A (computer) experiment.

Just recently I saw a wonderful show by Eric Merrell at Legacy Galley in Pasadena. Eric loves the desert in its starkest, most transcendental and distilled state. So taking advantage of a trip to Palm Desert, I decided to try to paint a desert scene. I approached it in my usual style, trying to capture the nuance and be as accurate as possible in color . When I got home, I got a glimpse at Eric's show brochure and realized my painting didn't quite "sing" like his. I was curious to see if by using a few Photoshop tricks I could recreate an Eric Merrell using my piece as a base. Now, before anybody says that no amount of computing could imitate the nuance and subtlety of Eric's art, I agree. I agree and I agree. I use Photoshop sometimes to check my levels (posterize and desaturate) but I never tried this kind of experiment.

First of all, any computing process can only alter color , contrast and other bidimensional qualities, never the volume and spirit of a brushtroke. Second, compositional and subject choices are also part of an artists arsenal and I didn't intend to recreate those elements. But I think my exercise could be a useful learning experience even ifI can't get to a perfect recreation.

So here it is , this is my painting  12"x16":

The first thing that occurred to me is that Eric's paintings have a lot more color. So I just applied a straight increase in saturation and obtained the following. It was surprising to see that more color didn't lead me in the direction I wanted. It's not about cleaner, purer  colors ....just yet.

On second thought I decided to apply an increase of contrast by using a curve operation where I brightened the higher tones and darkened the darks. Then, I desaturated the image a bit. What this did was create a more distinct distance between brights and darks and also made the colors closer to each other, retreating to the center of the color wheel and becoming grayer.

Then I applied a saturation increase and applied a palette filter to create less distinct edges and emulate Eric's softer paint application. I really enjoyed the result because it started to remind me of Eric's artwork a bit more. Most of the colors fall now in the "secondary" category, no pure yellows or blues or reds.

And of course my painting is no Merrell but I did re-learn  a few things:

A) A clean painting is not always about cleaner color or purer colors but colors that  are distinct  and relate better to each other. Whether  high key or high contrast, colors need to be parented to each other as equals.

B) Not to get too scientific but color tension can be created by applying a bit of knowledge on complementaries and paired colors.

Telluride. Part 2

Me and "Trout Lake"

 I am safely back from Telluride and in Pasadena after a grueling 15 hour drive. Probably traveling there was the hardest part.  But with  an award from Southwest Magazine for my "Trout Lake" painting I couldn't be happier about the experience. This event is not for the faint-hearted. Being my first time, I had a lot to learn. The weather and altitude require some adjustments. The buying public also has a very particular composition . A sturdy car might be less necessary than I thought initially since there is so much to paint everywhere but a 4x4 will get you closer to lakes and trails unreachable otherwise. 

These are some pictures of my booth and others during our first day of sales. I painted during the festival itself and was able to sell my on-site pieces both times. I wasn't as successful with the other sales. I think I know the reasons and I've moved on. I wasn't the only one with dismal sales, it takes a while to acquire some recognition. We also got a rain pattern that hindered a big chunk of first day sales.

The 4th of July event takes a break during the 4th Of July Parade.

Rain can be a daily disruptive occurrence.

Telluride Plein Air. Part One

Telluride , Co used to be a mining town with iffy prospects...tellurium anyone?  But because of its snow  pack and amazing natural beauty it has become a winter/summer nest for the well heeled  who have built  "cabins" that put some palaces to shame.  The town has a pioneering, hippie and major bucks vibe. Charming indeed.

 

It also is the seat of Telluride Plein Air, an event modeled after Sonoma Plein Air , a brainchild of Keith Wicks. Painting in Telluride is both easy an difficult. Easy because every corner is a painting waiting to be made. Difficult because Telluride is not really close -it took me two days of driving and nineteen hours of car to get here- and the altitude can play tricks on ones' health. I was very lucky to be juried in this year nevertheless. The event benefits the Sheridan Opera Foundation which restored its homonym building and maintains it.

My roommate at the house I was staying was the phenomenally talented Thomas Kitts. Here he is posing with the result of the 1 1/2 hour Quick Draw. So I got to learn a lot from a master just by being here. He taught me , for example, not to ever again introduce myself as "a person with another job that finds his/her escape through events like these." He is right. Even if you have another job , the pros  have a bit of unease  for artists that participate in these events as an aside. Some think hey tend to undermine them with low prices, unrealistic expectations and nibbling at their collectors base.

Here is the entrance to the Opera building during the Quick Draw. Calling it an opera is a bit misleading because beautiful as the building is...well, I don't think is Opera-ready. But for BlueGrass it will do fine. The energetic staff of the event were on hand for our orientation where all the nitty-gritty details about the horrid parking, the grueling schedule and pizza were dispatched.

