March 7, 2013:
At today’s meeting: Eunice, Marty, Kay, Diane, Loretta, Tim, Thomas, Kristina, Hilarie, Dave, Char, Steve, Donna, Lola, Nanine, Celeste (me) and Brenda.
At today’s meeting: Eunice, Marty, Kay, Diane, Loretta, Tim, Thomas, Kristina, Hilarie, Dave, Char, Steve, Donna, Lola, Nanine, Celeste (me) and Brenda.
The subject today was your own marketing/business
efforts..how are you doing?
The following suggestions were made:
I (Celeste) have had good results with an extremely brief
artist’s statement. Also, I’ve noticed that people still like old-fashioned
“hard copy” flyers when they are warranted. I showed two paintings that both
employed Julie Ford’s “fracturing” ideas.
Tim Young brought in two paintings, one the Columbia River
Slough and the other a “portrait” of a tree stump.
Loretta showed us (on the ipad) a water lily painting that
she did for her brother and his wife. The painting is now framed and in
“permanent collection” in Sarasota, Fl.
Diane brought in some of her older marketing materials,
things she did prior to taking up oil painting. Her suggestion is that we all
have a blog, because blogs are more “now” and less static than websites.
Thomas (Kitts) agrees that having a blog is very important,
because it helps to develop relationships on all fronts. He recently merged his
blog and his website. He recently helped to put together a promotional video
for Plein Air Easton. (It’s great, make sure you see it):
Thomas brought in a painting done on the Oregon Coast in a
limited palette.
Thomas showed us the Strada pochade box that he will be
using (for review purposes). It is a beautiful streamlined design. We look
forward to learning more about it.
Kristina (Sellers) likes facebook as a way to get word out
about events and new works.
She has a show coming up at Lane Gallery.
Lola has been taking a class at OSA. She copied two
paintings by other artists and found the exercise valuable.
Donna went over “Bruce Baker’s recommendations on Marketing”
and provided us with handouts (PDF file to come). Her additional
recommendation: —don’t forget to smile! She showed us a painting that she
revised.
Dave McBride’s tip is to “hang out with good artists”. He
brought in two paintings, one landscape and one cityscape.
Char brought in a painting done in watercolor. She continues
to enjoy coming to our meetings and her new mini-studio.
Kay Elmore brought in a business book from Xanadu Gallery.
She is working on having a body of work. She took Thomas’ workshop last weekend
and re-discovered Notan. She did a Notan of the challenge photo and also showed
us the painting that she did from the Notan.
Hilarie was a portrait painter from an early age. She will
be doing a demo at Gallery 360 this Saturday from 6-8. She uses RACC and the
Artist’s trust (Vancouver) to find out about new opportunities.
Marty took the workshop with Thomas this weekend and gave
the experience 5 stars. He showed the paintings that he did in the workshop.
One was a notan (with “fracturing”), a figure and a still life.
Eunice recommends bartering as an alternative to selling for
money. She brought in some magazine articles and information on a new app for
figure painters, called pocket body by pocketanatomy.com
Steve Kleier recommends that everyone plan their week and their
days. It is important to have structure, in order to succeed. He brought in a
watercolor of a street scene. He is teaching at Sequoia Gallery on this
Saturday...there is room left. Fid out about it here:
Nanine Alexander (new) takes classes at OSA. She used the
challenge photo to produce a pastel and she also showed a charcoal landscape.
Brenda is going to be in the Los Gatos Plein air and has a
workshop coming up at OSA in October. Find out more at her blog. It’s her 26th
wedding anniversary today! Congratulations, Brenda and Joe!
http://brendaboylan.blogspot.com/
http://brendaboylan.blogspot.com/
Announcements:
Anton Pavlenko at Annie Meyer (reception tonight)
Eunice and others at Art on Broadway (reception Saturday)
Eric Bowman Figure workshop:
The meeting was big today—thanks to all for your patience
getting to everyone!
Next meeting: Thursday March 14...suggested topic “the importance
of GRAY”
To return to the front page...go HERE.
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March 14, 2013
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March 14, 2013
At today’s meeting:
Tim Young, Loretta, Thomas, Stephanie, Chris, Tim Lally, Kay, Diane M, Joanne, Eunice, Diane H, Hilarie, Kristina and me (Celeste).
Today’s suggested topic “the importance of gray”
I (Celeste) showed a color chart that I painted of various grays from combining cad yellow light, ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson. I brought in two paintings.
Eunice reminded us that Ovanes Berberian uses grays very effectively; all sorts of grays, yellow grays, blue grays and red grays in order to make other colors really stand out.
