Steel Bashaw

A new illustrated fantasy story presents the fruit of 15 years of effort by Serbian/Dutch artist Petar Meseldžija.

The folktale, called “The Legend of Steel Bashaw,” presents heroes, maidens, horses, and dragons—all fairly familiar stuff—but Meseldžija puts a new spin on it. He uses thick-paint impressionism, based on his plein air studies, to convey mossy forests and gnarly creatures.

The scene of the two giants hunched over the fire of their cave kitchen is worth the $19.95 price tag. In a “making-of” afterword section, the artist shows his development sketches for the grotesque monsters. He says he “searched for inspiration among old people, beggars, drunkards, and even the mentally handicapped.”
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More from Flesk Publications
Petar Meseldžija.
Amazon listing
Lines and Colors post.

Pencil Point Sculpture

Artist Dalton Ghetti has done some amazingly detailed sculptures from the tips of pencil points.

From Trendhunter

Wootton's Lost WW1 Journal

A sketchbook and journal from World War 1, forgotten for 90 years, has surfaced in an attic.

It records the wonders and horrors of battle experienced by Lieutenant Kenneth Wootton.

Full article on the Daily Mail. Thanks, K-tron!

John Collier

At his blog Underpaintings, Matthew Innis has assembled an extensive portfolio of the British academic painter John Collier, along with a biography.

Here is Collier’s take on Queen Guinevere going a Maying.
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Link to Underpaintings.
Download a PDF of Collier's book "A Primer of Art," with his thoughts on anatomy, perspective, oil painting, and light and shade.

Upcoming California Workshops

Two upcoming California workshops:

1. October 7, San Francisco
The Art Department, also known as TAD, is an art school—both online and actual—specializing in imaginative drawing and painting.

TAD's online program uses streaming technology to webcast to students in remote classroom "pods." The pods are in San Francisco, Kansas City, Richmond, Austin, and London. Orange County, San Diego, and Amsterdam will be starting pods in January, 2011.

I'll be at the San Francisco pod on Thursday, October 7, meeting with students in person. The live webcast will also be available to enrolled students in other locations, who will be able to ask questions and give feedback.

TAD is closely associated with ConceptArt.org. Founder Jason Manley did a nice introduction with a portfolio on ConceptArt here.

Enrollment has begun for the Jan 2011 semester with part time, full time, and single classes available, and that scholarships (full, half, or quarter rides) are available for students who apply now. Link for the classes.


2. October 15, Encinitas (near Carlsbad) California
Come join me for a special half-day workshop at the Watts Atelier, founded by academic master Jeff Watts. I’ll be offering an information-packed afternoon with two lectures and demos, and lots of discussion and Q and A.

Lectures include:
“Plein-Air Pioneers.” History and modern practice of plein air painting and sketching, with detailed illustrations of my oil, watercolor, and oil set-ups.


“Color and Light.”An hour-long illustrated talk covering the key concepts most useful for realistic painting. I'll have an advance copy of the new book, but sales copies may not be available quite yet.

Plus, a portrait demo using water-soluble colored pencil sketching and water brush technique.

The fee is $45.00. Space is limited and quickly filling, so be sure to sign up soon. Watts Atelier can be reached at (760) 753-5378.

Links:
The Art Department
Concept Art / James Gurney
Watts Atelier

Traffic Illusion

Vancouver is trying out the idea of using optical illusions instead of speed bumps to slow down traffic.


Good idea or bad idea? The commentator says: “It’s just kind of flattened out! Almost like it’s painted on the roadway! Wow!”

Via Best of YouTube

Dinotopia Originals to be in Tajan Auction

Some of you have asked if original art from the Dinotopia books will ever be made available to collectors. For many years I’ve kept them off the market so that I can make them available for museum exhibitions.

Until now, no paintings from Dinotopia: The World Beneath, First Flight, or Journey to Chandara have ever been sold.

On October 16, the Tajan auction house in Paris will conduct their first-ever sale of bande dessinée, which includes comics and fantasy art. They have invited me to participate.

