Green Vase with White Roses

10 x 10 inches, oil on panel

I decided to try my hand at a flower arrangement, a subject I've never painted before. Maybe I'll do a longer painting like this one sometime, there isn't time in one day to capture all that detail. But it was fun to experiment with an impressionistic style.

Process shots:

Teapot and White Flowers SOLD

8 x 10 inches, oil on cradled panel

My mom gave me this teapot as a birthday present this year because I said I want to start a collection of teapots. I love the color of this one. Anyone know what these flowers are? They look kind of like roses, but they have no thorns.

Here are the process shots:

Peach on Green SOLD

8 x 10, oil on cradled panel

This painting was a real breakthrough for me. I finally started to feel like my recent investment in intensive drawing study is showing up in the painting.

I had fun with the colors in this one, the pale lavender "fuzz" around the edge of the peach was so satisfying to paint. And the red/orange fruit on the pale green cloth just pops.

"Cradled panel" mean the wood panel has a lip around the edge on the back, so the panel is easy to hang and has a nice hefty depth (about an inch). I need to buy a bunch more this size and larger, it was a much better size to paint on than the tiny panels I've been using.

Friday Cast Drawing - Sessions VI & VII

Vine charcoal on Canson paper, approx 18 x 24 inches

This is the result of the 6th and 7th sessions, see the 5th session.

I think I have just one more 4-hour session on this drawing to complete it - I plan to develop the fabric of her dress and her hair a bit more.

Daily Painting - Brown Bag Fruit SOLD

I don't know if it's the new art studio, my new flat brushes, different lighting, or a new book on oil painting I skimmed last night, but today was the first day in a long time when painting for me felt has purely enjoyable.

I just plopped these plums on top of the paper bag they came in, and suddenly realized I loved how they looked all nestled in there. The brown bag itself was a great opportunity to try for planes and structure. It looked a little plain, though, so I added the red strawberry for balance and color interest. Then the painting itself just happened. I wish every painting day was this easy.

My New Art Studio

My new studio, affectionately dubbed "le shed", is officially done! This morning I woke up like a kid on Christmas, so excited to paint in my new space. It's small, but everything fits, and it was totally comfortable to paint in.

Daily Painting - Bud in a Bottle

6 x 6 inches, oil on panel

Drawing with Dad - Final

This is the 4th and final session drawing my Victoire de Samothrace statue with Dad (see the third session). The detail in her draperies could take weeks longer to finish, but we decided to move on to something new.

­Friday Cast Drawing - Session V

Vine charcoal on Canson paper, approx 18 x 24 inches

This is the fifth session on this drawing - you can see the 4th session here.

I worked a lot on the face - if you toggle back and forth between the two you can see the difference. I was unhappy with how "old" the drawing was looking, and I realized I had made an error which was elongating the face.

So I ended up redrawing the mouth significantly higher, as well as raising the bottom of the nose a bit. I also slimmed down the sides of her face and arched the eyebrows a bit more, and so now she is starting to look as youthful as the sculpture.

How much longer - so far this is a 20-hour drawing. I think I need to spend at least 3 more sessions, or 12 more hours.

Painting News
I have officially forgotten how to pant. At least, I've forgotten how to paint alla prima - single-session wet-on-wet paintings. I just keep making mud. I even switched to watercolor, hoping a change in medium would shake things up a bit, but no luck; nothing worth showing here is coming out of my brush these days. Maybe it's all these 20-hour drawings? My brain is just so slowed down and paying attention to details that I can't seem to capture anything quickly. I keep trying though. All these drawings I've been doing are just exercises to become a better painter, so hopefully the painting skills kick in again soon.

Art Shed News
The final day of construction on Le Shed was TODAY. In fact, the last worker stayed late and just left at 9pm tonight. I have the painter coming tomorrow (I negotiated and got a major break on the price I was complaining about last week). So the art studio should be done NEXT WEEK. Only several weeks behind schedule...

­Drawing with Dad - Session III

This is the third session, see the second session here.

Announcement #1
So as I've mentioned, my Dad has been going to art school at Academy of Art University after retiring from a very successful career as a software engineer. But he has been really excited about the classical method I have been teaching him recently, and last week he decided to take a year off of art school and join me in classes and workshops at Bay Area Classical Artist Atelier. I am thrilled!

