That being said, there are ways to make it work easily without using Munsell. First I need to tell you about the way our eyes work. We can see just over 1,000 gradations whether looking at two values or a complete value scale. This is important because it tells us that the wider the HVC presented in any piece the LESS a viewer is able to see of any component part. Knowing this gives us the ability to create more convincing illusions.

There are only a few really dark colors: ultramarine, peryline crimson, etc. Perhaps one or two for each basic hue. So if I have to bring the crease in flesh down to V<1 I will find the darkest paint that is in the YR range, and add it to black, usually a 1:1 ratio works. The same with everything else. The choices at that value range are so limited that you can fudge successfully with a little thought and planning. I use lamp black for most of my mixes.

Of course, if your lights are not in balance with your darks the form won’t read correctly. But that’s another issue, and one where Munsell really does help.

Cambridge Street Studios is an academic artist’s studio located in the heart of Philadelphia. We study academic drawing, painting and sculpture as a means of representing nature in an accurate, unembellished manner, lacking any type of idealization, mannerization, and generalzation. We are concerned most closely with academic art, and are interested in the study of classical art as a traditional part of an academic training. We are in firm belief that through countless hours of practice in drawing, and the study of the science of light on form, one may become more capable of representing nature with a great deal of exactitude.

Indiegogo Campaign

We are currently running a fund raising campaign from the studio at Indiegogo.com. All proceeds will go toward improving the studio’s facilities and programs, and we have a bunch of great thank-you gifts for your donations. Thank you for your help!

Studio Facilities

Cambridge Street Studios is located in a two floor, 4,000 square foot carriage house, that has been purpose-renovated from an empty structure into an ideal studio environment.

The live model area is in the center of the second floor, where there is a full-width bank of north-facing skylights that can be either opened or blocked, lighting the model and easels, just the easels, or closed for using artificial light. The model stand and easels are each lit by their own lighting system, consisting of high color accuracy daylight flourescents.

The cast hall, at the back of the second floor, was carefully conceived and built for controlled drawing conditions. The lighting in the cast hall is a modular system of spotlights and curtains. The lighting is very controlled, and one cast set-up can be changed without interfering with another.

The flooring on the second level is springy plywood, a comfortable surface that is easy to stand and walk on for long periods of time. The rest of the second floor is still life / private studio space.

Drawing and painting are comprised of skills that can be taught, and anyone willing to work hard can learn to do both well. I concentrate on teaching the principles behind excellent drawing, color and painting, instead of idiosyncratic methodologies so commonly taught.

My students learn to draw well, analyze the colors needed to paint any subject and to mix colors with complete accuracy, freeing them to concentrate on theme, composition, and design. My lessons teach mastery of materials, procedures and all of the requisite skills necessary to enable my students to paint at their best, and achieve to their own goals and vision.

There are two major obstacles to learning to paint well, and by that I mean having the mastery over skills and materials to enable the artist to paint whatever they want in the way they want, and get the results they want in every painting or drawing they do.

The first obstacle, and the most important one is drawing. The majority of work I see suffers from undeveloped drawing skills, and that has to be fixed before a student can understand color.

Knowing how to draw is critical for three reasons:

1. In order to depict a subject truthfully one has to be able to see, and understand, the nature of it. Velvet has characteristics that differ from cotton. Its folds, value shifts and hue shifts are what identifies it to the viewer. Roses are very different from peonies, irises, or any other flower. If the artist cannot see what forms make a rose unique then she cannot articulate them to the viewer.

2. Drawing heightens the artist’s sensitivity to shifts in value — the way an object’s form precedes into the light and recedes into the dark.

3. Drawing enables the artist to distinguish the contours of the subject and describe the way forms relate to each other.

The only way to develop the ability and sensitivity to describe forms well is through drawing, and there is no limit to the level these skills can be taken. And the skills can be taught to any person willing to work hard and practice. They don’t come easily, or quickly.

Once a student has developed adequate visual sensitivity and skill to distinguish and describe the forms they see they can begin to develop an understanding of color. There are so many disabling myths about color that it is no surprise that artists believe it is a mystery that cannot be learned.

It’s sad to watch artists struggle to get the right colors in their work. They buy every tube of paint they think might be right, when about 20 paints will allow for painting every color an artist will need.

Or they become convinced that the key to fixing what is wrong with their color is the Secret Medium Of The Olde Masters.

All art materials manufacturers feed on this, and make most of their money on artists who think the answer lies in a tube of King’s Blue or french linseed oil. The solution is not in the medium used or the hundreds of paints purchased.

There is a method that lets an artist know what colors are needed — for any painting of any subject — and guarantees a color match within 99% accuracy. It is simple and straightforward, and eliminates the mumbo-jumbo surrounding color.

Drawing is difficult and complex, unless one has practiced and mastered its components. Color is easily nine times more difficult, since it has three major factors to drawing’s one. Those factors are:

A. Hue.
B. Value
C. Chroma

If an artist intends to show and sell work, whether in a gallery or directly, then the first requirement is great work. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss working together.

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Here’s a shot of my painting Zazalia, in Principle’s front window:

A surprise may be coming in late August too. Too soon to say…

I got to see my friend Sadie Valerie’s work in person for the first time, it’s really excellent and the one Susan used for the announcement is fantastic. You can see Sadie’s work here.

Also, another friend, Vincent Giaranno did an amazing still life of a lobster. His site is here.

Here are the new pieces. Leave a comment if you like them:

Update: Got to see Sadie Valerie’s great work in person for the first time. Very nice…

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…