The Artist's Life : How to Draw People

Compensating

Carolyn Henderson — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 03:56:00 GMT

Last week we talked about parallel parking a car -- or in my case, not parallel parking the thing -- and how, if we don't know a specific skill, we can frequently compensate by doing things another way.


It's not easy drawing the human figure accurately, and if you've tried and you've tried and it's just not happening, it may be time to ask for help. Aphrodite by Steve Henderson.

But sometimes, compensating doesn't work, and if you, in your artwork, have reached the point of frustration that you just can't draw a human figure drawing to look like something other than a space alien, of if your still-life paintings of flowers look dead, or whatever it is that is driving you to distraction, then it's time to admit that you don't know how to do this, what you've been doing up to this point isn't working, and it's time to move forward in the matter.

So, where do you move?

The initial solution is to take a painting instruction class, but there are lots of other options. My favorite, hands down, is finding an artist whose work you like and asking him or her if they will 1) teach you or 2) review your work and give some suggestions. The latter being called a consultation.

Before we move on, let me talk about that word "giving" back there, as in "giving some suggestions."

By all means, plan to pay this artist for his or her time; many artists offer classes on how to paint or how to draw, or portfolio reviews, and the best way to find out if the artist you're interested in does this kind of thing is to ask.

Can you afford this? Yeah, probably. We'll talk more about this in my next post.

--Carolyn

Diagonal Parking for Those Who Can’t Parallel Park

Carolyn Henderson — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 03:49:00 GMT

Okay, I'm going to share with you my dirty little secret: I can't parallel park a car.

Well, I can parallel park a car as long as I've got three blank spaces, in a pinch two, and it helps that I drive a Honda Fit. But for the most part I'm willing to drive blocks out of the way and walk, or slip into a diagonal space, or let the Norwegian Artist drive when we're in the city and masterfully fit that hunk of metal (the car, not the Norwegian) into the allotted space.

In other words, I compensate for my lack of ability.

Lots and lots of space -- that's what I need when I parallel park.
Diaphanous by Steve Henderson of Steve Henderson Fine Art.

Ideally, I would learn how to parallel park, which is what our two youngest teenagers are doing with the Norwegian Artist this year before they take their licensing test, but that would mean hours of practicing with the Norwegian, and I'd really just rather spend the time knitting socks.

Because, compensating works.

It doesn't always, I know. If my problem involved driving skills, say, like the inability to make a right turn without banging into the curb, then I'd need to work on things, but if I can get by -- as I have for 35 years -- without parallel parking and I'm not hurting anybody and nobody's yelling at me, then I do, and focus my energy on difficult things that I need to learn and I can't compensate for.

So it is with learning how to paint. Some painting techniques you may never get -- something to do with color or brushwork or the ability to draw hands so that they don't look like elephant feet -- and you compensate, by never showing hands, for instance.

As long as this works, it works, and you develop your style by compensating around what you cannot do. The key is determining just how important the fine art painting technique you can't do is, and making a decision about it.

--Carolyn

My Secrets to Financial Success as an Artist

ShenShen210 — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 03:21:00 GMT

I am writing this as things have never looked better for me financially, as an artist. I have had a few huge sales and wildly successful shows over the years, but I feel as if I have tapped into a new realm of possibilities in recent months. And this in a time of financial hardship for many across the globe. I want to pass on a few things I have learned about art and business in my almost thirty years of experience. And, yes, it starts with admitting that the old adage is true--you must love the art more than food. I remember many years of my family eating little other than beans and rice while I tried to get my art business going!


Portrait painting of a saxophone player by Shen, titled Blue Bird.

1. Relationship. Get yourself out there. You must get out of the studio and meet people for them to ever come to know and appreciate your work. Your art is a reflection of who you are. So, if they meet you, and actually like you, they want to have a piece of you, and for us that means a token of who we are--our art. Think of it another way--when you visit a wonderful city like San Francisco, you buy a little snow globe with the Golden Gate Bridge in it to commemorate your visit...even though it doesn't snow in San Francisco, but that's another issue!

