Haverhill, Massachusetts - June 6-10, 2008
Rob agrees with the philosophy of the military: recruits learn best under intense pressure. I attended the third art boot camp and once again came away a much improved artist. This was art school on steroids along the Merrimac (River).
What I had to do was swallow my ego and face my fears of failure....accept the pressure of painting about six and half hours for four straight days as fast as I could. It was going to be good for me and I was going to learn a lot and I did.
This was a very special camp. George, Susan, and I had Rob to ourselves for four straight days. (Frankly I was shocked that the camp wasn't packed out....and also thankful Rob decided to put it on anyway. How fortunate for us. Later Rob said that he didn't usually teach such a small class but wanted to try out some new ideas on us.)
Over the next four days, we all worked so hard that we literally broke out in a sweat at the easel. Everyday we made plans to go out to dinner together after camp only to cancel due to exhaustion but we did get to know each other over our lunches.
We were to experience a different challenge just about every four hours over the next four days.
Day one went fairly well for me. I was painting fast for me and encouraged. Once again, Rob showed us what great colors we can get with simple palettes.
We all know what a master Rob is at the easel but there is something about seeing him in action before your own eyes that brings a new appreciation for what he can do.
The first day we learned about lighting, the importance of a plumb bob, the importance of representing the range of values, the importance of edges, the "bump" and anatomy of shade and light. A draped mannequin was to be painted with the view of glazing her on day 3. The afternoon we moved to the next mannequin to study further the effects of light and more study of the anatomy of shadow and highlight and mass tones.
This was my attempt. Note how far to the left I placed the head on the canvas a mistake. Need lots more thinking before I start. Rob reminded me, "we are not making art we are studying." I felt better and kept going. Learned so much about lighting, shading.All week, Rob set the standards high expecting our best effort, and gently he guided us individually with our unique needs.
Day two we were pressed under a deadline with a new setup that concentrated on drapery.
The day flew by with a second setup in the afternoon and more demos.
This is my attempt at drapery and glazing.
Day three we were glazing.... Rob demonstrated the proper way to apply a glazes to a grisaille (left & below) and a verdaccio (center) under-painting methods.
Then we moved on to the "beauty" ... a contemporary fashion model mannequin with a plaid hat. This time we were painting directly. Oh boy I will shine today...I can do that I thought.
Unfortunately, I made a huge mistake on my palette ... mixing the wrong white (titanium) into the mass tone and watched my skin tones die before me turning into a chalky dead mess...(oh no!!! I know better than that. What was I thinking?) Then I couldn't get the drawing right ... it was so far off I just cringed and no time to correct it. She looked deformed. UGH!! I felt totally the fool thinking "why did I think I could draw anything?"
Seeing our discouragement, Rob ... (with that impish grin said) ... "so you hit the wall did you?" And everyone agreed; it was a brick wall....an ugly end of the day for me.
Rob began blocking in the little "beauty" in pastel. He worked very quickly blocking in the shapes with fast broad strokes, then slowing, corrected the drawing, and before long had the thing knocked out.
Oh. He was teaching us something very important namely ... to start off loose and slowly tighten as you go to the finish. We had all been tight from the beginning....
Day 3 was over thankfully.
Walking back to our cars Susan, George, and I all were realizing that tomorrow was live model day ... ... well no guts no glory ... nothing to lose. Yet we all had come to the conclusion that lessons learned on that day would never be forgotten.
Day 4 ....we began the day minus our egos and performance anxiety since that was dealt with the previous day all residing at the bottom of Rob's two trash cans. I remember standing in front of that easel ... thinking about Rob's demo at the end of the day ... start loose ... and I started....verrrry loose.
Live Model Setup ... the final day. It was going well much better than the day before. I blocked in the whole canvas and drew the model fairly accurately..I was moving forward making little corrections and looking for big shapes...
What I had been learning was clicking and the fear was gone. As Rob promised, any fear I had of painting a live model was completely gone.
In fact, it felt easier.
I know this is not a great portrait; that wasn't the point. What is impressive that this is just four hours of work. This was I there to learn. I know now, that I can take this now and finish it and when it is finished it will represent the model quite well. THAT is the point.
It was on that day that Rob came up to my painting and took my brush and applied the ever so slightly warmed tone to the "bump" to the cheek and then the very palest of pinks for the highlight and stroked it perfectly. He took that brush and confidently placed it, then deftly swept it to a feathered end in one long artful swoop.
Wow. I truly understood. That is what I need to learn to do and I know I can do it. Camp was over. We all put down our brushes, cleaned up, packed up, and went over to one of Haverhill's great pubs for lunch and enjoyed a relaxed time chatting with Rob and the model ... and saying our farewells.
I came away from camp grateful and a little sad.
Like the oileo verdi basking in the sun (left) sometimes ya need a little heat from the sun to clear up the cloudiness. That is what the camps have done for me.This was my third boot camp and Lord willing I will be going to the Landscape Camp this fall. With each camp my skills are growing.
This is a year that I shall never ever forget ... and I know George, Susan joins me in thanking Rob from the bottom of our hearts. I hope more advanced camps will develop...if so I'll be there.
Posts
