In order to make a living after moving to New York, toward the end of art school, I worked as a fashion model with the Stewart Men Model Agency who sent me on "go sees" to photographers but also for television commercials. After a year or so, and a commercial class, I found work on television as an actor and an on-camera presenter. I stopped modeling and concentrated on commercials. During my time as an actor, I appeared in over two hundred of them including my first trip to Europe for a series of Chevrolet commercials and print ads.
My acting coach was Wynn Handman, director of the American Place Theater. His teaching ability was inspiring and I again became a dedicated student. I was cast in five plays at his theater, one of which was taped for the Theater in America series on PBS. I was willingly seduced away from a career in painting for twelve years.
One of the main reasons I was so drawn to acting was that as a boy I had had an almost insurmountable fear of speaking before groups. I never defeated the fear but learned to control it and use it as a source of energy. Finding I had a talent for acting and winning numerous jobs over intense competition increased my self-confidence immeasurably.
I continued to paint when I wasn't working or seeking work. In 1980, after leaving the Soap Opera, As the World Turns, I made the decision to return to painting and begin a career as a landscape painter. My wife and I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where painting opportunities were in abundance and realism was more in demand than in the modern art climate of New York. Cecily Hughes and I had been married in Santa Fe and a cousin of hers, Pat Pellham, was selling art for a gallery in the downtown area. I had begun showing my work with Pat while I was still an actor but the gallery owner asked me to leave. When Pat opened her own gallery, the Pellham Art Gallery, just off the plaza in Santa Fe, my much delayed fine art career was launched. Cecily, who had been an executive with Perrier in New York, was working as a cocktail waitress and her income and my dwindling savings were barely keeping us afloat until a bookie produced a wad of hundreds from his pocket and bought a painting. Cecily and I stayed together for six years, then went our separate ways but remain friends.
ACTING TRAINING
My painting benefited from my acting training. First of all, there is mental preparation so that the transition from backstage to on-stage is seamless. Painting a picture in my mind before actually picking up a brush is a similar technique. I employ overarching ideas, a device used to develop a theatrical character and for grasping the subtext of a play. For instance, in Venice, Italy, I was attracted to the feeling of the narrow streets with their filtered, indirect light and mysterious forms moving in and out of shadows and sought out motives consistent with this idea. In Gloucester, MA, the crowded harbors and complexity of a variety of intricate forms caught my attention and I sought out complex subjects. Of course, the decisions specific to the particular painting still must be formulated before starting to paint.
Wynn Handman, my acting coach, once said to me..."Surprise me. If you don't surprise me, what do I need with you, I can read the text." Using painting tools, for instance, in such a way that the results are not completely predictable can contains the surprise element. In general, any sensible experiment or change of any kind, has surprise potential.
The best definition of acting I know may also be accurately applied to painting... 'living truthfully in imaginary circumstances.'
Much of what I studied as an acting student; psychology, sociology, poetry, the works of the great playwrights and the writings of the giants of the field, has positively affected my painting. Although I’m not always able to identify specifically the results produced by these various studies, in general terms it may be fairly stated that any art will benefit from the investigation of related fields.
Hemmingway said that Cezanne's paintings taught him how to write and Van Gogh wrote to his brother, Theo, that he wished to, "Signify hope by some bright star.", a poetic allusion.
Fashion modeling with Cybil Sheppard and other examples.
Playing Ross in the television Production of Frank Chin's "The Year of the Dragon". It aired in 1975 on the PBS series Theater in America. Originally produced as a play at the American Place Theater, New York. You may recognize Tina Chen from the movie "Hawaii", George Takei, Sulu on "Star Trek", Pat Suzuki from "Flower Drum Song" or Conrad Yama.
Playing Bennett Hadley on "As the World Turns" with Eileen Fulton (Lisa).
Soap Opera Digest magazine Jan. 1980 - My wife, after the wedding in Santa Fe and painting outdoors in Darien, Connecticut where we were living.
Waving to an estimated worldwide audience of five hundred million when judging the 1987 "Miss USA Beauty Pageant". Introduced by Bob Barker.
Playtex commercial with Karen Machon... Nice 'n Easy with Maud Adams... Gillette with Cornelia Sharpe
BECOMING A LANDSCAPE PAINTER
After leaving art school, the student faces many possible directions. I once heard Mr. Reilly say that, "Students get out of school and ask the Cop on the corner how they should paint." He had seen many promising students who seemed to have, in his words, "The will to fail." The best methods of providing for advancement are painting frequently, books by artists and the 'advice' found by studying fine paintings. These were the practices I adopted.
Painting landscapes was something I loved to do with my spare time, not yet a career choice but the most likely direction. From my art school training I knew how to draw and paint the figure, the most demanding skills and a solid a foundation for learning landscape. Mr. Reilly had provided many ideas but it was clear that a great deal of further development was necessary in order to begin a career as a landscape painter.
Oils on canvas board and watercolor paper respectively... 8"x10" and 12"x16"
Among my first Reilly School landscapes (circa 1970) and an invented sketch (2006) using the art school study as a guide.
One of the first challenges was to learn how to use an open palette. Neutralizing with complements and arranging the paint on my palette without mixing strings of values.
