PLEIN AIR PRIMER: GRAB 'N GO PAINTING GEAR

ANNIVERSARY

ARTISTSNETWORK.COM
Magazine ®

Scenic
WONDERS
Essential Strategies
for Painting Winding
Rivers, Crashing Surf
and Much More

Artists
Over 60
10 Winning Works
From Our Annual
Competition

MUST LOVE ROSES!

Kick-Start Creativity With
One Subject, Four Ways
MAY/JUNE 2024
 Volume 41 | Issue 03
MAY/JUNE 2024

26

54
Compositions
26 54
GOLDEN HOUR SURF’S UP
Meet the 10 winners of our Whether riding the waves or painting
17th Annual Over 60 Competition. them, Jeff Sewell honors the ocean. “Study nature,
BY DOREEN MANNING BY AARON SCHUERR love nature,
stay close

46 62 to nature.
It will never
HARNESSING FRANZ HALS: fail you.”
THE DRAMA A PAINTER’S PAINTER —FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

Capturing dynamic changes in the Explore a major retrospective

landscape is Kathleen B. Hudson’s joy. of the Dutch portraitist’s work.
BY KRISTIN HOERTH BY CYNTHIA CLOSE

ArtistsNetwork.com 1
 14 80

20
Prime Build Outfit
6 ANATOMY 16 TUTORIAL 72 BUSINESS OF ART
OF A PAINTING A seasoned plein air painter Protect yourself (and your
John Frederick Kensett’s shares his packing tips. art) with a corporate entity.
Lake George BY MICHAEL CHESLEY JOHNSON BY DANIEL GRANT
BY JERRY N. WEISS
20 LESSON 74 DO NOW
8 CREATIVITY Take a closer look at the two Must-see exhibitions
CHALLENGE methods for creating images. BY CHRISTINA RICHARDS
Grow your practice with a BY TODD M. CASEY
1 subject/4 media challenge.
BY CAROL MARINE
75 INDEPENDENT STUDY
Resources for artists

10
BY BETH WILLIAMS
OFF THE CANVAS “To the artist
A husband-and-wife team
creates signs of the times.
there is never 76 ART NEWS
BY STEVE AUST anything ugly A partnership recognizes
in nature.” artists with disabilities.
14 THE ASK —AUGUSTE RODIN
BY DANIEL GRANT
What’s one thing to know
when painting en plein air? 80 FROM THE VAULT
EDITED BY ANNE HEVENER Stephen Quiller’s Black River,
View From River Hill

4 FROM THE EDITOR

ON THE COVER
Wetlands Near Savannah
(detail; oil on linen, 36x36)
by Kathleen B. Hudson

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2 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 From The Editor Art sts Magazine
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Anne Hevener

SENIOR EDITOR Beth Williams

MANAGING EDITOR Christina Richards

DESIGN DIRECTOR Rachel Kennedy

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that things exist in a state of constant change—comes to mind when
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4 Artists Magazine 40th Anniversary Issue 2024

“ T H E M O R E D E E P LY
I N T O T H E D I G I TA L
WORLD, THE
M O R E I M P O R TA N T
IT BECOMES
FOR PEOPLE TO
CONNECT WITH
THEIR PHYSICAL
S U R R O U N D I N G S .”
—MEREDITH KASABIAN

The Fours
Quincy
(detail;
exterior
latex paint
on brick,
18x14 feet)
by Best
Dressed
Signs

ArtistsNetwork.com 5
Prime ANATOMY OF A PAINTING

Swathed The view in Lake George is

in Stillness
looking northeast from Crown
Island, off Bolton Landing on
the lake’s west shore. Kensett
altered the topography,
omitting some islands and com-
JOHN FREDERICK KENSETT heralds a favorite pressing the space.
New York landscape time and time again.
by Jerry N. Weiss

T he art of John Frederick

Kensett (1816–72) rep-
resents a high point of the
Luminist movement, in which the
American landscape was painted
Lake George
(1869; oil on canvas, 44⅛ x66⅜)
by John Frederick Kensett
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART.
BEQUEST OF MARIA DEWITT JESUP, FROM
THE COLLECTION OF HER HUSBAND,
with hyperrealistic clarity and MORRIS K. JESUP, 1914. 15.30.61

a reassuring serenity. Kensett,

whose father was also an artist, One of Kensett’s favorite sites
was born in Cheshire, Conn., and was Lake George, which, by the
trained as an engraver. mid-19th century, had become
In 1840, Kensett sailed to a mecca for landscape painters and
England to visit his grandparents a much-visited tourist resort in
and study painting in Europe. He New York’s Adirondack Mountains.
spent two years in Paris, drawing He visited the lake often between
at the École Préparation des Beaux- 1850 and his death in 1872.
Arts, before returning to London In fact, Kensett completed
to settle his grandmother’s estate. more than a dozen works of Lake
He briefly returned to France, then George, the largest and most well
moved to Italy and, after further known of which is this version,
travels in Europe, sailed back to now in The Metropolitan Museum
the U.S. in 1847. of Art. Commissioned by a banker,
Back home, Kensett began it was first exhibited publicly at the
painting New York State and New National Academy of Design, in
England scenes, subjects that were 1869. According to a review in the
associated with the Hudson River New York Evening Post, Kensett’s
School, with overtones of English painting was “one of the noblest
influences. In the 1850s, he found pictures in the gallery … (it) always
his mature voice as a painter. His draws an admiring crowd about it.”
compositions—largely devoid More than 150 years later, it’s con-
of figures—became increasingly sidered the artist’s masterpiece.
abstract, with land shapes bal-
anced against flat patterns of sky Jerry N. Weiss is a contributing writer
and water. All is swathed in still- to art magazines and teaches at the
ness, evoking a transcendent state. Art Students League of New York.

“One of the noblest pictures in the gallery …

(it) always draws an admiring crowd about it.”
— N E W YO R K E V E N I N G P O ST

6 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 The viewer’s eye is led beyond the shoreline to a series of In a letter to his daughter in 1791, Thomas Jefferson
silhouetted mountains that descend at the left, framing a dark- described the lake’s qualities that Kensett would de-
ened island, in front of which is placed a lone figure in a canoe. pict years later: “Lake George is without comparison,
With a limited palette, Kensett expertly controlled the nuanced the most beautiful water I ever saw; formed by
green-grays and browns to suggest spatial depth in an overcast a contour of mountains into a basin … finely inter-
atmosphere. He began by drawing the composition in pencil spersed with islands, its water limpid as crystal, and
over white priming, then toned the canvas with red paint, the mountain sides covered with rich groves … down
leaving the drawing still visible. Over this, he painted the land- to the water-edge: here and there precipices of rock
scape, adding a series of thinly scumbled layers of pigment. … checker the scene and save it from monotony.”

Compared to the large, cinematic landscapes of contemporaries such as Frederick Church and Albert Bierstadt, Kensett’s Lake
George is notably subdued in detail and drama. Art historian John Paul Driscoll wrote, “The intimate tranquility of his paintings,
a function of the artist’s transcendental faith in the perfection of Creation, found its ultimate expression in Lake George.”

ArtistsNetwork.com 7
Prime CREATIVITY CHALLENGE

A Rose by Any Other Name

Grow your painting skills with this
one subject/four media challenge.
By Carol Marine

I f you’re only ever painting within your comfort zone or

for sales purposes, you may inadvertently be impeding your
growth as an artist. You’re relying on things that have worked
for you in the past instead of trying something new that could
potentially take your art to the next level. It takes a lot of
courage to experiment, and while you certainly won’t like the
outcome every time (it’s impossible!), I guarantee you’ll learn
a lot and grow steadily as an artist. Take this one subject/four
media painting challenge and see what you discover.

THE OUTCOME
Here are several takeaways from my own one subject/four media painting
THE challenge (opposite):

CHALLENGE • Because I’m most comfortable working in oil, I used it first, but painted
more tightly and made smaller marks than I did when working in acrylic,
The instructions are simple:
gouache or digital. Simply put, I was overcontrolling the process.
• When painting the acrylic and gouache versions, my brushstrokes were
• Pick a rose (or roses) from life looser. Upon final examination of the four works, I found that I actually
or, if you prefer, work from preferred this looser approach.
a reference photo like I did. • I subconsciously interpreted the reference photo differently every time.
• Select a medium, paint the For example, there’s more value contrast in the digital version than in
flower(s) fairly quickly and the other three. Meanwhile, the oil version reads as though the roses are
then place the finished paint- bathed in a much softer light, which makes me want to think more about
ing out of sight. contrast in my oil paintings.
• Choose a new medium— • The proportions of the roses are slightly different in each painting
perhaps one you don’t typically because I drew them freehand rather than on a grid. I actually like the
use or one you’d like to exper- shapes in the oil painting best, as they de-emphasize that one odd petal
iment with—and paint the on the upper-right of the largest rose.
subject again. • This is a great way to create studies for a final painting.
• Repeat this process with as
many different media as you’d Which is your favorite? I’m surprised that mine isn’t the one in oil; it’s
like. I suggest trying at least actually the gouache painting. Thanks to this challenge, I’m more encouraged
four for variety’s sake. to experiment with other subjects and media, even—and especially—those
with which I’m not completely comfortable.
Not into roses? Use any subject
that appeals to you. The purpose Carol Marine is an artist, an instructor and the author of several books, including
of this challenge is to let loose, Daily Painting: Paint Small and Often to Become a More Creative, Productive
experiment and go with the flow. and Successful Artist. She’s known for her daily painting philosophy and practice.

FIND MORE CREATIVE EXERCISES UNDER “TUTORIALS” AT CAROLMARINE.COM.

EXPERIMENTATION IN BLOOM
For this one subject/four media challenge, I used a photo reference of three pink roses (opposite)
as my subject, and oil, acrylic, gouache and a digital program on my iPad as my four media.
My objective for each painting wasn’t necessarily to create a refined piece of art but instead to
“suggest” the subject. I think of this approach as painting a poem rather than a dissertation. With
this in mind, I kept my time commitment limited and my style loose while still striving for accurate
values and color relationships.
There are natural limitations with each medium, of course. I found, for example, that I couldn’t make
the darks as dark as I wanted when working in gouache. And in both gouache and acrylic, I couldn’t paint
opaque light colors over dark hues, so I had to plan ahead and work from light to dark. Instead of feeling
frustrated, I chose to embrace and learn from these limitations. It’s all about embracing experimentation
(and imperfection) and finding delight—and new possibilities—in the unexpected.

Roses No. 1 (oil on panel, 6x6) Roses No. 2 (acrylic on panel, 6x6)

Roses No. 3 (gouache on illustration board, 5x5) Roses No. 4 (digital; Infinite Painter with the square
pastel “brush,” 6x6)

ArtistsNetwork.com 9
Prime OFF THE CANVAS

These Walls Do Talk

A husband-and-wife team rejuvenates Boston’s historic buildings
with hand-rendered signage and murals.
By Steve Aust

E ver since iron oxide, charcoal and ochre were used

to adorn the walls of France’s Lascaux Cave about
17,000 years ago, environmental graphics writ large
have captivated people. More recently, a walk through old
neighborhoods replete with historic buildings often reveals
resurrecting the signmaking craft. Murals, in particular,
have become an increasingly popular form of commercial
and public art that encourages passersby to disengage
temporarily from digital stimuli and appreciate what’s
beautifully rendered on surfaces immediately before them.
“ghost signs”—faded wall murals that recount the build- Josh Luke and Meredith Kasabian, the husband-and-
ings’ historical legacies and character. wife team that operates Best Dressed Signs, in Boston,
During the late 20th century, murals appeared to be has honed the mural-making craft for more than a decade.
headed to obsolescense, viewed as relics wistfully remem- The couple’s skills culminate in stunning murals and envi-
bered but ultimately cast aside. Thankfully, even as today’s ronmental graphics that add considerably to Beantown’s
society has become more digitally enmeshed, artisans are already stately milieu of history, architecture and local color.

10 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

SIGNING UP
A native Californian, Josh earned
a bachelor’s degree in painting from
University of California Santa Cruz.
He further perfected his sign- and
mural-painting skills as an appren-
tice under proprietor Damon Styer’s
tutelage at New Bohemia Signs, San
Francisco’s longest-running sign shop.
Josh and Meredith met in San
Francisco and, in 2010, they moved
cross-country to her native Boston
and established Best Dressed Signs.
Meredith holds a master’s degree
in English literature from Boston
College. Her passion for history and
architecture, along with her well-
honed organizational skills, dovetail
with Josh’s design acumen.

“We work well together because we have complementary

roles,” Meredith says. “Josh leads the design process, and
I provide input. I actually paint most of a mural—the large
blocks of solid colors—and then Josh completes the pin-
striping and finer details.”
Josh’s portfolio reflects his fondness for mid-century
modern aesthetics, and also captures the Art Deco and Art
Nouveau motifs used in some of the company’s projects.
“Sign-painting tends to be a bit more rigid from a content
and design standpoint,” Josh notes, “while murals allow
for a looser style and the opportunity to experiment.”
Best Dressed Signs’ work has gradually migrated to an
emphasis on murals, as clients look to make bold state-
ments amid a challenging landscape for bricks-and-mortar
businesses. A building’s architecture and its surroundings
greatly influence mural design, as do the client’s preference
and type of establishment.
Because signmakers are often overlooked as artists,
Josh and Meredith are grateful—and delighted—to pres-
ent their works at three galleries this year. One of Josh’s
pieces was included in a group show at Galleries 1988, in
Los Angeles, over the winter, and the couple’s lettering
installation at Tender Art Space, in Concord, Mass., was
Meredith Kasabian and Josh Luke are the owners and artists on display in February. In May and June, a portfolio
behind Boston’s Best Dressed Signs. retrospective is on tap at Jameson & Thompson Picture
OPPOSITE Framers, in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood, which
A Best Dressed Signs’ flower-laden mural embellishes Papercuts is home to many of their murals.
bookstore, located in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood. On the following pages is an up-close look at several
of the duo’s projects that offer a personal touch to Boston’s
TOP
charm—and attest to the fact that Josh and Meredith have
Josh stands atop the Rosebud—a Somerville, Mass., diner
car that dates back to 1941—after the placement of his hand- their pulse on the sign(s) of the times.
rendered sign.
Steve Aust is a Cincinnati-based freelance arts writer.

