Women Painting Women On Expedition

Twelve of the brightest rising female painters from across the country will be convening  November 4-12 2010 for a week of painting the figure, the city and the beautiful marshes and beaches surrounding Charleston, South Carolina.

We have arrived in Charleston!  Amazingly I woke up at 7am here this morning just in time to see the dawn, despite still being on West Coast time after a day of flying yesterday. I arrived into a small cyclone of artists, it feels like a reunion even though many of us had never met in person before last night.

9am the first day and we are already all set up and painting and drawing a live model Alia hired for us:

The living room of the Sullivan's Island house

This morning we are already set up to paint and draw with a live model in the living room of our beach house.

The following are the On Expedition 2010 participating artists (click the name for links):

Alexandra Tyng – Narberth, PA

Alia El-Bermani – Cary, NC

Catherine Prescott – Harrisburg, PA

Cindy Procious – Chattanooga, TN

Diane Feissel – Philadelphia, PA

Katherine Stone – Toronto, ON, Canada

Linda Tracey Brandon – Phoenix, AZ

Mia Bergeron – Chattanooga, TN

Rachel Constantine – Philadelphia, PA

Sadie Valeri – San Francisco, CA

Terry Strickland – Pelham, Alabama

Stefani Tewes –Laguna Beach, CA

This inaugural painting retreat and exhibition represents the first effort by Women Painting Women to encourage women artists, advance art education, and showcase some of the best painting happening today. Women Painting Women founder Sadie Valeri states the following:

“The quality, professionalism, and high level of training and vision being expressed by women artists have the potential to alter all of our ideas about who is making art and what they are saying. The paintings we have displayed on the Women Painting Women website express the wide-ranging and constantly shifting issues of identity and self-expression women face as they navigate their lives – including choices about how, whether and when to raise families. We have noticed that many women feel they are struggling with these issues alone, but seeing all the artwork together is developing a sense of community among us.”

Follow Women Painting Women on Facebook

Tuesday Model Session: Study of Bilge, Session 4

Figure Study: Bilge Standing
Red/brown pencil and white chalk on buff toned paper

18 x 24 inches

Our lovely model Bilge gave us a standing pose to study for 4 sessions, and we greatly appreciate her for it! 

An update on the current painting and drawing classes I am offering - classes are filling very quickly so please email me ASAP if you want to be on the list for a future class:

10-Day Drawing and Painting Workshop
Jan 17-28, 2011
ONE spot left

Figure Drawing
6 Sundays beginning January 16, 2011
ONE spot left

Oil Painting I (Beginners)
6 Sundays beginning March 27, 2011

Oil Painting II  (Advanced)
6 Saturdays beginning March 26, 2011

Only 3 spots left

For more information about these classes and to register, please visit my Classes page

Also, I have updated my gallery page on my website so it is easier to see currently available paintings

Drawing Lecture Video

This is a recent clip of me teaching a drawing class in my studio.

I have just posted new drawing and painting classes to be held at my San Francisco Mission District Studio:

Figure Drawing
Oil Painting I
Oil Painting II

Click here for information about my upcoming classes

Arcadia Small Works Show

Last week I flew to NYC to attend the Arcadia Small Works show. It was a whirlwind 2 days, wedged between my teaching and studio commitments here in SF, and even though New York managed to be sweltering and steamy even in late September this year, I'm so glad I went!

I can't find a list of all the artists represented on the show, but here are several of them: Daniel Sprick, Brad Kunkle, Jeremy Lipking, Nancy Depew, Malcom Liepke, Daniel Adel, Michael Kline, Julio Reyes, Natalie Featherston, Robert Liberace, Joseph Todorovich, Kerry Brooks, Cesar Santader, and many more I'm missing I am sure....

I am lucky enough that one of my best and oldest friends, Kyra, has a fabulous studio flat in Brooklyn and she graciously lets me crash on her pull-out whenever I need a NYC fix, which is a couple times a year. I am also lucky that many old friends have ended up in Brooklyn, so I had a wonderful group of friendly faces to meet me at the door of the show.

My fabulous co-founders of Women Painting Women, Diane and Alia

12 of us have rented a house and are painting for a week in Charleston, SC,

and 4 of the 12 of us  were at the show:

Alia El-Bermani, Alexandra Tyng, me, and Diane Feissel

I feel so amazed and blessed that my impulse last year to create the WPW blog has connected me to such an amazing network of women artists. I look forward to meeting even more of them in person next month in Charleston, SC at Robert Lange's Women Painting Women show!

And thank you Garth Herrick for taking so many great photos and documenting the evening.

