Inspirations from the Met Part 5: Technique

Of all these things, I think what I wrestle with the most is technique, and where I personally want to go with it. Should I use higher chromas, or mostly grays? Should I let my brushstrokes remain more visible, or obliterate them? Build more texture in the light areas or not? Might I use more soft edges to create atmosphere, or keep my work crisp but subtle?

I think I am beginning to answer some of these questions for myself, but no doubt I will continue to sway. Part of me hopes that I never fully make up my mind so that I will not find myself in a routine.
















That is it for my images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I hope you have also been inspired!

Inspirations from the Met Part 4: Sculptures

I especially loved the sculptures at the Met, and really wish I had time to sit and draw many of them. Unfortunately I only had time to draw the first one here. I think I enjoy the sculptures because since they are in-the-round and not supported/confined (depending on your opinion) by a frame or background they depend almost exclusively upon expression of pose. It makes me wonder whether I should have been a sculptor since I seem to not have much interest in 'backgrounds' or 'props' in my paintings. I have yet to decide if this is just something about my work and myself that I can accept, or a flaw to be fixed. For now, I am working on considering the entire space on the canvas and creating a complete scene around the figure, and I can decide later (or never) which path is right.

Inspirations from the Met Part 3: Subject Matter

Technique and composition in these paintings are still amazing, but I pulled these out into this section based on current and past themes in my own work, mainly the narrative content and/or costume.

Inspirations from the Met Part 2: Compositions

While at the Met, I did a number of little compositional studies of these paintings and also the Gentilleschi from Part 1. I drew the basic shapes in my sketchbook, and included basic shading in 3-5 values and added arrows for the flow of energy/path of the eye through the canvas. Composition is an area I really want to improve on, and I hope studying these will help.

Inspirations from the Met Part 1: Lady Painters

There are way too many pics from the Met to share here, much less comment on individually or provide titles and artists, so I've selected a handful (about 50!) to post here under separate sections. I was inspired by many things on my trip to NYC and I can see the difference already in my painting technique and in the way I am thinking about future compositions.

This post is to highlight some paintings I noticed were by female painters... this is not to say I wasn't more interested in their composition or technique than their gender, as I took pics/studied paintings that stood out to me in that way first and asked questions about the artist, etc., later. (Notice for example that Cassat isn't represented here. Female, yes, but not as interesting otherwise to me personally and my own artistic vision. She was one of my first favorites in high school, though.) But there is something nice about seeing that aspect of yourself reflected in these paintings at the Met, a connection that can be felt with those artists. I am guilty of, for whatever reason, always assuming great art was created by a male. Before I go off on a tangent, and since it is important that I get to work on my own paintings this morning, here is some great work that happened to be painted by females:

It's Always Something...

Annie Cherry, 36" x 18"

After the last post, I had computer issues plus looming deadlines. It took me until now to really get all my info moved over to the new computer, thus the lack of continuing the account of NYC. I should be back to that soon, but in the meantime I have updated my website with new paintings and last Friday "Sideshow" opened at Strecker-Nelson in Manhattan, KS. Check out some of the new stuff, and I will be back soon! (I hope.)

New York City: First Few Days

I wish I had more time to blog in detail about all the fun I had in NYC last month! I visited once a couple years ago when I had some work at Salmagundi, but only for a couple days. This time I got to spend 9 days by myself in the city. I *loved* it!

Day 1 I basically arrived in the afternoon, walked around, and got to know the area I was in a little. I stayed at the New Yorker Hotel, which I was pleased with and it was a decent price for Midtown Manhattan. Plus I do really like art deco, and it was convenient to the subway.

Day 2 I hit some galleries. Unfortunately, I had made all my plans a month or so ahead of time, and though I thought all the galleries I was planning to go to would be open still on the last day of July, I didn't realize many galleries were actually changing their hours for the summer and weren't open on Saturday. I went to Forum and Hirschl & Adler and maybe one other that were all closed before figuring this out. So, I went back to the hotel and checked on some other galleries' hours, then headed to Chelsea. I went to a number of galleries, most notably Joshua Liner where I picked up a copy of Travis Louie's "Curiosities." I later found out he had just been there an hour before me... wish I would have known so I could get my copy signed!

Somewhere outside of Chelsea.

