Artists’ studios
Most of modern arts journalism is marketing. One infrequently encounters critical journalism these days. A recent article in Canadian journal The Walrus is pretty typical. The piece, A Portrait of the artist’s Studio, is about the photographer Joseph Hartman’s series of portraits of artists’–Canadian artists–studios. I was not familiar with any of the artists. The photos
In the studio 10/25/15
After drawing this morning, I worked on Picnic. In addition to the four main figures, there are 27 other figures, or parts of figures, in the background. I’m having fun with all those figures. I went back and forth several times about this painting. The central figure’s back to the viewer has the potential to take the painting in
The Stendhal Syndrome
I am familiar with the great French author Stendhal’s novels–The Red and the Black, and The Charterhouse of Parma–having read them some years ago, but until I read an article in the online magazine The Point I’d never hear about Stendhal Syndrome. The Stendhal syndrome is a psychic disorder that causes dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when someone is exposed
I Finished The Woman in the Purple Boots
I thought I was going to finish The Woman in the Purple Boots a few days ago but wasn’t able to. After letting the last work dry thoroughly, I finished it today in a short session. I added a few touches to the right-most figure and the right-hand background. Most of today’s work was on
In the studio 10/18/15
It took awhile for Parade to get going. The ground is nonabsorbent and I fought it during the first several sessions. I still don’t like it but it’s starting to cook with gas now. Another thing that is challenging is the scale of the figures. They’re at that in-between scale; too small for full treatment,
Transferring designs to canvas–update
I’ve written before about the various methods used to transfer designs to canvas or other surfaces. There are three ways to do it: projector, grid, or cartoon. Typically, I use grids. Grids can handle any scale and I like working out final design elements on the canvas grid before picking up the brush. I can grid off a sketch and
In the studio 10/11/15
I finished Keith Standing in Front of a Painting of Himself quickly this morning and grew excited. I thought I’d also be able to finish The Girl in the Purple Boots today (you can see the painting on the easel behind Keith Standing in Front of a Painting of Himself). Close, but no cigar. Although I
God Hates Renoir
I had to laugh when I read this article in the Independent. The story is about the group calling themselves Renoir Sucks protesting in front of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. Renoir Sucks’ main tenant is, well, that Renoir sucks. The group maintains that they are tired of the ‘irredeemable treacle of Pierre-Auguste Renoir diluting the collection.’ They are