Hispanic Society Sarollas, NYC

Last week I flew to New York for a very fast trip to attend the opening of the Small Works show at Arcadia Gallery. My dear friends Diane Feissel and Alia El-Bermani made a daytrip of it by trekking all the way from Philadelphia and Raleigh, NC, respectively, to enjoy the day with me in Manhattan. We decided to take a quick subway trip up to the Hispanic Society to see the Sarolla murals, and what a treat!

The museum is a gem, built expressly to showcase the collection, and best of all it's completely free! Walking into the enormous room of Sarolla murals was jaw-dropping: A panorama of luscious brush strokes expertly capturing the blazing sunlight and dappled shade of the Spanish countryside and traditional festivals. Sarolla was commissioned by the Society to create these murals expressly for this location.

Diane and Alia have both written wonderful blog posts about our day together, they both have more photos of the paintings, check them out here:
Diane's Blog
Alia's Blog

"Black Jug" Sessions 7-11

"Black Jug"

oil on panel

8 x 10 inches

Click here to see the previous post

This is the final stage of the painting I have been documenting step-by step.

Saturday October 9: 3-6pm

Sunday October 10: 4-6pm

Location:
3265 17th St, cross street Mission
San Francisco

Map to my studio address is here

"Message in a Bottle" Sessions 8-12

"Message in a Bottle"

oil on panel

8 x 10 inches

See the previous post here

A tiny bottle wrapped in cream-colored tissue, a larger bottle carrying a message but with no cork to protect it, and finally a fragile shell, so thin a breeze could lift it... water, air, travel, mystery, and adventure are all woven into this simple design of three objects lined up on a shelf.

They seem to tell a story together, of secrets and memories, but we are not sure what it is. These objects seemed to arrange themselves on my shelf, and demand their story be told.

But what I did not realize when I set out to paint this, was what a challenge the glass bottle would turn out to be! What our mind tells us is a solid glass vessel with weight and symmetry, is actually only an arrangement of reflections superimposed on the background. One small mis-step of the brush or the eye, and the reflection wavers and the integrity of the bottle is lost.

Making this ephemeral illusion stand straight and symmetrical was a challenge, it only wanted to lean and warp! But I finally managed to nudge it into a position of solid grandeur, bravely holding its fragment of a note.

Tuesday Model Session: Study of Bilge, Session 1

This is the first 3-hour session of my drawing of Bilge. The lower drawing is my initial block-in stage, and the top drawing is the more refined stage of the same drawing. This will be a 4-session drawing. The original is about 18x24 inches.

Tuesday Model Session: Study of Terry

This is the final drawing and also the earlier block-in stage of my 4-session drawing of Terry. The drawing is done in General's charcoal pencil and General's "white charcoal" on toned paper. The original is about 16 x 20 inches.

Women Painting Women SHOW at Robert Lang

Women Painting Women
Robert Lange Studios
http://www.robertlangestudios.com/
November 2010
2 Queen Street
Charleston, SC 29401
Opening Nov 5, 5:30-8:30 pm

Last year I started a blog called WomenPaintingWomen.com where I highlight the work of  living, realist women painters who use the female subject in their paintings.

Amazingly the blog became much more than I had ever imagined, and I soon invited my artist friends Diane Feissel and Alia El-Bermani to help me manage the flood of incredible artists who were being nominated for the site.

We now have almost 300 artists represented, we have started a FaceBook page for fans of WPW, and we are planning ways to expand the concept to find new ways to support and highlight the work of contemporary women artists.

Earlier this year I was contacted by the Robert Lange Gallery in Charleston, SC, who decided to organize a juried exhibition inspired by the theme of my blog. As you can imagine I was thrilled, and even more so when my piece "Mary with Silver Dish" was accepted into the show.

The exhibition will showcase the work of almost 50 women artists. I will be at the November 5th opening at Robert Lange, I hope you can join us, 5:30-8:30pm.

The list of all participants is on the gallery's blog.

There is also a writeup on the show in the Charleston City Paper

In addition, Alia, Diane and I have organized with several artist friends to rent a beach house together on Sullivan's Island, just off of Charleston, to coincide with the show. A dozen of us will be painting together in the beautiful landscape for the week of November 5-12. I'll be blogging the trip near-daily I am sure, so you can follow along with our adventures. These are the 12 women who will be painting at Sullivan's Island:

Alexandra Tyng - Narberth, PA

Catherine Prescott - Harrisburg, PA

Cindy Procious - Chattanooga, TN

Diane Feissel - Philadelphia, PA

Linda Tracey Brandon - Phoenix, AZ

Lisa Gloria - Aurora, IL

Mia Bergeron - Chattanooga, TN

Rachel Constantine - Philadelphia, PA

Sadie Valeri - San Francisco, CA

Stefani Tewes - Laguna Beach, CA

Katherine Stone - Toronto, Ontario

Alia El-Bermani - Cary, NC

It's an incredible group of artists and I am sure we will all be inspired by one another!