Announcement #2
The BACAA website has been redesigned.... by me! The goal was to make it easier to see the classes and workshops offered, and make it easier to sign up for them, but also create a beautiful "Renaissance" feel - check out the new look at www.bacaa.org

Caroline's Profile - Session IV

Pencil on paper, 11 x 14 inches

This is the finished drawing of Caroline. To see the previous session click here.

I built up layers and layers of cross-hatching to build up the tones - if you click the image you can see a larger version that shows more details (the photo is slightly blurry, but you get the idea). I have never cross-hatched so much in my life!

I am happy with the drawing, it is a real advancement for me, probably the best drawing I have ever done.

Art Envy
Sometimes I find an artist who makes me green with envy. Nathan Fowkes is one of those artists. He combines rock-solid drawing skills with highly expressive marks, both in his drawings and his painting sketches. I found his blog four days ago and I have gone back every day since to drool over the work. He has another blog just for his landscape sketches, which he says he does in 20-40 minutes. Daunting.... and yet inspiring.

Art Shed News
My little art shed is allllmost done. Of course the final details are taking forever to wrap up. As a final step I got a quote to paint it. Maybe it's San Francisco, but I never imagined it could cost so much just to slap one color (white) on the inside of a 100 square foot room, and another color (to match the house) on the exterior. Holy cow. Now I have to decide if I want to do it myself, or go looking for other bids. My housepainting experience is nil, but maybe it's not very hard?

Daily Painting - Apricot

6 x 6 inches, oil on panel

The Daily Painters have a goal - 2000 painting in 30 days! I'm taking the opportunity to get back into my daily painting routine with 4 -5 new paintings a week from June 15 - July 15.

Read the press release here: 2000 Paintings in 30 Days.

Also, check out DailyPainters.com.

Caroline's Profile - Session III

Pencil on paper, 11 x 14

I didn't get much done this third session (see Session II), partly because during the pose our class took some time away from drawing to participate in an online chat with Dan Thompson through American Artist Magazine.

My favorite Dan Thompson quote from the chat is "I have to go through a period of awkwardness before a period of revelation". You can see the full transcript of the chat here. And you can see Dan's website here.

The classical realism school I attend, BACAA, is hosting a workshop with Dan Thompson July 30 - August 10. You can register for the class at the BACAA website.

Friday Cast drawing - Session IV

Vine charcoal on Canson paper, approx 18 x 24 inches

This is my 4th session developing my cast drawing. See the third session. I'm finally starting in on the shading. I heard recently that some teachers of the classical method require their students to spend an entire year practicing the block-in, no shading at all!

I'm in the newspaper!

San Francisco Examiner, Peninsula Edition, Page 4, June 9th, 2007

That's me working on my cast drawing! A "community beat" photographer dropped by our class and asked to take some pictures for the paper. Too bad he spelled my name wrong! Also, he mentioned the school where I take classes, BACAA, but not the web address, so here it is: www.bacaa.org

Drawing with Dad - Session II

This is the second session, see the first session.

Today is my birthday! What better way to spend the day - Dad took me out for sushi, and then we came back to the house to work on our drawings. We worked on developing the block-in for quite a while, then moved into the shading, which is more exciting. But it does reveal mistakes.

As I tell Dad, we have to be disciplined and go back and check the proportions over and over. It's easy to correct them now, but much harder the further we develop the drawing. For example, I found that I'd incorrectly placed the the ankle of the forward leg, and therefore the dramatic twist of the statue's torso was being "unwound". I moved the whole leg to the right by almost half an inch, and the twisting gesture of the pose came back to life.

I'm learning to always be ready to do major surgery to make a drawing as strong as possible. Why be happy with a "sort of right" drawing? Drawing is an investigation, we may as well do what it takes to record the form accurately.

Dad and I are very similar - we focus very intensely and we forget to take breaks. After hours of drawing we look up with a start and realize how late the day has become. We've decided next time we'll set a timer to remind ourselves to take breaks - this particular model does not need any rest, but we do.

Caroline's Profile - Session II

Pencil on paper, 11 x 14

This the second session, see the first session.

I have three more sessions to go on this pose, 12 more hours of drawing. I'm looking forward to doing a completely finished drawing, it's so fun to finally get to the details. My whole art education I've been told to "loosen up". I'm so sick of it - I spent 18 years "loosening up" and now it's immensely gratifying to finally start to learn to draw the way I have always wanted to draw.

