Photographing Pastels

Getting accurate digital photographs of paintings is so important for any artist wishing to share his or her work on almost any level. Whether you intend the work to be shared as a hobby/passion with friends and family or as a professional to be presented to galleries and or be entered into competitions, having good photos of your work is just, well, imperative. The method I use is fairly simple and certainly not the absolutely the perfect way to do it, but for 90 percent of the use we need our images for, it's perfectly adequate. When we want to photograph an image for reproduction, we take the pieces to a photographer here in Portland, Pixel Point Artistry, who does wonderful work and has a Hasselblad camera to do the job! Tell David I sent you!

With just a little practice, this isn't as daunting as it sounds and is easily worth the investment in time and money to do it yourself rather than paying a professional to be doing it for every piece. Shooting pastels is fairly easy because they don't have the added hassle of dealing with a reflective surface.

The photos need to have accurate exposure, color and be in clear focus. They need to be free of distortion and carefully cropped. They should show just the art, with no framing.

You'll need:

•   digital SLR (mine is a Nikon D60) or a camera that will shoot at a high resolution
•   a tripod
•   two lights with tungsten bulbs on stands
•   Photoshop software or similar to crop and make adjustments to your photos

Additionally, a printed gray scale to judge the white balance of the light and a level to make sure your camera and art is level are both good things to have on hand.

The first thing I do is make sure the art is exactly as I want it. If I'm entering a competition I do not sign it yet, otherwise I make sure it's signed and is in good shape. I always shoot it unframed with no glass or mat.

I pin the work to the wall. You can use an easel, but you must make sure the camera lens is at a right angle to the art to avoid any distortion. This is very important!

I set the camera up on the tripod. The tripod is important so the photo with be in focus and square. Positioning of the tripod is very important. Again, making sure the camera is at a right angle to the artwork and the camera is positioned on the center of the artwork. I make sure the the tripod is close enough to the art so that I'm not zooming in with the lens and not getting too much of the surrounding wall, but still all of the art in the frame.

I set the white balance on the camera to incandescent. If you shoot outdoors you just have to set the camera to daylight. This can work too, but I've found that using the tungsten blubs and the incandescent setting on the camera is the most consistent way to capture the color accurately.

Next, I set up the light stands slightly behind and to the sides of the camera lens. I set them up so they are equidistant from the camera. The light stands have tungsten bulbs in them.

I shoot on fine mode, so I get the best resolution and I shoot at least two exposures of each piece.
I'll typically shoot a number of pieces at a time and give them an inventory number when I shoot them, that way when I import the images to my computer and save them, I can give them an inventory number right then.

I import the pics to my computer and bring the files into Photoshop. The camera shoots jpegs which we first save as tifs. Then cropped, adjusted and made into the files types and sizes I need for the web, print and other usages. You want to make sure the horizon of your piece is horizontal, (blue lines). You may have to adjust this in Photoshop.

Screen shot of uncropped image in photoshops

Final cropped and adjusted image

Once you get a routine going for this, it's not so bad and is a wonderful skill to have!

Finding Fridays

This morning I tweeted, yes, I tweeted about TGIF and how I don't really have one because I'm a self employed artist. No rest for the wicked, they say! Well, as anyone who is self-employed  knows, you are the driver of all things...If I had a job description it would be something like this:

Must have crazy painting and drawing skills and at least 20 years experience behind the easel. Must be able to accurately photograph art for reproduction. Must have framing experience. Have marketing and design background, must be a proficient writer for grants, resume, ad copy, artist statements, "how to" articles and blogging. Must have Photoshop, Illustrator and some HTML skill. Must be versed in social media and online marketing. Must be organized and keep a tight inventory of work completed. Must be physically strong able to carry large artwork and set up heavy equipment. Must know how to drive a large truck. Must be personable and presentable to the public and have sales skills. Must be able to teach all the stuff you know how to do to someone else. Must have accounting and bookkeeping skills unless you have a husband who does. Must have tons of tenacity, mental toughness and must have tons of drive and direction as you won't have a boss telling you what to do at any time. You will be on your own.

