The Blogcademy New York City Reunion

It's been a crazy week over here, so I was thrilled to take a break to attend a lunch for the reunion of the first Blogcademy class, which took place right here in NYC.

I was so happy to see the fantastic Blogcademy headmistresses as well as some of the former students from the original class.  If you are unfamiliar with The Blogcademy, please check out their site.  Shauna, Kat and Gala run two day blogging workshops all over the globe.  If you want to start a blog,  improve the blog you have, or learn about the business side of blogging, this class can't be beat.

We had a huge table at the Smith Restaurant.  I'd never been there before, but I'll definitely be back.  Great food, service and atmosphere.

The top photo is me with Gala, the one below with Shauna.  I didn't get a picture with Kat, but I will next time.

Here is the schedule of classes.  If you have the opportunity to learn from these amazing women take it.   I'm so glad I did!

Two Down, One To Go!

Yes, I finished another painting yesterday.  If you recall, I was working on three paintings at the same time.  Not my usual way of working, but with flower season in full swing, I have had to change things up a bit.

I did not paint this in my studio, so I just have a few not so great phone snaps, but I wanted to show you the painting right away.  I will take it home next week and sign it, then in a few weeks it will be ready to be varnished and photographed.

This is the end of the second painting session on this piece.  After blocking everything in (including the background), I added the shadows.

This is the end of day three.  As you can see, things are much more refined than in the first shot.  The shadows and highlights are in.  Now it is time to add the details.

This is the finished painting.  I darkened up the shadow on the white vase and added in the pattern.  Then I tackled the pattern on the fabric.  Funny thing about that - it took me over an hour to do that small vase and about twenty minutes to do the fabric!  Painting can be strange like that.  Something you think will be difficult is easy, and another thing that looks easy can make you want to tear your hair out.

So that is it for this one.  Next up, the hydrangeas I have been working on.  The flowers are long since done, but I'm concerned that the glass isn't "glassy" enough.  Of course I'll show you the whole process.  We'll see what tomorrow brings - hopefully a finished painting!

Peonies

  The peonies are done!  After nearly going crazy with them on Tuesday, yesterday everything went very smoothly and I unexpectedly finished the painting.  Here is the original set up.

I started out by blocking in the placement of the vase and flowers.

I use a mix of ultramarine blue and transparent red oxide to do the block in.  As you can see, it is very simple.  Just enough to get the placement of the objects before the actual painting begins.  

Next I put in the background.  This is a great method I learned from Gregg and I plan to do a whole post on it in the future.  

Then the fun starts.  I started painting in the flowers and put a coat of white over the vase, just to get the whole canvas covered up.  

This is where things got tricky.  I ended up changing the floral set up a few times until it looked good on the canvas.  Of course, that meant that I had to wipe out the flowers multiple times so that they corresponded with the set up.  I'm telling you, these peonies drove me nuts.  I literally had to lie down after working on them all day Tuesday.

Yesterday I figured I was in for more of the same, but the stars finally aligned and I finished up the entire painting in just a couple of hours!  I decided to ignore the flowers and just work on the vase.  That got me going and I realized I only needed to change out one flower.  After that I just had to darken up some shadows and add in the blue pattern.  

And here is a shot of the finished painting.  I took this with my iPhone very late in the day so the lighting is not ideal, but since it is going to be quite some time before it is varnished and photographed (due to the fact that the flowers have about fifty coats of paint on them), I figured I would take a shot now so you guys could see the finished painting.

I considered spending some more time on this, but realized that I was getting dangerously close to what Gregg calls "don't blow it" territory.  You know that thing that happens when everything is good and then you make one stroke too many and then you have to redo the whole painting?  I did not want that to happen so I quickly signed it and declared it done.  (Blogger reversed the signed and unsigned paintings and I could not get it back.  Sorry about that). 

Next up, finish up the still life and then it's on to the hydrangeas.  One down, two to go!

Painting Updates

Hi Everybody.  I wanted to update you on what has been happening in the studio.  I'm working on three (!) different paintings at the same time.  Normally I start a painting and work on it until it is finished, but that is on hold for the summer.

Every year around this time, I start seeing all the gorgeous flowers at the greenmarkets, and I was always so disappointed that I did not have a place to paint them.  Now that I have my studio I'm so excited to be painting all of these beautiful flower arrangements.

I started out with some great hydrangeas and ranunculus.  I got the flowers all painted in, but the rest of the set up has been a struggle.  The correct way of working is to paint the whole canvas at once, but with flowers I break this rule because they don't last long and aren't easily replaced.

I was working away on this painting when I spotted a booth at the greenmarket selling the most beautiful peonies.  Of course, the hydrangeas went on hold while I got to work on the new painting.

