Art and Influence

Armand Cabrera

Gunnar Mauritz Widforss was born in Stockholm Sweden in 1879. Gunnar’s father was a prominent business man and store owner. Gunnar attended the Stockholm Technical School and began studying art there.

Upon his graduation from the Technical School Gunnar traveled to St Petersburg Russia to work as a decorative painter. After 18 months he returned home for a brief time before leaving for ten years to travel through most of Europe and then America, painting commissions in watercolor and living a bohemian lifestyle. By 1912 Gunnar had begun to achieve some success for his watercolors, two watercolors were accepted into the Paris Salon that year and six paintings were acquired by the king of Sweden. With the outbreak of the First World War Gunnar could not travel until the conflict was over.

When Gunnar began travelling again he headed to America working his way west. His plan was to eventually travel to Asia but he ran out of funds. In 1921 he was in California. In March of that same year Gunnar made it to Yosemite and lived there on a regular basis in 1928. Gunnar became a citizen of the United States in 1929.

It was in Yosemite that Gunnar met Stephen Mather, the first Director of the National Park Service. Mather encouraged Gunnar to paint the National Parks and Gunnar took the advice to heart painting most of the Western National Parks, Yosemite, Sequoia, Zion, Bryce, Yellowstone and The Grand Canyon. He also painted up and down the California coast, Death Valley and Catalina Island.

Yosemite and the Grand Canyon are the parks that Gunnar would become most famous for in his travels. Gunnar preferred to paint on location sometimes spending weeks travelling to a spot to finish his paintings outdoors. Even though he was warned to avoid the high altitude of the Grand Canyon after being diagnosed with a weak heart he continued to live and paint there. He died at the south rim of the canyon at the age of 54.

Bibliography

Gunnar Widforss Painter of the Grand Canyon

Bill Belknap and Frances Spencer

Northland Press 1969

by
Armand Cabrera

Midday Lone Pine Peak Oil on Linen 30 x 40

One of the things artists continually struggle with is the big picture. The big picture is getting the finished painting to stand as a complete thing in perfect balance with itself. When a painting has succeeded and stays true to its maker’s vision where nothing can be added or removed from it without making it less than it is.

To do this effectively an artist must play to their strengths being sure the idea is one we are capable of realizing. This idea is part of seeing and translating and painting things relative to each other. Everything in painting supports everything else so that together the structure, when completed with the right emphasis is more powerful than the sum of its individual parts.

To do this one must constantly keep track of the big picture. Our job as an artist is to orchestrate everything on the canvas to a satisfying conclusion for the viewer. This is why having an idea is so important. It is why seeing the finished painting in our minds eye helps us to reach that goal. Seeing the big picture is seeing the finished picture and letting go of everything that keeps us bogged down and distracted from achieving our goal.

Armand Cabrera

I know this must annoy some people out there but this is reaching epidemic proportions and so in the interest of artists everywhere I am going to stay on this until people get it through their thick skulls.

Never work for free. If any for-profit entity asks you to do something for them you need to charge for your services. Giving them away in the hopes of getting something later really means you aren't qualified to be paid in the first place. This means you have to work harder to get your skills to a professional level. It’s not smart to give them away in the hope no one will notice it is substandard.

The gallery art market is less prone to this behavior than illustration and production art because galleries want 40% or 50% to represent an artist in their shop. Obviously giving things away isn't a sustainable model under those circumstances

Think about what it means for illustration though. How does this illustrator pay the bills working for free? They can’t, they can’t pay anything obviously which means they must work at another job or depend on someone else to foot the bill while they selfishly play at their desired profession at other peoples expense.

Art is hard, not everyone can make it as a professional. Undercutting working wages is not ethical; not by the people who ask you to work for free or the people who do work for free. Think about that the next time you think your self-interests are more important than the industry you are helping to destroy, by giving away services.

Part of the problem here for younger people are that businesses have abrogated their responsibilities. They operate at such a dysfunctional level they aren't really professional concerns. Anyone in the digital age can throw up a website and claim to be a game or VFX studio even though they can’t actually afford to pay people to work with them. There is a name for this kind of concern, it is called a hobby. It means because you don’t actually make enough to sustain yourself you aren't a real business. Maybe someday you will be but until you make enough money to support yourself you’re an amateur or hobbyist, take your pick. Your hobby doesn't give you the right to take advantage of people or lie to them about how the experience from working on your idea is a stepping stone to paid work, 90% of the time it won’t be.

