A New Article

"Mallory", 16x20"

Painted in Carolyn Anderson's workshop

My article for the Oil Painters of America has just been published, titled "A Workshop With Carolyn Anderson: A Personal Discovery".  If you'd like to read the article, click on Ann Feldman OPA.

No matter where I am with my art at any given point, I always find a workshop taught by someone I admire to be invaluable.  Just being able to delve in and concentrate on my goals for several days on end always results in new discoveries and maybe even a jump forward in my growth as an artist.

"The Character Portrait", A Lesson From David Hockney

"Focus"Ann Feldman

A friend asked me the other day if I ever find a model session uninspiring or difficult to paint because the model is not what you'd call a "classic beauty".  My short answer is no.  For the longer answer, here's why.

A few years ago, I took an afternoon in Los Angeles to see David Hockney's portrait exhibit at the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art.  At first glance, these huge paintings appeared strong and somewhat characateurish, but as I spent time there, they became so much more.

"Mumby", David Hockney

I could feel the relationship between the sitter and Hockney, and I imagined what it must have been like in that room the day the model sat for him.  Faces were not made beautifully, but I felt that it was the personality he was after, much more than the likeness of the face.

I made a mental note that day that sometimes the most beautiful portraits are much more than "skin deep".  There are indeed many beautiful portraits of beautiful people out there, but a portrait of a beautiful unique character can be much more difficult to achieve, and it may say much more about the model than a simple likeness.

Ever since my time with Hockney's portraits, I approach model sittings differently.  I take a few minutes to observe the model in silence.  I consciously take a few deep breaths and I wait for something about this unique person to introduce itself to me.  I want my portraits to communicate how I felt about the model that day, beyond an accurate likeness.

 "Friendly and Open"
Ann Feldman
                                                     

"Gypsy" 16x20"

It is so good to get back to the studio and paint from life again.  I took a deep breath and tried to channel what I learned with Jeff Watts last spring.  I got out my small brushes and laid tiny color "tiles" next to each other.  Then I forced myself to put down the brushes and walk away from the painting before I softened all the personality right out of it!

For purchase information, please click on Ann Feldman Gypsy.

Painting Portraits with Kevin Bielfuss

Portrait of Christie, Oil on Gessoed Hardboard, 16x20"  Ann Feldman

On the next day in the Kevin Bielfuss workshop, I attempted a looser, more painterly portrait.  I'm not happy yet, but I'm getting happier!  This portrait was painted on a hardboard (masonite) that was coated very thickly with gesso applied with a palette knife.  I love this surface because it forces an impressionistic feel from the very beginning, since there are so many cracks and crevasses in the gesso, and the oil paint sinks into them so beautifully.

Below are a few portrait "starts" by Kevin.  Notice that he starts very loosely (he doesn't measure), and he switches from raw sienna to pink as he moves ahead.  I think it's really helpful to see how an artist starts his paintings to understand the process underneath it all.

Here are a few notes that I found in my notebook after the class:

1. If a painting isn't going well, try doing the opposite of what you see going on.  Is it too soft?  Add impact.  Is it tight?  Loosen it up.  Dull?  Try a shot of color.

2.  Paintings can be thought of as cakes-- you need the "cake" or the structure before you can add the "icing", or the flourishes at the end.

3.  He thinks of his paintings as drawings; his work is very linear.  In the end stages, he brings his lines together and softens areas that need it.

4. His goal is to suggest rather than render his subject, because he finds this technique more interesting to look at.


There was so much to learn in this workshop!  I recommend Kevin's workshops to anyone interested in learning to paint the figure more abstractly, or anyone interested in taking their figure painting to the next level!

The Last Day with Jeff Watts

Copy of Dan Gerhartz Portrait

I'm jumping ahead to the last day of the Jeff Watts workshop to spare you my growing pains and frustrations with myself.  I always tell myself that if a workshop seems easy and I produce really good work with each project, I'm probably not pushing myself enough.  Suffice to say that all my work during my week with Jeff was not beautiful.  But I did have many "Aha" moments.  Here are a few of them:

SLOW DOWN.  Loose painterly paintings just look as if they were created quickly.  In fact, it takes a lot of time and thought to interpret a painting rather than just copy what's in front of you.

THINK ABOUT WHAT'S BENEATH THE SURFACE.  In figurative and portrait work, understanding the anatomy under the skin solves many problems.

USE MORE PAINT.  Skimpy paint makes wimpy paintings (OK, that's my quote, but I learned it with Jeff).  Illumination happens with generous thick paint.

PAINT ABSTRACTIONS.  Look for abstract shapes everywhere and paint them.  The end result is a painting that is interesting to look at.

USE SMALLER BRUSHES.  Loose paintings can look as if they were created with large swaths of paint applied with large brushes.  Often, they are not.  Paint small abstractions and meld them together in the last phase of painting.  This will give you a controlled approach which will be more successful.

I hope that you enjoyed my workshop notes with Jeff Watts.  He certainly inspired me to push myself and my painting in new directions.  I would certainly recommend his workshops to you!

Mariana came in to pose for our last portrait class last week.  I'm already looking forward to starting classes again next fall!

Lisa

Lisa came in to pose for us in Open Studio last night.  I decided to keep things simple this time around, and painted her monochromatically, using only Burnt Sienna with touches of Burnt Umber for the darkest parts.  The light areas were lifted with a bit of Gamsol on paper towel or my brush.  No white was used in the creation of this painting-- the tiny reflections in her eyes were done with the tip of my brush after it was dipped in the Gamsol.

I could take the portrait at this point and add color to it on top of the monochromatic underpainting.  Color could be transparently glazed on top, allowing the underpainting to show through.  Or I could use thick paint on top, using the underpainting as a "roadmap".  I would need to be careful to match my color value (lightness vs darkness) to the values I had already established in the underpainting.

We will be exploring monochromatic painting in our next session of "The Nuts and Bolts of Portraiture" at Mainstreet later this month.  I'm looking forward to exploring this different approach with my students!