My years as a professional actor provided abundant free time for the discovery and application of
painting ideas. The more 'Painterly painters' take advantage of the expressive potential of brushwork. When I
paint a nearby rock formation, I’ll probably use heavier paint applied so as to suggest texture, perhaps
using a palette knife. I use brushwork to suggest that grass grows up, a mountain lies down and the sky
tends toward smoothness. The shadows are painted with thin washes and simplified, keeping reflected
light and color close to the value of the initial mass decisions. Most of the painting is out in the light
using thicker paint and brushing with the action of the form. The guide is, 'thin in the shadow,
thick in the light.' Backgrounds are brushed past the edges of forward forms and then the forms are
painted. This keeps the background from seeming to bump into elements in front and the background
paint may be used to soften edges when appropriate, 'Paint back to front.' Sometimes I’ll under-paint
with a complementary color that, in the finish, may be glimpsed in the interstices of the brushwork.
A third, visually mixed, color is arrived at with this method. Using visual mixing for the sky and
elsewhere is only effective if the under-painting and the finished paint are at the same value. The
creating of a third color by visual mixing was one of many discoveries made by the Impressionists
but, if overdone, the drawing tends to suffer.
Because I'm an outdoor landscape painter, discovering fresh and compelling subject
matter is an integral part of the creative process. This has to do with emotional
response and taste and remains individual and largely a mystery. It can be said, however,
that I must be able to visualize a painting in my mind’s eye or I move on.
For me, Spontaneity is essential to creative process. Especially in the beginning of
a painting, I paint positively and rapidly, trusting that I will have a sufficiency of
solutions to solve the problems that arise. Toward the end however I adopt a
slower, and yes, tighter procedure. When I paint in the studio I paint from models, still life, enlarge outdoor paintings,
from memory and sometimes even photographic reference. I use photos mainly for
incidentals or perhaps to experiment with color theory or as reference for inconvenient
subjects, such as animals or figures in motion.
To judge color, I use a technique called scanning. In order to determine the color
of a mass in nature, I look near it and see it out of the corner of my eye,
in my peripheral vision. The color I observe in the first moments of seeing in
this way is the color I paint.
When I get home form a trip I mount the sucessful paintings on masonite, coat them with a protective
tranparent polymer and return to oil painting. When art reaches the level of emotional response, it has the potential to purge our
minds of unwanted feelings. The buildup of socially unacceptable feelings are given vent.
Properly designed, art can provide an alternative to reality similar to the dream
state, a variation of reality accepted by the mind. Art offers order, clarification,
focus, transport, and escape from an chaotic world filled with conflict without resolution,
confusion and doubt. In this chaotic world all of the arts are small islands of order.
This cathartic effect is one of the reasons why art has had an almost mystic appeal to
mankind down through the ages. In his book, Edgar Payne quotes Whipple as
having said, "Nature does not capriciously scatter her secrets as golden gifts to lazy poets
and luxurious darlings, but imposes tasks when presenting
opportunities."
If the whites in a painting are surrounded with warms they become cool and with cools,
warm, so I add a touch of yellow to white in sunlight. For this, and much more, I would refer
you to M. E. Chevreul's book, The Principles of Harmony and Contrast of Color. His
were the scientific discoveries that influenced the French Impressionists.
Candido Rodriguez had been the monitor of the drawing class when I first enrolled in the Reilly
School. He has been of great assistance, supplying me with details missing from my Art School
notebook.
My appreciation to Susan McGarry, former editor-in-chief of Southwest Art magazine who began this project
by suggesting I write an artist statement and recommending a list of possible headings.
And, for your interest, thank you! My great hope is that you are finding my books worthy of your time
and of assistance.
TECHNIQUE
As my work matured, I eventually developed a technique. Technique is the
characteristic appearance of an individual artist's paintings which identifies them as the work
of that artist. It has largely to do with the way the paint is applied (Sargent's bravura
brushwork for instance). Technique can be forced by the imposition of tricky paint applications
but this approach has the unfortunate consequence of producing only short term
attraction-power and for the viewer to look at the painting rather than into it.
Then too, the adoption of the technique of another artist or that of a teacher
is to be avoided due to the revelation of an undesirable lack of originality.
The work of an artist should exhibit individuality but not call undue attention to the methods
employed. The way to arrive at a technique is to have it evolve naturally as the artist develops.
Artists learn largely by imitation and my work and technique have been influenced by studying
and sometimes copying the paintings of artists I admire. Artists such as, Frederick Waugh, Edward Seago,
Fedor Zacharov, and Edgar Payne, to name but a few, but in my current work these influences have
been subsumed and my technique is my own. I think it was Harley Brown who said that, 'To paint
like one artist is a kind of plagiarism but to paint like many artists is research.'
PAINTERLY PAINTING
Before studying with Mr. Reilly, my drawings and paintings were as tight as I could make them.
By tight I mean the rendering of each and every detail. With the benefit of his teaching, I now
paint more loosely especially in the beginning of a painting. I initially use large brushes, thin washes
and attend mainly to the larger considerations. No matter how loose the technique, however,
there is still one overriding requirement, 'dead-shot draftsmanship.'
PHOTOGRAPHY
For many reasons, painting outdoors can be very difficult and human nature is such that we tend to look
for shortcuts. Painting from photographs in an air-conditioned studio is just such a shortcut. The
subject is frozen and time is limitless.
