Capturing the Essence of the Subject in Black & White

Maple Street, Morristown, NJ, acrylic & white pastel on paper, 5x7 in.

Near Bleecker Street, NYC - acrylic & white pastel on paper, 5x7 in.

The drawings above are quick studies done in acrylic on watercolor paper with a bit of white pastel for accents and highlights. I do them to capture the essence of subjects I plan to paint in oil. When working in black and white, I can focus purely on form, value and gesture, getting to the root of what makes the subject unique. I reduce all of the elements in the composition down to their most basic shapes and forms, the trees, cars, buildings and shadows are all simply forms made up of sub-forms in a range of values. I completely forget what I am drawing and focus purely on those sub-forms and getting their shapes and values correct.

I teach this method of drawing in my Expressive Drawing workshops and courses. I am offering both a workshop and a 10-week class on the subject. To register for the workshop, which will be held on Jan. 11 at the Martinsville Studio, call 732-667-5328 or email info@themartinsvillestudio.com. Registration fee is $100 for the full-day workshop from 10am to 4pm.

If you are interested in the 10-week course, it will be held at the NJ Visual Arts Center beginning in mid-January. The class is held on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 3pm. To register, visit the art center’s web site at http://artcenternj.org/instructorclasses.php?id=191 or call 908-273-9121. Registration fee is $225 for members or $255 for non members.

Recycled Surfaces – Experiment Completed

Acrylic and pastel on corrugated cardboard, about 20x25

detail of cans

detail of bottles

 I finished up this study of bottles and cans (really of color and form) and am quite happy with the way it turned out. It doesn’t bother me that the piece is on cardboard as opposed to a more archival material. I like the idea of works on paper that might not be around “forever”. Think about all the work artists produce that never sells, maybe never even gets exhibited and yet is done on expensive stretched canvas with stretcher bars and even frames. This contributes to amount of waste that ends up in landfills, if I can reduce my contribution, I’m happy to do so. I create a lot of studies and sketches like this, so I try to be as environmentally friendly as I can whenever possible.

Of course I know that I can’t expect anyone to pay what they might for an oil on canvas, but that doesn’t really matter to me.  I’ve acheived some effects on this surface that I know I can’t get on canvas, and while the materials might be non-archival, the piece really has a very vibrant presence in real life. I could put it behind glass if I really wanted to, but I’m going to try and find a way to preserve it, possibly with a pourable resin.

Another surface I’m experimenting with is corrugated plastic, the material many political and real estate signs are made of. I’ve begun surface preparation on a few panels and will see what happens when I paint with acrylics on top…stay tuned.

Drawing with a Brush

Cattano Street, Morristown, acrylic and white pastel on paper

close up of details, brushwork

I frequently use acrylic paint to draw with a brush. All of my underpaintings begin this way, I never draw with pencil on canvas. I like to do sketches on hot pressed watercolor paper with black acrylic and white pastel. I use a flat or angled brush similar to those I use when painting in oils or acrylic on canvas (but I have certain brushes that I reserve for this purpose rather than use the same ones I use when working in oils).

Drawing with a brush in this manner enables me to capture the gesture of the landscape and a wide range of values simply by using the acrylic transparently. Getting to know the subject in this manner helps a great deal when I move to canvas, I have all the values worked out and understand how the forms are working together to create the illusion of 3 dimenions on a 2 dimensional surface.

I believe that drawing is an important skill to have, particularly if you plan to paint representationally. But I also believe even abstract painters can benefit from drawing in this manner, which is about understanding form and value and using it to capture the essence of the subject expressively.  

