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A PAINTER'S PROGRESS

"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new vistas but in having new eyes." — Proust

Visit to the deYoung

by Susan Adams on 5/20/2010 9:43:58 PMComment on this

"The Pedicure" Edgar Degas

I went in to the de Young today to see the "Birth of Impressionism" exhibit. It opens to the public this Saturday, June 22. Birth of Impressionism. The Musée d'Orsay in Paris is being remodeled, and they have sent some of the most famous works here to San Francisco during the renovation. How lucky for us! This is the only venue where they will be exhibited in the US. The exhibit is in two parts. This first part extends through September 6, 2010.

The exhibition begins with some pieces that were representative of the conservative Salon pieces of the day that had allegorical, mythical and religious themes with the idealization of the female form. The brushwork was hardly noticeable and the surface of the canvas was silky smooth. Some of the works were monumental in size. If you've read any of the history of the Impressionist movement, you will know that the Impressionist group rebelled at this traditional Salon fare and that the Salon scoffed at the casual themes and loose gestural brushwork of this new radical group. It was a struggle of the "old" versus the "new" art. I have always been fascinated by this period in history and I think you will too. At any rate, it was a thrill to see in person some of the works I've been looking at and reading about for years.

Among many stunning and well known pieces, some highlights for me were "The Floor Scrapers" (Caillebot), "Study in Grey and Black" (Whistler-Whistler's Mother), "The Swing" (Renoir), "The Dancing Lesson" (Degas) and a snow scene by Monet and several wonderful pieces by Manet. Because Cezanne emerges in the latter part of the Impressionist movement, (he's really a Post-Impressionist), there were only three of his pieces. I love Cezanne and am looking forward to the second part of the exhibition from the d'Orsay in which I'm hoping there will be more Cezannes. I was disappointed there was only one piece of Berthe Morrisot's. She's one of my favorite Impressionists. One of the most surprising pieces was "The Pedicure" by Degas. An odd subject for a painting, I had never seen it before and I absolutely loved it! See it above.

I feel emotional when I am in the presence of great art and its history. Today was no exception. Standing in front of these masterpieces is a spiritual experience for me. No matter how many times I visit museums, it never changes. I am so grateful to be able to see these paintings, albeit sometimes through tears!

I leave for France on Saturday to teach a 10-day painting workshop. I am very excited about this. I will blog from Southwest France if there is an internet connection available. If not, then I'll be in touch after June 4th.

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Practice

by Susan Adams on 5/15/2010 12:47:25 PMComment on this

"House on the Hill" watercolor

This is what we painted last week in class. It is a view from outside my studio.

Almost every beginning painting student hopes to paint a wonderful piece of art. Yet a majority of these students do not avail themselves of the one tool that will guarantee progress: daily practice. I have encountered so many beginning painters whose expectations, upon first picking up a brush, are quite unreasonable. If the result of a few hours of dabbing doesn't produce a piece that is framable, they berate themselves as having no talent, or worse, a failure. I try to impress on my students the need and the importance of practice. Charles Hawthorne an American painter and teacher, encouraged his students to practice by doing many "starts", telling them that the finishes will take care of themselves. By doing starts—and stopping when you no longer know what you are doing—you will make progress far quicker than laboring for hours or days over the one large "masterpiece". With each start, one is able to go a little farther towards completion.

Having taught both piano and painting, it is interesting to observe the differences in students. My piano students were not only willing, they expected to have to practice their scales and exercises daily. They would no more expect to play a Mozart piano concerto in the first six months of lessons than fly to the moon. Not so for the painting student. Some beginning painters are perfectly capable of expectations that far exceed common sense. On the first or second try at picture making, they are often soundly disappointed. When I suggest daily practice doing starts or small 6 X 6" paintings, I am often met with surprise. They do not accept the fact that these early paintings contain the seeds of their next painting, that they have to paint, as one of my teachers told me years ago, "acres of paintings" to get to the good ones. Many students show up for class, stating they haven't "picked up a brush since last class", yet they expect improvement.

As a teacher, my primary goal is to inspire my students. The more one practices, the better one gets and the more fun painting becomes. Throughout the journey, there are "aha" moments when plateaus are reached and the act of painting becomes almost an out of body experience. Often it does not take "acres" of paintings to paint some good ones. It boils down to the simple fact that if one wants to become a painter one has to PAINT!

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Apron Strings

by Susan Adams on 5/6/2010 9:47:38 PM3 Comments

"Still Life with Strawberry" watercolor

This image is a 6 X 6" demo I did for class. Last week one of my students brought some fresh strawberries for the class. Because it was raining we couldn't go out to paint, so we stayed inside and ate and painted strawberries!

In my ongoing painting classes, I ask my students to arrive a half hour before class begins so that I can give them feedback on work they've done on their own during the week. In my years of teaching I have noticed that many of the more experienced students are their own best critics. They ask questions like,"Is the mountain too dark?" or "Should the shadow on the grass be a bit cooler?" I typically tell them if you have to ask, you already know the answer.

There exists among some painters a phenomenon that I call the "apron string" syndrome. This affliction is characterized by a pervasive lack of artistic confidence. However long some of these painters have been slogging away at their craft, they invariably defer to someone else for the final OK, the ultimate decree that the piece is finished and framable.

That is not to say there is no value in seeking out the opinion of teachers and artists whose work one admires and whom one considers a mentor. A great painter is always student. However, there comes a time when one must take the ultimate responsibility for the decisions and the marks he or she makes. This is a liberating step in one's artistic journey.

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