Calistoga Dreaming
Hello, Everybody. Thanks for visiting my blog once again. This month I’m excited to share with you a painting I just finished of Madeline, my daughter and her precious Papala. Mady and her father share a very special bond. This has always been true, and I have always loved this shot of the two of them together. The photograph has sat on my dresser for many years, and it finally shouted, “Paint me.”
It was such a delight to spend the hours with two pillars in my life. This photo was, of course, shot many years ago. It was fun to run down the halls of memory in my mind and bask in the joy I found in every room. We were at the glider port in Calistoga on this particular day having a picnic with our dear friends, Mike and Kris Stevenson.
If you go to Calistoga today, the glider port is long gone. The lovely town of Calistoga is still there, though, and we enjoy visiting there from time to time. Such happy memories beg to be recorded, along with the love these two special people in my life have given me and share.
“Today’s little memories become tomorrow’s precious memories”
This month I wanted to share with you some resources for portraiture. I am a “self-taught”artist. Well, some might say that. I have a large library of books on art and watercolor. Today I thought I would share with you some of my favorites so that if you need a starting point, you can jot some of these down and get going on creating your own special memories in art.
Mary Cassatt heads my list. She is one of my greatest inspirations, mainly because of her focus on domestic life and the intimacy between her subjects. I adore her work. Mary died in 1926, but her work lives on. She was at the forefront of the French Impressionist movement and has greatly inspired my love of art.
Walter Foster is one of the best teachers of art. He can still be found at Michaels and is often found at thrift stores, garage sales, etc. He has been around a long time. I offer him to you simply because he has been around all my life and really is a great teacher.
It may seem strange that I offer you Manga, but my purpose is to reach everyone.
Manga is a wonderful teacher. It is a popular art form especially with young people, and is a great teacher of form and expression.
Another popular artist is Jane Davenport. You can find her work at Michaels. She has a beautiful mixed-media approach to art, and she focuses in on the female face in a way that is truly unique. I offer Jane because she is someone that might inspire you, while a more classic approach could leave you cold.
The next artist I offer you is Cindy Agan. Cindy works from her home studio in South Bend, Indiana. She is a watercolor artist who began her career as a portrait artist. Her award-winning paintings have been displayed in juried shows, exhibitions and can be found in many collections.
I share Cindy with you as an example of a current artist who has a more realistic, classical approach to portraiture. She has written a wonderful book called Painting Watercolors that Sparkle with Life. And that’s exactly what her portraits do, they sparkle.
If you are looking for a more photo-realistic style, here’s your teacher.
The last two teachers I offer you teach art from a very traditional perspective. Burne Hogarth’s approach to art is more scientific. His book Drawing the Human Head has found a permanent place in my library because it is a textbook approach to proportion, head types, structure, anatomy, movement, facial features and aging. If you like this approach, you can search for a copy of his book in a library near you or in places like Ebay.
I will leave you with a little favorite of mine that I cherish. I have many more artists and books I could offer you. If you want to reach out to me for more suggestions, I’d be happy to help. But this last book I’ll share with you is offered, like Mary Cassatt, because it transcends teaching. This little book is soul food.
George B. Bridgman’s book Heads, Features and Faces was first copyrighted in 1932. He has a very simple approach, using pencil sketches and drawings only. He gives the normal instructional information, but then he takes artists such as Vermeer of Delft, Frans Hals and Sir Joshua Reynolds and discusses their stylistic differences and teaches from drawings using their unique styles.
I hope this introduction to some of my favorite teachers inspires you to find your own style of teacher. My desire was to share with you a spectrum of styles to choose from. There are, of course, many, many more to choose from, but hopefully this gives you a glimpse into the styles that are readily available to you.
My hope is always to demystify art for you so that you will be encouraged to try your hand at art. Creating art is such a wonderful way to relax and to express yourself. And if you aren’t interested in creating art but just desire to relax and watch a video that will lift your spirits, then I offer you Monty Don’s film on Netflix “French Gardens.” He is a landscape artist that fell in love with France, and in the last episode he does a special on art and gardens that is truly inspirational.
