Richard Christian Nelson

Weekly Life Session

12/24/2015 3:01:10 PM

I feel very lucky to have received a solid foundation in artistic anatomy and working from life, beginning in 1984. And yet the life of the artist can quickly become dependent on photography. Each year at the Portrait Society Conference I feel somewhat guilty for over-reliance on photography, and promise myself to attend a weekly class to paint from life. In the past, stuff has often gotten in the way, but this year I followed through on my commitment.

Do I always feel like procuring a model and going to paint on Wednesday night from 7-10? Not so much. But like other forms of exercise, I'm always glad I went, even if my painting or drawing turned out poorly.

If you haven't done so, I encourage you to consider joining or starting a small weekly group to work from life. Besides the obvious improvement to our skills and increased confidence from the extra hours working from life, there are other benefits such as the comradarie of the regular members of the group, getting to know those who sit for you better, and it's not surprising to sell or give some of the work you generate, or get commissions for other portraits as a direct or indirect result of these endeavors.

Ian Harrod 5/15

While we would all love to work from a professional figure model, that is more than our current small group wants to spend, and it's hard to find nude models in our rural area. The solution is to ask friends and neighbors to sit for us, and paint or draw head studies. We have had folks young and old. We always have to stress to our sitters that they don't have to stay frozen for three hours! We explain that they find a comfortable pose, and that it's important they are able to get back into it after taking whatever breaks they find reasonable. We reassure the models that they're doing a great job and usually everyone has a fine time. We each contribute $10 and split it between the sitter and the facility.

Danny Icard 20x16 Charcoal

If it's not possible for you to have a group like this, you can commit to working from life in many ways. Doing self-portraits in the mirror is a terrific exercise. Surely there are people in your life who would sit for you and perhaps even pose figuratively. Painting still life, landscape and interiors are also great ways to work from life.

I always say that you can get some accuracy from photographs, but you get life from life. If you work from life enough, you can begin to use your photos almost as if the person was there. But we must always remember that the photographs are liars! They can't truly capture what we see or feel. If you need proof, look at the work done before photography existed, or by contemporary artists who only work from life. We aspire to do this kind of work, and all too often we are seduced by false short cuts which can lead us into the weeds.

Another proof is this; at the end of a session working from life, take a picture of your subject with the camera. The photo almost doesn't even resemble all the nuance you've been immersed in. Or reverse the process. This is actually the problem! Paint a person (or landscape or still life…) from a photo and then take a look at the subject, and realize that the photograph just doesn't have the information we need as artists. It's like that experience we've all had of showing pictures from a trip and explaining apologetically that the photos don't show how awesome it really was.

Each week I renew my commitment to try to hone my process to generate work that rises to a new level. There are so many factors involved in painting; inspiration, composition, drawing, value, color, paint application and edges, calling it done...not to mention getting your 'rig' together, discipline, human relations, negotiating with 'clients', dealing with ups and downs, following through on commitments...

Merrion 18x14 Oil

Bradley 20x16 Oil

Luke At 17 20x16 Charcoal

Kim 11/15 20x16 Oil

A typical Wednesday night. Photo: Erik Olsen

So we take it step by step. If we can adhere to solid principles of working from life and continue to grow our understanding of the figure and the process of picture making, we can see great results in time. If you're ever in Tryon, NC on a Wednesday night come and join us. Thanks to the Tryon Painters And Sculptors for providing such a great space!

PS- if you would like a solid, somewhat simplified approach to human anatomy for the artist, check out Andrew Loomis' 'Figure Drawing For All It's Worth'. Luckily it's been beautifully reissued and is not expensive.

The Value Of Value

12/24/2015 2:20:30 PM

When teaching, the first thing I like to point out is that PAINTING IS HARD! So after 20 years or so it was interesting to try to break painting down into its essential parts in order to be a better instructor. Of course, there is nothing new here other than the way my brain has distilled my ongoing education. See if anything below resonates with you.

After much thinking and analyzing I realized that my seven steps are inspiration, composition, drawing, value, color, paint application (includes edges), and calling it done. It also seems that there is usually an element of contrast or balance to most steps; something dominant and supportive in the composition (not 50/50), some stuff drawn out or rendered out and some less so, some dark and some light, strong color and muted color, sharp edges and soft edges, thick paint in the light and thin darks… and usually not half and half or 100% or 0% in any of these aspects.

Truly one can spend the rest of one's life in any of these steps or areas, and yet as artists we generally wield them simultaneously! This is why PAINTING IS HARD. I make the analogy to juggling or spinning plates. And just to make it more complicated, sometimes if we get too involved in process we somehow defeat the spark which inspired us to make art. To use a musical analogy, we don't enjoy listening to musicians practicing scales. We want to hear creative melodies and stories. In painting this is 'picture making'.

In terms of subjects, still life is a great way to hone the process. You don't have to contend with changing weather and light as you do when painting landscape, and you don't need the artistic anatomy understanding of the figurative or portrait artist. You can have your setup available for as long as you need, and you can even begin to introduce narrative or other kinds of inspiration; color, drawing; whatever is motivating you. Once you have a handle on your process and materials you can venture into other subjects with some confidence.

It became apparent after teaching a few workshops that folks were missing value, which is simply the range from light to dark with which we render form through light and shadow. It is a foundation for representational painting, and yet it seems that often we are seduced by color, and miss value. This can really create problems and frustration! So, I began starting still life classes with an exercise where everyone paints a simple object monochromatically, and then in color; the same size on the same canvas, side by side.

Green Apple 11x14 Oil

Mango 14x11 Oil

Apple On Blue 12x12 Oil

It's quite a revelation. I will wager that nearly any painting that you love will look good in black and white. The values are like a great skeleton on which the painting hangs. And sadly the inverse is also true, when a painting isn't rocking your world you'll often find that it doesn't hold up well in grayscale either.

Bradley B/W 20x16 Oil

Bradley 20x16 Oil

St Simon's Lighthouse B/W 20x16 Oil

St Simon's Lighthouse 20x16 Oil

Those Shoes B/W 12x12 Oil

Those Shoes 12x12 Oil

So, try leaning into value a bit and you might make some quick progress! Just spend a little extra time trying to capture the accurate range of light and shadow before getting lost in color.

And don't forget the secret eighth step: REPEAT OFTEN!