About Karin

Karin Wells is an artist of amazing versatility. She graduated with honors from both the New England School of Art and Design, Boston, 1965, and the Butera School of Art, Boston, 1986. Karin has enjoyed a career as an award-winning graphic designer, illustrator and sign painter. She also taught Life Drawing and Painting for many years. She has most recently studied for three years at The New England School of Classical Painting in Greenfield, New Hampshire, under the direction of Numael Pulido.

To expand her craft, Karin has traveled throughout Europe studying the Old Masters. Her art reflects the deep influence of these great works. Karin demonstrates a remarkable facility for likeness and for the use of light.

The artist is a member of The American Society of Portrait Artists, Portrait Society of America, The Portrait Society of Atlanta, and The Copley Society of Boston.

To learn more about Karin and to view more of her amazing work, be sure to visit her website and blog by following the links below:

Website: http://www.karinwells.com/

Blog: http://karinwells.blogspot.com/

If you would like to be notified when Karin updates her blog, be sure to click the “Follow” link in the upper left hand corner of her blog.

Counterintuitive Painting – or – The Problem Might Not Be What You Think It Is

Grrrrrr. It fools me every time and happens all too frequently at the easel.

I will try to keep a camera handy and make an effort to “grab” this problem as it arises so you can recognize that thorny old “the problem isn’t what you think it is….it is probably the opposite” situation.

The problem is often a light/dark thing.

Above is a 6″ x 9″ oil sketch of a cement angel by Gaudi that I recently saw in Barcelona. So far so good.

I finish the dead underpainting layer (raw umber and titanium white) and there isn’t much contrast in my reference photo…it’s made out of cement after all. However, I fail to capture the “sculptural” quality.

What to do? I glaze it and build lots of light. And then I build some more and it isn’t working.

But then I realize that it isn’t LIGHT that is the problem…it is that the darks are not dark enough.

So I stop working on the light and pay attention to the dark. . . duh . . . and then I get it right.

The light is unchanged in the last two pictures…but the dark has become much darker and thus it works now.

Although I am getting better, I’d say that I still guess wrong about once a week and think that:

1. The lights aren’t light enough
or
2. The darks aren’t dark enough

But the answer is frequently the opposite of what I think it is.

UPDATE: This is the final painting ( just couldn’t leave it alone).

I picked up the brush to add a little more dark and couldn’t resist adding a little lettering in the lower right to sort of balance the odd composition.

Here’s a detail of the lettering (above).

I was once a sign painter before I took up oil painting….and I love lettering.

This little 6″x9″ Gaudi Angel oil sketch will be part of a fundraiser for the Portrait Society of America.

About Delmus G. Phelps

Statement of purpose within the work:

I’ve been an active painter since the mid 70’s creating works in the Realist tradition. Being inspired by the nature around me and in the things we tend to collect, I produce still life and floral oil paintings in the Classical/Contemporary Realism style on canvas and panels.

With a particular interest in sharp focus realism I produce still life works of incredible detail.  My floral pieces exude a peace and serenity much needed in today’s hectic lifestyles.

Using the Flemish method of 7 layers, a 400 year old technique perfected by the Dutch Masters of the renaissance era, my paintings are meant to stand the test of time in lasting quality.

Oil Painting Technique, Rainbow Hydrangea Demonstration, flemish technique explained…

Below you will find an excellent video demonstration that will explain how Artist Delmus Phelps creates a beautiful floral oil painting using the old master Flemish Technique.  He uses a 7 layer technique that produces amazing works of art as you will see after watching the video demonstration below.

Step 1

He first creates an ink drawing.  This drawing is allowed to dry.

Step 2

After the ink has dried, he tones his canvas.

Step 3

A Burn Umber underlayer is added at this stage.  After the underlayer is completed, it is allowed to dry.

Step 4

A Layer known as the “Deadlayer” is applied.   Delmus created another video that discusses this Deadlayer application in more detail.  This video can be accessed here. At this stage, all of your half tones and shadows are developed.

Step 5

Layers of color are now added. Color is blocked in and then blended.  A large mop brush is used to soften edges and brush strokes…

Watch the video below by Delmus to see how he completes the rest of the painting!  The results are truly remarkable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX6-YB3LyMY

Highly Recommended Painting Course From Delmus Phelps!

A Real Art Lesson

Capture the joy of painting and creating things of beauty with your own gorgeous oil painting. An oil painting that you create following this step by step technique, and once learned, can be repeated over and over again so you’ll enjoy a lifetime of artistic freedom in creating many more masterpieces.

