18 February, 2007

Italian Landscape Sketches

Enjoy these "process" sketches for my van Gogh project. Italian landscape subjects.








I promised to do van Gogh works from life, and to use his subjects. Then, I also set a goal of producing a painting from one of these sketches.
Although I have been drawing outside, I haven't developed these into finished sketches yet. Stay tuned on that. Also, I have never been to Provence, or the low countries, for that matter. But, I recently did travel to Italy, and so these subjects are as close as I get toVG's subjects. Well, actually, my home shares a lot of geophysical likeness to VG's landscapes. The local wine makers remind me of that on every label.
I had wanted to pursue the Portal drawing as a painting, but it seems to reside in the gray scale world for now. It seems to emanate a lot of power for me just as it is. But, the wonderful scene of an old man rounding the corner on the street in front of the bell tower has potential for a painting. Hello, symbolism. Hello, strong yellows.
Anyway, I offer these drawings as an insight into the process of studying van Gogh.
Do visit Making a Mark, today, if you are serious about looking at VG's color compositions. Plan to take some time pursuing the copious links that Katherine Tyrrell (whom I dub the content queen) provides. I hope you're OK with the nickname, Katherine!

17 February, 2007

Colorist Red Sky


I guess I have done a whole series with pinks and greens without knowing it; manifest here as reds and olives with a violet ground. Since the Earth is a big horizontal plane, I find the interest in vertical and otherwise non-horizontal elements.
Pink with green is a favorite composition for me.


16 February, 2007

Colorist Art


These are not her images. I just was goofing around on Photoshop.
Now that I have your attention, though, I am pleased to introduce you to an artist I found linked from Katherine's Mark blog. Her name is Tracy Helgeson, of upstate New York.
We share an affinity for color fields, barns, and landscapes. See her blog here.

15 February, 2007

Portal

Remember my sketch of the traditional Italian house at La Ca? Another half a kilometer down the road lies the scene of my next sketch, a little stone garden hut tucked into a steep downhill slope.
We're going to deviate from art discussions for a minute, here. You'll see the reason, though.
The famous Tenth Mountain Division of the U.S. Army fought a battle in North Italy that is fair to describe as the "Monte Cassino of the North". My late father was there. Last year I visited the scene of the battle at a place the Americans named Riva Ridge.
The elite American mountain troopers conducted a night assault, in winter, up a rock face in what amounts to one of the most spectacular actions of the Second World War. Three other major American assaults by seasoned and first-rate units had been repelled by this "impenetrable" Nazi German position. On the top of Riva ridge were the German's elite Gebergsjager - their own mountain troops.
The most iconic photo of this key battle is this one showing the Tenth Mountain Division's special evacuation and supply tram that was installed in support of the high angle operation. Ammo and supplies went up; wounded and dead came down. What I learned from a veteran is that the small building pictured in the famous photo, was the temporary mausoleum, or collection point for the dead G.I.s and Tedesci (German) alike.
In my drawing is that same building from the old photo. I feature the acute downhill slope towards what is now a garden hut, with a portal through the foliage at the right that leads downhill towards the ravine. In the background, the Riva Ridge ascends towards heaven.
I incorporated some of the VG marks that I have studied, and am using his Garden Cottage drawing as a type of image with copious amounts of foliage, with a structure in the background.

The photo I took of the garden hut, Italy

The entrance to the erstwhile mausoleum.

14 February, 2007

A Candy Valentine for Colorist Fans

Enjoy. To make your own, go here.
Casey

Van Gogh, The Self-Taught Artist

I forward this very interesting piece from Alyson's blog, by the gallerist Paul Dorrell who speaks to artist's about career moves.
He has a nifty view of the self-taught artist, which I quote:
"As a dealer, I’m always most interested in what an artist is creating now, and in what they’ve created in the past. I don’t even care if they’re self-taught, so long as the work is exceptional. Besides, 'self-taught' can place an artist in some very good company, beginning with that tortured Dutchman. "
VG may have "typed" us artists with some bad perceptions, but I don't mind that one, as I am 98% self-taught myself.
Happy Valentine's Day to all of my loyal readers, and to those who arrived by happenstance.

