John Singer Sargent & Art-in-the-Park

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro Photograph of John Singer Sargent painting

When we were at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, in the middle of August, there was and still is a major exhibit on John Singer Sargent. The above watercolor by Sargent, titled Young Woman with a Black Skirt, he painted in the early 1880's. This was displayed in a back room away from his more prominent portraits, which were oils on a grand scale and charcoal drawings, handled with authority.

I figured it would be wise to include a Sargent watercolor sketch, which most have not ever seen, yet fresh in my mind, as inspiration for this upcoming art show. In a prior post, I mentioned I would be exhibiting at the Art in the Park, in Keene, NH on September 5 & 6, from 10 AM - 4 PM. Thus, I have not been able to paint as much as my efforts have shifted to matting and framing works for exhibit. In addition, new mesh display panels arrived the other day, to showcase my work under my vendor tent. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and make for a pleasant Labor Day weekend.

Tanglewood

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

This is a watercolor I started this week. It is a bit different. I have always loved to draw plants, but not necessarily all the splashy flowers. I don't mean to suggest that I do not appreciate the aroma and beauty of a magnolia blossom or a rose in high bloom, but I am drawn to plants that have a pleasing habit; that is, they have patterns of growth or twisting which is very structural. These plants exhibit a spatial quality or feel that is recognizable in relation to their neighboring plants. 

In my youth, I remember riding my bike along the Bronx River Parkway, where there was a bike path, and observing how greenbrier, a vining plant, would grow in a circulating habit from and between the mature hardwood trees. It had a simple presence, which was very recognizable and specific to the region. It had a strong character of growth, which I documented in pencil in one of my sketchbooks. 

The above painting reminds me to some degree of that youthful experience except the scene is much busier. I like the cool greens of the leaves and various canopies against the milky grays of the trunks during this recent heavy humidity period.

I like the wildness of the scene and am trying to balance some loose washes in contrast to tighter painting around some of the leaves. I will let you know what becomes of it. It has a sense of freedom, which I am hoping hard not lose.

I was forced to take this picture after it became dark and could not seem to prevent shadows from showing. I am still adjusting to our vanishing daylight, as I am in the habit of taking my photographs late in the day when the sun is not direct.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres

(C) 2015 Sketch of Ingres drawing Dale DiMauro

Last week, my wife and I visited the Frick Museum in New York City. It is a handsome museum fitted into an elegant mansion across the street from Central Park. Of the many lovely paintings on exhibit, which include Rembrandt, Vermeer and Whistler, I admire Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres work. I am fond of Ingres work, not only for his paintings but superb drawing abilities. When you look at many of Ingres portrait drawings it appears as if he did not lift his pencil from the paper until he was done. 

Ingres has been considered one of the great masters of all time. He has been credited with depicting the transformation of fashionable women for over half a century in France and witnessing the development of a consumer society. There is even drawing paper available today attributed to Ingres. This is a wove paper with a very smooth surface, which Ingres preferred.

At the Frick, I was reminded that I had picked up a book in the spring on Ingres, called Ingres: 162 Master Drawings by Blagoy Kiroff. Since I was pressed for time, I did a sketch from Kiroff's book on one of Ingres portrait drawings, titled Armand Bertin, dated 1842. It was an opportunity to study Ingres' technique while utilizing these smearless charcoal pencils, which I purchased at the end of last winter. 

At rest

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

When I started this watercolor we were on vacation in Maine, in the middle of July. Well this is the finished version. It may not seem a lot different than the original post, but it definitely is. I have not painted many water scenes with choppy water, so this was a stretch for me. Actually I had never painted any white water before.

First, the vegetation in the background was made a darker blue-green, hopefully with some variation in the tree profiles and branching. The darker background and some minor modifications to the profile of the boat made the white of the vessel come forward, with a sharper profile. This is important because the boat is the focal point. Finer details such as the antenna on the roof of the boat, reflections in the windows and subtle shadows projecting from the watercraft became more apparent. 

I particularly like the way the buoy is floating in front of the viewer. To offer a little more realism, I added some letters on the side so it would sit in the water with a greater sense of authority. The ropes just disappear into the water suggesting some mystery and an element of depth to the ocean.

To develop the ocean, the waves, and the shadows on the water I used two different rigger brushes to mimic the patterns of the waves, larger for the foreground and smaller for the background to create perspective. In Portland, Maine I had purchased a new pigment called shadow green, manufactured by Holbein. I mixed this with various blues and Payne's gray to develop dark values for the ocean, which I think was effective. Last but not least, the white speckles of light on the surface of the ocean in the foreground were created by using a razor blade to remove a thin layer of the paper. I think it adds a nice touch. Gerard Doucette, my art mentor, suggested this. I wasn't sure how far to go with it, but I am pleased with the result. I have used a razor blade in the past to get light effects but really haven't been confident in its application. This small success has given me more confidence in the use of this technique.

John Singer Sargent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

(C) 2015 Photograph Dale DiMauro

On Friday, my wife and I spent a very full day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. We did not leave the museum until it closed at nine in the evening. We particularly liked the special exhibit on John Singer Sargent titled Portraits of Artists and Friends, which runs through October 4, 2015.

