Musings Of A Painter

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Learning and Accepting

4/29/2008 9:46:02 AM by Marian Fortunati
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Sun Dancers -- Oil on Canvas -- 18" x 14"

 

Several things in the last few months have conspired to try to teach me a bit more about myself and about this art journey I'm on.

I've been working to get some work ready for a potential show and I think I've learned that may be counter productive pressure to put myself under. I think I need to paint just to enjoy what I'm painting. The first painting you see is one I was going to submit to the show. I did NOT submit it for a variety of reasons, choosing to submit others instead. It was fun and challenging to paint. Trying to create a back lit effect is challenging and I'm putting more of those on a list of  "things to paint".

I wrote an email to Alyson Stanfield asking for information. I got a nice reply and a questionnaire back which reminded me that I've done that before. As I was responding to the questionnaire, I realized that I DON'T really know where I'd like to be in this journey in three years. I also realized that I want to be a better painter much more than I want to market my art. In the short term I'll continue working to become a more skilled artist which of course I'll be doing all of my life, but I don't think marketing is in the short term before more improvement is done.

 Van Saro Demonstration at VAG meeting
Lastly, another good lesson came my way. Back on March 6, I wrote a blog called "At The Zoo.... or.... It's all happenin' at the gallery" in my main website blog. It was about an incident at a gallery where I had work in a show. As I stated in the blog, the artist was outstanding and his behavior was shockingly immature. Well, I went to a meeting of one of my local clubs, VAG, and he was the person doing the demonstration! Apparently the club president, John Paul Thornton, had done some counseling and guidance. Given that I had been extremely impressed with the guy's talent from the get-go, I decided to stay to see what he could offer.

Van Saro's talent extends into teaching as well -- I mention this because good artists are not always good teachers!  The teacher Van said had taught him the most is Sergio Sanchez from LAAFA.  Van is a slow, deliberate painter, and achieves a remarkable degree of reality using perspective, value and color theory. During the demo, he was patient, talked animatedly and clearly about his process and answered questions, thoroughly and politely. In short I was again positively impressed and have decided that all of us can learn from our mistakes... The worst mistake would be NOT to learn from them! Although I learned many other things, most interesting to me was the fact that Van mixed all the colors needed for the apple for example on his palette. You can see on the photo above how he did it. He decided that the light source was warm and that would make the red of the light side of the apple a bit orangish. He then said that since the light side was a red-orange, then the dark side would be the opposite on the color wheel and he created a dark warmish violet and went on to mix all of the in-between color/values on the palette. It was very interesting and worked beautifully to make his objects really pop. Van uses a limited palette including two "blues" (black and ultramarine), two reds (alizarin and cad) two yellows (ochre and cad) and white.

I found it funny that on Sunday morning I'd been wishing I could take a class from Sergio Sanchez and in the afternoon, I watched a demo from his student! Life can be like that!

I decided to paint at home yesterday and worked on a still life, which I think turned out very nicely. I'll post it later. In the meantime... keep learning... and enjoying what you're doing.

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California Art Club's 97th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition Gala Reception

4/27/2008 10:25:36 AM by Marian Fortunati
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John Asaro ..............Tony Pro .............Sergio Sanchez

Last night I had the pleasure of being out on a warm Southern California evening and watching the stars of the art world enjoy their proud moments. I am a painting patron member of the club and had volunteered to help out.

THE GALA
It was fun to meet so many artists whose work I have admired but not met and to say hi to those with whom I have taken workshops or classes. Art admirers, press, collectors and so many artists were present to see a great show, meet the artists, listen to a lively band and enjoy a good spread on a warm starlit evening.

WINNERS
Congratulations to John Asaro, who won the gold medal for painting, and Christopher Slatoff, who won for sculpture. Asaro's winning painting was quite different than his fabulous loose colorful Sorolla-like paintings I love and with which I'm most familiar. I've admired his work for a long time. Many years ago I even did a "duplication" of his "Sisters" painting while in my first art class.  My daughter has it on her wall in her home. A few years ago I purchased two of his paintings and enjoy just gazing at the life and color they exhude.  (They're serigraphs - I can't afford his originals).