The auction will include three original oil paintings from Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara, (published as Dinotopia: Un Voyage À Chandara in French).

The first painting, from page 151, is called “The Emperor’s Offer.” It shows the main characters, Arthur and Bix, with the officials of Chandara. The image is 17.5 x 29.5 cm on a 25.5 x 38 cm acid-free board, and is signed lower right.

This painting is very special to me and I worked hard to capture that other-worldly light and mood.

I posed a variety of models, including myself and my wife, and used a maquette to work out the pale, glowing silhouette of Chandara in the distance.

I’ll show the other two paintings in later posts.
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Galerie Daniel Maghen is the expert adviser in the sale, which will also include Moebius, Bilal, Pratt, and Franquin.
Tajan’s October bande dessinée auction (the final online catalog is still in preparation).
James Gurney Original Art blog
Dinotopia website
For more information, please email Olivier Souille at "info@danielmaghen.com"

Caricature and Likeness

If you want a portrait likeness, don’t paint exactly what you see.

John Singer Sargent certainly didn’t copy appearances, as this photo/painting comparison attests. He exaggerated the character of his subject, Coventry Patmore. Sargent made the neck longer, the hair fuller, the face bonier, and the mustache more “twirly.”

To be clear, the painting was done from life, not from the photo, but both date from the mid 1890s.

Patmore was so impressed with Sargent’s interpretation of him that he wrote: “He seems to me to be the greatest, not only of living English portrait painters, but of all English portrait painters; and to be thus invited to sit to him for my picture is among the most signal honours I have ever received.”
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From the book John Singer Sargent by Richard Ormond, 1970, figure 21 and 22. Thanks, Barry!

ADDENDUM: Don't miss the fascinating string of comments on the subject of sight-size practice.

Plein Air Winners

Yesterday I had the privilege of announcing the winners of the North Bennington Plein Air Competition.

From left to right, they are Hiu Lai Chong of Maryland, Jane Ramsey of Pennsylvania, and Andrew Orr of Vermont.

Ramsey’s first-place watercolor, “Storm Watch” depicts the roofline of the barn that formerly served as the studio of painter Kenneth Nolan. It’s now part of the Taraden Bed and Breakfast, one of the hosts and sponsors of the event. The artful cropping gives a fresh revelation of a familiar motif, with cool reds and rust colors contrasting with the blue-greens of the slate shingles.

Orr won second place with “Breaking Light,” one of four landscapes he exhibited showing the Vermont countryside near the town of North Bennington. In the painting, the clouds come and go across the far hills, with a variety of crisp and soft edges. His adept handling of chiaroscuro—light-on-dark and dark-on-light—dramatizes the scene.

Chong’s third place oil “Yard Work” captures the close color harmonies in the train depot, with strong compositional lines leading into the design. She simplified what must have been an immense amount of detail of white gravel and cross ties in the foreground.

Congratulations to all who participated, and thanks to the organizers, sponsors, and volunteers who made this a very successful event.
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North Bennington Plein Air Competition
Taraden Bed and Breakfast
Post with lots of pictures on Mary Byrom's blog
Jane Ramsey
Andrew Orr
Hiu Lai Chong

Quick Draw

Frank Costantino, one of the organizers of the North Bennington Plein Air Competition, explained the rules for the Quick-Draw event to approximately 40 participating artists.

Paint anywhere in the grounds of the historic Park-McCullough House, start when you hear the bell at 1:30, and stop two hours later.

I was attracted to a 1938 Dodge Pickup. Besides being a gorgeous old truck, I liked the chiaroscuro: light-on-dark on the front end, and dark-on-light on the rear end to the right. I also wanted to feature the reflection of the illuminated grass on the shadow side of the vehicle.

In preparation for the bell, I premixed batches of color with the palette knife to save time later (that was legal).

One half hour into the painting, I drew in the big shapes with a bristle brush and blocked in the grass and background.

Halfway through, I knocked in the basic shadow color of the truck and the building. I was really sweating it at this point, thinking “I’ll never finish!”