Here’s what you’ll DISCOVER within “A Real Art Lesson”

• You will learn all the technique needed to do any painting you would like.
• With over 140 pages of information and 225 photos you get a complete how-to manual.
• How you place your objects, lighting and composition.
• How to prepare the canvas step by step.
• How we transfer the drawing to the canvas.
• You will see up-close, the umber under-layer, and how it is done.
• The finished umber under-layer and all the steps to get you there!
• You will learn how to mix your paints.
• How to make the “dead layer” or Gray layer, and why.
• Closeups of brush strokes and how the paint is applied.
• All the details are taught to make your paintings stand out.
• And many more photo’s and explanations than what I can give you here.

Follow this link to learn more about this exciting course!

About Beatriz

Beatriz Socorro began her formal art training at age 10. During 5 years, she studied art with the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary in Montreal, Canada, where she learned drawing, perspective, the use of light and shadow to obtain depth and likeness as well as clay sculpture.

Professionally, she worked as a photographer and today uses her own photos as subjects for her colorful oil paintings which are characterized by their vividness and visual impact.

Her art falls under the category of Contemporary Expressionism. She definitely considers her work to be an expression of her own spirit.

To put it in her own words: “I only paint when spirit-within leads me and only paint what spirits wants. I myself don´t know what I am going to paint or what the end result will be. I work mostly through the night and sleep during the day. This way I can work without distractions. Sometimes I´ll wake up in the middle of my sleep with the desire to paint and so I do.”

Beatriz Socorro’s Websites:

http://artinstructiondemos.blogspot.com/

http://beatrizsocorrofineart.blogspot.com/

Oil Painting Lesson/Demo

STARGAZER LILY

(Click Images For Larger Views)

Stargazer Lily

It doesn´t matter if you don´t have the same colors in your palette as I do. Experiment with the colors you already have and you might come up with something even nicer.

STEP 1

Background: First apply a wash to the background. For this painting, I mixed Prussian Blue + Carmin + White and thinned it with turpentine until it became almost transparent.
Now allow to dry.

STEP 1 - Oil Painting Lesson and Demo - Stargazer Lily

STEP 2

Flower: Grumbacher Red + White + pinch of Magenta

Using the same technique as the Pink Tulip Demo, add the dark and light areas of the flower. Leave a small space between the two colors so that when you blend their edges together, it creates the middle tone.

Now, gently and softly blend the edges of the two colors.

Leaves: Viridian Green + Cadmium Pale Yellow.

Use the same technique on the leaves as you did with the flower.

STEP 2 - Oil Painting Lesson and Demo - Stargazer Lily

NOW ALLOW TO DRY WELL.

STEP 3

Remember the Fat-over-Lean Rule.

Using the same colors you used for the flower but with a much darker tone, add the red lines to each petal.

To paint the lines, I used a very small “bright” brush. Don´t apply too much pressure or you could scratch the underlying layer.

Then with pure White, mixed with the appropriate medium mixture for this layer (see Pink Tulip Demo), highlight the white areas of the flower.

Now, using lighter and darker tones of the same colors previously used on the leaves and adding the adequate medium mixture, do the same with the leaves.

Do this until you´re satisfied with the results.

Remember that bright colors come forward and dark colors recede. Keep this in mind to add depth to your painting.

STEP 3 - Oil Painting Lesson and Demo - Stargazer Lily

NOW ALLOW TO DRY WELL TO THE TOUCH.

STEP4

Always keep track of the layers of paint you have already added and use the appropriate medium mixture for each layer.

Using the same color you used on the leaves, glaze the center of the flower.

To make the spots on the petals, do it first with charcoal. This way, you can make corrections if need be.

With the tip of a paper clip, dipped in the same color as used for the lines of the flowers, add the spots on the petals.

Step 4 - Oil Painting Lesson and Demo - Stargazer Lily

NOW ALLOW TO DRY WELL TO THE TOUCH. REMEMBER THAT THE MORE LINSEED OIL YOU USE IN YOUR MEDIUM THE LONGER IT TAKES TO DRY. BE PATIENT. YOU’RE ALMOST DONE. GO TO WORK ON ANOTHER PAINTING

STEP 5

With charcoal, lightly outline the stamens where you want them to be. If you need to correct, remove the charcoal with a paper towel dipped in diluted dish-soap and then tap dry.

Remember the fat-over-lean rule.

With the same “bright” brush you used to paint-in the lines of the petals, without applying too much pressure, add the stamens (using a lighter tone of the same color you used on the leaves).

For the base of the stamens, you can add and blend the paint with a small soft brush or a brush of your preference.

For the pollen, mix Medium Red + Cadmium YellowPale. Use the small “bright” brush to add the color.

STEP 5 - Oil Painting Lesson and Demo - Stargazer Lil

Note: If you see a letter missing in “Stargazer”, it´s not a spelling mistake. It´s just Google having a good time at my expense.

You´re Done. Congratulations!!!

Hope you enjoyed it.

God Bless !!!