Especially when the artist is in the early stages of development, the use of photography will lead
to the establishment of poor work habits and substandard results. I believe in the old adage
that, 'Opportunity usually comes disguised as hard work.'
The photograph suffers from lens distortion, has only two dimensions, is keyed to the average human
complexion, color nuance is lost and they will not allow the eye to adjust as it does in nature in
order to see into shadows.
There are some fine painters who paint from
photographs but all of the ones I know, apart from Tom Lovell, have spent extensive time in the
field.
When I do use photographs, I use them for inconvenient subjects, backup information or studio
experimentation. I draw freeehand (as opposed to projecting), correcting for lens distortion and only paint an entire landscape from a photograph for learning purposes. 'To paint from photographs is to be nature’s grandchild.' I always return to painting from life for visual information of the first order.
Example drawing of an inconvenient subject. I used a photograph I took at the T4 Ranch in Tucumcari, NM. I draw on Utrecht 14" x 17" white, regular surface pads using a #48 Koh-i-Noor holder with #2625 Koh-i-Noor charcoal composite sticks. For grays and halftones, I smudge with my finger.
MOBILE STUDIOS
In my truck or RV, the sometimes overwhelming challenges of outdoor painting are largely overcome by
painting inside looking out a window. With this arrangement, outdoor painting becomes, in effect,
studio painting. My portable studios have the advantages of reducing setup time, eliminating
palette glare, providing a more constant light on the painting and they allow me conveniently to listen
to music, (white sound). Painting inside also keeps me away from interrupting onlookers (Hey, that's
pretty good!). Unless conditions are too severe, I'm able to work despite wind, rain, heat and cold
which provides for more frequent painting opportunities. The idea came from an old photograph of an
early Taos painter who was painting inside a huge old Packard. He had removed the floor in the rear
and was standing on the ground, straddling the drive shaft, and painting by looking out of a rolled down
window. Artists!
For many years I have carried a small sketchbook with me for
the purpose of training my memory. The idea is to develop the memory so as to be
able to place figures into a painting without the benefit of models. In a coffee
shop, for instance, I'll quickly look at someone and draw him or her without
looking at them again. This is, of course, unlike figure drawing where one looks
back and forth from the model to the drawing until the drawing is completed. The
ability to paint convincing figures into a landscape from memory is of great
benefit to the landscape painter. The background figures in "Venice Street" are
from memory. I frequently use photographic reference for this purpose when the
figure is closer to the picture plane, for instance, the prominent figure in
"Venice Street" (added back home in my studio). But when using photographic
reference, instead of copying misinformation, I remember my teachers advice,
"Paint what you know, not just what you see."
MEMORY PAINTING
The danger in drawing and eventually painting from memory is a tendency to make
repetitious choices due to a lack of adequate information. This can be overcome by
studying a scene and painting soon after in another location. Freemont Ellis told
me he always painted this way. George Bellows and other students of Robert Henri's
adopted the practice.
FORMAL QUALITIES
Formal qualities refers to the individual design elements... composition (a pleasing arrangement of parts), color, line, texture, scale, proportion, balance, contrast, rhythm and principles. Composition is listed first because it is the first consideration at the beginning of a painting but I would give equal weight to all the formal qualities in terms of importance.
Composition has to do with balance and design. By that I mean, not simply accepting
'Nature as she comes', but balancing and designing the large masses and
subordinate elements. The focus, or center of interest, is made prominent
by linear means and the employment of attractions... that which attracts the eye.
The eye is attracted by contrasts... hue, value, chroma and sharp edges. For these to be effective they must be held in reserve for when the artist chooses to focus the attention of the viewer but not in an obvious or heavy-handed way.
The greatest attraction in a landscape is the introduction of figures, birds and/or animals. Our eyes are drawn to living things and relatively small
instances will overpower larger areas in terms of attraction power.
A sense of motion is among the attractions and motion will draw the eye in a relatively stationary scene.
Composition of the large masses means arranging and designing the simplified
value areas. For example on an average sunlit day... sky lightest in value, ground
plane medium, angled planes darker, upright planes darker still and accents darkest.
Discerning the masses, patterns and edges in nature are best seen by squinting and
then designed to fit the idea of the painting. Prominence and subordination is what
is meant by the idea of the painting. Composition is construction and without it the
painting becomes merely a collection of parts.
Before painting, I answer the questions, what is the focus and will I
have a high or low horizon? Then I visualize the painting. These macro decisions
are adhered to during the painting although with many micro adjustments.
A clear understanding of the principles of realism is fundamental.
Principles are not rules but a guide to action especially when difficulties arise.
The following is a list of the principles that I have found instructive... clarity of
concept, variety, rhythm (reoccurrence with variation), repetition, unity,
balance, variety in the treatment of edges, drawing accuracy, placement,
perspective, accurate mass proportion, accuracy of relative sizes, proper
value sequences including graduation and modeling, consideration of textures, recession (ariel perspective), unequal measures, expressive brushwork, holding locals and harmony in
composition and color.
Color is a formal quality and our understanding has evolved a great deal since Newton discovered that white light contains all the colors of the spectrum.
The visual experience of landscape is largely
translated to the language of painting by the use of color. Color application varies according to styalistic requiremants... impresssionism, realism, tonalism, expressionism (Van Gogh) etc. Contemporary realism is a combination of styles and benefits from a variety of color theories.