12 February, 2007

No Blue Without Yellow

It seems that Emile Bernard, van Gogh's pen-pal, was soon to cross the Mediterranean to North Africa, to serve with Lieutenant Milliet in the French Army. VG was waxing on, artist to artist, about perceived local color.
"

Influence of Van Gogh

VG's influence on my art is already pretty much present. Color, gesture, impasto. Feeling.
In my van Gogh project, to add to my studies, I am choosing his subjects as well. And, his methods of working from life.
It looks like I may have found the painting I'll be working on, based on a photo I took in Italy last year. It's the hardest one I could do, with receding perspective (looking acutely downhill, then continuing up in the background), too much foliage, and other challenges. But, it has the passion! I actually had tears drawing the study.
The Cottage Garden drawing that Katherine Tyrrell posted is a good VG drawing for me to key on, then the opportunity will be to select some good VG colors.
According to one of my sources (Gayford), he would often execute a painting at lightning speed. Brush strokes, intention, gestural movements of brush on canvas. But, he was organized of thought while producing these "fast" works. His sense of composition was pre-ordained by days of thought about what each painting should be.

11 February, 2007

La Ca, Italia




This little traditional Italian house is tucked into the "front" of Riva Ridge, in a town with the likely name: La Ca. The landscape is dominated by that precipitous ridge, and the not very distant snowy Apennines.
It is the sight of some very high drama in my late father's youth, during that little event called WW II. I visited there last year, and it isn't hard to see why I have so much passion for lovely Italy.

Riva Ridge Operation.

I long ago gave up on cross-hatching with pencils, as I found that varying pressure worked better for me. But, with the influence of van Gogh, I am trying to put it back into my repertoire. It does seem to work better when scanning or printing from pencil.
Also, I don't usually "hatch" trees, but it worked well here to push this one forward.
The wonderful, late Bill Mauldin was not on my conscious mind, but his influence is all over this, too.

09 February, 2007

Colorist American Landscapes

Light in Branches, 21" x 13"
Original Pastel
Casey Klahn
$2,000.00
Blue is a color that one can dive into; get lost in. How do you get a "cold" color to glow?

Van Gogh Project Update

Katherine Tyrrell, over at Making a Mark, has this update on how everyone is doing on the VG project.
I also wanted to paste what I said on her posting, since I hear some artists struggling with various issues about van Gogh. My comments follow:

This is a good round up. Much thanks.
Other than some some really bad photoshopping on my part (albeit entertaining), I am attempting to recognize the long shadow of VG's person, and at the same time his oeuvre that I describe as "colorist". That's "colourist" for all you English-speakers.
I don't link his bad behavior to his earthshaking body of work. Some pretty cunning, and I think altogether preposterous theories have been put forth by absolute experts on VG.
He had a condition that made him "see" everything slightly yellow, you see.
He sucked on the end of his lead-covered brush, you know.
His condition made him super keen to produce art differently than his fore bearers.
Whatever. It doesn't pass muster with me. And I write these things to encourage my peerage in this project to try to take the "old man" with a grain of salt.
There is forgiveness, especially postmortem. Look at the parts of his work that inspire you, and follow that muse.

I took my son to the art store and we purchased some varied drawing papers, with tints that put me in the mood for VG drawings. Stay tuned.

This Time in French, Van Gogh Book Review

Vincent et moi consultent le long des banques de la Seine.
Le Coloriste

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8 février 2007

Revue de livre de Van Gogh

« Bien, le vieux garçon, ce livre de Gayford, la Chambre jaune, était bonne lue fendante, » dit I à l'apparition de l'artiste.

« Hharumphh, » il offre. Peut-être que la blessure de coup de fusil méchante au coffre donne lui à des douleurs. Peut-être que la serveuse française n'a pas apporté à son cappuccino assez vite.

Et là nous avons le coeur du problème avec ces livres concernant le grand artiste ! Ils essayent de l'interpréter par de divers objectifs. Qui peut vraiment deviner son intention dans une oeuvre d'art donnée ?

