I finished off the face a bit more
after I last photographed it. I asked
the model if I could take a pic and
she answered " whatever "
she was somewhere else....
click on the image for a larger view 16 x 20
Thursdays painting lab is usually crowded so , just like the boy scouts , I came prepared with a limited palette . Usually , the late comers paint inside the standing painters and the lighting is not optimum. Certain colors are really hard to distinguish until you get home and discover the face you thought was a nice red is actually a brown .
Ander's Zorn is famous not only for his energetic and lively paint stylings but also for his limited palette. It consists of Ivory Black , Titanium White , Yellow Ochre ( although Golden ochre by WN is preferable ) and Cadmium Red light ( formerly Vermillion which is an old color until the Cadmiums were introduced ) . I'm becoming a big believer in Utrecht Paints . So all the colors mentioned can be purchased at a good price. I just love the flow of their Cad Red Light.... sorry WN.
After the 3 hour session we all were talking about this palette as several other artists also decided to take the plunge. Some had difficulties staying with it and started adding other colors. I found that is was a lot like the board game Taboo. For those not familiar , its a word game where you give word clues to your team mates . The catch is, on the card are words that you CANNOT use to describe the word given to you. This can really frustrate game players at first but you soon ADAPT to finding other words to give clues to get the answer you want.
Its the same way with this limited palette. The ivory black is very cool and you soon find out that for interior model poses its really all you need for your blues. Your greens can be mixed by the combination of black and yellow ochre. The trick is to let the colors work their magic for you. And since it creates a muted color scheme , I found I could get color harmony and unity right away.
The other nifty little trick I used was the Nelson Shanks technique for his students at Studio Incammanati. The ground for the painting is light middle grey in acrylic. So you will paint over a toned grey acrylic surface. Then 2 value tones are selected and the whole figure is laid in duotone. A light value for the lights and a dark value color for those areas in shadow regardless of the differences. If they are in the shade they got the same overall treatment. I found that I could work real fast and efficiently with this approach and the 3 hours was enough time to capture the pose.
Our model was young and was noticeably bored. She was of that generation where she was " texting" between breaks. We could not get her to keep her head position so we all finally changed our drawings to match her head tilt.
Have a great weekend!
Posts
Boy, the texting thing is driving me crazy. I can see it in my classroom when I look up from my demo and their heads are looking down into their laps. what they don't realize is the glow from their little screens are lighting up their faces and gives them away. Now that would be an interesting and timely portrait.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the Art School Confidential clips again- what a hoot... Have a good weekend away!
I recently did color charts for the Zorn palette and it is amazing how many colors you can actually get.
ReplyDeleteI mixed 13 hues between yellow ochre and cad red. Then I mixed 4 values between white and black. (On a ten value scale those values would be 1 4 7 10.
I then mixed 5 gradations between each hue and each value.
I got close to 200 distinguishable values and colors.
The real benefit was being able to map the locations of these colors into color and value and chroma nieghborhoods.
I did a landscape painting with the Zorn palette and didn't have alot of luck with it. I repainted it with my new knowledge and some helpful hints from Ignat Ignatov.
The difference is astounding.
It's on the first page of my blog if you interested in seeing it.
Good post and nice painting.
Great painting! And great explanation of the technique. This post made me laugh, though. The model looks sullen, sort of with an attitude like she really doesn't want to be there - LOL! It is hard to find a good model, isn't it. Someone who can hold a pose and really understand what the job is all about.
ReplyDeleteGregory... I will check it out... I'm amazed by the subtle lavenders and blues that this palette gives me. I also know that Zorn introduced Cobalt Blue to his palette. Adding this color gives a better range outdoors.
ReplyDeleteDenny ... Amen. It drives me crazy too... Denny we are becoming old farts .... and thanks again for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteI added a finished closeup of out esteemed model's glowing face.
f
Mary ... some of us were guessing how old the model was and I conjectured that she was probably around 19. She was aloof and disinterested and that usually is a sign of adolescence. I was right . She said she was 19. She was very beautiful which is a whole other dynamic at that age. I don't want to go back in time there again!