But getting back to representational painting and it’s relationship to drawing. If you can draw well, you are freer to focus on color and composition when you are painting because you have the skills to draw intuitively. The only way to develop those skills is to practice regularly. Draw from life whenever possible, but if you do work from photos, try to get away from copying and focus more on seeing. Look for the values, try to get a range of 4-5 greys, think in terms of shapes rather than lines. Block in large areas, be bold and confident with your brushstrokes. You can always add as much or as little detail as you like, but you have to get the big shapes placed accurately first, caputring perspective and proportion correctly. This is easy to do if you simpy focus on the darks and lights and their relationship to one another. Ask yourself is the area you are working on darker or lighter than the one next to it and keep working all over your composition in this manner. Don’t be tempted to finish one object completely before you have the whole composition blocked in. In fact, don’t even think in terms of “objects”, forget what you are drawing and just think in terms of darks and lights.

I teach this method of drawing in my Expressive Drawing workshops and courses. I am offering both a workshop and a 10-week class on the subject. To register for the workshop, which will be held on Jan. 11 at the Martinsville Studio, call 732-667-5328 or email info@themartinsvillestudio.com. Registration fee is $100 for the full-day workshop from 10am to 4pm.

If you are interested in the 10-week course, it will be held at the NJ Visual Arts Center beginning in mid-January. The class is held on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 3pm. To register, visit the art center’s web site at http://artcenternj.org/instructorclasses.php?id=191 or call 908-273-9121. Registration fee is $225 for members or $255 for non members.

Expressive Drawing Workshop Jan. 11

 

urban landscape study, pastel on newsprint

On January 11, I will be teaching an Expressive Drawing workshop at The Martinsville Studio. This full-day workshop runs from 10 am to 4 pm and is designed to help artists of all levels loosen up and put more spontaneity into their drawings and paintings. Working in acrylic and charcoal, attendees will learn about the primary concepts of drawing: form, value, proportion and perspective, in a relaxed, low pressure setting. This workshop is perfect for those intimidated by drawing or for artists who simply want to draw in a more expressive manner.

Registration fee: $100, call the Martinsville Studio directly at 732-667-5328 to register. For directions and info about The Martinsville Studio, visit their web site at http://www.themartinsvillestudio.com/

Exploring Color & Form with Mixed Media

work-in-progress, experimental mixed media on corrugated cardboard

close up of detail and texture

the transparency of the bottles is implied with loose brushwork and carefully selected and placed color

This is a study of some bottles and cans I found interesting from a color perspective. Packaged goods often intrigue me, they have complex graphics that I like to reduce down to their simplest forms. The forms in this composition are all cylindrical, making for an interesting rhythm as a result of all the repeating ellipses. The varying surface textures of the cans, some with labels on and some off, combined with the glass bottles adds the complexity of transparency and reflectiveness.

I’ve chosen to use acrylic and pastel on corrugated cardboard. I’ve used this combination and surface before and have obtained some interesting effects. The cardboard provides a great ground color and the corrugation adds some texture particularly when the pastel is applied. I will finish this but hope to keep something of an unfinished, rough feeling to it. I hope to integrate the roughness here into some of my more formal oil on canvas works in the future.

“Loosen Up!” and Save $10

Loosen up!

drawing and painti…

By Anne Kullaf

Book Preview

Special Holiday Discount, Now Through Dec. 31, 2009
For a limited time, you can save $10 when you buy my book “Loosen Up! Drawing & Painting with Style & Confidence” The book makes a great gift for artists of all levels and features demonstrations on a range of subjects and in a variety of diverse mediums.

You can even preview the ENTIRE book online. Simply click on the image above to go to my bookstore. When you’re ready to check out, have the following discount codes ready (note, they are based on the currency of the country you live in, so you can save the equivalent of $10 USD* no matter where you are located!) Just be sure to enter the appropriate code for your country as indicated below:

Orders from the US (using US $): GREATGIFT
Orders from UK (using UK £): GREATGIFT2
Orders from EU (using EU €): GREATGIFT3
Orders from AU (using AUD $): GREATGIFT4

*Offer valid through December 31, 2009 (11:59 p.m. PST). This offer covers $10, £6, €8, or AUD $12 off the product total on your order of Blurb books of at least $29.95, £16.95, €24.95, or AUD $39.95, to one address. This offer is good for one-time use. Valid for transactions in US $, UK £, EUR €, or AUD $ only. Not valid toward the purchase of gift cards or items in the Blurb Gift Center. This offer cannot be combined with any other offer or used for adjustments on previous orders.

