28 Dec 2015

Color and Light by James Gurney Book Review

by | posted in: Art Book Review, Art books, Art DVD Reviews, Book Review, Color and Light, James Gurney | 0

Color and Light by James Gurney

“Color and Light” by James Gurney is one of my favorite “go to” art books. As most of you know, James Gurney is the author/illustrator for the Dinotopia book series. In his best selling instructional book, “Color and Light” James takes us through many helpful scenarios of how to set up our objects (or people) and light them to make it easier to paint.   James discusses and illustrates the use of light on many subjects and how to portray that in paint.  He then shows many examples of how one would apply that knowledge.

In “Color and Light”, James takes us through many diverse color schemes and clearly describes how to apply this information so anyone can understand no matter the level of painting that you are at –  from beginner to advanced painter.

 

I highly recommend  “Color and Light” to anyone who is starting out in art and/or in  fantasy art. You will be delighted and enlightened and will refer to this book over and over again!  color and light

James Gurney  has a blog with extremely interesting facts and instruction. He demonstrates painting in goucahe  and watercolor and shows videos of everything from his paint box as he travels to sketching on location. You can find him in the streets painting watercolors or gouache buildings and in the farms painting some of the animals. His videos are short but informative and very much worth watching repeatedly.  He is a master artist who enjoys teaching art to all levels of students.  I just can’t wait for his new book, video, blog, or DVDs come out.  I am a subscriber of his channel.

I have attended an exhibit of James Gurney’s work and it is exquisite.  I liken it to the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Photos can never do justice to the real paintings.  James proves himself over and over again to be one the modern day masters.

James is also selling downloadable instructional DVDs for very reasonable prices. You can find all of his items on his website http://jamesgurney.com/site/

Sharon Morley, Artist,  December 26, 2015  www.sharonmorley.com

19 Dec 2015

Our Home at Christmas

by | posted in: Christmas Greetings, House Portrait, MA, Watercolor Painting | 2

Our Home at Christmas.  Merry Christmas to all!  I wanted to do something different with my Christmas Cards this year so I did a watercolor painting of our home.  Our house is white but when the sun is setting in the afternoon it casts a wonderful warn hue on the house.

Our Home at Christmas 11x14 Watercolor by Sharon Morley C2015
Our Home at Christmas 11×14 Watercolor by Sharon Morley C2015

 

The photo and reference sketch I worked from is from last winter’s snow (You must remember the 9 feet of snow we had here in Massachusetts!) I decided to make it really look like a starry night in December by painting the sky a little darker and showing the stars shining bright.  (They are really there every night but sometimes we forget to look up)

The Christmas tree is another of my artistic license items.  We do not have a pine tree there but I think it adds to the festiveness of the painting.  As artists, we sometimes have to listen to our hearts.  Somehow paintings have a life of their own and we just follow along with our brush.  This was just one of those paintings.  Even though I took the photo and then did my thumbnail sketch to see  where my lights and darks would be, the brush and the hand and the spirit dictated something a little different.  This is the fun things I can do when I am not working on commission.  I stick to pretty much the subject on commissions depending on what the patron wants.

 

I then photographed my work and took it into an editing program where I added words to it the image and made it my 2015 Christmas Card.

5x7 christmas card my house 2015 (2)

This is my Christmas card this year and I wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, Creative New Year!  May 2016 be our best year yet!

Sharon Morley, December 19, 2015

 

 

 

13 Dec 2015

You can learn to draw and paint!

by | posted in: draw and paint, Follow your dreams, Inspiration | 6

Draw and paint.  You can learn it!  It is as simple as that.  The question is …. How much time are you willing to spend?

Draw and paint every day.

Sunflower, draw and paint
“Kissed by the Sun” 11×14 Oil on Canvas by Sharon Morley

 

I teach many oil painting and pastel painting workshops and have taught studio art classes for many years and the one thing I hear over and over again from my beginning students is “My drawing looks childish”.  “I have no ability” or better still, “I have not talent!”  “Talent!”… I love that word..  Yes, there are a few prodigies in every category in life but most successful artists are not “born” that way.  They are encouraged!

A child is taught the basic skills of learning to journey through this world,  We teach them everything from learning to read and write, knowing right from wrong, and all other sorts of necessary information.  Does a child sit down and write their name perfectly the first time?  No… there are three factors involved here.

1) They have to have instruction how to write their name. 
2) They have to WANT to write their name. 
3) They have to practice writing their name.

Those are the key factors in the success of anything!  I ask my adult students “How many of you expect to sit at a piano and play like Mozart?”  No one raises their hands.  Yet when it comes to  being an artist, they expect to be able to paint like the old masters!  Usually the artwork in museums that we adore is not the artist’s first attempt at painting.  It was years of practice with the highs and lows of trying, achieving and failing.  Then getting back on track and trying again.

