White Poodle, day 5

Plugging along... I worked on fixing the dog's nose, which I thought was at slightly the wrong angle and a little too far to the left. I fiddled with the color and moved the nostrils to the right a little... I don't know if I actually changed its position at all, though!

I also worked on the fur - making the underpainting a little lighter, and repainting the squiggles lighter, too. I'll have to go lighter still, I think. I also painted the legs and feet in more detail, and worked on the boat.

Working on this painting is kind of scary somehow... when I'm getting started, I have a feeling like I just have no idea of what I'm doing. Maybe it's because I haven't been painting anywhere else but in the National Gallery, and so every week it feels like the first time in forever. I look forward to the time when I'm able to spend more days painting, and stay in practice all the time!

(click on the images for a larger view)

White Poodle, day 4

Another dark and rainy day, but somehow my easel was positioned differently and my painting had more light on it. Today I worked on the fur!

I was kind of scared to start painting the fur. I've never tried to paint fur before. I brought a new color, Naples Yellow, which I had at home but which I never use. It is made from lead, and is very rich and creamy. I don't know if Stubbs used it (because I haven't bothered to research it,) but I bet he did. It seemed to match the color better.

I will probably paint all the fur again next week, because my squiggles are bigger and farther apart than his squiggles, but at least I got a start on it. I also see an adjustment I have to make in the dog's face. And I'll need to tackle the boat, and finish up the trees, and repaint the sky and cloud. I'm hoping just a few more weeks on this one.

(click the images for a larger view)

White Poodle, day 3

A miserable rainy day, but a good day to be inside the National Gallery! Today I decided to paint the dog's face, because getting his expression right is the most important part of this painting, in my opinion. I also started in on the fur on his body. 

Since it was a rainy day, the gallery I was in was quite dark - the museum uses skylights, and there are spotlights focused on the paintings on the walls. Unfortunately, my painting on the easel was kind of in the dark. So I don't know if my painting is actually too dark, or if it's just the darkness of the day. I'll see next week, if it's a brighter day outside.

Each week, as I'm setting up, it feels as if I have no idea of what to do. So I just start mixing paint, trying to make piles of colors that I will need. I can kill most of an hour doing this! Finally I have to just plunge in. I don't know why it's always so hard to get started, but it is.

Here is a detail of what I painted today. I think I got his expression pretty well... Painting the fur was very interesting. I had thought that I should do all the underpainting - the modeling of the body - and then paint the furry highlighted furry squiggles on when it was dry. But today I just worked wet into wet, and it worked just fine. I worked over some of the background where it touches the dog's chest and back, because that's necessary to get the look of the fur. I've never painted a furry animal before - this copy is going to be quite an education!

click on the images for a larger view

White Poodle, day 2

Circumstances have kept me away for a few weeks, but today I returned to the NGA for Day 2 of the White Poodle painting.

I concentrated on the trees in the background - darkening them and adjusting the color. I worked for about two hours, then went to lunch.

After lunch (which was a long one, because I was catching up with my copyist friend Helen!) I worked on the dog... putting in the underpainting of the fur. I'm trying to get it as close to the value and color of the painting as I can. The tiny squiggles of light fur stand out because of the darkness of the negative space around them. I'm building this painting up with thin coats of glazes, which is not how I normally paint. I think when I put the squiggly fur in, I'll have to paint around them with the darker colors at the same time, but at least I'll have a base layer to start from. I only worked about 1/2 hour after lunch, but next week I will continue, and will probably paint everything over again.

New Copy - "White Poodle in a Punt" by George Stubbs

I was going to work another week on the Cézanne, but a friend requested that I copy this painting for her, and I wanted to start on it right away. I'm planning on finishing the Cézanne after this one is finished.

George Stubbs was an English painter who was expert at painting animals, especially horses. He lived from 1724-1806. This painting of a large white poodle standing in a small boat was painted in 1780. Here is the painting:

"White Poodle in a Punt" by George Stubbs

It's hard to tell from this photo, but the dog's fur is painted with about a million squiggles of thick paint. You can see a better detail of the painting by clicking here. (Use the zoom tool to blow the picture up and see really close detail!)