Gayford, dont recherche et la bourse est en second lieu seulement à ceux qui ont compilé et ont catalogué les travaux complets du VG, a écrit beaucoup que j'aime, et beaucoup avec lesquels je discute.
Discutez-vous jamais avec des auteurs pendant que vous lisez leurs livres ? J'espère ainsi. La pensée critique est une partie essentielle d'étude.
Gayford propose la manie de ce VG, qui est pensée par certains pour avoir été désordre bipolaire (dépression maniaque), est essentiel aux résultats de ses peintures. Mais, il énumère simplement quelques autres artistes, auteurs et les compositeurs qui ont soufferts de cette maladie, sans n'importe quel exemple ou recherche la montrant est des effets sur leur art.
Je pense qu'il doit éliminer si quelconque d'entre ces hommes affligés aurait réalisé les mêmes niveaux sans manie, ou avec la suppression de la manie par l'intermédiaire du traitement. C'est un ordre grand, je savent.
Le travail de Van Gogh's est unique dans l'histoire, et tout à fait irracontable. Personne d'autre sauteront jamais le début le mouvement moderniste, depuis c'est « dans le bidon », ainsi pour parler. Mais, le niveau de la transformation travaillé par l'art du Néerlandais, tel qu'influencer une vingtaine de mouvements de suite, l'ouverture de la manière pour une plus grande abstraction dans l'art, et pour que la permission concentre plus sur la couleur pure que jamais avant, est son seul manteau.
Sa grande influence sur l'art est une échelle de concordance, plutôt qu'un sous-produit d'euphorisme.
Naturellement, son histoire personnelle est plus dramatique, je pensent, que n'importe quel autre artiste un peut penser à. Elle l'a est effet sur l'appréciation du public de lui, et lui même des stéréotypes tous les artistes de quelques manières plutôt sans attrait. Mais, sa postérité est plus une question de l'acceptation de ses travaux par le monde critique d'art, de sa pairie, et du désir faisant rage du marché de rassembler son art. Cela continue à ce jour. J'ose la parole qui si vous trouviez un fourgon Gogh à une brocante à domicile, vous ne s'arrêterait probablement pas à l'exposition de route d'antiquités pour une évaluation. Vous feriez un beeline pour Christie ou Sotheby !
Je labourerai par les travaux complets, maintenant, à la recherche de plus de données sur cet artiste énigmatique. Mais, j'encouragerais


Van Goh and Xanthopesia





Yellow Photoshops while suffering from Xanthopesia


Can you even see the color yellow? You must have xanthopesia.
(Rolling my eyes, and falling on the floor, laughing. Now kicking. Now crying from belly- laughter)
The most preposterous explanation yet of van Gogh's usage of color. If you don't paint the subject by it's local color (it's color in actual reality), then you must suffer from some malady. No, you are crazy. Yes, that's it.

08 February, 2007

Van Gogh Book Review

Vincent and I consult along the banks of the Seine
"Well, old boy, this Gayford book, The Yellow House, was a cracking good read," says I to the artist's apparition.
"Hharumphh," he offers. Perhaps that nasty gunshot wound to the chest is giving him pains. Perhaps that French waitress hasn't brought his cappuccino quick enough.
And there we have the heart of the problem with these books about the great artist! They attempt to interpret him through various lenses. Who can really guess his intent in a given work of art?
Gayford, whose research and scholarship is second only to those who have compiled and catalogued the complete works of VG, has written much that I like, and much that I argue with.
Do you ever argue with authors as you read their books? I hope so. Critical thought is an essential part of learning.
Gayford proposes that VG's mania, which is thought by some to have been bi-polar disorder (manic depression), is essential to the outcome of his paintings. But, he merely lists a few other artists, authors and composers who have suffered from this disease, without any example or research showing it's effects upon their art.
I think he needs to rule out whether or not any of these afflicted men would have achieved the same levels either without the mania, or with suppression of the mania via treatment. That's a tall order, I know.
Van Gogh's work is unique in history, and quite unrepeatable. No one else will ever jump start the Modernist movement, since that's "in the can", so to speak. But, the level of transformation wrought by the Dutchman's art, such as influencing a score of follow-on movements, opening the way for greater abstraction in art, and for permission to focus more on pure color than ever before, is his mantle alone.
His great influence on art is a ladder of coherence, rather than a byproduct of euphoria.
Of course, his personal story is more dramatic, I think, than any other artist one can think of. It has it's effect on the public's appreciation of him, and it even stereotypes all artists in some rather unattractive ways. But, his posterity is more a matter of the acceptance of his works by the critical art world, his peerage, and the market's raging desire to collect his art. That continues to this day. I dare say that if you found a van Gogh at a garage sale, you would probably not stop at the Antiques Road Show for an appraisal. You'd make a beeline for Christie's or Sotheby's!
I will be plowing through the Complete Works, now, in search of more data on this enigmatic artist. But, I would encourage everyone with a personal interest to look into van Gogh's letters, which are available on the web here. Why not use his own words to tell the story of his art?

