Still Lifes

I painted the same still life with three different lighting set ups. Bill wants us to clean them up at home with the photographs we took.

Bill Perkins - Class 2

This painting is done in Bill Perkins 2nd class with black, white, yellow and red. I will type up my notes later when I am rested.

Color Sketches

Here are some more of my color sketches. These are from a book I had on the Silk Road. These are color sketches 21 to 24.

These are from some photos I took at Diaz Lake when I was on the Manzanar Workshop. These are #25, 26 and 27.

100 Color Sketches - First 15

I am working on this Assignment in the Virtual Academy Program:
ASSIGNMENT TWO: OUTDOOR COLOR STUDIES
Time required:
The work you do on these assignments that will give you a strong color sense. Unfortunately there are no quick fixes. Very few painters really master color to this degree. The good news is that if you put the effort into it, your paintings will really stand out from the crowd for their color.
What to do:
Paint 100 6x8in (15x20cm) color studies outdoors over the course of the next three to six months. Notes ♦ Keep the studies to a few broad flat areas of paint as if you were making the painting out of about seven to ten pieces of colored paper that you have cut out and stuck on to the canvas. ♦ Do not spend more than one hour on each sketch, and try to improve your speed to get as quick as 20 minutes for each sketch. ♦ Number each one on the back from 1 to 100. Tip ♦ Use your digital camera to check your values if you are having problems with your color. It is most likely that you are having a value problem. Cautions ♦ Get one of your earlier studies reviewed by your instructor before you do too many studies, to ensure your are on the right track. ♦ Count the patches of paint. If you have more than ten, try to simplify the design and reduce the number of patches.

I did these at the LA Arboretum May 27th.
Paintings #1 through #4 (These are too complicated with too many shapes)

These were done in Village Green between May 19th and May 26th.

Paintings #5 through #10
I like this first one

This is not reading well.

I think this one is more on track.

This is one of my favorites so far.

This is not reading well.

I did these May 20th at the Los Angeles Arboretum.

Paintings #11 - #15
I think this is working.

I like this one.

This is one of my favorites.

I am indifferent to this one.

I feel like this one looks like there is a corn dog in the foreground.

Bill Perkins Color Boot Camp - Day 3

Push the Color. Paintings are about light. Take what’s infront of yyou. Look at dynamic relationships and find out what’s going on Look what the range is.
The minor key is the range of contrast wit in your component. There are 7 individual components in a painting. Break things down into a logical way so you can understand it.
In painting you put something down and then you check yourself.

Arthur Dow defines design principles as Opposition, Transition, Subordination, Repetition, Symmetry. This is the California Craftsman approach.

Maitland Graves in “The Art of Color and Design” talks of Line, Value, Shape and Proportion.

In the “Visual Story” Bruce Block talks of Line, Tone, Shape, Color, Space, Rhythm and Movement

Mentions A. Donlis “A primer to Visual Literacy” and Line, Mass and Form is how we stylize things visually.

There are seven basic contrasts.
Contrast of Hue
Contrast of Light/Dark
Contrast of Warm/Cool
Contrast of Complementary
Contrast of Saturation
Contrast of Extension (Proportion and Placement of Color)
Simultaneous Contrast
http://www.worqx.com/color/itten.htm

When you paint ask yourself
- What is my matrix? Light vs. Shadow or Light vs. Dark. Then think of your range from Lightest to Darkest and Brightest.

Bill Perkins Color Boot Camp - Day 2

We painted today with a palette of Black, White, Cadmium Yellow Light, Napthol Red, Raw sienna and Quinox.

Burnt Sienna is a black orange
Cadmium Yellow Light + White gives a cool
Raw Sienna is used by Bill on his palette as a dark yellow. He prefers it to yellow ochre because it is warmer.
Keying a painting – Major Key and Minor Key
(He mentioned Zorn Palette but I don’t have clear notes about it)
Value, Hue and Saturation will define where any color lies on the wheel. Hue is measured around circumference. Value sets up mood of the painting. Color Wheel is a theory.

Mixing paint is subtractive. The more you mix the color the more neutral the color becomes.

Bill mentions George Bellows and the Ashcan group and something about Mirada and premixing palette on composition (but I am not clear on my notes). Bill doesn’t like Cadmium Red Medium that much because he says it grays too fast.

Bill Perkins Color Boot Camp - Day 1

The Goal of the Color Boot camp is 25 to 30 paintings in 5 days. Not interested in rendered images. Must paint what is important first. The idea is assessing relationships. What are you looking at? Eliminate naming generic items. Look for Basic spots of color.

The skeleton of a painting can be considered it’s MATRIX. When you start to paint assess clearly. Determine what the pattern in. Then put it down boldly. Once you put it down stick to it.
There is an idea of NOTAN vs. CHIAROSCHURO. Every object has a local value. If the painting is a 3D it’s going to have form but a painting is not always about form.
There are 3 Elements of Design: 1)Notan 2)Chiaroscuro 3)Line/Texture.

When you are putting be critical about what you are seeing and what you are putting down.
A painting can be about Light &. Dark or Light & Shadow. The values set the mood of your piece. Sargeant mainly paints in Notan but then we switches to form around the face.

When you go to a museum the paintings will have a strong bias to chiaroscuro or notan.
Smaller surfaces are darker because the reflect less light. Larger masses reflect more light. We need to have a clear distinction about what’s in light and what’s in shadow. When you have string contrast you can really get the feel of light. If you have light and shadow sgapes can have more reflected light. When you paint hit the light and shadow patterns first.

A painting can range from High Key (overall light) to Low Key (overall dark). There is also the major key (overall proportions) and a minor key (contrast range with your painting). It is important to fine tune your comparing and expand the way you compare.

Venetian Masters - Nude

Final work on the painting from the model.

These are the current layers of my painting.

Titian Copy

This is the last work I've done of the Titian.

Worked on the background a lot yesterday.

Here's my first layer of color on my Titian.

I forgot to take a picture of the burnt umber and white layer. Here is the add black and second layer of whites layer.

Here are some steps on the Titian copy I'm working on.

Pencil on Grid
Burnt Umber Washes