Finally back to painting!

July 4, 2024

Hi everybody! Finally I am getting back into the swing of things with painting.
Working on 3 different pieces, one is nearing completion and it is a bit of a departure of my usual work: it’s a scenery… Inspired by life, so to speak and I will soon present it to you…

In the meantime, let me introduce you to my newest studio buddy. I have not come up with a fitting name, so if you have any ideas, do let me know…

I think that ‘it’ is a male, but I am not sure… Females have a wider pelvis, that’s the only true identifier. So I am trying to find a name that will fit both genders….

‘It’ fits my cozy little studio very well and ‘it’ will help me with future anatomic endeavours. Bodies can look strange sometimes due to perspective foreshortening, especially hands. So by putting ‘it’ in the right position, I will at least be able to see which bones are in which position while doing some figurative work.

Artistic fuel: summer lessons

The reason I am starting to come out of my artistic funk, is an invite to participate in a summer course. I am working with Will Kemp Art School of the British artist Will Kemp. (https://willkempartschool.com/) I have had the opportunity to experience his easy going style of teaching a couple of times before in video courses, and when I heard he was offering individual summer courses via Zoom, I did not have to think for long. The course is very different from anything I have done before. It is based on one-on-one sessions via Zoom (but I can see a personal encounter in my future!) and is completely catered to the things I would like to expand on. And I am having a blast. Will is a fabulous teacher and mentor and I cannot wait to see what I will produce under his influence.

Homework…

Of course, there is no summer study without homework. Right now we are at the stage of improving my foundation work. Contrary to what I always thought before I was introduced to working with paints in 2016, painting does not happen in one sitting.

Foundation work… trying to go from one colour to the other with as little difference as possible. It is relevant to the piece I am working on with Will…

It is not just a matter of taking a brush, a pallette and a canvas and creating a masterwork. Haha. I was not really that naive… But there are many artists and they each have their own ‘system’. Will’s approach is very down-to-earth. Create your pallette first, with all the colour- and shade-mixes, before you touch your canvas. So that is my main homework. Only then do we start to talk about the best approach for a given subject.

We have found the perfect subject. A painting that I have tried to do three times now, and that always failed for technical reasons. So that is the focus of a lot of the upcoming lessons. And in the meantime we exchange art ideas and it leaves me so inspired that I almost don’t know what to do with all this artistic energy!

A strange contradiction

It may seem strange to you that it is technique that holds me back with painting, but it is really true. My forte are portraits and I am very confident about doing them. But I want to be able to tackle more subjects. I have created art from a very young age, without any formal training. I could have attended a well-known Florence academy, that accepted me a couple of years ago. But what with Covid and lacking financials, that never panned out. (Financial sponsors welcome though!) So I work with the skills I developed myself.

Up to a mature age, I worked in black and white: pencil, charcoal, ink… I did some colour work in pencil and pastels. But when I discovered the joy of explicitly using colour, a whole new world opened.

My favourite subjects are any creatures that have a heartbeat. Be it animals or people. But not abstracts or landscapes. I don’t quite know what to do with them, and therefore don’t really have a lot of experience there. I have some on my walls, but I have to admit that creating them, albeit fun, did not give me the satisfaction I usually get from painting. But of course, this is an issue when you do a portrait that needs a good background, realistic or otherwise. And it is the painting techniques that are my main stumbleblock. So… I am very curious to see where I will land after this summer course will be completed. I will have more tools in my belt, that is for sure…

I will leave you with another lovely picture of my new studio buddy. Still in its protective plastic bag here, but of course, that has now been removed. Wouldn’t want to suffocate it…

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