In a former life I found myself in Munich during Oktoberfest drawing portraits out on the street. Some of the best street performers in Europe show up during Oktoberfest to pry whatever change they can from the pockets of the millions of tourists who come for the party. At the bottom wrung are lowly portrait artists, always looking over our shoulders for the police, always ready to adjust a price or adjust someone's features when flattery is in order. O.K. ,not the noblest profession.
This Oktoberfest was not many years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I worked beside three Russian artists, refugees from that cataclysm, all of them graduates of the Leningrad academy ( now St. Petersburg academy ), Russia's premier art school. I admired their work. It was some of the best street art you'll ever see. Their portraits demonstrated the quality of their rigorous academic training. The only flaw to their approach was that it always took so long to produce a portrait. Professional models may hold a pose for two hours, but people off the street cannot. Eventually your subject grows tired, fidgety, exasperated. The artist, truthful to a fault ,follows the sitters expressions , beginning with a smile that gradually turns more sour, or stilted. They could charge more than I did, but I was able to dash out six or more portraits to their one . America 6, Russia 1, that was the score. Besides, I had the quick sketch market cornered. Luckily none of my Russian friends bothered with them.
There's a trick to making quick sketch portraits. Rigorous academic training helps. I had my share. It's nice to know the basics before you start. The most important factor is practice. Draw hundreds of faces, make that thousands. After a while you may become really good at it. You're no longer tentative, wondering where to place eyes or chins. After enough of them you no longer measure or calculate, you just let it happen on the paper. Something takes over, and all falls into place.
I don't want to get too woo woo, but you may find yourself operating on a higher plane. Suddenly your sitter is far more than just a subject. It's as if their essence slipped right out of the body where it's safely kept imprisoned all day to freely play and dance with yours. It's from that soul to soul contact that I've found my most successful portraits coming. They tend to really look like the people because they were drawn from the inside out instead of the other way round.
When this happens it's like catching fire. There are days when it doesn't happen at all so you just plod on. Some days you may be on your second or third portrait when it hits. Numbers four through ten happen in rapid succession because you're not the only one feeling it. The atmosphere is electric. People are lining up behind you working out who will sit in what order. You're the conduit, the medium, the master magician!
I don't know why it's taken me so long to figure out that this applies ,or should apply ,to landscape paintings. I can be a very slow learner. The connection now seems so obvious. It came to me yesterday . I was trying to figure out why plein air paintings often reveal more than their studio cousin even while containing less. I went to the internet for an explanation. There were several articles listing the advantages of plein air ( meaning " open air" ) painting. None of them really were all that convincing. There was something missing in their advocacy , but what was it?
My mind flashed to those summers in Europe, drawing the quick sketch, getting it down to ten minutes, keeping one step ahead of the police, enjoying the vibe of pedestrian streets and outdoor cafes . I thought of Oktoberfest and working beside the Russians. I think those Russians were at a disadvantage. Between themselves and their subjects there was a barrier. They missed the inside. While they laboriously drew what they could see I was busy soul dancing, digging in deeper, showing less. Natural scenes and scenes around town have a surface to them just as people do. And as with people ,the real story lies within. Unlock it and a painting rings. The only way to paint nature is to go out there and respond to what your senses tell you. Plein air artists are about to ascend to Telluride. They'll be painting what they see, call these the facts, call them the surface. They'll probably be adding something more. They'll go beyond what they're seeing to reflect what they're feeling, and that part is marvelous. That's the inside out part. Now that's a noble profession.
This Oktoberfest was not many years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I worked beside three Russian artists, refugees from that cataclysm, all of them graduates of the Leningrad academy ( now St. Petersburg academy ), Russia's premier art school. I admired their work. It was some of the best street art you'll ever see. Their portraits demonstrated the quality of their rigorous academic training. The only flaw to their approach was that it always took so long to produce a portrait. Professional models may hold a pose for two hours, but people off the street cannot. Eventually your subject grows tired, fidgety, exasperated. The artist, truthful to a fault ,follows the sitters expressions , beginning with a smile that gradually turns more sour, or stilted. They could charge more than I did, but I was able to dash out six or more portraits to their one . America 6, Russia 1, that was the score. Besides, I had the quick sketch market cornered. Luckily none of my Russian friends bothered with them.
There's a trick to making quick sketch portraits. Rigorous academic training helps. I had my share. It's nice to know the basics before you start. The most important factor is practice. Draw hundreds of faces, make that thousands. After a while you may become really good at it. You're no longer tentative, wondering where to place eyes or chins. After enough of them you no longer measure or calculate, you just let it happen on the paper. Something takes over, and all falls into place.
I don't want to get too woo woo, but you may find yourself operating on a higher plane. Suddenly your sitter is far more than just a subject. It's as if their essence slipped right out of the body where it's safely kept imprisoned all day to freely play and dance with yours. It's from that soul to soul contact that I've found my most successful portraits coming. They tend to really look like the people because they were drawn from the inside out instead of the other way round.
When this happens it's like catching fire. There are days when it doesn't happen at all so you just plod on. Some days you may be on your second or third portrait when it hits. Numbers four through ten happen in rapid succession because you're not the only one feeling it. The atmosphere is electric. People are lining up behind you working out who will sit in what order. You're the conduit, the medium, the master magician!
I don't know why it's taken me so long to figure out that this applies ,or should apply ,to landscape paintings. I can be a very slow learner. The connection now seems so obvious. It came to me yesterday . I was trying to figure out why plein air paintings often reveal more than their studio cousin even while containing less. I went to the internet for an explanation. There were several articles listing the advantages of plein air ( meaning " open air" ) painting. None of them really were all that convincing. There was something missing in their advocacy , but what was it?
My mind flashed to those summers in Europe, drawing the quick sketch, getting it down to ten minutes, keeping one step ahead of the police, enjoying the vibe of pedestrian streets and outdoor cafes . I thought of Oktoberfest and working beside the Russians. I think those Russians were at a disadvantage. Between themselves and their subjects there was a barrier. They missed the inside. While they laboriously drew what they could see I was busy soul dancing, digging in deeper, showing less. Natural scenes and scenes around town have a surface to them just as people do. And as with people ,the real story lies within. Unlock it and a painting rings. The only way to paint nature is to go out there and respond to what your senses tell you. Plein air artists are about to ascend to Telluride. They'll be painting what they see, call these the facts, call them the surface. They'll probably be adding something more. They'll go beyond what they're seeing to reflect what they're feeling, and that part is marvelous. That's the inside out part. Now that's a noble profession.
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