The Screen Print

In order to keep my eye fresh, I like to work with different mediums. The Screen Print is a fun way for me to problem solve and get simplistic in my work. I make either a drawing or an oil sketch to work from. The Screen Print is also known as silkscreen, serigraphy,  and serigraph printing.
I love the silkscreen because you don't need a press, and the play of colors you get from this type of printmaking.

I do a little preliminary work before I begin making the print. Pastels of crayons works best for setting up the image with as few colors as possible. I used four colors in this pastel sketch, white is created by the paper, this make five colors. Now I only need four screens to make the color shapes.

Four Values of Black and White

There are several methods to silkscreen. The method I prefer is a more painterly approach. I usually block out where I want the color to be, then I go over it with screen filler, this creates the screen but is not the most precise method. Most graphic designers use a photographic method.
You can read more about these methods from "@"speedball instructions booklet".

I make the first screen color a warm color let it dry then use the same screen to pull a blue over it.

Here is one of the prints, I make several trying different colors to express the image the way I want.

Using the four screens you can make five colors and blocking out for example the bottom part of the screen above, it's possible to  make six colors.





Printmaking in general is a great way to learn about the simple "Notan" design that is essential to good painting.
Notan is the Japanese design concept involving the play and placement of light and dark as they are placed next to the other in art and imagery.

Here is a copy of an Arthur Westley Dow design I used to make a Tee Shirt.
One Screen was used for this print.

I make a few more pulls from my  screens before my final pull to see how I want my colors to work in the design. It's important to work from the lighter colors to the darker colors in this method.

In my final pull I used the four screens to make six colors by using two of my screens twice to create the six colors.
Now I can use my screens to make as many prints as I want.

Kitchen Art

I love the work of Wayne Thiebaud, it's simple and painterly.
I am inspired by Thiebaud, and  want to try painting in a real simple direct way. It gets me in my studio.  when I'm stuck trying something where you make up the color and paint one or two items gets me creative again.
I bring these paintings home and put them in my kitchen.

I set my painting up under a light to paint the drama of the simple object. I used my salt and pepper shaker as a subject. I paint on wide canvas that way I don't need to frame the painting it looks modern as well, which is my decor.

Dean Keller, Artist, Teacher

Figure Study, Cairo, 1995 charcoal/paper
by Dean Keller

John Clayton's early drawing

I stumbled upon this drawing I did one winter studying drawing in New York  with Deane Keller.

 Deane taught a lot of talented artist's. I thought I would share his interesting small sketch Deane did on the side of my drawing to help me understand the center line.
 I also remember Mr Keller teaching proportions which can be seen on the other side of the drawing.

I get so focused on the landscape, I forget to develop the figure
It's so great to find this gem and perhaps spend some time drawing the figure as well.
Dean Keller felt that most art schools where too cavalier in there approach to training artist's how to draw.
I copied and pasted from Wikipedia a short bio on Deane Keller


 Deane Galloway Keller (August 1, 1940 – January 4, 2005) was an American artist, academic and author.^[1] Keller was a draftsman, painter, sculptor, and teacher who instructed students in the visual arts for forty years, most notably in figure drawing and the artistic application of human anatomy. 

Fall in Beech Forest

Beech Forest is a beautiful nature reserve, in the national seashore park. It has great nature trails, bike trails and attracts many birds, and bird watchers.
For years many artist;s have been painting here because of the wooded and pond scenes it provides. Beech Forest is one more example of the many variety in landscape motifs Provincetown provides.
This was the last fall painting I did this season. After the recent storms we lost all the foliage. I was only able to work on this twice before beech forest turned to winter.
I find painting these type scenes challenging, the colors of the trees are so interesting as is the  reflection of the water.

Flower and Kettle Still Life

I bought this kettle at a garage sale, a few years ago. I always wanted to paint this kettle, the difficultly was in the arrangement.  I used lighter objects in front to soften the kettle and make it relate to the background.  I worked on the start of this painting with a brush, as apposed to the painting knife. I will develop this painting in my studio for the next few days.

Studio Painting of "Two Boats"

This is a large painting I worked on for several days in the studio. The painting size is 30x30. I like working on square sizes they give a very different feel to my work.
I worked on this painting in my studio, from a small painting. I am not afraid to work on large paintings from life outdoors I often do that, however working from a small painting in the studio is an interesting process. I don't like to to lock myself in my plein air rules.
In my studio I learn so much from the process of just painting. I am excited to paint different subjects and finding new ways of expressing myself through my art.
I will take a drawing and turn into a painting using my imagination to explore the color.
I'm not concerned with how original I am or if I have something to "say'. I simply enjoy the process of putting down the paint.