So, I need to make up my own Fridays. This is not a small issue. It's a very real part of what goes into my work week. Friday's are a cutting loose, a release and a way to let go of what you don't need and of finding inspiration and passion for what is next. Letting go and receiving.


For me, I dance. This is the way I fill my cup.This is a way to be full of heat and passion and be a little wild. It also gives me fitness. I dance at NIA studios, in my studio and luckily I have a husband who will take me out dancing! I dance a lot! This is just my path to release and receive. For others it might be going to see movies, motorcycling, skiing, hiking. You get the picture. But, I now realize this is not just playing around, it is a necessary part of my week. If I don't dance, I won't paint with the same authority, passion or full attention that I would otherwise. I'd love to hear about what you do for release and receiving.


So if you see Mike and I around town dancing...say "hi" and know that I have a very good excuse for being out late!

Do You "Really" Need to Know How to Draw to Paint?

Well, yes, duh!! Sorry, but I hear this quite a bit; that thing that you don't "really" need to know how to draw to be a landscape painter. My first thought about that is, why in the world would you want to limit yourself? If you have a good foundation of drawing skills, you don't have an Achilles heal so to speak, about what you can and cannot paint. If you want to put a structure/building or people in your landscape, you can, only if you have good enough drawing skill. If you want to set up a still life on a rainy day when you can't go out plein air painting , you can handle all the ellipses and the vanishing points of a simple cup and saucer only with drawing skill. You can point in any direction you choose if you have drawing skills. If you lack them, you will be continually holding yourself back and making choices according to that lack of skill.

With a strong foundation of drawing also comes a good understand of light and shadow and how light falls on form; how do we translate that into our paintings. A nice resource for this is Rendering in Pencil by Arthur Guptill, yes that Guptill It's an oldie but goodie. That being said, there is nothing like a good basic drawing course that focuses on light and shadow. You know the one; where you draw hour after hour from a plaster cast? Yuck, but good.

A little understanding of perspective; at least one and two point perspective is necessary. Maybe you don't need to get into aerial perspectives and such, but if you want those fence posts to recede in a believable fashion, you have to have some study on it. I have a handy-dandy, simple little book I refer to when I'm stuck, Perspective by J.M. Parramon. Also I had Mr. Youngkin at Art Center. Nothing like that in a book, sorry to say. He was a wonderful academic style professor who didn't suffer any excuses. We learned our perspective!

The landscape has topography which can be best explained in a painting with a good understanding of perspective. Drawing skill also lends gesture and rhythm to our work. You know when you see it! It's that lovely lyrical line. A truly confident mark comes from knowledge and mileage. Gotta love it. I don't know about you, but I want my work to have it!

The human figure; if you can get this, you can get most anything! There is perspective in the foreshortening of forms, light and shadow falling on small and large forms, proportions and then of course likenesses to uncover. Gesture and movement, emotion; it's endless and you can spend a whole lifetime mastering it. I'm doing paintings where I'm abstracting and distorting the forms in the figure, but having the knowledge that this is an intentional choice, makes all the difference in being able to take something and do it "your way" with confidence. Some good volumes on drawing the figure are Burne Hogarth's books, Dynamic figure Drawing and Drawing the Human Head, the classic series by Bridgeman, Anatomy for the Artist by Jeno Barcsay. But really, nothing can substitute hour after hour of life drawing sessions. Find a good local one near you and become a 'regular'. If there isn't one, start one. Finding models can be as easy as asking willing friends, looking on Craig's List for professional models or asking a a local college who they use. Your models don't have to be nude. Although, that's good too!

"I'm Not Sorry" Acrylic & Collage on Wallis paper
This piece will be part of an exhibition in Portland entitled "Red"

So, if you don't feel like your drawing chops are up to snuff, put a little time and effort in. It will immediately reflect positively in your work. I'm always working on mine and never satisfied but always grateful I made the time!

Finishing and Eating Some Crow

Knowing when a piece is finished is a big deal. Part and parcel with that is knowing how to resolve a piece that isn't finished. This last one is something I feel I've gotten better at in my "maturity". I'm not sure if this is more patience, experience or just getting better. Maybe a little of all of those.