ArtistsNetwork.com 11
Prime OFF THE CANVAS

THE FOURS QUINCY KINGSBORO

Bostonians love their sports teams—and their sports bars. One such establishment
is The Fours Quincy, a well-known pub in Quincy, Mass., that underwent a major PARK
renovation in 2019. Concurrently, an adjacent building was torn down as part of Kingsboro Park is located on a
a community development project. The bar owners realized that a newly exposed side street in Jamaica Plain, the
wall provided the opportunity for a compelling visual statement. revitalized Boston neighborhood
Using elements of the pub’s existing logo designed by Jessica McCourt, Josh of approximately 40,000 that’s
perfected an initial hand-rendered sketch in Adobe Illustrator. An application of home to many artists and creative
masonry primer prepared the exposed brick. Meredith and Josh used a projector professionals. A local entrepreneur
to set the pattern and, standing in a bucket lift hoisted 50 feet in the air, completed commissioned the mural in gratitude
the mural using exterior latex paint and a combination of thick-nap paint rollers, for the community’s impact on his life.
Wooster shortcuts and other synthetic The design (below), which Best
bristle brushes for the 14x18-foot mural. Dressed Signs created in 2013, was
“In total, the project took about two inspired by chromolithography—
weeks to complete,” Meredith says. a 19th-century color-printing tech-
“It was challenging to incorporate an nique that incorporated saturated,
existing logo into a new custom design. high-gloss colors common in ad-
And being that far off the ground when vertisements from that era. The
painting is a challenge unto itself!” horizontal stone and embedded
image represent the vintage process;
the produce and flora reflect the
building’s legacy as a former grocery
and florist shop; and the music box
honors the invention’s legacy as being
one of the first ways many people
were able to bring music into their
homes. The typeface reflects late-
1800s promotional fonts.
After creating the pattern by
hand using pounce bags, Josh and
Meredith painted the 8x25-foot
mural early in their careers using
ABOVE
oil-based enamel paint and synthetic
Meredith worked 50
feet above ground to bristle brushes. “We worked on that
paint The Fours project for about two months,” notes
Quincy mural. Meredith, “and learned a great deal
about technique and materials.”
LEFT
The finished sign Josh adds, “In retrospect, we
serves as a beacon probably would’ve used less red
for hungry sports fans. paint; it has faded a bit over time.”

The Kingsboro
Park mural
serves as a
contemporary
ode to the
neighborhood’s
vibrant past.
 ROSEBUD
The Rosebud is a classic diner car that has
been in operation in the same Somerville,
Mass., location for more than 80 years. The
client wanted to replace the former vinyl-
lettered lightbox sign with a hand-painted
sign reminiscent of the original.
The project took about two weeks to
complete. Painting on the polycarbonate
surface presented a challenge because the
impact-resistant plastic wouldn’t absorb
paint as readily as wood. It was also essential
to saturate the paint colors to accentuate the
sign’s backlighting for optimal readability.

PAPERCUTS
In May 2020, Kate Layte,
owner of Papercuts bookstore,
commissioned a mural and
signage for her new Jamaica Plain
store that reflects the nature of
the surrounding area—and offers
a nod to adventure to evoke the
wonder of reading.
For the hanging panel signs on
the building façade and inside the
shop (above), Josh and Meredith
used ½-inch-thick MDO sealed
on the edges with West System
epoxy. Josh drew the designs by
hand before rendering them in
Photoshop and Illustrator. The
foliage surrounding the lettering
is inspired by the work of iconic
19th-century British artist William
TOP
Morris (1834–96). Josh works assembly-line
The panels, which measure 26x11 feet, style to paint the panels. TOP; ABOVE; INSET
are painted using oil-based enamel and are Josh hand-rendered a classic mid-century
embellished with 24k gold leaf. The window (above) ABOVE typeface (top) in keeping with the neon style
A foliage wreath encircling of the “Rosebud” sign. The panel was painted
is painted with oil-based enamel and water-gilded a bird in flight adds a sense using oil-based enamels (inset) on semi-
accents, and the building mural (page 10) is of whimsy to the store’s translucent polycarbonate in the studio before
rendered with exterior latex paint. vibrant signage. it was affixed to the backlit lightbox (above).

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BEST DRESSED SIGNS, VISIT BESTDRESSEDSIGNS.COM. FOR A DEEP DIVE INTO GHOST SIGNS,
SEE GHOSTSIGNS.CO.UK OR EPHEMERASOCIETY.ORG/GHOST-SIGNS.

ArtistsNetwork.com 13
Prime THE ASK

WE ASKED...

What’s an important WE ASKE

D. . .

thing to know when WERED

plein air painting? YO U A N S

“Squint, squint, squint.

And don’t paint every-

“Simplify! It’s
“It’s not easy. Remember that thing you see. Simplify.”
—HEIDI MALOTT
tempting to be the only pictures you’re going
inspired and seduced to see in art publications or on “!Write a few words
by all the information social media are the successful about how the scene
out there—not to
mention the changing paintings—and not all the makes you feel and why
you picked it. If you finish
light and moving failures that contributed to the the piece in the studio,
objects. Creating learning process.” you can apply this
a value study helps memory to your work.”
‘freeze’ the lighting KATHLEEN DUNPHY —ADELE PARTINGTON
ARTIST
and solidify what’s
most important about “You’re not painting a
the scene.” “For a landscape painter, finished product; you’re
out there to improve
DAN MONDLOCH working en plein air is your your skills and add tools
ARTIST school. Every answer you need, to your toolbelt.”
all your truths, are right in —ANNABELLE LEE

front of you. Light conditions, “Keep a written list of

as well as color temperature, all necessary things and
check them off before
value, atmosphere, shape and you head outside.
form; they’re all there. You There’s nothing worse
simply have to observe than arriving at the
perfect scene without
carefully and know that your paintbrushes!”
sometimes you’ll be surprised —RACHEL EICHHOLTZ
by what you actually see.”
“Be kind to the people
Dan Mondloch painting on
location at Laguna Beach, Calif. LYN ASSELTA who disturb you.”
ARTIST —DARLEEN PARK

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM TO ANSWER QUESTIONS FOR “THE ASK.” RESPONSES MAY BE EDITED FOR LENGTH AND CLARITY.

14 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 Bu ld

“ H AV I N G A
CLEAR GOAL
WHEN YOU GO
O U T PA I N T I N G W I L L
Michael Chesley Johnson MAKE YOU A BET TER
works on-site with a bare-
bones plein air kit. Even his
water container—a recycled
P A I N T E R , F A S T E R .”
cream chese tub—proves
that supplies don't have to —MICHAEL CHESLEY JOHNSON
be fancy (or expensive) to be
effective. Just get out there
and paint!

ArtistsNetwork.com 15
Build TUTORIAL

PLEIN AIR TOOLS

Gear & Goals

In Part 1 of a 2-part series about painting en plein air, Michael Chesley Johnson shares his
best advice on what to take with you—and what to leave behind.

P acking for
a plein air
outing should
not be like packing
for a camping trip. It’s
best to keep it simple.
The bare minimum is
something to paint
with and something
to paint on. You don’t
even need an easel.
There have been
many times when
I’ve gone out with
just a small gouache
kit and worked in my
lap while sitting on a
rock. If you’re more
ambitious, however,
the following tools
and supplies will
expand your plein
air experience.

When painting
in the field, I like
to keep things
simple and
compact. Most
often, everything
fits into a small
backpack so
I can get to
my painting
location in one
trip from the
car. Sometimes
I take even less,
perhaps just a
small shoulder
bag for my
gouache kit.

16 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 ◄ Pochade Box
The 8x10 Cigar Box
EASEL made by Guerrilla
If you prefer not to paint in your lap, you’ll need Painter has room to
a field easel. There’s a wide range to fit every need. store wet panels,
brushes, paint tubes
Here are some things to look for: and a small turp jar.
• Lightness. Lugging a heavy easel to your
painting spot can be cumbersome. Choose
a lighter option, so you can carry it—and all
your materials—in one trip from the car.

• Simplicity. An easel that’s complicated to

set up steals precious time and energy. The
fewer the pieces, hinges, screws and bolts,
the better.

• Stability. Make sure the easel has a broad

footprint so it can withstand some wind. Clamshell Easel ►
The 10x12 ezTravel Box made by Artwork
If you get one with a tripod, make sure the
Essentials includes a shelf that can be used as
head isn’t made of plastic; you can’t tighten a palette extension or a place to lay brushes
plastic enough to avoid wobble. and palette knives. The panel fits on the lid
with adjustable brackets.
Basic types of easels include:
• Pochade. This box easel has room for every-
thing, including wet panel storage, brushes
and paints. It’s small enough that it can be
used in your lap without a tripod (although
most come with a tripod mount).

• Clamshell. A clamshell easel is basically

a stripped-down box easel. The bottom part
serves as a palette, and the top is a panel
holder. It requires a modular approach to
your gear, as you’ll need to bring a separate ◄ Palette-and-Panel Setup
wet panel carrier, turp jar, paint box and The Traveler from En Plein
brush holder (plus a tripod). Air Pro consists of a shelf
that fits on the tripod for
• Palette/panel holder combo. In most paints and solvent; a panel
or paper holder that fits
versions of this easel, the palette rests on on the tripod mast; plus a
the legs of a tripod, with a panel holder bracket that holds brushes.
attached to the tripod’s mast. Like the The setup comes in different
clamshell concept, it’s modular, and you’ll configurations for different
media; pictured is the
need to carry other items separately. watercolor version.

• French. This type of easel has plenty of

room for materials, serves as its own tripod
and is incredibly stable in the wind. The only
drawback is that it can be heavy and takes a
little experience to set up. Although a French
easel is considered “old school” nowadays, it’s
my go-to when all else fails.
French Easel ►
Most likely, you’ll find no perfect solution. The Weston French Easel from Jack
Visit your painting buddies and see what they use. Richeson & Co. comes in two sizes—
Chances are, they’ll have a setup completely differ- full (pictured) and half. Either easel
can hold all your supplies, and a
ent than yours—and it might suit your needs better. stretched canvas or panel can stay
attached to the front of the folded
easel for transport.
Build TUTORIAL

MATERIALS
When it comes to plein air materials,
plan on taking a very stripped-down
version of whatever you use in the
studio. As with easels, the same con-
cepts apply: lightness, simplicity and
stability. For example, if you’re an
oil painter, take two brushes rather
than eight. Take a limited palette of
three colors instead of a dozen. Take
items that will stay securely in your
work area without being blown over
by wind. Most importantly, take only
the minimum you need to accomplish
your goal. For instance, if I want to
study tree shapes from life without
worrying about color, I’ll take just my
sketchbook and pencil. Here are some
suggested basic supplies:

• Basic painting or sketching

kit. It takes some experience
to figure out how little you
really need, so don’t worry ▲ Here you can see
if you don’t get it right the the Guerrilla Painter
first time. If you’re an oil 8x10 Cigar Box fully
loaded. Although it has a
painter, make sure you have tripod fitting on the bottom,
a way to transport wet paint- I sit with it in my lap.
ings. Pastel painters, bring a
tablecloth to place under your
easel so you can find dropped
pastels easily and minimize I use a variety of materials for gathering ►
breakage. If you’re an acrylic reference material. Here, I’ve used pencil
sketches and gouache for capturing tree
painter, take a spray bottle of shapes I might use in a finished painting.
water to moisten your paint
if you work in dry locations.
Watercolor or gouache paint-
ers, you may not even need to
bring water—I’ve painted at
the beach with sea water!

• A stool. Useful if you need to ▼ Gouache Kit

In addition to a set of pan gouache,
sit and can’t find a large rock.
a watercolor sketchbook, a set
Or, take a piece of egg crate of short-handled brushes and
foam to sit on. a collapsible water container,
I may take a piece of egg
• An umbrella. Handy when crate foam to sit on.
working in strong sunlight,
but I often leave it behind
when I know I can find areas
of shade.

• A cellphone. Especially if
you paint alone. Let someone
know where you’re going.

• Water and snacks. These are

must-haves!

18 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

◄ If I don’t have SETTING A GOAL
a small panel You’ll find that having a clear goal when you
available when go out painting will make you a better painter,
I want to create
faster. Consider having one of four simple goals
studies, I’ll take
a larger panel before heading out the door:
and divide it with
masking tape so • Explore an area. This is what I do if I’m
I can paint two or in unfamiliar territory. When in Scotland
more studies on it.
These are studies of for the first time, for example, I didn’t
how light works on know what to paint. So, rather than mak-
a variety of surfaces: ing finished paintings, I focused on just
cacti, rocks and sketching the things that were new to me,
distant mountains.
such as craggy castle ruins. It’s a relaxing
approach to painting, and it increases
your familiarity with a strange land.

