How to Create a Painting Part 1

I am working on a painting of Ophelia.  I will go more into the "story" of the painting once I post the finished version, but I wanted to walk you through my process for creating a painting.

The first step behind any painting is to have an idea or story that you would like to tell.  One of my students has been working on a master copy of Milais' Ophelia.  I wanted to do a modern take on Ophelia, so I started thinking of compositions.  I was walking to my studio one morning and the design popped into my head.  I could see it clearly, which for me is always necessary before I begin a painting.  If I don't know where I am going, I can't get there.  I need to know how I would like the painting to look.  A few years ago I traveled to Kaaterskill Falls and I explored the top of the falls.  There is a beautiful little glen there and I have been wanting to use it in a painting for a long time.  I am going to change it for this painting, but it will serve as the inspiration for the setting.

Next:  the preliminary drawing and value study.

Robert Liberace Red Chalk Workshop

I recently took a Robert Liberace workshop at Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia.  Rob prepares drawing paper (Canson Mi-Tientes or Twinrocker) with a wash of a warm yellow brown (yellow ochre or some derivative) watercolor.  He lets this dry, then adds some additional sizing to the paper with a solution of amber shellac diluted 1 to 5 with 90% isopropyl alcohol.  He then uses Verithin terracotta pencils to execute the drawing.  This gives a gorgeous finish to the drawing which has the appearance of a da Vinci or Michelangelo red chalk drawing (well, when Rob does it at least...).

Below you can see two drawings I completed under Rob's tutelage:

Carol, pencil on paper, copyright Jaime Cooper, in Robert Liberace's class

Roger, pencil on paper, copyright Jaime Cooper, in Robert Liberace's class

Rob has some fantastic instructional DVDs available on his website, including one where he utilizes the method above (the figure in motion drawing DVD).  

Salmagundi Club 2014 Non-Members' Exhibition

One of my pieces, Hope, was selected for inclusion in the Salmagundi Club's 2014 Non-Members' Exhibition.  I attended the closing reception last Friday at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY.

The Upper Gallery, Salmagundi Club

A closer view of my piece, Hope, copyright Jaime Cooper

Robert W. Pillsbury, President of the Salmagundi Club

the Lower Gallery and Billiard Room

Good Art

"Good art rarely imitates; it usually only describes or explains…Good art always consists of two things:  First, the observation of fact; secondly, the manifesting of human design and authority in the way that fact is told.  Great and good art must unite the two." 

John Ruskin, The Two Paths