NORA KASTEN Artist Oil Painting "Time & Red Roses" / THE JOURNEY, Day 24

"Time & Red Roses"

© Nora Kasten

Oil painting on linen  (30" x 24")  From the archives

"Day 24 of The Journey  and I'm still painting.

This is a beautiful place to be in the USA.  I drove over a covered bridge this morning on my way to The Art Center here in Bennington, Vermont.  There is a national art show being exhibited at the center now and it is one of the very best shows that I've ever seen .  I certainly feel fortunate to be here.

More photos and notes below of day 3 in Sherrie McGraw's workshop

Nora's painting end of day III

Sherrie McGraw's palette 

Elizabeth & Sherrie McGraw

Sherrie beginning the portrait of Elizabeth

 Sherrie McGraw painting

                           Sherrie McGraw painting                                   

Portrail final of Elizabeth

Notes From Sherrie McGraw Workshop
 Day 3  /  October 13, 2010

Sherrie is painting Elizabeth Small from here at The Bennington Center For The Arts

No local color in the skin

Elizabeth has a regal quality so places her higher on the canvas

Sherrie is using black to mass in the head

Canvas is 18" x 14"

Artists sometimes make the portrait larger because they're so interested in the features

She changes to a smaller canvas  17" x 13 1/2"

Painting on an Inner Glow panel purchased through website

We all know that canvas will deteriorate - panels are archival 

Making no distinction between background and foreground now

What you put behind the model should make the model that much more beautiful

Some alizarin in background is more interesting

Naples yellow is a great air color plus raw umber

Sherrie wants the model to talk while she's painting the mouth.  It helps her to get it right

Elizabeth talks to us about North Bennington and the college

Good idea to make a mini palette of a few oft used colors on the big palette while working

Get a lot of paint on the canvas and then you can do stuff with it

You'll work the non-color into the light forward color

Once you get more paint on the canvas you can add or take away color more easily

The toned canvas is a help in modifying the halftones

Not thinking warm/cool yet . . .  thinking form

Feels like the painting is out of control now and is trying to rein it in

Advancing warmer color - chin, under nose, nose, forehead

Turning away from light is cooler paint

Drawing will help you with the plains

Hair is usually dark with light floated on it

Sherrie works all over - not in one spot.  Painting can tell her what to do

When painting she tends to get tunnel vision

Uses few brushes as possible - doesn't like to clean brushes

Likes to listen to classical music, vocal music, opera

You can learn brush control so that you don't have to have a lot of brushes

It's freeing not to have to use a lot of brushes

If you don't measure you learn to see it by eye

Drawing, the simpler medium, is good to do portraits

Specific stuff finishes the other stuff

Something has to finish to be able to compare to

Don't use two colors of equal intensity - they will cancel each other out

If you use a palette knife to scrape off errors, you loose learning how the brush can do it

You can always move the paint to make it thinner, thicker, etc.

Good begets good

Sherrie has a mirror in her studio at home to see her painting in reverse

Creating and destroying go hand in hand

Model takes a break and Sherrie talks about edges

Generally the keystone triangle is cool except when light is coming from the north

Sherrie is working around the mouth now and encourages Elizabeth to talk about an upcoming show.

This is so good to watch Sherrie bring Elizabeth alive on canvas

Symmetry - do both sides

Soft turning edges

If I was done with my still life painting I would love to paint Elizabeth this afternoon

Lunch has arrived.

NORA KASTEN WEBSITE