• Gather reference material. It’s like

exploring, but with more focus. On my
Scotland trip, I became enamored of a
beautiful, ancient stone bridge and knew
I wanted to make a big painting of it when
I got home. I gathered references: color
studies in gouache, pencil sketches and
photos. Once home, where I had all the
tools and materials I needed at my dis-
posal, I was able to create that larger work.

• Work on a skill or problem. This is

usually a workshop goal, but you can do
it on your own. If, for example, you don’t
understand color temperature, consider
making color studies of adjacent shapes
that differ in temperature. Or you may
have a question you want to answer: Is it
true that white in shadow is darker than
black in light? See for yourself by observ-
ing and painting such a situation.

• Create a finished painting. This can be

a Herculean task compared to the others.
You have to be at the top of your game,
employing good design, good color and
good edge treatment. I usually reserve
this for plein air competitions or when
I’m practicing for one. Many artists, how-
◄ A small pastel box
from Heilman, Inc.—the ever, enjoy bringing a painting fully to
“Backpack” box—and completion on-location regularly. It takes
a backboard on which to experience, time and energy, and, in my
tape my pastel paper are opinion, plenty of coffee.
all I need for a successful
outing in the field.
Even if you only reach one of these goals on
your plein air excursion, sometimes it’s nice to let
serendipity be your guide—and this is probably
the most relaxing goal of all.

Michael Chesley Johnson is an artist, workshop

instructor and author of Beautiful Landscape
Painting Outdoors: Mastering Plein Air.

ArtistsNetwork.com 19
Build LESSON

WORKING FROM LIFE

Optical vs.
Conceptual Models
Todd M. Casey compares and contrasts the benefits of
optical and conceptual approaches to painting.

W hen I was an
art student, I
remember feel-
ing overwhelmed any time I
had to draw or paint a model
from life. It seemed so daunt-
ing. Of course, a component
of working from life is that
our perception can get the
best of us. One of my teach-
ers, Max Ginsburg, always
reminded us to “draw what
you see, not what you think
you see.”
The way an art student
approaches a drawing is often
dictated by the class, program
or department they’re in.
Some instructors say to copy
exactly what you see, while
others advise you to consider
the basic shapes that make up
the form, or to find the center- ABOVE
line and draw that in first. I painted Silver Bowl With
Back then, I had no idea Limes and Red Cloth (oil on
canvas, 6x9) from life with
that there are, generally,
both optical and conceptual
two different models for models considered.
approaching a drawing or
painting—and that the RIGHT
method applied would depend Most of the Impressionists
took an optical approach,
largely on how the artist was painting from life to create
trained. Fast-forward years works such as Red Mullets
later, and now I teach my stu- (oil on canvas, 12¼x18⅛) by
dents about these two main Claude Monet.
HARVARD ART MUSEUMS/FOGG
approaches: the optical and MUSEUM. FRIENDS OF THE FOGG ART
the conceptual. MUSEUM FUND

20 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

Notice the loose blocking in these progressive shots of a drawing I did from a cast of Ulysses S. Grant. It was all about big general shapes and their
relationships in the early stages. It became more refined, working from general to specific shapes, as the piece progressed.

OPTICAL: WHAT WE SEE

The optical, or visual perception, values before you and then transfer- which it takes a photo. Perhaps this
model, is a purely visual approach to ring those same relationships to your is one of the reasons why drawing
making art. The optical model involves rendering. (Incidentally, squinting from a photo reference can often be
directly copying what you see before your eyes is a good way to see only the much less challenging than working
you, so it’s dependent on the subject big picture if you don’t want to get from life.
actually being in front of you. It’s a bogged down in the details.) When working from life, your
comparative model of life to art. An interesting way to think about brain is averaging out two different
To overcome the perception prob- this method is to compare it to the way perceptions. Since you draw and paint
lems that often come with working the eye works. If you were to close one with both eyes open, each eye sees
optically, break down the visual eye and use only the open eye to view from a slightly different point of view.
data into two-dimensional shapes, the scene in front of you, you could, Similar to a stereoscope, the brain
value patterns or even a notan—the theoretically, place a sheet of glass averages those two perspectives into
Japanese concept for the design of between you and the subject and then the result you see in front of you. This
light and dark. Then compare values trace the visual information before creates a sense of depth and space. (See
and colors in relation to one another you directly onto the glass. (See the the Holmes Stereoscope illustration on
in the painting. This is a largely Douglas Flynt illustration on page page 22.) That’s why a person who has
two-dimensional way of seeing, as 22.) A camera works the same way, vision in only one eye usually loses the
you’re comparing the shapes and with one perspective (or lens) from ability to perceive depth.

ArtistsNetwork.com 21
Build LESSON

The illustration on the left, by Douglas Flynt, depicts a two-dimensional way of seeing. The visual information appears somewhat flat—as if drawn
on a sheet of glass that’s been placed between you and the subject. A three-dimensional way of seeing, however, averages two slightly different
perspectives of the subject. A Holmes stereoscope (pictured on the right) contains two pictures that are slightly different from each other. When
viewed through the device, the two images are averaged out, combining into one picture with a sense of depth.

CONCEPTUAL:
WHAT WE KNOW
The conceptual model is more of a prediction model,
and it comes with a profound understanding of anat-
omy, perspective and construction. This helps build
a theoretical prediction model so you can work with-
out the subject being directly in front of you. This
model lends itself to an imaginative way of working
that doesn’t require a photo reference.
When you look at a subject, you’re reading its sur-
face, but a conceptual approach involves understanding
what’s under the surface (kind of like having X-ray
vision). If your subject is a figure, for example, this
would constitute the muscles and skeletal system.
When it comes to light, the conceptual approach is Conceptual drawing
all about understanding the geometry of the planes is done from imagi-
and forms in relation to the source. This helps create nation, with little to
a prediction model of how light will fall, which shows no reference, as seen
in the sketchbook
tonal progressions, the projections of shadows onto
alligator drawing
adjacent planes and more. I did as an animation
One drawback of working conceptually is that the student (above). The
artwork can end up looking a bit too general and miss character drawing
some of the subject’s nuance. If you have a deep sense (left) was done
with a conceptual
of anatomy, perspective and structure, however, you model, which is how
have all the tools you need to create an idea and find animators draw most
the means to express it. of the time.

22 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Many of the Old Masters used both optical and
conceptual models in the creation of their paintings.
Along the way, the two models seem to have separated,
with the conceptual moving toward animation and
illustration and the optical to fine art. It was most likely
the Impressionists who created the break in their quest
to try to capture the impression of what they observed,
rather than a realistic copy.
It’s worth noting that most people have a compo-
nent of both of these ways of thinking. Today, many art
schools still work in a very optical manner in their artistic
training, which is how I started. However, some fine art
painters, like Jon DeMartin, create work with the concep-
tual model in mind first, working out the details of the
picture and then finding information to serve the story.
I was trained as an illustrator, an animator and also
as a fine artist. As a result, I like to oscillate between the
optical and conceptual models. I start with the optical
approach first and then switch to a conceptual approach
to refine my two-dimensional block-in. It’s like building
a bridge from two sides that will eventually meet in the
middle. When you consider both of these approaches,
you’ll have a solid understanding of what you see com-
bined with what you know.
A conceptual way of working is to first come up with your
concept and then create studies and sketches to work out the
idea, as seen in the studies (above) and sketches (top right) Todd M. Casey is an award-winning painter, a sought-after
that Jon DeMartin created before painting Venetian Balcony art instructor and author of The Art of Still Life and The
(top left; oil on canvas, 28x22). Oil Painter’s Color Handbook.

ArtistsNetwork.com 23
 “NOTHING IS
E V E R S TAT I C
I N N AT U R E .”
— K AT H L E E N B . H U D S O N

Spring Runoff, Running Eagle Falls

(detail; oil on linen, 36x24)
by Kathleen B. Hudson

ArtistsNetwork.com 25
WINNERS • Over 60 Art Competition

GOLDEN HOUR
Winners of the 17th Annual Over 60 Competition

The collection of memories and adventures that make up a lifetime is inspiration

for many artists, and none more than those in their later decades. When it comes
to the winners of the 17th Annual Over 60 Competition, nothing has deepened the
connection between creativity and the canvas more than this storage bank of
experiences. We asked our top 10 winners about their winning art—and what fuels
their artistic growth through the years—and their answers may surprise you.
Edited by Doreen Manning

Sally Cooper
PARKLAND, FLORIDA
Island Flora (acrylic on canvas, 51x48)

Since seeing a Joan Mitchell retrospec-

tive in Baltimore, in 2022, I’ve wanted MY ART STORY
to create an abstract floral painting. In In 2004, I won first place in
Florida, where I live, there are many the Artists Magazine Annual
beautiful bougainvillea plants. I was Competition. I’ve won other
inspired by their amazing magenta prestigious awards since that
shades. Typically, I begin by activat- time—most recently Award III in
ing the surface with mark-making, the National Watercolor Society’s
using acrylic paint, graphite pencils 103rd International Open Exhibition,
and water-soluble Stabilo 3 in 1 pen- in 2023. I’ve had the honor of
cils. Normally, I work in a triad of teaching abstract art at the Coral
colors—plus black, white and raw Springs Museum of Art, as well as at
umber. For this painting, however, I the Creative Arts School, in Delray
decided on a variety of reds, magentas, Beach, Fla. When COVID hit in 2020,
pinks, purples, greens and blues—plus black, white and raw umber. I used I started teaching abstract painting
some pure color and mixed some colors for harmony. One of my biggest classes via Zoom.
challenges in painting abstract florals is to make the florals not read too
“flowery.” This was something I had noticed in Mitchell’s work, specif-
ically with her sunflowers. I also wanted to keep the painting light and
airy, so I allowed for some large, negative neutral space. My favorite part GOOD ADVICE
of the artistic process is applying spontaneous mark-making throughout The best piece of advice I can
the piece.
give is to just keep practicing.
VISIT SALLYCOOPERART.COM. You have to do the work.

26 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

Over 60 Competition • WINNERS

ArtistsNetwork.com 27
WINNERS • Over 60 Art Competition

“ I F I N D G R E AT E N J O Y M E N T I N T R A N S F E R R I N G C O L O R ,
T O N E A N D L I G H T O N T O T H E C A N VA S T O C R E AT E S O M E T H I N G
B E A U T I F U L A N D T R U E .”

28 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 Over 60 Competition • WINNERS

Alison Gilmour
BIRKENHEAD, AUCKLAND. NEW ZEALAND
In the Conservatory (oil on Berge linen, 48x60)

For this commission, the client wanted a painting of pink peonies

and blue hydrangeas to hang in her conservatory. Those particular
blooms weren’t in season at that time, however, so after trying
several avenues to find the flowers, I reached out to some friends
in the events business in the U.K. They put me in touch with their
colleague, who was Creative Director at the time for Pulbrook and
Gould, a renowned florist in London. After a quick briefing via
Zoom, he photographed a stunning arrangement that was perfect
for the situation.
I sent the photos to my client, and she chose the ones she liked
best. I laid out a composition in Photoshop, then projected several MY ART STORY
sizes proportionately onto the wall, where the painting was to hang, I’ve always had an interest in art,
in order to determine the best size. This way, the client could also starting from when I could hold
clearly see which size and placement would work best. a pencil. I’ve always been drawn
Next, I penciled the layout onto stretched Berge linen. When to the process of transferring
the client questioned whether the painting should have a white what’s in my head onto media.
background instead of black, I printed the composition out to size In my younger years, I took art
with both backgrounds and then placed the mock-ups on the wall classes after school and during
where we were able to see that the white background did indeed breaks. When it was time to
work best for the room. My clients are always very impressed and attend college, I wasn’t exactly
reassured by this process of sizing and laying things out. They sure what I wanted to do, but
know my style, so they know exactly what they’re getting. I applied to a graphic design
My favorite part of the creative process, once I’ve come up school. I got accepted and
with the concept, is the actual technique of painting. I find such that set me on a path that has
joy in transferring color, tone and light onto the canvas to create led me to where I am today. In
something beautiful and true. late 2000, I took some evening
drawing classes with a friend—
mostly for something fun to do.
While in those classes I began
experimenting with acrylic
paint. These results looked
GOOD ADVICE pretty good to me, so I just kept
One of the most important pieces of advice I can give going. Eventually I approached
a gallery—and they were keen
was given to me by my gallery dealer and mentor, the to show my work. My first solo
renowned late Tim Wilson: “Keep on painting, and it show in a gallery took place
will all become clear. When you keep painting, not in September 2003. It was a
only do your skills improve with practice, but you also sellout, as were subsequent
shows at various galleries over
discover things about yourself and your work that the next seven years.
move you forward. This can produce amazing results.”
VISIT ALISONGILMOUR.CO.NZ.

ArtistsNetwork.com 29
WINNERS • Over 60 Art Competition

Ken Graning
HOLLY, MICHIGAN
Schaiwassee River
(gouache on Canson illustration board, 18x24)

The inspiration for my winning piece was the

vibrancy of a northern Michigan forest in October.