Friday Cast drawing - Session III

Vine charcoal on Canson paper, approx 18 x 24 inches

The third session I spent refining the block-in and starting with the shading. (See the second session.)

It's amazing how subtle portraiture is. The original sculpture looks like a 17-yr old girl, and somehow my drawing looks like she's about age 22. I have no idea what it takes to shave just 5 years off a face. I'm hoping I can resolve it in the later stages of the drawing, I've done everything I know how to do at this point!

Drawing with Dad - Session I

charcoal on paper, 18 x 24 inches

charcoal on paper, 18 x 24 inches

My dad & I drew together today, guess who's drawing is who's?

In his retirement, my dad has begun studying for his Bachelors of Fine Arts at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. He has just completed his first year as an undergrad. I've been telling him about the classical methods I've been learning and he asked if he could come over and draw with me to learn the method.

This statue we drew from is one of my most prized possessions, it's a 4 foot replica of the 9 foot original, the Victoire de Samothrace a.k.a. Winged Victory. The original stands at the top of a dramatic staircase in the Louvre, and I drew it on my very first trip to Paris in 1988.

I taught dad to draw a straight-lined, simplified "envelope" around the entire shape, and then refine the drawing with more and more sub-shapes, all using straight lines. After a while we put in some rough basic tones to help us see the form, but we will still spend more time on the block-in and refine the contour more before we begin detailed shading.

Dad says he's really happy with what he drew today, and I think he now shares my enthusiasm for the method. At first he kept saying "But don't you measure? How do we get the proportions? Is it all just angles?". But this method is so intuitive, the form just seem to emerge from the page as if by itself. Just keep checking the angles.

It's very exciting, and was very fun to teach what I have so recently been learning. We hope to continue the same drawing for the next few Thursdays.

My dad posing with our two drawings

Baby Leah

Pencil on paper, approx 8" x 6"

My sister's first baby, a girl named Leah, was born just last Friday. This is the first of what I am sure will be many studies of this newest member of our family.

Caroline's Profile - Session I

Pencil on Paper, 11 x 14

This is the same model and pose I drew last week in charcoal. I started this version in pencil, I'd like to work on it a few more sessions and do a completed drawing. The model has soft delicate folds of skin I would like to spend some time on, and the pencil will allow me more detail and softness than the charcoal.

Peach Rose on Gray SOLD

6 x 6 inches, oil on panel

Friday Cast Drawing - Session II

Vine charcoal on Canson paper, approx 18 x 24 inches

I spent this session refining the block-in (see Session I here). It has been an interesting challenge, to be sure her face is reasonably symmetrical even at such an angle. I find myself tilting my own head at a similar angle while I draw.

Yellow Daisy - SOLD

8 inches x 8 inches, oil on panel

I managed to save the daisy. It looks like a progression from the first session, but it was pretty much painted from scratch today since I wiped the whole thing down a few days ago. It looks so innocent, but I really stressed over this one.

Caroline's Profile -- Preliminary Drawing

Charcoal on paper, approx 18 x 24

Last Wednesday I started a portrait of this model (see the block-in session here), but when I arrived for the second session today I was not excited about the light and decided to change position.

It was fun to try a profile with the classical block-in method I have been practicing, and I found the drawing went very quickly and I jumped into the shading within the 4-hour session. This is supposed to be a 6-session pose, so going this far this fast wasn't really the plan, but I had fun.

Looking at it now, I may have gotten the forehead too short and therefore the top of her head too low. But I had fun capturing the drama of the light from the dark side of the model.

Painting News
Drawing to me is a joy, but painting makes me tear my hair out. I wiped away the yellow daisy painting completely a couple days ago out of frustration (apologies to my two young cousins, Kailey & Julia, I know you liked that one!). But I'll try again to save it.

Workshop News
I am thrilled to be attending two amazing workshops this summer and an intensive Master Residency Program this fall: Figure Painting with Dan Thompson, Still Life Painting with Juliette Aristides and Figure Drawing with Ted Seth Jacobs. I feel very fortunate to be training with such amazing artists.

Art Studio News
My little art shed is slowly taking shape! Here's a picture. you can see the three holes for the skylights.