I have a checklist that I think is helpful. I don't literally go down this checklist for each piece, but these are some of the things that are running through my head.

1. Does the piece do what I intended? Is it telling the story that I had in mind. If it went in another direction somewhere along the way, did I intend that? 
2. Does it have an area of interest, focal point or "star" as Richard Mckinley likes to say
3. Are there a variety of masses/shapes of unequal sizes or did I end up with lots of spots of color and value that are repetitive?
4. Does it have rhythm and movement? Do I lead my viewers eye on a journey?
5. Does it have a dynamic arrangement of elements or is it boring and static?
6. Do the elements have gesture?
7. Are there areas that are unresolved?
8. Are there some areas that are painted really differently? In other words, is there a thread that connects all the areas of the piece?
9. Is there something that doesn't fit or doesn't belong?
10. Are there any drawing issues like an odd tangency?
11. Have I addressed the edges of all the shapes?
12. Is there interesting texture that ties the piece together?

This pastel is finished!

Lastly and simply; does it look finished? Is it messy or too slick and polished as if my hand wasn't in it?

Ok, now the eating crow part. The other day I pronounced my two large landscape commission finished. I did this before I sent jpgs to the client. Big mistake. They didn't think they were finished! They wanted some sharper edges. These are going in a hospital and apparently people in hospitals don't like fuzzy paintings,( I had lots of really soft edges in the things, a quality that I was going for and thought turned out GREAT! Oh, well...Being that this is a pretty big job and I knew I could still make it work with the suggested changes, I didn't get my panties in a bunch over it. Made the adjustments and will present jpgs next week. I guess some artists would take exception over having to make such changes, but I really don't mind suggestions like this and find that sometimes they do actually make a work stronger. Not sure this is the case here, but I still like them.

This painting was not finished, I guess!

I received quite a bit of feedback about my last post "What is it that you need?" and will be writing a followup to that this weekend. Thanks so much for following my blog and making it stronger and more fun with all your comments. Keep 'em coming!

What is it that you need?

Playing

window as light box

Let's be honest, 'cause you know I'm pretty honest here....What do you need to make art?

• All the best materials?

• A good studio space to quietly contemplate your project?

• A great, unique idea?

• A quiet mind so you can concentrate on your idea?

• A load of skills to make it all happen?

Ha, ha...You know this isn't what I think...

Here's what I think someone needs, (just my opinion here)

• Energy - mad energy

• Attention - put yourself into it as fully as you can

• A direction - doesn't matter what that direction is as much as you stick with it

• The drive and perseverance to pursue this direction for quite a while

• Some stuff - cardboard, tempera paint, charcoal will even do it

Working on backgrounds

Everything in the kitchen sink

Lots of stuff in progress

What I don't think you need at all

• All the stuff, especially not the best stuff

• The best skills out there. You can never compete with all the artists out there, don't even try. It will kill you. Just try to get better.

• Talent - don't get me started here 

• An endless stream of workshops, books, videos etc. At some point you have to settle in and find an authentic voice from somewhere within yourself

Manifesting drive and direction to me is the most important and hardest part of being an artist. This means waking up every day with an active mind and positive attitude to put yourself as fully as possible into the work. Believe me, I'm not always good at this, but the good days outweigh the tough ones.This in spite of the sometimes chaotic pace and volumes of distraction that our lives and culture throw at us. Being and artist, even as a vocation isn't easy, but then again most things worth doing aren't easy.

How you get and maintain energy is different for each of us. Mine goes in spurts and then I have to recover and gather more. Direction; well I don't think there's a bad direction or path. It's just different for each of us.

The Stuff; well that's the easiest part...if you're a little inventive, you can make art with most anything.

I do believe that good teachers are really valuable, the ones that share knowledge, give you encouragement and a safe and secure environment in which to learn and to push your personal boundaries. I've been very fortunate to have had quite a few of these. Vernon Wilson, Dan McCaw and Richard Mckinley to name a few.  BTW, I think I'm a good teacher...Just sayin!!

Tomorrow's blog: More on direction and ideas and a some eating crow on being finished. How do you know when you're finished?