Sketching in France: Paris, Angouleme, and Saintes

Jamie and I just came back from an inspiring two week trip to France, where we visited Paris, Angouleme, and Saintes. 

I knew the Musee d'Orsay in Paris would be an epic day, and true to its promise, I was completely overwhelmed. Taking in the Ingres, Bouguereau paintings, as well as the Naturalist painters and Impressionists was more than a full day's worth of viewing. Yet, it was the sculptures by Carpeaux that left me speechless. Carpeaux's sculptures contain that rare combination of not only perfect anatomy and structure but also, perhaps more importantly, the personality, gesture, and the life of the subject. I stood a long time looking at this sculpture, The Dance, commissioned for the Opera Garnier in 1869.

Because the museum is huge and I was eager to see everything, we did not have a lot time to draw. I chose to sketch this bust by Jean Carries because it's so unusual to find a bust of an infant. I'm not sure I captured it very well due to a lot of glare on the glass case.

study of La religieuse souriante, vers 1893-1894, Buste gres emaille 
(More samples of his work here)

I could spend a life time drawing in the Musee d'Orsay...

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After a few days in Paris, we took a quick train ride down to the comic book festival Angouleme (in the town of the same name) where we met up with our friends, art book bookseller Stuart Ng, and Ted Mathot who was doing a book signing for his comic, "Rose and Isabel".

Comic book artists in France are like no other; the work is typically of very high quality, and the top artists are  revered for their ability to draw well. Fans line up to get their "dedicace", dedication drawings on the inside of the book by the artist, each of which is expected by fans to be unique.

 

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After a fantastic time in Angouleme, we got on another train and headed south for the historic coastal town of Saintes, known as Mediolanum Saintonium when it was the Roman capital of southwestern Gaul. There, we met up with Jamie's father and step mother. We were all thrilled to see each other, and excited to be in Saintes, the center of art history and culture for the region, possessing a wealth of architecture, complete with The Arch of Germanicus, remnants of a Roman ampitheater, Roman baths, archelogical museum,  and  11th Century Churches.

 This temple of Roman fragments contained so many samples of decorative stone work, I wanted to draw it all. However, the choice was pretty obvious - the Julio-Claudian torso needed to be studied!

The temperature read 25 degrees the day we decided to study the Roman torso, and our hands really felt it! Given that my hands were turning to ice blocks, I decided to work on the line drawing as best I could from life, and then took several photos so I could finish the modeling of the form later.

Before we embarked on our return journey back to Paris, we sketched inside the Sainte-Pierre Cathedral in the center of town. I picked a warm spot to study some detailing on a plaque, but instead of the cold being a factor my problem this time was light! The dark interior of the church and the early setting sun made this sketch extra challenging. I couldn't get it all because I could barely make out my drawing pad and pencil.

For many years now I've admired the details in the decorative arts, many of which were created by artisans and craftsman whom we do not know. These artists contributed decorative details to churches, shrines, cups and saucers, pitchers, and on and on...I feel a certain brotherhood with these artists; the work I do professionally as an illustrator is how I earn my living, and is as close as I can get to contributing my skills to the culture. These artists were lucky that their work survived a 500+ years, whereas my digital-photoshop files for video games will most likely be lost in the binary ruins.

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Before heading back home to San Francisco, we took a 2-3 hour train ride back up to Paris, where we spent two more nights, giving us enough time to spend an entire day sketching at the Louvre.

While I studied and sketched two Barye sculptures, Jamie sat in the main courtyard through the far archway sketching Hercules versus Achlous.

I was completely enamored by this particular case of sculptures by the Romantic period sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye. I wanted to draw them all, especially the elephants in the upper left, but the sun was setting and the room was getting dark. I was happy and felt honored to have spent some time studying these two gems from my favorite of the Romantic era sculptors.

