Tuesday, October 12, 2010

NORA KASTEN Artist Oil Painting "Orange Blossoms" / THE JOURNEY, Day 23


"Orange Blossoms"
© Nora Kasten
Oil painting on textured linen  (14" x 14")  From the archives  SOLD

"Day 23 of The Journey and it is so good to be painting again.
I don't think I've told you yet that Bennington, Vermont is on the edge of the Green Mountain National Forest.  It is just beautiful here with a breathtaking monument in town and of course the foliage is putting on a fabulous show.

Below are photos of my painting progress today.  Not many notes today but I'm posting those too.

Nora's Changes Beginning Of Day II

Nora's Painting End Of Day II

Judy

Richard

Sherrie's Painting End Of Day II

One Line Notes - Sherrie McGraw, Day II
October 12, 2010

First thing today Sherrie works on background so it will be wet and use that paint to work back into the flowers.
She's not changing the painting but fine tuning it
Easiest thing to do is rush into it and you're just adding useless information
Adding the illusion of air and other subtleties adds to the viewer's pleasure
Light is the flow of the painting.  Shadows are a visual stop
Wouldn't generally paint objects going off canvas.  Her preference is to have space around the total painting
She feels that it puts the painting "in your face"
Always paint less to appear that there is more
Someone in the class says "This is like watching a ballet" as Sherrie paints.  I agree!
Have a clear visual sense of what you're trying to do.
Keep that vision as you work your painting
Her painting is primarily a color idea (alizarin and the green) along with the brass.
Grapes and plums are the darkest parts
When we're at the Clark Museum we'll study the artists intent in their paintings.
Sargent had very good ideas and we can see his thought process in his paintings
The more you look at paintings, study paintings, the more you can understand the artists and their intents. 
The intent is the idea
Who we are in a given moment equals that which we paint
Fechin was a true artist.  We see his love of painting, drawing, brushstrokes and then later his paintings show they were commissions and many from photos . . .  not so good
Some of the students began working on their still life paintings while Sherrie was painting
Not me . . . . this is too good!!
If the intent is to learn, it will come through in the painting
All good artists want to learn continually.  Use honest observation
The difficulty of working from life is that things change.  But you're open to the changes that occur-not so with photos.
You can go back in, carve into things from the background
It's interesting to see what you can do with a brush
Isn't using finger to smear the paint
Keep the plains flat using values
Understanding values is important

3 comments:

Susan Roux said...

Great posts! I'm enjoying watching your painting evolve. The still life you created is wonderful. Did you bring all those things with you? The notes you take and share are so useful. You're on a lovely journey...

norapaints@blogspot.com said...

Nora I am too loving every minute of this journey with you. Thank you for sharing Sherrie's workshop with all of us. I can see how very much you are enjoying this one.

Rosemary said...

Couldn't wait to see what you did yesterday! Love the way your painting is coming along and that you shared more of Sherrie's useful comments. I'm with you - wouldn't want to miss a stroke as she's demoing!