12 Oct 2019

My Favorite Roses by Daniel J. Keys

by | posted in: Art DVD Reviews, Daniel J. Keys | 0

Here is another great video, my friends. Daniel Keys is an exceptional young master artist and once again he shares his knowledge of painting with us!
This video shows Daniel painting a yellow rose study. He got me at the yellow rose as they are my favorite flower. I give a way a bouquet of yellow roses to the collector every time i sell a painting.

Daniel starts out telling us what palette, brushes and paints he uses. This is a voice over video which i really like. It gives the artist and the viewer a look at the entire painting from a distance when thinking is clearer and the artist is not so caught up in the painting to be distracted from the painting by talking.

He first lays in the large shapes telling us when to use warm and cool paint and talks about edges. He describes the colors he is using and why. He describes the brushes he is using and why. Flowers are such a complicated thing to paint but Daniel has been painting flowers for a long time and knows their structure. I especially liked the way he explained the background and the leaf colors as well.

A little tip that I can give you is to take notes! The video is too large to download on my iPad so I watched it on my computer and took notes in google docs. I then print these notes and keep them in a binder along with other videos I have watched. I find this has been so helpful when I want to refer to an artist, his palette, his thoughts etc.

Daniel Keys “My Favorite Roses” is very much worth the price. You can find the download on his website at www.danieljkeys.comwww.danieljkeys.com

Sharon A. Morley
www.sharonmorley.com
October, 2019

4 Sep 2019

Painting Light & Atmosphere by Joseph McGurl

by | posted in: Art DVD Reviews, Uncategorized | 0

Painting Light & Atmosphere by Joseph McGurl is a must have for any serious plein air landscape painter. This DVD starts out with Joseph McGurl painting on site in the mountains.  It is fabulous! He explains what he is doing at all times and you can see this master painter in action, along with his thought process and what brushes and techniques he uses.

One thing that really stood out for me was all the different effects you can get simply by using different brushes and McGurl uses quite a few of them. I imagine the Old Masters did the same thing with what ever they had.

McGurl then takes you inside his studio to make a larger version of his study. He does not keep strictly to his study, he can choose to change things around. Again, you see this Master plein air painter at work and each and every brushstroke. He tells you the paints and mediums he uses and when and why he uses each one.

Another thing is that Joseph McGurl does not use photographs! He paints from life on site and takes that back to his studio to make a painting. He may touch up a few things on his study but does not want to hinder the freshness of painting outdoors and the feeling that the studies have.    This is so much different from other painters who rely on photographs for their landscape paintings.  He has so many studies and has been painting outside so long, he knows what the atmosphere will do and also can take parts from each of his studies to make a new painting.

The interview with Eric Rhoads is very enlightening.  He asks good questions which McGurl answers openly and honestly.

I have been plein air painting for almost 20 years and found this DVD to be so helpful and insightful!  I highly recommend this DVD.  I watched it in 1/2 hour increments and took pages of notes while watching it.  You can purchase this video at Liliedahl Art Instruction Videos.  This video is definitely worth your time and money!

Sharon Morley
www.sharonmorley.com
September 4, 2019

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

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