Roman Emperor heads and incredible gilded ceiling at the Louvre. That's me in the center looking at a sculpture of Ceaser's head. Jamie took the above panoramic shot with his iphone using the "autostitch" app.

Before the journey, my father gave me an audiobook, The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris by David McCullough, which I listened to on the plane ride back. I was thrilled to learn of the many artists who made the journey to Paris, over extended their stay, studied and made copies of numerous masterpieces in the Louvre (and even writing home about a few that made a deep impression on me). These fellow artists of the past also came away as I have done on this trip, feeling that our American culture lacks art and craftsmanship on the whole, and that striving for Beauty is a more than honorable quest.

I must get back to Paris.

Studying the Loacoon, Plein Air Sculpting

On Thursday nights I sculpt with a group of friends who are passionate about studying the figure and sculpting. Recently, when we set up our model, Jennings, we decided that the poses he was gravitating toward reminded us of "The Loacoon". We decided to go with it and have our fabulous model take the pose of the famous sculpture.

If you are unfamiliar with this sculpture, there is a wealth of information for you to learn about this incredible example of sculpting history. My brief summary is as follows:

The Laocoon comes from the Hellenistic Era, about 50 BC, when Greek sculpture evolved from a rational and classic art into a passionate and emotional expression whilst still retaining the idealization of the human figure. 

The group depicts a scene described in Virgil’s Aenid. The Trojan priest Laocoon and his sons are set upon by serpents at Poseidon's command as punishment for Laocoon warning the Trojans against the wooden horse. Three sculptors are credited by Pliny to have sculpted the group: Hagesandros, Athanadoros and Polydoros of Rhodes.

The sculpture was lost until it was discovered on January 14, 1506 during an excavation in a vineyard of Felice Fredi at “Sette Sale” on the Esquiline hill in Rome. When the sculpture was found, the raised arm was broken off. Michelangelo believed that the missing right arm was originally bent back over the shoulder. Others believed it was more appropriate to show the right arm extendeded outwards in a heroic gesture. The Pope held an informal contest among sculptors to make replacement right arms, and the contest was judged by Raphael. The winner, in the outstretched position, was attached to the statue. In 1906 a fragment was discovered and believed to be the original arm. This arm sits on the statue today.
*summarized from Wikipedia

Pope Julius II placed The Loacoon Group in the Vatican where it still resides. Many casts were made of it subsequently and acquired by museums around the world. One of those casts sits just outside the Legion of Honor Museum, tucked away on a quiet path, making it accessible for study.

"Loacoon and His Sons", outside of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California

Our Thursday night poses are typically set up for six three hour sessions. We decided that when this pose was over, we'd take our sculptures to the real Loacoon and work from the actual sculpture for comparison.

WOW. What an education...

I found that when I sculpted my block in from the live model, I interpreted the muscles of the back VERY differently. The back muscles I sculpted from our model Jennings were anatomically correct and logical but not simplified or idealized in a way that communicates strength and agony. My block in did not communicate this essential truth of the original and was merely an unemotional study of anatomy.

In addition to the enlightening exercise of sculpting from life and then from the actual sculpture, I found sculpting outside to be incredibly FUN. With a few careful preparations and perhaps fingerless gloves to keep hands warm, it would be possible to sculpt other outdoor studies of other sculptures in order to learn how to interpret and idealize the form. 

Practically speaking, an artist must come prepared. Blocking in the figure ahead of time either from the live model or photographs is helpful and necessary. Once there, you can use your hands to warm up small bits of clay and add to or take away as necessary. We used our plein air painting boxes placing our studies on top of our stands. My friend Lenny used a sculpting stand called "Hercules" that he recently bought, which seemed like a great option for indoors and out.

Hercules Sculpture Stand

***A note, however: although the stand is called "Hercules", it has it's limits regarding strength. The bolts at the bottom of the tripod are not strong enough to withstand heavy weights, I'm guessing over 50 pounds. However, for smaller works it is fantastic. The top has a rotating base that you place your board and sculpture on which sits upon a tripod, making it easy to transport or put away in a closet when not in use. 

