An alternate grey

I follow the blog of Qiang Huang, who paints little jewel-like paintings. In a recent post, he remarked: "I have found that "transparent brown oxide" (Winsor and Newton) and ultramarine blue makes a wonderful gray." Both are transparent colors. This would be an interesting combination to try. Here is the post where he shows the use of this grey.

On a subsequent day, he tried a different combination of colors to make the grey warmer. Here's his comment:

"I felt the gray I used yesterday is a little too cool. So today I tried a new combination: transparent oxide yellow + ultramarine blue. I like this one better. It made the background warmer." You can see his painting on his blog.

I find the use of complementary colors (or near complements) rather than "tube" black for mixing greys fascinating. There's a painter, William Wray, who uses greys and neutrals to maximum effect. I love his cityscapes.

Great news, had to share it!

I've been accepted as one of 47 artists to be included in the McLean Project for the Arts Artfest, to be held Sunday, October 2, 2011 from 10 AM to 5 PM. I'm very happy as i haven't done any outdoor shows in a while. This will be fun. Put a note on your calendar if you like my art.

Use of Green in Landscapes

This is a very GREEN planet, green and blue. And green can be an overwhelming color, particularly when used by an art student out of the tube. Tube greens tend to be very pure and high hue, often very minty. It's a dominant color. There are some greens that work well in landscapes, such as Chromium Oxide Green or Sap Green. Chrome Oxide is a somewhat dull green. Sap green is sharp and yellowish but transparent so good for glazes. It mixes with other paints but doesn't cover underpainting completely. See more on green in my free art lesson.

But I've simply eliminated green from my basic palette. Partly this came about because, when I started teaching painting, I wanted a limited palette that would allow students to mix all colors but wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Here's a painting I just finished (Suburban Spring) that contains a lot of green but was painted using my limited palette. Notice that the parts hit directly by the sun are yellow green and the darker areas are more of a blue green. In mixing most of the greens, I've mixed either thalo green and cadmium yellow and added a tiny bit of either cadmium red or alizarin crimson, or, for a duller green, ultramarine blue (which is cooler than thalo) and cadmium yellow or nickle titanate yellow (a cool yellow) with a little bit of red. To relieve the green-ness of the painting, I've included a significant amount of neutral greys  and accents of red (the complement of green.) I hope you enjoy the result.

Painting from photos - The Controversy

A recent potential student asked me if I would be teaching from photos or still life. I replied that it wasn't feasible for me to attempt to lug the components of a still life with me for a 3-hour session a week but that she was free to bring her own still life if she wanted. She replied that she didn't want to paint from photos. This is really a bit of a non sequitur. (I didn't say that she couldn't paint from a still life.) However, it raises the question: is it invalid to paint from photos?

Some will say 'yes' because the photo is precomposed. In addition, the colors produced in the printing process are a lower gamut* than we see when working from life. Finally, a photo (often produced in a 4x6 format, contains much less information than the original scene. I don't disagree.

On the other hand, as a teacher who already lugs a complete setup for oils and a complete setup for acrylics to the teaching site, I don't have any inclination to additionally lug the pots, plants, fruit and other paraphernalia (such as a lamp for directional lighting and drapery) with me on a weekly basis.

We need to look at the use of a photo in a broader context. When I give students a reference photo, I want them to use it as a "reference" not something to be faithfully duplicated. Let's call it a "starting point" for creation. After all, why paint it exactly as shown in the photo. There is already a photo.

There is some use in duplicating a reference photo. If a student is just beginning and is shaky about the basics of art (line, form, composition, color) working from a photo is like having training wheels. Having a still life or model or — worst yet — all of nature in front of you can result in overwhelm. Even the old hand may want to continue to practice. I attend a weekly live model drawing group to improve my perception of what is there.Not only does it help me produce better paintings, but it helps me see the world better — a philosophic benefit.

*gamut: an entire range or series (gamut from praise to contempt)
(Editorial Note: in this case, the entire range of perceptible color.)

Regarding Usful and Useless

I remember once, when I was in college, a fellow seated across the table at the local college coffee shop asked me what I was majoring in. "Art," I answered. He reared back in his chair as if struck. "Art?" he said, "I heard you were smart."

The implication, of course, was that ART was a useless subject.

Of course, in one sense he was right. I graduated with a pretty "useless" degree. Fortunately, it was 1965, I had friends and family and a spirit of adventure, as resources . . . and the world was a more benign place than it is today. At least MY world. There were awful things going on in it, but they were distant.

And by 1967, I ran into the philosophy which was to define my direction for the rest of my life: Scientology.