Portrait of a Young Man

11 x 14, graphite pencil on paper

This drawing was completed in a single 4-hour session on Saturday, the "shortest" pose I have drawn in the last couple months. Where I was sitting made me look up at the model, and the block-in process really helped capture the likeness at an angle. At an earlier stage the block-in was just as abstract as the cast drawing from earlier this week.

Friday Cast Drawing, Session I

preliminary sketch on newsprint, 6 x 8 inches

block-in phase, 18 x 24 inches

I've been reading a lot about cast drawing recently, which are formal studies of plaster casts of sculptures, so I decided to try one. I'll be working from this cast for several Friday sessions.

The first drawing is a small 6-inch sketch done on newsprint in about an hour, done just to quickly analyze the form and begin to understand the proportions. I included my hand in the shot so you can see how small the drawing is.

The second is the block-in stage of the large drawing, about 18 x 24 inches. I used what I learned from the first sketch to start mapping out the main planes and proportions. I was impressed by how easy it was to draw it large, after learning from the small sketch.

Art Shed News: The floor has been laid and one wall is up! I can stand on the floor and imagine my little space more clearly than ever. The huge white north sky is overhead, shaded from the south by the main house. It will be a tiny studio, but it will have perfect light. Hopefully I'll be moving in on or before my 36th birthday, June 7th.

Yellow Daisy (unfinished)

Phase III

Phase II

Phase I

This little daisy in a glass cube vase was supposed to be a quick "daily" but I was having fun with the monochromatic underpainting and decided to slow down & enjoy the process. I've worked on this two afternoons now, just a couple hours a session. Hoping to finish it in one or two more sessions.

I'm really enjoying this one, it feels great to get back to painting after drawing so much recently. It's amazing how much of painting is actually drawing.

Portrait Session 1

I've begun my first of seven sessions on this new portrait. This is the rough (very rough) block-in. It's not much to look at now, but so far I am really happy with it. I can tell I am getting faster and more accurate, and it's getting a little easier to see what is wrong and how to fix it.

I've finished Juliette Aristides' drawing book and am now reading Anthony Ryder's figure drawing book and am really enjoying it. Like Juliette, he really emphasizes spending a lot of time and attention on the early block-in stage to get the gesture and proportions right.

Wednesday Portrait Session 6

"Bridgette", charcoal on paper, 18" x 18"

My six session drawing of Bridgette is done. I'm pretty happy with it, but mostly I am looking forward to starting the next portrait next week. I felt like I learned so much through each stage of this drawing, and I am hoping the next one will be more consistent in its development.

For any Bay Area artists who are interested, I did this drawing at the Bay Area Classical Artist Atelier in Belmont. BACAA runs ongoing open studio sessions with a model several days a week, including Saturdays. Its one of the few Bay Area life drawing classes to offer extended multi-week poses. They also host workshops with a highly notable roster of teachers from all over the country, such as Juliette Aristides, Ted Seth Jacobs, Dan Thompson, and Michael Grimaldi. Learn more at the BACAA web site.

Daily Painting: Pear & White Rose SOLD

6 inches by 6 inches, oil on panel SOLD

Today was a rare day in San Francisco: sunny, 85-degrees, no fog, clear blue sky, warm breeze. I just couldn't help but set up my easel in the back yard & paint this little sunny still life sketch. Afterwards I rode my bike through Golden Gate park and down to the beach. Just one of those days everyone you see seems happy to be alive. Happy May, everyone.

Wednesday Portrait Session 5

I am reading Juliette Aristides' book "Classical Drawing Atelier" right now, and two ideas jumped out at me that I kept in my mind while drawing this week:

Juliette points out that if you see a very blurry black & white photo of a family member, you will easily recognise the person. She makes the point that it's the big shapes that make a true likeness, not the "infinite minutiae" as she puts it.

The other idea was a quote she attributes to John Berger: "Strangely, you can tell whether a likeness is in a drawing or not when you've never set eyes on the model." I think it's true somehow: an inaccurate portrait may look human, but it is not convincing.

With these two ideas high in my mind, I was determined this week to do what it took to get a likeness of the model. Again, I wiped down a lot of a charcoal and re-analyzed all the features and their relationships.

I raised the chin and made the lips a bit fuller. I repositioned the ear significantly, which had a huge effect on the shape of the cheek on the light side. I think it is a better likeness.

One more 4-hour session to finish it up!

Wednesday Portrait Session 4