I tried to look for similar planes, muttering to myself such things as “upfacing planes in the shadow of the truck.” The goal is to hit all of those similar tones at the same time when I had that color on the brush, rather than wasting time going back with the same thought.

Only a half hour left, I softened some edges, such as along the hood and the top of the cab.

Here is how it looked as the bell rang, with final details: highlights, headlights and hubcaps. Two hours went by in a flash; it’s hard to believe that’s the same amount of time as watching a movie.

Breathing a sigh of relief, we all put our results on easels. Here is Vcevy Strekalovsky, who did a gorgeous painting of the house. I was really inspired by everyone else’s work, and would love to come back again and paint the gardens or the carriage house.

North Bennington Plein Air Competition Quick Draw
Frank Costantino
Vcevy Strekalovsky
More about the 1938 Dodge
Park McCullough House and Estate
Many more pictures of the Quick Draw at Mary Byrom's blog

Powers Market

The North Bennington Plein Air Competition began with a motif tour for the artists. We rode around town on a wagon pulled by draft horses.

The horses were a rare breed called American Cream, with amber eyes and pink skin.

About two dozen invited artists fanned out through the small town of North Bennington, Vermont. They set up on grassy hillsides, beside ponds, and in back streets.

Jeanette and I looked across to Powers Market, a Greek Revival building that served coffee and sandwiches, and conveniently had wi-fi and a bathroom.

My foot is on the C-stand to keep the white umbrella from blowing over (because I forgot the weight bags to hold it down). I'm using the umbrella not for rain but to cut glare and to diffuse light into the work surface.

I laid in the painting with a bristle filbert using burnt sienna oil paint. It was forecast to be cloudy, and I expected to be working with a lot of gray tonalities, so I wanted those warm colors to peek through in a few places in the finished painting. After stage 2, I drove into Bennington to buy the tube of white, which was missing from my kit yesterday.

That building in the back is a lawn mower repair shop, and the wood structure is leaning wildly, a fun contrast with the straight regularity of the market.

The owner of the lawn mower shop, Ron Nadeau, came over to tell us the history of his building, which used to be a blacksmith shop. He described what the town was like in his father's day, when there were working factories here that made hand mirrors, shoes, and rocking chairs.

EVENTS TODAY!
Come today (Saturday) to the Park McCullough House in North Bennington, Vermont, for the Quick-Draw event between 1:30 and 3:30. Anyone can join, and there are over $500 in prizes. Also, there will be an exhibition of works tonight and tomorrow at the Taraden Guest House.
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North Bennington Plein Air Competition
Quick-Draw Event
Wikipedia on American Cream Draft
Taraden Guest House
C-Stand on Wikipedia
Previously: White Umbrella, Traffic Cones

Uh-Oh! Forgot Something!

I opened my paintbox yesterday, ready to start out in the North Bennington Plein Air Competition, when I had a horrible sinking feeling.

Something was missing! It was a "gamestopper." Can you guess?
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Addendum: The answer was white paint! (I had the turps, medium, and rag in another part of the kit).

Leyendecker’s Method

In December of 1950, Saturday Evening Post cover artist J.C. Leyendecker outlined his basic method in a letter to a student.

“My first step is to fill a sketch pad with a number of small rough sketches about two by three inches, keeping them on one sheet so you can compare them at a glance.

“Select the one that seems to tell the story most clearly and has an interesting design. Enlarge this by square to the size of the magazine cover, adding more detail and color as needed.

“You are now ready for the model. First make a number of pencil or charcoal studies. Select the most promising and on a sketch canvas do these in full color, oil or water with plenty of detail. Keep an open mind and be alert to capture any movement or pose that may improve your original idea.

“You may now dismiss your model, but be sure you have all the material needed with separate studies of parts to choose from, for you are now on your own and must work entirely from your studies.

“This canvas will somewhat resemble a picture puzzle, and it is up to you to assemble it and fit it into your design at the same time simplify wherever possible by eliminating all unessentials. All this is done on tracing paper and retraced on the final canvas.