Since the day was somewhat of a bust and I had time left, I decided to take myself to the Bodies exhibition. I have to be honest that I was a little let down. The exhibit had come through Kansas City before, but I was too chicken to see it. But I've been really learning a lot about anatomy lately so I went hoping to do lots of muscle studies in my sketchbook. There were fewer whole bodies on display than I thought there'd be, and unfortunately the lighting was so dark that I wasn't able to draw anything even halfway decent. The bodies themselves were well lit, but the difference between the light when you looked at the subject and when you looked at the paper was too drastic and I couldn't see what I was drawing at all. However, I did learn a lot by looking and it was still fascinating. I also spent a couple minutes at the seaport, which was nice.

Seaport.

Day 3 was Sunday, and I spent the whole day at the Met. I brought a sketch book and did some compositional studies of paintings, and partially copied a drawing of a horse's butt. Drawing at the Met was easier, but still tiring trying to hold up my sketchbook high enough to see well while dodging other people trying to see what I was drawing. Plus, I had spent at least 6 hours walking the day before, so my feet were already tired. Also, I missed the American exhibit this day since the wing was closed and I didn't figure out that the work had been moved to the visible storage. So, mostly I looked in-depth at the European exhibit and the a special drawing exhibit they had. I will include some of my favorite paintings/drawings in a separate post.

The Met.

While in NY I also discovered some places to buy cheap cotton dresses and leggings, which just happen to be my new favorite things to wear, so that evening I went shopping. OOh, and I thought this mosaic mural interesting, especially with my current series.



Day 4 was a Monday, and I was able to head to some galleries I missed on Saturday. I saw a painting by Graydon Parrish at Hirschl & Adler, and then met the artist as he was teaching at the Grand Central Academy. I was able to check out their cast room while I was there, too. Lots of fun, very interesting to see what everyone was working on. At forum, I asked about where I could see more of Steven Assael's work, and they were kind enough to bring out a few pieces they had in the back for me to study, even though they knew I am an artist and not a potential buyer! This day I also made my way to Utrecht and then to Vasari for some paint. The woman at Vasari was awesome, recommended some colors I hadn't tried which I am finding quite useful, and also gave me some printed info to put in my checked luggage so that they'd leave my supplies alone!

Graydon Parrish helping a student.

More of Graydon Parrish's class.

The cast room at GCA.

More casts.

From the back room at Forum.

My new paints!

Tuesday I started a workshop with Steven Assael. I will post later about this workshop, and my other adventures of the last 5 days of my stay.

So Much to Tell

Since I last posted, I've done more paintings and drawings, was featured in Poets and Artists, went to New York City, studied with Steven Assael, went to the Met, and am in the current issue of Drawing Magazine. Lots to talk about! Over the next few days I will try to post about all these adventures and share stories and pictures. Also note that in September my work will be shown at Strecker-Nelson Gallery in Manhattan, KS.

For now I'm off to open figure session, still going strong!

Still Drawing, Painting, Teaching

Completed the above painting; more on the easel at home but I'm thinking I want to hold off on revealing them yet... for whatever reason. They are fun, though!

Had a great time last week making this drawing. I have considered whether I should include some indication of the pillows she is laying on, since it looks a little like a bite has been taken out of her back, but I'm always just focused on the figure. Maybe one of these days I will stay an hour late to draw in the furniture after the model has left.

Wrapping up my summer classes, and getting ready for a new schedule once the school-year hits again in less than a month! I also am about to do something pretty exciting, that will not be revealed for a few more weeks. :-)

Painting, Drawing, Teaching, Working!

Above is my drawing from last week's open figure session. (Yes! Open Figure is still going strong. Every Saturday, 6-9pm, $10, Red Door Studios 738 Armstrong Suite 200 KCK.) You can't tell from the image, but this drawing is larger in scale than I usually attempt in just one sitting. I had a great time with the anatomy, and as extra study I did a little ecorce drawing based on it a couple days later.

I've been doing various studies after my drawings like this lately... either looking at the musculature, or the skeletal system, or just finding various rhythms and connections so that I will see them next time the model is in front of me.

I've got a few paintings going right now, and this is the first layer of one of them. I am undecided about whether I want to spill the beans on all the compositions I'm currently working on, or save them for a surprise. This burlesque/performer series is for an exhibition at Strecker-Nelson Gallery in September entitled "Sideshow."

Also, next week starts the last of 2 intensives for teens, People/Faces. The week after that is Drawing From Life for teens. Both of these classes can be viewed at classes.lacey-lewis.com, where you can also sign up if you desire.

I'm delightfully busy, and I have a handful of surprises to throw at you in the coming months! Also, if you haven't seen David Kassan's ipad painting video, you must.