Don’t just take my word for it here is an article about unpaid internships

http://www.epi.org/blog/unpaid-internships-scourge-labor-market/

here is the highlight of the article

In 2011, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which conducts an annual survey of graduating seniors, made an attempt for the first time to measure the effectiveness of various internships—for-profit, non-profit, state or local government, and federal—by whether they were paid or unpaid. Unpaid internships, it turns out, provided no advantage in terms of full-time job offer rates or starting salary, while paid internships provided a substantial advantage. In fact, unpaid internships in government proved to be a disadvantage in terms of job offers and in every category were a serious disadvantage in terms of starting salary. The average student who had taken an unpaid internship in a for-profit firm earned $18,000 less than students with paid internships and $3,700 less than the average student who had never taken an internship. Students who had had paid internships in the federal government received salary offers averaging $48,668; their colleagues with unpaid federal internships were offered only $33,127, on average.

Unpaid work is exploitation. It is illegal, and colleges and universities should reexamine their role in promoting it. And as Ross Perlin, the author of Intern Nation bluntly puts it, “It’s time to enforce the law.”

by
Armand Cabrera

I have been planning to do a post on Poortvliet for some time when I found this video in English on YouTube put up byErik Fernström its about 20 minutes

He is most famous for his book of Gnomes but had many other books including Journey to the Ice Age, Noah’s Ark, The Living Forest and He Was One of Us. He was the first artist I ever came across that produced books that seemed to be based on sketches loosely built around a theme. They were very organic, and looked to be created the way one would create a personal sketchbook.

While there have been many artists who have produced books of sketches or drawing going back to the beginning of representational art, those books always seemed planned and very formal to me. His books are a marvel, filled with hundreds of drawings and watercolor or oil vignettes stuck all over the pages. Each book also has full page finished paintings every few pages to anchor the rest of the work. Usually the accompanying text is in script.

I don’t have any biographical information from any of his English language books that I own but Wikipedia has some information here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rien_Poortvliet

If you are not familiar with his work I suggest picking up one of his books, The Farm Book, My Grandfather’s House or Dutch Treat are a good place to start. All of his books show a joy of drawing and painting.

Bibliography

The Living Forest

He Was One of Us

The Farm Book

Gnomes

Co-authored with Wil Huygen

Horses

Dutch Treat

Secrets of the Gnomes

Noah’s Ark

In My Grandfather’s House

The Book of the Sandman

Daily Life in Holland in the Year 1566

Dogs

Journey to the Ice Age

Armand Cabrera

I have just returned from six days of painting on St John Island in the Caribbean. I stayed with a friend who owns a house there and we had a great time seeing the sites and enjoying the local food and drink.

I’m still adjusting to a cool Northern Virginia Spring after spending a week in an 80 degree tropical climate. I will post some paintings in the next article once I get organized. In the meantime here is a picture of Arthur and myself painting the overlook at Trunk Bay one of many beautiful places on St John and my finihsed sketch of the scene.

This demo was for students from George Mason University. Every year for the last few years I have come out to The Clifton institute to demo and talk to freshman students about how I interact with nature as an artist. This year 120 student were there to ask questions and see my process as a painter. As an artist I support preservation of native ecosystems and biodiversity and I appreciate what the institute does.

I decided to paint the house with its striking pink color against a very blue spring sky.

For a scene like this with the sun at my back I must be more careful to check my values and colors. If you don't pay attention when painting in the sun like this you can get your paintings too dark. For this painting I used a palette of warm and cool primary colors; Cobalt Blue Ultramarine Blue Alizarin Crimson Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Yellow Light, Cadmium Lemon and Titanium White

I make a careful drawing of the scene and the other elements with a big brush. I use mostly flats for my work preferring their versatility to other brush shapes. Using flats allows me to paint with fewer brushes overall which mean a lighter rig to carry. I like Robert Simmons Signets they are the best brushes on the market in my opinion and hold up to all of the abuse I put them through. I've tried every other brand out there and nothing else comes close in quality and durability.

Because the color of the sky is so important to my idea for the painting I put that in first. When starting relatively early in the morning like I did the sky can change dramatically as the day progresses so getting it locked in is important.

Working from large to small I mass in the local color and tone for more of the elements.