The people you meet are the most important "press releases" you can ever have published. They love a piece of work and tell their friends, and so on and so on. But remember, the deeper and more positive experience they have with you, the more interested they will be about sharing your story with others. So this comes back to being our best selves. I, for one, believe that the days of the "obscure, flippant, know-it-all" artist are long gone.

2. Go where the money is. A stranger I met at an airport last year who quickly became a dear friend gave me some very wise words of wisdom. He told me, "It is just as easy to make friends with rich people as it is to make friends with poor people." This statement stopped me in my tracks. I started evaluating where and whom I hung out with in a casual atmosphere. My real friends will never change and I couldn't care less how much money they have because they are as close to me as my own heart. But I am speaking of placing myself in environments where I might make new friends. So I started venturing out to areas where the rich and famous hang out. Guess what? My friend was right! Just as easy! And I came to realize that for years and years I had been intimidated by the wealthy. Not a good thing for an artist wishing to sell work. It took a bit of time, but I started to feel as comfortable mingling with my new friends just as I did with my friends from the other side of the tracks.

3. Shameless self-promotion. Did I mention how crucial it is to get yourself out there? And...for me...this also means dancing! This past weekend I showed my work at a music festival, and while many of the attendees were sitting in their chairs (Okay, all of the attendees!), I was at my eye-catching booth displaying my art, doing a painting demo and, yes, dancing! Now, if this is not who you are, please spare us all the discomfort of watching you not be able to find the beat. But for me, dancing is my thaaaaaaang, especially to live music! Many onlookers came up later and told me how much they enjoyed my show, and some even bought art! Do your thaaaaang, and you'd be surprised at how easy it is to draw people to you.


A portrait painting by Shen, titled Hendrix.		A portrait painting by Shen, titled Billie Holiday.

4. And don't ever hesitate to strike while the iron is hot. I have been featured in the local newspaper in my town, which is a pretty affluent one, almost a dozen times since moving here about a year ago. Every time something exciting happens, I call the arts editor because I've made a point of having a relationship with them. In one particular situation, I used a high-profile model that many of the people in the area know for a painting demonstration. Immediately there is a connection point when I meet new faces: "Oh, that's her, I love her!!! How do you know her?" Any seed of commonality can get a conversation started. It is up to us to ride it out into an actual relationship. Being shy is cute for kids, but detrimental to the livelihood of an artist.

Last year, while speaking with two very influential art reps in a Chelsea, NY gallery, a man who looked like a reggae musician walked up us. I told him that I would love to paint him (he had a great look). After he walked away, one of the reps told a story of how a relatively unknown artist walked up to Wall Street executives on their lunch hour and suggested portrait painting their loved ones just as the man had just come up to us. The artist did very well for himself after this point because he had the gumption to put himself out there. He may have had to eat soup while doing these commissions, but that is part of the process. I know I've been there!

I hope these tips help you to fully become the artist you were meant to be, in each and every way! Cheers to you and me for hanging in there on this long and windy road!

--Shen

May I Introduce Rose Frantzen?

Courtney Jordan — Sun, 01 May 2011 07:15:00 GMT


Up the Block by Rose Frantzen, oil painting, 40 x 50.

Rose Frantzen: Weekend With the Masters Instructor

Rose Frantzen's peers hold her in especially high regard as an artist's artist. In her 25 years as a full-time painter, she has also gained the attention and respect of both national and international collectors. Her community project, Portrait of Maquoketa, which is comprised of 180 portraits of her townspeople that she painted during impromptu portraiture sessions during the span of one year, was exhibited at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, in Washington DC, from November 2009 until July 2010. The project is also the subject of a hardbound book that was created as a catalogue of sorts to accompany the exhibition.

Frantzen attended the American Academy of Art, in Chicago, where she worked and studied with Robert Krajecki; the Palette & Chisel Academy, alongside her mentor Richard Schmid; and the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, studying human anatomy with the late Dean Keller.

