Drawing a Better Cat

I just read this article about a "transcranial magnetic stimulator" which interestingly enabled the reporter who experienced it to draw a cat from memory much better when it was operating then when it was not.  The article unfortunately didn't include pictures which would have been interesting.  Anyway, it is a fascinating read.

Book Review: Classical Painting Atelier by Juliette Aristides

One of my favorite art instruction books and one of the most helpful to me in my own journey is Classical Painting Atelier by Juliette Aristides.  My favorite beginning exercise, and one I start my new students with, is found on page 10, warm-and-cool studies.  Simple paintings are executed with ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, and white.  This allows the student to focus on value with the simplicity of having only three piles of paint to contend with.  She also has an excellent, easy to understand explanation of color basics on page 79 and some step by step demonstrations that I highly recommend all my students work through.

Colors for Underpaintings

A little bit ago I did a post on underpaintings for oils.  You can use whatever color you wish.  Burnt umber and raw umber are my favorites, but I will occasionally use burnt sienna, terra verte, or even purple.  Awhile ago I was doing a portrait of a gorgeous lady and I wanted to capture the character of her hands.  I did a study with a purple underpainting (a mix of ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson) to see if this would help me. 

Study of Hands, Jaime Cooper, copyright Jaime Cooper

I decided that it actually created more work for me, so I stuck with a burnt umber underpainting for the final portrait:

Nurse, WWII (detail), Jaime Cooper, copyright Jaime Cooper

What is Art?

I have been reading The Intellectual Life of the Early Renaissance Artist by Francis Ames-Lewis.  I am not very far into it, but it promises to be interesting.  In it Ames-Lewis gives an account of the evolution of the artist from a craftsman/tradesman to an artist with socially elevated standing during the early Renaissance.  He traces the change of paintings from functional objects (stimuli for devotion or decorations for furniture and interiors) into objects that are ends in themselves, with "no self-evident function [and which] appear to serve in an abstract way as visual stimuli to intellectual activity." (p.3)

I think this is a crucial part of the answer to the question What is Art?  It must be a stimuli to intellectual activity. 

Lady with an Ermine, Leonardo da Vinci, Czartoryski Museum, Kraków

John Ruskin expands on this definition in The Two Paths.  Ruskin was writing in 1859, almost one hundred years after the very infancy of the first industrial revolution and in the middle of the second industrial revolution.  It was a time of great technological advancement and an enormous shift in society from agriculture and local production to large scale mass production of manufactured goods.

"It would be well if all students would keep clearly in their mind the real distinction between those words which we use so often, "Manufacture," "Art," and "Fine Art." "MANUFACTURE" is, according to the etymology and right use of the word, "the making of anything by hands,"--directly or indirectly, with or without the help of instruments or machines. Anything proceeding from the hand of man is manufacture; but it must have proceeded from his hand only, acting mechanically, and uninfluenced at the moment by direct intelligence. Then, secondly, ART is the operation of the hand and the intelligence of man together; there is an art of making machinery; there is an art of building ships; an art of making carriages; and so on. All these, properly called Arts, but not Fine Arts, are pursuits in which the hand of man and his head go together, working at the same instant. Then FINE ART is that in which the hand, the head, and the _heart_ of man go together. Recollect this triple group; it will help you to solve many difficult problems. And remember that though the hand must be at the bottom of everything, it must also go to the top of everything; for Fine Art must be produced by the hand of man in a much greater and clearer sense than manufacture is. Fine Art must always be produced by the subtlest of all machines, which is the human hand. No machine yet contrived, or hereafter contrivable, will ever equal the fine machinery of the human fingers. Thoroughly perfect art is that which proceeds from the heart, which involves all the noble emotions;--associates with these the head, yet as inferior to the heart; and the hand, yet as inferior to the heart and head; and thus brings out the whole man."

John Ruskin, A Dalmatian Pelican

And finally, the Art Renewal Center and Fred Ross further codify the definition of art here and in their whole collection of the philosophy behind art:

"Just because something causes you to have a feeling of aesthetic beauty does not make it a work of art.  A work of art is the selective recreation of reality for the purpose of communicating some aspect of what it means to be human or how we perceive the world."  --Fred Ross

Premier Deuil, William Bouguereau, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Creating Depth in Paintings

A few days ago I posted about William Holman Hunt's work and his use of color.

William Holman Hunt, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, private collection, 1868

Compare Hunt's work to the piece below, A Fair Reflection, by John William Godward.  Both have similar subjects, in similar settings, in similar poses and lighting conditions, with a similar use of extravagant color.