ADMIRATION
It was great being able to steal away from my volunteering duties to see the paintings. You can see them online, but there in person, is so much better. I saw paintings from Liang, Wurmser, Lipking, and Dempwolf from whom I've taken classes. I saw a lovely painting from Ellen Brown who is also in one of my local art clubs (VAG). I drooled over other work from artists such as Ray Roberts, Brian Blood, Tony Pro and Sergio Sanchez that made me wish I COULD take a class or workshop from them.
    Ray Roberts
DON'T MISS A NICE SHOW
The catalogue will serve a good reminder of the vision of these artists. If you get a chance go on by the show. It's at the Pasadena Museum of California Art for the next three weeks.

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Painted In Chocolate

4/24/2008 8:30:56 PM by Marian Fortunati
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Floral
9" x 12"
RayMar canvas board

Yesterday I had a great opportunity! Tyler's birthday was Monday and we had returned from two terrific days at Disneyland and California Adventure with my daughter and her husband. We all had a great time and walked our legs to stumps. Tuesday I painted in my class all day (see the still life from my morning class), but on Wednesday I was able to be a guest reader in Tyler's class to celebrate his eighth birthday. The drill is, the parent bakes or buys a treat and gets to read with their child to the class. Then the class sings "Happy Birthday" and a few other songs to the birthday child.

I was in what I thought was my super mode. The night before I baked chocolate cupcakes because that's Tyler's favorite flavor. I let them cool overnight.

The next morning I got up early and iced the cupcakes and added colorful sprinkles. I was feeling soooo good about myself. I got dressed and then we all loaded everything in the car to go to school.

We were great. That is until my usual volunteer time in the computer lab (before our stage performance in front of all of his classmates) when Tyler comes up to me and says, "Nona! You have chocolate on your sleeve!" Oh, no, I thought to myself. How did I do that? I was so careful! Then as I scurried over to the sink to wash the chocolate off my sleeve, I noticed that it was also smeared across my breast! Now mind you, I perhaps hadn't made the best choice in wardrobe when I selected a WHITE fluffy wrap to top off my ensemble but... I was being SO careful! Okay... so perhaps I didn't hear the computer teacher's instruction on how to make the multiplication table using an EXCEL spreadsheet, but at least I got the darn chocolate off myself and would look okay when I debuted next to Tyler.

NOT...

A few minutes before the end of the computer class and right before we were to go to class to read, someone discovered MORE CHOCOLATE on my back. HUH??? How did it get THERE??? Well the teacher was kind enough to wash it off and off we went to read our story.

I read. -Tyler read. - We showed the great pictures and everyone enjoyed SkippyJonJones, the story of the Siamese cat who thought he was a chihuahua. I was so proud of Tyler's reading and stage presence and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity.

Later that day after I had been seen in several other places, I looked down and found chocolate all over the front of my pants!! It was insidious!

Tyler got home and said that the cupcakes had all been eaten and enjoyed. It wasn't until the very very end of the day when I discovered chocolate on the strap of my purse! AHA! THAT must be how it got in all of those other places.

The thing about chocolate is that it can be mistaken for so many other things.... uhhhhh. -- Do you think people thought it might have been burnt umber paint.... ?...... Hopefully not anything else that it could have been. At least it smelled good!

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Angst

4/23/2008 1:18:01 PM by Marian Fortunati
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It's funny. I paint because I enjoy it and I try to improve my skills because I want to make my painting better and better so other people can enjoy it too. It seems, however, that as I try to improve, I reach levels of frustration that seem to paralyze me.

Yesterday in the still life class I take, I just couldn't make myself draw what I was seeing. I wanted to do it accurately but I didn't want to make the set-up too centered. I also seem to find myself cutting things off too often so I didn't want to do that and I just did nothing for a while. I felt like one of those kids in my class that used to start drawing or writing something and then would roll the paper into a ball and throw it away only to start over. When the teacher came over to check my progress I hid my canvas - almost feeling tears come to my eyes! Fortunately, she and the rest of the class laughed (in a supportive way) and kidded me out of my mood and I came out of it. From there I did something that was decent.

As usual, I enjoyed my figurative painting class in the afternoon and managed to get something resembling the model in the three hour period. I couldn't finish it all, but was reasonably happy with what I did. In the end I felt that the values were good and I liked the colors. I'm improving my skills so that the facial features don't look like line drawings, etc. although I can see that one eye needs work if I want to do more with this study.

Do any of you ever feel like that? If so do you have any tricks to help pull yourself out of it?