After I got home from hours outdoors and defrosted my frozen fingers, I took a long look at my block in. Before we went to sculpt the original sculpture, I knew something was not working in the torso and back, but I was unsure of what. After seeing the original sculpture live, my vision became more clear and my understanding about what to aim for about the entire piece understood. A sculpture (or a drawing or painting) is not about the individual muscles but about the whole. Each area is important and can be idealized, but it makes no sense if the gesture is not working. All of those individual muscles will be meaningless if they are not working together to communicate the idea.

In addition to the gesture and over all idea of the piece, there is an enormous amount to observe and learn about how to idealize various areas of the body. It is unlikely that one particular model looked like this man. Rather, several models were used for various areas and each form made to be "the best" way to depict an area of the body. There is so much information in this one sculpture group to learn from.

I will continue to work on my study of Loacoon here and there over the next few months bringing my block in with me to study the idealized figure. This will be a long term project, taken in slowly, allowing the beautified form to seep into my consciousness a little at a time.

For drawing practice and sculpting study and reference, I may also purchase this Mask of Loacoon's head.

http://www.giustgallery.com/sculpture-reproductions/detail/laocoon-mask/item-46/

and also his torso:

http://www.giustgallery.com/sculpture-reproductions/detail/laocoon-torso/item-135/

Two Portraits

I have been inspired lately to use conte, pan pastel, and pitt pastel pencil on Rives BFK paper. I love this particular mix of materials with the velvety texture of the paper. Even with all smudging I did, I found that Rives BFK paper was able to withstand multiple layers of conte, smudging and erasing. I can't wait to draw more!

 "Walter", conte and pastel pencil on rives bfk paper

"Christopher", conte and pastel pencil on rives bfk paper

My kitty Maggie watched me during much of these portrait sessions. She's a great studio companion except for the occasional snoring.

This past year I have spent almost my entire life outside of my full time job taking workshops. Although my personal schedule was definitely pushed the max and at times stressful, at the end of this year I am looking back and feeling hopeful, energized and inspired. For about ten years after I left Chicago to move to San Francisco, I stopped painting outside of my illustration job because I was too busy making a living. This year I've made connections back to what truly inspires me; I've been studying Nature closely and all the while looking deep within my own heart, thinking carefully about what I truly find beautiful.

I am eternally grateful to those artists around me, right here in San Francisco, who generously choose to pass on their wisdom and support!

With so much gratitude, thank you!

Classical Realism with Sadie J. Valeri

Last January, I took a two week Classical Realism workshop taught by Sadie J. Valeri in her San Francisco studio.  
 

At the time I took the course, my interest in Classical Realism was purely practical. I paint at home nights and weekends, which for me has meant that the Alla Prima (wet into wet paint) method I was trained in at the Palette and Chisel and American Academy of Art, has required immediacy and speed, a process not well suited to my current working full time life style.

I thought perhaps the layered and methodical process of the Dutch/Flemish indirect process might provide me with a better working method, allowing me to work in stages rather than all at once, better suited to coming back over the course of several days and nights. While all of this is true, what I found after taking Sadie Valeri's course was far more enriching and enlightening than I'd expected.

For those unfamiliar with the term, Classical Realism refers
 to the contemporary rebuilding of a legacy of art instruction which developed from the Renaissance ateliers up through the 19th century Academies, which was nearly lost in the anti-figurative philosophies of the 20th century. Sadie uses a process of indirect painting that was developed by the Dutch and Flemish painters, but many ateliers use a two or sometimes three step process.

For further reading, you can find extensive information HERE at the Art Renewal Center website along with many examples of past and present works. (also a huge array of articles and information on schools)

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Construction Exercises and Value Control

The first exercise we worked on was a value sphere. I wrote extensively about this exercise, the terms and lighting effects HERE. At first glance this exercise might appear simple. I assure you, it is not! Like practicing scales on the piano, the value sphere is the equivalent for artists.

