Drawing Mary

First published November, 2009.

Mary Cassatt, After Degas - detail
@ 32" x 26"
Charcoal
Casey Klahn

At the Easel

I like studying the master works of artists like Edgar Degas. This work is a copy of his well known Portrait of Mary Cassatt.

Hottest Blogs for 2011 - Sonya Johnson

When you see the big molten-lava orb, then you know it's time for a Hottest Blog entry.  This is where The Colorist points out the hottest artist's blog that you may not be reading yet.  But should.


The Hottest Blogs for 2011 will also be noted one at a time, or maybe sometimes two at a time.  Look for the molten orb periodically throughout the year.


Have you seen Sonya Johnson's blog, Sonya's Daily Art Journal?  Her oils and pastels of the Durango, Colorado region are an instinctive and accurate fit for the four corners area, a high and arid region of the American Southwest.  She observes this area effortlessly, and also has no problem with the estimable bigness of the desert and the mountains of her home.  Sonya's blog is one to watch for 2011.

Picasso Biography Videos

This series of biographical videos on Picasso is very informative.  For some reason my mind works better with the chronological revelation of what happened, versus the all-at-once story that you get when you read a one page bio.


Now, I am beginning to get a handle on what Picasso did.  The link to the first vid of nine is here.

Dusk With Orange

Dusk With Orange

@ 5" x 7"

Pastel

Casey Klahn

Elements of Art

Deborah Secor: Today's Art Class

Deborah Secor has an art class blog, and has done me the compliment of referencing The Colorist as a resource.  That's a nifty thing, since I admire her pastels, and her teaching.  I recommend you look at the link, as her list of  Basic Art Elements, and artists who emulate them, is noteworthy.

Tuesday Tree

Tree Rous
3.5" x 3.75"
Charcoal & Pastel
Casey Klahn

On re-claimed la Carte.

Charcoal River

Charcoal River

@9" x 14"

Charcoal, Chalk & Pastel

Casey Klahn

Charcoal, chalk and pastel on Rives BFK Heavyweight.

These tools allow me to express more than any other media.  Maybe they are the reason for the deep, dark passages in my finished pastel paintings.

Courage In The Breed

Here is an essay first posted in early 2009.  Inspiration for the artist, I hope.

I was driving to the city yesterday, past snow-clad fields, and I noticed a farm dog running like his tail was on fire. I thought to myself, "I wonder if he's...he is! " He was facing down a coyote intruding in his domain, and then I noticed that it was two coyotes.

"...courage is essential to the artist." Henri Matisse

I regarded that as an amazing display of courage by that dog. A pair of coyotes can easily defeat even a full grown deer, and the matter was simply that the dog had his range to defend and nothing was going to keep him from doing that! 

The antipathy between farm dogs and coyotes is well known, and as a matter of fact the dog's behavior was common to his breed.

What characteristics are common to your own breed? The artist is known for artistic integrity, and presenting an abundance of that is having courage.

For a review of these traits, see the following posts: Artistic Integrity and Artistic Courage - Get It!

Have you defended your artistic space lately?

Motivational Poster Time

Make your own  Automotivator.

Or, Maybe This Draws A Picture Of My PC

BTW, My PC looks Like This

Tech Issues

I'm having tech issues here at the studio.

Let's hope they end sooner, rather than later.  I'll try to post as I find internet kibbles available.

The better news is, I do have a dozen or so new pictures to post and you'll get to see those when The Colorist gets back up.

Struggle

Studio and Struggle

My current studio work.  

I have been working diligently on the Hoquiam River series, because I want to have at least twenty paintings come the exhibit.  So far, so good.  Maybe there is a thread that unifies them.  They have been spread out over time, so I wonder.

It was time for a break, and so I tried to develop an image from Italy.  I was happy, but with reservations. That isn't too bad for a genre I don't specialize in.  

Riva Practice

Today, I had a short day in the studio, and had to call India for you-know-what.  The technician says my internet dish is old.  Good one.  Anyway, I got into doing some people on the street, in the Margaret Dyer style.  I want to explore those some more, as I am a huge fan of hers.  There is a thread of unity in her work and the work of Edgar Degas.

I liked the way Celeste Bergin mentioned at her blog that she does paintings for practice.  Then, she whips out a fantastic piece of a mother and child on the beach (see the link).  Hello.  Genius at work.

File this under miscellany.  I only found it the other day, and yet it is a series of posts done in the summer of 2009.  Sadie J. Valeri attended a residency involving the Hudson River Fellowship, and worked en Plein Air in upstate New York for a month.  I read the whole series with my mouth wide open.  That means I am in awe of the wonderful work done by Valeri, and I especially loved the use of graphite and chalk, and pen and ink washes.  Beautiful.

Cheers!  I'd better post this before my satellite dish falls over.