MY ART STORY
I live in Michigan, and the fall color displays of the
trees and forests are breathtaking.
I paint primarily with gouache because I like the I began my artist career as an
versatility of that medium. I believe that design illustrator after graduating from
and composition are the keys to a successful paint- Chouinard Art Institute (now
ing, so I often do small preliminary tonal sketches known as California Institute of
to find a composition that will work for the image I the Arts), in Los Angeles, in 1966.
have in mind. Once I’ve done that, I may do a small I worked as a studio Illustrator in
color version to determine the color palette I want a Detroit art studio for about 10
to use. The last step before painting is to roughly years, at which point I decided to
sketch onto my surface in pencil. I paint mostly on become a freelancer and worked
Arches watercolor paper, though I sometimes work out of my home studio for the next
on Canson cold-pressed board. When I’m painting 20 years. I retired from illustration
en plein air, however, my process is much different. in 1995 and began painting the
I just set up my paint box and roughly sketch a things I wanted to paint—without
composition on my surface, then have at it. commercial constraints. I’m now
For this painting, I was experimenting with about 25 years into my career as
a play of warm versus cool colors. I believe that a full-time painter. I paint a wide
playing warms and cools in close proximity creates variety of scenes and subjects,
vibrancy and energy, but the amount of each color but am most comfortable with
used is key to combining these two elements to landscape painting. I exhibit
achieve the right balance. There’s always uncer- my work in galleries and
tainty at the beginning of any painting. Then, once competitions, both local and
I reach a point where I know the painting is going international. I’m an Associate
to succeed, I enter a zone where the piece starts to Member of the American
paint itself. I love that feeling. It’s like I’m on cruise Watercolor Society as well as a
control. I’m just the artist attached to the brush. few local art organizations.

GOOD ADVICE
If you are a realist painter, learn to draw. This is a fundamental foundational
skill that must be mastered. When I was in art school, for the first two years
we were required to draw from the human figure in life-drawing classes at
least twice a week, along with other classes in design, color theory, painting
techniques and various other courses required for a B.F.A. I drew a lot of
naked people in my four years at Chouinard Art Institute!

VISIT ARTIST-ARTWORK.COM.

30 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

Over 60 Competition • WINNERS

ArtistsNetwork.com 31
 Over 60 Competition • WINNERS

Eileen Nistler
UPTON, WYOMING
Lovingly (colored pencil on museum board, 21x18)

My love of peonies is MY ART

a big inspiration for my
still life pieces. I have STORY
around 40 peony bushes After graduating from
in my gardens. This one Louisiana Tech University
was my first and my with two degrees in
favorite. I call it Sarah architecture and a minor
Bernhardt. The plant in art, I worked as an
was given to me by my architect for a number of
mother when we first years. When I became a
moved to our ranch. It mother, I decided to stay
usually has around 60 home with my kids. I still
blooms per year. needed a creative outlet,
For my process, I layer colored pencils on museum board, however, so I pulled out
blending the colors until I’m satisfied. I like to fully saturate my architecture pencils
the board with color. When I’m finished, I spray many layers and read every book on
of archival varnish. Since I use only lightfast pencils, I’m colored-pencil art that
severely limited when it comes to pink and purple, as those I could find. My technical
hues are notorious for being fugitive colors. I love the cre- drawing experience gave
ative process and I can’t wait to start my next piece—and me a leg up when it came
the one after that! to fine drawing, and it
wasn’t long before I was
winning awards. Twenty
years later, I’m still loving
VISIT EILEENNISTLER.COM. this medium.

GOOD ADVICE
I believe that time and ded-
ication are what it takes to
succeed. I follow the meth-
ods outlined in the book
Atomic Habits. I work at it “ I L O V E T H E C R E AT I V E
every single day. Here’s a
quote from James Clear, the PROCESS AND I CAN’ T WAIT
book’s author, that I keep on T O S TA R T M Y N E X T P I E C E —
my drawing board: “Winners A N D T H E O N E A F T E R T H AT ! ”
and losers have the same
goals. You don’t rise to the
level of your goals; you fall
to the level of your systems.”

ArtistsNetwork.com 33
WINNERS • Over 60 Art Competition

Susan Perrish
LIVONIA, MICHIGAN
Delilah (oil on linen panel, 17x31)

I endeavored to explore color, con-

trast, harmony and story in this
MY ART
painting. There were so many differ- STORY
ent elements, textures and colors, I began drawing at the
I wanted to be sure that the subject’s age of 59—a late start!
profile remained the focal point. I studied portrait and
I took quite a few photos at the end figure drawing with Amy
of a live three-hour painting session Foster at the Birmingham
and combined a few in Photoshop to Bloomfield Art Association
compose the piece so that one’s gaze and subsequently at the
circles back to her face. My model is Atelier School of Art, in
the wonderful and talented Elyse, Royal Oak, Mich. Since
who loves to get into character. 2016, I’ve been a member
I did the initial drawing with a of the Delavie Studio,
light-colored pastel pencil directly where I regularly paint
on an oil-primed linen panel. I got and draw from life. I’ve
detailed with the face and then exhibited in many shows
blocked in the rest to be sure every- around the country,
thing fit properly. With the first including the International
layer, I established local color and Guild of Realism, where
basic value. Once that dried, I applied the second layer, still focusing on the face I recently received the John
and making adjustments until I was happy with the likeness and expression. Singleton Copley Award
The next stage involved painting with the panel positioned upside-down of Excellence. I was also
for a while; it helps me to find my way and see color and shape more clearly. a finalist in the 14th and
I painted quite a few more layers after that, building up light and color with 16th Art Renewal Center
glazes in between. Then I put the painting away so that I could look at it again International salons,
with fresh eyes after a few days. As is always the case, the challenge for me is and a semifinalist in the
deciding when to stop. 15th Salon. My paintings
I experimented with a few different mixtures for the black background of this have been accepted into
painting and ended up using phthalo green (blue shade) and permanent alizarin numerous Oil Painters of
crimson with stand oil to minimize texture from brushstrokes, as they tend to America and National Oil
catch the light on such a dark background. & Acrylic Society (NOAPS)
My favorite part of the artistic process is the idea stage, closely followed by competitions, with one
putting together costume and pose to realize my inspiration. work recently receiving an
Award of Excellence in the
NOAPS Best of America
Exhibition. Currently my
GOOD ADVICE artist husband and I are
preparing for a joint
I think the most important thing you can do as a portrait/ exhibit at the Crooked
figurative artist is to draw and paint from life. All of my Tree Arts Center, in
instruction has been with live models, and I feel it’s by far Petoskey, Mich.
the best way to learn. Also—draw! Draftsmanship skills are
a must, especially in portraiture. VISIT SUSANPERRISH.COM.

34 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

Over 60 Competition • WINNERS

“ M Y F AV O R I T E
PA RT O F T H E
ARTISTIC
PROCESS IS
THE IDEA
S TA G E , C L O S E LY
FOLLOWED
BY P U T T I N G
TOGETHER
COSTUME
AND POSE TO
REALIZE MY
I N S P I R AT I O N .”

ArtistsNetwork.com 35
WINNERS • Over 60 Art Competition

36 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 Over 60 Competition • WINNERS

Ann Ranlett
NEWCASTLE, CALIFORNIA
Heart of San Pedro (scratchboard with watercolor, 8x8)

My husband and I are birders and, while spending

time in Arizona a number of years ago, we visited MY ART STORY
the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. As is true with many artists, I’ve
Near the visitors center is a tree with a cavity in been drawing since I could hold
which a Western screech owl is known to spend time. a crayon. My parents fostered that
We were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of the creative streak in me, along with
owl and take a number of photos. The creature was a love of animals. Growing up,
engaging, the textures of the tree were interesting I wanted to go to veterinary school.
and eye-catching—and I just knew that one of those As I got older, I realized that
photos would become a scratchboard piece someday. would require a lot of schooling,
Working in scratchboard is a subtractive process, so I chose to pursue a B.S. in
using a knife to remove the black ink from the sur- biology. I worked in retail and in
face to reveal the white clay underneath. After the the administration department
initial pass of scratching, I go back in and add ink with a technical pen to create at a local zoo. Eventually I began
additional detail and values where needed. That ink is then scratched to further working for environmental
refine the detail and values. I used this add/subtract method to create some of consulting firms, where I made
the fine crevices and texture seen in the wood and bark. Once the scratching of maps and graphics and analyzed
the entire drawing is about as far as I can take it, I add color with watercolor. field data. Throughout those years,
Once the color is dry, I scratch selectively to fine-tune here and there. art was a hobby. It wasn’t until
I really enjoyed the process of creating the various textures in this drawing. I started creating pet portraits
I didn’t make any amazing process discoveries during its creation, but I did that I realized there might
realize—after it was finished and scanned—that there’s a second heart in the actually be enough of a market
shadow shape to the left of the owl. That was not planned. to make art my profession. With
the support of my husband, I
quit my job and focused on my
artwork. That was more than 20
GOOD ADVICE years ago, and I’m still creating
pet portraits today, among other
Create from what you love. Whether that be a certain subject art. I’m mostly self-taught, with
matter or medium, or both—you have to enjoy what you’re a few art classes along the way.
doing. I have a theory: If I like something, I can’t be the only My light-bulb moment was taking
other person who’s attracted to it. The challenge (and it’s a scratchboard workshop at an
illustrator’s conference in the
no small one) is to get the right eyes on your work. Explore late 1990s. The instructor was
media and techniques to find what suits you. There’s no right using a professional-quality
or wrong way to approach art, but if you’re going to break the scratchboard, and she created the
“traditional rules,” you should understand those rules before most amazing compositions. That’s
how I learned that scratchboard
you break them. Create a consistent body of work once you is far more forgiving than I
figure out what it is you enjoy. You can always choose another expected. I’m honored to be a
path and create a new body of work, but having a hodgepodge Signature Member of American
of art styles isn’t necessarily beneficial. None of this happens Women Artists and the Society of
Animal Artists, a Master Member
overnight, but drive and dedication are key. of the International Society of
Scratchboard Artists and an
VISIT ANNRAN.COM. Ampersand Artist Ambassador.

ArtistsNetwork.com 37
WINNERS • Over 60 Art Competition

Anda Styler
SANDY HOOK, CONNECTICUT
Spring Light (acrylic on aluminum, 18x24)

Emotional connection is what

always drives my creative
MY ART STORY
process. The scene in Spring I graduated from Parsons School
Light depicts an old farm near of Design with a B.A., in 1983.
my house. I taught plein air After spending many hours at
classes there many times. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Last spring, as I was driving writing papers for art history
home one afternoon, I saw class, my goal became to show
this powerful play of light and my work there one day, no matter
shadow as it fell across the how far-fetched it seemed. I was
barn and nearby forsythia, so inspired by the Impressionist
which happened to be in full artists; their work really moved
bloom. I loved how the burst of color cropped out part of me. I wanted my paintings to
the barn. I didn’t have my painting equipment with me, and touch others the same way
I knew I had only minutes before the light would change, so that paintings of the past had
I parked my car and started taking photos. It was only a brief touched me. I see my style as ever
moment in time, but the memory stayed with me. evolving, changing as I change.
I begin every painting with a sketch, or several sketches, I’ve had many great successes
to feel out the composition. Then I do a value study, using with one-person shows, awards,
phthalo blue, transparent red oxide, ultramarine blue, commissioned art for both public
permanent maroon and white. This way, I can lay out the and private spaces, great gallery
composition and tweak the drama before adding colors. For representation, and teaching. My
this piece, the roof, in particular, presented a challenge. It goal now is to continue evolving,
wasn’t easy selecting interesting colors that would also reflect brushstroke by brushstroke, and,
the structure’s age. The tree branches coming in from the left hopefully, help others to do the
were in front of the barn, and the shadows on the ground same through teaching.
were coming from unseen trees from the right. Behind the
barn it was backlit, but the building was also bathed in light
and shadow. Capturing it all was quite a challenge! VISIT ANDASTYLERFINEART.COM.

GOOD ADVICE
Don’t copy. Be who you are. Be original. Be inspired. Look at the artists
you admire and see how they went beyond. Study what inspires you. Draw,
draw, draw. Draw everything. It will teach you to see. Study the light and
how light follows form to create shadows. Notice how the wind changes
the clouds, the temperature, the time of day, the time of year. It all changes
what you’re painting. Watch yourself evolve. Allow for change. Experiment
with color. See what resonates with you. We each have an internal palette
and unique painting style. Find yours. And, lastly, use more paint!

38 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 Over 60 Competition • WINNERS

“ E M O T I O N A L C O N N E C T I O N I S W H AT A L W AY S D R I V E S
M Y C R E AT I V E P R O C E S S .”

ArtistsNetwork.com 39
WINNERS • Over 60 Art Competition

“ I E N J OY E V E RY PA RT O F T H E PA I N T I N G P RO C E S S … I C A N J US T
L O S E M Y S E L F I N T H E W O R K , E S P E C I A L LY W H E N I ’ M W O R K I N G O N
S O M E T H I N G N E W A N D E X P E R I M E N TA L .”

