Category Archives: Art

How Love Inspires Us | Graphite and Collage with Patricia Schappler

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Patricia Schappler | Graphite and Collage

Patricia Schappler’s graphite and collage work gave us pause during last year’s Annual Art Competition. We wanted to get to know the artist a little bit better—what she loves about art, what inspires her to create, and her unique ability to trust the art to take her into directions that surprises her.

Who I Am

I’ve drawn since I was a child. It was a way to sensually absorb and understand the energy of my family. I have my BFA in drawing from the University of New Hampshire and my MFA in drawing and painting from Brooklyn College. I currently teach Figure Drawing at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and exhibit nationally and regionally.

graphite-and-collage-schappler-1-715x1024Eve (graphite and collage, 61×45) by Patricia Schappler

The Vision

I’m from a very large family so people have always populated my environments. My images originate from this, along with a rooted interest in storytelling and myth. I frequently work from family and friends simply because they’re available, and less simply, because I love them. Perhaps I believe this love may permeate what I make, and become layered and embedded in the struggles and successes of the image-making process. I enjoy stories, having grown up with so many. The Biblical Eden suggests the complexity of relationships that I was considering; the distance between early and later love, the bridges needed to access knowledge, the conflicts yet to arise, the possibilities of forgiveness.

I enjoy stories, having grown up with so many. The Biblical Eden suggests the complexity of relationships that I was considering; the distance between early and later love, the bridges needed to access knowledge, the conflicts yet to arise, the possibilities of forgiveness.

This couples’ gestures hints at this complexity, both tense and tender, closed and open, overlapped and singular, arms and legs and bodies tipping into each other, an oval within a rectangular field.

The image is very specifically a likeness of my son and his girlfriend; at the same moment, it is a drawing of any young couple, comparable to couples throughout time. Mixing Eastern and Western patterns set the figures in the midst of something universal; the energy, space, and red warmth of a walk into the crowded streets of elsewhere.

The Process

I used graphite and collage on Stonehenge paper, a surface I admire for its flexibility, ease of erasure, and in general, forgiving nature. Graphite, as a small inconsequential, held tool, has associations with past history, letter writing, and home, and because it is small, I also have to be very patient with it, a quality I want to extend in myself.

I layer through hatching, crosshatching, and wrapping line until it’s quite dense to reflect both physical and emotional weight. The patterns and title were vague ideas gathering while I developed the figures. I treat the figures as cut outs layering them on top of the field. Each edge of the collage paper is also layered, creating slight lifts or reliefs away from the flat plane of the original paper.

graphite-and-collage-schappler-4-768x985Eden (graphite and collage, 55×44), a finalist in The Artist’s Magazine’s Annual Art Competition, by Patricia Schappler

Listening to the Art

Little things shifted by centimeters as if the drawing knew where it had to go to create the final boundary of the couple’s layered shape, and I wasn’t quite sure of the warm pattern until I had tried both cooler and more saturated possibilities. This trust between the process, the discovery of things one feels more than knows, and the resolution of question marks in the making, are always favorites of growing things.

graphite-and-collage-schappler-3-768x986Of All the Maybes (graphite and collage 56×43 3/4) by Patricia Schappler

Inspiration and Advice

I think I admire specific things about various artists’ work more than specific advice. Instructors Sigmund Abeles, Scott Schnepf and Lennart Anderson’s work vary but share a grace, with their slow moving, complex, deep surfaces.

Other artists I have admired, including Langdon Quin, Sangrum Majumdar, Paula Rego, Balthus, Rembrandt, later Desederio, and others of course … are like listening to a heartbeat, I recognize their humanity.

The advice I offer my students is to work consistently, to give generously to both themselves and their process, to remain open and curious, and to recognize the journey more than the thing.

I find events, exhibitions, and competitions helpful in setting goals. I frequently read short stories, poetry, articles, interviews etc. in my classes, and came across this during one of the days I was reading from The Artists Magazine.

graphite-and-collage-schappler-2-744x1024Rebekah (graphite and collage, 64 3/4×48 1/4) by Patricia Schappler

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From Chaos, an Abstract Art Painting Evolves

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While creating abstract art is a highly intuitive process that takes practice to master, there is a “method to the madness” for many artists. For Sally Cooper, the process is dynamic and physical as well as emotional and intellectual. Sally’s work is included in Abstract Overview, a new eMagazine that you can download here. Scroll down for an excerpt from her feature article, written by Judith Fairly.

abstract-art-Sally-Cooper-041416

From “Intuition, Impulse, Action” By Judith Fairly

Though Sally’s paintings are the extemporaneous result of her creative process, the process itself is consistent. “I place the colors on my palette–usually triadic colors (three hues, equally spaced on the color wheel), plus titanium white, zinc white, raw umber and black for tinting and shading the colors–mix a few together, grab a brush and follow intuitive promptings to apply a vigorously gestural, linear mark or big brushstroke that comes from deep within,” she says.

