Sorolla at the Hispanic Society of America, NY

After two years abroad, the Sorolla paintings from the Hispanic society of america are back in their home in west Harlem. Although I'd only seen them once, they had a profound impact on me at the beginning of my painting career and I was excited to see if they held the same impact. I wasn't let down. Firstly, these paintings are massive, multi figure compositions. 12-15 feet tall, totaling 227 ft long! How one man did this, I have no idea, but it did take him 8 years. Secondly, they were done ON SITE in the various parts of Spain they depict.  Once you get over the sheer magnitude of this accomplishment and take a look up close, a whole other world awaits . So much color! So simply drawn! And the brushwork! The light and energy that radiates from these paintings is impossible to reproduce; like all great paintings, they must be seen in person to fully experience them. For those who can't though, here are some details to tide you over. 

Before lunch

Would like to work on this piece some more that I started at Robert Moses State Park last weekend, but I've got an appointment this afternoon. Plus, I'm starving! Done for today!

"Sunny's Flowers"

Finished it up in a few more hours today. As smoothly as it went, the flowers were a bit of a challenge to simplify. Also, look closely and you can see that they actually moved as I was painting them. One of the lilies even began to open!

Rainy Day Floral

After a few weeks of illustration and other work, I finally got back to painting today. As usual, once I took my brushes out, the sun quickly ducked behind some clouds and it began to rain. No worries though, this gave me a chance to try out my lamp at lighting some flowers I picked up in the city a couple of days ago. 5 hours went pretty smoothly, we'll see how it looks tomorrow!

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Something

Sam Goodsell and I were invited to give a talk during career week for a few classes of 4th and 5th graders at Amber Charter School. I gotta say I was a little nervous at first--10 year olds can be a tough crowd--but as soon as I saw how interested they were it all went away. I had a blast telling them all about how I learned to draw and showing them my materials. I even pulled out my very first drawing that I made for my mom at KinderCare. They asked great questions (better than a lot of my adult students!) and it was beautiful to see their eyes light up at the answers. Thinking back to how impressionable I was at that age, it's amazing to think that I may have made some kind of an impact on them. Who knows if maybe there's an artist in the making in there?

How does it feel to be beautiful?

While searching for a recipe for lunch today, I came across a hilarious blog called Mark Ruins Dinner. Looking through some of his posts, I found one on his disabled son, Ben. Curious to know what he's afflicted with, I started clicking through links. I still don't know much about Ben, but I'm glad I found this beautiful video to think about today.

'the second glance' from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

My Open Studio

I did my first open studio during this year's Mott Haven Open Studio Tour. It was great to be able to show all the work I've been doing over the past year and hear people's comments. I got some great feedback, plus I got to hang out with a lot friends, drinking wine and enjoying the weekend.

Costa's Open Studio, Part 2 (yes, that's PAINT)

Even more impressive than his studio is the work itself. Layer upon layer of meticulously mixed paint create the illusion of space, not only through color and value, but also through the very texture of the paint film. Costa's painting is the type that can never be fully experienced except in person because its illusion is sculptural as well 2D. I took some detail shots because that's about as close as you can get to the real thing.

Costa's Open Studio, Part 1

Costa Vavagiakis is an amazing artist and teacher who I was lucky enough to be able to study with for nearly five years. An observational purist of sorts, he works only from life and memory to achieve an intense level of realism. It's hard to imagine what kind of dedication is needed to create his paintings (which sometimes take years to complete) but looking around his home/studio gives you a pretty good idea. This man lives and breathes his work. More than just passionate about his art, Costa lives completely immersed in it.

Unsigned Commissions

Every so often I'm approached with a commission that I'd rather not do, but am not in a position to turn down. Somebody's great grandmother or a wedding album photo, maybe even a photo of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel sitting next to a boy in pumpkin costume. Taken with a flash. You do what you can with these, and try not to resent it too much--they do pay the bills. But NEVER, ever sign them. In fact, I'm not even going to show a picture of this one because I definitely don't want THAT showing up in my works catalogue.

Stoop Day

Took a day out of the studio today to go draw with my friend and fellow artist Josh Cave. It was a gorgeous spring day--perfect for sitting around on stoops, watching the day go by.

Kimmy

Kimmy, charcoal on paper, 2010

I had been so focused on the complications of big paintings that I had totally forgotten about sketching from life as an end in itself. More importantly, I remembered how quickly that skill goes away and how crucial it is to creating lively work. We did short poses for nearly an hour (all bad) and when I finally settled into the longer pose (1 hour), I was ready for it.