After we we practiced the value sphere, we studied the principles of organic form in Nature, contour and shape, perspective, and how best to construct objects, including a fantastic lecture on ellipses. **note: for this blog post I will focus primarily on the painting method and will outline in later posts the important information regarding structure that I learned.

We began our still life painting by taping a sheet of mylar (vellum) paper to a board on our easels which were leveled in direct line with the still life set up. Using a viewfinder, we mapped out our composition by making small thumbnails. We then went over principles in construction of objects, breaking down our subjects into shapes using the straight line block in technique rather than sight size. **note: the two links are 1) example of a figure drawing using straight line block in from Sadie's blog and 2) a discussion on wetcanvas.com about sight size vs. other methods with good comments about non reliance upon sight size.

Each student's easel was set up almost at eye level with the still life. Our easels were set far enough away to make the set up just under life size, in this case about 4-5 feet away.The reason for this is practical; comparing side by side makes measuring and comparing easier rather than guessing and translating on to the page the size you would like the objects to be.

Also important to note here is that Sadie's studio is set up for North lighting, the most consistent form of natural light. We did not use any form of artificial lighting whatsoever for this course.

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Materials for Painting

After we transferred our completed drawings to the gesso panel, we began painting. Here is a list of materials we used which can also be found on Sadie Valeri's website HERE:

Brushes: 

Robert Simmons "White Sable" brushes with the maroon handles and white bristles (very affordable)

Filberts, 2 each of sizes #10, #4, and #1

Rounds, 2 each of size #1 (one brush for the light areas, one brush for the dark areas)

Mediums:

Refined Linseed Oil

Stand Oil

Odorless Mineral Spirits (Turpenoid)

Natural Turpenoid  (ONLY for cleaning brushes, never get it into your paint)

"Silicoil" brand brush cleaning jar filled with Natural Turpenoid 

Paint Rags:

Shop cloths are used (can be found at Home Depot) for the reason that other paper towels have too much lint - especially the popular Viva brand paper towels that many impressionist painters employ. 

Palette:

classic wooden artist palette with thumb hole so we can pick it up or clip it to our easels.

(If it's brand new, brush on thick coats of linseed oil every night for several days/weeks and rub it into the surface or it will absorb oil paint.) 

**note: when I was in art school we used untempered masonite panels cut to size at Home Depot, which we coated with linseed oil in the same way. these have no thumb holes but are great palettes and can also be clipped to an easel if needed.

Panels:

smoothly sanded gesso panel with no texture. Sadie makes her own panels (detailed blog post on her site HERE). You can also use Ampersand smooth panels or make your own. 

**note: Daniel Sprick mentioned in his workshop that he coats untempered masonite panels with shellac, then five coats of Golden brand gesso, the last few coats he sands with a belt sander, and then applies Alkyd white to obliterate the texture completely making a smooth surface.

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First Stage of Painting

The Open Grisaille Layer

"Open Grisaille" means "dead grey layer" in French. The idea of this is a basic first pass of values that also creates a surface for later layers of paint to adhere to.

We began by mixing a thin layer of burnt umber, a touch of ultramarine blue, and small amount of white, thinned down with *only* turpentine. We used two brushes: one with paint and the other with turpentine on it which functioned as an eraser for mistakes.

We began by washing in the darkest dark in a thin layer. Rather than "swiping" in big strokes, we used small strokes, building our darks. This stage is called "open" grisaille because the white is the white of the panel - not white paint. This stage seems similar to watercolor in respect to how the paint is used, staining the paper in varying degrees of saturation, the white of the paper being the highest value. Here the "stain" is thinned oil paint on a very smooth panel. Thinking of it this way helped me through this layer.