I snapped this with my phone so it is not the best photo, but I wanted to show you how it is coming along.  This was the end of day three.  It's been a bit of a struggle.  The insane weather we had last week and oil painting do not mix very well.  We had five inches of rain on Friday!  The panel was not drying overnight and my paints were a bit sticky.  I'm hoping for better weather and more progress on this over the next few days.

I showed this painting in my last post.  It needs a bit more work as well and has some greenery that has to go in tomorrow.

So that is what I've been up to the last two weeks.  I'm hoping to have some finished paintings to show you over the next week or two.  Unless I find another bouquet I can't resist...

Potpourri

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to check in to say hi and show you what I've been up to the past week.  I've been a bit under the weather so there has not been much painting going on, but I did work on this still life setup this week.

This isn't the best photo.  I just quickly snapped it with my phone at the end of the painting session.  This was day two working on this painting.  It needs another two or three more to get it finished.

I also stopped by New York City's version of Monet's pond.  Here are a few snaps that I took last evening.  Unfortunately, there is a lot of algae floating around, but I will take some artistic license and pretend it's not there.

I had intended to set up there tomorrow for a day of en plein air painting, but then I saw these beauties at the farmer's market.

There was a whole stand dedicated to peonies.  You know I couldn't pass those up, so tomorrow will be a studio day while I get these painted.  Peonies don't last long so they have to be painted right away.
I'm hoping some of the closed buds open up by tomorrow morning, but either way I can't wait to paint this bouquet.  

I'll be back tomorrow with a full recap of the peony painting event.  Can't wait to get started!

Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity At The Metropolitan Museum Of Art

This past Monday, I made it just in time (literally) to see the Impressionism, Fashion and Modernity show at the Metropolitan Museum.  The show combined two of my favorite things, art and fashion, and I throughly enjoyed it.

I've done a lot of reading and research about the Impressionist painters, but this is one aspect of their work that I never knew about.  According to what I read at the show, the painters consulted fashion illustrations and fashion photos and posed their models in the same way as these ads.  They painted on large canvases to show off the clothes, and many times the models were looking away.  The idea was that if the models were looking away, the viewer would notice the clothes first.

Aside from the beautiful paintings, there were dresses and fashion illustrations on display.  Unfortunately, since this was a special exhibition, no photography was allowed.  I only got one shot off before the guard caught me, so here are a few photos from the Met Museum website.

Camille, Claude Monet (courtesy MetMuseum.org)

Madame Louis Joachim Gaudibert, Claude Monet (courtesy MetMuseum.org)

The Millinery Shop, Edgar Degas (courtesy MetMuseum.org)

My one quick shot of a dress on display

The very lucky Heather of Habitually Chic was invited to a semi-private tour and was allowed to take photographs, so please click over to her site to see more.

You can also purchase the catalog from the show here.

I really enjoyed this show.  Not just for the beautiful paintings, but because I learned something new about artists I have admired for years.

Show Announcement

Hi Everyone.  I hope everybody had a good weekend.  I have some exciting news to share with all of you.  Friday afternoon I received word that my portrait of Rochelle was accepted into the Art of the Figure:  A Juried Exhibition show at Gallery North on Long Island.

I can't tell you how pleased and honored I am to be included in this show.  I will have more details as it gets closer, but the painting will be hanging from Friday, August 30, 2013 to Friday, September 27, 2013.

Portrait of Rochelle

Gallery North
90 Old Country Road
Setauket, NY  11733
www.gallerynorth.org

Thank you to the gallery and to juror Philip Pearlstein for giving me this opportunity.

And now friends, even though it is a holiday here in the US, the peonies are waiting.  Have a great day everybody!

Xo,
Frances

Blue And White

If you look through my still life paintings you will see that I love to use blue and white pieces in my set ups.  As I mentioned in this post, I've been on the hunt for props for my new studio.  I got myself a bunch of fabrics and I already had a lot of silver and crystal, but I did not have any blue and white china.  Here are some examples of how I have used the blue and white props in my paintings.

These are just a few examples.  I have many more, but the blue and white props do not belong to me.  These were all painted in my teacher's studio.  Now that I have my own space, it was time to get my own things.

First, I went to ebay, thinking I'd find some great deals, but that was not to be.  Much of what I found there was very overpriced, some were even up in the hundreds.  Obviously, that was not happening.  Not only was the price out of my range, but you don't want to over spend on still life props.  Accidents happen and a few will always get broken and the ones that survive long term will eventually end up with paint and other spots and stains on them.  Next I tried poking around some vintage stores.  Again, most things were overpriced, but I did find one vase to get me started.

