30 June, 2011

28 June, 2011

Choose Without Knowing Why

Whitetail Heaven
5" x 7"
Pastel & Charcoal
Casey Klahn


An example of intuitive choices is given by this small painting that I did from memory.  We have daily visitations by Whitetail deer  at my house, and so reproducing one on paper doesn't require actually looking at one - memory is good enough.  The trick, for me, is in rendering a four-legged animal because I almost never draw them.  Anyway, this was the result of my memory sketch of the buck.


After this one hung on my studio wall with a piece of tape for about a month, I looked at it and wondered why I had made these linear and color choices.  I realized that there are several layers of observation in this image, none of which I was thinking consciously about when I drew it.


Deer, while considered color blind, don't actually see in black and white, either.  According to the science, they are supposed to see the the ultra-violet, and perhaps also the infra-red spectrum spaces. They have been shown to respond to blue, and possibly yellow.  Why did I choose to bathe this image in blue?  Was I thinking, at some level, about the way deer see?  Consider also the fact that they aren't binocular in the same way that people are. They see outlines, but not much depth.  Movement is the thing they respond to, and they trust less of what they see, but everything that they smell.


Whitetail Heaven shows the vague, broken outline of this buck, who is sniffing the air at dusk and he is in motion.  Weird how this turned out that way.  Strange, in fact.


Maybe I'm making too much of it.  I gotta get out more.

27 June, 2011

Bright Pine & News

Bright Pine
10" x 11"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

This weekend, I started on a new project that is a wonderful departure for me.  I hope you'll be able to see it completed in the next month or two, but I'll keep it under wraps for the time being.  Hee hee.  It should be very cool.

My hands are very full with daddy duty now that school is out.  And, that caught me by surprise.  We watched the Eddie Murphy movie, Daddy Day Care, and got some laughs over the whole scheme of dad taking care of the youngsters.  

If you live in the Oakland or San Francisco areas, be aware that I will be teaching a workshop in your area in the next few months.  The date will be announced, along with the venue, soon.  Contact me if you are interested.  The announcement for On-Demand Workshops is here.


24 June, 2011

Paint Like This, Only Different

Orchard Grass
5" x 6.5"
Pastel & Charcoal
Casey Klahn


Below is the flyer for my new "On-Demand" workshops.  On Demand means you can now host a workshop in your area.  Putting together a workshop involves finding a potential venue, and gathering 5-10 students, and we can set a date.




21 June, 2011

Buttes Are My Next Subject


Up Country Pines
11" x 17.9"
Pastel
Casey Klahn


Smaller than a mesa and bigger than a berm.

16 June, 2011

Red & Violet Something Different


Red & Violet Corner River
9.75" x 9"
Pastel
Casey Klahn


See the page: Pressroom, for news about my on-demand workshops.

The wet scene above demands a rain song video. Whaaaaa-yahlluhhhh Greeeen Rivah!

13 June, 2011

Breakthroughs at the Workshop

My Set-Up at Katherine's Studio

The best thing for a workshop, I think, is when artist's can get a breakthrough and find new strength in their paintings.  I appreciate the very hard work my students put in to do this, and I have a feeling others will want to endure experience this same kind of fun at one of my on-demand workshops.  

See Katherine van Schoonhoven's photos and posts at Art and Music.



12 June, 2011

Katherine's Studio Hosts My Workshop

"I Use Matisse's Method.  Matisse Said, 'I Have No Method.'"

I am teaching a small group of Portland area artists in Katherine van Schoonhoven's beautiful studio.  Kvan lives in Battleground, WA, and she blogs at Art and Music. We share a love for abstraction in the landscape, and she posts about the workshop here.

It took some courage to begin a fresh work for my demo, which was of a subject viewed in the Columbia Gorge on my drive over from eastern Washington.  Luckily, I was pleased with the results.  Whew.


Photo Credit:  Katherine van Schoonhoven.

10 June, 2011

Workshop Bound



Look here for my report over the next few days.  Have a nice weekend.

06 June, 2011

Fluid Corner River

Fluid Corner
19.5" x 13.75"
Pastel
Casey Klahn


With the river scenes also comes a music video with the theme of rain.  Water is everywhere in these images:  in the sky; in the trees; in your hair.

05 June, 2011

ArtFest Behind; Workshop Ahead



Thank you to the friends who stopped by to see me at the ArtFest.  It was interesting, and very enjoyable, to meet readers of The Colorist whom I've not met before (and who don't show up on Statcounter at all!)


Next weekend I'll be in the Portland area teaching a pastel workshop.  It looks like we are entering the busy time of year.

01 June, 2011

New Work - Pastel Field


Pastel Field
11.25" x 16"
Pastel & Charcoal
Casey Klahn

This is a piece done over the top of a discarded work.  
Abstract Expressionism, Art Criticism, Artists, Colorist Art, Drawing, History, Impressionism, Modern Art, Painting, Pastel, Post Impressionism