And ...drumroll. Here is my Quick Draw piece.  I was a bit too ambitious I think both in size and content. I didn't sell it or win anything. Next time.

I think Joshua Been's motorcycle below was one of the best pieces even though he didn't get the award. He was smart to pick a subject matter that , although intricate, is manageable in the short period of time.
Tomorrow is the gala and artists reception. The harder part of this grueling three days is over. I painted in some very difficult conditions with relentless gale-force winds, a lot of rain and hail or a baking sun. But the environment is so magnificent you just want to paint every aspen, elk, peak, poppy  or victorian home. Even the gas stations is kind of cute.

Time is your extra medium.

Phew, if it is not one thing, it is another. I am lucky to be in good health this year because I have over-committed myself in every way. Of course there is my job which always takes precedence due to a thing called bills. But then there are all these shows and events I am involved in. So once the year is over I am going to start phasing out a few things and streamlining others. With time so scarce, it becomes invaluable. Moreover, I need time not just to paint but to paint well.  I am a fast painter according to friends and I can "crank them out " as my quick-draws would attest but time is a mental thing a well. Driving, scouting new places, carpooling, framing, meetings, ...it can get so messy that by by the time you pull out your brush, your mind needs to travel from outer space to look at what you are doing. It rarely works.

"Barn and Silo" 9"x12" Sonoma. A quick painting due to weather.

-Choose two or three organizations you'd like to work with and work with them. Aspire for the best, the most difficult to get into or the ones that touch a nerve with you (they are local, you have many friends...) . Do not expect them to do all the work for you.  If you don't feel you are selling enough (while you are selling with others) or can't be bothered to volunteer a couple of times, it's time for you to leave .

"Veranda Breakfast, St Regis Hotel" 10"x8" An example of enhancement of a venue  through art events.

- Community events are nice and helpful but they are a LOT of work, ArtWalks, Demos, Fundraisers and such. These are events that want artists to enhance the community/organization so they are counting on you to make them look good. That's perfectly fine. But if you sell nothing, well, you just added to the excitement. This might be worth your while if you actually live in that community but if you are an outsider it might be too small a reward.

"Sworks, Eagle Rock" An example of a painting done quickly due to dwindling light.

-Painting plein air doesn't need to be a solitary event but painting alone allows you to not be tied up buy others people's schedules. If you paint with others, scout beforehand,  be ready to  accept physical limitations  and people with different schedules. Plan lunches and other buffers, you could even drive separately. Workshops are a different thing, the more the merrier.

Lummis Day Print Show. Curated by me.

       I just came back from the first show I have ever curated. I was assigned to enhance the Lummis Day celebrations in Highland Park with an art show. My concept was simple given the space and budget limitations and the environment: Invite 8 accomplished printmakers to display and sell their work.
       Quite a lot of preparation came into this, form choosing the printmakers to designing postcards and acting as a liason between the Lummis Home Foundation , the Historical Society of Southern California and the artists. I can't say I enjoyed the process but what I can say is that it was a treat to deal with the wonderful artists that gave 120% of their effort to make the show a success. I even got to meet my (third) Consul General of Spain. After all, Charles Lummis had been knighted by King Alfonso XIII with the Order Of Isabel La Católica for his writings on the Californio population of this area of the world.

The artists that we displayed were, in no particular order,  Linda Lyke, Olivia Barrionuevo, Roderick Smith, Don Newton, Cidne Hart, Kathy Mas-Gallegos, Poli Marichal and Sonia Romero. The worked with our limited space and resources and were infinitely gracious. LOTS of people came by and admired their work, bought some and enjoyed the historical site.

 I am not sure I'll ever volunteer to do an event like this and I am so glad it is behind us now.  I really need to get painting and preparing my own shows but I think it is a bit of a duty to help  organizations like these that bring art and enjoyment to so many people.

Sonoma Plein Air 2011

Keith Wicks. Winner of the Artists Choice Award.

I just came back from Sonoma, Ca. The Plein Air event was absolutely wonderful.  I was very lucky to be juried in.  I admittedly haven't been to that many events but the thing that struck me most is  that Sonoma Plein Air has a charitable dimension besides the survival of the event  or art organization itself.Not that the survival of the art organization is not lofty enough in itself.  Most of the proceeds from auctions and sales go directly to support art programs in local schools. Talented artist  Keith Wicks is the founder of Plein Air Sonoma and he has summoned a great amount of support among the community members for  this cause that brings great artistic talent to the Sonoma public, exposes artists to the beauty of this enclave and provides much needed funds for the schools.