 

This layer will eventually be completely covered up in the very next layer. However, skipping this step is not advised as it will help the oil paint bind to the surface of the very slick panel. I also found this step a good way to make "pathways" into the brain for understanding the nuances of how the light is working on the set up, kind of like a "warm up" for subsequent layers of paint.

Usually the open grisaille will take about six hours to dry. The panel must be dry before moving on to the next layer of paint.

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The "Couch"

After our panels dried over night upon completion of our open grisaille, we came back the next day to apply the couch. In fact, after each step is completed and dried, it is almost always necessary to apply a "couch" layer of underpainting medium on to the panel.  A couch layer on a dried panel aids the application of the new paint layer and helps the paint absorb into the panel.

The underpainting medium (linseed oil + turp) should be applied in the thinnest layer possible using a clean large brush. Sadie will also sand between layers after applying the couch, (which is called wet sanding) using the finest possible sand paper tooth - #600 - in order to remove dust and lint that adheres to the panel over night. Many artists have various recipes for the couch - Sadie uses underpainting medium.

Also, we applied the couch only to an area we were working on that day  because if we oiled an area we weren't painting, over the course of the day the oil would drip or become gummy.

**note: a good source for information about couching is in the book, Oil Painters Handbook, an encyclopedia that documents time tested techniques for oil painting materials and methods.

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Closed Grisaille - The Black and White Value Layer 

After the Open Grisaille step, we moved on to the "Grisaille" layer or Closed Grisaille stage. More information on the history of this method can be found HERE. This layer involves white paint and is completely monochromatic.

The colors we used to mix this grey are French Ultramarine, Burnt Sienna,

and Titanium White.

We mixed seven values, counting white as value one and near to black as seven. This in itself I thought was an excellent exercise for understanding how best to boil the infinite value scale down to a workable palette.

**Side Note: These black and white values are really warm greys. If you are not familiar with the differences between true cool greys, neutral greys, and warm greys, I highly recommend going to the art supply store nearest you and looking at sets of markers or gouache sets. You will notice the difference between the shifts between them, and it will help you gain an understanding of how how cool, neutral, and warm colors work. You could also buy some sets in three values of each marker and do some exercise sketching. When I worked as a background painter in the 90's, very often I would do value studies using these three greys - it is amazing at how "full" the color can look when really there is no color at all (or very little chroma, which is what is really going on).

After mixing up our value strings, I was more than eager to cover up the open grisaille layer. Again, I found interesting information regarding how best to apply the paint that was quite different from the Alla Prima technique I was trained in. A lot of artists learn to apply paint in values that "band" together and then blend those value bands. Sadie instructed us that this methodology does not produce a truly accurate and nuanced representation of the values and causes loss of control. It is better to instead think of the paint as small tiles that move across the form, painting each as a very small "dab" - not swiping at all - moving across the form rather than up and down. It is important not to rush or feel like you need to get it all down in one day. The importance here lies in getting as accurate as possible the values of the set up before moving on to the color stage.

I love the look of a palette at the end of the day, although I don't recommend having your open can of diet hansen's ginger ale next to all those solvents. :) However, Sadie also instructed us to always keep the lids on our solvents and mediums while we painted to reduce the toxic effect in the air as much as possible. I was amazed at how six students were painting and yet the room barely smelled of paint at all! (a nice thing for anyone with asthma like myself)

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 The Color Layer

After working a couple of days on refining the closed grisaille, black and white layer, we moved on to color.

the colors on the palette below, from left to right: Titanium White, Alizarin Crimson Permanent, Cadmium Red, Cadmium Orange, Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Sap Green, Cobalt Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Viridian Green, Mars Red, Burnt Umber.   

