Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Notes and Sketches from the Portrait Society of America annual conference 2017

Random notes and sketches from the Portrait Society of America National Conference 2017:




 Everything far away is barely darker than the sky
90% of the job is done on the palette
2 basic values


transparent/opaque - warm/cool of each color on his palette
flesh is translucent
even if you don't see it, paint it
paints on ABS plastic
map out features - use higher chroma than actually there.
darks stay thin
form first
with olive skin avoid cool colors
warm color in the shadows
warm light =cool shadows
cool light = warm shadows
orange skin shade with blue"




"As an artist, have a concept then strive to reach it"

Daniel Greene - color theory- everything is either bluish or yellowish.  A simplification but it works for him.
Values, edges, contrast make colors come forward and recede
Flake white dries rapidly and shows brush strokes
titanium white is the strongest white - use sparingly a lot of titanium will produce a chalky effect



Put your painting next to a painting of someone you admire.  Compare and see how you can improve

Great artists don't settle.  - Scott Burdick



If it doesn't excite me it probably won't excite anyone else.

when taking pictures of your subject be at least 6 feet away to avoid distortion.

Last but not least:

Use white...don't use white
use black...don't use black




The whole conference was wonderful...but all good things must come to an end...

...random sketches from the airport...











Tuesday, April 18, 2017

WAM presents WAM




This is the sign that greeted us as we entered the Women Artists Mentors show in Miles City, Montana at the Waterworks Art Museum. 


This is the view of some of the artwork.  What an honor to have my artwork displayed in this wonderful facility. 



I just returned from my show with my WAM (Women Artists Mentors) group in Miles City, Montana at the Waterworks Art Museum…coincidentally also WAM.  After flying across the country and driving a couple of hours my artist friend and fellow WAM member, Debra Keirce, and I arrived at the venue.  We were warmly met my Dixie, the director of the museum.  Walking into the museum is absolutely amazing.  It is a repurposed water treatment facility and the character of the original purpose is evident at every turn.  The walls are concrete, original pipes are present and the original control panel is prominently placed in the foyer.  What looks like a modest building from the outside reveals itself to be a large series of hallways that hold classrooms, galleries, offices and other facilities.  The history is fascinating. 

We were led down a concrete hallway to the main gallery which held our paintings.  I was totally overwhelmed by the sight of my work in such a magical setting.  Each piece placed perfectly on large panels and lit by spotlights that showcased the work.  Walking through the gallery was like a dream. 

We had a quick tour then Dixie, Toni, DeNice, Kim, Debra and I went to the Hole in the Wall Café for dinner.  It was like stepping back in time.  All the fixtures, woodwork and ambiance are all right out of the past.  It was fabulous.  The American home town feeling was evident.  We had our dinner then Debra and I crashed at the hotel to recuperate and get ready for our demo’s, art talks, and reception the next day. 

Up early-ish and off to Spoonful Coffee Shop for a bite to eat with our gift certificates.  When we arrived they recognized us (new in town) and greeted us warmly.  We had a delicious treat and headed across the street to Girl Ran Away with the Spoon shop to browse the eclectic, interesting, and innovative wares.  I could have spent all day in there…but we had an agenda and places to go.  We did pop out back to the “sale trailer” to check on bargains and spotted an old pink Desoto in the lot!  I digress…

We had a bit of time to kill before heading to the demo so we went to the Range Riders Museum.  It is an enormous display of history, artifacts, and replicas of historic streets.  It was indescribable.  Multiple buildings holding thousands of artifacts including a donut from the civil war...yes…a donut from the civil war.  We had precious little time to spend there and could have spent days pouring over all the artifacts. 

My biggest regret for the weekend is that this hat shop was closed...a hat shop.  I certainly would have left with a new hat had it been open.

Our demos began at 4 pm.  Deb set up at a table to let people try their hand at painting miniatures and I set up nearby painting a portrait.  One of the many visitors was Karen Stevenson…an author.  She was anxious to talk to me about one of my paintings.  It is of a woman wearing white and holding a white umbrella…the comment was the woman in the painting looks just like someone from Miles City.  She was an activist and quite well known in the area…Elise Fox.  Karen was amazed by the resemblance and presented me with the book she wrote about Elsie and picture of her.  The woman in my painting is actually Dot, the mother of my neighbor and dear friend LaVonda!  Such an interesting happenstance. 

Our demos were over and we geared up for our reception and art talk.  We had a nice crowd of enthusiastic, inquisitive art lovers and our talks were well received.  We mingled and stayed past our 9 o'clock closing…I, for one, did not want the evening to end.  It was all so wonderful.  I cannot thank everyone enough.  The whole weekend was like a dream.