I continue this same process and then start to refine shapes and angles and clean up any edges and drawing errors that become more obvious as I work toward finish

The completed painting pink and blue 24 x 30 oil on linen Painting time 3 hours.

by
Armand Cabrera

Wednesday I got up at 5 am to ride the Metro into DC to paint the Cherry blossoms. I don't go out every year to paint them and I was really looking forward to being there this year. I arrived just as the sun was coming up and hitting the tops of the trees at about 7:30 Am.

The blossoms are very ephemeral and when they start to bloom you only have a few days to capture them if things go well. The weather did not disappoint and it was a beautiful Spring day. Some years the weather is miserable, you never can tell. I have been there painting when it was in the 30's and some years like this year it broke 90.

With two thirds of the Washington monument covered in scaffolding I gave it a pass even though it is one of my favorite subjects on the Mall.

I started and ended my day with the Jefferson Memorial. The Jefferson Memorial with its round shape, dome and columns is always a fun challenge for a two hour painting.

I painted the boathouse in between the two Memorial paintings. By the time I started the second painting it was standing room only in the more popular spots along the shore.

I walked the tidal basin twice taking photos for large studio paintings. I finished my third painting by 2 pm, packed up and headed for the metro before the rush hour mobs. All in all it was a good day and a lot of fun.

By Armand Cabrera

I have been teaching workshops for 15 years now and have been taking workshops for over 20. My teaching came from a need to share information with other artists that seemed to struggle with the mechanics of painting and the philosophy of professionalism. At my last workshop I heard horrible stories from my students about the lack of professionalism from some artists who are now teaching. I thought I would offer some tips for students on what to look out for when signing up for a workshop.

When I started teaching I made a vow to myself to never repeat the things I saw in some of the workshops I've taken from other artists. As a student I vet my teachers and call them before I sign up and make sure they are providing a professional service for my money. I suggest you do the same and if you don’t get the answers you like spend your money elsewhere
.
There are a lot of people teaching now, some because of a bad economy and those people are probably not teaching for the right reasons. If you are taking a workshop there are some things to look out for to make sure you have a good experience and don’t get taken advantage of.

A workshop should have a large well lit venue provided by the teacher or organization that will fit the students and their equipment comfortably. This goes for plein air workshops too. Bad weather is no excuse to not get a painting day in at your workshop. If the teacher or venue hasn't rented such a place for the week, even if they don’t use it, that should be a red flag to a student.

Number of students most people can comfortably teach 10 to 15 students more than that becomes a challenge and takes away from individual attention. If you only see an instructor once during your painting that is another red flag that the instructor is lazy or has too many people in the workshop.

In my workshops I come around to every student at least three times for each painting session. We usually work on two paintings a day. They see me at the start the middle and the finish of each painting so they can get complete guidance on their work.

I always ask if my instructors demo. If they don’t, I don’t take their classes. I don’t care how good they are as a painter; they are a lousy teacher if they can’t actually show you how they do something by doing it in front of students in a workshop setting. It’s another red flag and deal killer for me as a student.

Abusive teaching styles aren't acceptable either. If an instructor is too stupid to explain something without throwing a temper tantrum or being abusive then they should not teach. I have witnessed firsthand some abusive teaching tactics and didn't put up with them; you shouldn't either.

A workshop should be an enlightening experience that invigorates your painting. As a paying customer you have a right to demand a certain level of professionalism from a workshop and teacher. If we hold high standards we will insure we get everything we want.

by
Armand Cabrera

I have written about sir Alfred Munnings before. If you are not familiar with this very talented artist I hope you will take the time to read my previous post here.
The National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg Virginia is hosting an exhibition The Open-Air Works of Alfred Munnings. Over 50 Painting are on display April 21 -August 1 2013, it is free to the public and the show is accompanied by a 136 page softcover catalog. If you are in driving distance of this show it is not to be missed. This is one of the largest displays of the artists work this side of the Atlantic.

by
Armand Cabrera

These are some more images from the A.J.Munnings Show at the Sporting Museum and Library here in Middleburg,Virginia. There are almost 70 paintings in the show even though on the museum website they advertise the show as over fifty. Well worth the drive to see these paintings. The first four paintings are all in oil and the last two are watercolors.

by
Armand Cabrera

There is a sucker born every minute. The quote is attributed to PT Barnum although it has been disputed over the years. Another quote is a fool and their money are soon parted. Both quotes relate to the latest in a series of art books that have cropped up in the last few years asking artists to buy space in their pages.

http://mastersoftoday.com/mot/calls_xyz.htm

These books claim to represent master painters in some genre of painting. For a fee of anywhere from 1000 to 4000 dollars you can be recognized as such a master. Forget about winning awards or having a successful track record of sales through galleries and shows. Now you can buy your master status. These books usually anchor the images with some quality painters to sell the rest of the books pages. Of course after they are printed no one would admit to paying for something that was given away for free to someone else so everyone will claim their spot was given to them.