“The dance of marking and veiling begins. I step back about five or six feet and look at the painting until I feel an urge to adjust or paint over my previous work. As I continue this process, I enter a meditative state in which I lose all track of time and become one with the painting. I move a great deal of paint around the entire surface, and I step back every so often, studying, looking, moving, painting out, keeping some, veiling over, playing with the unknown and waiting for the unexpected to emerge. The surface is built, destroyed and erased again and again, creating a subtle and sensitive history of what has been. This play or dance continues until, from chaos, a painting evolves.”

Sally began using acrylic paint almost exclusively after an instructor suggested that the pigment in acrylic lends a painting more “punch” than watercolor. Since water-soluble acrylic paint was first made commercially available to artists in the 1950s, manufacturers such as Golden, Liquitex and Daler-Rowney have continuously tinkered with formulas that provide acrylics with an expanding array of properties and applications. Sally makes full use of the paint’s diversity.

“I work in a variety of watermedia–watercolor, acrylic (both fluid and heavy-bodied), polymer mediums and gesso,” says Sally. “What appeals to me about acrylic is its broad range of possibilities. It allows me to make impulsive changes in my work. Acrylics dry quickly, but you can add a retarder to slow the drying process. You can create beautiful glazes by thinning the paint or create impasto by using heavy gels. You can use open (slow-drying) acrylics and spritz the painting with water to reopen the paints and continue painting. You can add an unlocking formula and continue your painting process the next day. The possibilities seem to be endless.” ~J.F.

Continue reading this article on the abstract art of Sally Cooper in this new eMagazine from Acrylic Artist. In Abstract Overview you’ll also score two painting exercises from Dean Nimmer, take in a feature article on the work of Denise Athanas and discover how to use the seven elements of design.

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Color Mixing for Acrylic: How to Master Shades of Green

Art, Interior Design

I’m always happy to talk about color, and this past year has taken me on a few colorful adventures. Since I always travel with my camera, I make a point to record things that inspire me.

I spent seven months last year in Northeast Ohio and enjoyed greens I haven’t seen since my many years of living in California. With the West’s dusty, drought-tolerant greens or its deep forest shades, I had forgotten the lively array of colors the warmer Ohio seasons bring.

With spring’s perky, acid-toned bright greens and the soft pale colors of the first leaves to the luscious and full greens during the summer. Each variety brings its own special formula into the picture. And, speaking of formulas, let’s learn about mixing greens in acrylic.

Avoid Being Green with Envy with Other Artists’ Color Mixing

In my book, Acrylic Color Explorations, there’s a lesson on how to get a range of greens using a single color of blue pigment and just changing the yellow pigments. It’s good to start your mixing lessons with transparent pigments so you can see the clarity of the greens created.

Get to know your paints. Scribble on a piece of paper with a pencil. Paint over your scribble. This will tell you how cloudy or clear your color is.

When you look at areas of green in nature, notice how they are not all exactly the same. For a natural look, you want a variation of green to imply where something might be hit by sunlight or hidden in shadow.

When you start mixing greens, take note of the ratio of yellow to blue for the brighter, sharper greens or the ratio of blue to yellow for the deeper ones. Once you have developed a solid range you’re satisfied with, introduce Titanium White to your mixes and see how the paints lighten up.

Your ratio of white to the mixture is also important. Too much white can overwhelm the green mixture and wash it out. Try the same exercise with a little Bone Black added to your green mixtures. This will bring a deepness and richness to your formula.

color-mixing-acrylic-painting-Chris-Cozen-020917The Roads We Traveled (mixed media on canvas, 18×18) by Chris Cozen. This analogous composition builds on the range of colors of yellow-green through blue-green on the color wheel. With the addition of Titan Buff paint and paper elements, this active composition balances the bright and soft tones of these compatible colors and takes advantage of the full range of values possible.The collage elements also add movement and focus to the composition.

Get Your Glaze On

What happens when we go too far one way or the other? That’s where glazing comes in. You can always create a lighter or darker green glaze. Just mix your original formula with glazing medium, and apply the color over your original.