Although I normally bring in a blank white canvas and start from scratch, measuring and drawing by eye, this time I gridded out my canvas and did the drawing at home from the computer image of the painting on the National Gallery's web site. I just wanted to save time, and make sure it was very accurate.

I should have taken a photo of the drawing stage, which I sketched over with acrylic paint, but I just started painting, and didn't remember to photograph it until I broke for lunch.

The original painting is 50"x40". This was a very convenient size for finding a corresponding smaller size, since 50x40 is the same proportion as 5x4, or 10x8. My copy is 40"x32", which is as large as I could go without special permission.

My goal for today was to cover the whole white canvas with an underpainting. I tried to discern what color Stubbs painted underneath everything else. I basically scrubbed in a thin layer of the basic colors. Here is how it looked at the end of the day:

I didn't work on the dog's face yet, and the colors on the dog aren't quite right. But I was getting tired and ran out of time. No copying next week (Veteran's Day) and I won't be going the week after. See you back here in three weeks.

(click the images for a larger view)

Cézanne, Day 7

Today in the morning I worked on the vertical side of the table on the right. I corrected some drawing errors in the shape of the table sides. 

at the end of the morning

After lunch, I worked on the blue and white wall sconce/vase. I put the wavy line on the front of it, and worked hard all afternoon at its complicated splotchy network of blues, whites, and peach. I repainted the whole wall on the right, and I worked on the cloth coming down from the top.

Next week, I want to repaint the pitcher and work more on the left side of the cloth and the wall on the left. Then I think I will be done with this one! It's not perfect, of course, but I feel like moving on.

click the images for a larger view

Cézanne, Day 6

Once again, here is a photo of my palette at the beginning of the day. I was going to attack the white and blue wall sconce/vase that I left until last, so I mixed up all the basic colors I could see.

Before I actually started painting, the cutest thing happened - a small class of 6-year-olds in school uniforms came with a tour guide, who asked me if they could stop and talk about my painting. The guide talked to the kids and asked them questions, which they raised their hands and gave thoughtful answers to. Then I showed them my palette, and explained to them that I make all the colors I need from only yellow, red, blue and white, and how I do that. They listened with big eyes, and were so attentive and quiet. When they left, one of their chaperones prompted them to thank me with "What do you say, children?" and one little boy said "GOOD JOB!"

My first task was to get that wall sconce/vase painted. I didn't paint the squiggly front edge yet - I'll do that next week when the paint is dry.

Here is how it looked when I stopped for lunch:

(click the image for a larger view)

After lunch, I tackled the cloth and darkened the wall on the right. I used up most of my paint and didn't feel like squeezing any more out, so I stopped early.

So now I have everything painted at least once. Next week I'll work hard on the table and more on the cloth. I hope to wrap this up in 2-3 more weeks, because my next copy will be a commission for someone, and I'm eager to get going on it!

Cézanne, day 5

I thought it would be interesting to post a couple of pictures of my palette - I started by mixing some basic colors I would be needing, and then I made tints by adding white.

After this, I just picked up colors from here & there, until the whole palette was covered. Sorry I didn't take a picture of the palette at the end of the day!

I worked on the white cloth, the pitcher, and the fruit. The only area I haven't touched at all yet is the bowl on the right. I still have to work on the right half of the cloth against the wall. And I will repaint most areas over again before I am done. I love this painting!

Cézanne, day 4

Another good copying day! I took a 2 mile walk around the city this morning before the Gallery opened (my ride got me into town early), and got to the museum right at 10:00. Jumped right in mixing batches of colors. For this painting I'm working from a limited palette of Permalba white, cadmium yellow medium, cadmium red light, alizarin, manganese blue, ultramarine blue, and burnt umber. Using these, I mixed as many different colors as I could discern in Cézanne's painting. I know that my pigments are different from what he used, but since I am not making a forgery, I don't care about being authentic here. It's good to get close enough. I like to mix enough different colors that I can just choose among them as I'm painting, much like choosing pastels out of a box.