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The Light Of Childhood

4/19/2008 12:28:18 AM by Marian Fortunati
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY
My little guy turns eight on Monday. It seems so impossible. He is growing so fast. He had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese -- a place that is not on my top ten places to spend 3 hours, but he had an absolute ball playing with his friend and dancing with the giant rat. All week HE has been looking forward to the party and the weekend when we join with my husband who is coming home from Italy and my daughter and her husband who are driving up from San Diego to go to California Adventure and Disneyland.

PAINTERS BLOCK GONE
I, however, have been madly trying to get over my painter's block and paint something I think might have a chance of being juried in to an exhibit I REALLY want to get in to. I had been so depressed, because nothing I've painted in over a month except things I've painted in class, has really "done it" for me. But I DID IT!!! I don't know if any will be accepted, but I got four paintings finished and rushed them off to the photographer to get slides made. I'll decide which I'll submit, when I see the slides. What a relief. I had set Friday as my deadline because I didn't want to have to worry about trying to get something finished and to the photographer and then possibly missing the deadline. I did it... and I like what I painted... I really like a couple of them.

MY CHILD'S FIRST PAINTING
In the meantime, in keeping with the theme of the light of childhood, I'm posting a piece of artwork that my little guy did in HIS art class at Mission Renaissance. I have a friend named Mark from my work who really likes the work of a certain artist who I acknowledge as a terrific marketer of his work, but whose work isn't my favorite. I am, however, in the minority, because this guys' little cottages with the lights shining out from the inside sell like hotcakes. Anyhow, Mark always wanted me to paint one of those little cottages for him... or at least a lighthouse. They never moved me, so I didn't. But in his FIRST class Tyler did. Here, Mark.... Here is Tyler's painting. I'll dedicate it to YOU!

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Another Good Day

4/15/2008 10:46:40 PM by Marian Fortunati
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Alexis
11" x 14"
Oil on Canvas Wood Board
NEW SEMESTER
It's the first day of the new semester out at CAI in Thousand Oaks. I was looking forward to getting back to class because my teacher for both classes, Johanna Spinks, had gone off to England, her homeland, then to Bahrain, where she and her husband had been invited as guests of the crown prince, and finally to a conference of the Portrait Society of America. I wanted to hear all of her great stories. (Of course, I also wanted to paint and to hear her reminders about value and form.) She had some fun stories, but you'd have to take her class to hear them! ( :o) ) Johanna considers herself a tonalist in that she believes that values are more important than almost everything else in a painting. Of course, drawing, composition and color are also important but VALUE is the most important. I took her class because in the description it says she would emphasize it and I know that it is one of my weaker areas. I take two classes -- a still life class in the morning -- and my favorite, a figure painting class in the afternoon.
FIGURE PAINTING
This afternoon we had a new model named Alexis. Alexis had beautiful coloring and a very interesting and pretty face. I first sketched making sure to check my measurements many times. Then I blocked in the main values on my mid-toned canvas. Darks first, then lights, then half tones. I stumbled a few times but, true to form, Johanna told me the things I was doing well and then let me have it about what needed fixing. She reminded us several times that Aapo Puk had told the viewers when he did his portrait demo.. two of your best friends are distance and a mirror. (I prefer distance but I DID bring a mirror.)
Here is my portrait of the model, Alexis, completed as far as it got in three hours.

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Conversing With Strangers

4/13/2008 5:37:51 PM by Marian Fortunati
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Pencil Art
by Marsha Robinette



FINDING INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET
The Internet is a funny "place". It allows you to visit with people you never would have met otherwise or to connect with people long missing from your life. About a month ago a young man who had attended the school where I was principal many years ago was talking about a favorite teacher and decided to Google her to see what she was doing these days. Unfortunately that teacher passed away a little over a year ago. I had painted a picture of her son in her memory and blogged about her and about the painting. The painting, called "Spirit", was critiqued in The Artists' Magazine. The young man found my blog entry on Google and emailed me. He is grown now and is working in the art field. It was nice to hear from him, although I was sorry to have given him sad news.