Sheer glazes are built by using a 6:1 ratio of medium to paint. Remember, the more pigment you use the less sheer the glaze will be.

Glazing is an excellent way to play with the surfaces of green areas as well. Want to create a shadow? Add a little glaze layer of Dioxazine Purple or Payne’s Gray over an area and see it shift.

Favorites for Green Color Mixing

AcrylicPainting_Greens_ChrisCozen-768x760Of course, there are plenty of green pigments/paints out there in the marketplace to choose from. I have a few favorites of my own. I use green-gold (Golden), chromium oxide green, and sap green hue as mixers.

Green-gold leans heavily toward yellow. I often substitute it for yellow to mix with my blues when I want a unique green.
Chromium oxide green is a dense opaque pigment, which is a great base color for starting a field of green. Mix loosely with white and Titan Buff, brush on rapidly with lots of movement and you’ll get a lovely “start” for a field.
I turn to sap green hue when I want some quick depth, especially in a glaze. Its formula has some black in it which adds a lot of richness to the glaze.
All in all, mixing greens is pretty fun. You can take any color on the blue to blue-green spectrum and add any yellow to create an array of greens to work with.

Color mixing is an adventure as well as an investment in your painting process. The goal is to get to know the pigments you own and fully explore their potential! You should aim to be fluent in color so you can readily mix any color you may need.

You can find more great ideas in my book as well as in the instructional videos I created as a companion to Acrylic Color Explorations by checking out my bundle at North Light Shop. Each of the DVDs covers techniques for using color in various ways.

Check out the preview trailer below for one such video workshop, Exploring Acrylic: Color Discoveries, which you can stream now on ArtistsNetwork.tv.

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Sketch While You Wait | The Artist’s Answer to Airport Boredom

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Tools of the Trade

I like to keep my travel materials simple and small. In the past, I’ve taken wood-cased 6B pencils, a sharpener and any sketchbook that fit in my traveling backpack.

Lately, I’ve taken mechanical pencils so I can leave the sharpener behind. I have two mechanical pencils that I like. One is a Paper Mate ComfortMate Ultra with a 0.5 mm HB lead. It’s great for fine lines and anatomical studies.

My second pencil is a Staedtler Mars Technico Lead Holder with a 2 mm 4B lead. It’s softer and broader, so it’s great for massing in form quickly and making dark marks.

sketch-1-768x576

Since I use soft lead, I need to keep my drawings from smearing. The best way to do this is to use a small sketchbook with a sewn spine, rather than a spiral-bound book.

Moleskine’s Art Plus Collection has some good options. Pages shift easily in a spiral-bound book so, if you do use one, stretch a rubber or elastic hair band around the covers when the sketchbook is closed; this keeps the pages from rubbing together and smearing your work. When you get home, give each page a spray of fixative.

Choose Your Subject

People in airports are typically one of three things:

The runner
The walker
The sitter
The Runner

This is the person hurrying to a gate, running as fast as the carry-on luggage will allow. You may have 30 seconds—or less—to sketch. There’s no time to do a detailed study of form; instead, all you can capture is the gesture.

I like to make quick thumbnail silhouettes. A lot of artists worry about being caught in the act of sketching from life. The scurrier doesn’t have time to pay attention to you, so sketch all you want!

sketch-4-732x1024

Pay close attention to posture. I mentally drop a plumb line from the subject’s abdomen (where the center of balance is located), and observe how the arc of the spine and legs relate to this line. I just mass in the form with shading.

Also, note the way carrying luggage changes posture. Often an arm carrying a bag creates a pleasing opposing arc to the figure’s overall gesture. Sometimes I even start the sketch by noting the weight and position of the bag—it can be an anchor around which you can build the figure.

The Walker

This person has plenty of time between connections to stop by shop windows and think about a gift. You, too, have more time—and the opportunity to study physical types, walking styles and the way carry-ons and personal items affect the figure. The stroller probably won’t notice you sketching either.

sketch-3-768x384

I observe the way the walkers carry their weight. If they’re standing still, they’re most likely carrying the center of balance over one leg.

The faster they move, the farther the center of balance will be ahead of the trailing foot. I may drop a plumb line from the center of balance and build the body around that line.

Again, I look for how luggage is carried. Shoulder bags, backpacks and carried bags all affect the body’s posture in different ways.

The Sitter

This person is “shopped out” or maybe patiently waiting for the gate call. If you can work discretely, you can sketch these types for an extended period.

