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Blog
by Charlotte Herczfeld on 4/8/2013 11:15:18 AM
Portrait of Noah
"This is one of the eternal debates among artists.
Is it better to shape form with value by gradually (or abruptly, when needed) lightening or darkening an area to indicate three-dimensionality?
Or is it better to use the fact that some colours appear to come towards you and others to recede from you?
"But what if the question in the headline is a false dichotomy, this Tonal vs. Colour? "
These are questions I pose in an article which you can read in pdf form by clicking What is most important in a portrait, colour or tonal value?
In it you'll learn about The Colour Stool, a vital piece of artist "furniture" which shows a way to easily understand the three properties of colour.
You will see the difference and similarities of painting portraits of children in a tonal way, and then applying colour on top of the paintings. Click on the names to see the finished paintings of Noah and Lukas.
You get to see closeup details, comparing the methods.
And you will learn why I think one of the methods ages children.
You'll learn the importance of creating form using warmer and cooler colours.
And it is all free! The intention is to start a discussion, but it wasn't convenient to put a longer text in the blog format, so I made a pdf of it.
Click on What is most important in a portrait, colour or tonal value? to read the free pdf.
And then let's discuss it here in the blog.
by Charlotte Herczfeld on 8/1/2012 1:43:30 PM
First, I want to remind you that there are still a few spaces in my upcoming workshop, August 11 and 12, in Stockholm, Sweden. It is about how to paint outdoors, in and around our beautiful city. Take a look at the section Workshop for more info (också på svenska).
I’m back from a good long vacation, and I have painted outdoors as much as the fickle weather this summer has allowed me to. I can't carry heavy things, so I've worked out a way to bring as little as possible with me when I go out to paint. Maybe you will be inspired to make plein air-life lighter.
Painting outdoors, in the open air (en plein air), can be a wonderful experience – if you come prepared. It is important to take care of one’s own wellbeing: Hat/cap with a brim, and plenty of water, which you can use to rinse your hands after finishing painting, to avoid that colourful steering wheel. If you apply sunscreen and insect repellant before you set out you don’t have to carry them. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes. And remember to bring the cell phone / mobile phone; it is your life-line to civilization.
Regarding art supplies, it is not necessary to take the whole studio with you. I find it important to choose the palette carefully, as pastel sticks are heavy. It is a good idea to bring small bits of sticks, about a third or a quarter of a stick, also used bits. That is entirely sufficient for painting on location. You definitely do not need to drag around 10 pounds (about 5 kilo) of full length sticks. The wooden travelling boxes for pastel sticks tend to weigh a lot by themselves, so consider using the cardboard boxes the pastels came in, and secure the lid with rubber bands around the box.
Make the stuff you actually bring serve multiple purposes. A lightweight camera tripod converted to an easel also serves as – a camera tripod. Use an easel with a shelf, and you don’t need to bring a foldable table. One of those microfiber cloths for dusting and cleaning is perfect for wiping pastel dust off your fingers, your pastels, and (depending on type of paper) wiping off offending areas from the painting, and serves for blending too.
A sketching pad takes care of several functions: It is a support for the painting (no extra board needed), it provides safe transport, stocks your papers and paintings – you can even use it for note-taking and sketching. A folded piece of paper from the pad is great as a dust catcher while you paint, and can be neatly tucked away in the pad when you are finished. A thin pad (few sheets) is sufficient and more lightweight. Just check that the cardboard at the back is sturdy and does not bend.
The picture (upper picture) shows a study on Fisher 400 paper, size A4 (8,5x12”). The pastel paper is clamped to the pad, and more pastel papers are stored between the sheets of the pad.
When the painting is finished, it can be placed between sheets of the pad, and the clamps keep the whole package very secure (lower picture.) The “legs” of the clamps can be folded so there is nothing protruding. The important thing is to see to it that the pastel paintings cannot move and slide within the package.
Extra tip: If you travel by airplane, you can put the pad in a plastic bag and tape the opening shut, put it in your checked suitcase, and the paintings will be safe from condensation in the unheated cargo space.
Enjoy a lightweight plein air session!
In coming posts, I will talk about handling shifting clouds, and what to expect to accomplish while out there.
by Charlotte Herczfeld on 5/2/2012 9:48:48 AM
Backgammon, by Charlotte Herczfeld
This was great fun to paint, and it is part of a series of game paintings I'm involved in. I've completed Chess, and now Backgammon. I briefly considered checkers, but no, the checkerboard in perspective... well, I had had enough of it for a good while. Now I know that a backgammon board is much more difficult, with the long tongue pattern in perspective... Live, try things out, and learn, take on challenges, right! It keeps life interesting.