Impressionist color theory has to do with broken color which results in visual mixing (Additive as opposed to subtractive which is the mixing of color on the palette) and simultaneous and successive contrast (Eugene Chevreul) which has to do with how we see and the effects of colors on each other.
According to Chevreul, color is heightened by the use of contrasts (complements). A red robe will have a greenish shadow, the yellow of sunlight will cause the shadows to be violet and any color will be heightened and affected by the nearby use of it's complement. The Impressionists understood Chevreul's theories but painted intuitively based on their perceptions of direct observation. These and other color studies are best left to the later stages of the artist's development.
Impressionist color experiments
Tonal figure painting
CREATIVE PROCESS
The act of putting these principles into practice brings me to the creative
process which has to do with the bringing of something of value into existence.
Fundamental to the creative process is an excellent technical performance, a full
understanding and execution of the tenets of realism. It must be understood
that painting is not an imitation of facts but a summarizing of essentials, to
paraphrase Whistler, 'Nature is always wrong.' She offers too much. So what
I exclude in my work is just as important as what I include, invent, exaggerate,
shift in position or suppress.
Whatever the given amount of creativity one possesses, it can be expanded. The key is
to establish a life long self-imposed internal discipline dedicated to excellence.
Some of the methods I've devised to help the growth process along are as follows;
to study the methods of an artist I admire and to make some of them my own, to
follow the suggestions in a book by a respected artist, to investigate; high key painting,
all weather conditions, night painting, dominant color, impressionist color theory, still life,
portraits, to work with a limited palette or from memory. I have studied marines by frederick
Waugh, stared at and sketched the ocean in order to become thoroughly acquainted with waves
in their various stages and to gain an understanding of the meeting of land and sea.
Lengthy studies of elusive subjects have been profitable. These and many other areas of
inquiry are worked on separately from the paintings that find their way into the galleries
and shows. I consider these parallel track studies to be essential to the creative process.
The words "Creative process" are generally used to describe the creation of an
individual work of art, but I would suggest that the truly creative process is how the
life of an artist is created. If the work flowing from that life reveals an ever increasing
level of accomplishment then a more fundamental, life enhancing, creative process is in operation.
There have been times, however, when I seemed to have hit a brick wall in terms of growth, when
the creative process seems to be stagnating. During these times I don't paint in the field,
sometimes for weeks at a time, but seek ways to shake things up, working in my studio. I experiment
by finding new or reorganized approaches. Often experiments fail, but as Henry Ford once said,
"Failure is an opportunity to begin again with more information." So far, I've come out of
these periods with renewed enthusiasm.
METHODS
For me, the fundamental procedures have remained relatively constant and any alterations have to do
mostly with execution. Many of my practices are the same as they were in art school with some
modification but there have been additions due to my specializing in landscape.
I almost always paint on masonite in this country, because it readily stores in my customized truck
or RV. It's also less vulnerable to damage than canvas, and I prefer the irregular surface quality.
I rough up the surface with sandpaper to give it a tooth and apply gesso, which isolates and keeps
the paint from degrading the masonite. The acrylic gesso is sometimes tinted with Yellow Ochre
acrylic, or some other warm color, then applied roughly to provide a texture which holds the paint.
I use a gesso that absorbs paint due to the introduction of marble dust during its manufacture,
(or I add marble dust). This makes available to me the additional technique of dry-brush
early in the painting process.
For many years I washed my brushes with soap and water, but now I use kerosene, called
Paraffin in England, because it leaves an oily residue on the bristles which retains their
resilience. A turps cup is fine for washes, but to clean a brush more thoroughly when
changing colors, I have a larger container three quarters filled with turpentine which has
a mesh strainer.
My palette at present consists of seven colors; Cadmium Yellow Light
(Cadmium Lemon), Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red Light, Burnt Sienna (Terra Rosa
or English Red), Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, Viridian and Non-yellowing
White. I add or subtract from my palette frequently but the overall aim is to keep
it as spare as possible.
At times I have found it instructive to perform limited palette experiments using only three
primaries and white because I'm forced away from thoughtless habitual choices.
The studio section of my RV is where I normally paint on trips in this
country but if I paint outdoors, here or abroad, I use a Gloucester or a
French easel. The Gloucester easel has legs that spread wider than the French
easel and therefore is sturdier in breezy conditions, on rocky terrain or on steep
angles such as hillsides but the French easel contains painting supplies, is more
compact and is less time consuming to set up.
I sometimes use a method called spectrum painting. As values grade from very light
(clouds, surf etc.) into shadow, they can move down through the color spectrum. From
almost White to Yellowish, then Yellow Red, Red, Red Purple etc. When a poker is taken
from a fire, the colors act in this fashion. I use this technique for the halo around
a light in fog, for instance.
Counterchange is another useful tool. A telephone pole, for instance, against a stand
of dark trees will be light in value. The pole at the same value against the sky wil
appear to be dark. This phenomenon occurs frequently in landscape painting.
I have a tendency to lean verticals to the left. This can be seen and corrected by the
use of a mirror.