Last weekend, on a whim, my hubby put estate sales into Craigslist and I hit the jackpot.  He spotted a sale to sell the contents of "Grandma's finely furnished home" and there was a shot of the dining room packed with blue and white!  We got ourselves out there asap as it was already noon and I was afraid that everything would be gone, but the still life gods were with me and I found a treasure trove of beautiful things.

Here is what I bought at the sale.  There were many pieces still there, but I took my time and only bought what I would want to use in the paintings.  If I had a large space to display everything, I would have bought it all, but that will have to wait until I win the powerball and buy my townhouse.

Aren't they beautiful?  I can't wait to get them over to my studio so I can paint these great pieces.  Grandma had many beautiful things.  She obviously had impeccable taste and a great eye.  The sale was run by a professional company so there were no family members around, which was a shame.  I would have loved to find out more about Grandma as I could tell from her house and her belongings that she must have been a very interesting lady.  In fact, I'm still obsessing over her house and if it wasn't so far out from the city and too far from the subway, I would have put in a bid then and there.  There was even a glass enclosed sunroom that I was dying over.  Could you imagine painting in there all day?  I sure could.

If you love blue and white like I do, check out The Enchanted Home.  Tina has a serious blue and white obsession and her amazing house is filled with gorgeous pieces.  She also has a shop with some beautiful blue and white items available.

Also, Robert Johnson, a great artist and teacher of mine uses blue and white in his still life paintings as well.  Click on over to see them.  They are really beautiful.  In fact, it was in a weekend workshop with him that I first discovered using blue and white pieces and how great they look in a painting.

I'm very excited to get to work with my new things.  Of course, I'll post the new paintings as soon as they are ready.

New Portrait

Just a quick post to show you a new portrait I finished last week.  I was lucky to have the beautiful Regina posing for me, so it was a very fun and exciting painting to work on.  The right model can make all the difference, don't you think?

I had intended to photograph the process all the way through, but I was really into the painting zone and just did not get all the steps documented.  However, I did shoot enough to give you a basic idea of how this portrait came about.

This is the original placement on the panel.  Actually, it's the second placement.  If you look at the top right hand corner, you can see the original outline that I put down.  Luckily, Gregg pointed out that the placement of the model should be over to the left about an inch.  It really did look much better and I'm so happy to have made the change before any real work started.

Here is where I fell into the zone.  This is the end of the third painting session.  I suddenly realized that I had not photographed anything since the original block in.  I'm working on a still life and have managed to document that whole process, so I'll have that for you soon.

This is midway through the fourth and final pose.  At this point I mostly worked on her hair and the background and did a little bit of tweaking to the red robe.

The end of the modeling session.  The painting is now drying and waiting to be varnished.  When that happens I will post a proper photo.

I really enjoyed doing this painting.  There is nothing like painting a beautiful and inspiring model.  I hope you enjoyed seeing how this painting came about.

xo,
Frances

Mentoring With The Masters At The Salmagundi Club

Hi everyone.  Last week I attended Mentoring With The Masters day at The Salmagundi Club here in New York City.

There were four master artists in various rooms of the club and the students and teachers could wander about and paint where ever they wanted.  Since my teacher was one of the mentors, of course I went to the event.  I never get a chance to paint interior scenes, so this was a first for me.  It was great fun and I learned a lot, including some elusive perspective skills!

Gregg was set up in the basement so I went down there as well.  The basement of the club is a fun spot with a bar, tables and pool tables.  The proceeds from the event went to refurbish the pool tables.  Here is a shot of the room.

The shot above includes Blaine, our model for the day.  Each room had it's own set up and model, but we were having such a fun time down in the basement that we all stayed there for the duration of the event.

This is my original sketch on to the canvas.  As I said, perspective is not my strong suit, but luckily Gregg was there to remind me about the vanishing points.  Also, he had a T-square, which really saved the day.

The block in.  It took me awhile to get going as I had never painted an interior scene before, but once I figured it out, it was really fun.

Here are some of the other painters.  Everyone did a great job and had a lot of fun.

Around noon we had a lunch break which gave my panel some time to dry, so when I got started again I was really able to get some paint on it.

This is what I ended up with at the end of the day.  Not too bad considering it was a one shot session of something I had never done before.  I would love to be able to go back for another session to really finish it up, but it was such a great learning experience that I don't mind the unfinished canvas.

Painting by Gregg Kreutz

This is Gregg's painting.  Yes, he managed to do all this while helping the rest of us.  Amazing. 

This was a really fun day and I'm so glad that I got to take part in the event.  I'm hoping this is the first of many interior paintings.