For Käthe

For Käthe. 2017. Charcoal & Pastel. 18.5" x 14." Casey Klahn.


This image was a response to the tonal sketch challenge that is sponsored on the Facebook page, How To Pastel. The idea is to take a leaf from the master German artist, Käthe Kollwitz. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to work in the style of one of my favorite artists.

For the set-up of this, I placed a harsh flood light clamped to my easel and pointed directly in my face. I feel that line and tone are tremendous tools, if you allow them their voice.

Pastellist Interviews

The tireless Canadian artist, Gail Sibley, who blogs at How To Pastel, has collected 19 short interviews of pastel instructors who attended the pastel convention in New Mexico earlier in June of this year. It is a treasure trove. Pour a tall cup of something to enjoy, and do go through these at your leisure. By the way, I am down the dais at video number 14, but I will also post it from You Tube below.

IAPS Interviews, 2017

Colors Have a Beauty of Their Own Which Must Be Preserved

Interior. 2016. Pastel, Graphite, Dry Ground & Oil. 18" x 14." Casey Klahn.


Colors have a beauty of their own, which must be preserved.
Henri Matisse.

Profile SP

Profile Self Portrait. 2017. Pastel. @12" x 9." Casey Klahn.

April Orange

April Orange. 2017. 4.75" x 5." Pastel. Casey Klahn.

April. Apple.

April. 2017. Pastel, Dry Ground & Graphite (Acrylic Varnish). 6.75" x 9." Casey Klahn.

Today's Madonna

Lady and Device. 2017. Pastel. 13.5" x 9." Casey Klahn.

After Degas (from Memory)

The Little Sculpture, aged 14. 2017. Pastel & Dry Ground. 11" x 7.5." Casey Klahn. Memory of Degas.

Mountain High

North Central Cascades. 2017. Pastel & Dry Ground. 9" x 12." Casey Klahn.

White Nude

454/1. 2017. Graphite, Pastel, Dry Ground, Charcoal, and Spray Acrylic Varnish, on Brown Paper Rubbed with Pumice Powder. 8.25" x 6.25." Casey Klahn.

Blue Rainforest

Blue Rainforest. 2017. Pastel. 10.25" x 7.25." Casey Klahn.

AKA Madonna and Child

2 Apples on an Irregular Platter. 2017. Pastel, Dry Ground & Graphite. 11" x 8." Casey Klahn.

Old Europe (The Black Wall)

Old Europe. 2016. Pastel. 15" x 10.75." Casey Klahn.

iPad art

Gray Forest. 2017. iPad. Large. Casey Klahn.

Merry Christmas

Winterscape 2016

Winter Temperatures. 2016. Pastel on Sketch Paper. @10" x 10." Casey Klahn.

Mountain Drawing

Crags and Chute. 2016 

Carbon Pencil & Pastel 

@8" x 11" 

Casey Klahn

In the Bleak Midwinter

These Cello Advent dailies you may follow on your own at You Tube, from Kjell Magne Robak, who is a Norwegian Cellist. I post this one because it's traditional here at The Colorist to post In the Bleak Midwinter at Christmastime.

Enjoy.

Merry Christmas (Cello)

Mirror Space

Top of the Mirror. 2016. Pastel & Graphite. 15.25" x 11.5." Casey Klahn.

Severe Light

Hard Very Severe. 2016. 

Pastel, Oil & Chalk 

16" x 9.75" 

Casey Klahn

Snapshots from My October Workshops

Shown from the top are: New Mexico, Provincetown and Cape Cod, a sketch from Boston, and Freeport, Maine.

I'm always too busy teaching to stop and take a photo of the class. I rely on students sending their pics, so if you can, please send me some and I'll post them.

When Bloggers Meet - Thug Life version

Casey and Sippi. Meeting Sippican Cottage in the Intertunnel. 

Sometimes, there's a Blogger. A Blogger whose words you cannot ignore. A Blogger of Bloggers! A man whose wordsmith chops are unparalleled. 

Bloggering is a lonely avocation; you find yourself wondering whether anyone other than robots read your heart and soul thrown-up against the wall. 

If you are one of the cool kids who've read the guy pictured to my left above, then you will be as thrilled as me to know he's a real guy. Yessir - no bot is he. He's an authentic human, and as a matter of fact he's a whole family of authentics: man, wife, 2 sons and one fiancee for wonderful measure.