I am amazed and touched by how my initial idea has sparked a growing movement, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Women Painting Women will continue to evolve.

Finally, in a serendipitous twist, M Gallery where I show my work in Florida has recently moved to Charleston, and my ARC award-winning painting "Bottle Collection" will be on display, including others soon. I'm excited I'll be able to visit M Gallery's new location in person when I visit Charleston in November!

M Gallery
http://www.mgalleryoffineart.com/
11 Broad Street
Charleston, SC

Women Painting Women

Robert Lange Studios

http://www.robertlangestudios.com/

November 2010

2 Queen Street

Charleston, SC 29401

Opening Nov 5, 5:30-8:30 pm

"Message in a Bottle" Session 7

8 x 10 inches

oil on panel

work in progress

see the previous post here

You'll have to compare this very closely to the previous version to see the changes, but this step represents several more hours of work.

From here on out, the steps between stages will be incremental, hardly even noticeable in the photos posted here. But I'll try to post close-ups and describe what I am doing as much as possible.

"Message in a Bottle" Session 6: Beginning Color

8 x 10 inches

oil on panel

work in progress

See the previous post here

Even though I have begun color at this stage, I am still thinking of it as under-painting. In fact, the more I develop as a painter, the more I find that most of my time spent on a painting is "underpainting" - preparing the bed of values and hues the final painting will lay over.

So here I am mixing my values with colored pigment instead of just grey. I'm also just starting to warm up the colors of the shell, message paper and tissue.

Finally, I am adding a new level of refinement and detail as I make my first pass of color.

"Black Jug" Session 6: Beginning Color

8 x 10 inches

oil on panel

work in progress

see previous post

You might not be able to see much "color" in this stage of the painting versus the previous monochromatic underpainting stage. But now I am mixing my neutrals values with a palette of color, instead of just grays.

The main difference between painting with monochromatic values and painting is color is in the transitions between light and shadow. In monochrome, you can just mix a bit of the 'light" puddle with a bit of the "shadow" puddle to make the halftone between.

When painting in color, the "halftones" is where all the most saturated color is. So each step between the light and shadow must be analyzed and mixed to match a hue/color, in addition to the value. This is very subtle when painting a monochromatic subject in color, because all the hues are relatively desaturated. But it's what makes even a monochromatic subject look like it is "in color".

Also, even in sharp edges, like where the edges of the white seashell touch the black background of the pot, the paint will look chalky and clunky. The tiny seam where the white meets the black must be knit together with a deeply saturated, dark orange or red. Otherwise the white seashell will look like a cookie-cutter shape pasted over the background, instead of a believable object sharing the same reality as the jug.

To do this, I use a small brush to push rich, saturated mixtures into the edges of the shell, and then back-fill the seashell with white, leaving a tiny thread of color between the light edge and the black background.

Since this technique is subtle and microscopic, it's impossible to see the effect in this photo. But careful attention to the reality of the edges will make the painting look believable in person.

"Message in a Bottle" Session 5: Monochromatic Underpainting

8 x 10 inches

oil on panel

work in progress

see the previous post here

"Black Jug" Session 5: Monochromatic Underpainting

8 x 10 inches

oil on panel

work in progress

see previous post

"Message in a Bottle" Session 4: Umber Underpainting

8 x 10 inches

oil on panel

work in progress

see previous post

"Black Jug" Session 4: Umber Underpainting

8 x 10 inches

oil on panel

work in progress

see previous post here

"Message in a Bottle" Session 2 & 3: Drawing & Transfer

8x10 inches

graphite on gessoed panel

work in progress

see previous post here

After I transfer the drawing to the panel I spend more time-drawing every line from life and refining it to the highest degree possible. The more details I work out here, the less problems I will have to solve in paint. The traced image always deadens, so I never just go from traced transfer directly to paint.

"Black Jug" Session 2 & 3: Drawing & Transfer to Panel

8 x 10 inches

graphite on gessoed panel

work in progress

see previous post here

I completed my drawing on trace paper/mylar. I ended up drawing the spiney seashell on another piece of trace overlaying the drawing of the pot. Then I scribbled with a soft 4B pencil on the back of the paper, and transferred the drawing to panel by tracing over it with a hard pencil. I spent a lot of time lining up everything so the horizon line of the shelf is straight and the vertical access of the jug is truly plumb. Any error in this image is due to photo warping.

"Black Jug" Session 1: Drawing

Study for "Black Jug" - work in progress

8 x 10 inches, graphite on mylar

The drawing for this painting is not complete, there is a second object in this composition I have not even begun to draw. But I wanted to post this because it's a good example of how I construct a symmetrical object. You can see I have drawn a center line, and how I have measured each significant point on the contour so I can plot each side symmetrically.