“Your finished painting may be any size to suit you, but is usually about twice the size of the reproduction.

“As a rule, I start work with a round or flat sable using a thin wash, with turps as a medium. Keep shadows very transparent, and as the work progresses, apply the paint more thickly on lighted areas, adding some poppy oil or linseed oil if necessary, and using a larger flat bristle brush for the heavier paint, but still keeping the shadows thin and vibrant.

“When the work is dry, apply a quick drying retouching varnish either with a brush or an atomizer.

“Sometimes because of prohibitive model rates or other reasons, one is forced to use photography, but try and avoid it if possible.
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Thanks, Keita!
Lots more Leyendecker Lore at Lines and Colors
Bio and more samples at BPIP
Many originals on display at the Haggin Museum in Stockton, California

Frazetta Women

A montage of women’s heads by Frank Frazetta, reveals the pattern of his idealized type.

They all tend to have long hair, bare shoulders, a rounded forehead, thin eyebrows, big cheekbones, a small nose, shadows around the eyes, eyeliner extended outward, up-slanted eye corners, and a pout.

If they’re feeling dressy, they have a choice of hammered bronze headdresses.

The result: A strong-but-vulnerable, exotic, baby-doll type.
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Images montage by Walt Morton. Thanks, Walt!
Is the Frazetta female based on his wife Ellie? (see post on “Illustration Art” blog).

Leaping Warrior

Here's a preliminary sketch by Yoshitoshi Tsukioka (1839-1892) of a warrior leaping from a rooftop.

He used exploratory colored lines just as modern animators and comic artists do. The jagged lines of the figure contrast with the rounded lines of the landscape.

Thanks, John
Wikipedia on Yoshitoshi
Image from Aleyma

The El Dorado Page

Many artists who got their start in the 1930s and ‘40s remember the chisel pencil technique of Ernest Watson.

Watson’s drawing methods were showcased not only in his instructional books, but also in a series of pencil ads in the art magazines called the “El Dorado Page.”

(Click to enlarge.) Watson used between four and eight different grades of El Dorado graphite pencils, which he held in his left hand. Each pencil was sharpened and then worn down to a flat tip.

He advocated using firm and definite strokes, always bearing down fairly hard. To get lighter tones you would still press hard, but use harder pencils. He was also conscious of leaving a few white spaces and crisp dark accents to add sparkle.

Here is a door done with four different types of rendering. His notes about the drawing are below.

The El Dorado pages showed various combinations of techniques, including smudging with a tortillon stump, a flat gray wash for shadows, and softer scumbled technique.

Watson worked on a surface called “cameo paper,” which is no longer available. Apparently it was clay-coated, for it was difficult to erase. Ed Ahlstrom, an art professor from Montgomery College told me that you can simulate cameo paper by spraying a thin coat of Krylon gesso on a smooth, stiff drawing paper.

Many pencil artists were influenced by Watson’s approach. Ted Kautzky, James Perry Wilson, and Arthur Guptill are just a few.

Thanks, Ed Ahstrom
Previously on GJ: Montgomery College
Amazon: The Art of Pencil Drawing by Ernest Watson

Casting Long Shadows

Cast shadows can help show the surface changes in a landscape. In this small plein-air sketch, the tree shadows define the curve of the hills by wrapping around them.

The three shadows get progressively narrower as they go back, which helps suggest depth. Sunlit figures are arranged to stand out in front of the darker tones.

Watch for these long cast shadows late in the afternoon or early in the morning. The shadows cast by trees and utility poles can really help you define the contours of roads, sidewalks, and buildings.

Landmark Hotel Implosion

In November of 1980, I did this plein-air gouache painting of the Landmark Hotel in Las Vegas.

At the time, I never would have guessed that less than 15 years later, it would be demolished. The event happened at night and was featured in Tim Burton’s 1995 movie “Mars Attacks.”


In this 3:40 minute video, you can see the hotel and its collapse (no sound).
Another video of the collapse on YouTube

Detective Storytelling

German troops are billeted in a French chateau during the Franco-Prussian war in this scene by Anton von Werner (1843-1915).