I worked for a long time on the white cloth in the bottom of the painting. I also roughed in some color on the hanging fabric, and started painting the fruit. I got interrupted quite a bit today, but generally enjoyed the conversations I had with visitors. The time flew by (and I took a long lunch and walked through the Andrew Wyeth exhibit down the hall), so I still haven't quite covered all the white canvas. I feel like I'm on the right track, and will keep painting and repainting different areas until I feel I've gotten close enough. Copying Cézanne is a whole education in itself, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm going to take all the time I need with this one.

click the images for a larger view

Here is a photo taken of me with museum visitor Stephanie, taken by her boyfriend Ben.

Cézanne, day 3

Another absolutely beautiful day in DC! I have gotten into the habit of walking an hour a day, so today I took the Metro in (my friend and driver, Katie, didn't go to her office today), and got off at Foggy Bottom, the first station in DC, so I would get my walk in. The weather was absolutely perfect and I enjoyed my brisk walk of almost 3 miles, including a stop for breakfast at a Starbucks on the way.

This painting does not want to be painted in a hurry. Cézanne worked and reworked - you can see the thick build-up of paint in many areas. I'm still trying to get the white canvas covered, first pass. Then I'll go back and paint over everything again.

This is how much I got done before lunch.

(click the images for a larger view.)

After lunch, I had just gotten back to my easel when I was completely surrounded by a large group of foreign visitors who crowded me - I felt like I was in a football huddle. One was asking me questions, and I was starting to answer him, when I heard the guard call out, "Please step away from the easel!" The group quickly backed off and hurriedly left the room. The guard was surprised to see me standing there - I had been completely hidden by the group (I am not very tall!) We had a good laugh about it, and I told the guard he had saved me. Some people from other countries don't understand our desire for personal space!

I continued to work on the large background cloth. My colors are brighter than the Cézanne - as one visitor told me, mine looks as if the painting has been cleaned. But when I go over all these areas again, I will get closer to the right colors. I don't know if Cézanne did glazing (I guess I could research that...)

End of Day 3

I walked back to the same station to go home, so another 3-mile walk! I'm making the most of the unusually glorious weather we've had all summer. I should sleep well tonight.

Cézanne, day 2

Missed a week, but got back to the Gallery for the second day on my copy of "Still LIfe with Apples and Peaches" by Paul Cézanne. It was a good day. I realize that this painting will require some time if I want it to look like his. I've read that Cézanne painted and repainted many times, and it shows - many layers of paint, some wet into wet, some painted over dry paint. I tend to be a one-shot kind of painter, but paintings really look so much more interesting when you can see some of the struggle that went into making them. (Some struggle, but not too much!) :-)

My copy so far is much, much simpler than his, of course - it looks kind of like a paint-by-numbers at this point. But I will keep going back into each part until it looks better. Also, as I'm breaking up the larger shapes of the cloth into the smaller shapes of the design of the fabric, I'm finding the errors in my drawing - the smaller shapes are not quite fitting... but this is perfectionism, and I'm going to try my best to not care too much about it. This is my first pass at getting the colors and shapes right.

a detail of Cézanne...

...and a detail of mine (I did a little more after I took this picture)

at the end of today
(click on the images for a larger view)

New Copy - Cézanne's "Still Life with Apples and Peaches"

Today I started a new copy, of Cézanne's "Still Life with Apples and Peaches". This was a painting I wanted to do last winter, but was told that it was scheduled to go on loan in June. But it never went. I requested it again, and got permission to copy it.

According to the National Gallery's web site, the original painting is 31 7/8" x 39 9/16". I used my handy-dandy "Painting Resizer", an Excel spreadsheet that my husband made for me (thank you Hal!) to find a size that would be at least 2" smaller (NGA rules) and be as close as possible to whole inches (the only way commercial stretcher bars come.) The first number I plugged in to the spreadsheet was 29", and it came out with exactly 36" for the width! Very cool. I stretched and gessoed the canvas, and drew a light grid with pencil, so I could more easily copy this complicated still life. Finding the centers on the original is easy because the frame has a detail in the centers of the sides. Having the centers and quarters marked on my blank canvas saved me a lot of time and effort.

I worked on the drawing for about two hours and then stopped for lunch.

