"Little Girl" Day 2

Its... BLUE! So much blue! I really have no idea what pigments Mary Cassatt used in this painting (I guess I might be able to find out if I really tried...), so I'm doing my best to reproduce it with the colors I have. I even went to the store and bought a couple of colors I didn't own - Turquoise Blue and Phthalo Turquoise. But I didn't even try using them today. Today my goal was to make a "first pass", and cover all the white canvas. I didn't quite succeed, but I covered a lot of it.

Today I mainly used Prussian Blue and Phthalo Blue, with white. These are colors I rarely, if ever, use. They are just so strong. I've occasionally used Phthalo in a really blue sky on a beautiful sunny day. And they may just be a little too much for this painting.

My impression of the blues in this painting were that they were So Bright! But after working on this for several hours today, I saw that this is an illusion. Just as a bright yellow flower or a lemon is really mostly a dull green with just a little bit of pure yellow, so these chairs have a lot of brown in the blue. You don't notice it at a glance, but when you really look, you see how dull most of the blue actually is. That is what makes the relatively small areas of pure blue really POP.

Here is how much I had done when I stopped for lunch:

And here is a view of it from across the room, so you can get a feel for where I was standing in the gallery.

After lunch, I plugged away, trying hard to get everything covered. But it's hard to get a lot done when you stop to talk to people every few minutes. I don't mind (usually); it's all part of being there. And I really enjoyed chatting with people today. But I ran out of time, so I didn't get all the white covered up. That's fine, I'm a bit of a speed demon anyway. 

In two weeks (I'm working at the library next week and so won't be copying on July 2nd - just as well, since the museum will probably be mobbed), I'll finish making the first pass over the little girl. I did get something done on her legs, shoes, and skirt today, and one arm. To tell the truth, I am leaving her for last because I'm scared! But I'm always scared... always. I just have to work on it, little by little, until it develops and I forget that I'm scared. The trick is not to let the fear stop me from trying.

(click on the images for a larger view.)

"Little Girl in a Blue Armchair" by Mary Cassatt, Day 1

Day one on a new copy! My goal for today was simple: bring in my new canvas and get the composition drawn onto it.

Here is a photo of the gallery before I got set up. The easel was not in there, but they brought it to me pretty quickly. You can see my paintbox on the little cart I use to bring my stuff up from the locker room, and also one corner of my canvas. That whole back wall is Mary Cassatt paintings, with the one I'm copying in the very center.

The original painting measures 35 1/4"x51 1/8". I stretched a canvas 27"x39", which is the same proportions. (I use a great Excel spreadsheet that my husband Hal designed for me to compute the size of my copy.)

After I got the canvas stretched and gessoed, I divided it into halves and quarters at home. I printed out the image of the painting from the National Gallery's web site, and I also divided it into halves and quarters by folding it. (You can see the small printout on my paint box in this photo, and if you look closely, you can see the pencil lines on my canvas.) I considered using this little printout to enlarge the composition onto my canvas, but I wasn't sure if the image I got from the web site was the entire painting. If it had been cropped, then simply blowing it up might result in a distorted image. I decided to wait until I was face-to-face with the painting to draw it onto my canvas.

Having my canvas gridded out made the work go much easier, and seeing where the centers were on the little printout made it go much faster. It turned out that the image on the computer had not been cropped, so I could pretty confidently rely on the divisions of the picture plane being the same proportions on the little print and on my canvas. I mixed some raw umber with white, which made a pale beige color. With a brush, I made tiny marks to indicate where important points in the composition hit these divisions, and then I connected the dots. I relied heavily on the shape of the negative space of the floor that is between all the chairs. It is a very specific shape, which I thought looked like a bird facing left (kind of like a cartoony seagull.) Thinking of the shape this way helped me see if I was getting it right. Also, as I got the little girl sketched in, I kept checking against the printout to see if everything was falling within the correct spaces on the grid.