The Venetian masks are based on typical template masks, with my own decoration on them. In this painting, I really focus on creating shimmering glowing colour. Pastels are a very versatile medium, which allows the artist to layer even complementary colours without creating the proverbial "mud". Not that there exists such a thing, "mud" are lovely neutral colours, which do a great job in the right place in the right painting.
This is not such a painting.
This is a colour feast, with exuberant singing high-chroma pigments. However, no major mass in the paintings is un-mixed colour. Every colours is created by layering strokes, laying them down overlapping and adjacent, weaving the pigments as if they were photons of light. (By the way, is light a particle waiving, or a wave being particular?) In fact, there are greys in the painting, particularly (!) in the "skin tone" of the mask in profile, but they are optical greys, created by the prismatic colours I always use.
Two close-up details show the weaving of pigment. The camera can't capture how smoothly the colours transition into each other (as a colletor and friend said, "your paintings are beautiful online, but a thousand times more beautiful in real life"). But this inability in the camera reveals the strokes, and that is very usable when I want to show that aspect.
The grey, white-in-shadow, of the profile mask is made out of many colours, including warm peaches.
Above is a close-up detail of the corner of the fan. The warm reds are tempered by strokes of olive green, and so is the intense cobalt blues of the hat, which also got some violets. There is a little bit of background showing at bottom left corner, and the yellows are tempered by pinks and violets.
As with Chess, there is a story in the painting, a hidden-in-plain-sight one. With Chess, I asked the readers to share their interpretations in the blog post "Do we communicate, you and I?", and I'd love for you to do it here too!
Both paintings are going to be exhibited soon, on the 18th of May, and I will print ut the stories for the audience to read.
I'll reveal one thing about the Backgammon: The actual game on the board. It sure looks like red (the coquettishly smiling blue lady) has no reason to look so happy this close to the end of the game. While I reasearched backgammon rules (I did learn it a few decades ago, but have not played much), I came across a text by Ed Collins called A Sweet (and Miraculous) Backgammon Win (actually, they are two such wins). In this very situation I have painted, he threw a double one, and eventually managed to win the whole game, against the odds. I found this so charming I used that point in the game for my pastel painting.
Click on the link to see a larger version of Backgammon.
by Charlotte Herczfeld on 9/5/2010 10:53:29 AM
Funktional, indeed -- pretty, elegant, pro looking... well, not exactly. On the other hand, making stuff work is what it is all about. I think it looks more professional than high end stuff. This construction is by a bona fide working starving artist, right? :-)
If you're an artist, have you ever drooled over some of the professional field easels? And then hesitated, as the cost is more than you really want to pay, and then shipping overseas isn't exactly budget friendly either. Feel free to copy or borrow ideas from my design.
I've found that when there is need for a solution, there is also an imagination at work on how to solve the problem. I had Daddy's old lightweight aluminium camera tripod, which I use for photography, so it was important to keep it functional for the camera, which means every addition had to be reversible. It took some "headology" to make it work, and work it does!
In the picture below, A shows the easel components, tripod, canvas/board holder, table with the tripod handle on it. Setting it up, going from A to B, takes about a minute, and most of that time is taken up by turning two screws. (After seeing artists set up the so called French easels, I swore to never engage in a close encounter wrestling match with one of those, as the FE won!)
C, with insert, shows how simply the shelf is attacked -- a hole into which the center pole fits, and when the pole is lowered and locked, the shelf can't tilt or tip on its own. And, the shelf can be swiveled around independently even in the locked position. Notice that the canvas holder's bottom horizontal bar sits a good distance over the shelf. It is much more comfortable to have it above sleave-dragging-in-pastel-box level. The shelf will get velcro strips on it, to hold pastel boxes securely to it.
The canvas holder started life as a table top display easel I'd gotten as a present (1). It is foldable, so it gave me the idea to use it as if it was indeed folded together. A scrap of wood attached to the back at the bottom keeps it together (2), and the top has a a bit of sawed off 'leg' from the original easel to secure against sideways movement (no image, but a hint of it in 5). I didn't want too many fragile parts sticking out during transport, so the bottom bar of the canvas/board holder is attached to only one side, and can be swung down, as show in (3) and (4).
This part is as versatile as I could make it: it tilts slightly forward (5), back (6), and even nearly 180 degrees upside down! (Have not figured out a use for that -- yet!)
The middle strip of wood, which has the top cross-bar attached to it, can be turned upside down, which gives a range for hight of canvas/board from 0 to 63 cm (almost 25 inches). While a big board/canvas wouldn't be very stable, it would be stable enough for situations when you don't want to bring the huge studio easel.