And I squint when I look out at nature. Van Gogh said to look through your eyelashes
in order to see the big picture, the big patterns. Simplicity is the goal. Complexity
is easy, anyone can be complex by thoughtlessly copying details (idle industry) but
to create a beautiful design, an unambiguous interpretation, requires intelligent
strategies. Luck helps too but, as someone once said, "luck is what happens when
opportunity crosses the path of preparation." Someone else said that, "The only place
luck precedes work is in the dictionary."
ACRYLICS
The best approach for me for acrylics is a rapid execution, loose treatment due to the
fast drying characteristics of the medium both for people and for landscapes.
My center of interest is the eye on the left, his right eye. If you paint both eyes
with the same degree of clarity, you set up a confusing tension for the viewer.
As far as color is concerned, I used the principle of simultaneous contrast
that states that a color may be enhanced and harmonized by using its complement in the shadow.
The model had a florid, reddish complexion so I was looking for a place for
green in the shadow, the complement of red.
I found a place for green in the bounce light from the shirt in the lower portion of the
shadow side of the head. I didn't see green and was painting according to theory
and, frankly, I just like the way it looks.
Side planes tend to pick up influence from the background and neutralize, so at the left of the jaw under the ear out in the light, I used a neutral purple-red. As the values move toward front planes and lighten, I employ a principle called 'spectrum painting'.
So as the values lighten, they start at purple-red and then, red, Yellow-red, and finally yellowish for highlights.
For a soft edge where the shirt in the light meets the background, I used an intermediate value, which gives the impression of a soft edge and is useful for a fast drying medium. It can only be used if it's in keeping with the treatment of the rest of the painting.
I deliberately lost the local of the cast shadow on the shirt because if the value change were too abrupt where the shirt meets the background, the eye would be tempted away from my center of interest. The local of the shirt in the light is lighter than the head so it should logically be lighter in the shadow.
Just before a trip to Sicily, Italy in April of 2000, I again began painting in
acrylics. Toward the end of my time with Mr. Reilly I had learned acrylic painting because
acrylics was the illustrator's medium of choice. The sample illustrations above (Early Years) from my
student days are acrylics.
The reason to switch back to acrylics from oils after so many years was to facilitate
painting in foreign countries.
A necesssity for acrylic painting is finding a way to keep the paint wet while painting and from
day to day. I have a small plastic box with compartments used by fishermen. I spray with
water, both the box and the palette, during painting. The compartments contain my paint
and one of them has cut-to-size water-soaked sponges. After the paint in the box is
sprayed with water and the lid is closed the paint is protected from drying and is ready
for use the next day.
Water, the medium for acrylics, is of course readily available abroad and the
paintings dry more rapidly than oils so they don't have to be kept separated. I paint on
watercolor blocks for an increased variety of sizes and, compared to the mahogany boards
I had been using on foreign trips, a significant reduction in luggage space. Flammable
materials are not required for acrylic painting which is important for airline security.
I have adopted the medium for these reasons and the results have been more than satisfactory.
Acrylic Landscape (Sospel, France)
This bridge had to be restored because the Germans destroyed
it during World War Two. It's a little different from when Frank Brangwyn painted
it from the same spot. I stole some ideas from a reproduction of his painting. He
painted it, as did I, higher than the buildings on the left and above the line of
the mountains. This painting took about three hours. In Europe, I paint at least two a day.
The methods I employ for acrylics are the same as with oils apart from the particular
requirements of the medium. The paint dries at a darker value than it initially
appears so matching close values is difficult. By dry brushing the paint this can
be overcome or the tendency for strokes to tell can simply be incorporated into
the technique. Soft edges require a different paint manipulation than for the
same result in oils, again dry brush, unless the edges can be softened while the
paint is still wet. My overall aim is to make an acrylic painting look much the same
as an oil. When changing media, however, it's important to adjust to the new characteristics
and use them to your advantage, 'Listen to the paint.'
MEANING OF ART
On a more theoretical level, I've spent a good deal of time and effort gaining as much
understanding as possible of the philosophy of aesthetics.
At its core, art has two levels of appreciation, intellectual and emotional. A
symphony appeals to us for its structure and development as well as for its harmonies
and sequences. In painting, a strong technical performance is fundamental to accessing
emotional response.
Art is accomplished in a state of high concentration.Time is suspended, skill sets are
employed, there is the risk of failure and the opportunity for growth. It is this
process of art, not the result, that is the destination of the artist. Robert Henri
said, "The object of a painting is not the object of a painting, the object of a
painting is a state of being." Csikszentmihalyi titled his book on this subject,
Flow, subtitle, The Psychology of Optimal Experience.
In order to concentrate my attention on the objective of growing the quality of my
work, I find that public acclaim and financial reward are best relegated to the realm
of desirable but de-emphasized consequences.
Art has the potential to afford the viewer and the artist expanded and
illuminated experience, but for this to evolve the artist must be dedicated to growth.
Growth implies change which may seem at variance with the desirable aim of automaticity,
action without conscious thought. For change as well as automaticity to
occur, new concepts must be discovered separately and if accepted folded into
the painting process. I'm advocating here a lifetime of constant learning for the purpose
of adding to, refining or altering the assembled tools. After John Singer Sargent
sought out and painted with Claude Monet, he incorporated the theories of impressionism
into his work and the benefits were self-evident.
The deficiencies of an athlete are pointed out by a coach, worked on separately,
folded in, and the result is improvement. We artists must be our own
coaches.
