Wanna Be World Famous

Acrylic on paper 

12x12in 

Sold

(This is a re-post as I am still on vacation.)

I was invited to enter a show featuring paintings of women only. 

On my pondering of the place of women in art, I thought of the Mona Lisa, 

reportedly the most recognized portrait of a woman worldwide. 

Then think of all the famous artists' who have painted portraits 

of women in the hope to reach the same status. 

So far none have achieved Leonardo's stature. 

(I think Vermeer's Woman with a Pearl Earring is coming close)

The gallery informed me this piece was sold to a museum in Denmark.

Picasso-Portrait of Dora Maar Seated

Leonardo Da Vinci - Mona Lisa

Van Gogh-Madame Ginoux

Cezanne-Young Italian Girl

Egon Schiele-Seated Woman with Bent Knee

Matisse-Goldfish

The hardest part of this painting was the research of paintings of women

which would conform to my vision of them sitting 

together around a table...a universal theme the world over.

I started laughing when I picked the first two and even more 

so at the end

I adored the way these women looked totally bored ...

They must have been muttering as they posed...will he EVER finish!

Only Mona looks content, and after this painting, I wonder why?

Any guesses?

Fracturing a Little Part of a Cezanne

Fracturing Cezanne

6x6in oil on canvas panel  $100.

Apples and a pear - Influenced by the Master, Cezanne.


Artist Note.

Last year I painted a series of small areas (details) from famous paintings.
It was a way to learn and explore techniques.
The one I copied, below, is from
Still life with Fruit Dish, Apples
See Cezanne
I remember it was hard to tell the correct colors when I was trying to copy
it because every reproduction looked different. As I painted, I discovered
it was a pear balancing on top of the apples. Crafty Cezanne was most likely
trying to see who was really looking. Most of us would fall into the trap.
If it says apples in the title then we are apt to think they are all apples.

I placed one of his jugs from another painting
behind the apples and took out the glass
so it would not be exactly the same.

Lemon Slices

Lemon Slices.  Detail from a larger painting of mine.
not for sale.



Artist Note.

Continuing how to prevent Cookie Cutter paintings  - no matter what your style.
The whole point is not to surround your object with the same value or color.

On my painting above you can see the linkage by values. 
The shadow side of the small bowl links into the larger vase.
The shadow sides of the lemons are a transition value into the silver bowl. The grape is linked too.

Here are how some well know artists prevented the "Cookie Cutter" syndrome!
You may click to enlarge.


                                                    Grant Wood.  Detail: American Gothic

Everyone knows this piece.
 It is a painting of precise realism,
but notice the value of the peak
area of the house being very similar to the
flesh so it links the two heads together.
If it had been a bright blue sky cutting in a straight line 
their heads would have been too cookie cutter.
His right ear gets completely blended in parts.
Her neck and collar in the light create a nice
lost edge next to the house and the same
blend of values where their clothes meet.
The whole painting is full of ebb and flow
so no cookie cutter here!
                                                 

Cezanne. Detail: Apples and Oranges


Notice on the plate a light yellow apple.
It is a similar value to the plate and it links
into the yellow on the apple behind.
He chose not to heavily outline it like the others
so I think it is a deliberate passage of light
to break up what otherwise would be a
big, round, clump of color against his light cloth.
The background apples are a beautiful
merging of value and color into the back area.
                                                    Brilliant artist. I love his work.

Henry Ossawa Tanna
Detail: Banjo Lessons  (1893)

The boy's hair is obviously the highest contrast
creating a deliberate small area of a cookie cutter
effect with the end of the banjo and mans hand,
but his arm and shirt are a more gentle contrast
against the very light background and the pant
legs are very similar in value/color to the floor.
Deliberate linking of the dark area of the crotch,
up into the vest and shadow side of the banjo,
sets off the round face of the banjo, which is
a perfect value - not competing with the background light.
Tanner was one of the most successful African American fine artists of the
19th century, enjoying an international acclaim. He is worth exploring
further if you enjoy the romantic, European style of that period.

Now you know what to look for I hope you go back over some of your old paintings
to see if there are areas which a too "cookie cutter."

Being an artist is not easy and I still paint something too cookie cutter
and then I sigh, mutter, mutter, and fix it!

Gauguin Copy

Gauguin Copy

6x6in oil on canvas board  85.

Detail from,  Still Life With Mangos. Paul Gauguin.

I love most of Gauguin's work and I picked this piece because the colors were so vibrant after my previous copy of a painting by Cezanne. Although this was painted some 14 years after the Cezanne piece, I could still pick out some similar, parallel stroke work.  I noticed that Gauguin also used a cross-hatch stroke in flat areas. Both artists really observed each value/color change across the form and both outline the shapes. I did some research on this piece and was amazed at the different colors in each reproduction I looked at, even in the two books I own. I was wondering if the brighter images were after a restoration?

Cezanne Copy

Cezanne Copy

6x6in oil on canvas board  85.

It is apple and pear harvest time where I live and I thought it would be a good learning experience to copy how some of my favorite artists paint fruit.
This first one is by Cezanne. (Hope it is obvious!)
This is a detail from, Still Life With Compotier. (1879)
It is a little stiffer than his later works but the artist Gauguin owned and passionately admired this still life -  even reproducing it in the background of a portrait.
Obviously the colors are determined by the reproduction I copied from and as I cannot buzz over to Paris to see the original, I stayed as true as possible to the printed colors. I was able to learn how he saw and did his brushwork, value/color plane changes and how he introduced some of the neighboring colors into his mixtures.