A few weeks ago I took on the #100peopleinaweek challenge. Some of my drawings are from photos, but many of the people are those I saw out in public, such as the first drawing above, from the Arnold Arboretum. What a beautiful day for walking with my daughter. You can also see my drawing from inside our church sanctuary, and inside the Museum of Fine Arts. It was a great exercise, and I plan to do more.
Spent
some time at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts for my birthday yesterday. I
am a fan of Abbot Handerson Thayer, and spent some time studying this
painting "Caritas", which the MFA purchased from Thayer in 1897. My
research tells me it may have a relationship to some of the images in a
mural he was commissioned to paint at Bowdoin College. I'll have to get
up there to see that. I love the romanticism of the figures, the
clothing, and the sumptuous renaissance framing which is an art in
itself. The clothing reminds me of the "one Grecian Urn" scene from
"The Music Man" with Hermione Gingold leading her women's group in a
modern dance. Here is a brief link to that iconic scene.
I remember visiting Washington DC a number of years ago. The National Art Gallery was under construction, so a subset of the work was hung, salon style, in the Renwick Gallery. I stopped in my tracks in front of a painting of roses, and it was Abbott Handerson Thayer's work.
Look at it here... wow!!!! The edges, control of values.
So, spending part of my birthday studying paintings was a great joy.
My 22nd entry for #Inktober is a value study of "Caritas". Thanks for reading and for looking.
Recently, I challenged my painting class with an exercise in neutrals. They listen to me expound on hierarchies to consider when beginning a painting. Observe and note the lightest light, darkest dark, softest and hardest edge, warmest and coolest notes, and the richest and most neutralized chroma or intensity of color. I suggested visualizing a series of thermometers, (just "tilted number lines" said my math-teacher brain) and we worked on the "chroma scale", by noting the most unadulterated color in the subject, putting a note on the canvas with the understanding that all other mixtures must be LESS rich than the richest.
Where does "Isabella and the Basil Pot" enter the picture?
One
of my students chose a beautiful neutral vase, cloth, etc. I remarked
part way through the class that her harmony and subject reminded me of a
painting I love at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, and later looked up
the painting on the MFA web site. Turns out, it is is John Alexander
White's "Isabella and the Basil Pot", a relatively large painting
hanging among the American paintings along with the Sargents.
http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/isabella-and-the-pot-of-basil-31098
(By the
way, my daughter learned at an early age that whatever we intended to
see in the MFA, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese vases, musical
instruments, etc... all paths lead us past the Sargents). The
beautiful, dominant curved diagonal in White's painting is the exact
curve of the vase in my student's painting, and the neutral harmony very
similar. This powerful, 6-foot tall painting, has lodged itself in my brain.
Okay, then what about connecting threads? A month or two later, I found an interesting web site titled "Learning to See" by a UK artist who is charting his own artistic journey which involves research, practice, practice, study, practice, and sharing his finds, and practice (did I say "practice"?) and his results. http://www.learning-to-see.co.uk/dow-three-a
Some of what Paul was posting reminded me of a series of Art Education books I have collected over the years. The books were published in 1905 and are beautiful, filled with William Morris designs, and images of lovely drawings. I use the books as reference for my painting classes. I pulled one of the books off the shelf, and it fell open to "Isabella and the Pot of Basil". John Alexander White painted it in 1898. The painting was acquired by the MFA back then, an image landed in this book in 1905, and I'm referencing it over a century later. Those are some seriously durable threads. I rejoice in the serendipity of connections.
A few weeks ago I took on the #100peopleinaweek challenge. Some of my drawings are from photos, but many of the people are those I saw out in public, such as the first drawing above, from the Arnold Arboretum. What a beautiful day for walking with my daughter. You can also see my drawing from inside our church sanctuary, and inside the Museum of Fine Arts. It was a great exercise, and I plan to do more. 
Spent
some time at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts for my birthday yesterday. I
am a fan of Abbot Handerson Thayer, and spent some time studying this
painting "Caritas", which the MFA purchased from Thayer in 1897. My
research tells me it may have a relationship to some of the images in a
mural he was commissioned to paint at Bowdoin College. I'll have to get
up there to see that. I love the romanticism of the figures, the
clothing, and the sumptuous renaissance framing which is an art in
itself. The clothing reminds me of the "one Grecian Urn" scene from
"The Music Man" with Hermione Gingold leading her women's group in a
modern dance. Here is a brief link to that iconic scene. 
One
of my students chose a beautiful neutral vase, cloth, etc. I remarked
part way through the class that her harmony and subject reminded me of a
painting I love at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, and later looked up
the painting on the MFA web site. Turns out, it is is John Alexander
White's "Isabella and the Basil Pot", a relatively large painting
hanging among the American paintings along with the Sargents. 