She showed us a painting of a desert cactus (that employed a variety of grayed-greens).
Joanne brought in two paintings and two books. The Goerschner book is one of her favorites, and it has a good section on why gray in painting is essential.
Diane M grew up in Oregon, so she likes gray. She has learned to scrape off her palette at the end of a painting session to collect a pile of gray. She brought in a city scene painting.
Hilarie gave a painting demonstration last Saturday at 360 Gallery. She brought in the results (which was purchased by the sitter) and also 3 notan (black and white) paintings from Thomas Kitts workshop. Hilarie told us that she is learning the properties of paint and becoming more aware of why one mixes cool with cool or warm with warm and visa versa.
Kay brought in a color chart of viridian and a portrait from her archives. She is reading “Life with Picasso” and she was struck by how she and Picasso seemed to share some of the same problems (!) Kay is organizing a paint out on March 28 to the Blue Heron Nursery on Sauvie Island (after the O’Connor’s breakfast meeting).
Kristina likes a Russian painter: Isaac Levitan. He handled grays in a way she appreciates. Kristina likes to use cad orange under some grays to enliven it. She brought in two paintings.
Diane H brought in three pastels from photos in Alaska. She doesn’t have many neutrals in her pastel kit, but she knows that neutrals are important to every painting.
Tim Lally recommends we look at the paintings of Dreama Tolle Perry. She uses bright color, but weaves grays throughout, so that there is relief from the color. Tim himself enjoys natural colors and likes to “jump in” to find them as he goes (instead of pre-mixing grays). Tim shared a portrait painting.
Chris brought in a watercolor book that has an outstanding section on grays. She told us that this author explains a “jewel”-type color is heightened when the color next to it is grayed down. Chris also brought in a painting of a Lion.
Loretta tells us that “gray is happy wherever it is” and that “wherever it is... it lends a mystique”. She brought in two paintings.
Tim Young told us about Gamblin Torrit Gray and showed us a recent painting from Sandy Delta Park.
Stephanie used to paint using grisailles (gray under paintings) but now she paints directly. Recently she has been working from the figure and she brought in two paintings from the Gorge.
Thomas has been at the coast painting for the past couple of days. He showed us two paintings of gray days. “Gray always has a hue bias”, he said, “when you see gray ask yourself is it a warm gray, a cool gray a green gray, a blue gray (etc etc). If you think you have “mud”....more that likely it is a problem of temperature.
Thomas recommends we have a look at the work of Marc Dalessio:
Announcements”
Thomas Kitts will give a demonstration at the NWOP Guild (Vancouver). He will paint a landscape from a computer monitor and will discuss the “pitfalls of painting from a photograph. This coming Tuesday, (March 19) 7pm. (You may attend, even though you are not a member):
Roos Schuring will be attending the Plein Air Convention in Carmel!
Current exhibits: Eunice, Diane and Diane (and others) at Art on Broadway.
Stephanie at Spring show at OSA:
Paint outs:
This Saturday (sketching) at Pill Hill with the Portland Urban Sketchers (Kay Elmore will be there)
March 28 Blue Heron, Sauvie Island (after O’Connor’s breakfast meeting)
Gorge Artist Tour: (April):
Ned Mueller workshop:
Next Meeting: What do you do with your old (failed) paintings? Repurpose? Recycle? Throw away?
See you next time!
Return to front page: http://allaprimaportland.blogspot.com/
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March 21, 2013:
At today’s meeting: Loretta, Tim Young, Claudia, Steve, Chris, Tim Lally, Lisa, Diane Holland, Eunice, Diane Marks, Marty, Dave, Char, Peggy, Kristina, Donna, Thomas, Kirk DeFord and Celeste.
At today’s meeting: Loretta, Tim Young, Claudia, Steve, Chris, Tim Lally, Lisa, Diane Holland, Eunice, Diane Marks, Marty, Dave, Char, Peggy, Kristina, Donna, Thomas, Kirk DeFord and Celeste.
Today’s suggested table topic “Old paintings...what do you do with them”?
I (Celeste) just tried “Kilz” yesterday to eradicate some of my old paintings. I brought in two samples of repurposed panels. I also showed three paintings.
(Here is my blogpost on the subject):
Loretta gets rid of paintings she does not want by cutting them up with a box cutter. She makes sure they are completely destroyed.
Loretta brought in a painting from her archives that she likes (no box cutter for that one!)
Tim Young has cut up old paintings to repurpose them as Christmas wrap. He brought in a helmet that he was asked to paint in a Batman theme .......and a landscape.