 The easel, and I, in full Plein Air action. Note the equally 'elegant' shopping bag on wheels. I've been given it, and it is probably from the 50s. They made good sturdy things back then. I can put all my gear into it, including water bottle, lunch, extra sweater, camera, and other small stuff. The very lightweight chair was carried from the car. I usually paint standing up, but the tripod legs can be shortened with three easy clicks, for sitting and painting.
Next project will be to construct lightweight but yet sturdy boxes, for the pastel sticks. I bring about 100 hues and tints and a few shades. The green box on my shelf holds that amount easily, especially as I bring no larger bits than thirds of sticks. The 'board' holding the painting is a sketching pad, and it serves for holding pastel paper, interleaved, finished pastel sketches too. The sketching pad can be sketched in, with a pencil (what a surprise... ) Bulldog clamps holds it all securely, and the PA sketches survive just spendidly being transported in the bag, even over rougher terrain. With 3 Tombow brush pens, I can do quick notans on location, in the sketching pad. By making the pad serve so many uses, I've trimmed down weight and number of things to bring, as this is all my PA gear, plus a terrycloth towel and weat wipes.
Materials used for building tripod easel:
- tripod
- plywood (shelf)
- foldable display easel
- scrap of wood
- sawn off bits from easel
- screws
- glue
- and a 'hole', the kind of nut that is inserted at bottoms of cameras, for attaching the holder to the head of the tripod.
The cost was basically nothing, as I had all the things, including a 'dead' camera I could slaughter to get the 'hole'. (The 'hole' was tricky, contact me if you want to know how I handled it.)
I realize I was lucky to have a tripod this old-fashioned, so the shelf was easily attachable (remove center pole, stick pole in shelf, stick pole in tripod, lower, lock). As the weight is centered, the tripod is very stable. I see absolutely no need for attaching the whole thing to anything while being out, it would take a gale to tip it.
With a more modern tripod, you can hang a box or a shelf on it very easily. A very good solution is by James M Coulter, scroll down to see his smart box. It is the handles at the back edge that is all that holds the box to two tripod legs.
I have a plywood shelf I attached to a watercolour field easel (I used it for oils), working according to the same principles as Coulter's box, but it isn't strong enough for heavy pastels, or rather, the whole thing becomes unbalanced and risk tipping forward. Though, one idea is to support the shelf with a telescoping leg, or a telescoping walking stick, the kinds that allow you to exercise your arms as you walk.
Oh, yes, I built it all by myself. The electric saw, drill, and the whole toolbox are mine!
by Charlotte Herczfeld on 7/11/2010 9:25:58 AM
Pictures of paintings really do not do justice to the paintings, althought we artists try to make the image look as much as the artwork as is possible. The camera 'sees' less than what the human eye does.
Here are some details from "Towards the Light", so you can see some of the strokes that make up the painting.
Water:
Foliage:
Stones:
As you see, the quality and direction of strokes varies as the surface vary, and as is needed. It wouldn't work well to do this kind of water with the same type of random marks as foliage. A boulder wouldn't look rounded by age and water if all strokes had been horizontal.
Initial strokes (no picture), are usually made with the side of the pastel stick. Think of it as a broad brush, and the tip of the pastel stick as a small brush.
Varied strokes tend to give a livlier appearence to a painting, and helps build character and form.
by on 1/28/2009 9:43:41 AM
There are many different manners of working with soft/dry pastels. I’m using a method that involves a lot of layering and juxtaposing of colours, which puts some demands on the papers I use.
Papers need to:
have a distinct but fine grain that “grabs hold of” the pastel pigments
continue to hold onto the pigment dust
allow for many layers
be light or white
be archival or acid free
be easy enough to cut to desired size
Here I give you my personal experience with different types of paper. I want to stress that it is indeed personal, and that other artists may have different views. I’m judging the papers based on how I work. All papers mentioned below are made for the serious amateur and the professional pastellist. There exist many more pastel papers, especially from the USA, but I have not tried these.
Plain papers
Canson Mi-Teintes, diverse Ingres, Fabriano’s Tiziano, and similar, EuropeanTexture: Usually they are smoothish or rough with clear texture, often more textured on one side, and less on the other. I prefer the less textured, as I want the painting to “speak”, not the paper.
Colour: Comes in many colours that may fade with time. Not an issue when using white and light papers.
Grabability: Surprisingly good, for a maximum of 5 layers of harder pastels like Rembrandt and ArtSpectrum. Will take two additional layers of supersoft pastels like Schmincke. Dust stays put, basically, even without fixative.