40 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 Over 60 Competition • WINNERS

James Turner
MINNETRISTA, MINNESOTA
You Looking at Me? (watercolor on YUPO, 20x26)

This portrait depicts an

iguana that lives in our
MY ART STORY
backyard in Puerto Rico. I’ve always loved drawing and
He spends most of his time have dabbled in printmaking,
at the top of a palm tree, photography, sculpture and
but often comes down in stained-glass work. About
the afternoons. He’s totally 28 years ago, I decided that
unafraid of us. Once, when I wanted to tackle watercolor,
we were working in the having loved the medium for
yard, he came down and sat years. I took workshops with
on a pile of lumber, refusing great painters once or twice
to move even when we tried a year and painted as much
to scare him off the boards. as I could, while working
I wanted to capture his per- full time as a physician and
sonality in watercolor. raising a family. I joined local
I work on both tradi- watercolor societies, formed
tional watercolor paper and YUPO, though I seem to get the most friendships with fellow artists
attention for my YUPO pieces. I created this piece for a YUPO work- and took up plein air painting.
shop last spring because I wanted to demonstrate the ease of lifting I’ve been competing in plein
watercolor paint on this surface. The entire painting was done by air events for the last 15 years,
lifting the subject out of a dark background. That’s not typical of consistently winning awards,
my work with YUPO, as my process usually involves many other making new friends and having
techniques. This piece turned out so well, however, that I’ve since wonderful experiences. Since
applied the same technique to other subject matter. retiring from medicine five
I enjoy every stage of the painting process—from exploring a wide years ago, I’ve had a lot more
variety of subject matter, to working out how to best express what time to paint and have had
I want to say, to the painting itself. I can just lose myself in the work, some success in regional shows.
especially when I’m working on something new and experimental. A long-time goal was to have my
work exhibited in the American
Watercolor Society’s national
show. After entering several
times, I was accepted in 2020,
and again in 2021. In 2022,
GOOD ADVICE
I gained Signature Member
After teaching on-and-off for 10 years, the advice status and won an award—all
for YUPO pieces. I currently
I would have for all skill levels is pretty simple: The only teach workshops in YUPO
way to get better at painting is to paint—a lot. Take techniques, plein air painting
classes, pick the brains of good painters, look at good and journaling. My goals at this
art in books, magazines and galleries. Then make a lot point in life are to continue to
paint, to improve, to grow in
of paintings. Expect that most of them won’t be very unexpected directions—and to
good at first, especially if you’re attempting techniques have as much fun as possible.
you don’t have much practice with. Don’t let anything
VISIT JTURNERWATERCOLOR.COM.
discourage you.

ArtistsNetwork.com 41
WINNERS • Over 60 Art Competition

Thomas Valenti
TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON, NEW JERSEY
Fifth Avenue and 14th Street (watercolor on Arches cold-pressed paper, 40x25)

The inspiration for this

piece struck me as I was
MY ART STORY
peering out of a window From a very early age, I knew
from the fifth floor of I’d be an artist, but my first
the Parsons School of art class didn’t come until my
Design, in New York junior year of high school. Prior
City. I was immediately to that, I drew and did a little
drawn to the perspec- bit of painting on my own. After
tive of a scene viewed graduation, I attended Newark
from above rather than School of Fine and Industrial Art,
the usual street-level graduating with a Certificate
vantage point. of Fine Art. With a deep-seated
As is my usual desire for learning, I worked
process, when I was hard to learn all there was to
satisfied with my refer- know about the two media I love
ence material, I did the most—watercolor and oil.
a full-size drawing of I began showing and selling my
the scene on illustration work while in my second year of
board. This method allows me to make as many corrections as art school and have continued
needed, and I avoid marring or scuffing up the watercolor paper. to do so throughout the last 50
Once the drawing was complete in every detail, I transferred it years. I’ve had a good number
to tracing paper and then traced it again backwards. This put of accomplishments over the
the graphite on the reverse side of the tracing paper, which I decades. Serving as president
then attached to the watercolor paper with a few bits of mask- of Allied Artists of America
ing tape. Then I drew over those lines to transfer them to the for 11 years, from 2006–17,
watercolor paper. was an amazing experience.
I began the painting process by mixing a variety of reds, Another highlight is being one
yellows and blues to create a few mid-tone grays. With a 1-inch of the four founding members
sable brush on dry paper, I laid in broad areas of neutral grays of the former America China Oil
using diluted washes of paint, taking care to paint around the Painting League (ACOPAL). I’ve
lights. Once dry, I applied another layer of grayish tones with written articles for leading art
varied amounts of blues and browns added to the mix. At this publications, including Artists
stage, the paint wasn’t as diluted as in the initial application. Magazine. And I was featured
I allowed the painting to sit for some time before going back in in the American Artist 70th
with drybrush and scumbling techniques to create the textures anniversary issue, in an article
of the stone building. I laid in local color where needed, then written by the late Stephen
painted the figures and final details. Dougherty. One of my goals
is to finish the autobiography
I started earlier this year. I also
hope to write an instructional
GOOD ADVICE book about watercolor. I’m
currently in the process of
Never give up. Don’t allow criticism to sway you from producing a series of YouTube
the vision you see in your soul. Keep moving forward videos based on the 10-session
in the face of any and all adversity. Don’t be afraid to beginner watercolor course
I’ve taught for 40 years.
fail. When you do fail—and you will—learn how to
recover rather than getting bogged down in a pool
of self-loathing. Don’t take anything for granted. VISIT THOMASVALENTI.NET.

42 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

WINNERS • Over 60 Art Competition

Soon
Warren
FORT WORTH, TEXAS
Fall Pond (oil on canvas, 36x72)

Nature was the inspiration for

my painting. Fall Pond is the
place where I go to rest and
calm myself from my busy daily
For as long as I can remember,
life. The calm water gives me
I wanted to be a painter when
a feeling of quiet, peace and
I grew up. All images were
serenity.
fascinating and magical in my
When starting a painting,
eyes, and I wanted to be part of
I begin with a drawing to work
that magic. Growing up in South
out the overall composition.
Korea, in the aftermath of the
I typically paint the subject,
Korean War, my family wasn’t
then fill in the background. For
affluent. The opportunity to
this piece, however, I painted
study at college wasn’t an option.
the water in the background
Instead, I hung out around the
first. The way I saw it, the
studios of working artists, helping
water was my subject matter.
out where I could and picking up
Next, I added the tree branches,
color-mixing and brushwork skills
little by little.
in the process. I could already
My favorite thing about the
draw instinctively, so I focused on
painting process is the way it
learning painting techniques from
refreshes my mind. My head
those artists. After I moved to the
often becomes cluttered with
U.S., I enrolled in college to get an
the minutiae of everyday life.
associate degree in commercial
That’s when I go looking for
art. That experience boosted my
a creative outlet to release my
self-confidence, and I started to
stress. The excitement and
paint full time when I moved to
sense of adventure I feel when
Texas, in 1999. I channeled my
starting a new work of art
positive attitude and energy into
recharges my heart and soul.
watercolor, and found community
I breathe the fresh air and
in a group called the Society of
observe nature in different
Watercolor Artists. Since then,
settings to kick-start each
I’ve published two watercolor
new creative journey. I enjoy
instructional books and filmed
taking in new surroundings
seven videos. I’ve won many
and am always looking for my
awards and am a Signature
next subject, taking note of
Member of the American
the composition in the places
Watercolor Society and the
I visit or rearranging things
National Watercolor Society.
with my artistic vision to create
new compositions. In this way,
my mind is constantly vigilant.
Wherever I am, there’s never a
quiet moment—and I love it. VISIT SOONWARREN.COM.

44 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 Over 60 Competition • WINNERS

GOOD ADVICE
If you make painting a priority in your life, you’ll see growth
in your skills and improvement in your technique, and you’ll
start to see your own work more critically. When painting
becomes your life—and you’re having fun with this pas-
sion—your work will make you proud and happy. When I
started painting full time, I knew my dream had come true.
I painted every moment that I could, and my skills improved
greatly. Another way to take your skills to the next level is
to teach art. In order to teach something, one has to under-
stand how it works.

ArtistsNetwork.com 45
46 Artists Magazine May/June 2024
 T he practice of painting out-
doors in scenic spots is at
the very core of Kathleen B.
Hudson’s career as an artist. In ways
both practical and profound, plein air
painting has been—and continues to
be—the central driving force for her.
It spurred her initial foray into fine
art; it drives the bulk of her painting
process; and it’s her ultimate inspira-
tion for creating. “My job is literally
to go out and find beautiful places
and then paint them,” Hudson says.
“It’s hard to beat.”
Hudson participated in her first
plein air event—the annual First
Brush of Spring Plein Air Festival,
in New Harmony, Ind.—in 2014.
She was living in Lexington, Ky.,
at the time, just a few years out of
college, and decided to give full-
time painting a go. “I was thinking
I needed to meet some fellow land-
scape artists, and I’d learned about
the plein air scene through art
magazines I subscribed to,” she says.
“I signed up for that first event the
night before it started.”
The event was fairly short, and her
sales weren’t great, but a fellow par-
ticipant gave her a valuable tip: Try
the Augusta Plein Air Art Festival, in
Augusta, Mo., which was coming right
up. “I contacted the housing coor-
dinator, who said they had already
arranged all of the artist housing for
the event, but that I could stay in her
basement,” Hudson recalls. “I did, and
Sunset From Top of the World Park (oil on linen, 24x48) I had a ball.” On the final morning of
the event, she did a painting that won
Best of Show; she also sold most of
the works she’d done throughout the
week. “I remember thinking to myself,
‘Maybe this could be an avenue for
To capture nature on canvas, getting into the art world.’ ”
It turned out to be more like a
Kathleen B. Hudson soaks in superhighway than an avenue. Just
two years later, Hudson was being
the dynamic light and atmosphere accepted into juried plein air events
like Lighthouse Plein Air, Plein Air
of each place and then executes Rockies and Solomons Plein Air.
At Plein Air Rockies, she painted

an orderly painting strategy. Timberline Falls (page 52), which

later won the $15,000 Grand Prize in
the PleinAir Salon Art Competition.
By Kristin Hoerth “Things went from zero to 60 really

ArtistsNetwork.com 47
 Road to the Foothills (oil on linen, 24x24)

fast,” says Hudson of her early success. OUT IN THE ELEMENTS instance, to get a feel for the locale.
“The plein air circuit was an incredible Hudson continues to participate in “I hold my plan loosely,” she says,
way to get my work in front of people plein air events and paints outdoors “and if I get grabbed by something
and improve my paintings in a rela- on her own when her schedule allows. en route to my planned destination,
tively short time,” she notes. “Now I (She’s a busy mom to four young chil- I’ll stop and paint it.”
also have gallery representation, which dren, including twin girls born last Once she has selected a spot at
allows me to paint and sell larger May.) Before heading out to paint, she which to work, but before ever pulling
studio works, and I have a whole com- does lots of advance planning, review- out a blank canvas, Hudson does sig-
munity of plein air artists around me ing satellite views of trails and photos nificant preparatory work. She takes
who have become like a second family.” posted online by other visitors, for photos, records videos on her phone,

48 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 and makes sketches and color notes.
“I especially like to do videos when
I’m painting waterfalls or ocean waves
to capture the motion,” she explains.
“Nothing is ever static in nature.
There’s always wind moving the
clouds, changing weather conditions
changing and shifting shadows. I try
to tell that part of the story.”
In fact, capturing those dynamic
changes is one of Hudson’s favorite
aspects of painting the landscape.
“Landforms look different as shadows
move and the light changes,” she says.
“These transitions are what make the
landscape compelling. The same is
true with atmospheric shifts. There
might be a storm that rolls in over
a mountain peak, and you could miss
it if you’re just driving around taking
photos. But if you’re on location all
day, you can watch those things as
they happen. That’s what makes a
landscape turn into something almost
otherworldly,” as in Sunset From Pikes
Peak Auto Route (left).
Hudson notes that mountains,
like those in Road to the Foothills
(opposite), are one of the landforms
Sunset From Pikes Peak Auto Route (oil on canvas, 36x36) she loves to paint, especially now that
she’s based in Colorado. “It’s a very
different color palette here than in
the East, where everything is green
most of the year,” she says. “Here you
see more blues and yellows. The sense
of scale is different, too. Everything
feels vast, whereas landscapes feel
more intimate in the East. I don’t
have to dramatize anything; it’s
already dramatic.”

STEPS TO SUCCESS
The time and effort Hudson devotes
to prep work pays off once she’s ready
to establish the all-important value
design of her painting. “The most
successful paintings are the ones that
look really good in the thumbnail
stage,” she says. “They’re the ones
that look good from across a gallery,
that seemingly jump off the wall from
a hundred feet away.” To map out the
arrangement of values, she uses a
neutral, transparent underpainting
composed of ultramarine blue and
transparent oxide red.
Hudson’s next step is to mix big
Morning Spray, Cumberland Falls (oil on linen panel, 16x20) dollops of Michael Harding oil paint

ArtistsNetwork.com 49
 HELPING IN HAWAII
Among the many plein air painting events Kathleen
B. Hudson has attended, the annual Maui Plein
Air festival, in the town of Lahaina, Hawaii, holds
a special place in her heart. “There’s a very wel-
coming spirit in Maui, and so many people who’ve
been there have felt it,” she says. So when the
devastating wildfire broke out in Lahaina last
August, it immediately captured her attention. Sun Setting Behind Lanai (oil on linen, 12x24) was one
Hudson knew that several works she had created of Hudson’s paintings lost to the Lahaina fire last August.
at the event that were still hanging in a Lahaina
gallery would be destroyed, including Sun Setting BELOW
Hudson created North Maui Surf (oil on linen, 20x20) for
Behind Lanai (right), and she mentioned in a the Artists for Lahaina online auction held last September.
Facebook post that she wanted to recreate them.
That sparked interest from fellow artists, including
Heather Burton, who had lived on the island for
years. Their initial conversation eventually led to
a public call for artists to donate paintings, which
were then sold in the Artists for Lahaina online
auction last September.
“I was hoping we’d get a couple hundred paintings
to auction,” Hudson says, “and we ended up with
more than 1,000 pieces,” including work from big
names like Quang Ho and Sherrie McGraw. About
800 of the works sold, and roughly $500,000 has
been donated to locally run relief organizations,
some of which is earmarked specifically to benefit
Maui’s vibrant art community.