Last week I met none other than the famous Sippican Cottage! The best blogger of all time, and that includes the Ancient Near Eastern and Classic eras. It includes the Golden Era, the Cinematic Era, and the Yogi Berra Era. 

Although we did have to meet in a red cavern in the intertunnel, we did manage to pull it off. An actual when bloggers meet meet-up! Sippi insisted on a disguise in the photo; he actually wears a cowboy hat. 

Sippican Cottage has, in my estimate, civilized the blogger world and made our days in the unterorb meaner and palatable. If none of that last sentence makes any sense to you, then I suggest you read Sipp's award-winning blog, Sippican Cottage. The rewards will be self evident. Also, drop my name when you get there. He seems to know who I am, too. 

Sipp and family: meeting up in deepest Maine was a highlight of my days, and my hope is that we'll keep in touch. I hear they have comment sections on Blogger.

Harmony

Landscape Harmony. 2016. Pastel. 8" x 8.5." Casey Klahn.

New Mexico Late October

Albuquerque: Reserve today - Spots still available.
Spend 3-days learning from our National Show Judge.

PSNM: Casey is a dynamic artist who will challenge you and provide thought-provoking information you can incorporate into your own work.

“Casey Klahn’s workshops open your eyes to newways of thinking about the elements of painting. He’s not a techniques man. He’s a concepts man. If youwant a good challenge to bring freshness and verve to your work, Casey will not disappoint.” 

Pastel Society of America (PSA) Board of Governors, Arlene Richmond.

Contact Marilyn Drake at:
psnm.nswkshop@gmail.com

Intensities Matter

OM Self. 2016. Pastel & Dry Ground. @12" x 9." Casey Klahn.

Portrait

M. Cézanne. 2016. Pastel, Dry Ground & Graphite. 9.5" x 9." Casey Klahn.

Room to Breathe.

Morning Forest. 2015-16. Pastel, Oil & Graphite. 14" x 11." Shown with mat. Casey Klahn.

Dream Workshops!

I have to pinch myself at the prospects of the workshops that are coming up. Croatia! New Mexico! A demo at IAPS! Also, I am in the planning stages for Indiana, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York City. Planning is going out to 2018.

First, let's talk about the beautiful European gem, Croatia, on the Adriatic Sea. Instructors Ellen Eagle, Karen Margulis and others have reported wonderful experiences and I feel we're in for a treat when we go there in June, 2017. 

Croatia and its setting in Europe.

Porec and Villa Gloria, in Istria, are the popular travel spots where we will be for 10 days. Our host is Mario Vukelic, who publishes the blog, Pastel News.

Pastel Workshops in Istria. Aria Workshops.

Porec looks like maybe 40 plus miles from Venice, as the crow flies. Or the dolphin swims. Or - you get the idea.

Remember I mentioned that Georgian artist Karen Margulis just returned from Croatia? Here is her recent post reviewing her workshop and the trip. Warning! If you are on the fence about coming, this will seal your decision. It is a truly beautiful workshop locale, with great accommodations.

A Week in Croatia.

Mario Vukelic and Karen Margulis and her artists in Croatia. Can you say: "Wow?" 

Frankenstein's Monster (as a Self Portrait)

Self Portrait as a Reanimated Man. 2016. Pastel, Oil, Dry Ground & Carbon Pencil. 15.2" x 11." Casey Klahn.

The Artist's Wife

The Artist's Wife in a Red Chair. 2016. Pastel. 14.5" x 10.25." Casey Klahn.

Self Reflection

Painting in the Mirror. 2016. Pastel. 10" x 10." Casey Klahn.

Arms Crossed

Black Smock. 2016. Pastel & Oil. 18.5" x 13.75." Casey Klahn.

Swimming, Summer & Sunglasses

Sunglasses. 2016. Pastel. 16" x 12." Casey Klahn.

The Painter

The Painter. 2016. Pastel, Oil, Dry Ground & Charcoal on Vellum. 10.5" x 8.25." Casey Klahn.

My Father Used To Say

Self Portrait in Hell, with Vermilion. 2016. Pastel, Oil, Charcoal & Dry Ground. 12.3" x 10." Casey Klahn.


My father used to say, "well I'll be go to hell!" I hope he was only kidding. For you grammar teachers out there, he did not pause after "well." 

This work favors the inimitable Edvard Munch, who did a self portrait in hell. I'm trying to keep the Expressionist fires going.

Back Door Italy

By the Back Wall, There is a Cellar Door. 2016. Pastel & Graphite. 16.5" x 10.25." Casey Klahn. Italy.

