Why wet art auctions are bad.

What type of artist are you?

(Brittany on Location)

Now I had a student call me recently to discuss her painting on location for a local wet art auction. She said her plan was to do a study or two from her chosen location ahead of time and to familiarize herself to all her colors ahead of time so that when she went on location to paint for the actual auction she would have everything lined up in advance.
When she asked what I thought about the fact she would be painting different times of day and worried that the colors would be different? I replied that she was missing out on what painting outside was all about.
Because the colors WILL be different on the study days and the auction day.
The light will have changed.
Everything will be different.
And then she was going to have to decide if she was going to paint the true colors of this day or the prior day?
Paint your time.
Paint on location with an urgency to capture what is there right then.

Trying to do your painting ahead of time even for a pressure situation for these one day fundraising wet art auctions are not a good idea. Though I have seen even the most accomplished artists show up at the begin one of these events with an almost finished painting.

Wet art auctions are not good for anybody except the fund raising recipient.

It is not good for the artist to attempt deception as my student was thinking about. It’s not good for the collector to buy paintings that are never going to be lived with by the artist and therefore never finished.
And speaking for myself when I used to participate in these, it is not good for an artist to whack out a painting in the morning, sell it in the afternoon and never see it again.
Never having the chance to live with it to see if anything you have painted bothers you and rings untrue.
The artist would never get a chance to see the painting under different light and to look at it critically.
Wet art auction pieces don’t get a chance to dry thoroughly so that it will have it’s final varnish; so that your painting will have a beautiful patina. Unless a collector gets in touch with an artist or their gallery to return the painting for the final glaze, (which never happens.)
I want my paintings to have a luster to them and I want to live with my work before I put any paintings on the market. I want my collectors to have the best I can give.
And that is why …
Even with painting on location being my forte, I haven’t participated in a wet art auction in years.

Fenway in the Rain

Beckett on the mound, threat of thundershowers, hail. I could not see one empty seat in the stands.

I didn’t really want to drive up in this weather. Dinner with my friend Dean at O’Learys Pub on Beacon Street for our pre-game meal. I left him relaxing there while I walked up to Yawkey Way to take my pictures. Just as I got up near Lansdowne, the skies opened up and the umbrellas came out. I took terrific shots, got drenched.

Hard work fighting the crowd and the weather for my reference material, looking like a tourist. I am sure there are worse ways to earn a living.

And I will look back at last night, glad that I made the effort to get the shots for great paintings of Fenway Park to come.

Painting on Location-List

For me this summer I am all about painting outside on location and getting out of the studio.

It is really my favorite way to work. So I was thinking I would put a list together for artists that think about going out to paint and are not sure what they need. Having taught painting classes outside for years I know students have no idea what they need.

So here is my list.

Easel

Palette

Brushes

Medium (linseed oil mix)

Rags

Turpentine

Paintbox- filled with all colors

Canvases

Bug spray

Sunblock

Good Dog

Small radio

There have been many times over the last twenty plus years where I have forgotten various things. You make do.

Try and keep everything organized in one bag and you can go anywhere.

Fenway Park painting

This painting has been in progress all season. The oil depicts the new Coke Seats at Fenway Park. I went to see the Red Sox play the Detroit Tigers the second game of this 2008 season. I have been painting Fenway since 1986 and when I go to games I take a lot of referance photos. Especially with this new ownership. Because now there are major changes to the park every season.

I enjoy working on my Fenway’s with the game on in the background. Especially on the radio because I believe I am the only member of Red Sox Nation that can’t stand to listen to Jerry Remy.

This painting is 36×48″ Oil on canvas.

It is just as much a painting of the Kenmore Square skyline as Fenway Park.

I do like this addition to the park though. It looks classic already. But I miss the Coke Bottles on the light posts.

Pissing off endangered birds

I went on location today. Woke up with a scene in my head of a Cape Cod town I have not gone to in years. The painting appeared to me complete. So even though it was pouring rain out when I got out of bed, I thought, trust your instinct.

I packed up my oil painting supplies and a fairly large canvas, 24×30″. I even brought the dogs. Off we headed to a deserted area of the Upper Cape. The stripers are running because the fisherman were out in force.

I set up just as the rain was letting up and the beach had a nice soft mist. The terns set up behind me and made loud angry tern noises at me. The dogs sat under and by the easel as I laid in my work quickly. Making sure to keep the painting soft like the atmosphere, after the rain. The birds made so much noise I put the dogs back in the van and continued on painting in quiet peace.

Taking some shots for the blog I jammed my digital camera beyond my repair capabilities. So I sent it off yesterday to Canon. This is a temporary setback to visuals here. And I cannot believe how much it is missed in the studio. The painting came out strong, just had I had pictured it waking up.

Scan of it coming in a later post.

Art Classes

The Barnstable Patriot was nice enough to do an article about my classes at the Cape Cod Conservatory. The students work is still on display there at the Conservatory through next week.

Barnstable Patriot Newspaper Link…

Proceed to this site.

Any painting students looking to take a class on Cape Cod this summer are encouraged to see my students work. The results speak for themselves. Feel free to write with any questions.

Underwater Mural

June 1,2008

So I have been asked to do an underwater mural for the Mid Cape Racquet Club on Cape Cod. The owner wanted an underwater theme.

So I did some studies and got the color scheme together first. Priming the wall to be painted with my base paint color.

Then adjusting that color lighter, I painted another layer at the top to create depth and a sense of sky above.

Adding broken color as the paint shifts down to create the sense of water.

Letting that dry over the weekend I came back ready to start painting. The work space is just a hall walking into a busy ladies locker room. So there is not a lot of time and space to get back from the painting. Plus I have women coming through with gym bags. So I tried to paint it in my head before beginning the work.

Getting on location at the club to paint today it came together quickly, basically because I had been painting

it in my head for two months

So while I was laying this in a couple of high school girls told me it was cool, and one told me when they had seen the mural of my sunrise upstairs in the cardio room, she wanted to paint that in her bedroom at home. That’s the kind of complement I like to receive.