Fencing With a Brush

The scene unfolds at the Friday paint session.  The usual suspects have arrived. Social chatter accompanies the unpacking of paints and equipment.  Supports are on the easels and, with brushes at hand, we we are ready to begin.

Enter the model.  He looks great!  He's dressed in Italian Renaissance attire (although I'm not too sure about the boots) and exudes a confident swagger.  He works the group like a carnival tent show caller.  He has all of us relaxed and loose.

Oil 20" X 16"
Photo by Artist

The leader of the group sets up the lighting and arranges a chair for the pose.  But he doesn't just sit in the chair;  he owns  it.  One leg hangs over the chair arm, and one hand holds his sword.  He sits so commandingly that you could envision a servant about to bring him a goblet of wine.

It might be the boots, but me thinks he looks more like a pirate than a renaissance man.

I have a 16 by 20 inch canvas and four hours to fill it.  I begin painting but soon realize that the pace must be picked up.  I throw more paint onto the palette and I throw caution to the wind.  I'm starting to have fun!

After a while, I notice that we're singing to the music in the background (not too loudly of course and not Pirates of the Caribbean).

As the time begins to run out, my intensity increases and I see myself fencing with the painting.  I am jabbing and swooshing like I have a foil in my hand.  I am racing to put on the last few touches and in an instant it is all over.  I put down my sword, I mean brush, and step back.  I don't always get a chance to fight like this with a painting.

I love working with a live model.  Some days, like this one, hold a special significance.  I believe that you learn more when you're pushed for time and not allowed to think.  Thinking and planning are better left for the studio.

An Irresistible Force

British Regular
Oil 14X11
Photo by Artist

I love it when the model is in authentic apparel. This man represents the threat which the United States faced at its founding.  He carried an impressive rifle; he had my attention.  He also carried himself with a confident attitude.  He plays the role so well that I get an unsettling feeling like I'm in a time warp (beam me back Scotty).  I can't wait to see him in action at the encampment which his group holds each summer.

I start a lot of paintings monochromatically.  Sometimes the color seems to never get added.  I just keep rendering and there is always just one more thing that needs touching up.  Before long time runs out and there still wasn't enough to get to all the items I wanted to.

However, this is a good thing.  I believe that more can be learned with one color and a time limit.  Time limits keep me more focused; there is no time to allow distractions to have a foothold.  Too much time allows me to get out the small brushes and start to fuss.

But the best thing about a time limit is the challenge.  You attack the painting.  You become involved at a higher energy level.  You're in a race.  I feel like I'm running, but my feet are standing still.  And when it's all over, I let out a long breath and take a look.  It's a fantastic mental and emotional workout.

Voyageur- Top Hat

Oil 5X7
Photo by Artist

This guy looked pretty interesting.  I wonder if top hats were really worn commonly in the 1700s.  Everyone I met at the encampment had such a knowing look; one of knowledge and confidence.  It was as if they were sizing me up; assessing my character.

I wonder if I would get the same feeling if I encountered this guy on the street in contemporary clothing.  I wonder which is his true self: the one who drives a car or the one who sits by an open fire with a top hat and a piercing stare?

Voyageur -With Bow

Oil  5X7
Photo by Artist

He paused and gave me a look.  The tomahawk in his hand looked like it could do a lot of damage.  Imagine walking through the woods two hundred years ago and coming face to face with this man.  This would have been a common sight in early Michigan forests.

Kilt and Drum

Kilt and Drum
Oil  11X14
Photo by Artist

This model posed in authentic clothing.  His left hand is flat on the back side of the drum and he alters the pitch by the pressure he exerts on the stretched hide.  The drum stick is rather short and both ends of it are used in playing.

He gave our group a memorable demonstration.  I can only imagine how a large group of Scots would sound.  I hope he graces us with a return visit soon.  It was enjoyable painting him.

Quite a few years back my wife and I went to a highland festival;  Scots with bagpipes in full roar.  It was awesome!  This year I'm going to make an effort to locate and attend another highland festival.

Coureur de Bois -Voyageurs

Micki
Oil 12 X 16

This sketch was done with a great model.  She is a member of a group called Lac Ste Clair Voyageurs.

Each summer they host several encampments, with period dress (I think around 1780).  They camp along Metro beach in Harrison Township, Michigan.  Also, they camp in Chesterfield and in Port Sanilac.  Their mission is to teach and experience the rich history of the French and Indian Fur Trade Era.  They also portray the people of the Great Lakes Region known as the Coureur de Bois and Voyageurs.

They are a great and friendly group.  I look forward to visiting their encampments again this summer.

Master Gardener

Flower Girl
Oil 16 X 20

This is the sister of a fellow artist who came in and graciously posed for our group.

 At one time I thought of putting color into this painting but decided against it.  I like it just the way it is.  

Perhaps one day I'll put her in a paint program and add color to see the possibilities.  

Glob On the Paint

Oil 5X7
Photo by Artist

I'm trying a new technique.  Trying to loosen up a bit.

I read once where an instructor stated that no student had yet approached him for help on how to paint tighter.

Why is it that painting looser is such a challenge?

Still have a ways to go.  I am never satisfied. Then again, I hope I will never be satisfied; satisfaction stops growth!

I used an extremely limited palette for this one: three colors and white.

Open Studio: Plan of Attack

Charcoal
Photographed by Artist

When I’m preoccupied by something, the drawing suffers.  I can’t do anything right.  It’s as if I completely lost any skills that I acquired.  It takes strength to keep pushing through these tough spots and not doubt myself.

Conversely, over time it became apparent that drawing while happy produces better results.  On a few rare and magical occasions, lines flow from the charcoal in my hand while I just watch in amazement.  Drawing is effortless when happy and mentally in the zone.  So the first goal is to relax and have fun.

Now that my mood is relaxed, I choose a subject of focus for the current session; a plan of attack if you will.  This can be any of a number of items.  It might be contour lines, shading, composition, making the figure fill the page, or placing lines accurately.  It might be working in vine charcoal, compressed charcoal, conte, ink or any number of others.  This helps me get over the persistent need to produce a finished drawing (although this in itself might be my subject of focus).

Ah….those pesky finished drawings.  Don’t they just drain all the momentum and energy from your soul?  They cry out, “Slow down and start tightening up!"  But we don’t listen because we are focused on the plan of attack.  So now the pressure is off.   Instead of juggling ten different skills, we have only one to address. 

Improvement, or lack of it in just a single facet of one’s drawing, becomes more apparent.  Narrowing one’s focus is such a basic truth that it doesn’t need stating.  But then again, it seems that it’s the basics which are the most elusive and which must continually be revisited. 

Focusing on one item at a time lets the process of drawing take the front stage.  It lessens the need for a finished work and it improves confidence.  When one single skill improves, everything else is influenced. 

And then when it happens that you find yourself in the mood to tackle that finished drawing, proceed with an attitude.

Harley Brown, a pastel artist whom I admire, reminds us in his book  Harley Brown’s Eternal Truths for Every Artist that we merely need to "Go for it!  Show the paper who's boss!"