Inspiration from Jamie Wyeth

 I was intrigued by the following videos and article on artist Jamie Wyeth. I saw his work  in 2005 in Maine at the Farnsworth Museum (Wyeth Center). I loved his seagull series,  entitled "Seven Deadly Sins". What an interesting man and really fun to watch him work! (painting on cardboard in the first video!)

Inferno was shot on Location in Jamie Wyeth’s Studio, on his island off the Coast of Maine. 
Jamie, a celebrated contemporary realist painter, son of Andrew Wyeth, grandson of N. C. Wyeth, has never been filmed at work until the making of this short. Working with great intensity and focus Jamie applies thick watercolors and charcoal to a 60x80 inch piece of corrugated cardboard using his fingers, hands, brushes, and paperclips. As we watch the work in progress the film brings us so close we can hear the roaring inferno of burning garbage and the shrieking of Gulls. 

CLICK HERE to watch "Inferno" 

A Wyeth Sense of Place

This film depicts the work of painter Jamie Wyeth (son of Andrew Wyeth). Mr.Wyeth shows us his love for painting and the land where he grew up.  [This is an excerpt from a half-hour program]

CLICK HERE to watch 

2 Paintings from the Seven Deadly Sins Series....

Gluttony & Anger 

CLICK images to see more...

 

February 09, 1981

 

Vol. 15

 

No. 5  PEOPLE Magazine Article

Possessive of Privacy and a Master of Disguises, Painter Jamie Wyeth Meets the World Incognito

By Richard Meryman

I really envy you," Jamie Wyeth once told his lifelong friend Jimmy Lynch. "You can be you, and nobody notices what you do. I always have to be me and everybody notices." It was no exaggeration; Jamie Wyeth was born conspicuous. Not only is he the grandson of the noted illustrator N.C. Wyeth and the son of Andrew Wyeth, America's most famous living painter, Jamie himself grew up prodigiously blessed. He was handsome, humorous, intelligent, exciting—and by 17 was painting mature portraits well beyond his father's accomplishments at the same age. At 20 he had his first New York show.  Read more...

Mass vs. Contour

MASS vs. CONTOUR   

One of the things I discuss in class most often is learning to see in MASS! Seems we are conditioned from the time we first pick up a crayon (or as my grandson calls it "care on"), to outline and then fill in the spaces! While this is not 'wrong', it continues to keep me in a linear mode as I work. I think this is one reason that I have often felt my paintings had a contrived feel to them. When I am thinking in linear mode, I tend to work in a piecemeal fashion, working on bits and pieces here and there. I am finally moving out of that mode of work, looking for beautiful shapes that might unify or tie together the separate parts. When continuing in the outline mode after my initial start, it seems I have a difficult time loosening up and letting the beautiful creative flow take charge. As Daniel Greene often said, "It is all much easier than you ever imagined". Instead of continuing to hold the charcoal or brush in a pencil grip style, if I flip it over, perpendicular to my fingers and begin massing with the side, instead of the point, my drawings and paintings are instantly more fluid and painterly.

The worksheet below is from Andrew Loomis' book Creative Illustration. 

You can find a copy of it here

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/31460994/AndrewLoomis-creativeillustration 

 It is in pages 115-117. Loomis' books are fabulous!! 

Step by Step through a Pastel Portrait

This is my niece's daughter Bailey. I loved the sunlight on the tips of her hair and her sweet expression. I took about 250 shots of her out in the garden. I needed a sample for a gallery in pastel and thought she would be a great subject.
I photographed these stages at night (which is when the world slows down enough for me to paint without distraction.) I used a warm light so the color is off a bit. The paper I used was white so you can see the warm tungsten lighting. 

I started with a charcoal drawing. You can see that I don't always get an exact likeness
especially in my first drawing. The likeness comes as I develop it more and more. 

Next I started laying in color, darks first.
It is very important to be able to get a likeness
and even more to convey the essence of
the person and not just to strive to be a copyist.

It is this stage that feels most like Kindergarten. It is a messy stage,
one of my teachers called it the 'burn victim stage'. 

Working in a mosaical fashion laying in chunks of color
I continue working all over the painting,
looking at my subject each time I record a stroke.
No matter what medium you use, you are drawing each time
 you lay in a stroke whether using a brush,
 pastel or stick of charcoal.
Drawing is the foundation of painting.

You often find warm, pink tones through the mid section of the face
in ears, cheeks and around nose. Often where shadow & light meet
is a warm glowy color, like down the bridge of nose.

Looking for cool tones in the shadows especially.
Not too much or it will look like a bruise.

I often see cool tones around the mouth, not usually IN the mouth,
as that tends to make your subject look oxygen deprived.
The inside of the mouth is almost always a WARM color.

Beginning to smooth the tiles of color together with pastel pencils.
 I don't use my finger due to all the oils in my hands. Tortillians or stumps seems to drag color around and muddy things up.
Pastel pencils are hard enough to blend without adding much color.
They work perfectly for blending. 

Adding more color after I smoothed the skintones

Cleaning up with a kneaded eraser and washing my hands often
in order not to muddy up colors.

Brightening up skin tones and continuing to smooth

I often use cool backgrounds to accentuate the warm flesh tones of skin.
I chose a medium dark value since her hair was so light
and I used dark at the bottom to make the sunlight in her hair show better.
(It was also one of my young student's suggestion. Thanks Meg!! )

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Color DVD Keeping it Simple

COLOR DVD Keeping it Simple
 http://www.PortraitCreations.com CHRISTINE PILKINTON STUDIO presents instructional DVD covering such topics as mixing skin tones,learning to see color, order of color, methods of working, making color charts, basic materials, basic skin tones made simple, narrated examples of over 25 living and old masters paintings & importance of inspiration and instruction in learning to see color.

Watch video trailer of COLOR...Keeping it Simple 

Robert Genn Wisdom!

Robert Genn Wisdom!
I LOVE getting Twice-Weekly newsletters from Robert Genn. Here is a recent one on studios and your working space.  Robert Genn Twice Weekly Newsletter

Casey Baugh Workshop Video

Casey Baugh Workshop Video
Got first of a series of videos edited from Casey's workshop. Lots of movement, heavy camera lens on a mono pod for hours but you get the gist!  What a great week!!! 

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for updates on new videos. 

CaseyBaughFineArt.com

Workshop Momentum

I just returned from a week of study with artist Casey Baugh at Townsend Atelier in Chattanooga, Tennessee and ONCE AGAIN I am so inspired and ready to roll up my sleeves, dig into a more deliberate and passionate pace of painting, gardening, teaching and trying to organize my life into manageable segments.

Casey poured out instruction without reserve and inspired us all over lunch discussions, studio demos, slideshows, material reviews, easel to easel instruction and much more. I left there with over 100 GB of video, maybe 500 images, new Rosemary brushes and an excitement to paint!!!

Here are a few shots from the week. I will post video (at Casey's urging) soon!!! I will write more...maybe...if I can fit it into my passionate plan!

Painting our beautiful model Sarah

Missing 2 or 3 who left early...a great group of artists from as far as Rome!