Rather than looting and desecrating the occupied mansion, the soldiers have paused to enjoy a song by Schubert.

We can see from his spurs that the singer is a cavalry officer. He has “Bildung”—education and breeding. He might be the younger brother of an estate whose eldest son inherited the title and the land, leaving him little choice but to become an officer in the military.

Another soldier lights the lamps as the evening approaches. Valuables such as the clock remain on the mantle remain undisturbed. In the background, a soldier chats with the concierge of the house as the daughter watches with wide eyes.

The men have spent the day slogging through deep mud. Their ruddy complexions show they’ve become accustomed to outdoor living.

Rather than burning the furniture, as billeted soldiers often do, one of them was sent on a detail to gather sticks and pine cones to start a fire in the hearth. His pants and boot soles have been inexpertly patched, indicating that he has been away from his home town for a long time.

Paintings that tell stories, such as this one, are often called “narrative” or “illustrative.” But neither term adequately describes the kind of storytelling that a picture can do. A painting like this does not illustrate a text—it stands entirely on its own, just as a play or a movie would do.

The word “narrative” is also inadequate, because unlike literature or drama, events are not presented or narrated sequentially. All the events of the story are telescoped into a single moment, and previous moments are implied by clues. We might better describe this kind of art as a “detective storytelling.”

It demands effort from the viewer to find all the clues, and care from the artist to make sure not to clutter the scene with extraneous detail.
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Anton von Werner, A Billet outside Paris [Im Etappenquartier vor Paris], 1894. Scene set October 24, 1870. Original: Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

More about this image, with thoughts on the changing sense of chauvinism in Prussian culture at German History Docs.
Wikipedia on Anton von Werner
Related GJ post: “Stillness, Action, and the Supreme Moment”
Thanks, Tim Callister!

Marc Hanson's Nocturnes

Last night plein-air painter Marc Hanson began a project of painting a month of nocturnes. His goal is to paint two paintings from observation every night in September. He'll post each day following and share his experiences.

Last night he went through a lot of bug spray, and gave a lot of thought to how much light to use on his work.
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Marc Hanson's Nocturne Experiment
Thanks, Dan Root

Bennington Banner article on next week's plein-air event in Vermont, with cash prizes, horse drawn carriage rides, lectures, and a vintage car show. Anyone can register to enter the Quick-Draw event!

Wood Engravings

Until the 1880s, pictures in magazines had to be reproduced by means of carved wooden blocks.

The best kind of wood was an end-grain boxwood from Syria. The boxwood trees were fairly small, so even the best chunks of wood weren’t much larger than a few inches in any dimension. To make a large reproduction of, say, 16 x 20 inches, you had to clamp together as many as 20 smaller blocks into a seamless whole.

The sample above was engraved by Henry Wolf from a painting by Homer Dodge Martin, a Hudson River School painter.

If you had a short deadline, you had to get a team of artists, each working on a separate block. A 4x5 inch block could take 12 hours or more to cut. A full page illustration could take a whole week to engrave.

Pieces of wood were prepared by sanding them smooth, and painting them white. Then the artist drew the image in India ink directly on the block, or transferred it from a separate drawing.

The engraver, sitting at a high table under bright light, took the artist’s drawing, and cut away all the areas between the lines.

A good engraver made all the difference in the final printed result. Their role was so important that engravers signed the printed piece on the opposite corner from the original artist. Relations between artists and engravers were often strained.

Engravers could use arrays of small dots and dashes to suggest textures like hair or foliage. The detail above created by Timothy Cole, who did a whole series of interpretations of French painters. This one is based on Jules Delaunay.

Note the soft tonal transitions around the eyes and the mouth, the sensitive changes in line direction, and the delicate white specks even in the darkest darks.

The samples in this post were published in Century magazine in 1909, well after the photographic halftone process had become established.
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Some of this information is based on the book “Great American Illustrators” by Susan Meyer.