You can study a variety of seated postures as well as the anatomy of the clothed figure. This person also provides a great opportunity for a head study.

Sometimes the sitter is a sleeper so you won’t have to worry about getting caught. You’ll probably even have time to erase and correct the sketch!

sketch-2-768x574

When I’m sketching the sitter, I have a lot of fun. The positions are almost limitless—slouched, perched forward on the seat, sitting upright or leaning with head held in hand. Sitting at a cafe or bar, this person may be eating or drinking; at the gate, the sitter may be reading, texting or watching TV.

Any of these airport personas is worth studying. I observe folds in the shirt or pants and the way clothes hang on the body. If the head is interesting, I sketch it.

***

You can read more articles like this one, as well as peruse through artist advice, art inspiration, instruction and more by subscribing to The Artist’s Magazine.

What’s Next? Try Your Hand at Urban Sketching

Get excited about drawing and painting your new favorite places with urban sketcher, Marco Taro Holmes. In this preview of Drawing & Painting in a Travel Journal, you’ll get an introduction to Holmes’ three-step process: pencil, to pen, to brush.

Let the pencil capture the composition, the pen provide the fun details, and the watercolor add the harmony and life to your subjects. Happy sketching, artists!

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Understanding the Different Grades of Watercolor Paper

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The usage of the term “paper” with regards to watercolor is a misnomer. In a way, this name devalues the price for watercolor paintings in galleries. It suggests the surface is not permanent because the image is painted on paper, and isn’t much different than a print or a poster.

If manufacturers of these materials dispelled the word “paper” and substituted it for “cotton sheets,” watercolor would have more associated formality because oil and acrylic paintings are also painted on cotton surfaces. This will not only add value to watercolor paintings but collectors may also stop viewing their investment as having a short life span.

Be careful when buying watercolor paper. Art stores actually do sell wood pulp paper watercolor blocks. Unless the product says 100% cotton on the cover, you may end up with the wrong product that will terribly hinder your watercolor success. These student watercolor blocks are a waste, in my opinion. I refuse to do any touch-ups on my workshop attendees’ paintings when they bring these.

The surface of professional watercolor paper is real cotton and 100% acid-free, which means the white surface will not turn yellow over the years. Consider cotton baby diapers: Add a gelatin sizing to it, compress it and you have a sheet of compressed cotton that absorbs wet paint. The sizing reduces the sheet’s flexibility when dry and allows a slow seeping of wet paint into the fibers.

watercolor-paper-Johannes-Vloothuis-021616-Flowers

Know Pressure

The amount of pressure during the compression process determines the different kinds of watercolor paper surfaces: hot pressed (very compressed), cold pressed (semi-compressed) and rough (loosely compressed).

The pressure of watercolor paper is important to know because the degree of compression results in the fibers being closer or more separated from one other. This will make the paper behave differently by the sheer absorption process.

As an analogy, it works like this: A kitchen towel sucks more water than a cotton shirt. That’s because a towel has more gaps between the fibers, which allows the water to penetrate deeper into the fabric.

Knowing watercolor pressure will help you make the right choices. Read on for a closer look at the applications and setbacks of each grade.

Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper

Very little pigment penetrates beyond sitting on the surface.
Hot pressed is not adequate for general watercolor painting.
It’s suitable for fine detail, such as pen and ink.
This type of paper works well with gouache.
Wet-on-wet application with diffusion will not work.
Glazing will lift the underlayer.

watercolor-paper-horses-Johannes-Vloothuis-021616

Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper

Some pigment penetrates deeper into the fibers.
A painting on this type of paper ends up with a nice velvety look.
Diffused wet-into-wet application can be achieved on cold pressed, but there’s a risk of losing the forms from excessive pigment bleeding. The artist working with this paper must be quite skilled at controlling the degree of fugitive paint.
It works well for scraping out rocks with a credit card when painting landscapes.
Cold pressed is not optimal for glazing because the new layer tends to disturb the first layer.
It’s too smooth to apply the dry brush technique many artists use to create bushes and trees when creating landscapes.
This type of paper makes it easier to spray off an area that needs correction.
It has an excellent surface for combining pastels with watercolor, especially pan pastels.

watercolor-paper-Johannes-Vloothuis-021616

Rough Watercolor Paper

The pigment seeps even deeper into the fibers of rough paper.
The wet-into-wet application works well on this type of surface.
Glazing works better because the paper grips the first layer quite well.
It does not work well for scraping out rocks when painting landscapes.
The rougher surface is conducive to dry brushing, which is great for creating the illusion of foliage.
It’s harder to remove unwanted paint (with water from a spray bottle).
Get Your Weight Know-How Up