Fall Still Life

Still life poorly organized composition

 The Winter time is upon us and for most of us plein air artist's it's time to go to our studios.
Over the years I have had different studio's depending on my situation.
My studio is an  interesting destination. I can study and experiment away from the curious bystander that I meet in plein air painting.
I find doing still life in my studio the best way to learn color composition and form.


I first started painting my still life with a knife. Something was bothering me about it. The color was okay but the composition was alarming and uninteresting.
 After two days of working on the still I was thinking of abandoning my painting out of frustration."what was it, my set up? the content?" . By stepping back  from the set up I could see everything was veering to the left leaving empty space.
I made a small sketch and then started a new painting of the same set up. This time I used the brush to block in. Although the still life isn't finished it has a better arraignment and therefore more interesting  to paint.

Still life Better placement

Provincetown Art Collection

 

Voting day is a special event, in Provincetown the whole town gathers together for this joyful event.  Attending  town hall is like going to one of the greatest small museums in the country. Being the oldest art colony in America we have the widest collection of Provincetown art here in our town hall. Two of the painting on the top are some of the mud head demonstrations of Charles Hawthorne. Below it I included one of Hawthorne's famous fisherman paintings. Then there are two early paintings of Henry Hensche.

Every office in town is a special room of Art. Blanche Lizzell and Max Bohm are all among  the artist's in this famous collection.

I often bring student's who are from out of town here while they are taking my workshop.

There is always something to learn from these paintings and it's free!

Pam Hudson's office where the Hawthorne hangs

On Line to vote with Max Bohn Painting in the background.

Henry Hensche Painting

At His Breakfast by Hensche

George Bellows Great Design

     

George Bellows, was a great American artist, he was one of the "Eight" and Ashcan painters.
In the painting, " A Stag at Sharkey's" Bellows makes a terrific design of big darks and lights.
The unity of the two prize fighters as well creates this tremendous sense of space.
I copied this master painting shown above, to learn something of these tonal patterns that create space and design.
I'm not concerned with copying an exact rendition, I'm interested in the feeling of strong tonal patterns and design which drew me to this painting.
I think the best class we can take is from the masters who are no longer present in body, but their spirit lives on in their work.

New England Fall

While walking my dog in the neighborhood, I stumbled across this house with a beautiful fall tree in font.
The scene seems very new england to me.
There was something about the red house that made me think how these colors coming together created a fall scene.

I started this painting and finished the painting with a brush. I established the big shapes with color and then added a few details.

I always establish the light key by creating a warm color for the sky. I use different colors for blue clear skies.
 If I want to establish a sunny clear sky I never just use light blue, I usually mix a warm color into my sky to give it the feeling of light.

Water Like Glass

Driving by Captain Jacks wharf, I noticed the color intensity and  how glass like the bay was. I grabbed my easel from the back of my car and dived in.
Captain Jack's is a nostalgic, colorful and historic fishing wharf, that so many of us local artist's paint.

My center of interest was the boat and it's refection, however. I like how clear the water is, and how it makes the reflection of both wharf and boat appear.

Atwood Lane Painting

finger like shadow

Shadow flowing and unifying shadows

For the last couple weeks I have been working on this lane painting, when the conditions are right.
I work on this scene on sunny mornings.
I like to take my paintings home and live with them before I bring them to the gallery.
It's a chance for me to enjoy them, and see how they actually are working.
How is the design, color, drawing?
When I took Atwood Lane home I noticed the design of the shadow was awful. It looked like a huge claw.
Rather than burning the painting, I simply worked on the unpleasing shadow and made it behave.
Often times the color is bad, the values are broken up or the drawing is off.
In Atwood Lane the case was that it just didn't flow.

Burning It Down

Purging  yourself of old paintings is a symbolic and spiritual experience that every artist should experience.
During the Ten Days the Shook the World festival I set my paintings on fire as a symbol. Not every painting works and if it's junk get rid of it.
Sometimes you can paint over old paintings especially if they are painted on canvas. When they are painted on wood or masonite it's more difficult to paint over and it's best to destroy.

I also am in control of my art,. I make the decision to destroy it and not share with the world something that is just not coming together.
I have learned living in a small art colony like Provincetown never through a painting in the trash or dump. Some Clown is going to find it and sell it. They are going to capitalize on your angst and frustration not to mention the money you invest in supplies.
I can't save every painting. I don't have the space in my head or home for it.
Burning an old painting is freeing and creates this sense of humble freedom.