"Josephine Lake" 10"x8"

 I will be the first one to admit that I was a bit nervous, being so far from my turf and a first-timer but the volunteers that worked for the event were very welcoming and like Keith Wicks said: "if you don't know where to paint, well, then you are blind. What are you doing here?". Sonoma is spectacular in an understated but magnificent way so subject matter is certainly not problem. From barns to vineyards to wine cellars, sheep, cows, old trucks, buildings, creeks, oaks and eucalyptus groves, subject matter is not an issue.

A highlight of the event is the Gala Dinner where paintings are auctioned in silent bids. 

A personal highlight. I made the acquaintance of Mr. John Lasseter., quite a wonderful guy  who gave an impassioned speech with not a hint of boilerplate about arts funding and education and donated time and even two lunches at PIXAR. 

My booth at the Saturday show before the rain made us all close the shop.

Among the highlights of the event, the QuickDraw at Sonoma Plaza, the Artist reception,the Friday night Gala Dinner and the Saturday all day sale. All of the events went smoothly, including  the Saturday sale where we had to contend with a heavy downpour that sent us all scrambling. 

Other highlights of course included the acquaintance and re-acquaintance with some phenomenal artists, some of the lunches and get-togethers, the community members that opened their homes and properties for us to trample, the food itself and the excitement that kept me up at night.

"Vadasz Barn" 16"x12"

Some notes for myself. Yes, this is California but t-shirts won't cut it. I am going to get me some long sleeved shirts and some sturdier shoes. Protection against the elements is essential painting outdoors. 

 . 

On Completion.

And a final thought. When is the painting done?  The  short answer is "never". The long answer is whenever you have said what you set out to say.

 I am in Sonoma , Ca participating in the Plein Air event. It is a new event for me so I was a bit nervous. I didn't know the area -which is ok- but there is a competitive aspect to it, a desire to prove the organizers that they juried you in for a reason , be it sales or quality, and there's the pressure of time.

 So that got me thinking, when is a painting done, or rather, when do we leave the painting alone.

"Mossy Monsters, jack London State Park" 12"x16" One of my more "finished" plein air pieces.

"Jack London Inn, Glen Ellen, CA" 8"x10" An intentionally less worked-over piece but may be more "done" than the oaks above. 

 Of course, everyone has a different idea and that's ok. Here are some thoughts:

Detailing. Nature is infinitely detailed. No painting will match nature or a photo in detail. Ever. So it can't be just about the detail. Especially if you are en plein air,  detail is a relative concept and interestingly enough comes mostly from the brush stroke itself , the edges and the washes, not how much work goes into every leaf. Striking a balance between detail and not-so-detail. This painting below is "Back Harbor Road" 12"x12" from Hawaiian artist Darrell Hill and it illustrates  the idea of sourcing the detail from the brushstroke. He is "done" with this piece.

Highly detailed, every hair and cranny paintings are a tradition and an aspiration from the dawn of oil painting and even before. Every painting needs to keep your interest somehow and create or recreate its reality. You have to be a virtuoso to pull detail  off on a smooth surface without a lot of painterly fireworks. Some very  excellent painters : Richard Dadd, Norman Rockwell, Andrew Wyeth,Peder Mørk Mønsted, Daniel Smith come to mind, have done wonderful detail work and managed to keep the painting fresh at almost microscopical levels without loosing sight of the fact  that they are painting.

Photorrealism. Painting from a photo is a valid mechanism. But again, if your painting ends up looking like a photo you haven't done your homework or you are going for virtuosity -which is highly valued in illustration. But I've often seen paintings with lens flares, blurry cars, people in awkward poses, color hue shifts  or  deep deep darks that betray their photographic origin rather than artistic decisions. A painting might start with a photo but it can't possibly end there. So a painting is not "done" if it looks and feels like the photo it came from.

Experimenting. What does experimenting have to do with completion?  Well, a favorite quote of many artists and mine too -you've heard this, you've said this, usually after a two hour nasty struggle with your canvas: "I was just experimenting." -Aha! I failed, so it must be an experiment. Noooot so quick buster, I am not getting away with it. Admit it Jose, you set out to do a masterpiece. You might have been even just practicing (practicing is when you are not experimenting, just like an athlete is not experimenting when he trains fro the marathon) but that thing you just called an experiment  is staring back at you  looking every bit the nasty mess it is. Well then. You are not "done". Done for the day may be but not done with the painting. Pull out the spatula and wipe it out. No, it won't look better tomorrow when the elves come fix it at night.


Experimenting  requires that you set out to  try something new to you, be it a new material, technique or even a new mental attitude. You open yourself to  the possibility of failure, sure, but you walk in with your eyes wide open  just in case  you discover something new as well.  Experimenting is as conscious as everything else.  Failure just happens and is as necessary as it is hard to handle but hey, in the field nobody hears you curse so tell that cow how you really feel.