yoga series
 

FIRST LIGHT - oil on canvas - 70cm x 90cm
EARTHED - oil on linen 90cm x 115cm
SURRENDER - oil on linen 90cm x 115cm

These are now hanging in our small local gallery. However, any helpful feedback offered can be carried over to my future projects.

Thanks for looking. :)

Tricia,

What a beautiful inspired series. I do not want to quibble either with your theme or draughmanship.

I do think, however these figures could be more intregrated into a back ground and a color theme, even a subtle earthy one. As your model looks to be of mixed race, I had trouble finding something to show you. You figures should to reflect the environment they are in.

Looking at the Bougereau nude, you can see the subtle reflections of the surrounding foliage in her skin-tones. The Sargent figure just melts into the background. The Marie-Guillemine Benoist painting of a black woman uses a triadic color system to enliven the picture. A triadic color theme is simply a triangle placed on the color wheel and color picked from the points. In this case red, yellow and blue. You can also see the color of the yellow reflected in her skin. Sargent uses lovely subtle blue purples in the background, a beautiful complementary color to her orange yellow skin-tones.

I think in your seated figure you might look well in Sargent's backdrop as the skin-tones are similar. You have a dark green and a light blue that is too harsh a color separation and is distracting. Since her skin is quite orange a rich blue purple as in the Sargent would have worked well. I generally do a color study to try and get a feeling of luminosity and harmony.

Another point, I think the wave overpowers your figure. The figure could have been a bit bigger or the wave softened to push it back. Both the figure and the wave are competing for attention.

I think with a little more attention to the overall color harmony, you would have a consistently beautiful body of work.

I hope that this is constructive.

Tricia,

I neglected to mention how beautiful and beautifully done, the seated figure's head is.

Thank you Sharon, These are excellent points to think about next time. Your chosen examples too, are most helpful in getting your point across. Without them, i may not have completely understood your meaning.

Yes, my model was a beautiful young woman from India. She was an absolute delight to paint.

Thanks again. Most appeciated. :)

There is fortunately a revival of classical painting and drawing techniques. However, color has become a stepchild, it is simply added to form. Color harmonies are little understood and utilized today, many paintings are monochromatic . That is why, under the new influence of the beautiful and colorful Asian prints, clothing, fans etc. the Impressionists broke loose from form in the 19th century. In Asian art, since form was not paramount or important, color became very sophisticated. Degas, Manet, Monet, Whistler, Frieseke, Klimt to name a few came under it's spell.

If your painting has an all over color theme, everything will be harmonious. Study Japanese and Chinese art for color ideas, the Europeans of the 19th century did. Degas did some wonderful bathtub scenes that were radiant.

The internet is a great source for research on color studies. Work up small paintings to reflect the various color harmonies referenced on the color wheel.

Thanks again Sharon. Colour is on my very long list of things to learn. Alas, along with composition and more.

Every painting i do, reminds me of what i do not yet know about painting.

What strikes me the most about the figures here is they seem to be lit by an artificial light. That's not such a problem with the seated figure, but it's a bit jarring for those placed in an outdoor setting, especially for the one in the night landscape. I'd excpect it to be lit by moon or star light. The result seems as if the outdoor scenes are stage back drops, which can be an interesting idea, but it needs to be intentional. Sharon mentioned Manet, and if you look at some of his paintings, they also sometimes appear to be figures on a stage.

Manet set up stage sets in his studio. "The Bar at the Folies Bergere " was done like that. He had a very specific reason to do so. Influenced by the flatness and simple elegant shapes of Asian art, he wanted to experiment with that effect in his art so he had his figures directly lit by the light thus reducing the form. He was breaking from the traditional realism of the French Salon. It was a brilliant move.

To get the best effect of skin-tones in a setting you have to paint the figure from life. So much subtle color is lost any other way.

Bougereau as well as many other realistic figurative painters of that era has glass houses, like green houses, built outside.

Tricia,

I think this is a wonderful concept. It is so refreshing to see someone painting with actual ideas, avoiding the trite. It is not easy to do and I applaud you for it. Color was the most difficult thing for me also.

It seems to me that the figure in the middle painting could be lit by moonglow.

Thanks David & Sharon.

Some of my ideas are a bit too weird for life painting. Could you imagine any model holding any of those poses for any length of time.?

With the seated pose, my model was still in the country, so i could get her back near the end for some life sessions. Then she returned to India. She was however lit by natural light in all poses.

With the outdoor ones, the setting is a separate reference, with a standin model for perspective.

For this series, i made a conscious decision not to ask for guidance during my thought process. I didn't want my vision to be influenced as it often is.

And yes Sharon, as i was painting the earth pose, she indeed seemed bathed in moon glow, so i ran with that.

I do wish to allow myself to move outside the traditional box, even though that might not be acceptable to the purists. Having said that, i think i would be more sucessful if i know and understand the rules before i decide to break them.

Sharon, i am delighted that you appreciate my venture.

[QUOTE=Tricia Migdoll] For this series, i made a conscious decision not to ask for guidance during my thought process. I didn't want my vision to be influenced as it often is. QUOTE]

Triciia,

I do not buy any of the art magazines for that reason. I find that they distract me, create nervousness, envy and attachment. I find inspiration in meditation, nature, certain artists of the past and especially Asian art.

Trust your judgement. I find that my inspiration often outruns my skill and knowledge.

Color Harmony a la Sharon
 

"If your painting has an all over color theme, everything will be harmonious. Study Japanese and Chinese art for color ideas, the Europeans of the 19th century did. Degas did some wonderful bathtub scenes that were radiant."

Sharon, what I heard about your Scottsdale Artists' workshop was that you did an incredible job teaching everything - especially color. You practice what you preach. The paintings on your website exhibit the perfection of your color expertise. I truly hope you will repeat your workshop at SAS next year.

PS I will follow your advice for artists to study. Any special books that you recommend? (Can't buy them all.....)

[QUOTE=Sharon Knettell

Triciia,

I do not buy any of the art magazines for that reason. I find that they distract me, create nervousness, envy and attachment. I find inspiration in meditation, nature, certain artists of the past and especially Asian art.

Trust your judgement. I find that my inspiration often outruns my skill and knowledge.[/QUOTE]

Me too - i am always a few years ahead of myself in ideas vs. ability.
But you never know unless you try, right.?

Thank you very much for your interest & especially your comments.
I know little about the Asian art of which you speak. If you care to add some links, i would be interested in taking a look.

Tricia,

The Sackler and Freer Gallery in Washington DC has a wonderful collection of Asian art. I used many of their pieces in a Power Point demonstration I did in Scottsdale last March. http://www.asia.si.edu/

Click on collections, then click on Japanese and Chinese art. They take my breath away like they did the French in the 19th century.

Your museums in Australia (my husband has been there twice, alas not me) are loaded with Asian Art. Also, I have found second hand bookstores are a treasure trove of those zillion dollar coffee table books on art, at a much friendlier price. I got some beauties on Asian art that way.

Carol,

Oh yippee, they asked me to return. I will be there in February when everything here is grey and cold.

Follow the link above, You can create a web museum of your own on the site.

The only decent book I found on color theory, through the ages up to the present is Arthur Pope's book "The Language of Drawing and Painting". It is an out of print book, but it still can be found online. He was an art professor at Harvard when a lot of the new color theories, like Munsell were being tossed around. That combined with his extensive knowledge of every form of art makes this a worthwhile book to read.

The Sackler also has great books to buy from their collections.

Thanks Sharon , i took a peek at your links. :)

I live far from the National Galleries here in Oz. But every now & then i get to go to the big city & so will check out the Asian works.!