A Fair Reflection, John William Godward, 1915

I like Godward's piece much better and I think this has to do with his control of edges.  I did a post about kinds of edges here.  I have not had the pleasure to see it in person, but I suspect Godward made better use of the contrast between hard and soft edges.  The details of that get a little lost in a smaller reproduction, but they still come through in a heightened illusion of space and atmosphere when you shrink the painting down.  Notice how flat Hunt's painting appears compared to Godward's.  Godward also uses the cool trick of her foreshortened right elbow and a more zoomed in view to increase the amount of depth in the painting.  Cover her right arm and see how much shallower the painting appears.  Hunt had the same opportunity with Isabella's knee, but doesn't quite master it.

Check this out:

A Fair Reflection, John William Godward, 1915

By converting both images to black and white we can more clearly see the device that Godward used.  Notice how he clearly defined the two planes of her upper and lower arm with a strong change in value (and therefore direction) at the bend of her elbow.  Changes in direction of planes = changes of value.  Notice the alternating value arrangement on her left arm as it changes direction.  Also notice how her right arm is darker than the background, except for that very well placed darker accent in the marble behind her forearm.

Now, compare this with Hunt's piece again in black and white:

William Holman Hunt, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, private collection, 1868

See how Hunt misses the opportunity on Isabella's left leg to use the same device as Godward?  He uses a light spot on her knee, but the upper plane of her thigh and the lower plane of her shin are on average the same value.  The value next to her left leg is universally dark.  This all serves to make the depth of field surrounding her leg much shallower than that surrounding Godward's subject's right arm.

William Holman Hunt: Painter, Painting, Paint

131 Color Paintings of John William Godward

Oil Paints and Asthma

A lovely couple came into my studio a few days ago.  The husband was interested in trying oil painting, but had concerns about the smell.  He has asthma and things like cigarette smoke bother him.  I also have a student who has bad asthma and the oil paints (and even Turpenoid, odorless mineral spirits) bother her.

A wonderful solution for those with asthma, those sensitive to Turpenoid and the oils used to make oil paint (linseed, safflower, walnut, etc.), and those in an environment where they are not allowed solvents, even odorless (schools, nursing homes, etc.) is water mixable oil paint.  The drying time is several hours before they get too tacky to work.  It is not as long as traditional oils, but orders of magnitude longer than acrylics.  They have very similar working properties to traditional oils, but a slightly different feel "under the brush".  Maybe a little stickier?  No solvents are needed for clean up, just soap and water for the brushes and baby wipes for the palette.  The smell does not seem to bother my students with asthma, though of course your experience may differ.  Always get the advice of your doctor.

My student who uses them found that it is necessary to add the impasto medium to them during the summer months to make them behave a little better.  She just mixes some into her white at the start of a painting session.  She uses regular oil brushes and a few acrylic and watercolor brushes.

Winsor & Newton Artisan Oil Colour Beginners Set

Winsor and Newton Artisan Water Mixable Oil Painting Impasto Medium

Salmagundi Club (NYC) Show

My oil painting Hope has just been accepted into the 2014 Salmagundi Annual Juried Painting & Sculpture Exhibition for Non-Members at the Salmagundi Club in New York City.

Hope, Jaime Cooper, 2014, oil on linen, 12 x 16 inches, copyright Jaime Cooper

The exhibition will be held in the Main Gallery at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003 from July 28 to August 8 and will be open to the public 1-6 pm Monday to Friday and 1-5 pm Saturday and Sunday.  The Awards Reception will be held Friday, August 8th, 2014 from 6 to 8 pm.

A Break

Goodness, I was busy getting ready for a show.  It is all set now, so back to our regular programming...

William Holman Hunt

I have been working my way through The Two Paths by John Ruskin.  Ruskin speaks of William Holman Hunt being the greatest colorist.  I recently posted about a Hunt work being sold by the Delaware Art Museum and the scandal that caused.

William Holman Hunt, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, private collection

You can see a collection of William Holman Hunt's works in the ARC Museum here.  I found his use of soft color in his portrait of Miss Gladys M. interesting:

Miss Gladys M., William Holman Hunt, Museo de Arte (Ponce, Puerto Rico)

The pastel colors are soft and appealing, and remind me of something that belongs on a nursery wall.  It speaks of the gentle embrace of a mother.  This painting however is not one of my favorites, as I think the color is a bit too sweet and I think his edges are too universally sharp and that distracts me from the appreciation of his use of color.  I will address his use of edges in an upcoming post.

I do like Hunt's use of color better in Isabella and the Pot of Basil above.  The richness of the blues, golds, and rusts works very well with the subject matter.  That may just be personal preference though, I happen to like that color combination.  Maybe that is what Ruskin is referring too when he says that Hunt is the best colorist, his consistent use of an appropriate color palette matched with the subject?

William Holman Hunt

Yikes

I am thinking of taking another pilgrimage to the The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I was looking around at their website and blogs and found this macabre instrument.