People who draw well (or do anything well actually) are encouraged.  A child who is told he is a good artist at an early age will love to draw and paint.  They will do it more (practice) because they are praised for it and they like to do it.  The parents will get them art lessons so they excel faster.  And there is the cycle of success.

If you dream of being an artist or just becoming better at art, the key is to get instruction and practice!!

How many of you will become good artists?  All of you who persevere!   Do you have the will to follow your dream?

Sharon Morley, December 13, 2015

 

3 Dec 2015

Cesar Santos’ New DVD is out!

by | posted in: Art DVD Reviews, Streamline Art Video | 0
Cesar Santos, Streamline Art Video
Secrets of Portrait Painting with Cesar Santos

Secrets of Portrait Painting with Cesar Santos

I have just finished watching the new DVD “Secrets of Portrait Painting with Cesar Santos” and I must say it is the best portrait painting DVD on the market that I have found (and I have watched a lot of videos). Cesar Santos is a very likable guy who paints world class portraits.  In this DVD from Streamline Art Video, Cesar shows us step by step how he achieves a likeness in a subject, what paint colors & brands he uses, and how he sets up his palette and more..  Throughout his demonstration which is 20+ hours long, Cesar explains what decisions he is making and his ideas on what makes a painting go from a “good painting” to a “great painting”.  In this day and age where we have social media and we see a lot of one hour paintings and unfinished work or sketches, it is such a joy to see a portrait come to such a finished product.

I am also glad that the DVD is 20 hours because you can watch small bits of it at a time (It took me a couple of weeks to view the entire video) thereby absorbing the information that Cesar so generously gives out.

Cesar narrates as he paints through the entire video with such humor and passion that it is such an awesome experience to witness.  If you are interested in learning how to classically render a portrait, this is the only DVD that you need!  It is well worth the money (think about it as having a workshop in your home that you can watch time after time – and it still costs a lot less than most workshops).

This is a “Must Have” for any serious portrait painter.  An upadate..  4.1.16 I have used the methods of Cesar’s Portrait painting Dvd in my two newest portraits.  I feel I learned a lot about seeing values in portraiture in both Oil and Pastel.  Check out my portrait page and see”The Optimist-Mike Morley” ,  “Riley”  and “Gloria”.

Eric Rhoads Founder of Streamline Art Video,  Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, Plein Air Magazine, and many more ventures, has created a masterpiece DVD from a masterpiece artist. I have some other DVDs through Streamline Art Video and they are all fabulous-I will talk about them later.   Well worth the investment.  Has anyone else bought this DVD?  If so, I would love to hear your comments!

Posted by artist Sharon Morley December 3, 2015

 

25 Nov 2015

Class Distinctions: Dutch Paintings

by | posted in: Art Book Review, Art books | 0

Class Distinctions, Vermeer  Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer

I highly recommend Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer book which is the companion to the exhibit of the same name at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I have looked at the book each time I have visited the exhibit and the illustrations are good… This would be a delight to give or receive as a gift. I have noticed that the books from exhibits increase in value and I usually buy them. I have asked for this one for Christmas as it is a great inspiration to see how the masters painted.

One way we can use these high quality books is to copy the masters’ paintings to see what they did and if we can achieve the same effects as they did.  I have done this in the past but will start to do more.  How many people make this a practice?

You can see the book and order it here:

(I am an Amazon.com affiliate and do get a very small commission but that is certainly not the reason I recommend books)

21 Nov 2015

Dutch Masters at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

by | posted in: Art exhibits, Dutch Masters | 0

Dutch Masters

rembrandt, class distinctions, mfa, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, dutch masters
The Shipbuilder and his wife

The Dutch Masters   ... ahhh

Walking into the Dutch Masters show is like walking into Amsterdam in the 1600's.  You get a real sense of how everything was, the rich lives with the posh portraits with lots of color, the middle class with less color, and then the poorer people with very little to monochrome color.  One great thing to see is that no matter what class the people lived, they loved their dogs!  We see dogs in all classes of portraits from rich, to middle class to poor.  (Can you tell I love dogs?)  Actually, my husband pointed that out to me.

I went to see the Dutch Masters exhibit "Class Distinctions:Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer" at the MFA  for the second time (and I know I will go back again because I am lucky enough to be close!)  The exhibit is wonderful!  This painting "The Shipbuilder and his Wife" was my favorite and not just because it is on loan from the Queen of England!!  The colors in the man's face are just stunning.  The attention to detail in some places and and the looseness of brushstrokes in others is just awesome!  this is painting at it's finest as the forms are most important and are rendered exquisitely.  (Form is more important than color).  The Dutch Masters really knew how to turn the form and paint!  This is what we as artists should strive for.  

 

If you have been to the exhibit and have had the same reaction (jaw dropping) to this painting or others, please let me know!  If there is another painting you love, let me know that too!  I will be going back again, again, and again.. 

Posted by Sharon Morley, November, 2015

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