Retro

I like vintage stuff, retro, 50s, 60s. So I would like to make a serie of vintage-like playmate kind of things. Inspired by graphics and fabrics design for the background. I start with an old life drawing studies I did. I redraw the pose, and then compose the background. This one is actually my 4th attempt. Roughly a total 8 hours in the making.

San Francisco

Two quick studies I've done while I was in SF, the 1st one is the EA campus at Redwood, and the second one, is a dog on Haight street. I went to Napa, but by the time I started painting, the sun disappeared on the vineyard and I couldnt finish it. :) Too bad because it was a beautiful sight, at Whiterock winery, the wine tasting was quite nice too. One thing that strike me everytime I reach California, is the quality of the light. The sun is much brighter than everywhere else I've been. Very similar to south of france type of sun.

Sarah & Genevieve

I've been revisiting some of my work I did few months ago, discovering them as if they were from someone else. What was bothering back then seems to have vanished, with the memory of what I wanted them to be.  I haven't done life drawing since we landed in Shanghai. But have some opportunities ahead, I'm flying for 2 weeks in San Francisco, and I've already spotted some places I can drop in. I will try to do some landscape too.

Sarah 

Sarah

Genevieve

The New Pigments

I've often been deceived by watercolors once they dry out, they loose their saturation and a bit of value. I've read this almost in every book and blog, I thought it was something normal inherent to the medium, and that I was supposed to live with it, Until now... Few weeks ago, I was browsing dickblick.com, I was about to order papers and some new tubes... then the question came... I've always used Holbein since the very beginning, sometime W&N, Schmick but mostly Holbein. It was recommended by the famous Charles Reid, the price was cheap and it was made in Japan. All 3 elements to convince me this was good stuff. I got curious about other manufacturers, ended up my search on handprint.com. So I decided to try out M. Graham & Co. My stuff finally arrived, I threw out the old pigment, put all Graham in my palette and started painting. I was under the impression that the colors were much brighter than usual... but I wasn't sure... afraid of being under the placebo effect. But the next day, without her knowing that I had changed anything, my wife commented on the new painting, she talked mosltly about the unusual bright colors. Bingo! M. Graham & Co succeed the wife test.

So today I have 3 tips,

Watercolors : M. Graham & Co

Art Webstore: DickBlick.com

Information about pigments: handprint.com

With new pigments, come a new approach :) I just wanted to do some fun stuff, I like doing little stubby characters.

5x7 Study

I was walking down FuZhou Lu, and found this skull in plaster. 22RMB(4USD), I grabbed it, it was still wet, not fully dry. FuZhou lu is probably my favorite street in Shanghai, it harbor many art shop, and books stores. For a tenth of what it could cost in any other city. I also found a Kazuo Oga art book. When I look at his stuff, I feel like trying some gouache.

5x7 Study

The more I do it, the more I realize that it's only now that I'm really serious about painting. Alla Prima's book has taught me things I wasn't even aware of. My biggest challenge is to identify value and hue with accuracy. I think I'll make myself 5 punched card of 5 different values, from white to black. So I can evaluate on the scene by looking thru the punched hole, what is the range of the value I'm seeing.

This is our Hotel Apartement.

Shanghai Shanghai

Here are some of the little studies I've been doing recently, walking down the street until something get my attention, but then again, it need to be a suitable spot to sit or lean on something to paint. On my palette I'm carrying, Ultramarine, Phtalo Blue, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Cadmium & Yellow Lemon. Big focus on temperatures, I've discover interesting ways of making greys. I'm using a little block, Fabriano, 5x7 inches, 140lbs, grana fina, cp. 2010 is a year of progress for me, encouraging for what is coming next.