I have made the list and receive one of these offers every three or four months, if not more. They of course want me to pay; I guess I’m not anchor material yet. The good thing is they usually arrive as an email so no trees were directly harmed in the making of this scam.

I guess this new crop of artists don't realize that book publishers pay you to use your art not the other way around. And people wonder whats wrong with the illustration art market these days.If your work has any value at all people will actually pay you to use it.

These books are nothing more than a new twist on the old vanity press publications, perpetrated to take advantage of large artistic egos attached to small talents. You know who you are… and now everyone else does too. You can hear them chuckling to themselves in the art section of Barnes and Nobles as they look up people they know when these books hit the shelves.

Armand Cabrera

I am going to teach an art for computer games class for rising 8th through 12 grade age students starting in July. The class will be through G W Community School. Information is here for interested parties. The class will be focused on basic working methods for idea creation, iteration and execution and presentation. We will use traditional media and Photoshop. The course runs for the month of July and is 5 hours a day Monday though Friday.

Armand Cabrera

I have not always painted in oils. I originally started painting in acrylics at fifteen. Later when I was hired for my first job in the entertainment industry as a background artist, I continued to paint with acrylics. It wasn’t until I decided to make the jump to gallery painting that I switched over to oils and before I did I researched the proper use for oil paint and read up on materials and techniques. I talked to a conservator and asked about proper technique to ensure long life for my paintings. We talked about what to paint on and about sizing and grounds and pigment layers.

Basically the paintings that have the best chance of survival are ones that follow certain rules to insure anatomical strength for the physical painting. Paintings on hard surfaces have less chance of cracking than paintings on stretched surfaces. if you don’t use linen or cotton the surface must be prepared with a ground to hold the paint. If the surface is wood it must be completely dried to prevent warping and flexing as it dries. Kiln dried wood is best for painting. Gesso and oil prime are what most people use as a ground today. If painting on linen or cotton the fabric must first be sized or sealed to prevent rotting or allowing moisture to invade the layers of pigment. Animal glue was the preferred size for years but that has now given way to polymer sizes made with PVA.

Traditional gesso was made with glue and mixed with chalk or gypsum. Modern gesso is acrylic paint, usually titanium white and calcium carbonate with preservatives like ammonia and formaldehyde added as a preservative,

Oil prime was originally lead carbonate pigment mixed with turpentine this has been replaced with titanium white for safety reasons. Lead white is more expensive and carcinogenic than other whites and has fallen out of use as a commercial ground and as a paint for application although it can still be purchased.

After the ground applying the pigments should follow the fat over lean rule where layers of applied paint contain more oil in the later stages. Thinning your paint with medium or solvents breaks down the paint and makes it more prone to flaking and cracking. I was told the impressionist paintings were the easiest to preserve because the paintings were layered very simply. They usually contain a size and ground for the canvas and then pigments were applied and then a varnish was added. I have followed this advice for my career using oils and I have not run into any problems of permanence.

This is a different approach than more academic paintings which could have layers upon layers of pigments and glazes with different types of mediums and extenders to retard or quicken drying times for the paint. This latter type of painting has a greater chance of problems for permanence s as the painting ages. Extra care must be taken to insure the stages are preserved correctly when drying so the pigment doesn't delaminate or crack over time. This includes using liquin which has become a popular commercial medium and homemade mediums of various mixtures and consistencies.

A trip to the museum will show the veracity of this advice. Paintings on stretched surfaces and paintings that have many layers of pigment and glazes show a tendency to crack and come apart even in as few as fifty years. This is especially true of the modern art movement where some painters introduced fugitive substance into their work that destroyed the integrity of the pieces and created a nightmare for restorers. Other paintings like some orthodox Russian Icon paintings on oak panels or copper look as fresh as the day they were painted.