 (click for a larger view)

After lunch I started painting. I really didn't know where to start, so I just started putting in the dark background and the table. I worked until almost 3:30 and then started feeling tired. I want to go slowly on this one, because I've heard that Cézanne was a very slow painter. He would paint and repaint, and move his easel to get different details not visible from his first vantage point. This is why his paintings do not have conventional perspective. He was aware that he could move slightly and see a very different looking thing, so he incorporated that into his painting. Because of this, Cézanne is considered to be the father of many of the modern art movements of the 20th century.

Here is where I stopped for the day. I'll be back in two weeks to continue!

The Cradle, day 6, I'm done with this one

I decided that today would be my last on this copy. I could have gone on longer, but I felt that I had worked on it long enough. I kind of messed up the baby's face toward the end of the day... I corrected the drawing of the eyes, but changed the color in a bad way, and the nose is all wrong now. It was after lunch, and I was getting tired. Not a good time to keep on painting, but I did anyway, because I needed to finish it. Other than the baby's nose (which I suppose I could correct at home if I am so inclined), I think it's acceptable.

detail of the baby in the Monet

detail of the baby in my copy

Once again, I invite you to click on the images to enlarge them, and flick back and forth between the two. You'll see where mine is still off... but enough is enough, and I just didn't want to keep working on it.

The final copy

Next week, I will start a new copy: Cézanne's "Still Life with Apples and Peaches".  It looks like it will be a lot of fun!

The Cradle, day 5

I spent the morning working on the background, correcting the color. Mine was too warm and reddish. So I mixed up a new gray with more blue in it (I used burnt umber and manganese blue, plus white.) This was a good color for the upper left quadrant of the painting. The right side was warmer, so I made another mixture with more burnt umber, less manganese, and added some cadmium yellow, plus white. I worked on it all morning and was happier with the color of the background draperies. I used the background color on the right to cut into Camille's face a little so she didn't look so plump-cheeked. I also repainted the bed posts and the yellow bed on the left.

This is how far I was at lunchtime:

After lunch I repainted the drapery over the cradle so I could put the details of red flowers and green leaves on it. When I was satisfied with the cloth, I started painting the flowers. I used alizarin crimson and cadmium red light, with some burnt umber and white, in different combinations for the flowers. I used cobalt blue and cad yellow, and ultramarine and cad yellow, in different combinations for the leaves. Monet's flowers are just dabs he made quickly with a tiny brush, and my brush wasn't as small. I also had to be careful and not as free as he was.

I thought I might finish today, but decided not to rush it. I was getting lost in the flowers, so I'm leaving the rest for next week. This is as far as I got:

click on the images for a larger view.

The Cradle, day 4

I haven't been to the Gallery in a few weeks because of other painting events (painting outdoors with the Loudoun Sketch Club and at a friend's house), but I got back into DC today and got right to work. My first order of business was to correct the baby's face, because mine looked like he had his cheeks puffed out. I worked for a long time, and I think I got closer. Here is a close up of the baby in Monet's painting, and then one of mine:

If you click to enlarge, and toggle back and forth between them, you can see where I am still off. Seeing them on the computer like this is really helpful in showing me where my mistakes are.

Here is the painting at the end of the day. I worked a lot on the cradle's drapery, and on the left-hand side of the background drapery. Still a ways to do, but maybe I'll be done in a week or two

The Cradle, day 3

Today was a good day! Got a ride with Katie again (yay, Katie!) - riding in with her not only saves me money and time, but also energy. I get a nice walk from where she drops me off to the National Gallery, before the day gets hot, and I also get to take some nice photos on the way:

My walk down Pennsylvania Avenue takes me past the National Archives...

...and the Federal Trade Commission...

...and the Department of Labor...

...and finally to the National Gallery, right at 10 a.m., when the doors open.

Today I concentrated on the baby's face, and from there worked on Camille's face and hat, corrected the chair back, and painted in the three primary-colored things surrounding the baby - the blue bow, the red feathers on the rattle, and the yellow pinwheel. Also painted the curtains (?) above Camille. Still a ways to go, but I'm happy with the progress I've made. I'll probably have to repaint some of this again, but I feel it's getting closer. (click on the photos for a larger view.)