CONVERSATION WITH A STRANGER
Yesterday I conversed with a total stranger about blogging and marketing strategies for art that she uses on the Internet. This artist, Marsha Robinette, is a total stranger but is a fabulous pencil artist and writes clear, thoughtful articles in her own blogs that almost beg for deep thought and comments from the reader. I commented. She responded, and the next thing I knew, I was calling her to discuss her article and ideas more in depth. (There were a few moments of "uh oh" for both of us when we independently realized that we don't live in the same time zones... but it worked out.) What an interesting and delightful person she is. She generously shared her insights and I hung up with a smile on my face. Imagine... Talking to a total stranger because we connected on the Internet...!! What a world! Getting smaller and smaller.

FINE ART STUDIO ONLINE
Marsha and I share the same web service, FINE ART STUDIO ONLINE, which is where I first picked up her blog thread. We both agree that FASO is the best artists' website we know.. Not only is it nice looking, easy to use, but the webmaster, Clint Watson, does some promotion by picking up interesting blogs and comments and posting them in his own newsletter.

CHECK OUT MARSHA'S WORK
If you get a chance, take a look at Marsha's work..... AND her various blogs! You won't be sorry.

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Rocky Path In Chatsworth Park

4/10/2008 8:45:21 PM by Marian Fortunati
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Rocky Path
Oil on canvas over wood board
10" x 8"
It was another pretty day in the Valley. Two friends from my art club, Sharon Weaver, and Janet Snodgrass decided to meet together with me in Chatsworth. At first we were going to try to paint the well-known and much-climbed rock formations at Stoney Point Park in Chatsworth. However when we arrived, we realized that the parking was along Topanga Canyon Blvd. a very busy thoroughfare in the morning. Rather than risk being crushed by the next bus up the street, we opted to go to Chatsworth Park, a short drive south. After a few false stops and starts we discovered that the park had nice rocks and lovely shady trees as well.
I started exploring the various areas up the hill thinking that I might do a look DOWN the hill instead of UP the hill. The signs posted warning hikers of mountain lions, somewhat dissuaded me and I went back down to join Sharon and Janet.
There was a group of art students from CSUN also painting in the area. It was interesting listening to them discuss portfolios and their work.
I tried my best to do what I've been practicing. I drew several sketches of a scene that I'd selected trying to figure out the best dark-light patterns or "notan". When I was satisfied, I sketched it onto my toned canvas board. Then I used a dark mixture to put in the darkest darks and then went to the mid-tones. At first I was discouraged. I have been painting almost daily, but I have not been satisfied with any of my work in several weeks. But I pressed on and cycled through the painting. I like to try mixing several shades of green so my painting looks more realistic. Greens are fun. I also decided the perfect turquoise sky of reality was boring so I added some yellows and some purples to make it interesting.
Sharon came over to critique. She asked, "What is the story you are trying to tell?" Hmmmm.... It seems to me that I've heard that before and I'm always stumped. I'm just trying to make it pretty and interesting. I decided to re-check my composition to see where the eye would go in the painting. I darkened my dark greens and added some warm lights to the path so the eye would follow it better. I checked the balance of warms and cools. I checked the composition.
We all had a great day together painting. Janet used watercolors and did a great painting. Sharon has begun using water-based oils instead of acrylics. Although she likes them, she says she may move to oil oils. WHY I ask? She likes the water-based oils, and her paintings look GREAT!
Hey, I'm looking at my own painting and finally...... I like it!
Do you?

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Visiting The Getty In the Company of a Hundred Second Graders

4/9/2008 6:24:57 PM by Marian Fortunati
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I'm an artist.
I like to see great art up close and personal. Because of that, I am guilty of dragging my soon-to-be-eight year old to art shows and museums fairly often. I say "dragging" because although he's a great kid and he does like to create art, he isn't yet much of a fan of art shows and museums. Give the kid a tractor or a Lego or even a "Build It Bigger" program and he's in heaven. Not so looking at art.
Well, today his class and all of the other second grade classes in his school had a trip to the Getty and I volunteered to drive thinking it would be a great opportunity for me to revisit some lovely paintings and a gorgeous site. -----Not.
Perhaps since I've retired from many, many years of being a teacher and principal, I've selectively forgotten the "joys" of hundreds of excited, boisterous and vocal second graders. That's it... maybe it's like childbirth... you forget the pain and remember the joys.... Perhaps, -just perhaps, -turn-about is fair play. Thank goodness for his wonderful classroom teacher! The kids really did have a great trip. They were excited to see fossils in the beautiful stone walls that cover the Getty's frame... something about which they have been studying for the last month or so. Additionally, the docents were very nice and tried to provide interesting dialogue about some of the art, but it wasn't a trip during which one could linger over a favorite artist's work or closely inspect the brushstrokes of a specific masterpiece. It was more like, "How can we keep these exuberant children from mowing down the other visitors and tourists who innocently came to the museum hoping to enjoy the art?"
The day was gorgeous and the gardens were full of wonderful and unusual flowers and plants.. a real treat! The kids however, were more interested in seeing how much dust they could stir up as they walked ... make that shuffled.... along the dirt paths that circle down into the maze area. (.... What else should I have expected? :)

