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.

A book trailer for Fair Has Nothing To Do with It, by Cynthia Cotten. Every year, twelve-year-old Michael looks forward to his summer visit to his grandparent’s farm, to the sights and sounds of the country that always make him feel so alive, and especially to spending time with his grandfather. When Grandpa dies suddenly right before Michael’s visit, the loss hits Michael hard. It seems as if nothing is going right in his life right now: his dad is always working on his dissertation and has no time for Michael, and when school starts, his math teacher seems to hate him and his best friends are never around. About the only thing that makes him feel better is picking up his sketchbook and pencil and drawing. Michael begins taking private art lessons with Charlie Andrews, a retired art teacher, and the two become friends. But then Michael learns that Charlie might be dying, too. This is a touching first novel about a sensitive boy’s struggle to work through his grief and let people int o his life again. As Graham Salisbury pointed out, it provides excellent comfort to any young reader dealing with the frailty of life.
Video Rating: 3 / 5

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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Theses photos were taken by art instructor, Katie Naquin, at a Baton Rouge middle school. There are three hand-building ceramics classes and a drawing class. Private art lessons available in the Baton Rouge area or online. Please visit www.WallsCanTalkGallery.com/ArtClasses for more info.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Linda Dimitroff is an artist and owner of Graffia Gallery, a fine art gallery in Spring Lake, Michigan. Local, national and international artists are featured. Payment plans, leasing and online purchases are available. Classes and private lessons are also available, times are negotiable. Linda Dimitroff, MA, instructs in beginning and advanced lessons. Student John Ringelberg offers his impressions of the instruction. Please call or stop in for more information on classes. Ms. Dimitroff also demonstrates presentations in various local venues. Credit cards are welcome by phone, online or in-house. For more info, phone 1.616.844.7006, website www.graffiagallery.com, email info@graffiagallery.com.
Video Rating: 1 / 5

I created this video at www.youtube.com
Video Rating: 0 / 5

Still Life Art Flute Vase Roman Lamp Yale New Haven
Video Rating: 5 / 5

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