Light Breaking Through (oil on linen, 24x48)

50 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

Wetlands Near Savannah (oil on linen, 36x36)

that harmonize well, so that she doesn’t painting process; instead, wipe them then free to focus on applying paint
have to stop and mix color along with a paper towel. “Colors may look using interesting brushwork. “That
the way. “You have to isolate deci- fine on your palette,” she says, “but part is really fun,” she says. “I can
sion-making into different stages,” if you’re constantly using Gamsol as paint fluidly and get creative, pushing
she says. “You can’t think about you go along in an effort to keep the and pulling the edges.” She strives
everything at once; it’s impossible.” colors clean, your paint will actually to be intentional with each stroke,
When it comes to keeping colors become too thin and slide around on and in the workshops she teaches,
harmonious, Hudson offers this the canvas, creating the muddiness.” she encourages students to do the
advice: Don’t clean your brushes with With the value design in place and same. “It’s easy to just go through the
Gamsol or another solvent during the the colors ready to go, Hudson is motions,” she notes, “but you have to

ArtistsNetwork.com 51
 consciously make good decisions at she wanted to shelter us, but because
each step along the way. I encourage she wanted to take us traveling.”
my students to practice this skill Hudson’s mom had grown up as
by doing exercises such as limiting an Air Force brat and later became
themselves to 40 strokes for an a history teacher; twice she took
8x10-inch painting.” her daughters backpacking in
Europe for a month, visiting his-
WANDERLUST toric sites and art museums daily.
Hudson’s bucket list of painting And when Hudson’s grandfather
destinations includes iconic loca- needed to travel across the country
tions in the West, such as Zion and from Kentucky to California, he
Yosemite national parks, plus the didn’t hop on a plane—he rented
Cascade Mountains in the Pacific a conversion van and spent a month
Northwest. Even higher on her wish on the road with his granddaugh-
list are farther-afield New Zealand, ters, stopping at national parks and
Morocco, Norway, Argentina and museums along the way. “By the
Chile. That may seem like a lot of time I was 12, I had been to all 50
MEET THE travel destinations, but it’s noth- states,” Hudson says.

ARTIST
ing new for the artist, who grew up
traipsing around the world with her LEARNING &
Kathleen B. Hudson is a plein air family. “I started traveling before I UNLEARNING
painter who emphasizes dynamic can even remember,” she says. “I was Around that same time, young
light and atmosphere in her works. home-schooled for all but two years, Kathleen began nurturing her
A recent move from Lexington, and my mom did that not because budding creativity with formal art
Ky., to Colorado Springs, Colo.,
with her family has resulted in new
landscape subjects and painting
challenges. When she’s not outside
painting from life, she’s in the studio
creating larger-scale landscapes.
Hudson, a graduate of Harvard
University, is a Signature Member
of Plein Air Painters of America
and the Laguna Plein Air Painters
Association, and the second-
youngest artist ever to be elected
a Fellow in the American Society of
Marine Artists. She’s also a member
of the American Impressionist
Society, Oil Painters of America and
California Art Club. Her work has
won numerous plein air awards and
is represented by FoR Fine Art, in
Whitefish and Bigfork, Mont., and
Tucson, Ariz.; Edward Montgomery
Fine Art, in Carmel-By-the-Sea,
Calif.; Huse Skelly Gallery, in
Newport Beach, Calif.; McLarry Fine
Art, in Santa Fe, N.M.; Cole Gallery,
in Edmonds, Wash.; and Charles
Fine Arts, in Gloucester, Mass.

VISIT THE ARTIST’S WEBSITE

AT KATHLEENBHUDSON.COM.

Timberline Falls (oil on linen, 36x36)

52 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

Texas Waterway (oil on canvas, 30x48)

instruction. “My paternal grand- Aside from three years in that finally took the plunge and pursued
mother had been a studio art major painting class, Hudson is mostly her love of art.
in college but stopped painting for self-taught. When it came time for Today, Hudson couldn’t be hap-
decades while raising her family,” college, she looked into art schools pier with how things have turned
she says. “When she started again, but decided against them. “I was out. “Being self-taught, I spent a lot
she took a weekly oil painting class, concerned that I wouldn’t be able to of time doing things the wrong way
and she convinced the teacher to let pursue the type of painting I wanted and then having to unlearn them
me in, too,” Hudson recalls. “I was to do,” she says, “and I was a little in order to get better,” she says. “I
the only kid in a class of 30 older worried about committing to art as tell students that it’s not magic that
adults, and I loved it.” a career.” Sargent and the other greats were
After viewing a major traveling Instead, she attended Harvard able to create masterpieces. It’s the
exhibition of John Singer Sargent’s University, majoring in medieval result of intention and developing
works in the 1990s, Hudson became history and loosely planning on your skills. There are things we can
smitten with oil. “The paint looked applying to law school. When she do to develop our skill set, and then
so juicy, and I loved how tactile it graduated in 2009, however, the we can learn to deploy those skills
was,” she recalls. She began her country was dealing with the effects to create great paintings. And when
efforts in oil by trying to copy one of the financial meltdown. “It didn’t we do that, the sky’s the limit.”
of his most complex pieces. “That’s seem like a smart idea to take on
not something I recommend,” she $100,000 in debt,” she says. After Kristin Hoerth is a freelance arts
says with a laugh, “but I didn’t know a few years of working in campus writer and the former editor-in-chief
any better at the time.” ministry and for a nonprofit, she of Southwest Art magazine.

ArtistsNetwork.com 53
When he’s not riding the waves off the coast of Southern California,
you can find Jeff Sewell painting them en plein air.
By Aaron Schuerr

W e’ve packed our easels, and

I follow plein air artist Jeff
Sewell toward the northern arm
of a horseshoe bay. He’s leading me to his
“secret” painting spot—a rocky shelf between
the millions. Sewell first saw them while out
surfing, his board splitting the vast blue tide
of floating jellies blown in by spring storms.
The angled sails, he explains, allow them to
catch the wind without blowing over. If their
cliff and ocean. I take it on trust that there bodies were oval compasses, the sails would
is a secret spot in a place as populated as point from SSE to NNW. As a surfer and an
California’s Laguna Beach. artist, Sewell’s needle points due West—to
At the edge of the beach, amid the boulders the untamed ocean, to the setting sun.
scattered beneath a long sweep of cliffs, Sewell
stops and kneels. “Come check this out!” he LOOKING TO THE HORIZON
beckons. He picks up a blue-rimmed, transpar- To visit any overlook or beach in California,
ent oval disk a little smaller than my palm. It from Crystal Cove to Dana Point, is to be
looks like a little jellyfish flattened into a raft reminded of the rich history of art in the
with a paper-thin transparent sail attached. region. From the artists’ colonies of the early
“I’ve lived on the coast my whole life, and 20th century to contemporary plein air paint-
this is the first year I’ve seen them!” Sewell ers, artists have long been attracted to the
exclaims. Known as By-the-Wind Sailors, the golden beaches, rugged cliffs and bright sun-
jellyfish-like creatures have washed up along shine of the coast.
the Southern California coast by the hun- While most painters look north or south
dreds of thousands—by some estimates, by along the coast for inspiration, “I’d rather

Just Singin’ Them Good Ol’ California Blues (water-mixable oil on board, 20x16)

ArtistsNetwork.com 55
 look to the horizon,” Sewell says. “I guess it
comes from sitting on a surfboard for 40 years,
looking for the next wave. I’ve fallen in love
with looking to the horizon.” Now a resident of
Laguna Beach, Sewell grew up just a dozen miles
north, in Newport Beach. He’s been within easy
reach of the ocean his entire life. For him, water
really is life.
I ask Sewell which comes first—painting or
surfing. “Surfing’s number one, painting’s num-
ber two,” he responds, and then, laughing, adds
“and family is probably somewhere in the top
five.” The artist has four children of his own and
two stepchildren so, joking aside, family looms
large. When his children were young, he’d occa-
sionally visit their classrooms, sharing his love
of plein air painting with the students. Those
impromptu visits grew into The Plein Air Project,
an Orange County art program that reaches as
JEFF SEWELL many as 500 fourth-grade students annually.
(See The Plein Air Project, left.)
“Painting gave me the ability, when I’m not
Fourth-grade participants in The Plein Air Project get an up-close surfing, to have something I’m passionate about,
look at a California landscape painting at the UCI Institute and that still stimulates me,” Sewell says. “It’s a great
Museum of California Art.
balance to my surfing.” He learned to read the
water first as a surfer, now as an artist. One feeds
into the other.

THE PLEIN AIR PROJECT A ROAD MAP APPEARS

A dozen years ago, Jeff Sewell began to visit his children’s Although Sewell had painted and drawn as
classrooms to share his love of plein air painting. These casual a child, college art classes turned him off,
visits grew into The Plein Air Project. so he focused on music instead and played in
The Laguna Plein Air Painters Association (LPAPA) and Sewell, bands for a decade. In his mid-30s, he tired of
as director of education, developed the Project to provide fourth- the music scene and began to paint again. He
grade students with an overview of the rich history of plein air was also inspired to collect a few paintings. One
painting in Southern California, and to bring it to the present work—a landscape by California contemporary
with hands-on plein air painting under the supervision of some artist Frank Serrano—was delivered along with
of California’s finest plein air artists. In collaboration with the Serrano’s classic art book, Plein Air Painting in Oil.
University of California, Irvine (UCI) Institute and Museum of While the book piqued Sewell’s interest,
California Art (IMCA)—and thanks to the generous support of it was a surfing trip to Fiji that led him to plein
artists, curators, donors and grant funding—the Project was born. air painting. The surfing was a bust, so he passed
The program is divided into four components: two classroom the time in the hut reading Lust for Life, the
visits—the first an introduction to plein air painting and the second classic Vincent van Gogh biography by Irving
a plein air demonstration by Sewell or another LPAPA Signature Stone. Sewell recalled Serrano’s instructional
artist; a docent-led IMCA tour to study both historical and book and suddenly saw a road map forward.
contemporary examples of California Impressionism; and a field When he returned home, Sewell bought oil
day for students to try their hand at plein air painting. paints and headed out into the field. “In my mid-
As one fourth grader said while showing his first-ever plein air 30s, I just did it,” he says, “and the best part for
painting, “I’m not so good of a drawer. This gave me hope that I’ll me was exploring the uneducated side. Let me
be a good drawer some day.” Another student said, “You get to find it slowly, my own way, my own thing. It was
do landscapes, and then you can just add stuff that’s not there. me and myself judging the outcome.”
You can just imagine it.” Then he was introduced to California plein air
In 2022, during its annual Invitational Gala, Sewell received painter Greg LaRock, and the two began to paint
The Lifetime Achievement Award from LPAPA for his vision and together a few times a week. “He was such a great
commitment to educating and inspiring the next generation of painting partner,” Sewell says. “His skill was a
Orange County artists. few steps beyond mine, and we just got along
To learn more about the Project, including multi-generation fantastically.” Fast friends, they inspired and
extension programs, visit lpapa.org/lpapas-plein-air-project. encouraged each other, until LaRock’s untimely
 LEFT
Laguna Rocks
(water-mixable
oil on canvas,
14x18)

BELOW
Trust Is
the Horizon
(water-mixable
oil on canvas,
24x36)

passing in 2020. His death has

left a gaping hole not just in
Sewell’s life, but in the larger
plein air painting community.

THE ACTION
OF THE MOMENT
While navigating the boulder-
strewn skirt of land toward the
point, Sewell and I stop to observe
the tide pools, now littered with
broken oyster shells lining the
boulders like mortar—evidence
of the turbulent cycle of winter
storms. “I wish you could see
this during a big swell,” he says,
hopping from boulder to boulder.
On those days he’s forced to keep
close to the cliffs and time his
passage between sets of waves. To
paint the crash and spray of the
big waves is an unparalleled thrill.

ArtistsNetwork.com 57
 LEFT
Pacific
Harmony
(water-mixable
oil on canvas,
14x18)

BELOW
Emerald
Bay Glow
(water-mixable
oil on canvas,
8x10)

OPPOSITE
As She
Sings to Me
(water-mixable
oil on canvas,
18x24)

We reach the toe of the cliff and the rock

spreads in a wide shelf, pockmarked with
shallow pools and a scattering of boulders.
Its isolated austerity is a stark contrast to
the colorful hustle and bustle of crowded
beach communities, and therein lies its
beauty. It really is a secret spot; I’d have
never found it on my own.
To be invited here is to explore the raw
materials of so many of Sewell’s seascapes.
Beyond the shelf, the water dives, swells
and crashes into the rocks. On this day the
waves aren’t particularly big, but there’s
enough movement to spark Sewell’s interest.
The artist sets up his tripod, attaches the
mast and palette, secures a toned canvas,
and begins.
As he blocks in masses of dark rock,
I take a few minutes to explore. Sewell’s
thumbprint is everywhere I look. I think of
Laguna Rocks (page 57) with a cresting wave
about to crash into wave-drenched rocks
that are represented with slashes of blue
overtop warm tones. The painting moves
with restless energy.