07 February, 2007

Pastel Society Newsletter

I am the new guy at the Pastel Society of America, having been juried in last year. My "Pastelagram" arrived in the mail yesterday, and I provide a link to this attractive newsletter here. It's in a PDF format. If you can't get the link, go to "publications" from the home page of the PSA link.
By way of providing more understanding of the PSA, I will add the following quote. It has some "good to know" statements about the medium that I have chosen to focus on:

“In the third quarter of the 19th

century, Degas’s startlingly

inventive use of pastel, and his

dedication to its brilliance,

beauty and seemingly endless possibilities,

rescued this extraordinary

medium from being relegated to a

footnote in art history. Exit Degas,

and the prominence of pastel was

eclipsed. Until, in the third quarter

of the 20th century, 1972 to be

exact, the reputation of pastels was

revived yet again by the forceful and

farsighted efforts of Flora Giffuni,

who in that year founded the Pastel

Society of America.

This fall, with the stunning

work on view in the Bernhard

Gallery of The National Arts Club,

the Pastel Society of America’s 34th

Annual Exhibition proclaims that

one of our earliest goals — “to focus

attention on the Renaissance of pastel”—

has been successfully

attained. No longer a medium in

search of itself, pastel now stands on

its own as the vibrant, protean material

it truly is. It has matured, proven

its lyrical and muscular talents, and

outstripped the epithet

“Renaissance” that once rightfully

touted the reemergence of a resource

that had been marginalized and misunderstood

for too long. We can

finally get beyond the slightly defensive

impulse to praise a pastel in

terms of how its pictorial qualities

compare to an oil painting, and simply

praise the outstanding qualities

of pastel work.” Diane Rosen, PSA

06 February, 2007

Van Gogh Project - Sketches 1.0

First Sketch, Sunflowers in Snow, 12" x 12"
Charcoal on Sketch Paper
Casey Klahn

Happily, a new snow had freshened up the ground just in time for this sketch of winter sunflowers. True to form, the rain started to spit on me while I was drawing it. Here it is in unimproved format, loaded from the scanner bed.

05 February, 2007

Van Gogh Sketches








All drawings, Vincent van Gogh.

Building in Eindhoven (The “Weigh House”), Neunen, Feb., 1885

Snowy Yard, The Hague, Mar., 1883

Garden in the Snow, Neunen, Feb., 1885

Oxcart in the Snow, Neunen, Aug., 1884

Old Man Drinking Coffee, The Hague, Nov., 1882

Five Men and a Child in the Snow, The Hague, March, 1883

Edge of a Wood, Etten, July, 1881

Dance Hall, Neunen, Dec 1888


I've decided to begin my van Gogh project participation by studying some of his sketches. I post a few of my favorites here.
I chose these for the good figure works, and some for the addition of Conte, or colored chalks, and others for the representation of snow. I'll be doing a few snow scenes as well. I tried to stay with graphite or charcoal works, here. One of them may be reed pen, but my sources don't say.
Before I could commit myself to this van Gogh inspired project, I had to clean up my old studio space , which is in the house. It had been half way moved out to my new 12' x 60' studio, which is a surplused house trailer. It is halfway remodeled, and sans electricity.
So, now that I am re-established in my old studio space, I am ready to go with the new works. I will begin with drawing, as it was the foundation of Vincent's work. He almost always worked from life, rather than memory or reproductions. He did do a little of the latter, especially to copy his own studies, or the etchings of other artists that he admired. He was much influenced by Jean-Francois Millet (French, 1814-1875) and Harmenszoon van Rijn Rembrandt (Dutch, 1606 - 1669), who were both good draftsmen.
I seldom work from life nowadays, although I have done much of it in the past. My Colorist American Landscapes are studio works, from the imagination or removed memory. I noticed that for many of the others in this project, the van Gogh study will be a move away from realism. For, me, it will be a move toward realism.
So, I will be drawing from life, as van Gogh did. He not only didn't have the CRT or Photoshop, he really didn't even have the photograph. Photography was new in his day; it represented a challenge to the ageless pursuit of fine art, and what is more I understand that he disliked the evil photo. I share that opinion.
Anyway, I think that it will be hard for one to gain his perspective without going outside, or at least setting up a still life. I will finish the project with painting, however.
Then, also to get close to the keener's (*) motifs, I want to choose the same subjects. Sunflowers, check. Wheat fields, got 'em.. Orchards, check. Marine climate, check. Maritime subjects, check. Sunlight, check-er-rooni. Self for portraits, check.
Wish me luck!