After about an hour and a half, during which time I was blissfully uninterrupted, the drawing was finished, and it was time to stop for lunch. My friend Leigh came to have lunch with me, and I didn't work on the painting any more today. I feel good about the drawing and think it's just about right. If not, I can make adjustments as I go. I'll be back to work on it again in two weeks!

(click the images for a larger view.)

Cézanne, "Still Life with Apples and Peaches", Day 12 (final)

I knew today would be the last day on this painting. I just had a little bit to do... 

I started my day as I always do, by mixing several piles of colors. I mix all my colors from a limited palette of white, cadmium yellow medium, cadmium red light, alizarine crimson, ultramarine blue, burnt and raw umber. I like to have as many pre-mixed colors as possible, so when I pick up the brush and start painting, it's almost like choosing from a box of pastels.

First thing, I tackled the pitcher, because it looked much too rosy in color. After about an hour, I was satisfied that I had gotten it more into the right color family.

Next I worked on the fruit, mainly the large peach that is front and center. Mine looked too blotchy and bruised. I painted on it for awhile, and then I felt better about it. I also touched up the rest of the fruit.

After a nice long lunch break (one of the best things about copying at the National Gallery - they have a GREAT cafeteria, and a wonderful book store to peruse), I went over the hanging tapestry with an almost-dry brush in a neutral light-brown color. (That's where the raw umber came in.) It really helped, adding texture and toning down the bright colors. In the last half-hour, I quickly added some lighter browns to the dark background on the right, and then it was time to clean up.

After I cleaned my palette, of course I saw more that I could have done. But it was too late. So I turned in my permit and will take this one home next week. Next week I will start my next copy, which will be Mary Cassatt's "Little Girl in a Blue Armchair". I'm looking forward to painting all that luscious blue fabric with its almost abstract-impressionist scribbled patterns. Stay tuned!

(click on the images for a larger view)

Cézanne, day 11

Sigh, still not quite the last day... I thought this was done, but after lunch, I realized that I really want to do just a little bit more...

I worked on the hanging fabric and the fruit today.

(click the image for a larger view)

Cézanne day 10

I'm feeling more and more like I'm nowhere near finished with this one! Just working very slowly, adjusting colors. I'm getting very good practice at mixing colors. Although, my colors are much brighter, and my edges are much harder. I think I'll be able to soften edges and dull down the colors after it's dry. But I'm just trying to get the colors right... and I keep seeing more areas that need more work. So I'll take my time and it will take as long as it takes!

I mainly worked on the pitcher and the big patterned cloth, and I got back into the fruit. More to do, more to do...

(click on the images for a larger view)

Cézanne "Still Life with Apples and Peaches", day 9

When I copy, I often feel like I'm not seeing the forest for the trees, and I often lose my place in all the details as I'm looking back and forth between my painting and the original. Today I allowed my self to get lost in the details, but I didn't really feel lost. I worked on the cloth on the left again, and on the pitcher. Looking at it on my computer tonight, I think I'm on the right track. The top of the pitcher still needs some work, but the cloth is beginning to shape up.

I enjoyed talking to lots of visitors today. One of them told me she thought Cézanne would approve! Then she said, "Or maybe not!" I thought that was pretty funny.

(click the images for a larger view)

Back to Cézanne! (Day 8)

So, I finished the White Poodle and decided to go back to my last copy, Cézanne's "Still Life with Apples and Peaches", which I had worked on from August 26-October 21, 2014. It was almost done, but I had just made one pass on the fabric hanging behind the still life. Here is how it looked at the end of Day 7:

It looked almost done, but I had made only one pass over much of the left side of the painting. You can see that the color of the hanging fabric in the background is much brighter in mine than in the original. One comment I hear a lot is, "I like yours better!", because people like the bright colors. But I'm interested in getting the colors as close as I can to Cézanne's. It is a challenge, because I'm using modern pigments, and I don't bother to research what he used. (Maybe I should!) But that's the fun, trying to get a match however I can. This skill translates to painting from life when I go out and work from the landscape or still life.