58 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 “One of the things that to the squint of glaring light.
stokes me right now has been The artist uses notes of pure
trying to figure out how to rep- color as a counterpoint to the
resent the ultimate glare on the earth tones and grays. Slashes WHAT IS
ocean,” Sewell explains while
painting. “There are times of
of color direct the viewer to-
ward the light. WATER-
the day where you can’t even Sewell’s painting titles, often
MIXABLE
OIL PAINT?
look toward the ocean in certain borrowed from song lyrics or
areas because the sun is shining poems, make sense here. It’s all
so hard on it. I’ve been trying about the action of the moment,
to find the chemistry for that the poetry. This day is a sym- Water-mixable oil paints
intense glare and break it down. phony in gray, the sky bleeding consist of pigments, just
I want to make someone squint, into the ocean, but a hint of like traditional oil paints,
to looking at my painting like silvery light shines through, and but their binder is designed
they would the actual event.” that is something. “You see why to be soluble in water.
In As She Sings to Me (above), I like it here,” he says. “There’s The oil binder—typically
I recognize the cliff guarding a painting in every direction.” a combination of modified
the northern edge of the point. Come on a different day—at vegetable oils and synthetic
The tide pools, shadowed blue low tide, high tide, in winter, at substances—makes the
and purple among the confetti sunset, at dusk—and it will be paint more compatible
of dark marks, move the viewer completely different. The possi- with water, allowing for
in stutter steps toward tan- bilities are endless. easy mixing and cleanup.
gerine-hued rocks. Touches of “I’m excited about abstracting
phthalo turquoise jostle against the impression further and fur- —Excerpted from
peach, creating a vibration akin ther,” he continues, laying in the jerrysartarama.com

59
 MEET THE ARTIST
Southern California native Jeff Sewell is known for his
award-winning impressionistic plein air paintings and
his passion for surfing. He studied art at the University
of Southern California and Irvine Valley College and is
currently a Signature Member of the Laguna Plein Air
Painters Association (LPAPA) and the American Society
of Marine Artists, and an Artist Member of the California
Art Club. He serves on LPAPA’s Board of Directors
as the Director of Education and Mentorship. He
was awarded Best In Show and Collectors Choice
in the 24th annual Laguna Plein Air Painting
Invitational, in 2022. His work can be found in
the permanent collection of the UCI Institute and
Museum of California Art, in Irvine, Calif., and in
private collections throughout the U.S.
SCOTT WINER

VISIT SEWELL’S WEBSITE AT JEFFSEWELLART.COM.

RICK J. DELANTY

As Glory Goes With Grace (water-mixable oil on canvas, 24x24)

 Incoming Tide Push (water-mixable oil on canvas, 15x30)

first strokes of pale blue-gray to represent sea

and sky, “and saying it as economically as pos-
sible. Instead of 150 brushstrokes, I’m going
to try to say it in 100, in 10. There are artists
who paint bolder and more direct than me, but
it’s where I’m aiming my needle.”

RIDING THE RHYTHM

OF THE WAVES
An impressionistic approach appeals to
Sewell because it forces the conversation
between artist and viewer. “You invite them
to fill in the details,” he says. “I get a thrill
out of turning the dial further and further.
Sometimes it’s a failure, but I like to see
where it leads me. Experimenting has been
so big for me the last couple of years.”
Painting is not unlike surfing. Some days
the waves just don’t materialize, but when
they do—and when the surfer is in tune
with the rhythm of those waves—it’s magic.
Whether riding a wave or painting a sunset
over the Pacific, Sewell’s lifelong relation-
ship with the ocean is unshakable.

Aaron Schuerr (aaronshuerr.com), of Livingston,

Mont., is an award-winning painter who works
in both pastel and oil. He’s a Signature Member
of the Pastel Society of America, the American
Impressionist Society and the Laguna Plein Air
January Hymn (water-mixable oil on canvas, 30x39) Painters Association.

ArtistsNetwork.com 61
 By Cynthia Close

Extraordinarily productive,
innovative, entertaining—and
a little rough around the edges—
Frans Hals was one of a handful
of painters who defined the
17th century. Now a landmark
exhibition presents the largest

‒ A Painter’s Painter ‒
retrospective of the Dutch artist’s
work in more than 30 years.

Portrait of a Couple (1622; oil on canvas, 55x65½) RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM

62 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 Laughing Boy
(1625; oil
on panel,
12-inch
diameter)
MAURITSHUIS,
THE HAGUE,
NETHERLANDS

A fter Rembrandt, the Dutch

Golden Age painter Frans Hals
(1582–1666) is one of the
most revered portraitists of all time.
Judging from the revelry and joie de
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, with the
special collaboration of the Frans Hals
Museum, Haarlem, is presenting the
first major retrospective of the artist’s
work in more than 30 years. “There
Haarlem, a large urban area in the
north of Holland, where he spent the
rest of his life. Although he trained
under the Mannerist Karel van
Mander (Flemish, 1548–1606), there’s
vivre depicted in many of his works, are only a few painters in the Baroque little evidence of Mander’s influence
he was also likely a great party guest. period who managed to take portrait on his work. Hals became prominent
In celebration of the life he brought to painting to another level,” says curator during a time when religious subject
his portraits of adults and children in and Hals scholar Bart Cornelis. “Frans matter was falling out of favor, which
17th-century Holland, the National Hals is one of them.” is key to understanding the raucous
Gallery, London; the Rijksmuseum, Born in Antwerp, Belgium, Hals flamboyance he felt free to display in
Amsterdam; and the Gemäldegalerie, would later move with his family to his individual and group portraits.

ArtistsNetwork.com 63
 AN ALLA PRIMA
APPROACH
The artist was a contemporary of
Rembrandt (1606–69), whose darker,
golden-toned palette and penchant
for a gloomy atmosphere is in sharp
contrast to the natural light and
bravura brushwork favored by Hals.
You feel as though you’re meeting
a real person when encountering a
Hals portrait. He captured a fleeting
moment, a twinkle in the eye and a
smile so animated, you find yourself
smiling in response. You can relate to
the people in a Hals painting. Even
though they were painted more than
400 years ago, they played music,
danced and drank wine—just as
21st-century revelers might do.
Hals’ working process was alla
prima. There was no hesitation in
applying the paint immediately onto
canvas or wood panel. He might have
done some minimal outline of the
figure, perhaps in raw umber, but
that was also done with the brush.
All the high-tech examinations prob-
ing the layers of his paintings, in the
process of research and conservation
in preparation for this exhibition,
indicate that Hals would begin to
paint directly with color and brush-
strokes that would remain visible in
the final piece. He worked wet-into-
wet, not waiting for the paint to dry,
with brushstrokes that seemed to
melt into one another.
It remains a mystery whether Hals
Young Man Holding a Skull (1628; oil on canvas, 36¾x32)
ever made any drawings, which is THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON. NG6458
almost unheard of for a figurative
artist—particularly one who relied
on portrait commissions for a living.
If Hals did draw, none of those works fingers. Sometimes Hals used dry experience, a sense of “being there.”
have survived. Perhaps he didn’t brushstrokes to capture the frizziness In some cases, we don’t know the
feel the need to draw because of the of hair or, in this case, the feathery identity of his subjects—their names
immediacy in the way he worked. quality of the peach-colored plume have been lost. The nonchalance and
cascading to the right from the young sense of freedom in the way his sitters
SUBJECT, BRUSHWORK man’s hat. The curve of the feather allowed themselves to be portrayed
AND COMPOSITION also serves as an important compo- indicates the level of trust they had
Young Man Holding a Scull (above) sitional device, pointing down to the in the artist’s ability. Hals was granted
is a great example of the artist’s scull, and adds to the quality of airi- the gift of freedom to bring out the
brushwork and his unorthodox com- ness that surrounds the figure. true character of people.
position. The way the young man’s Hals had a gift for observation that No celebration would be complete
hand reaches out toward the viewer went beyond just creating a likeness. without music and entertainment.
is extraordinary. The foreshortening Portraits were considered a lesser In The Lute Player (opposite), Hals
of the hand is done with just a few genre in his time, but in Hals’ hands captured a smiling actor or jester
brushstrokes. It feels immediate, these portraits have become major shown from the waist up, in a black-
like you could touch the tips of his works of art. He creates a visceral and-red ruffled costume, his tousled

64 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

hair poking out from a red-and-yellow captured in a split second of time. The of lute players completed by Hals.
hat sitting askew on his head. His head is shown frontally, full-faced, but The Laughing Cavalier (page 66)
hands are in a relaxed position, play- it’s the position of the eyes, glancing is one of the most well-known works
ing the instrument. Everything about to his right, that distinguishes this by Hals. The sitter is unknown,
this composition suggests movement portrait from several other portraits however, there’s an inscription in

The Lute Player (1623; oil on canvas, 27½x24½) MUSÉE DU LOUVRE, PARIS

ArtistsNetwork.com 65
 The Laughing Cavalier (1624; oil on canvas, 32½x26½)
THE WALLACE COLLECTION, LONDON

the upper-right corner describing probably Isaac Abrahamsz Massa the artist has given us an intimate
him as being 26 years old in 1624, and Beatrix van der Laen, the sub- look at the essence of this couple’s
the year the portrait was painted. jects’ nonchalance and knowing relationship. This is the only double
He’s elegantly dressed in the lat- expression suggest this couple is portrait by Hals that has survived.
est fashion from France. The rich totally at ease with each other. They
brocade fabrics and intricately pat- exude warmth and likely enjoy each GROUP PORTRAITURE
terned lace were only available to other’s company in what we might Group portraits can be challenging
the Dutch elite at that time. The left assume is a happy marriage, an for artists simply because there are
arm of this young man bends at the event which the symbolism in this a lot of people vying for attention
elbow, jutting out into the viewer’s portrait commemorates. The flower in one scene. There’s always the risk
space and serving a purpose similar (a thistle) painted in the lower left- that the painting will appear stilted
to that of the hand in Young Man hand corner symbolizes faithfulness and boring, since the compositions
Holding a Scull. We find this same and love. Hals positioned them shel- are complicated and traditionally
compositional device repeated in tered from public view under a tree. are worked out carefully in drawings
numerous portraits by Hals. We see figures in the manicured that are then traced onto canvas
In Portrait of a Couple (page 62), landscape off in the distance, but before the painting can begin.

66 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 Banquet of the Officers of the St George Civic Guard (1616; oil on canvas, 70½x101)
FRANS HALS MUSEUM, HAARLEM

Hals managed to avoid that “life- was completed more than 400 years painting was reunited with the por-
less” quality we sometimes see in ago—quite a coup for the curators. trait of de Wael’s wife, Cunera van
many large group portraits. He Hals constructs dynamic compo- Baersdorp, and the two pieces are
managed to find a way to make sitions in his large group portraits now displayed side by side in the
his subjects interact through their in part through the energy of his installation—as they were originally
expressions and gestures. brushwork. The people in his com- intended to be seen.
Hals’ first life-sized group por- plex, multi-figure commissions are
trait, or schutterstuk, was Banquet in conversation with one another, A PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE
of the Officers of the St George Civic caught mid-movement. One cen- To capture a person smiling or
Guard (above), painted in 1616. tral seated figure, who’s wearing a laughing, without making them
He painted five of these militia pale blue sash and tipping his glass appear to grimace, is terribly diffi-
companies; the version from 1627 in the foreground of the militia cult. Remember, this was centuries
has never before been seen outside grouping from 1627, has been iden- before the invention of photogra-
of Haarlem. Its appearance in this tified through research as Michiel phy. People had to sit still for hours
exhibition marks the first time the de Wael, who Hals also painted in for a portrait. Holding a natural
painting has left the city since it a wedding portrait in 1625. This smile longer than a few seconds

ArtistsNetwork.com 67
 SHOW NOTES
The Frans Hals exhibition is on view through June 24 at the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam. The museum’s curators of 17th-
century Dutch painting, Friso Lammertse and Tamar van Riessen, worked in partnership with Bart Cornelis at the National
Gallery, London. The French architect and designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte designed the exhibition. The show moves on to
Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, from July 12–November 3. The Frans Hals Museum, established in 1862, in
Haarlem, holds one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of the artist’s works.

Drinking Boy (1628; oil on panel, 15-inch diameter)

STAATLICHES MUSEUM SCHWERIN, SCHWERIN, GERMANY

68 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

Regentesses of the Old Men’s Alms House (1664; oil on canvas, 67⅛x98¼)
FRANS HALS MUSEUM, HAARLEM

is almost impossible. Even after of indeterminate age is depicted from the sale of his paintings with
the advent of photography—when drinking what is probably wine restoration work. Despite Hals’
artists might take photographs as from a glass, while holding a pewter mastery, as tastes in portraiture
references—contemporary portrait mug in his other hand. evolved, his work fell out of favor
and figurative artists like Philip Another work painted around the and, like many historical artists
Pearlstein (American, 1924–2022) same time, Laughing Boy (page 63), greatly admired today, he was for-
and Lucien Freud (British, 1922– portrays an exuberant younger child gotten in his own time and died
2011) preferred the advantages with a gleaming, open-mouthed a pauper. This new exhibition
of working from life. smile approaching laughter. These serves to remind us that great art
Hals showed people’s behavior demure paintings project an out- takes on a life of its own—long
captured in a split second. He had sized sense of joy in childhood. after the maker is gone.
a photographic eye that certainly
came in handy when painting por- AN ENDURING LEGACY Cynthia Close (cynthiaclose.com) earned
traits of children, which he didn’t Hals’ commissioned portraits were an M.F.A. from Boston University and
shy away from. In Drinking Boy in demand for much of his life. The worked in various art-related roles
(opposite), a chubby-cheeked child artist also supplemented his income before becoming a writer and editor.

ArtistsNetwork.com 69
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 “… T H E R E I S A L W AY S
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Slicing Along (detail;

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ArtistsNetwork.com 71
Outfit BUSINESS OF ART

Taking Care of Business

Learn the value of protecting your art career through a corporate entity.

