FREE PAINTING DEMONSTRATION

Bull Run Bluebells              16x20                       Oil on Linen

I will be conducting a painting demonstration  For the McLean Project for the Arts at the McLean  Community Center this coming Friday April 27 from 10:45Am to 1:30 PM. The demonstration is open to the public.

 

The address For the McLean Community Center is 

1234 Ingleside Avenue, McLean, Virginia.

info@mpaart.org

 I will start and finish a large oil painting from a small sketch painted outdoors. If you are in the area come on by and watch and ask questions about the painting process or the business side of being a professional artist. Last time we had quite a turnout with over 75 people showing up.

Great Falls Workshop Demo

By

Armand Cabrera

This little profile was painted on the last day of my three day workshop in Great Falls Virginia over the weekend. The class was a studio class and we had 15 people in the workshop. Everyone worked hard and hopefully came away with some new ideas for improvement.

Every day I tackled a different subject for the demos. I wanted to show that the process I teach and the color palette I use works with any motif. I limit my demos during class so students get more painting time. This was a one hour demo with some touch up at home to finish it. I usually finish things in one sitting but demos are a special circumstance and sometimes I feel the need to finish them when I’m home.

The Recruit 12x9 oil on linen

Art Shows

by Armand Cabrera



Art shows are hitting new lows these days. The worst offenders are front loaded with fees. They take money for a jury fee, a handling fee for stored shipping materials and even a hanging fee in some instances. I would never pay to hang my work, I don’t care what the venue is. These shows make their money off the fees. Many galleries now keep themselves in existence with these kinds of scams.

If you allow the show to recover all its money before the show opens then there is no incentive for the show to be promoted or to bring in collectors. Which brings me to another little scam where galleries ask for the collector lists of their artists. Never relinquish your client list to a venue. A venue that has no clients, charges you for space and doesn’t promote you in anyway is worthless to your livelihood as an artist and your career.

In my opinion there is nothing professional about these venues and you’re better off renting a public space for a night or weekend and advertising and hanging your own show or a show with a group of like-minded artists.

A lot of artists hold the opinion that it is an honor to show alongside other juried artists. Many times a gallery show will pay a nationally known artist to show at a venue from the upfront fees they collect. It’s sort of like an anchor store at a strip mall; they pull in the other stores. Big name artists are given spots or paid to show to get others to pay for the chance of showing with them. If you are juried into a show you’ve earned your spot no need to feel someone is doing you a favor or you’re lucky.

Art is hard enough, don’t let people take your money or take advantage of you. Shows need good artists good artists don’t need shows. Participate in shows that support the artists and their work and take a percentage of sales; this way the expense and work is shared by the venue and the artists.

Making a Mark

By
Armand Cabrera

Robert Henri

Brush strokes carry a message whether you will it or not. The stroke is just like the artist at the time he makes it. All the certainties, all the uncertainties, all the bigness of his spirit and all the littleness are in it. ----- Robert Henri

Joaquin Sorolla

Painting at its best is communication. A successful painting communicates to others on a personal level. The artist, to be effective, must share something of themselves to make that happen. Their art must carry truth in it. Many times people confuse the truth of a thing with its outward appearance but that is just illusion. The truth of a thing is the whole thing. Not just its how it looks to the eye, but also its character, how it makes you feel. The artist in observing the motif decides to express themselves by capturing it in paint.

N.C. Wyeth

An artist must be sensitive enough to discern the whole and to infuse his paintings with the most important aspects of the thing. This not only takes the skill to paint but the openness to understand and make decisions about the subject depicted. There is facility and thoughtfulness and insight. It is opinion manifest through their ability as an artist and it is hard work. It shuns the superficiality of affectation and artistic mimesis.

Hovsep Pushman

There is a lot of technique being thrown around nowadays. Illustrators and artists are hiding behind technology and routine copying and photographic collage. This slick surface work, lacking any personality except in the most superficial way is completely devoid of the hand of the maker. In my opinion this is artistic cowardice. To remove the artist and their opinion is to remove the art from the craft of painting. Anyone, given enough time and effort can be taught the mechanics of image making but the mechanics alone do not produce a work of art. Art can be anything and take many styles but for it to be meaningful it must always carry the mark of the artist. All great art has an individual point of view.