Art and museums from the eyes of a seven year old is certainly a different view than that view I'm more accustomed to.

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Two Art Shows, A Great Meal, Friends and Family -- What Could Be Better?

4/7/2008 6:30:16 AM by Marian Fortunati
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Weaver "Country Road"











Wambsgans "Misty Morning"



I just got home from a terrific early evening event. In fact I've had two great days in a row. Quiet time painting and reflecting on my own work and an opportunity to see two great art shows featuring my friends' great work.
Saturday night at the No Ho Gallery LA, in North Hollywood, my friend, Sharon Weaver, was one of the featured artists honored during a lively reception. Watercolors, photographs, acrylics and oils all graced the walls. Sharon's work was shown in a great spot in full view as you entered the gallery. I remember reading about the Paris salon and how artists would hope for a good spot which could be seen easily by all who visited the show. Sharon got that spot. She had fifteen great paintings and she was a gracious hostess as friends and acquaintances dropped by to ask questions and say hi. Among the other artists whose work was featured in the show was Don Hanson, whose painting demonstration I had been lucky to win at one of my art club meetings.
I went from the show to the airport where Tyler and I picked up my husband who has been up in Washington for almost a week. We were happy to have him home. (YIPPEE!!)

Today I took my family (Dad, Tyler, Gastone and a family friend, Marion) to another friend's, Laura Wambsgans, art show. My girlfriend, Ileana, and her daughter, Adriana, joined us out in Pasadena at Gale's Restaurant on Fair Oaks Avenue. We had a ball! Not only was the reception packed with art to feast the eyes, but there was a delicious array of appetizers and drinks. Very upscale! My girlfriend was just about to buy one of Laura's lovely paintings for her daughter as a wedding present, when someone else purchased it before she could! It was funny because I saw many other painter acquaintances there that I didn't know even knew Laura... -- it's such a small world! I may have to go back to take a second look when there are fewer people. (Although at the rate, they were selling, I'd bet none of the paintings that started out the night were left!) There were so many paintings that I absolutely loved! If you get a chance, go on by... Great art and a wonderful restaurant. All of us sat down for a meal and we all enjoyed every crumb. --- This is really something special. My husband, an Italian AND a wonderful cook, rarely enjoys Italian restaurants (other than his own kitchen). We had a fun time, great conversation and lots of good food.

So... although none of you who missed either reception can enjoy the actual reception, if you're in the area, each of you can go to see the art at either or both shows. Buon apetite!

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Plein Air Day at Rancho Camulos

4/2/2008 7:22:29 PM by Marian Fortunati
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I learned about this special event from my fellow artist, Laura Wambsgans. She and her club members had scheduled a paint out event at the Rancho earlier in the year and they had been notified of this event.

A cool breeze blew off the hills, but the sun was shining and the day was clear and gorgeous. Leaves were new and spring green and the flowers were blooming. It was almost a sensory overload because the rancho is surrounded by fields of citrus - oranges, lemons, grapefruit and all the blooms sent delicious smells wafting across our noses! For this special event, the docents were dressed in period costume and posed for all of us willingly. Thirty or more plein air painters from all around painted different scenes of the Rancho. Everyone enjoyed the lunch provided by the docents and had a grand time... we all voted to have a similar event in the fall.

Rancho Camulos us known as the "Home of Ramona". It is a National Historic Landmark located between Piru and Magic Mountain. The Mexican land grant rancho is original (now a museum) and is open to the public for tours. The Rancho is the inspiration for Helen Hunt Jackson's novel, "Ramona".

I liked my initial sketch, but felt the painting didn't realize its potential. In analyzing it, I've decided that I centered the fountain too much in the painting (as opposed to the sketch) and I should darken some of the darks to deepen the drama of the scene. What do you think?

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