Marty has had some paintings that “made him sick”. He has covered those up. He has started taking another round of classes with Kat Sowa. He is learning “palette management”. Marty is super happy with his progress in the classes (and recommends anyone looking for instruction to check with Kat!) He brought in two paintings.
Claudia brought in blank canvases for the Hip to be Square show at Seguoia. The entry fee is 25.00 and the Gallery will take a 25% commission. Find out more here: http://www.sequoiagallerystudios.org/pdfs/Hip_2B_Square_app_2013.pdf
Deadline March 29, paintings must be dry.
Claudia also recommends “We’re Organized” shelves for painting storage.
Claudia confessed...she has burned paintings. Of course, this is not recommended...but “oil paintings can create quite a bonfire”, she said.
As a watercolorist, Steve Kleier often paints on both sides of watercolor paper. He showed us a sample of that (a good painting on the opposite side of a “failed” painting). He likes the fact that paper takes up much less room than canvases on stretcher bars. Steve is offering a series of drawing classes at OSA. Find out about it here:
Thomas Kitts does not over paint anything. He prefers to paint on a new surface. He knows that impressions from past paintings can (and will) come through and become visible in time. He gets rid of paintings he no longer wants by giving them away as presents (usually to his family). The only other way he knows to get rid of paintings is to take them directly to the landfill.
Thomas is going to be giving a talk at the Plein Air Convention about outdoor palettes. He’d love it if you have any specific questions about outdoor palettes, to please email those questions to him. (He wants to prepare for the talk and be able to anticipate queries).
Thomas wowed us with his painted-from-life portrait of Alla Prima Portland member Tim Young. It is so stunningly "right-on-the-money" it brought a round of applause! The portrait will be included in Thomas’ upcoming book and it was accomplished with no Turpentine, OMS or Alkyds.
Thomas also did a painting demo at NW Oil Painter’s Guild. Find out about it on his blog:
http://www.thomaskitts.com/ (and thanks to Chris Lally for taking photos).
Donna showed us cards and bookmarks that she has fashioned from previous paintings. She also showed us a new abstract painting from her series from the Japanese Gardens.
Donna let us know that Art on Broadway will have a reception on April 6 for a show that includes Eunice, Diane M and Diane H and Lisa. (Congratulations, all!)
Chris L learned from a teacher to rip up her failed watercolors. She told us that when she took up oil painting she decided to also join in a show about Red. She was brand new to painting and she realizes now (but didn’t quite realize then) that painting something predominately red is a very tall order! (She showed that painting...we all approved!)
Tim L showed a painting from a life session that he intimated might be one he could dump or repurpose.... (as he thought he made some “unwitting” poor decisions).
Kirk DeFord (new to us...welcome!) is an educator and grant writer/artist. He often does mixed media constructions. Some of his art can be characterized as social commentary and for this reason some of his paintings never find "a home". Kirk once made a sculpture from 50,000 business cards. He will be a part of the Mt. Tabor walk in May. (Note: Kirk and Celeste are working on putting together an event where painters will repurpose panels “en masse” ---stay tuned)!
Kristina makes her own boards. She brought in a painting that was accepted in the Gresham juried show. She recently painted several paintings and took them to Broderick Gallery where they were all accepted. (Congratulations, Kristina!)
Dave brought in 3 plein airs. He has often painted over old paintings. Dave is one of the artists at the Portland Rental Gallery and they are having a “meet the artists” this coming Saturday.
Saturday, March 23, noon-3 p.m. (artists speak at 1 p.m.)
Char didn’t bring any work, but was happy to see the work we all brought!
Diane H doesn’t want bad paintings around and thinks about it almost in an Estate planning way! Some day she hopes to have a retrospective exhibit that will show the continuum of her work from early to current. She works on sanded paper that can be dusted and washed off. It’s impossible to paint in Alaska in freezing weather, so she uses photos and (mostly) her sketchbook for reference. She showed us two paintings.
Lisa tells us that she thinks of nearly everything as practice. She hasn’t painted long enough to have piles of things to dispose of. She brought in a portrait of a young girl.
Diane M-B told us that she made a mistake recently by putting acrylic over oil! She has learned her lesson! She repainted a figure from last session at Studio 30. She is paying attention to shapes in the face. She has been painting on fronts and backs and will purchase a roll of canvas in the future.
Eunice calls her unwanted paintings “old dead rats”. She cuts canvases off of stretcher bars and staples them (backwards) onto other stretcher bars. She promises to bring a sample of this to another meeting.... because it sounded like very useful information!
Peggy has a favorite tour de force type painting that she has kept for 10 years. She recently looked at it and realized that she could paint aspects of it better today than back then. She brought in a drawing and painting of a blue violin. (Beautiful and unique!)