Dennis Miller Bunker

 

The great artists and illustrators knew this and poured their thoughts and emotions into their work at every level. They infused their work with beauty, power, passion and care in spite of personal challenges, deadlines or outside influences. These artists left a bit of themselves for all to see and in doing so made their mark on the world of art.

Harvey Dunn

There are ten thousand people in the United States who can paint and draw to beat the band. You have never heard of them and you never will. They have thoroughly mastered their craft and that is all they have—their craft… Merely knowing your craft will never be enough to make a picture… If you ever amount to anything at all, it will be because you are true to that deep desire or ideal which made you seek artistic expression in pictures---Harvey Dunn

   Isaac Levitan

Can anything be more tragic than to feel the infinite beauty of your surroundings, to read natures innermost secrets and, conscious of your own helplessness, to be incapable of expressing those powerful emotions? ----- Isaac Levitan

Howard Pyle

Project your mind into your subject till you actually live in it. Throw your heart into the picture and jump in after it….Art is not a transcript or a copy. Art is the expression of those beauties and emotions that stir the human soul. ----- Howard Pyle

Workshop in Great Falls Virginia

I've firmed up my teaching schedule for next year and for my first workshop of the new year I’ll be teaching a studio class in Great Falls February 3rd, 4th and 5th in 2012; the hours of the class each day will be 10am to 5pm. I will demo every day for an hour right after the lunch break. The price of this workshop is $425.


Registration is through the Great Falls Foundation for the Arts (GFFFTA)

Right now there are still spaces available. The workshop will focus on honing your skills for landscape still life and portrait painting. I will address drawing, color, and brushwork and good studio practices. We will also discuss what makes a successful painting and what step an artist can take to make sure their work has a focused idea from the start.

Students can work from sketches and photographs and I will discuss how to use each effectively to maximize the success of the final painting. We will also have some still life and cast set ups for those that want to work from life in the studio. The instruction will be targeted toward the individual student’s goals as a painter regardless of level of ability. The class size is strictly limited to 15 students.

This is the only completely studio workshop I am scheduled to teach next year, the other two are plein air landscape workshops. For those of you with a broader focus this is the workshop for you.

New Paintings

by
Armand Cabrera

I’ve returned from two weeks on the road. I got back just in time to catch peak color of autumn on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I taught a workshop, attended my reception for my one man show and visited with a new gallery owner in Florida.

The workshop was small but I had a good group of students. The weather was perfect. The reception for my one man show was well attended and sales were good. The show will continue through the end of the month.

Here are some outdoor paintings. The first three I did as demos during the Saint Simon Island workshop. The last are some fall color paintings from here in VA. All are 12x16 inches.

Gascoigne Bluff

Clam Creek Inlet

       Christ Church Afternnon

       Old Rag from Skyline

     Pinnacles Picnic Grounds

I was unable to finish this painting. I started it in heavy fog and rain but the sun came out and stopped me from finishing it.

Bull Run

Chin Ridge

St Simon Island Workshop

       First Lght                       36x48                                oil on linen

I'm here in St Simon Island for my workshop and show this week so my blog post willbe a little late. I should have a demo or sketch to post by Tuesday or Wednesday evening. I am sorry for the delay.

Workshop and one man show at Anderson Fine Art Gallery

by
Armand Cabrera

Clam Creek 36x48

Passing Rain 24x36

For those of you in the area I will be teaching a four day workshop followed by my one man show in Saint Simon’s Island Georgia. There is still room in the workshop if anyone is interested. I will be showing students how I approach a painting outdoors and in the studio and how to organize and complete small sketches on location in one sitting. We will go over composition, color theory and mixing from a limited palette, drawing, and application. Information is here or you can call the gallery directly at 912 634 8414.

View of Cumberland Island 24x30

                                                               Marsh Edge 18x24

My one man show is called Seascapes and Shorelines and I will have 15 new paintings. The paintings range in size from 36x48 down to 18x24. These larger works represent 6 months of my studio time this year. All are done from onsite sketches and photos from my trips to the area. I was really focused on emotional content and mood for these paintings. I love painting in the golden isles of Georgia I am looking forward to the show. The show will be up for a month and the artists reception will be from 6 pm to 8 pm October 7th.

First Light 36x48

Sunrise 24x36

Drawing Through the Form

By
Armand Cabrera



Many painters get stuck on contour and see only 2d shapes instead of drawing and painting the solidity of the forms they are trying to translate to canvas. When an artist sees everything as a flat shape they tend to ignore the visual clues that help give it more dimensions. You can teach yourself to see the form of a thing by doing what we call drawing through the form when sketching.

