November Figure Workshop

There will be a long pose figure workshop on November 8 in the studio with a demonstration on the anatomy of the head and portrait. Send me a message if you would like more information.

The Still LIfe

I recently taught a class on the still life at the Woodlawn Museum of Art in Ellsworth, Maine.

This prompted me to look back at some of my still life paintings. It was really fun to do both and re visit this wonderful exercise in composition, color mixing, tonal relationships, surface approach and manipulating paint. Here is one in a series I did incorporating cards I've collected from my travels to museums. This is called, "Vermeer Still LIfe".

The Model on Islesford

I recently taught a drawing class on Islesford with a model who was absolutely terrific! The students were instructed on how to put a figure in the context of the environment. It allows them to work on proportion, perspective and most of all composition. It helps them eliminate detail in the landscape because they are focusing on the figure.
I was inspired to create this painting from the day.

Some new work...

I have been painting plein air the last few weeks. Here are a few of the new works....some in gouache, some in oil.

I will be teaching a workshop on the figure in the landscape on Islesford, July 12.

Sketching at the Pitti Palace

While in Florence, I visited the Pitti Palace and checked in on one of my favorite paintings by Caravaggio, "Sleeping Cupid". I found a space with one of my students to tuck in and sketch. The mischievous cupid is asleep with his bowstring broken and arrows by his side.

Venice and Florence Sketches

I just returned from teaching in Venice and Florence. The trip was packed with spectacular visits to view art with side trips to islands like Burano and bike rides in Lucca. I also managed to fit in some sketching in watercolor and graphite. I plan on posting a more complete description of the trip and the great art housed in Venice and Florence so check in later.

Plein Air Past

I've been organizing my images and have come across one of my first plein air paintings in Maine, a view of Bass Harbor. I still go to the same place to paint every summer. It never tires for me.

I recently spent a week in New York where I gave two lectures regarding the history of the scenes depicted in the Maine Labor Mural at Long Island University in Brooklyn. One was to an arts and culture class and the other to an art history class. The students were very engaged and asked some probing and intelligent questions. They were kind of amazed as to what is happening to us here in Maine.

I also took my nephew who is almost 8 to a friends studio in Long Island City where he sat for a small portrait study. It is not necessarily true that a child has a hard time holding still. I have found that they are completely intrigued by the process and delighted to see the outcome.

It is such a wonderful way to introduce them to painting. I love it.

Figurative Workshop/February 12, 2012

There will be a workshop on the figure at the studio on Sunday, February 12, 2012 from Noon to 4:30. The model will take four different poses based on themes and students will complete four drawings during the day with emphasis on constructing the figure contextually within a space.