Ten Days that Shook the World Demo

Provincetown 10 Days of Art festival is an amazing event that is currently taking place in Provincetown. Herring Cove Beach Bathhouse in the Cape Cod Nations Seashore, is a multi Media exhibition, before its demolition.
It was amazing to be a part of this event. To come together with many local creative artist's and create something.
I took on the more traditional approach painting a portrait demonstration. I was a amazed at how many people show up to see my demonstration. I basically painted a portrait of my buddy Troy, explaining my painting approach to the audience, while I painted.
Painting a portrait in front of that many people challenged me. I went outside my comfort zone. I feel comfortable painting a landscape or still but to paint the head in front of a group left me exposed and opened me up.
I have always had a love for this type of painting but haven't felt that I'm good enough. Having this experience made me realize that it's not about being good, it's about creating something and sharing your joy of creating.
For me, the Ten Days That Shook the World,  shook my world!
To read more about this event check out their website http://www.provincetowngalleryguild.org

Orleans Color Boot Camp

Last weekend was my last Color Boot Camp in Orleans. It was a blast. We had a combination of different weather and light keys to contend with. I can't get over how beautiful Orleans surrounding area is.
The students mostly worked in oil but I had a couple who worked in acrylics. That was a first teaching with acrylics. It turned out fairly well. The only difficulty was drying time was quick and with oils wet into wet makes painting outside much easier.
Everyone had a little trouble at first breaking up the masses or big shapes. I explained that once you establish the masses you can't change the value only the color. After working on this all weekend everyone was able to "hold the mass".
It was great to see at the last critique everyone was able to come away with two different light keys.
We all had a great time getting to know each other and learning , as I told my class everyone was able to advance and "no child
left behind".

Reflection of the Dory

Dory Reflection

Reflections are some of the most interesting subjects in landscapes.
I couldn't resist painting this dory and it made the perfect subject for a small painting.
Most of the instruction on reflection is basic. The shadow side of the boat reflection is going to be a little lighter in the shadow then it's shade. The lighter side reflection is going to be a little deeper in value than it is in the light. These are generalizations that do not always apply, however they help the artist is what to look for when painting reflections.

I find when the water is calm this is generally true, when there are ripples something different might be happening. Anyway if your going to paint the coast your going to have to read up on some of these ideas. I read most of the Gruppe books I find he was a master at painting water.
Gruppe on Color and his other books are out of print. Most library's have a system where they exchange lending through the system.  I have read most of my art books this way.

I sold this to a woman that is a native to Provincetown. Jill has been after me for years to sell her a small  
painting when she saw this she stop and said "that's the one"!

Cape School Painting at Framingham HIgh

 Yesterday I taught an outside class at Framingham High School outside of Boston.
Although these seniors have had some art instruction they never painted before.

I gave a short demonstration about outdoor painting. First thing is defining the light and shade.
Out doors you can see the light and shade more clearly than inside, even if you have a spot light turned on the subject.
It was amazing to see how fearless these young people are. They just paint and expect it to turn out! I wish I had this sort of confidence myself.
I hope they will be able to come next summer to Provincetown  and apply for the scholarship that the cape school offers to young folks.

Posing for the Class

 Last week I took some time to take advantage of Camille Przewodek's workshop here in Provincetown. I enjoy studying with other artist's because I understand my own limitations, and would like to improve.
I learned more about painting in color with a brush. I found just watching Camille paint interesting.  Camille has a lot of energy and walked all over town to teach and all the painting spots. It was an inspiring experience.
I always wanted to experience what Camille had to offer and the opportunity presented itself when Camille came to my own back yard so to speak.
Part of my tuition was to pose for the workshop.
Camille did a demo of me first and then the class painted All the paintings  turned out great! I was thrilled with weeks outcome.

The Color Police

Here's a picture of Mike Rooney getting a citation from the color police for using too much brown and grey. This is home of Hensche.

Actually Mike had a nice painting going on with color, and the gentile man complained about Mike being too close to his fence. This sort of thing rarely happens in Provincetown. Most folks come out and greet the artist's with refreshments.

I always ask if I might paint from some ones property. They usually say yes and offer refreshments and their restroom. We all know how hard it is to find a restroom  when your working on location Mike was well on public property but was just having an experience with someone suffering with August itus

The Next two pictures are of Camille's painting today in the westend I love the trees and the road, also I find her color choices interesting. Camille thought it was more about the road, than the tree. Well, whichever it is, it is a lovely painting. 

My Plein Air Bike

My Plein Air Bike has been around a longtime and it's ready for retirement. The paint stays on my pallet while I ride up and down streets bring my easel and supplies along. The baskets hold my supplies and I use big clamps to clip my pallet on the back of my bike.