Drawing through the form uses construction lines to further enhance the 3d effect of an object and to set its depth clearly in your mind so you can then translate it to your canvas. It uses perspective, geometry and basic shapes to build your subject with. It is a constructive approach but can be used as an observational approach also.

It’s a good idea to practice sketching like this at all times until you automatically visualize everything you see this way. Some people prefer to start with red pencil or blue pencil to separate the construction lines from their refined final drawing. Doing this allows you to pick out what’s important to you.

Illustrators and production artists are aware of this approach because many times they are inventing scenes and characters from their imaginations but there is no reason for gallery painters not to use this tool also. Many problems can be avoided by paying attention to volume when drawing a landscape, figurative or still life picture.
(images from top to bottom Will Pogany, Peter Helck, Armand Cabrera all images are copyright to their respective owners)

Maine Workshop

by Armand Cabrera

I will be teaching another workshop in Maine again this year at the Acadia Workshop Center on Mount Desert Island. The center is close to Bass Harbor, Southwest Harbor and a short ride from Bar Harbor and Acadia Park. It will be a fun intense workshop and a chance to paint some of the most beautiful scenery on the East Coast. I hope you will join me. The workshop is from Sept 19-23 2011 and is limited to a maximum of 12 students. The weather is usually mild that time of year and we have a big professional art studio if inclement weather does occur.  I hope you will join me.

For More information contact Gail Ribas at the Acadia Workshop Center

Gail Ribas
Workshop Director
Acadia Workshop Center
7 Bernard Road
Bernard, ME 04612
207-460-4119
awcmaine@gmail.com

Village Square Demo

By Armand Cabrera

I had a great week of painting with my friend Paul Vosper who was out visiting from the Seattle area.

One day we drove up to Winchester and painted in Old town there. It was a beautiful spring day.

We were both drawn to this café scene of the Village Square Restaurant. They were just opening for the local lunch crowd so we set up and got right to painting.

First I made a relatively careful drawing of the scene. Scenes like this one require a more careful approach than your usual outdoor landscape painting. I decided on the placement of my larger shapes and marked those on the canvas.¬

Next I placed the elements in relation to my initial drawing.

Since most of the scene was in shadow I started blocking in my darkest shapes so I wouldn’t paint the rest of the shadow planes too dark.

I then proceeded to work around the canvas to establish the big color shapes of the various elements. Usually I just focus on the value and colors aspects at this stage having already locked in my drawing but in this case because the drawing was so complex I am correcting small errors in size shape and angle as I go.

As the lunch crowd arrives I place them for interest before going on with the rest of the painting. While patterns of light move through the scene I pick and choose their placement to enhance a sense of movement.

I finish with the trees and background buildings and tighten up the people. I let edges go where I think it is appropriate. The complete painting time is three hours. This painting will be the basis for a larger studio painting of the same scene.

 The village Square 12x16 oil on linen

Carmel Mission Demo

by Armand Cabrera

I was in California this last week teaching a private one on one class with one of my students. We had a great time and painted all the sites around the central coast there in Monterey and Carmel.

One morning was spent at the mission. The property is still active and has tours all day long but we picked a spot against a wall to paint out of the way of the crowds.

I started with a careful drawing made with my number four brush and a thin wash of paint. The first thing for the drawing was to establish the longest axis of the mission ( in this case the Dome and tower) within my picture plane, this insures everything will fit into the picture. All my subsequent marks will be measured against this as proportions of its height

Once my drawing is done I check it and correct any inaccuracies before starting to paint.

Because I am looking into a bright foggy sky I establish my dark areas to keep me from painting the mission walls and foliage too light.

Next I work on the middle tones throughout the painting at this point in the day the fog is starting too lift and I have to bounce around the canvas more than usual while I wait for the light to stabilize.

I paint the larger shape of the plaza and paint the shapes of the details on the mission, leaving the rendering of their forms for a little later.

I fill in the sky and work on the garden areas surrounding the mission and the patterns in the plaza.

Just as the sun breaks through the fog, I finish up with the tree and plants and model the more precise architectural details on the mission and within the grounds. My total painting time is three hours.

Carmel Mission 12x16 oil on linen.