Now this post is not about Scientology, per se, but about "Useful" and "Useless."

I have struggled with people's perceptions of the role of art and the artist many times. One guy remarked that he didn't understand why I would want to "just paint pretty pictures for the rest of my life." (Life seemed quite serious to him.)"

Another, met in an elevator in New York, asked me who my favorite artist was. On my reply "Rembrandt," he sneered as he got off the elevator and said, "Oh, you're a conservative."

These attitudes about "Useful" and "Useless" (or "Important" and "Unimportant") polarized people's attitudes about me. People pigeonholed me and categorized me and approached or receded according to their attitudes about how useful art was.

Art is useful because it decorates the world. It is useful because it is a communication about perception and truth and beauty. (Not just painting, now, but music, and poetry and dance etc.) It is useful because , in viewing art, or participating in art, we can step outside the too often weary mundane of our lives, the getting and spending.

And that's — to my mind — far more useful than making machines, fighting wars, pushing paper, participating in espionage, etc., etc., many of the  things that we consider "important" or "Useful."

As an individual, art lifts me above myself. As an artist, art presents problems enough for solving without having to invent problems. As a teacher, the joy my students find in the exploration of the process of art and in the development of their own communications makes me happy.

I invite you to read my husband's essay on Certainty and Opinion.

Is art useful? In my opinion it is, and I am quite certain of it. Tell me what you think?

Night Freight Painting and Song

Bill Davis, currently in my Reston Community Center Class, came up with the striking painting (below) and then revealed that it goes with his song "Night Freight" And I thought this was worth sharing. You can sample or purchase Bill's CD "Far Out" on CDBaby.com.

Night Freight

And you can play the MP3 file for Night Freight with an MP3 player.

Two new studies

Two new studies I'm excited about.

                          The "Fruit Bowl and Tiles" is an interpretation I did from a reference photo I took for a previous still life done in the Fall. The original was done in oil and was done from the actual still life.It adheres more strictly to "real life". In this one, I decided to play with color and form. I particularly like the way different colors that are the same value or tone can be overlaid, as in the purple shadow over the blue shadow, lower right.

The second one is a loose interpretation of a landscape. I particularly liked, in the original photo, the bright trees reflected in the water. They are the stars of the show.

Still Life

Sometimes a "demo" painting turns out unexpectedly good.

 

Demo of still life using acrylics done Jan 8, 2011

I did this painting of a still life for a small group gathered at the Great Falls School of Art on January 8, 2011. since it was to be a demo and rather quickly done (to give participants time to paint) I used a piece of unstretched canvas taped to a drawing board. Now, since it turned out so well, I wish that I had used a stretched canvas. Ah well!

Best wishes for joyful and prosperous 2011

Drawing by Pam, Poem by Dean

    
Why We're Here

We were designed by the wind, frustrated
with its inability to inflate a balloon.

We were invented by dogs because after aeons
of licking only each other, they yearned for love
without hairballs.

We evolved from birds, who wanted to be able
to talk with their hands without being carried away.

We were invented by cats to tend door knobs.

We were invented by stones who wanted to reproduce
themselves, but could not set one stone
upon another.

We were invented by the night, grown tired
of having nothing to hide.

We were invented by the flowers, sick and tired
of color-blind bees who only wanted them
for one thing.

We were thought up by the fish, trying to imagine
dreaming with their eyes closed.

We were invented by the snow, dreaming of hugging angels.

We were invented by the fire to reflect it in eyes and cheeks,
for every other creature, fearing it, could not admire it.

We were invented by the sand to make fine distinctions.

We were created by the sun when he discovered
that, alone, he could light up only one side
of the earth at a time.

We were created by the rain, which could not
spell its name in the sand.

The earth made us in hopes we would enable it
to see where it's going.

We were made by the ocean to package its
salty elixir and distribute it to high ground
beyond the reach of surf.

We were made by mountains grown tired of crushing
everything they tried to embrace.

We were made by the full moon because,
though it could reflect endlessly,
it could not smile.

We were made by the trees, because they couldn't
hear themselves fall.

We were made by the grass to graze with our eyes
and gobble up the excess green.

We were made by the cockroaches because their faith
forbids suicide.

            by Dean Blehert

Shack in the Woods

Shack in the Woods

This painting, Shack in the Woods, is mixed media. I laid down a thin multi-colored ground over the white gesso using acrylic and a sponge. The idea was to capture the busy-ness of the woods. Then I overworked with oil for the details. I'm particularly fond of the rock cliff behind and to the right of the shack.