Here are some links that I don't think I saw on blogs of other artists doing this VG project:

Unabridged Letters by or to Vincent van Gogh
http://webexhibits.org/vangogh/
Van Gogh at Etten. Interesting and broad based web site.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C001734/index.html

(*) "Keener" is defined in urban slang as a nerd or eager-beaver. But, I am using it in it's old school definition of one who is keen-edged, knowledgeable; also the Irish give the keener tragic substance.

04 February, 2007

We Share a "Lust For Life"!


Things are getting ugly fast at our little French Cafe. In my worst French, I yell for another: "Guinness, fille!"
Icy stares from waitresses are my only reception.
I would crawl under the table, except that is where van Gogh is. And the fish on his breath is too much for even my iron constitution.
"I think it's time that we beat a hasty retreat, Vincent. If we crawl towards the door, we may get out unharmed!"
"Yes, let's get back to the studio. We can sober up there and try to get some work done on this VG Project of yours..."

03 February, 2007

Yellow and Blue


Yellow Trees in a Blue Forest, 9" x 7"
Original Pastel
$450.00
Casey Klahn

Here is one of my pastels from the Colorist American Landscapes collection. It occurred to me that there was no bluer blue on Earth than the Sennelier blues that went into this favorite work. And, given the inherent lack of intensity in the yellows available to me, I was gratified by the solution that I arrived at for the yellows here.
I will add that after a year or so of dissatisfaction with the French Sennelier pastels, I had a re-awakening to their color quality. They are very pure and good, and I had the opportunity to relate this to their president of Savoir-Faire ( U.S. distributor ). They are as good a value, or better, than making your own sticks, which I also do. I so far haven't been able to resource a blue (ultramarine) as good as theirs. I also prodded him to get the good people in France to start making their bigger sheets of pastel paper again, and he was sympathetic to this. Unfortunately the answer from the higher powers was, essentially, GTH!

02 February, 2007

Van Gogh Project; VG Speaks!

"You are doing vwhut?"
"Achkk! A vfan Gchock prawgekt? Even I don't know vhut my next project vill be. How can you pretend to know ?!"
"Vell, my adfice to you is to remember the colour und ze gesture. Yes, the colour iz ze meanink! Vifout zis, you will not have done a van Gogh! With the drawing, remember the gesture."

Editor's note: The good folks at Fine Line Artists are doing a project for February where each artist will study van Gogh, and produce a work influenced by their discoveries. They will be posting their progress as they go, and have opened the project for others to participate. I will be doing my project along with them, as my conversation with Vincent continues as well.
See this blog soon to see how I will have narrowed my plan down to a digestible chunk. Candidates are to do a plein air (on sight or outdoor artwork) or a portrait.

Van Gogh and I Hold Forth


"You and I share some similarities, Vincent," I says to the apparition of the artist.
"Ja? Vhat?" says he, in a somewhat disapproving grunt.
I shift in my cafe chair. "I was born and raised under a cloud. The gray-skied region of coastal Washington, in the U.S. You were born in the low regions, with the same marine environment."
"I started out drawing with the humble pencil, and it was well suited to the gray, sunless motif," I continue. He puffs on his pipe, knowingly. "You seem to have started out with the dull colors and the grays of your homeland, and when you migrated to the sunny south, the results were flowering colorism. The same happened with my own humble art. When I migrated inland, the bright sunshine renewed my color sense. I decided on colorism as my oeuvre."
"Your French sucks, Casey. Better not to even try it," notes the great Dutchman. "And your pronunciation of my own name is appaling. You must say:'Vincent van Gogh', like that."
"So, you say!" is my reply.
I continue, not daunted, "So you see, your pioneering work in color has been a great influence in the future. What drives me up a wall is the way that so called art critics keep missing this. They look for faces in bushes and pigs in haystacks, while remaining ignorant of your emphasis on color over meaning."
Van Gogh puffs on his pipe, thinking...



