"Jack As A Young Man", 12x16"

 "Jack As A Young Man"

"Claire"

In addition to painting en plein air once a week this summer, I am painting from models in Bill Schneider's studio.  I'm considering this time as sort of a mini-camp, to sharpen my observational skills and broaden my horizons.  Everyone in our little group has something to contribute, from a new outdoor vista to try, to introducing a new model to our group.  

Jack is the son of a friend of mine, and when I met him for the first time I thought that I would love to paint him.  He is that wonderful age somewhere between boyhood and manhood, and we all loved the challenge of trying to capture that moment.  Claire is a Barrista at Starbucks, and her coloring and translucent skin were lovely to paint. I told myself not to fuss with her portrait too much, leaving it loose and impressionistic.

"Michelle", 11x14" oil on gesso board

This painting of Michelle was done from life last week, and I painted it in Bill Schneider's studio in Crystal Lake.  The lighting there was different for me, so I found myself with a final product with colors that look different from most of my work.  I was intrigued by the way that the muted palette made the portrait appear kind of old fashioned, and maybe even a bit timeless.

For information on purchasing this portrait, please click on Ann Feldman, Michelle.

"Resilience", 16x20"

It's been quite some time since I've posted to my blog-- I miss being in touch with you!  For the last month or so, I've been traveling to see friends and family from coast to coast and trying to see as much art as possible at the same time.  I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Chelsea gallery district in NYC, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and finished up with the wonderful "Boticelli to Braque, Masterpieces from the Scottish Museum" at the De Young Museum in San Francisco.  All this art can be inspiring, and it can also be intimidating!

It's actually kind of tough coming back home and facing the blank canvas after seeing so many master works.  After a few deep breaths, I tell myself that even the masters had several "clunkers" along the way-- not every single piece they created ended up in a museum.  Any time I flip through a book of an artist's works, I end up loving a few, and feeling rather lukewarm about many others.  And that's OK!  If I am to explore new expressions, I have to be comfortable with the clunkers that might result as part of the process.

"Resilience" was painted quickly during this intense period of travel and observation.  I decided to leave her rather unfinished.  I thought that if I finished off every bit of the painting, it would loose some of its spontaneity, and I enjoy seeing my thought process under the paint from time to time.

This painting is for sale at the Button Petter Gallery in Saugatuck, Michigan.  Click here for more information.

"Selena", 16x20"

Earlier this month, I had the great fortune of taking a workshop with Daniel Gehartz.  To say that there were a few "Aha Moments" during my time with him would be an understatement!  I especially came away with new understandings about turning form using temperature control and making my portraits more powerful through edge variation and value separation.  I know that's a lot to take in, so I will elaborate on these concepts more in future posts.

Selena came to model for us on the first day.  I experimented quite a bit with "warm and cool" temperatures in this piece.  Notice the warm red tones in the shadow side of her face.  That was new for me.  Dan encouraged us to really squint and see that these tones were actually happening, so it's OK to go ahead and put them in.  

I guess all this squinting and experimenting paid off.  Selena's grandma purchased the painting!

"Vesna's Daughter", 12x16", And Some thoughts from Qiang Huang

"Vesna's Daughter"

I read in Qiang Huang's excellent blog that he believes that artists tend to group into two categories: still life/portrait painters and landscape painters.  The still life/portrait folks enjoy painting the forms of things, while landscape painters look for the patterns in their surroundings.  When I read this, it was as if a gong sounded in my head-- I'm a form painter, and always have been!

I started to think about other artists through history, and they did tend to settle in one or the other of these two categories.  Qiang went on to say that after an artist has mastered one type of painting, he or she often starts to look for challenge in the other genre.

I love a beautiful landscape as much as the next person, but have had a dickens of a time painting my own.  It's good to know that there is a challenge out there on the horizon, waiting for me to put my toe into new waters.  But maybe not today.  Tomorrow's not looking good either!

Still Life by Qiang Huang

"Deepa/Palette Knife Portrait", 12x16" And Some Upcoming Events

A few weeks ago, I painted Deepa using only one color (Burnt Sienna).  I brought this painting home and decided to add color to it using a palette knife.  Using the underpainting as my guide, I covered the painting again in thick color.  The process was made easier since my values (darks and lights) and my drawing were already worked out.  It was a bit like putting pieces of a puzzle together, and it was actually pretty fun!

I'll be teaching this method at the Northlight Studio in Arlington Heights IL this coming March 6th.  In other news, I'll be giving a demonstration on Painting Impressionistically for the North Area Arts League on March 3rd at the Woodstock Opera House at 7pm.  Admission is free!  I hope you can be there.

"Deepa, Monochromatic Study", 16x20"

When I only have a few hours with a model, I will sometimes limit my color choices so I can concentrate on getting my drawing and values (darkness vs light) correct.  Yesterday, I used only Burnt Sienna to make a map of Deepa's face and shoulders.  I used a rag to lift out the lighter areas, so there was no need to even add white.  I may decide to let it dry and go back in with color, or I may leave well enough alone and be content with a nice study of a beautiful model.

I will be teaching this technique at my upcoming one day workshop at Northlight Studio in Arlington Heights on March 6th.  If you would be interested in attending, please drop me a line.

"Where Next, Fifi?", 8x10"

Why are the French so elegant in everything they do?  Even when perusing a tourist board-- they do it with flare.  I should have been photographing architecture, but found myself constantly drawn to the people in France.  And now that's all I want to paint!

"Lucille, A Reworked Portrait", 16x20"

Old things CAN be new again, sometimes.  I took this old painting that had been hanging around since about 2007 and threw some new paint at it.  As long as I stayed in the correct value range (light to dark), I could add any colors that I wanted into all areas of the painting.  Here is a closeup of the area on her cheek and neck:

I was able to add notes of purple, green, blue, and orange into this area of the model.  Since each of these colors was the correct value, none of them stood out and away from the others.  Sticking with the correct value actually frees us to experiment with color!