The human tendency is toward misoneism, which is the resistance to and fear of change.
We find countless rationalizations that allow us to remain stuck in our comfortable
habits. This leads to developing a level of competence and moving horizontally
through life. We encounter examples of this every day but I do not wish
to be among their ranks.
The mission is to perpetuate and perhaps to expand the language
of painting and to invest it with poetry, not to convince but to reveal discoveries. To
interpret that to which I feel emotionally responsive and to celebrate the freedom of choosing
whatever means is most likely clearly to express that response.
Whatever choices, forces or influences formed me, it is who I am that is the the
foundation upon which this journey of invention and discovery rests. It’s a function
of sequence, that which comes before the painting is what causes the painting's
formation. A painting is the externalization of my life experience, beliefs, talent, knowledge
and emotional state. As Apollinaire said, "Art is nature seen through a temperament."
EXTREMES OF ART
In today’s art, there two extremes. The trivial anecdote which is a
tale of shallow, conventional, sentiment as well as a wide range of intended wall decorations
clamoring for market approval.
At the other end of the spectrum is the shocking pretense which includes much
of modern art. These are pseudo-intellectual offerings endowed with the appearance
of meaning by the tortured language of self-identified illuminati.
For more information on this subject, I would refer you to, "The Painted Word" by Tom Wolfe and "Yes,
but is it Art?" on Sixty Minutes. The tape purchase requests for the two Sixty Minutes segments
surpassed any in their history.
Between these two extremes and in the hands of a gifted practitioner, contemporary realism in
its many forms is a profound and beautiful art. Developed and passed down through the
centuries, it is an art that accesses the imagination, that urges the mind, that embodies a timeless
universality, that allows the viewer to suspend disbelief, that invites the viewer to participate
and that provides a self explanatory visual reward.
PROCEDURES
The above painting on the cover of the Dec. 2007 edition of American Artist magazine.
Jan. 1991 American Artist magazine cover, Desert Light, Gallup...
Painting at Smith Cove. A plein air painting viewed from the back of my RV in Gloucester, Mass. in
May, 2004.
To paint on location means to paint a moment. After the first thirty minutes or so
due primarily to the movement of the sun, I'm seeing misleading visual information. The
moment is gone and I'm proceeding largely in conformity to the original statements. I
had to learn as a plein air painter to anticipate that which would change most radically
and make those statements early on.
I first painted in my mind making such
decisions as, focus, (blue boat), composition (arrangement of masses and
horizon line), general value scheme, edges, relative sizes, and where I would
reduce or heighten the intensity of color. Notice how the blue boat stands
out as a result of the color choices. I then began to paint, first
drawing with a brush (sometimes a pencil) and a neutral dark in a general way.
Then, using vigorous brushwork, washes and at times fairly heavy paint,
much of surface was covered. The darkest darks and the lightest lights were established
in order to make comparisons within the extremes.
The idea at this and every stage is to be carefully careless. It is far
better to make a 'mistake' and trim than to push the paint around and
have it lose its vitality. Another choice for misstatements is to
scrape and restate. When trimming, I take the trouble to mix and match so as
always to work with a loaded brush keeping in mind the ensemble and not only
the particular. Now and then a palette knife was used especially to indicate
the jumble of objects on the wharf or for sharp edges. I softened the edges
in the background tree line as a foil for the clarity of the various elements
in the middle and near distance.
The dock pilings and foreground rock arrangement are readily descriptive and I
painted them keeping in mind the principle of unequal measures. Variety of
color for the rocks and elsewhere was achieved by not over-mixing the paint
on the palette. The thinking for the painting of the rocks and elsewhere is;
top planes light, front planes medium and under planes dark. The danger is to paint
piecemeal and extend the value range beyond the original mass decisions.
Then it was a matter of rendering small forms eventually employing the use of a maul stick
to steady my hand and a small pointed brush. Small descriptive shapes were
picked out such as boat rigging, the schooner to the left of the Blue boat
and roof lines and windows. I placed my laptop computer on a shelf near my easel
and added the figure from a photograph I had taken of an outdoor art class. The edge
to the left of the figure and her painting was softened to place the figure in relief.
This, and the background tree line, is in imitation of indistinct peripheral vision.
This is an unconventional composition with most of the the interest on the left
balanced by a larger relatively empty space on the right. The idea was
to suggest the largeness of the water and to gain the added dimension of the
distant land mass. Additionally, if the blue fishing boat were to move it would have ample water to move into.
I have an antipathy for signatures, viewing them as foreign intruders, so
I keep them as unobtrusive as possible.
The psychology of why I find mountains intriguing and beautiful may have to do
with a condition of childhood. Defenseless children look to their parents, comparative
giants, for comfort and protection. Compared to human scale these huge Rock formations are
certainly giants. Whatever the psychology, on a more relevant level, I could visualize a
painting and believed the problems to be surmountable.
This was a difficult painting for two main reasons. The scattered clouds caused the
light and shade to change each time I looked out of the window of my RV and also the foreground
had to be invented. In front of me were a gravel drive, a trash container, a large pinion tree
and a traffic sign. Just beyond all this I could glimpse some brush-covered terrain and that was
enough to invent a plausible foreground.