Sargent painted this scene of his sister Emily, a skilled watercolorist herself, accompanied by her friend Eliza Wedgewood in Majorca, Spain, in 1908. Emily is focused on her work with a paintbrush in her mouth, while Eliza looks toward the viewer.

Sargent would paint his watercolors as if working in oil with a very direct approach, wasting little time. His painterly approach often can be seen when he paints the folds of fabric for example, where he dabs a dark brushstroke to strengthen the form but does not fuss with it again.

This and other watercolors on exhibit were a sharp contrast from the demands of his formal oil portrait work, which required much of his time. Some of his oil portraits, however, were done in as little as an hour because of time constraints from the sitter. These quick portraits were not the high priced commissions, though.

The above Sargent watercolor includes gouache, an opaque pigment on paper. In person you can see thick white pigment not unlike a glob of oil paint by Eliza's lap. I typically just use the white of the paper, but there are many impressive artists, such as Sargent, who have used white gouache successfully.

This painting was bequeathed by William Newell in 1922 to the Tate Museum in the United Kingdom. It is currently on loan to the Met for this exhibit.

Keene, NH: Art-in-the-Park

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

On September 5 & 6,  I will be tending a booth from 10:00 - 4:00 at the Keene, NH 58th Annual Art in the Park, sponsored by the Monadnock Area Artists Association. This event takes place at Ashuelot River Park, which is across from the Colony Mill marketplace.

In the next week or so I will be preparing for this show with new works along with some previously framed watercolors. In this exhibition I will have landscapes, winter scenes, buildings, and figure studies in watercolor. It is tricky preparing for the outdoors, as the weather can really influence the show. It can be hot, rainy and windy or all of those conditions in one day. However, this event is lovely with a faithful following, and it is a great opportunity to meet other artists.

The above carrying case I acquired a few years ago. It is handy for transporting and protecting watercolors and new paper from the wind, rain, and sun before they are framed. Recently, I ordered precut mats for framing from Cheap Joe's, a major art retailer.  These are especially handy when time is short.

As I write this, my wife and I are busy packing for a quick trip to New York City to see the Sargent exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Coast of Maine

(C) 2015 Dale DiMauro

I have been thinking about the subject matter for this painting for some time. Originally, I liked the dark, solid foreground balanced against the simple, yet abstract background.   

I intentionally took on several challenges in this picture. First, there is the really dark foliage in the foreground which to date I cannot say I had attempted. Generally speaking, I do not mix or apply darks or even black to the the degree I did here. For the foreground to be this dark often requires the background to be in the light. Yet I tried to get variety in the foreground with the verdant green growth in the front of the picture which is a combination of Payne's gray with gamboge. This combination provides an earthly color alive with moisture and light if you can capture it. However, the clump of evergreen trees in the foreground got away from me as I applied subsequent layers of watercolor. They ended up out of scale, unvaried and mechanical looking.

In addition, I am trying to get better at painting water with it's varying surface characteristics such as: placid, gentle waves, turbulence, whitecaps & reflections. Recently, I have been trying to capture the true color of the water I see, which always seems to be changing with the light. It is another thing to try to mix a comparable color. There is an overall cool feeling provided by the range of blues.

In watercolor you learn something every time you put paint to paper. Sometimes it is the most subtle change in color or how much the paint changes from when it was wet, until it is in a dry state. 

New finds from Maine vacation

(C) 2015 Photograph Dale DiMauro

On our recent excursion along the the coast of Maine I purchased the above art materials. The three tubes of watercolor paint I have already put to great use. They include Payne's gray by M. Graham & Co., which I ran out of in Maine. It is a cool color that dries much lighter than it comes out of the tube. I found a heavily discounted raw umber, manufactured by Winsor & Newton, which I use quite often for warming up an area of snow or for sunny distant woodland branching. The third tube is new to me, shadow green made by Holbein. With this cool green I seem to get a better deep water or ocean color with many variations of cools related to it.

The little watercolor block we found at the Currier Art Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire on our way back Sunday. It is only six inches by six inches, but I was able to do a little watercolor sketch of my father-in-law as a way to get a feel for the paper, as it is new to me.

The conte' pencil, in sanguine color, I found at the Portland Art Mart, where I had picked up two of the paint tubes. It provides a real terra cotta feel to portrait drawings with a rough scratchy mark or fine detail for the contour of a nose. So in the end we have more than photographs and memories to draw upon. Pun intended.

Framing Joiner

(C) 2015 Photograph Dale DiMauro

My wife and I have been traveling, it has been hot, and I have not been able to paint as much the last week so this post may seem rather uninspiring. This is a photograph I took in late spring of a framing joiner I purchased from Cheap Joe's, a well-known art retailer in North Carolina. With the mat cutter that I already had and the above joiner, I have the tools to mat and frame my own paintings in-house. It is said that by the time you have framed your seventh painting you have covered the cost of your mat cutter.

The framing joiner shoots staples into the corner of your moulding providing simple, clean, strong professional framing. The staples attach to the back of the frame so you do not see them or have to fill in any holes. It came with staples for both soft and hardwood.

I have only practiced using this tool on some scraps at this point. Later in the fall, when the weather is less humid and I have more time, I will frame some pictures, but for now I have practiced on sections of a wide range of framing materials. I was surprised how easy the framing joiner is to use.  The staples go in cleanly and relatively quietly.