A Day at the Beach, Gheno class

Technique:

I used an underpainting "old master" technique, performing the preliminary painting in a greyish blue tone. The darks were applied first, followed by a near finished tonal work after the application of white. After waiting a week for the work to dry completely, I appled thin glazes with a fast drying galkyd medium. The glazes were a mix of cadmium red and yellow ochre, giving a nice flesh tone. I then added highlights in naples yellow building up to a few areas of impasto. The darks were left lightly applied, with some additional glazes of burnt sienna. The background was laid in ala prima style, fast with cerulean blues for the azure sky and mixing in some flesh tones into the clouds to unite the background with the figure. Finally, shadow was applied to anchor the figure, and a towel was thrown in as well.

Lesson:

Do not lose the darks when applying the glazes of color, the shadows strengthen the composition.

Porcu Anatomy

These are the sketches that Frank Porcu drew during the anatomy class lesson, to show us the construction of the pelvis, and how to develop the legs both frontal and posterior views. The key is to begin with locating the anterior superior iliac spines, the so called headlights, and everything follows from there./artist

My Eye

John Wellington Fabric Study

Wellington Nude Study

This is a six week pose, for a new class I am taking, with the teacher John Wellington. You can see his work at www.johnwellington.com . It is a class designed to instruct in old master techniques. I am learning to do the underpainting, or grisage, and then slowly build up the painting with thin layers. My background or impramatura is red, the underpainting is a brown ochre, which is probably what Velasquez, Rembrandt and Ingres used. I focused on the anatomy and proportions in the first few sessions, with constant efforts at correction. Now I am laying in the color. On the most recent class, compare the model's outstretched arm, painted by the teacher as a demo, to my brush strokes. He strenghthems the shadow forms and uses very subtle strokes to blend the darks into the lights, fighting for the half-tones. In contrast, my technique seems impressionistic or expressionistic, with choppy strokes and a myriad of colors. It is a bit complicated and thus the form gets muddied. I feel I have lost my strong contrasts and need to reestablish them next session. I also need to simplify the flesh tones and not keep it so busy, with reds and oranges. Only one more class, so my work is set out.

Tepley ASL 2007

Wineries 2007

Pool Party Summer 2007