Before beginning to paint I determined the focus (rock formation on the center left), edges, the disposition of the sunlit and shaded areas, the horizon line and the color choices, both hue and
intensity. Reduced intensity of color for ariel perspective is minimal in the clear, dry, high
altitude, Southwestern atmosphere. For this painting, with the prominent rock features fairly
close, color changes have to do mostly with the loss of yellow as the painting recedes
(green more blue, cooler red). The values lighten slightly, especially the darks.
After a rough drawing for shape and position, I laid in the masses and roughly indicated
the composition. Then most of the surface was covered with paint so I could make relative comparisons.
Next I finished the focus, mostly with a palette knife, and the sky, keeping it closer
in value than it appeared so it wouldn't come forward and compete with the focus.
The sky is mostly invented using reality as a mere suggestion.
I had noticed some Poplar trees near the buildings and arranged them in dark values as a foil for
the sunlit village. This contrast was to attract the viewer to the secondary interest, the
village, and to coax the eye past what would become the foreground. The buildings were indicated
with a palette knife.
Cover the village and you can see how bland the painting becomes.
At about this time it had become so hot, Arizona in August, that I decided to come back
the next day and finish the painting during the more cooperative morning temperatures.
The first thing tackled the next day was finishing on both sides of the focus. The outside
shape against the sky was painted in conformity to the principle of unequal measures. The
idea for the painting of the rest of the mountains was to gain an understanding of the character
of the formations and paint that understanding rather than each and every striation. Since what
I was seeing was now in complete sunlight, I was additionally painting my memory of the shapes
in half-light. I kept the subordinate areas as simple as possible without making their simplicity
too obvious. The mountain behind the focus was painted as if in sunlight, in light, close values,
to separate it from the focus.
Then turning my attention to the foreground, I fashioned a half-light condition to reduce
contrast and thus limit its attraction power. The idea of the drawing of this area was to diminish
the ground shapes and vegetation in size as they move into the painting.
The third day, away from the subject, I had made many small adjustments and signed the painting
when something in the foreground suggested a dry riverbed. I invented this for added variety
and as a devise to lead the viewer forward. Total time, the equivalent of one full day.
Please take notice of how much of the linear geometry leads the eye toward the primary focus.
The lines of the mountains against the sky, the movement of the riverbed and the Poplar trees pointing up.
These and other devices may easily be employed and still remain within the confines of realism.
If that which is exaggerated, eliminated, altered, invented, and subdued while painting,
still results in convincing realism, the act of painting becomes much more of a creative experience. This is called artistic license, meaning deviation from fact for an effect gained.
I hasten to add however, that the above is not intended as a formula for painting, but
merely a description of an approach that fit the particular rather difficult circumstances.
Making decisions before painting and sticking to them, determining edges, masses and patterns by
squinting, establishing the value extremes, finishing the focus after the lay in and that which
surrounds it (painting the focus first allows for the rest of the painting to be accomplished
with comparatively less attraction power) and then moving to completion of that which remains
can be said to be my basic procedure for any painting.
STAGES
In this stage I'm satisfied with the landscape and am adding a cattle drive from a group of photographs I took at the T4 ranch in Tucumcarri, NM a few years ago (wonderful experience). The prominent cows are from photographs I've taken at ranches around the state. The herd is invented to fit the topography of the land.
In the interest of full disclosure, I'm showing the use of photographs which I notice most artists who use them are reluctant to do. For many years I regarded the use of photographs as contrary to the idea plein air painting but this is no longer the case. I don't, however, slavishly copy photographs but use them as additional resourses adjusted to agree with the rest of the painting.
Drovers 30" x 40" Oil.
The above photographs were taken in varying light conditions which accounts for some of the minor color shifts. This last one has the greatest fidelity to the original at least with my computer monitor settings.
Finished painting. Above the Chama 22" x 30" Oil on gessoed masonite. I wanted to repeat the blue of the distant mountain so I changed the shape on the right so it would connect.
Backup photographs. Useless for color but of some limited value for shapes and patterns.
I always work with the painting in shadow.
The hatchback on my Prius (49 mpg) is left open for easy access to anything I might need and so I can hear my classical music CD.
The focus will be a figure or two in the driveway so I've mostly worked on that area, including the trees.
Here I've worked all over but still concentrating on the focus area.
With the focus area nearly completed I was able to judge how to proceed without making the rest of the painting too attractive to the eye.
Don Gaspar Road, Santa Fe Oil on board 22" x 30"
I asked a friend of mine who had stopped by to stand in the driveway in various positions and photographed him. I then added the figures back in my studio of course making the figures look unalike. The lightest value in the painting is on the figure on the left which draws the viewer's eye.
Lay-in stage. Heavier paint paying close attention to
values,
edges, color variation and drawing.
Finish. Extensive use of a palette knife for the foreground leaves
and elsewhere. The clarity of the foreground leaves shows the distance of the background
trees with their soft
edges. The dark on the road next to the tree is not a cast shadow but a penumbra due to the tree blocking the diffused light from the sky. Cast shadows have sharp edges and penumbras have soft edges.
The figure was added in my studio from a photograph. The figure is the focus of the painting, which is usually true of figures, and placed off-center to the right, giving her ample room to continue walking.
Wash-in on location.