By Daniel Grant

A ny number of good things

may take place throughout
an artist’s career—a big sale,
a museum retrospective, a magazine
cover placement—but not everything
the legal entity limits their exposure
to what the corporation itself owns
and controls.
There are several types of corporate
entities, such as S corporations and
buyers, dealers or critics into their
studios where someone might get
hurt, says Chicago-based lawyer Matt
Klomparens. “ ‘Slip and falls’ can cost
you everything you own.”
that happens may be good. Consider, partnerships, which tend to have more Artists in the latter situation would
for example: A customer slips and gets than one shareholder. Most artists, want to obtain insurance to cover
injured while visiting the artist’s studio. however, tend to set up LLCs. “LLCs potential mishaps. Klomparens noted
Or a sculpture tips over and hits a generally are used for one-man shops,” that the cost of these policies tend to be
workshop student on the head. Or the Powers says. In all cases, the corporate lower when the insured is a company
artist gets sued by someone who hasn’t entity is the employer, and the artist rather than an individual. Additionally,
been paid or who claims copyright is the employee. Here’s how it works: if an artist needs to borrow money from
or trademark infringement. A single When a sale or commission is made, a bank, the institution would be more
adverse judicial ruling can cost an artist that money is paid directly to the corpo- amenable to lending to a corporate
almost everything they own. rate entity, which then pays the artist, entity than to an individual. The indi-
either in a lump sum or in increments vidual would be protected in the event
SAFEGUARDING (as a salary). The artist then pays taxes
on that money as ordinary income.
that they were unable to repay the loan.
THE ARTIST
With an eye on protecting themselves
(A salary or “guaranteed payment
schedule” tends to be taxed at a lower
PROTECTING
from one type of mishap or another, rate than a one-time distribution.) THE BODY OF WORK
more and more artists have set up busi- Not all of the corporate entity money If it’s written into the corporation’s
ness entities such as a limited liability transfers directly to the artist, however. operating agreement, the corporate
company (LLC) or an S corporation. The entity retains some cash for a vari- entity may own the artist’s artwork
When, for example, Daniel Grant the ety of possible expenses: art-making and archives, which can be a distinct
artist becomes Daniel Grant, LLC, it materials; health insurance; workmen’s advantage. For example, the fact that
means that if a plaintiff sues Daniel compensation (to protect employees his S corporation owned the entire
Grant the artist, he can only go after who may get injured during transit or body of work was helpful when sculp-
the assets in the corporation in which installation); commercial premises and tor James G. Moore, of Fort Collins,
Daniel Grant is the principal, or sole, liability insurance (to protect against Colo., and his wife divorced in 2015.
shareholder—and not Daniel Grant personal injury claims); and employee She wasn’t a partner or officer in the
the artist’s personal assets (his home salaries and/or consultant fees, such as corporation, and the split of their mar-
and its contents, bank and retirement those for accountants, engineers and ital estate didn’t result in his losing half
accounts, etc.). lawyers. of his artwork or otherwise adversely
“First and foremost, artists look to affecting his career, according to Don
form corporate entities to shield their
personal assets from legal judgments
DETERMINING Moore, his business manager.
Having the corporate entity own
and creditors,” said Robert Powers, THE RISK CALCULUS most or all of the artwork is also ben-
a lawyer and partner at McClanahan The question of when, or if, an art- eficial for estate-planning purposes,
Powers, the Virginia-based law firm ist should create a corporate entity according to Steven Ayr, a Boston,
that represents a number of visual and depends on the circumstances of the Mass., lawyer. This is because the
performing artists. Some of his artist individual artist. “For artists who aren’t objects—and the intellectual property
clients have been sued for breach of making many sales and create art out rights to them—“will not go through
contract—they didn’t do something of their bedrooms, there’s a different the standard probate process, saving
they promised to do—or for nonpay- risk calculus” than for those who may the estate those costs,” he says. The
ment or copyright infringement, and employ assistants or invite prospective operating agreement would identify

72 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 the artist’s intentions for the corpo- If there’s a legal action taken, the someone to help them set up their LLC
rate assets upon their death. Once the corporation—of which the artist is a financially: how they will be paid; how
objects are distributed as designated, salaried employee—may be sued for expenses of the LLC will be handled;
that person(s) or institution(s) retain its assets, which can be no more than how things will be handled if a partner
the copyright(s). the value of the commission. The or investor leaves the company and
potential omissions or defects in their needs to be bought out; who owns what
UNDERSTANDING artworks are the responsibility of the
artists, and they may purchase short-
if the artist gets divorced; [and] what
the law requires in terms of establishing
CONTRACTS term professional liability insurance. bylaws and holding annual meetings.”
The protection a corporate entity Artwork usually comes with a one- to
offers an artist quickly becomes appar-
ent when looking at the indemnity
three-year warranty. The contracts
that artists sign with their foundries
ARTISTS, BE AWARE
clauses in public art commission con- and other fabricators might include Ayr cautions that artists may find that
tracts, which can be pages long. Their a clause indemnifying the artist; in the protection against creditors or judi-
focus is principally on who’s respon- these cases, the foundry or fabricator’s cial rulings going after their personal
sible in the event that a passerby insurance would be responsible. assets may be lost—referred to in legal
is injured by the artwork (climbing parlance as “piercing the corporate
on the piece, tripping on it or some
element of the work falling onto some-
ESTABLISHING veil”—if, for instance, the legal require-
ments of an LLC aren’t adhered to. For
one), as well as any patent (visible) or A CORPORATION example, the courts would frown on
latent (hidden) defects. The primary drawbacks to creating the lack of an operating agreement that
The contracts seek to assign all a business entity are the formalities states who the shareholders are and
liability to the commissioned artist, and the costs. An artist must com- what percentage of the company they
requiring them to bear the legal and plete an initial application with the own, or if the corporation isn’t treated
court costs in full. The language also office of a state’s secretary of state as an entity separate from the artist’s
may be quite broad and one-sided, corporation division, and identify the personal sphere.
placing the onus of defending against name of the corporation, its address, One such example is when personal
all claims—including the most frivo- the name and address of officers and expenses, such as the payment of a
lous (“The art blocks my view”) and business managers, and then pay a fil- car loan or household groceries, come
fatuous (“I needed stitches after I tried ing fee. (These forms are available and from the corporate account instead of
to skateboard off it”)—on the artist. downloadable online.) the artist’s personal account. Another
“When I negotiate a commissioning An annual renewal filing must be example is if all the money paid to the
agreement for an artist, I require made, which largely asks if the cor- corporation goes directly to the artist
indemnity from the city or agency poration’s name and address are the instead, leaving the entity with no
and that there’s no liability for the same as in the previous year, and a money in the bank to pay for insur-
artist if someone walking by somehow fee is to be paid. Fees vary by state. In ance or creditor claims. In addition,
gets hurt,” says Chicago lawyer Scott Colorado, for example, the initial fee if the courts found that the corpora-
Hodes. Public art commissioning agen- is $50, and the annual renewal $10, tion was created largely to perpetuate
cies don’t always accept modifications while the fee in Massachusetts is fraud, the courts would likely bypass
to their agreements, however. $500 in both instances. the corporate entity and bring a judg-
IRYNA/ADOBE STOCK

Another option is incorporating the Artists may complete the forms and ment directly against the artist.
specific public art project, a practice file them on their own without the
Hodes established with his clients, assistance of a lawyer or accountant, Daniel Grant is an arts writer and
conceptual artists Christo and Jeanne- or with the assistance of online com- the author of six books on building
Claude, as well as other artists who panies that specialize in incorporation. a successful art career, including
create artworks in the public sphere. Ayr notes, however, “Artists may want The Business of Being an Artist.

ArtistsNetwork.com 73
Outfit MUST-SEE SHOWS

DO
LEFT
The Young Couple
(1904; soft-ground
etching on heavy wove
paper, 11¾x12⁹⁄₁6)
BROOKLYN MUSEUM. BY

NOW
EXCHANGE. 43.12

BELOW LEFT
Working Woman
With Earring (1910;
soft-ground etching on
wove paper, 12⅜x9⁵⁄₁6)
BROOKLYN MUSEUM. HENRY L.
BATTERMAN FUND. 58.166.1

BELOW RIGHT
Bust of a Working
New York City Woman in a Blue
Shawl (1903; lithograph
KÄTHE KOLLWITZ on heavy Japan paper,
13⅞x9½)
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART BROOKLYN MUSEUM. MUSEUM
THROUGH JULY 20, 2024 COLLECTION FUND. 39.14
MOMA.ORG

In the early decades of the 20th century,

when many artists were experimenting
with abstraction, Käthe Kollwitz (1867–
1945) remained committed to an art of
social purpose. Focusing on themes of
motherhood, grief and resistance, she
brought visibility to the working class
and asserted the female point of view
as a necessary and powerful agent for
change. “I have no right to withdraw
from the responsibility of being an advo-
cate,” she wrote. “It is my duty to voice
the sufferings of men, the never-ending
sufferings heaped mountain-high.” The
first major retrospective devoted to
Kollwitz at a New York City museum,
this is also the largest exhibition of her
work in the U.S. in more than 30 years.
Born in the Prussian city of
Königsberg (now Kaliningrad, Russia), Whetting the
Kollwitz was based in Berlin from the Scythe (1908;
1890s through the early 1940s, a period etching print,
drypoint print,
of turmoil in German history marked emery and varnish
by the upheaval of industrialization on paper, 11¾x11¾)
and the traumas of two world wars. NATIONAL MUSEUM,
WARSAW. GR.OB.N.N.179017
Although she had trained briefly as a
painter, she quickly turned to drawing
and printmaking as the most effective
media for social criticism. The exhi-
bition includes approximately 120
drawings, prints and sculptures curated
from public and private collections
throughout North America and Europe.
Examples of the artist’s most iconic
projects showcase her political engage-
ment, while preparatory studies and
working proofs highlight her intensive
creative process.

74 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 Independent
Study Resources to
inspire + build skills
BY BETH WILLIAMS

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ArtistsNetwork.com 75
art news Keeping you in the know
SFMoMA AND CREATIVE GROWTH ART CENTER ANNOUNCE AN UNPRECEDENTED
PARTNERSHIP THAT CELEBRATES THE ART AND DISABILITY MOVEMENT
By Daniel Grant

W ith the goal of broadening

their scope in recent years,
art museums around the
country have made a push to acquire
more works by women artists, artists of
color and other underrepresented pop-
ulations. The San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art (SFMoMA) has been part of
that effort, for instance, selling a prized
work in its permanent collection—an
untitled 1960 painting by Mark Rothko,
in 2019—for $50.1 million at Sotheby’s
in order to raise money to acquire 11
works by 10 contemporary artists, most
of them African-American.
Taking a further step toward diversity,
the museum recently has begun acquiring
artworks by artists with developmental
and physical disabilities, partnering with
three California-based nonprofit orga-
nizations that help these artists explore
artistic media and creative ideas. This
Spring, SFMoMA exhibits 100 works
in a range of media by approximately
27 artists. The museum also purchased
114 works by some of these artists that,
after the exhibition, will be displayed in
“galleries throughout the museum over
time, bringing the artists and their voices Untitled (2018; painted wood sculpture, 49x47½x3) by John Martin
into active artistic and institutional
dialogues with other artists in the collec-
tion,” according to a spokeswoman for bought 35 of Martin’s sculptures, and
the institution. The New York Times featured his work in
All three nonprofit organizations— an article on Creative Growth, in 2015.
Creativity Explored, in San Francisco; Another featured artist is Dwight
Creative Growth, in Oakland; and Mackintosh, who spent 56 years in insti-
Nurturing Independence through Artistic tutions. It was in 1979, just after being
Development, in Richmond, Calif.—were released, that he came to Creative Growth
founded in the 1980s by artist Florence and began producing ink drawings, some
Ludins-Katz and her husband, psycholo- of which were included in a group exhibi-
gist Elias Katz, in response to statewide tion at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise gallery,
cuts in services for adults with disabilities in New York City, in 2007.
at the time. Jenny Gheith, associate curator of
Among the artists whose artworks painting and sculpture at SFMoMA,
are now part of the museum’s permanent praised the way “these extraordinary
collection is John Martin, who creates artists and artworks express a limitless
“cartoony” images in two and three imagination and vision that we hope John Martin at work in Creative
dimensions, and who has been part of expands visitors’ understanding of the Growth’s studio.
Creative Growth since 1987. Facebook art that’s being made in the Bay Area.” DIANA ROTHERY

76 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

 COLORED PENCIL ARTISTS

Make Your Mark!

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ArtistsNetwork.com 77
WORKSHOPS 2024 DEADLINE: JUNE 11, 2024
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78 Artists Magazine May/June 2024
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 From the Vault (March 2015)
ANNIVERSARY

For Black River, View

From River Hill
(watermedia collage,
36x26), Quiller worked
on a sheet of cold-
pressed watercolor
board, on which he
applied an undertone
of gold acrylic gesso.
He worked with various
rice papers and acrylic
paint (used as a water-
media) to develop the
painting. Next, he took
ash sledge that had
coated riverbanks,
rolled it into coils and
used it as charcoal. He
then took ash and pine
needles from burn sites
and incorporated them
into the piece.

I’ve lived in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado for

more than 50 years, enjoying a full-time career painting nature in this remote
region. Ten years ago, in June 2013, we experienced wildfires that burned 120,000
acres in this land that I love. I had to accept that many of my favorite haunts would
never be the same. I was devastated. Still, when the smoke cleared, I returned to
these sites and began seeing them again—with fresh eyes. I started experimenting,
eventually creating a series of more than 70 paintings that I titled “Beauty and the
Burn.” The experience became the subject of an article in the March 2015 issue of
Artists Magazine. It was a powerful time of rich creativity. I ended up doing work I’d
never done before. Black River, View From River Hill is one example from a series
that has become one of the most significant of my life.

STEPHEN QUILLER
IS A MULTI-AWARD-WINNING WATERMEDIA ARTIST WHOSE STUDY
OF COLOR THEORY LED TO THE WELL-KNOWN “QUILLER WHEEL.”

80 Artists Magazine May/June 2024

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