Recommended Reading

The artists Handbook of Materials and Techniques (fifth edition)

Ralph Mayer

By Armand Cabrera

The last piece of painting anatomy is varnishing your painting if it is painted in oils. No painting step creates more uncertainty and problems for oil painters then varnishing. A varnish layer was added to paintings for protection from chemical reactions from air and sunlight and also dust and soot from household smoke from candles, oil and gas lamps, wood and coal burning stoves and fireplaces. Another benefit to varnishing a painting was the varnish evened the painting out visually. Oil paintings have different pigments drying to different finishes of glossiness. Some were very flat and some shiny. Applying a varnish unified the painting surface and gave the colors a fresh wet look.

When varnishing, a thin uniform coat of varnish is preferable to a heavy coat. A heavy coat is actually less durable and more susceptible to decay and problems. The best application is spraying on varnish while the painting is laying flat and then once the varnish has set turning the painting towards a wall face down to prevent dust and other objects reaching the surface.

There are a number of picture varnishes on the market, but basically they break down into two camps matte and glossy varnish. The three most accepted materials for varnishes are Damar, Mastic and Acrylic; two of them, Damar and mastic are made from trees the third is an acrylic solution, methacrylate, a polymer that has been used by museum conservators since the 1930's as a final varnish. Damar and its acrylic substitute have the best properties for picture varnish. Varnishes have other compounds added to them to make them have a matte finish and there is no matte varnish recommended as a final varnish by conservators.

The question of when to varnish is a nightmare for painters. According to the material handbook a painting should be varnished sooner than too late. That is, after the oil in the pigment has dried. When using linseed oil, that is about two months’ time in a normal climate. The reason for this is oil paints begin adverse chemical reactions when exposed to air and sunlight. The sooner you seal them from these the better it is for the painting. Another train of thought is to varnish as soon as the painting is dry to the touch and let the varnish age with the painting. This works better if you are using an acrylic varnish which will retain a more flexible structure over time.

My best advice is to try some tests and see what kind of results you get. I usually varnish my oil paintings within the first couple of months and I use an acrylic varnish.

By Armand Cabrera

Jack lorimer Gray

I have been in quite a few discussions lately revolving around a similar theme. That theme is an artist’s role in a project and should they have a personal style to their work. Depending on what part of the process an artist is involved in the answer is usually yes they should have their own recognizable style to their work. The exception is in production art of a game or animated film where there is a project style already set by the concept artists or stylist on the project. Then the production artists have a responsibility to follow the project style.

To clear up some terminology lets be specific about some words; style is how you draw and paint something. It is how you make your marks and the choices you make about composition and color and value. Genreis the type of painting your style fits into. Realism, impressionism, abstract painting, photo-realism and all the other subcategories are all genres of painting. Subject matter is what you choose to paint. It has nothing to do with the tools you use or the medium you work in. I see a lot of people confuse the idea of style with subject matter and or genre and this is wrong.

Another topic in the discussions has been about the idea of gallery art and illustrative painting. There is only one difference between the disciplines and that is in the purpose for the creation of the art in my opinion. The purpose of gallery art is the selling of the art itself. Illustrative arts like illustration, concept art or production art, the art is in service of a product to sell, the art is not the final concern. Here is where it gets more complicated though and the lines truly blur. Gallery art can be used as illustration after the fact through the purchase of the image and illustration can be sold as a piece of gallery art after it has served its purpose and been returned to the artist If the artist created the image traditionally. Even digital artists can sell prints of their illustrative work if they retained the rights to do so after the job. All art should be judged on it quality and impact not its purpose.

Let’s return to the artist’s role on a job. I don’t think an artist’s role is to be a wrist when they are hired. That type of art creation is the lowest form of work for an artist and one I have always avoided. My paintings come from my ideas about solving a problem visually. A client provides me with the problem to solve or I make one up for myself but its mine to solve once it’s decided that I’m the one to create the image. While the process can be collaborative if both parties choose it to be, it should never be completely at the whim of a non-artist. That is the kiss of death for any piece of artwork.

If you are hired to paint a commission or create concept art or visualize a brief as an illustrator it is your job to bring your brain as well as your ability to the job. The two should be inseparable really. Working artists have a responsibility to educate people about the process and what to expect from you as the artist on any given project. The client has the right to expect you to fulfill certain requirements when hired but they don’t need to be in your head telling you every aspect of how to do your job. You must assume that if you are chosen for a job it is because the client is attracted to your work and style. Don’t let them go off the rails and have you create something completely devoid of your talents. While good art can be collaborative, great art is a singular vision controlled and executed by the artist only.

by
Armand Cabrera

Even though I continue to paint traditionally I like using digital painting tools like Adobe Photoshop, Corel Sketchpad, Artrage, Corel Painter, and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro. All of them have their benefits and problems. These sketches are made with Photoshop using a regular round brush shape. I set a time limit and draw everything freehand from life. Its a good way to practice observational skills as well as honing my tablet skills. I use a Wacom Intuos.