Announcements:
The Fechin Show at the Frye! Let’s not miss it! Who wants to carpool and when?
Paint out this weekend. (OSA Nautical show)
Eric Jacobsen workshop this Saturday...there is still room.
There were no parking problems due to construction in front of O’Connor’s today.. but it is just a matter of time. In the future we will likely have to park on a different street and “hoof it”. We’ll keep meeting on Thursdays during the construction.
Thanks to all for coming today and sharing your paintings and ideas!
Next meeting, Thursday, March 28th suggested table topic: Black! (and darkest darks!)
To return to the front page..go HERE
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March 28, 2013
At today’s meeting: Renita, Tim Y, Char, David, Kirk, Donna, Kristina, Za, Vicki, Kay, Loretta and me (Celeste)
The topic today was “darkest darks.... and black (your thoughts?)
I (Celeste) relayed a story that had been told to me by another artist. A teacher told him in a figure class that “it’s time to put n the darkest darks”. When the teacher returned to the student he admonished him while gesturing toward the model: “I meant the darkest dark in HER , not the darkest dark on your palette!”
I brought in two of my recent paintings that were painted with black.
Vicki brought in a painting that has a lot of dark in it...is it too dark? (she asked us). No one thought it was “too dark”! Vicki reminds us that the OSA Nautical show is coming up. The work doesn’t have to be plein air, and she thought last year’s show was good.
(Take in work April 6, 2013)
Diane brought in two portraits. One of a student and another of a contemporary person placed into a medieval painting motif (in progress). When Diane first began painting she says she used too much black and the results seemed “ashy”. She has learned that it is good to mix up flesh tones ahead of time. Diane has joined Talisman Gallery and invites us all to an opening tonight (First Thursday) of a new show. (Congratulations, Diane).
Kristina was taught different things about placing darks. One school of thought is that the darkest dark and lightest light should be placed first. She has also been taught that all the darks should be put in first. She doesn’t really use a formula. She brought in a book of Remington that had several nocturnes in it. She feels Remington treated the nocturnes in a theatrical way...almost as if the paintings were plays where the stage lights “went down”.
Donna explained that as a watercolorist, she places darks early. She brought in several books that showed beautiful predominately dark paintings. Donna let us know that Art on Broadway has two new artists. She brought in two paintings.
Kay has returned from a trip to the Bay area ...specifically to see the Girl with the Pearl Earring (at the deYoung). She told us it may be sacrilege, but the painting was a little less than she expected. Most times we are blown away by how printed versions don’t compare with the original...but in this case, she thinks reproductions have actually done it justice! She sketched while she was away (and showed us a sketch on her phone). Kay used to use black, but nowadays she doesn’t. She sometimes uses Payne’s Gray. She shared a book with us: “When Art Really Works” (the book explains particulars about famous successful paintings).
Renita has been taking classes with Kat Sowa. Sometimes she feels tripped up and confused...but she is sticking with it and knows some ??’s are to be expected! She told us about Ted Talks.
Za is off during spring break so she got to come to the meeting today. She told us (on the subject of black) that she learned a great deal when she got to paint plein air with her friend Jie. He taught her to simplify her palette and to just use primaries. She showed two paintings and talked to us about using just three values, light, mid tones and dark. She does use black on occasion, but sparingly and it always has a temperature, warm or cool. She likes for one value to be dominant in a painting. Za will be giving a workshop in figure at Kat’s studio. (Stay tuned for the dates).
(Za was/is a professional animator...and certainly the only one among us with a IMDb page! Check out the movies she worked on):
http://studioza.blogspot.com/
http://www.jiestudio.com/
Kirk has met someone who would love to have painted canvases that we no longer want so that she can repurpose them in her designs. Her name is Akiko and it would be a donation. Contact her directly:
Kirk is a mixed media artist so sometimes he uses electrical tape for black. He showed us a mixed media painting.
David McBride has heard “complaints” that he uses too many darks. He disagrees and thinks of darks as his thing. He likes to link darks together, as Srebnik has taught him. Dave has revamped his website, stopped blogging and is going to send out monthly newsletters using mail chimp. He showed us a painting of a young man reaching out to touch a passing train. (Diane let us know that David recently won a third prize at OSA---congratulations, Dave!)
Tim Young makes his black; he doesn’t use black from the tube. He brought in a painting of Montana.
Loretta told us she has a small tube of black paint that she hasn’t bothered with since she got in in the mid sixties! She also makes her blacks or darkest darks with other colors. She likes Payne’s Gray. She showed us a predominately dark panting that was from her imagination.
More ongoing class information from OSA:
Thanks to all for attending today!
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