Beatriz Socorro

About Karin

Karin Wells is an artist of amazing versatility. She graduated with honors from both the New England School of Art and Design, Boston, 1965, and the Butera School of Art, Boston, 1986. Karin has enjoyed a career as an award-winning graphic designer, illustrator and sign painter. She also taught Life Drawing and Painting for many years. She has most recently studied for three years at The New England School of Classical Painting in Greenfield, New Hampshire, under the direction of Numael Pulido.

To expand her craft, Karin has traveled throughout Europe studying the Old Masters. Her art reflects the deep influence of these great works. Karin demonstrates a remarkable facility for likeness and for the use of light.

The artist is a member of The American Society of Portrait Artists, Portrait Society of America, The Portrait Society of Atlanta, and The Copley Society of Boston.

To learn more about Karin and to view more of her amazing work, be sure to visit her website and blog by following the links below:

Website: http://www.karinwells.com/

Blog: http://karinwells.blogspot.com/

If you would like to be notified when Karin updates her blog, be sure to click the “Follow” link in the upper left hand corner of her blog.

Add Pure Color into Reflected Light

When I can, I like to “get away” with adding thick intense pure color into reflected light (under the nose and chin for example).

So often you can “hide” a bright pure color in plain sight – and nobody will notice it until you point it out.

In my Portrait of Zabie, above, I have added a brush stroke of pure cadmium orange – straight from the tube – underneath her chin.

I define “pure color” as a color without any addition of white to “dilute” it. Instead of adding white, I usually adjust the value (lightness or darkness) of this color with something lighter – usually yellow ochre pale in order to allow it to blend in with the surrounding tones. I am talking about thick paint here – not a glazed color.

I prefer to use the warm colors from my palette – reds, yellows and cadmium orange. But there is no reason not to use the cool colors if it serves the image.

Pure color can greatly enliven and enrich a painting. I try to find as many excuses to use pure color whenever and wherever I can.

Reflected light can be “toned down or neutralized” a bit by mixing two color opposites (i.e., red/green, purple/yellow) if necessary. If a cooler color is required, you can add a dab of white and/or blue to “cool” the mixture. Sorry, I do not have an example of this handy.

Note that if you’re not careful, you can lighten an area too much and run the risk of fragmenting a solid shadow – always a no no.

Although the accepted knowledge is that “reflected light” is actually reflected from a color specific object nearby, I seldom pay much attention to this.

I say that whatever color looks good and you can get away with..go for it! Painting is not meant to be reality. “Reality” is mostly the task of photography.

Detail of my Portrait of Elizabeth Brewer. I used a streak of nearly pure cadmium orange both under the chin and in the earlobe on the left.

Detail of my Portrait of Whitney. I have added more yellow and a touch of blue here in order to tone it down.

A detail of my Portrait of Gwyneth. I used a little more yellow to tone it down under the nose and chin to avoid overpowering those delicate skin tones. Toward the ear, I used straight-from-the-tube undiluted cadmium orange.

About Patricia Elliot Seitz

Patricia Elliott Seitz was born in San Diego California, and spent most of her young adulthood living in Southern California. She came from an artistic background of art and music, and always knew that she wanted to be an artist. From age five until she was in her early teens, Seitz was mentored by her mother, an accomplished jewelry designer, and still life painter.

Her love for landscapes and seascapes has been heavily influenced by where she has lived through the years. Her painting approach is based on impressionism, and Tonalism. Painters that have inspired Patricia are Monet, Alexander Wyant, George Innless, Wyatt Eaton, Marjorie Reed, and Vernon Kerr. Her choices of mediums are oil and soft pastel. Her main subject matter is landscapes, and seascapes. On occasion, Patricia will paint still life and figurative work as well.

Her paintings are distinctive for their bold and simple brush strokes, luminescent light and unique color choices. Today she can be found in her studio, painting seasonal paintings of the Central New York area, and the California coast lines. She is an active member of Oil Painters of America, CNY Art Guild, and her work is represented by Local NY art Galleries.

Visit Patricia’s Websites Today:

Patricia Seitz Art Gallery

Patricia’s Blog

Art Price

The Artist’s Bluebook

Pastel Artist

Art for Conservation

Painting Action Seascapes with a Palette Knife

I gessoed a 6×6 Panel.

I only use 3 primary colors and Titanium White and mix the rest for more harmonious colors.

My palette is Winsor and Netwon Artist Quality Pale Cad Yellow, Ultra Marine Blue, Titanium White and Cadmium Red. Get to know how to mix your colors and your paintings will come alive!

I start by putting in the background colors, mixing to get colors needed for the sky and the large rock on the right.

I have started to mix the sky colors with the palette knife to soften and blend. Next I have laid in some of the ocean colors.

This next step shows the deeper greens of the closer water being worked in.

I try to keep my colors fresh and not over worked by limited blending. I find that the palette knife is great for this. A brush tends to flatten and muddy up my colors at this stage.

This is the last stage in this painting. Adding in the highlights and some spreay in the background. This is where most of my light blending will be with the palette knife.