Cutability: Very easy to cut.
Longevity: Buffered or acid free, they last for a long time. (Note: Canson MT black is not acid free, and will fade.)
Used by me for: Sketches, tests, works with softer pastels like Unisons, and work that doesn’t need to be layered much.
Not suitable for water soluble primers or underpainting techniques.
Primed papers or card
There are two basic kinds of primed papers I use: Primed with “gritty stuff” mixed into the primer, and primed and gritty stuff strewn over the primer. “Gritty stuff” is usually some sand, ground pumice, ground marble, or similar minerals, with two exceptions.
ArtSpectrum’s Colourfix primer, and Colourfix paper, Australia
Texture: Readymade papers have a fine ‘pitted’ texture, from the screen-print method of applying the primer to watercolour paper. Can be soaked in tub and pastel washed off, many times. Reusable.
Colour: Comes in many colours, including white, natural, and Australian grey
Grabability: Good. After several layers, a certain plowing effect appears when a pastel stick dislocates what is already on the paper, which works as a type of automatic blending. Unfixed paintings do drop dust, but very little.
Cutablilty: Easy, a bit hard on knife-blades.
Longevity: Many years. Acid free.
Used by me for: Painting, plein air, sketching, testing, experimenting – it is the all-round paper. Takes watercolour underpaintings.
The Colourfix primer: Can be applied to almost any dry and non-greasy surface according to the manufacturer. Prime any paper or canvas that will take a water-soluble primer, and you can paint with pastels on it. As the primer comes in many colours, they can also be used as an underpainting. Transparent primer can be applied over a watercolour painting.
Papers with grit on top
LaCarte, from Sennelier, France
Texture: Fine grit made of vegetable matter and cork. Mixed large and small particles make for uneven deposits of pastel pigment, which I find attractive. Parts of the grit tends to get loosened by the pastel sticks, but is tolerable (by me). Fingerblending works great, you keep your fingerprints intact as the grit is soft.
Colour: Many, including creamy whites
Grabability: Very good. After several layers the plowing effect may appear.
Cutablilty: Easy enough, for card.
Longevity: Many years. However, the glue holding the grit will dissolve with moisture, so a good sneeze can ruin the paper even before you start to paint, and during, and after. Finished framed paintings behind glass should have no problems.
Used by me: Seldom, even though it is good enough, but not a favourite.
Velour, many makers
Texture: Soft fibers glued to paper. So irregular it looks very even. Fibers have a ‘spring’ to them, so a fair amount of the finest pigment dust gets thrown up in the air, a handbreadth or two, and hovers there for a long time. No blending, the fibers keep the dust in place. Layering blends a bit.
Colour: Comes in light and white colours too.
Grabability: Fine for harder pastels. Soft pastels fall off, continuously, and in an avalanche if you smack the paper on the back.
Cutablilty: Very easy to cut.
Longevity: Many years.
Used by me for: Experiments, very rarely, as it throws dust into the air. Will not get any more of it, as I use pastel sticks with cadmium in them and avoid breathing in dust. The fact that it doesn’t hold on to pigment very well disqualifies it.
Sansfix, by Schmincke, Germany
Texture: Irregular grit, but with a pebbly texture. The particles are relatively large and feel smooth, so finger blending is kind to fingertips. Pastel dust can be washed off in shower. Reusable.
Colour: Several, including light and white.
Grabability: Surprisingly mediocre with harder pastels. Plowing starts early. Back-smacks dislocate pigment in larger amounts than I care for, also after using 3 light coats of fixative.
Cutablilty: Relatively easy, but hard on blades.
Longevity: Many years.
Used by me for: Experiments. Not a favourite. And only until I run out of my stock. Will take wet underpaintings.
Wallis professional, USA
Texture: Even (some batches uneven) sharp grit. Feels like sandpaper – is a sandpaper, of artist quality. Takes up to 25 layers. Eats pastels. First layer not blendable as it will not move. Successive layers blendable, preferably with protected fingertips, or with some implement, as packing peanuts, pieces of pipe insulation. Reported to not take rubbing alcohol for underpainting, as it becomes ‘gummy’. Watermedia is to be used only in upright position, and never soak it. (Museum quality is said to be washable.) Reusable many times if dust is brushed off. (Can be vacuumed off, too, with some care.)
Colour: white and a medium dark neutral brown-gray.
Grabability: Excellent! Dust stays put. Very little plowing, after many layers.
Cutablilty: Takes some effort, as the Professional is on card (Wallis Museum is on rag). Very hard on blades, one cut ruins the edge of blade.