The river graduates to a lighter value which urges the eye toward the focus... the sulit cliffs. To aid this , I turned the river to the right in the direction of the focus. The dark trees in the middle distance help to move the eye up and I continued the cloud shadow to the left to help explain their dark value. I liked the color of the middle distance pinion studded hill with its rich reds and blue-greens and found chromatic red colored ground patches in the lower right for justification. The focus is the right portion of the sunlit mountain, so I kept the shapes on the left gradually less intricate. Of course, to invent a plausible river requires a great deal of experience painting the subject and careful study of the particular river in question.
As to the distant bluish mountain, logic tells us that the top of the mountain will be lighter in value than the bottom due to the way mountains tend to slope towards us at the bottom and the top is seen through more veils of atmosphere thus raising the value. Visually the reverse is true due to simultaneous contrast (Chevreul). A value seen next to a lighter value (top of the mountain) will apppear darker and a similar value next to a darker value (bottom) will appear lighter. This phenomenom is seen frequently in nature and understanding it allows for limited exaggeration which is accepted by the eye of the viewer.
Another version of the painting above at the same location a few weeks later. Oil on board 16" x 20", completed at the site.
In 2006 I painted a plein air wilderness stream series and in 2008 decided this one would be aided by the introduction of a few animals. The following illustrates the steps taken.
This step is concerned primarily with relative sizes and placement of the animals. It's an overcast day so I've roughed in a neutral-blue color for the light falling on the Bull Elk paying attention to the texture of his coat. The blue mountain is strengthened for color variety and a greater sense of distance.
Throughout these stages the background landscape is altered to agree with the clarity of the animals and to minimize distractions. The White Aspen trunk in the upper left, for instance, is darkened to keep it from competing with the light value used for the antlers. In this stage the head and antlers are also more acurately indicated on the Bull Elk.
The finish of the two Cow Elks has begun and further refinement of background elements has been attended to.
Bull Elk Oil 20" x 24"
The Cow Elks are kept close in value with relatively less detail so as not to overly distract from the Bull Elk, the center of interest. The stream on the lower left has been widened and the foliage behind the head of the Bull Elk is adjusted to better see his ears. The upper left Aspen tree has been warmed and some branches added to give a sense of detail. The cool light on the back of the Bull Elk and his antlers have been lightened and you can see how this seems to set him forward from the background. I would list the colors used but there are no recipies. I mix on the palette until I have what I want. For the cool neutral on the back of the Bull Elk, for instance, I probably started with Ultramarine Blue, Alizerin Crimson and White and, if it were too bright, mixed in some warm color to reduce the chroma. Probably a mixture of Yellow or Yellow-Red at the same value. My advice would be to keep painting and mixing and have faith that you will come to know what is needed when you try a mixture on a painting and it seems off in some direction or other. The palette for this painting was... White, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Yellow Ochre, Cad Red Light, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue and Viridian.
STUDENT DEMONSTRATION
PORTFOLIO
This is a studio painting put together from sketches, invention and memory.
From this I painted a 40" x 60" version with some changes and additions. There is an extensive
use of spectrum painting especially in the foreground surf. The foam under the curling wave
is an example of counterchange. It also, as it moves toward the viewer and receives more
skylight, grades lighter in value.
The Intrepid is well known around Gloucester and is one of the last of the wooden hull
fishing boats. They require more maintenance and are disappearing fast. I spent two
days on this painting, longer than normal, because I wanted a high degree of accuracy.
Carter's is a working boatyard and I had to move my RV a few times due to the workers placing
boats in my way. I met Cpt. Ed Boynton, a fishing boat captain who paints, and he gave me
many helpful pointers regarding boat design, rigging and equipment.
I think of this as a variation of Edgar Payne's Steelyard composition which is a large interest balanced by a smaller interest farther from the center along a straight line. The two horses and the trees balance the large tree.
A 2002 30 x 40 plein air painting done in my truck in one afternoon. I added the figures from memory and
adjusted the perspective back in my studio. The way I'm painting now would probably require two or
three return visits. This was in keeping with the way I was painting then, a looser approach
with rapid execution.
In 2004 I painted this on location in Gloucester, MA. I added the man and the dog back in my studio
from photographs but was not completely happy with the way they were painted. The man's pants were
too bright and there was something wrong with the dog. Two years later I changed the dog and reduced
the brightness of the pants with a light wash of Red which I wiped until I had what I wanted. I also
added the man's reflection which I had somehow overlooked. This is an example of the way I'm painting
now (2006) and required a return to the location the next day unlike the preceding painting. I had
painted loosely for many years and needed a change. The change was to carry the paintings further and
achieve more accuracy.
Mostly an invented painting. I used a small sketch, painted in daylight, as a a starting point.
TECHNICAL TERMS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To Frank J. Reilly, my undying gratitude for lighting the way and providing an excellent example
of how to live a life.
Rudy Hornish had been a professor of English at Seton Hall University before he came to work at the
Prudential Insurance Company where I first met him. We both became New York actors and stayed in
touch over the years. Rudy eventually became an Executive Producer with Paramount Pictures. Thank you,
my friend, for your guidance and encouragement.
Charles Movalli, is the editor of number of fine art books and former contributing editor
to American Artist Magazine. Charles is an accomplished and gifted artist as well and a friend. Thank you
for your helpful and needed editorial advice and content suggestions.
Fare well! Doug Higgins
Copyright protection of all text and images 2006 Doug Higgins
Early Years
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