Monday, April 23, 2012

Copying Collins 2

























My second attempt is more refined and while it's not the direction
I hope to pursue, my figures in the past were more caricatures,
cartoon-like. I clearly needed a lot more knowledge and better
observational skills to inform my figures. I'm seeing so much more
in Jacob Collins' painting now than I did initially. His value changes
are so tiny and subtle that I'm realizing how lazy and impatient I've
been about mixing colors. There is so much information in his painting
that I would have been oblivious to if working from life at this point.
This is such great practice; hope it carries over when painting actual
models. (I think I overdid the temperature variations in her face but it
taught me a lot about painting whites.)

Collins has an atelier school in NYC with workshops as well as longer
programs.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Copying Collins

























I've been trying to work on painting figures but find it difficult
to work things out without models—like impossible. I've been going
to life drawing classes for two-hour stretches—not enough time to paint.
I'm approaching models who feel comfortable being photographed as
reference but need to have a sense of knowing what I'm after style-wise
and also how to protect them before committing to hiring them.
My goal was to work on temperature and thought it a brilliant idea to learn
from a master—use a pose done by a contemporary realist painter,
Jacob Collins, as a roadmap for cool and warm tones. I didn't try to copy
him verbatim, didn't use his colors or temperature, didn't attempt to emulate
his realism but I did use his pose. He's very much alive and his painting is very
contemporary so I'm hoping I'm not violating any copyright laws.

Here is the link to Jacob Collins masterful painting, Carolina:
http://www.jacobcollinspaintings.com/carolina.html


Having temperature be foremost in my mind as I paint rather than achieving 
any kind of faithfulness or likeness has really opened up the way I think about 
painting. It feels like a good shift.