Trained in the alla prima style, she explores painting as a language for witnessing and communicating the wide-range of human experience and sometimes finds it necessary to employ other representational approaches including glazing methods with imprimatura or grisaille.

Her exploratory nature has also led her to create many multi-dimensional works in which she incorporates diverse stylistic elements and mixed media assemblage items such as gilding, stained glass, and mosaic.

Frantzen's work has been featured in numerous publications including American Artist, Workshop, International Artist, Southwest Art, US Art, ArtTalk, and Portrait Signature magazines, and she has demonstrated as a faculty member for the Portrait Society of America. She is a much sought after instructor teaching workshops in several regions of the country as well as in her studio.

With husband and fellow artist, Charles Morris, she currently resides in her hometown of Maquoketa, Iowa. Both are represented by Old City Hall Gallery. For more information on Frantzen, visit her gallery's website or buy her latest art instructional DVD.

Return to the Weekend with the Masters Meet & Greet.

How To Hang Your Show Like A Pro

Lori Woodward — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:42:00 GMT

When I moved to New Hampshire in the mid-1990s, I joined a local art association where the members were a mixture of "newbies" as well as seasoned professionals. In many cases the "old pros" helped us newbies learn, not only how to improve our painting but also how to run our businesses efficiently. One of the most helpful pieces of advice came from artists that regularly worked in the outdoor, art-in-the-park show circuit. As I strolled around the grounds visiting their booths, I noticed that their work was exhibited in a similar fashion. Here's what I learned from them, and it has certainly worked well for me over the years.

Display Your Work as a Cohesive Unit


Monadnock from Perkins Pond by Lori Woodward, watercolor painting, 11 x 14.

Whether you're preparing to show in a restaurant, outdoor show, or even a gallery setting, how you frame and display your work can make a huge difference in the final appearance and the way viewers respond. Choose similar frames for your paintings so that when they hang side-by-side they look like a unit rather than a patchwork of disparate pieces. For example, if your body of work looks best in gold frames, select similar gold frames for all of your work. Likewise, if dark or black frames are more fitting, use those for all your paintings. At the very least, this makes buying frames an easier task.

Grab The Viewer's Attention

Now that you've created a sense of cohesion in your body of work, you'll want to grab your viewer's attention by placing your largest painting (which is hopefully your best) in the middle of your display at eye level. No matter what the size, it's important that you hang your best pieces at eye level to draw people into your art booth or to your gallery wall; placing your largest painting in the middle creates a visual pattern that draws in the viewer’s eye. Conversely, if all your paintings are the same size, when they are hung side-by-side it becomes difficult for passersby to focus on any single piece in the group.

Group Paintings of Similar Color

Just as interior decorators use color themes to harmonize a room area, hanging paintings that contain similar colors next to one another creates a harmony in your display area. This garners attention because it implies an overall statement to your collection, one that a viewer would want to learn more about.

Don't Trap Your Viewers

Clear the area around your paintings of chairs, tables and other obstacles that might make your viewers feel trapped. People like to feel like they can get away easily at any time (ironically, this also makes them more likely to stay near your collection). When I've tried to keep viewers in my booth by placing a table right in the middle--so that they'd have to walk beyond the table to see my paintings--the result was that they seemed reluctant to move beyond the table and therefore never got a closer look. After I removed the table, folks eagerly approached the paintings and comfortably spent time with them.

Keep these suggestions in mind the next time you display a number of your works, no matter what the venue. Hang your work like the pros do and you’ll draw in potential collectors like a magnet. And next time you visit a commercial gallery, notice how they display groups of paintings by each artist. It'll be a real eye-opener.

Lori Woodward earned a bachelor’s degree in art education from University of Arizona. She has studied watercolor and composition extensively with Sondra Freckelton and Jack Beal. Woodword’s work has appeared in several issues of Watercolor, and she is a co-author of the Walter Foster book Watercolor Step by Step. She is a member of The Putney Painters, an invitational group in Vermont. She resides in New Hampshire with her husband, Brian Simons, a software engineer. Visit her website at www.loriwords.com and follow her on Twitter here.