Oil on Wallis Paper

oil on Wallis paper, about 9x12 in.

This is the demo from my workshop yesterday on painting transparent and reflective surfaces. I decided to do the demo on Wallis pastel paper. Although designed for use with pastels, Wallis paper is also suitable for wet media such as oil or acrylic. I love the medium grey tone it has, it’s perfect as a ground color. I also like the way the paint is quickly absorbed so that you can work right over it if you want to do some layering combined with a bit of alla prima. You can get similar effects by using oil on cardboard, but cardboard is not archival whereas the Wallis paper is.  You can also put a bit of pastel on top of the oil to really brighten things up, I’ve used pastel minimally here because the oil itself seemed to be enough in terms of creating brightness and contrast, but have had great results with it on other pieces where I needed to get things really bright.

Thanks to everyone who attended the workshop yesterday. I have the same workshop scheduled for Dec. 14 at Somerset but that class is full even though we added a second session. However, I will be offering the class again in March at the NJ Visual Arts Center in Summit. For details, see the Workshops & Classes page, register early if you plan to attend as classes fill quickly.

Change of Pace

Jake, pastel on newsprint, 8x8 in.

This is a quick (about 15 minutes) sketch of Jake, our new kitten. He’s a little grey tabby with some beautiful markings. Animals are not something I regularly draw, but I felt like doing a quick study of him. I find working on subject matter that I don’t usually handle is a good way to stay fresh and loose. It also is a great way to remind myself that the subject should be thought of purely in terms of form and value, shapes and colors rather than as drawing a cat. Taking this approach enables me to remain detached from the subject and to not introduce preconceived notions of what I think a cat looks like. By actually looking at the cat and drawing the forms I see in the correct values and colors, I’m more likely to get a closer representation of what the cat looks like. I’ve taken liberties with color, introduced some light blues in the lighter parts of his fur, as well as emphasized some rusty reds and yellow ochres in the warm grey of his nose and face. Have also tried to make him not “too cute”, he’s adorable in real life but I didn’t want this to have a saccharine sweetness to it, staying loose and more abstract helps with that as well.

Fashion Illustration Sketches…

charcoal on newsprint

charcoal on newsprint

From time to time, I teach fashion illustration workshops for teens. I love sketching the clothed figure in a loose gestural manner. You can say so much with just a few lines and strokes of charcoal. This is a great way to practice seeing form and value and capturing gesture quickly. These were done in about 2 minutes each as demos for the class. The purpose is not to create a detailed drawing, but to capture a sense of the clothing and how it drapes on the figure, as well as the gesture of the figure itself.

New Classes & Workshops for Winter 2010

SoHo Steps, black acrylic and white charcoal on paper

My winter class and workshop schedule is now posted on the Workshops & Classes page. I’ll be offering my regular course schedule of drawing and painting classes at Somerset Art Association and the NJ Visual Arts Center, plus new classes and workshops at both venues. For the next several days, I will highlight my newest course and workshop offerings for Winter 2010.

Expressive Drawing, Tuesday Afternoons at NJ Visual Arts Center Beginning January 12

Want to put more expression and spontaneity into your artwork? This class focuses on drawing as an expressive and intuitive process. Working in charcoal and acrylic, students will learn to approach the process of drawing from an abstract perspective. Emphasis will be on observation of form and value in a manner that stresses drawing what you see rather than what you know. Proportion, perspective and other concepts of drawing will be discussed and demonstrated in detail. This class is appropriate for all levels and is particularly good for painters who want to improve their drawing skills in a way that will produce more confident brushwork and impressionistic effects. The class is offered on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 3 p.m. beginning January 12 and running for 10 weeks, fee is $220 for NJ VAC members, $250 for non-members. For more information and to register, call the NJ Visual Arts Center at 908-273-9121.