01 February, 2007

Blood On The Keyboards

My fingertips are bleeding on the keyboard. "Damned dry climate, " I mutter to myself, making sure that my grammar is correct even when swearing.
I'm losing a little bit of my grasp on reality these days. In a moment of cognitive dissonance I see myself actually talking with Vincent. Yes, that's right. The famous Vincent van Gogh who never knew his own fame would be so great-never knew that his oil paintings would sell in the tens of millions of dollars at auction.
"Hello," he says in a gruff, heavily accented English. His voice is guttural, as the Dutch language is known to be. The timber of his voice is deep, making him seem far older than he is.
"Good afternoon, Vincent. Cold today, eh?" Says I, shifting on the iron bench.
"Ja! Cold, damned cold. I don't take well to the cold. (coughs) My health prefers the warm, like in the south; in Arles."
"Well, I can't imagine being dead helps that much!" I quip.
We chuckle at the dark joke. We share this black humor, being men of the world and not easily impressed by sentiment. Our breath hangs in the Parisian air.
"At least the cold air is cleaner than the summer air, what?" I offer, trying to be comfortable talking to the legendary artist. It requires some concentration of effort to not let my mind race ahead. I have so much that I would like to ask this tragic man.
Stay posted, dear reader. I will continue to hold forth with VVG in due time.

31 January, 2007

Free Wallpaper



Here is a free image to use as wallpaper for your screen. I counted it a "failure" as a completed painting, but my wife put it up in a distorted form on her PC screen, and it just looked awesome to me. It is from a project that I started where I want to make van Gogh inspired images of Italian landscapes. See the initial sketch here.
Since I'm temporarily out of my studio, I gave up on that project for the near term.
A few years ago, a college co-ed told me that she had painted one of my images on her dorm room wall. It should go without saying that we don't take or copy images from artists, but today I am offering this colorful and light hearted Italian street sketch as a thank you for your patronage of my blog.
Enjoy!
Preview: tune in soon for my return to the van Gogh thread. The Dutch keener and I will be having a virtual drink at a virtual cafe where I hope to straighten him out a little.

28 January, 2007

Open Gallery 1/2007



Casey Klahn

Colorist American landscapes


33763 Moore Road North Davenport, Washington 99122
509-796-3277
caseyklahn@msn.com

http://www.caseyklahn.com/
http://www.thecolorist.blogspot.com/

Every so often, I will throw a special online event. This shin-dig will be titled: A Colorist Art Open Gallery. Pour yourself a glass of wine, and enjoy this collection of the art that I have previously shown on The Colorist dot Blogspot, with an added bonus of one newly posted work.




Pink Forest, 7.3” x 5.3”
Original Pastel
$300.00
Casey Klahn

Blue Branches on Red, 14” x 10”
Original Pastel
$1,000.00
Casey Klahn

Red Barn with Ramp, 12.75” x 9.25”
Original Pastel
NFS
Casey Klahn


New Red Corner, 25” x 19”
Original Pastel
NFS
Casey Klahn

The Four Seasons, Winter, 14” x 10”
Original Pastel
NFS
Casey Klahn

First time posting of this art!

Yellow Sky, 18” x 11”
Original Pastel
$1,400.00
Casey Klahn

Red Veiled Forest, 14” x 19”
Original Pastel
$1,900.00
Casey Klahn


Contact me at CaseyKlahn@msn.com with any inquiries, or post comments at this blog. Some of the art is displayed for the sake of continuity in this show, but are NFS, or not for sale because they are in the collections of patrons.

The event special? Free shipping within the USA! (over $60.00 value) All art is lavishly framed in matte black hardwood, square profile, with a white linen liner.

Abstract Expressionism, Art Criticism, Artists, Colorist Art, Drawing, History, Impressionism, Modern Art, Painting, Pastel, Post Impressionism