I’ve been very busy lately, flying up into the Sierra Madres, and down to Tampa, as well as trying to finish up these new figure pieces, plus another two small pieces for a still life show. But today as I was working on this piece I decided to take some progress shots and post them here. I’m working on her face with the 7th value. I did the 6th value at 5YR 6/3, so I thought it might be interesting to set up a little variance in the flesh by doing the 7th with 2.5YR 7/3.

It doesn’t seem like much of a shift but the difference is apparent in the photo sequence above and more so in real life.

1. Stir copal concentrate into canada balsam until blended
2. Use as is for a painting medium.
3. Dilute with turpentine at a 1:1 ratio of medium to turps.

Learn about Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom’s Taxonomy is a breakdown of the six levels of thinking, from the lowest level to the highest. Can you challenge yourself to think about everything in your life at the deepest level?

• Knowledge: Knowing a fact. Knowing 2 + 2 = 4, doesn’t mean you know what 2 + 2 = 4 means.
• Application: Knowing how to use the fact. You can determine that 2 cats plus 2 cats equals 4 cats. You don’t know what 2 + 2 = 4 means, but you can apply it.
• Comprehension: Understanding a fact: You understand the concept of addition and how 2 + 2 = 4.
• Analysis: Breaking down information into its parts. 4 – 2 =2 ; (1 + 1) + (1 + 1) = 2 + 2 = 4
• Synthesis: Creating something new, writing a book, etc.
• Evaluation: Discussion of the merits of 2 + 2 = 4.

Embrace change, uncertainty, and doubt. It is on these edges of knowledge that innovation and discovery happen. Question conventional wisdom. Most people will violently oppose challenges to “conventional” wisdom. They will ignore facts to support their beliefs. Geniuses think critically. They do not ignore facts, even when it conflicts with conventional wisdom. Below are some examples.

• People once believed the world was flat. Eratosthenes (400 B.C.E.) showed it was round.
• Ptolemy’s view of the solar system held sway for 2000 years. Copernicus was forced to recant his view that the Sun was at the center.

Be prolific. Try for quantity before quality. To produce exceptionally good work, do a lot of whatever you’re doing. It increases your chances for success and it means you will get more practice along the way. It also takes the pressure off, knowing that while an effort may be your first, it will likely not be your last. Most geniuses in history, whatever they were doing, they did a LOT of it, and not all of it was genius!

Bouguereau Study at Arcadia Gallery

This painting was shown at the Boston International Fine Art Show last month. I didn’t get a chance to see the show, but apparently it was hanging on the outside wall of Arcadia’s booth, facing the show’s entrance. The gallery got a call yesterday from a collector whose wife saw it at the show and “fell in love with it.”

It’s getting shipped out today…

Delivering paintings to galleries is always anxiety-laden for me, and I’m usually in vast relief when it’s done, but this time I felt flat for hours. (Even a great dinner at Vincent’s couldn’t lift it.) Maybe it’s due to having such a large (for me) panel in my very small studio for so long…

Here it is, resting on top of a 5-foot couch for scale and light. The photo is pretty accurate, although the transitions are smoother in person, and the values are deeper.

I did a small version of this painting last year, around 10″ x 9.” The goal of this piece is to explore the combination of 19th cent. treatment and 21st cent. scale. So far I like the effect it has in person, sort of an emphatic intimacy.

I’ve been evolving my approach somewhat because of this piece. My goal used to be getting each color to finished level at each sitting. I hated going back into a section. But I’ve been realizing the wonderful effects that can be achieved by layering the same HVC mix, and going back into mixes that are darker or more chromatic.

Please excuse this flawed photo. The panel is completely wet and large enough to make moving it in my tiny attic studio tricky. So, I had to take the photo from very close and there’s a lot of glare on the top section, making it seem less developed than it really is. We’ve had so much rain lately that drying is a challenge.