Colors and Whites: What I Learned Today

In anticipation of the start of my classes next week (a couple of spaces left -- see my web site: www.jillbanks.com, click on classes for info), I've been studying ... reading ... thinking about painting. This past weekend and on the rides to and from Williamsburg, I was rereading my favorite (note: not one of my favorites ... this one's my favorite) art book, Richard Schmid's "Alla Prima: Everything I Know About Painting." He mixes a tremendous amount of inspiration along with extraordinarily clear writing about art solutions/thinking/techniques. It just couldn't be better.

I'm currently reading through his section on color and light. He was instructed to create color charts by his teacher, Bill Mosby, to learn his palette. I've never done this formal exercise ... but as of today, I'm going to start. (Plus, students be warned: WE'RE going to do this. Homework.) The lessons Richard Schmid learned doing this were invaluable. I learned just by seeing what he'd done and can't wait for more a-ha moments along the way.

This also led me to looking up color info on Gamblin's (an oil color and medium manufacturer) web site. There's so much info there!!!  I looked up reds (learning more about Perylene red and the Cadmiums and the impermanence of Alizarin Crimson and the new developments in Permanent Alizarin), violets (made me go out and buy and try Cobalt Violet today -- an AMAZING color -- and confirmed my suspicions about Dioxizine Purple, a sort of out-of-control color), and whites. When I got to the white section ... WHOA. The descriptions of each white gave how/when each should be used according to their properties. I have primarily been using Titanium white ... because that's what we used at Studio Incamminati when I took workshops there on portraiture/color and because, as a messy painter, I didn't want to worry about wearing lead from flake white paint.  So, today, I went on a major shopping spree (necessary) to Plaza Arts, I bought two 150ml tubes of Gamblin's Titanium-Zinc, one tube of Titanium, and one tube of Flake White Replacement. Titanium-Zinc was recommended as the best white for color mixing as too much Titanium is needed to lighten colors, making them chalky before they get light enough. Well, I tested  Titanium-Zinc today and I'm a HUGE fan. This was actually the white recommended by Kim English for a plein air workshop I took a while ago ... and suddenly, it all makes sense. (To me, anyway.) I worked more on a commission that's one step from completion using Titanium-Zinc as my white ... and, wow.

This is the tip of the iceberg of what I learned today. Plus, I know how I'm going to approach learning that much more tomorrow and the next day. I'm on cloud nine. I can't wait.

Oil painting is a never-ending discovery. There is no way to know it all. You peel away one level of understanding to find out just how much farther you have to dig/experiment/study/practice. It's a lifetime pursuit. (And then some.)

By the way, I received two rejections today (one in the mail, one on the phone) ... and it didn't make a bit of difference to me. While I prefer to hear good news, like acceptances and awards, that just doesn't happen all the time ... no matter what you do or who you are. And, honestly, I'm so excited to be learning and painting, nothing could burst my mood.

And, for those of you following my house/move progress, I'm starting to get excited about the progress and we will actually be moving furniture in next week. (We've been camping out in our new/older house for almost 2 months.) While we were away last weekend, little elves laid our lower level carpet (where my gorgeous studio is) ... and it looks great. Upstairs is looking better and better. If I just had an elevator to skip the middle/main floor, I'd think we were almost done. Seriously, I can see how wonderful it will be. Now I need to sell about 100 paintings to help me pay for it.

While I'm writing about colors and whites, here's a single-hued drawing from this past weekend. "Barrel" was my favorite of the four done in Williamsburg.

"Barrel", pencil, ink wash and Faber-Castelli pens, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435
For info on Fall classes: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/Classes_3.html
Great Falls School of Art registration form: www.jillbanks.com/jillbanks/Registration_Form.html

New York City Visit: Sorolla and Scene from Central Park

As planned, I visited New York for a very quick trip. Randy and I drove up Sunday early in time to visit the Hispanic Society of America located near Harlem. The Hispanic Society is home to Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida's (1863-1923) Vision of Spain murals ... as well as other Sorolla paintings and works by El Greco, Velasquez, Fortuny and Goya. What's compelling to me about Sorolla (he's my favorite painter) are his colors (vivid, strong, yet the values hold together in both the light and shadows), his bravura (bold brushstrokes and compositions) and his humanity. He obviously has a great love for his subjects. It shows.

The Hispanic Society of America houses the largest (finest) collection of Spanish art outside of Spain and Latin America. It's worth a visit. The exhibit is permanently housed in New York City.

This visit we hung out a good deal in Central Park ... a spot I decided to explore through paintings and drawings. I set up an easel on Sunday and painted a scene. It actually was daunting because there are just literally hordes of people everywhere. I'm pretty accustomed to having people watch me paint, but some came and visited me before I put the first brushstroke down. I spent quite a while (a few hours) on just one little painting. Another time I'd like to do a number of small, quick studies though I find it difficult to move on and hanging out in one spot made the place familiar to me. It becomes my corner, my memory. The reason I might want to do many small studies is there was so much vibrant life there ... so much I'd be interested in capturing.

I didn't know much about Central Park. I visited there when I was in Junior High (at Cold Spring Harbor High School: a combined Junior/High School on Long Island). That was a long, long time ago. The Park is unbelievable. A park super sized.

This drawing is one of a few I worked on yesterday ... of the Carousel in Central Park. While you can't see the horses going round, you do get a glimpse of the parents hanging out and taking photos of their tots.

"Central Park Carousel", ink wash, pen&ink and pencil on Zecchi's paper (from Florence), 6.5"h x 9"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010.

Below: Detail of Sorolla's Vision of Spain mural. These are HUGE and beautiful. Lots to learn from them.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435

New Ink Wash Drawing "Gondolier"

This past week, I created two new ink wash drawings of Venice that were displayed for the first time at the Farmer's Market yesterday. I used black ink (versus the brown ink used for previous ink washes), and was pleased with the effect.


I've been creating drawings more frequently lately. A few reasons for this new development is that I've been drawing and sketching to figure out compositions and plan out my portrait commissions (I have many of those) so that has put me into the drawing mode -- and brought my boxes of drawing materials into view. (A good visual reminder to get to work.) Another reason is that many of my paintings will be leaving my gallery & studio spaces this week to Chasen Galleries in Richmond, VA and in July and August for my solo show at the Great Falls Library. That means I have wall space to fill with beautiful new pieces. More incentive to get to work. Another reason is that other people appreciate the beauty of drawings -- as evidenced with a recent acceptance into NYC's Salmagundi Club's Annual Juried Art Exhibition with two of my drawings (see previous post to see those), a sale of a "Horse and Carriage" ink wash yesterday, and many compliments for another drawing I had in the exhibit, "Thumbelina".

"Gondolier", 8"h x 10"w inside mat dimensions, black ink wash, copyright Jill Banks 2009. Available through my studio.
"Horse and Carriage", ink wash & pen & ink, copyright Jill Banks 2009. Sold.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
Blog: jillbanks.blogspot.com
Email: jillbanks1@aol.com
Phone: 703.403.7435