Today I worked on just the part of the patterned fabric to the left of and below the white pitcher. I would have reached for yellow ochre, but I found that I was out of it. Just as well. I had to make my own tawny earth color from cadmium yellow, cadmium red medium, and cobalt blue (yes, I know I'm using expensive pigments to mix what is an inexpensive earth tone. But mixing it is fun!) And there are so many nuances in Cézanne's colors.

Here is how my painting looked at the end of the day:

Does it look any different? Not really - I guess it's a shade darker. I'll probably go over it again next time. My copying day is shifting from Tuesday to Thursday because of a change in my work schedule. Stay tuned!

(click on the images for a larger view)

White Poodle, Day 12 (final?)

Today I made it back after several weeks away. This was my last Tuesday, because I've gotten a new job (a promotion! yay!), and my new schedule won't allow for me to copy on Tuesdays. In fact, I may have to stop copying for the foreseeable future, unless I can switch to an occasional Thursday. Such is the life of a part-time library employee.

So by necessity, this was probably the last day for me to work on this copy in the museum. Of course, I could still work on it at home, from photos on the computer, if I decide that I could improve upon it. I've been looking at it too long to know for sure.

Today I mainly worked on the fur, trying to get it right. But of course I'm still not happy. I don't think it's possible to paint fur as well as Stubbs did. I also darkened the tree by glazing it with burnt umber and ultramarine blue. I didn't darken the sky, even though it's obviously darker in the painting. I think it has yellowed with time, and I preferred to leave it a lighter blue.

(click the images for a larger view)

White Poodle, day 11!

Oh my goodness, it seems the more I do, the more I see that I have to do... 

Just plugged away at the fur today, but I can't say that I've improved it any. Hopefully, one of these days it will come together!

Today I tried something different - I put my easel on the right, instead of the left! I don't know why I hadn't done this before (see earlier posts). When the easel was on the left, I was turning my head to the right in order to look at the original, and my painting was also in a dark spot. Today, I positioned the easel on the right, and Voila! I was in a more natural, comfortable position where I didn't even have to turn my head to look at the painting, and also, my painting had much more light on it. I was also standing closer, so I could see the details better. Why did it take me eleven visits to figure this out?

I plugged away on the fur, trying very hard to restrain myself and paint each tuft of fur individually. I soon realized that I'd been trying to get these little details with too big of a brush (I think I was using a size "2" filbert - so I switched to the smallest brush I had with me, a size "0" sable round. Made a huge difference! I whittled away at the tail a bit, and will build it back up again next week.

I'm still not very happy, but will I ever be? I keep adjusting the color of the undercoat. Several people gave me their opinions. I listen to everybody and take it all into consideration. I stopped when I realized I was just too tired to think straight anymore.

(click the images for a larger view)

White poodle, day 10

And here I was, thinking I was almost done! As I was walking toward the gallery with my painting in hand, I stopped to chat with an employee of the Museum. He admired my painting, and then remarked that it was "a good start!" I decided to work on it longer...

I was having trouble with the fur. The tufts of fur on my dog were just dabs, as I mentioned last week, whereas Stubbs actually painted each individual tuft. Also, his undercoat varied in color throughout. I took a hard look and decided I just had to paint over all those clumsy dabs, and try again.

Here is a photo a visitor took of me this morning, before I painted over the fur:

After lunch, I worked on the detail in the trees, and then decided to just paint over the fur with the undercoat color. Next week, when it's dry, I will put the tufts of fur back on, hopefully with a more nuanced stroke. Wish me luck!

...at the end of the day today

you can see where I've painted over much of the white fur

...a detail of George Stubbs' masterful fur (sorry, the photo is a little blurry)

click on the images for a larger view

White Poodle, day 9 (not quite done!!!)

