Sight Size Cast Copy Painting

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I am not sure why I must rebel against almost everything I try to do. This next image is of a current project, a painting of a plaster cast from an original sculpture. Ideally, it should have been painted using the Sight Size Method, which means that my painting would result in an image that is the same size as the original when the painting is viewed from the proper placement in comparison to the subject (a sculpture in this case) from a viewing point of about two meters away.

Sadly, I find sight-size painting or drawing a bit dull. It takes all the fun out of it for me to discover, or interpret, the relationships I see between shapes and tones if I simply lines things up and then make a mark on my canvas that corresponds to a point I can measure on my original. I want to make a mark that I intend to make (and cast paintings are a great way to train the eye and hand), but some part of me rebels against what my mind sees as “copying.” I want to spend more time with my beloved triangles.

Anyway, here is an image of my afternoon project of the Roman soldier copy. You can see that the image on my painting is larger than the original sculpture. This is mostly because my easel is placed incorrectly. It is too far forward. Sadly, these things are so difficult to photograph and you can see how washed out are the details in the lights of the sculpture. This snapshot was taken about a week ago and the painting looks better a little each day.

In closing, have a fun and safe Halloween celebration this evening and/or All Saints’ Day on 1 November, as you will. The latter is an Italian holiday and I am looking forward to spending the day working on my art inspired by Morocco. I may also go visit the famous cemetery here in Florence, San Miniato. It is properly called Basilica di San Miniato a Monte, Firenze. Here is a shot of a few of my artist friends and me during our costumed Halloween Party last Saturday. More images are posted on my Facebook page. Good fun!

Sight-size Cast Painting

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

My newest sight-size painting project is of a (plaster sculpture) cast of a Roman soldier. I joke around the Angel Academy that he is pouting so strongly because his helmet is too tight. (That is even funnier in British English.) In any event, he seems to be a rather popular fellow.

This first image is of my project. I have sketched out the shapes of the cast from a viewing distance of about two meters. It is a lot of pacing the floor, in case you were concerned for my sanity. The second image was taken by my friend Lucia, who decided to sign the canvas as her own. [I have been joking with her that I will finish my project before she finishes her almost completed one. I am not known for my speed…] Here I am about to paint her out…

I work three hours minimum each afternoon on this project, but I share the lighting and space with two other artists who spend the same amount of time working on a different cast each morning. For this reason, I move my cast over to a safe place when I am not painting from him. He spends most of his days in front of John Angel’s copy of a Caravaggio. Students pass him every day and one day, I came out of my model session to see that someone has dressed him. This next image shows how goofy my colleagues are as we start to have a good time.

I went off to lunch and returned later to a room full of people enjoying my surprise. They had added a few items of adornment, including a palette, knitting needle (for comparative measuring), and a banana. [We have a bit of nerdy humor around these parts, eh?] So I have my new crush and while I will miss him over the summer, I am actually going to be too busy to fret much about him. Still, there are two weeks left to go …

My latest art newsletter is now available online for your viewing pleasure. In it, I share with you a sneak peak at new artwork inspired by my trip to Morocco, as well as some images that I am quite happy with myself to have taken of Tuscany. Click here for art news.

Jean Baptiste Carpeaux Sight Size Art Painting

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I spent at least three hours per weekday now doing my first color copy of a plaster cast of a sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875). I am including two images that I was able to find of his work online. The cast that I am creating a copy of was cropped (the elaborate hair is too complicated for the intended purposes of this cast) and I wanted you to have a better idea of the kind of sculpture that Carpeaux created.

I am doing an exercise in subtlety, learning to paint with colors (yes, a simple palette), playing with tone, hue, and chroma. This first image shows you my basic Sight-Size setup. The Sight-Size Method refers to the process of setting up one’s canvas in such a way that the model (in this case a plaster cast) will appear to be the same size on the final artwork. In some ways it is a much easier way to train one’s eye/brain/hand coordination since mistakes will be more apparent.

I position myself, standing, about two meters away from my work. You may see the “scotch” (what we say here in Firenze for masking tape) on the floor where my right foot goes. I have also placed some scotch on the wall behind and below the easel to mark my “click-in point,” which helps me remember exactly where I have lined up my body (eye) with the canvas so that I can repeat my vantage point when studying the subtleties of shape.

I start by deciding where the top of the cast is, and then the bottom. I take my steps forward and place a sketchy thin wash of paint onto my canvas. (I am still heavy handed with this, hmmm.) After that, I step back to my vantage point and decide how much correction I need either up or down. It is very unusual to place the mark perfectly the first time. Try it!

I have continued in this way, pacing back and forth, until I have sketched in a construct for the outer (large) shape. Next, I go in and determine what is shadow and what is light within that larger form. Note that the jaw appears too thin, but I have not actually drawn the shape of the head or the jaw. I have designed the shape of that large shadow that includes the jaw, ear, neck, and part of the chest. You can see that my drawing is not exact here – although I did not see it as so far off while I was doing it. [The two marks of paint that you see in the top right of the canvas were demonstrations of the extreme types of stroke one can make with a brush, depending on technique and how much paint is in the brush. For this stage I use VERY little paint and more of a dry brush.]

In this next image, you may see how I have developed the shapes. Because I have been working over several days, my paint had dried and thus, my work got sloppy as I painted darker when refining the shapes in the area of the ear. Note that background is added as needed to help me see the shape. We see in form or mass more than in lines.

Now, I add the background. I am not a very good painter and I have discovered that this project intimidates me because I want to do it right and yet I know the areas in which I am weak. This Carpeaux copy will test me and train me. However, the approaching spring and my missing marble carving is adding to my lack of focus and fear of failure on this project. My background colors are too cold, even as I began to apply them with my palette knife. (That was fun and I would enjoy learning to paint with a knife!)

In this last image, you may see a plaster cast of an eye from Michelangelo’s “David” and a sight-size painting of it to the right (in “grisaille” – white and black). The artist working next to me must sit as he works, and rolls his chair over a carpet! [I am not sure why the carpet is needed because I would have thought that rolling over it would have been more difficult than the tiled, hard floor.] His lower vantage point gives us the ability to work in a closer space within the studio while working on different art projects.

Back to my Carpeaux: Once the background tone is in, I not only can start to determine the relative tones within the subject, but I can also clearly see that my sketch is too large! I had to laugh because when I walked into the studio that next morning, it was if I had experienced ”stone expansion”! “Stone Expansion” is a term that carver Scott Owens coined to describe that feeling (rationalization – ha!) when the marble is cut away to satisfaction, but the next morning appears to have grown overnight! I was hoping (or more accurately, my ego was hoping) that the drawing expanded because I had not wanted to lose my lines as I applied the paint and only painted beyond them. However, once examining the work, I saw that many shapes were off. I am still refining these as I continue the process.

Yesterday, I was told that, "Painting is merely a matter of correcting mistakes." Hmmm, maybe living is too.