Book Review: Classical Painting Atelier.

In all honesty, Aristides' Classical Painting Atelier was a let down.  The book's discussion of the formal elements of painting were extremely elementary and lacked substance.  For example, the book's color section only discusses Newton's color wheel and amateur color theory, unlike  Elliot's Traditional Oil Painting's section on color which provides a much more in depth discussion of color systems and harmony.  The only section really worth reading is the chapter devoted to composition.  The author compares the design of visual composition to simple music theory.  The author analyzes several masters' compositions using the armature of the rectangle including Vermeer, Velazquez, Ribera, Rubens, Titian, Caravaggio, and a few others.  I learned a great deal about the geometry and theory composition, though the other chapters of the book were not up to par.  While the reproductions of master works in the book are of superb quality, too often they are irrelevant to the author's text.  In short, I'd recommend you stray away from this book and instead read Virgil Elliot's excellent Traditional Oil Painting.

Bargue Drawing

Pictured above are drawings I have done of two of Charles Bargue's many plates.  In the late nineteenth century Bargue developed the plates for his students to copy.  The first plates students copied were relatively simple and as students progressed in their academic careers the plates became increasingly more difficult.  Students were required to have copied Bargue's plates before drawing from life.  I feel these are still great practice for students, such as myself, interested in traditional representational art.  They are also a lot of fun!

John Singer Sargent reproduction and notes

Above is my reproduction of a single figure from John Singer Sargent's much larger composition The Daughters of Edward Darley.  I did the painting in two three hour sittings.  I thoroughly enjoyed executing this reproduction.  Sargent was extremely talented at simplifying nature and reality into simplified yet extremely precise brushstrokes.  I particularly enjoyed painting the young girl's hair and clothing.
Today I came across this article http://www.goodbrush.com/misc/painting_lessons/sargent_notes.pdf.  It contains the working methods and advice of John Singer Sargent.  It is saturated with quotations from the master himself.

Steven Assael

Every now and then I think I'm starting become an okay painter, and then I look at the work of Steven Assael and realize how far I have to go.  His broken color and paint handling are seriously insane.  Below are a few of Assael's portrait studies.

Big Brush, Small Palette

 Ignat Ignatov

Anders Zorn

Pictured above are works by contemporary painter Ignat Ignatov (top image) and Swedish painter Anders Zorn who painted in the late 19^th and early 20^th century (bottom image).  In their work both artists illustrate the importance of using a large bristle brush.  Both artists have managed to capture their subjects in a highly realistic manner because of the accuracy of the larger shapes and planes of value and color within the paintings.  Using larger brushes forces artists to focus on the large shapes of value and color and ignore superfluous details, notice both paintings are void of details that if included would destroy the illusion of reality.  Details that would not add to the modeling and form of the head have been left out.  Also, unlike a camera, it is impossible for the human eye to sharply focus on the details of the head at once.  Hence, less detail is often more and adds to the realism of a piece.  Additionally, using a large brush lends a desirable painterly appearance to works.

Also, I think these paintings exemplify the “big” (or great) results that can be obtained from using a “small” (or limited) palette.  Anders Zorn used only four colors for his painting: Yellow Ochre, Vermillion, Ivory Black, and Flake White.  Ignatov used only two pigments plus white.  The use of a limited palette has created a desirable color harmony in the pieces and likely freed the artists from being overwhelmed with too many color choices.  By limiting their color choices the artists were able to focus on other elements of painting, including brushwork.  Notice how each brushstroke has been carefully and accurately placed to define a plane or aid in the modeling of form.

The use of a loose painterly approach can be traced back to the seventeenth century.  Velazquez is often credited with being the godfather of the technique discussed here.  Although to be fair Velazquez was studying the paintings and brushwork of Titian and Rubens (neither of whom worked in a direct method).  However, if we look to the hero and star of direct painting, who in my opinion is John Singer Sargent, the method is rooted in Velazquez.  Sargent’s teacher Carlos Duran was constantly stressing the importance of Velazquez.  But then again Velazquez was looking at Titian and Rubens (Rubens was also studying Titian)…. Maybe the credit should go to Titian… I don’t know.  USE A BIG BRUSH!

Book Review. Traditional Oil Painting: Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present

Virgil Elliott's book Traditional Oil Painting: Advanced Techniques and Concepts from the Renaissance to the Present is a thoroughly researched work containing vast amounts of information and excellent advice.  It is written by an obsessed representational painter for the obsessed representational painter.  Elliot provides interesting discussions of the history of materials and techniques.  Techniques discussed include the Flemish technique, the Venetian technique, and the direct painting method.  The author also devotes a section to the techniques of Rembrandt, and William Adolph Bouguereau, though I must say I found Bouguereau's application of paint to be very counter-intuitive.  The author provides in depth writing on the importance of drawing, selective focus, color, the failures of photography, and an extremely in depth discussion of geometric perspective.  Points discussed in writing are reinforced through examples found in works of masters including John Singer Sargent, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Fredrick Church, Pieter Claesz, Rubens and many, many more.  I especially enjoyed the sections on drawing, direct painting, and portraiture.  Easily the best $22 I've ever spent.  This book is a must have for any serious student of traditional painting.