I will be coming back next week, to put the finishing touches on this. I think I've got the dog's head as good as it's gonna get. I worked on the fur today, but I think I'll touch it up a bit more. I need to get rid of that shadow area on the back leg. The only major thing left to do is the detail in the tree tops.

I have found out that painting fur is diabolically difficult. I have also found out that I tend to be a "dabber", whereas George Stubbs painted every individual tuft of fur in a unique manner. There is no way that I am going to be able to replicate that, I'm afraid.

(click the images for a larger view)

White Poodle, day 8

Back at the gallery today, missed last week because of the weather. (A tiny bit of iciness in the morning, plus no ride, and yes, I'm a wimp!)

Today I focused on getting the colors closer. I did a lot of glazing - using mostly medium and a tiny bit of color, I painted over most of the painting. I glazed the entire dog with some cadmium yellow, which made his fur much warmer and more like the painting. I went over all the trees with a glaze of burnt sienna, green and a little white (white is opaque, so it was not so much a glaze, which is transparent, as a "scumble"), which served the purpose of not only correcting and lightening the color, but smoothing out the "blobbiness" of the trees that I commented on in my last post. I did the same with the light areas of the boat - a scumble of cad yellow with some burnt seinna and white. I also glazed over the sky and cloud with cadmium yellow. It occurred to me the the painting has probably yellowed with age, but now my copy is a bit closer to the original in color. Worked on the water on the right also.

Then I mixed up a very light, warm color and went back into the dog's fur, painting squiggles. I also mixed the blue-gray color that appears between the squiggles, and the warmer dark that appears between other squiggles. So many squiggles... I worked on the head some - softening edges around the mouth and sharpening and defining the eyes more.

I think it's close to being finished, but of course I am still not happy. The shape of the dog's head in the original is more triangular (pointy head) and mine is more rounded. My dog has thinner hindquarters - I will make his rump fluffier next week. Maybe - maybe - I might be near the end.

(click on the images for a larger view)

White Poodle, day 7

Today I was going to leave the dog's head alone and just work on the trees and the boat... but I ended up working on the head anyway. I keep making little tiny changes, moving the nose a little to the right, making the eye on the left smaller... I looked at it this morning and realized that my dog looked a little too "cartoony", and I saw that it was because I had made the features too large in proportion to the whole head. So I whittled away a little bit. I also flattened the top of his head somewhat, because I thought mine was taller and thinner than the original. I tried to warm the color up a little by adding cadmium red, an infinitesimal amount. I can't tell if it's improved or not.

I did work on the trees, but I am not happy with them yet. I got tired and distracted and went to lunch before I finished them. Next time I will tone down the three-dimensionality - my woods look too sculptural and blobby.

I am happy with how the boat looks, though. I made the shadows darker and glazed over the light areas with a thin bluish-brown glaze. I think the boat is improved.

I also worked on the water on the right, and on the land under the dog's head.

My dog's coat is still cooler than the original - at least it looks that way in these photos. Next time, I will work on the trees again, and the blue sky, and the dog's body.

(click the images for a larger view)

White Poodle, day 6

It's been four weeks since I last worked on this copy! But I made it back today and was ready to go. I was able to position my easel closer to the painting so I could see more detail. I hadn't done this before because I needed to take in the whole composition. But today I got as close as I could, and it helped.

I worked all morning on the face, and then I realized that the dog's nose was about 1/4" too low. I quickly moved it up, and I think it's a little better. Below is a detail of the actual painting, and it's obvious that I am still a bit off. Mine looks thinner. Maybe I can fix that next time. Also, my color seems to be off. It's hard to figure out how to match his colors. I'll keep working on it.

I'm still not very happy with the fur, but I am getting it lighter. I also worked on the cloud and the sky. Next week I'll repaint the trees and maybe the boat. Then it will be back to the face.

(click on the images for a larger view)