ReplyDeleteFrank,
ReplyDeleteWow. I have absolutely no experience with this palette. I'd love to see you demo- but I really should do the exercise mentioned above. It is something I could do with my class that could prove to be very telling and very useful.
Thanks!
Frank,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I've started talking about not paying models who can't hold the pose in class during the first session. The subtle threat seems to work and phones disappear and focus returns after the first break.
Armand... We all liked her " look " but we cut her some slack because she was so young. But I hear you. Most of our models have been really good...hey ... what is the going rate per hour on the east coast for models?
ReplyDeletef
Hey Frank,
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I love using the Zorn palette as well. Im also happy to hear that you like the Utrecht Paints. Ive been thinking of trying them for some time now. Im definitely going to order some.
When I first started to experiment with the Zorn palette I used yellow ochre, like most books recommend. Later I decided to try Cad. Yellow Medium in place of yellow ochre. I liked it much better. I still use yellow ochre from time to time, but I definitely prefer the Cad.Yellow Medium over the yellow ochre.
Beautiful painting, but she does look super disengaged.
ReplyDeleteJust love the mood you got of her face. Just tells the story!
ReplyDeleteGood post Frank. I find the Zorn palette interesting.
ReplyDeleteI also heard there was cobalt found in his studio, so I figured he may have used it.
It's a bummer when the model moves once things
are established.
I like your painting of her, I think you use
the zorn palette very well!
Happy Anniversary! Shouldn't you be strolling the beach?!
Love what you did, Frank... The face looks like a molded piece of clay... Gorgeous... She may have been bored, but you did a great job as always in capturing her!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the extreme close-up! It reminds me of being in your living room with my nose right up close to all your work. Great work buddy!
ReplyDeleteFrank,
ReplyDeleteFifteen to twenty is normal. I hear closer to DC people can get more. The problem here is they don't allow nude figure drawing in the schools so all the local colleges are clothed, if they offer it at all. Only the art leagues offer figure sans clothing; the closest for me is an hour each way so I don't go as much as when I lived in Marin. Just one of the things I have to give up for the luxury of living away from all those durn liberals.
great post, Frank,cheers
ReplyDeleteHey Jason...I just got back from a great road trip .... but I hear a "golden ochre " works best .... your suggestion of a cad yellow medium is spot on ....
ReplyDeleteFrank - I love your blog! I have awarded the Sunshine Award to you. Please visit my blog to accept.
ReplyDeleteFrank nice painting.
ReplyDeleteOn the Zorn palette, I think there is a lot of speculation about how much he used it.
At the time of his death he had over 200 tubes of paint. I think 22 were Cobalt blue. There were two Vermilion's one more like Orange in tint.
I read an interesting article about this in American Artist a few years back and it also mentioned that the Ivory black in that time was also a lot bluer than it is today.
Still it's good practice to use a limited palette. I tried the this palette and I added a some Ultramarine Blue to the Ivory Black and this made a huge difference in how the greens and violets came out in mixes.
I've just tried a limited palette for a self portrait and I actually managed not to put it on the fire this time. I like your blog - very instructive for me. Happy 2011 and good painting.
ReplyDeleteCarolann ... thanks and Merry Christmas..... Sargent added Naples Yellow and a Rose Madder ( Alizarin Crimson ) as well as a good Viridian. Try the Viridian with your reds to tone down. Most excellent for portraits especially around the mustache area.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas!
Nice painting... Some models in an evening group, especially young, keep moving and tilting after 20 minutes,even snoring, make me crazy to correct the whole angles, terrible for likeness. I can't ask the models keep staying still in a very quiet mood with other artists, but I usually ask the models to do until I see the same pose when I do privately. I think limited palette is great for sophiscated color scheme.
ReplyDeleteI usually use three primaris with adding up one or two. I am too lazy to use whole tube colors, but the result is not bad.
Very enjoying to see your works.
As much as I love Zorn, I'm still not in sync with that palette.
ReplyDeleteHad to laugh at the "whatever" comment. You can actually translate that, but I can't write it here. Thanks for keeping us in your artistic life. We need the inspiration!