2016 Memorial Day

Memory Sky. 2016. Pastel. 9" x 12." Casey Klahn.

Self Portrait

Untitled. 2016. Pastel, Graphite & Dry Ground. 13.9" x 13.25." Casey Klahn. The artist at age 57. This is the informal photo.

The Look

Self with The Look. 2016. Pastel, Oil & Graphite. 12.5" x 13." Casey Klahn.

The Gothic. 2016.

It's been a year or so that I've been painting portraits, and here are some personal comments on them. The main idea is to be different each time. This woman is called "The Gothic," because of my observations of frescos in Italy last year. A fresco is a work on plaster, and my desire is to have the muted tones, and the textures, show. Also, the Gothic Era was a particularly spiritual one, and "perspective" was more akin to what the Modernists later wanted to show. This "sign" says that; there is an expression revealed. I notice the colors are muted, but the blue on red treatment reminds me of a celluloid flash from the end of a film reel.

The Gothic. 2016. Pastel, Oil, Charcoal, Dry Ground & Graphite. 16.5" x 13.2." Casey Klahn.

i.primitive

i.primitive. 2016. Pastel & Oil. 13" x 9." Casey Klahn.

The Sign He Makes

Cimabue Decorates the Apse. 2016. Pastel, Dry Ground, Oil & Graphite. 12" x 8.75." Casey Klahn.

Announcing Dates for Italy 2016

Artensity Contact for this workshop.

Forest with French Blue

Forest with French Blue. 2015. 

Pastel & Graphite. 

14" x 7.3." 

Casey Klahn.

Book Love

They make these things called books.

MATISSE: Radical Invention 1913-1917

Barnes & Noble.

3 Phase Portrait Poster

We're still on Matisse Month, which I think may become Matisse Year before I'm done writing it all. In the meantime, there's no reason not to post new stuff. Please enjoy. This portrait is so much about the element of color intensity, that I decided to deconstruct it in Photoshop just to see what I could see. 

3 Phase Portrait. 15" x 7.8." Photoshop. Casey Klahn.

Mostly Yellow Portrait. 2018. Pastel. 13.5" x 8.25." Casey Klahn.

Intermezzo

Embed from Getty Images

Henri Matisse with Model Henriette Darricarrère, in Nice. 1927.

From Hilary Spurling, Smithsonian Magazine, 2005. Matisse and His Models. 

The same seems to have been true of the models for his odalisque paintings of the 1920s. The first of these odalisques—sprawling in “harem costumes” on improvised divans—was Antoinette Arnoud’s successor, Henriette Darricarrère, who was working as an extra when Matisse spotted her in the film studios in Nice. He liked her natural dignity, the graceful way her head sat on her neck and, above all, the fact that her body caught the light like a sculpture. A ballet dancer and musician, Henriette became part of the family in the seven years she worked for Matisse. His wife grew especially fond of her, and he himself taught her to paint.
Matisse said it was essential to start by finding the pose that made any new model feel most comfortable. Henriette’s specialty was discovered by accident after a carnival party attended by Matisse and his daughter, dressed respectively as an Arab potentate and a beauty from the harem. Marguerite Matisse, Lorette, even Antoinette Arnoud, all tried on turbans and embroidered Moroccan tops, but it was Henriette, always modest, even prim, in her street clothes, who wore the filmy blouses and low-slung pants without inhibition, becoming at once luxuriant, sensual and calmly authoritative.
The pictorial possibilities she opened up for Matisse were enhanced by her exceptional sensitivity and stamina. He saw the work they produced together as an increasingly complex orchestration of colored light and mass, culminating in his Decorative Figure on an Ornamental Ground, which was almost as incomprehensible in 1926 as the Blue Nude had been nearly 20 years earlier. The painting is a riot of exuberant trompe l’oeil wallpaper, flowers, fruit and patterned textiles, all pinned firmly in place by the pale upright figure of Henriette. She looked as impersonal and unyielding as a side of packaged butcher’s meat to Matisse’s friend, the painter Jules Flandrin, who was baffled and exhilarated in equal measure: “I can’t begin to convey the brilliantly successful contrast between the wallpaper flowers and the woman so skillfully mishandled,” he wrote to a friend. Soon after the completion of Decorative Figure, Henriette left to get married.

Decorative Figure on an Ornamental Background. 1925.

Matisse Month 

Many Works by Matisse - Worth a Look

Form Serves Color

Woman with a Hat. 2016. Pastel. 19" x 16." Casey Klahn.