then do that...no need to include the whole shore, every wave, the seals and lobsters frolicking in front of you, and the Queen Mary sailing by in the background!

What to do? Well, take a picture with your digital camera. You can use it as a frame to focus on what you want to paint, you have it to take home with you, and you can print it out later to use again.

In days prior to the digital age, we could Kodak the moment and have the picture later, but most times it was sketch, sketch and re-sketch, and then use that drawing as reference as you were painting.

Anyway, when you can't muster the energy to pack up and head out on this grand safari, paint indoors. Take a picture of your favorite spot, maybe do a quick sketch, and head to the studio.

That's what I've done recently. I've included here a seascape that I just started...what you are seeing here is the result of about an hour's worth of effort...some lines remain, I've blocked out some rocks, and I'll continue to look at the picture I have to work out lights and darks and the placement of waves and water movement and we'll see where it goes. I'll keep you posted.

I do like painting water and have to do it either by traveling five to eight hours, being landlocked in New York State, or painting from pictures. The great thing about landscape and seascape painting is that you don't have to worry about replicating the rocks and waves exactly as they were, as long as the painting works, as no one is going to say, "That's not what it looks like!"

Okay, I'll amend that. Unless you're Guy Corriero or one of his students who have transversed Monhegan ad infinitum and recognize each little piece of sea glass and its location year to year and know the exact spot of this attempt here, it wouldn't be a big deal.

In comparison, a portrait or a painting of someones home necessitates exactness...nature says, "Grab the essence." Along the vast shore line of the eastern seaboard, forgetting the island habitues in this case, this place could be anywhere.

So, in my little eight by ten room, under a special light, free from UV exposure, I am painting 'outdoors.' No worries about ticks and mosquitoes, I can start the process without lathing chemicals on my skin. The easel is set up, tables and chairs nearby, no lugging, setting up and taking down. I can leave my umbrella packed neatly away, dress comfortably for the day, and maybe even not wear shoes, and keep my wine bottle in the frig upstairs. If I forgot to bring the cheese, just hop up the steps and pull it out. Oh, and I can leave the TV or CD player on and have some company, too.

Easier, yes...but something is missing...the company of other artists, that special smell of the combination of turpentine, oil paints, tick spray and suntan lotion, bugs floating in your wine or crawling around your canvas, the disappearance of that shadow from in front of that rock (how many hours have I been out here), or that great story about how you were almost done with that three by five foot seascape that was going to sell for lots of money, when you took in a deep breath of that salty sea air. Closing your eyes briefly to focus on the smells of the ocean and feeling the gentle spray on your face, you open them again quickly when you realize that it's more than just a spray, more like a bucket of water being thrown at you, and you watch as your easel and painting attached to it are swept off the rocks in front of you, in plain sight of everyone, or should I say, "plein sight," to become one with the sea.

In my case, I was most fortunate...I was just far back enough away from the easel and the coast's end that I didn't go with it and I had my wine glass in one hand and the bottle in the other, at the time, so not all was lost!!!

More to come, as the painting progresses...