As I am working I often stand back to judge the progress of the drawing by asking myself 2 questions to check my proportions:

• Is my drawing wider or taller than my subject?
• Does my drawing have the same feeling and character as my subject?

I try to be as scrupulously honest as possible with my answers. I try to remain willing to change anything and everything to capture my subject more accurately. I never let "good enough" be a satisfactory answer. This is how I try to approach all my drawing and painting.

I found this gorgeous black jug in an antique/collectibles shop recently, and of course it reminded me instantly of a very famous painter of still lifes. So I will make no attempt to hide the fact that this piece is an homage to an artists who has inspired me a lot. Even though our approach and methods for painting are just about as far apart as is possible, the sense of calm, light, solidity, familiarity, and reverence he shows in his work has been a big influence on me.

I am also attempting something I rarely do, and that is to start two paintings at the same time - this one and the previous post, "Message in a Bottle". When I have tried this before, one painting gets neglected and languishes while I finish the other. I'm going to try to keep these going at the same pace and complete them at the same time. And I'll be documenting the whole process, so stay tuned.

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FIGURE DRAWING CLASS
I still have two more spots in my upcoming figure drawing class starting September 12.

Learn 19th century atelier methods for depicting accurate proportions, convincing light, and organic form through the careful study of a long pose.

6 Sundays, $480

Click here for more information and to register.

"Message in a Bottle" Session 1: Drawing

"Message in a Bottle" - work in progress

8 x 10 inches, graphite on mylar

It's always hard to start a new painting, and my FaceBook friends saw a few status updates from me this week about how hard it is to set up a still life. But I'm always relieved and excited when a still life finally comes together, even though it is rarely the vision I had when I started moving objects around on the shelf.

I still have a lot of antique scraps of paper from an era when I did a lot of collage, and a little piece of envelope, slightly yellowed, with a foreign stamp and a "por avion" printed on it seemed a perfect fit with the uniquely proportioned glass bottle. Another glass bottle wrapped in cream-colored tissue paper (not wax paper this time!) and a buttery-transparent little shell made friends, creating a harmony of creams.

In my last still life "The Wave" I really liked how the blue-white of the wax paper highlights made the shelf edge look slightly yellow in contrast. In this arrangement the cream colored papers and seashell make the shelf seem more white.

I think all my paintings are simply studies of all the different subtle hue variations within whites and grays.

Open Studio: October 9/10

I'll be participating in this year's Artspan Open Studios for the weekend of October 9/10, so please come check out the studio, see some artwork, and learn more about my classes!

I'll actually be teaching classes that weekend, so my studio will only be open to the public for these limited hours:

Saturday October 9: 3pm-6pm
Sunday October 10: 4pm-6pm

Mission and 17th Streets

For a map to the studio building, see my profile on ArtSpan here

Webcast Recap

Yesterday I did my first Webcast studio tour and demo, this is me standing in front of the camera, ready for my close-up!

The webcast went great and I really enjoyed myself. We had visitors from around the world, including as far away as Finland and Australia. The audience asked really good questions and kept me talking. I felt like I just skimmed over so many great topics, so I'm hoping to do a whole day-long workshop webcast in the future.

Watch the Webcast again!

The webcast was recorded, so you can still click here to register and watch the whole thing, including a drawing demo, a color-mixing demo, and lots of great questions and answers.

Here is my handsome camera guy, my husband Nowell, who turned a corner of my studio into a professional broadcasting suite for the day, complete with mixing board and a backup boom mic mounted on the camera, just in case my fancy rented wireless lapel mic didn't work (it worked great, though!).

A closer look at the sound and video setup. We had a brief moment of freeze-screen, but other than that we sailed through without any major technical hiccups. Phew!

My studio looked so spiffy I had to take some photos.

Above is my little still life painting corner where I spend most my time.

Webcast viewers got a look at my most recent painting which will be shipped to Arcadia Gallery in New York for the Sept 23 Small Works show.

We talked about what paints, panels, and brushes I use, and I did a little demo showing how I mix up cool and warm strings of neutral colors on my palette.

For more info you can click here to see all my blog posts about Materials

My still life shelf is at the left, my model stand is in the middle. To the right I have screens arranged as a changing room for my models.

Lady Victoire is looking happy.

The studio doors and a couple recent paintings on easels.

Thanks everyone who was able to register and attend, it was a huge success and I look forward to doing it again!

Watch the Webcast again:

The webcast was recorded, so you can still click here to register and watch the whole thing, including drawing demo, color-mixing demo, and lots of questions and answers.