At this stage in the workshop, Sadie lectured about COLOR. Instead of getting into the ins and outs of this chart, I will post the Munsell chart. If you are a digital artist using Photoshop, you will find this easy to understand since Photoshop uses this color wheel system. If you are new to this concept, I suggest reading more about this HERE:

When I began laying in the initial color, I found it difficult to get the paint to adhere to the black and white layer with out picking up some of the black and white paint, which was muddying the color. To make sure this doesn't happen, make sure the closed grisaille layer is completely dry before applying color. I did appreciate the black and white layer, however, because I felt it made the color layer easier to focus on. Because the values were already noted carefully, I did not have to think about the value as much, which left me thinking about chroma and saturation instead. Nice!

Here we started by mixing up the dark color of an object, the light color and a mid tone. We painted thicker in the lights and thinner in the shadows, commonly referred to as "thick over lean", concentrating on the lights rather than the dark colors. We typically mixed a "string" of color before painting an object.

Another important difference I discovered between Alla Prima and Classical Realism was the handling of the highlight. Typically in Alla Prima, I would paint the warm tan-grey of the bottle first and then lay the highlight on top of that layer. When faced with the highlight in this set up, that is exactly how I began to do until Sadie intervened, explaining that in Classical Realism everything is painted right next to each other. In other words, the highlight is painted right next to the bottle color rather than on top of - sometimes referred to as "windowing".

** note: In addition, when I attended a Timothy Jahn demo at Sadie's studio in October of this year, he also mentioned this same thing: that he paints only a small section of a painting at a time, bringing it to full completion and then moves on, moving out and around the painting from there. (Visit his website here)

In the above photo you can see the black and white layer was mixing with my color. I found the next day when the layer had completely dried, the color went on cleaner without picking up the layer underneath. Be sure that b&w layer is dry!

My set up included a crumpled brown paper bag, which I was not able to complete. I mainly focused on the egg and dish, bottles and two glasses. I quite enjoyed this step and could have worked on it for much longer, but at this point the two week course was finished.

My semi-finished painting, above.

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 Demonstration and Lecture Photos

Sadie J. Valeri lecturing while she demo'd the grisaille "dead layer". I noticed how light her open grisaille layer was compared to mine. You can't tell in this photo below, but the paint barely made any texture at all on the surface.

Three eggs in three steps, by Sadie J. Valeri. First, the pencil construction, second, black and white value layer, third, full color (although there is an open grisaille step before the black and white stage):

Here is Sadie's finished egg from the demo she started in the above photos. As you can see, her skill is well honed! It looked even better in person.

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Final Thoughts

The methods used in this kind of painting were commonly taught in Ateliers in Europe and America, but diminished during the late 1800's through 1900's during the age of deconstruction in Western Art. (which happened in all the arts, including writing, dance, architecture, sculpture, poetry, etc) A revival has been taking place over the last thirty years for artists who wish to learn Classical painting methods driven by those who have a deep desire to depict Nature in it's true visual state. As a result, Classical Realism has become a richly poetic form of visual art in recent years thanks to the many Ateliers popping up all over the US and Europe and support by collectors world wide.

But what if you don't have a desire to paint in this manner? While I see a lot of painters begin at workshops that are loosely structured and sometimes even stylistic, I highly recommend that students begin with Classical Realism. Additionally, if you have already attended art school, Classical Realism studies will solidify accumulated knowledge and enhance an understanding of visual principles. Every form of painting, Impressionism, Alla Prima, Naturalism, even Abstract Expressionism is an off shoot of this hundreds year old tradition. Modernist avant guard schools function as a reaction to and against Classical Art tradition. Knowing this, why not fully understand the founding principles of technique and explore the truths of Nature? Once an understanding is mastered and practiced, along with the philosophy and historical context, exploring areas of visual expression is borne out of a place of understanding and relevance with a nuanced and intended expression of a visual idea. 

As for me,  I have spent most of this year using my vacation time and weekends to take workshops of all kinds, and truly enjoyed them all. Because of this, I have intentionally put off my personal work. I still have a great deal of questions and interests to explore, which I hope to address in my own paintings next year. I will definitely be using this technique for many of my studio works and am very eager to start!