A Couple of Portraits, 9x12 each

I've been asked many times if I have tried to translate my loose style into portraiture. Until recently, I haven't dared to, since I was afraid that when I loosened things up, I'd lose the likeness of my sitter.  I watched two of the best in person-- Jeff Watts and Carolyn Anderson as they painted portraits from life that were loose and interpretive.  "Nice for them", I thought.  But I'll never be able to do that!

Then I tried something completely new.  I painted these two portraits using only a very small round brush (#1, can you believe it?).  I scratched the poor thing down to the nub, but I learned that I can use paint in much the same way I can use a drawing medium, such as charcoal or pastel.  If I started to get tight, I'd use the brush to scratch away at the hard edges.   

As for the likeness, I found that as long as I have the eyes, nose and mouth in the right place, I could be pretty interpretive with the rest of the painting.  It's a baby step, but it was fun, and I'm ready to do some more!

"Her Favorite Scarf", 9x12"

Last night, we gathered at Mainstreet Studio to paint Brittany.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to forge out into the Polar Vortex to paint into the night?  I am so glad that there are other hardy souls who are determined to paint from life on a regular basis, no matter what Mother Nature throws at us.  Not to mention our intrepid model, who could have been at home watching "Idol" or something!

I decided to try to keep this one pretty loose, and didn't worry too much about getting a perfect likeness.  I was more interested in pushing the color and putting down some really thick paint.

"Red Scarf", 12x16"

The last session of my portrait class at Mainstreet was last Monday.  We spent six weeks together, going over the fundamentals of portrait drawing and painting.  We started out drawing portraits in charcoal, and then progressed to painting with a limited palette of colors.  The painting above was painted with Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red Medium, and Cadmium Yellow Pale--  that was it!  So interesting to see how many colors can be made using just the three "primaries".

We ended the session with a live model sitting.  Nerves gave way to intense concentration, and some wonderful paintings were produced!  I was so proud of my class!!!

For purchase information, please click on Ann Feldman Red Scarf.

Kevin Bielfuss Workshop, Day 1

Oil Sketch of Christie, Ann Feldman 9x11"

How lucky am I?  A workshop with Jeff Watts in August, and now Kevin Bielfuss here at Mainstreet in Illinois!  These last few months have been a time of study, practice, and hopefully of growth for me.  

If you've seen Kevin's work before, you may have been struck by the the beautiful abstract quality of his paintings which are also based solidly on reality.  My goal in studying with Kevin was to learn how to make my paintings more interesting by "abstracting" my compositions.  In other words, I wanted to learn how to design my paintings with geometric forms, rather than just the subject of my painting.  The sketch I attempted above was done on the first day of the workshop, and I'm inching closer to my goal. I tried to break up the space behind the model into interesting abstracted shapes.

Kevin painted a demo for us on the first day (below).  He starts his paintings very loosely, using a paper drawing stump dipped in mineral spirits and raw sienna.  This gives him the ability to compose without going too dark too quickly.  He then switches to a tiny brush with raw sienna to nail down his drawing.   He then dips his brush into different colors (pink and blue) to give him a road map of his most recent strokes.

He spent a good deal of his time working on the head of the model in the painting.  Using a thicker flat brush, he moved quickly around the painting to fill in and connect the forms around the model.

I'll share more with you from the workshop in the next few days.  Thanks so much for visiting!

Open Studio Session with Paula, 12x16"

Portrait season is back again at Mainstreet!  During the fall and winter months, we meet every two weeks to paint with models.  Last night, fellow artist Paula donned a scarf and sat for us.  I tried to stay mindful of not over blending my color and leaving the painting quite loose overall. I didn't want all those hours spent with Jeff Watts to go down the drain.

Gesture Portrait, Jeff Watts Workshop

Monochrome Gesture Portrait

On the third day of the Jeff Watts workshop, we created quick gesture portraits of a model who sat all day for us.  I decided to concentrate on my lights/darks and edges (and besides, my knees were knocking from nervousness) so I stuck with the monochrome portrait.  I learned how to pick out abstract shapes in the face to make it more interesting to look at.  I also learned to make edges disappear so that the viewer has to fill in some information.

Gesture Portrait, Jeff Watts

And here is Jeff's fantastic full color portrait, painted in a single sitting.  He starts with transparent washes of color over most of the canvas, then goes in with smaller brushes to pick out the abstract shapes that he sees.  He constantly moves all around the canvas, laying in new color, then going back to paint shapes next to every brush stroke.  A very difficult technique to attempt, but I learned so much just watching him paint!

Mary (Sold)

About a month ago, I was invited to put on a portrait demonstration at the Del Webb art club in Huntley.  So many talented artists with great questions and insights made for a very lively discussion.  I was able to start Mary's portrait there, and then I took it home with me to finish it up.  I'm looking forward to going back to put on a workshop there in November!

Carol

I would have to say that Carol is my favorite model of all time!  Not only because she's always willing to put crazy things in her hair and will hold any pose we ask, but because she's a terrific friend and artist to boot.  This somewhat pensive pose doesn't capture her bubbly personality, but I enjoyed using charcoal on her portrait for a change of pace.

Mari

Mari sat for us in our portrait class a couple of weeks ago.  She was the perfect model-- always right on the mark.  I tried to keep this one loose and impressionistic.  I hope you like this effect!

Intrigue, 9"x13"

Maria is a student at Mainstreet who came in to model for us on a cold icy evening.  With her beret and level stare, she reminds me of a beautiful undercover agent who could shoot you if you rubbed her the wrong way. Of course, in real life, she's nothing like this, but it's fun to imagine...