Longevity: Manufacturer promises 500 years. Will probably last longer.
Used by me for: Anything! A favourite!
Fisher 400, England
Texture: Sharp fine even grit, on card. Artist’s quality sandpaper. Eats pastels, so it is a good idea to start with the harder and cheaper ones. First layer not blendable, stays put. Successive layers blendable, preferably with protected fingertips, or with some implement. Fingerblendable when grit is cushioned by pigment layers. Takes waterbased media as underpainting, and resumes shape after drying without stretching. Rubbing alcohol works well, also to sink dust into grain to allow for even more layers (hardly necessary).
Colour: Medium beige, can be tinted.
Grabability: Excellent! Almost no plowing. Very little fall off when smacked on back.
Cutablilty: Takes some effort, as it is on card. Very hard on blades, one cut ruins blade.
Longevity: Manufacturer gives no time, but as it is acid free, it should last very long.
Used by me for: Anything! A favourite!
I certainly and warmly recommend it to Europeans as equal to Wallis Professional, and cheaper to get within the European Union. (No extra taxes or duties.) Jackson’s ship it to most European countries. See Tim Fisher’s homepage for more info on his paper.
by Charlotte "Charlie" Herczfeld on 1/26/2009 3:19:29 PM
Middle Ages
Still-lifes seem to vanish from antique art as the Roman Empire got closer to its fall. Art in general declines as the prosperity of the Roman empire gets eaten up by wars and inner strife, resulting in a division of the empire, and its fall to the invading Germanic tribes, around mid 400s AD, or CE if you prefer.
Objects turn up again as ornamentations and book illuminations during the Middle Ages, but not as proper still-lifes, as we know and define them. Objects were commonly included in portraits (showing birth, status, ruler) and depictions of saints (signing who it was).
St Bridget of Sweden (14th century), one of Europe’s patron saints, is often depicted as carrying a model of the church she caused to be built, or as writing her revelations in a book, as seen in this book illumination:
Most of the paintings from Medieval times that are preserved into our times have religious motifs. The saints and their attributes were codified, and if you know the code, you can see at a glance who is depicted in a painting.
Up and into the 1600s
Next illustration of the principle is of a later date, the 1600s, which strictly isn’t medieval, but as Sweden were a bit behind in adapting what was the latest fashion on the continent, and as we’re moving forward in times in this Breeze, let’s make a bridge to the 17th century by taking a look at a more developed portrait utilizing still-life as a “name-tag”.
To show that the below painting isn’t just any man in a tin suit, we have a still-life of objects to the left: A king’s crown and the “apple of the realm” a globus cruciger symbolizing dominion over the world. (A symbol used by the Roman emperors, and the idea was appropriated by the Swedes.) The objects rest on a mantle of ermine. Ah, clearly a King! Then there is a knight’s helmet, and some other objects indicating war, and we can deduct that this is a warrior king. The Swedish king Karl X (Charles X, 1622-1660) was leading the armies in the 30 year war as a general, before being elevated to kingship in 1654 by his abdicating cousin, the reigning Queen Christina
And a detail:
But proper still-lifes were just starting to be revived, and we'll look into that in part 4.
To be continued.
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by Charlie on 1/20/2009 1:48:12 PM
Did you know that either the lower edge of the upper lip, or the upper (red) edge of the same lip very often has the same angle as the septum? For most people, there is a correspondence.
I learned about this some 20-30 years ago, and have spent many hours on the subway staring at people, confirming that these parallel angles are highly common -- I'd call it "normal", in fact. Unfortunately, I no longer remember where I learned it, but I was studying Leonardo’s drawings at that time, so maybe it came from there.
This correspondence changes over the years, as the cartilage of the nose continues to grow all our lives (as do our ears). But, as gravity takes its toll on the upper lip too, it doesn't change as much as one might think -- not in all individuals.
This correspondence of angle is easiest seen in a neutral, fairly relaxed face. Even a hint of a smile offsets it.
In the picture, a to d shows the parallel lines. In e, the black arrows point to the fact that if the nostril has a high curve, so does the upper edge of the upper lip. If the nostrils are flat, then the mouth has a very flattened M-shape (or Cupid's Bow, as we say in Sweden.)
The man in f belongs to a very common variation of the 'rule' -- his septum corresponds to the angle of the lower lip, when the mouth is relaxed and slightly open. The more pronounced the beak is, the steeper the angle of the lower lip. Yasser Arafat is an excellent example. But when the mouth is closed, it looks straight, or slanted as the first examples.
Look at people around you, when they are neutral or relaxed, and see if this is indeed true. Eventually you'll detect it in faces seen from straight on, too.
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