Lyre. Central Africa, 19th century. Human skull, antelope horn, skin, gut, hair; L. 36.5 cm, W. 14 cm, D. 13 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 (89.4.1268)

It is not on exhibit at the Met, just held in their collections.  Apparently instruments made of human or animal skulls were also used in Tibet in meditation on the impermanence of life.

This is of course similar to Dutch vanitas paintings, which also focus on the fleeting meaninglessness of life.

Adriaen van Utrecht (1599-1652), Vanitas - Still Life with Bouquet and Skull

These paintings often incorporate symbols to get their point across, including skulls, broken eggs, cut or decaying flowers, money, dead animals or skins, etc.

The Rhetoric of Perspective: Realism and Illusionism in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Still-Life Painting
Still Life and Trade in the Dutch Golden Age

Painting New England

My work will appear in Painting New England, a group show at Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, PA from June to August.

Maine Cove, 30 x 14 inches, oil on linen, courtesy Patricia Hutton Galleries, copyright Jaime Cooper

I saw this view driving along the coast of Maine a few years ago and painted it when I returned.

Follow Up on Christie's Art Auction

I recently posted about an art auction at Christie's.  One of the headlining works, William Holman Hunt's Isabella and the Pot of Basil was sold by the Delaware Art Museum.

William Holman Hunt, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, private collection

This is a smaller version of the original painting held by the Laing Art Gallery.  The Delaware Art Museum lost its accreditation because of the sale.  Museums do have to sell art occasionally to stay open, but this is very frowned upon in the art museum community.  An interesting view into the economics of art.  Should a museum be "allowed" to sell a work to fund itself?  Is there a difference if the work was purchased by the museum or donated to the museum?

The Association of Art Museum Directors released the following statement:

"With this sale, the museum is treating its works from its collection as disposable assets, rather than irreplaceable cultural heritage that it holds in trust for people now and in the future," the AAMD, representing 242 members in North America, said in a statement. "It is also sending a clear signal to its audiences that private support is unnecessary, since it can always sell additional items from its collection to cover its costs."

But what if the private support is not there and the choice is to sell a work or close?  By selling a major work a museum may be undercutting its very attendance and mission.  It is not an easy answer.

William Holman Hunt: Painter, Painting, Paint
The Pre-Raphaelites: Their Lives and Works
The Pre-Raphaelites: From Rossetti to Ruskin

Art Scammers

I just received a nice email from a man apparently moving to Germany and wanting to decorate his house.  He named a few of my pieces from my website.  Something did strike me as just a bit off though.  I did a google search and lo and behold his name and email appear on a list of known art scammers.  She has some excellent information in the link, I highly recommend everyone read it.

Update:  8 other artists from the gallery that represents me, Patricia Hutton Galleries, were also contacted.

Why Martian Sunsets are Blue

In continuing celebration of Independence Day, here is a video of a Martian sunset taken by the Mars Rover Opportunity.



Here is an article about why Martian sunsets are blue (and why Earth sunsets are red).  I am so pleased to be alive during an era when we can watch video of a Martian sunset.  It is interesting to think about what that would do to the lighting in landscape paintings on Mars.

Independence Day

WWII Nurse, Jaime Cooper, copyright Jaime Cooper

In tribute to all those who have fought and died for freedom.

A New Portrait Sketch

This is my most recent portrait sketch.  I was really attracted to the model because of her hopeful, whimsical expression, which I tried to capture here.

Hope, Jaime Cooper, 12 x 16 in., oil on linen, copyright Jaime Cooper

Ligonier Art Walk

Our next Ligonier Art Walk will be Saturday November 1.  The theme will be Ligonier Art Walk presents:  the Affordable Art Stroll.  All of the galleries around town will be open with new shows and events.  I will be hosting a Student Art Show for all of my current private art students.  I will again be presenting a live oil portrait painting demo during the evening.  More information later.  For all my students, start thinking about what you may want to submit to the art show.

Impasto

Yesterday I talked about Delacroix's use of red.  This reminded me of a similarity that I was struck by when I viewed his work in person.  I have been talking to my students recently about the use of impasto. When I saw Delacroix's work I was fascinated by his use of it.  It created movement and vibration which I don't think is possible to attain by other means.  It also reminded me of Steve Huston's work which I was fortunate enough to be able to see at the Eleanor Ettinger Gallery in New York. 

Straight Shot, Steve Huston, copyright Steve Huston 2014

See all those little motion and speed lines?  Look at how much movement and excitement that creates.  It looks like they are actually moving.  Compare that to this piece by George Bellows:

George Bellows Boxers

There is still a lot of excitement and dynamism, but it looks like a still frame from a movie.  It looks like the figures were captured and frozen.  Steve Huston's work looks like they are actually continuing their motion.