More and more I use digital for my preliminary work even for my landscape paintings because of ease of use and the ability to keep multiple versions and ideas until I decide to paint traditionally. Digital software is just another tool to use as an artist and I think in its proper role can be quite beneficial to an artist and their creative output.

Most people I know who paint traditionally have abandoned traditional slides and print film and use digital cameras. They also use large monitors for photo ref instead of printing everything like the old days.
Paint software and hardware are no different.

By Armand Cabrera

I have written about Andrew Loomis before on this blog, you can find those articles in the sidebar under Andrew Loomis. Now Titan Books has reprinted five of the six books written by Loomis while he was still alive. The seventh Eye of the Painter was published posthumously after his death and is more of a philosophical book than a how to book and has not yet been reprinted.

The books are beautifully reproduced and are quite a bargain at fewer than 30 dollars each. Even though I own a complete set of the original books I bought the reprints to use as working copies and they are exact large format hard cover books and reproduced down to the typos.

If you do not own copies of these books I suggest picking them up, they areFun with a Pencil , FigureDrawing for All its Worth, Creative Illustration, Drawing the head and Hands,and Successful Drawing.

The last one, Successful Drawing was revised during Loomis’ lifetime and re-released as Three Dimensional Drawing with an additional 20 pages of information not included in the first book. I had hoped Titan would combine the volumes and release them but they didn't. Still, Successful Drawingis worth the price for any serious artist.

If you are just starting out these books are invaluable for getting you on the right track. Support the publisher and family by buying these books. While some of the information is dated stylistically, the fundamental ideas are all sound and still relevant to this day.

Armand Cabrera

Dean Cornwell

How does an artist maintain success throughout their lives? I remember seeing an interview with Don Henley of the Eagles once. The interviewer was asking him about success. Henley said he thought success was the ability for endless repetition. I always took that to mean that success is as much about servitude as much as it is about talent. Service to your audience or your clients, for as long as you can do that willingly you can be successful. That seems easier as a musician, where if you are willing, you can make a career out of a handful of songs or tunes that you are known for.

Good advice it seems but what about changing tastes? How does that work for visual artists? Sometimes you can reinvent yourself and your audience will follow but most of the time that isn't true. What if the things you become successful for no longer satisfies you as an artist? If you decide to keep doing the same things you still run the risk of losing your clients because of them changing and growing older.

Norman Rockwell

Some artists can split their time between what pays them and what satisfies them; making two types of art. That’s fine if your industry grows and thrives but what if it doesn't? Remember album cover artists? Some artist don’t have to make a living from their art, they have a spouse or an inheritance or are retired with a pension. Some decide to not make their living as artists, settling for a steady paycheck and pension as teachers or even work outside the art field completely.

I have been reading a couple of different posts online from younger and older artists struggling with these issues. It seems everything is fine starting out, things are still fresh enough that they can enjoy it even if it isn't completely satisfying. How do you hold on to that though after ten or twenty or thirty years?

Mead Scheaffer

Most people will live into their eighties or longer. If they start their careers in their twenties or thirties, that’s fifty or sixty years. Think about that. Think about how much the art markets have changed in that time frame in the past? If you work as an artist now think about what your market looked like forty or fifty years ago. Magazines, comics, books, TV, Movies, Games, ten years is a long time for most genres. As an artist do you change styles and mediums to keep current? As an artist can you even do that successfully?

I've seen some artists do it, Dean Cornwell, Meade Scheaffer, Norman Rockwell, Kelly Freas, Jon Schoenherr. All evolved their styles throughout their careers It seems the more successful ones adopt new trends and make it their own, so they reinvent themselves but stay recognizable to their audience. Others like Syd Mead or Alfred Munnings manage to keep going and even though they improve they change their style very little. I’d like to hear people’s thoughts on this. What are your plans for keeping your career going if you have one now?