Each of the three paper types discussed comes in 22- by 30-inch sheets, which you can cut into various sizes. The stocks are as follows:

90 lb. is not ideal for painting with watercolor, but it is good for printing copies.
140 lb. must be stretched to avoid buckling.
300 lb. does not require stretching but is more expensive. It will still curl like a potato chip if it’s moistened in large areas, so I recommend fastening it to a stiff surface.
Watercolor blocks are handy for plein air painting and transporting to workshops but, with the 140 lb. version, the paper still buckles*, which basically defeats the purpose of paying the extra money.

The 300-lb. blocks are handy, but you’ll pay considerably more for them. If you use 140-lb. sheets, I highly recommend working with a Guerilla Watercolor board, a fantastic product that stretches the paper so it won’t buckle when you rewet it.

Knowing how to prevent buckling is important. When cotton paper is soaking wet, it will expand, creating bumps like hills on an uneven terrain. This makes respecting the contour of a form during wet-into-wet application more difficult because the paint settles into the paper’s grooves.

Stretching the paper before you begin painting is a necessary practice. Wet the paper, fasten it to a stiff surface, then allow it to dry. When you rewet the paper, the expansion will be less, which will reduce the buckling.

How to Choose Your Ideal Paper Grade

Watercolor-painting-by-Johannes-Vloothuis-042616

Considering the advantages and disadvantages of each of these papers, I suggest selecting the grade based on the subject you are planning for your painting. For me, I love painting landscapes. When I paint tons of close-up foliage, I turn to rough paper. Likewise, this paper type works well if there is a lot of edge diffusing that requires some control.

If a scene contains rocks and not many soft edges, I go for cold pressed. This grade of paper also works well when I want to incorporate pastels to create the appearance of mist, add texture or enhance my watercolors. Additionally, the velvety look with cold-pressed paper works well for flower paintings.

Determining Brand Loyalty

When it comes to watercolor, there are several different brands to choose from. Arches is one of the most common, as well as Fabriano.

Recently, I discovered Daler Rowney Langton Rough, which is not as grainy as the other papers but offers an in-between of cold and rough, and has many of the advantages of both. Although there are brands I have not yet tried, I am sticking with Daler Rowney for now.

Stonehenge Aqua is a new paper emerging in the market. If you want to create detailed realism or portraits, this brand works well because it still offers the velvety aspect of cold pressed compared to other brands but has the absorption capabilities of rough paper. This means when you work on top of a pre-existing layer, it won’t disturb the layer underneath as much.

However, choosing the right brand for you will come down to trial and error. If you’re new to watercolor, try experimenting with a few different brands until you find your perfect fit.

And, if you’re also trying to figure out which watercolor paints to use, I review different watercolor pigments and their properties, as well as explain how to control fugitive wet-into-wet application and offer recommendations where these should be present in your artwork in another blog post, which you can find here.

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Inside Out Painting Series: Sydney Opera House

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You know the idea of using plants and flowers in a room, bringing the outside in? For years, this concept has been very popular in designing an interior space that would make the occupants feel like they are experiencing being in nature simultaneously. This idea is still in practice and provides for great human experiences.

Continue reading Inside Out Painting Series: Sydney Opera House →

“Inside Out” Series Painting: Guggenheim Museum

Art, Interior Design, , , , ,

You know the idea of using plants and flowers in a room, bringing the outside in? For years, this concept has been very popular in designing an interior space that would make the occupants feel like they are experiencing being in nature simultaneously. This idea is still in practice and provides for great human experiences.

Continue reading “Inside Out” Series Painting: Guggenheim Museum →

Learnapalooza Art Event: Chicago’s Day Of Learning & Adventure

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Learnapalooza is a free festival in Chicago where you choose your own adventure.
The festivals are hosted in three Chicago neighborhoods each summer where you can learn something new, meet your neighbors and explore a corner of the city.
Learn to mix drinks, dance with a stranger, or just master Excel. Classes are taught by people just like you who are passionate, curious, and have something to share. Local businesses offer up their space, and the whole thing is planned by volunteers.
Learnapalooza is free to attend and powered completely by volunteers. This year’s event will be the 6th one. 

Continue reading Learnapalooza Art Event: Chicago’s Day Of Learning & Adventure →