Syd Mead

Armand Cabrera

I have noticed more and more students eschewing direct observation from life for their painting and in doing so slowing their efforts to be better artists and illustrators. Some of this is an over reliance on digital tools but not always. I see a lot of bad habits developing around color in particular. The biggest flaw I see most student work is monochromatic color strings for elements of the paintings and no interaction between the colors of the elements within the image.

I believe there are a few reasons for this.

They are making up the scene from their imagination without having enough of a mental library of images. An artist builds a mental library from working from life studying how light and shadow affects the color of objects and scenes around them.

They are using photos and video pulled off the web or other outside sources and have no understanding of the place or thing in the photo or video because they didn't actually generate the reference. Photos are really bad at showing real world aspects of color and value.

They are coloring a black and white sketch, painting over the top of it without any modification of the hue and saturation of the color for light and shade. This lets the under drawing control the color which just lightens or darkens the chosen hue.

Color shifts from light to dark are poly-chromatic. That is the hue, saturation and value all change as the color lightens or darkens. These changes are altered by the angle, quality and color of the light source and all of the other lit elements in the scene that also act as secondary and tertiary sources of light.

It is up to the artist paint these transitions with understanding. This is why working from life is so important; careful studied observation is the quickest way to learn about color and light for a representational painter. I have used illustrations by N.C. Wyeth for this post because he had such a complete understanding of color and light his paintings glow.

Remember, all worthwhile theories started with careful observation, so if someone tells you that you need some complex color theory to learn about color, they are wrong. Theories can have their place in helping to clarify what you are seeing but in isolation without real world observation to back it up they quickly devolve into systems of formulaic painting.

Armand Cabrera

Polychromatic shift is a term I have coined to help explain what happens to the local color of an object when the surface of that object transitions from light to shadow. It’s not a new concept and the idea of prismatic effects in color has been understood for quite some time. There has been a tendency to ignore this avenue of study now though, with so many people working from photo and video reference, digital painting, and not painting from life for indoor or outdoor images.

Polychromatic shift is the idea that local hue of an object is augmented by its environment. The local hue of an object is its base color like a yellow table cloth or red scarf. Once you introduce an object into any environment its hue, value and chroma are affected by all of the light sources acting on it. Most people only pay attention to the primary light source but anything in the scene that has light falling on it becomes a source of light itself. In an outdoor scene an object would be affected by the primary light source (normally the sun) the secondary light source (the sky) and any object that has either of those two light sources shining on it near the original object. The effect of these sources on our object is determined by the strength of the light coming from them.

The primary light source usually determines the pattern of light and shadow for an object because of its relative strength but all of the other sources of light in the scene affect the quality of the objects light and shadow. This is why the color of shadows are never just a darker version of the local color of an object in light. The local hue shifts to include the color from neighboring sources of light. How much this affects something is determined by the strength of the different sources and the makeup of the receiving object (how much it absorbs or reflects light).

There is no natural scenario where an object would only have a single light source affecting it to create a monochromatic transition from light to dark unaffected by surrounding objects. Anytime you place an object in a scene and light it, its color is affected by everything else in the scene and must be painted that way.

Since sunlight is warmer than sky light any objects local hue must shift warmer and lighter towards the sunlight and cooler and darker towards the sky light and even darker still to complete absence of light. As the object darkens into and loses the influence of the stronger light sources, the weaker reflected lights become visible shifting the hue.

Most artists are told to think in value first color second and while I agree with that idea for the most part, when we turn to color it is important to pay attention to all of its aspects; hue, value, and chroma and their relative appearance to all of the surrounding features in the scene.

This means that an artist should forget about the local color of the object they are painting and learn to see it and its plane changes as the colors they are, relative to the whole picture. This is the foundation for clean color. In my experience weak color comes from the artist’s refusal to let go of the objects local color. They force the local color to remain when in fact it has shifted to another hue. The better choice is to paint those transitions as a clean color. Once they do that any object can be any hue given the right circumstances.

Resources

Color and Light

by James Gurney

Alla Prima

by Richard Schmid

Values for Pictures Worth a ThousandWords: A Manual for Realist / Representational Painters
By Apollo Dorian

Gunnar Widforss

Seeing the Big Picture

never work for free

Rien Poortvliet

Painting in Paradise

Clifton Demo

Painting the Cherry Blossoms

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Art Book of Contemporary Masters

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The Anatomy of a Painting

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Andrew Loomis Reprints

The Long View

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Polychromatic shift