Painting demo June 13

So I did a painting demo for jenny yesterday but I had to delay the post because I was finishing a paper but I'm kind of free now, just one more class tomorrow and I'M FREE!!!

ok so I know I kind of skip a few steps with my painting but this isn't a painting lesson just an informative piece about technique....called alla prima. Alla prima comes from Italian and means "all at once" but since I don't have the time to finish this piece in one sitting I'm gonna be storing it in a box secured with duct tape. So basically alla prima consists of one layer that you have to keep wet, its a wet on wet technique and its all done in one layer! None of that underpainting crap they talk about in art school because that's just a waste of time if you have a good grasp of color and shading to begin with. Ok so you have to make sure that the painting stays wet by keeping it in a tupperware that is duct taped on the edges to avoid air entering and ruining your work.
I really enjoy this technique because you can put your piece away without worrying about it drying and you can continue to work into it until its perfect.

 I'm going to start with the middle wolf because it bothers me that I messed up on the drawing. Its going to take a little more work because I have to fix the proportions on the snout.

The sillohuette of her drawing has been primed using acrylic paint to keep the wood from absorbing the oil paint.

 I use a variety of brushes and I don't discriminate against type, I'm just demonstrating my favorites and most useful when attempting to create an alla prima piece. The fan brushes on the far left are for blending but also come in use when creating texture like hair. If you're pretentious about your brushes then the brushes in the middle you might find absurd. They are the cheap kids brushes they sell at micheals for a couple bucks. Its always great to have as many of those because they come in use the most when blending edges and softening strokes. The large makeup brushes on the far right you use very lightly to blend large areas.

 In this container you will find a 50/50 blend of clove oil and safflower oil which you will later mix into your paint when preparing your pallete.

 I really enjoy the smell that these two blended create.

 And of course turpenoid must be kept in a small container to rinse your brushes while painting.

 These are all the colors you're going to need for now:

Cadium Yellow
Cadium Red
Alizarin Crimson
French Ultramarine Blue
Burnt Umber
Ivory Black
Flake White (translucent for adding highlights to your piece and works great for creating flesh tones)
Titanium White (opaque white for mixing and lighting your colors)

 This is really all you need to make paintings from nature, if you want to make neon colors or something unnatural you need to purchase an already made color (for example quinacridone magenta) also alot of pigments that you find in the stores have a translucency so you have to keep that in mind when working on a piece.

 The perfect mix is 1 part oil (clove/ safflower oil) to 6 parts paint, you can't really get the exact measurements so what I like to do is just recreate the blob of paint's shape using a thin amount of oil.

 

This is what the palette should look like when ready.

 

I have to stress that this is a "wet on wet" technique so oiling up the piece you are going to paint is necessary. Don't add oil to whatever you aren't going to paint immediately.

Here I am trying to fix my drawing using a thin brush and bold strokes to establish proportions. 

 Any texture or lines that appear need to be softened using the large make up brushes. I know at this point its starting to look air brushy but with some time and alot of patience I promise it will begin to look like a masterpiece.

 Its important to establish the midtone and the shadows in this stage, so mix up a midtone and add some black those are gonna be the two main colors being applied. Mine is looking kind of light but its a cloud dog so I'm not even sure how its going to work out in the end.

 a dowel comes in handy to keep your fingers and hands from touching the painting and also to keep the paint of your skin cause that's no good for you anyways.

 

I fixed the snout and I'm feeling rather pleased.

Ok so I kept working and I forgot to take pictures but this is what it looks like when you begin to add highlights and texture whilst softening edges.

Here's Jenny's piece in the beginning stage. I was rather pleased with her because she established the midtone and the darktones in the beginning without worrying about it looking like anything.

 Like I said, my doggie was looking kind of light so I added some grey to create his fur.

 I went a little crazy with my white texture. For the most part I used a really thin brush to make white strokes that look like hairs. The fan brush was used minimally. I'm rather pleased with my doggie even though its not finished I needed to stop for the day.

 

Here she started adding details to make it look more like fester. I think she did a great job on capturing the expression of the face.

Adding the highlights was difficult but she pulled it off and even though I think she needs to continue working on the face (specifically the mouth) I'm pretty proud of the progress she made. Did I mention this is her first oil painting? yea I dunno if you can call it talent or what but shes pretty good at drawing so I guess the painting wasn't too difficult for her.

 

I'm really excited to see how our pieces turn out. I have to give credit to Lance Richlin for introducing me to the alla prima technique because I really didn't learn anything in art school http://lancerichlin.com/. Even though I'm more into making costumes now a days I still enjoy fine art and illustration. I haven't made a painting since last fall so I'm happy to be painting again. 

-Amanda Jacques 

Erté

    

             Romain de Tirtoff (under psuedonym Erté) was a russian born artist that developed his career in fashion during the art deco period (1920s) hence labeling him a "french" artist. I just love how the french always take credit for people that weren't born in their country, but whatever, these artists obviously couldn't make it in their own country so might as well make it somewhere. Erté flourished in many fields including fashion, jewellery, graphic arts, interior design, costume and set design. Anyways some great inspiration from artist Erté. 

I'm so excited about starting to work on my own cotsumes.

-Amanda Jacques

Dances with wolves

 I want to document the process of my painting because its a technique that I insist on sharing and apparently no one gives a fuck so here you go...

started wolf painting today, just a basic color pencil sketch on the canvas (which has been previously primed using 7 layers of acrylic burnt umber mixed with gesso). I kinda fucked up on the middle wolf so I had to sand it down and kind of set it in I'll fix it in the painting stage. More to come.

I know it seems like psuedo-hippie shit but this is a very special father's day present for my old man.

-Amanda Jacques

Slice of life

What can I say I really like Uncle Fester, started a very camp piece on a slice of wood for the living room, it was initially going to be a family portrait of us as Festers but thinking it over I figured it might be unrecognizable.. 

 

work in progress

-MJJ

Some Self Portraits

 Jim Nutt

 Peking Opera Blues

 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Pink Flamingos

I had photo shop on my last laptop, living alone in MI I made some film and art inspired self portraits, alas here are a few experiments taken on photo booth... it's also a sort of aesthetically-self-validating exercise: when you're a hermit no one ever suggests "you look nice today", so you take some pictures on your laptop and quote Buffalo Bill.  

-MJJ 

Today's Lesson

 

Connie Chiu 

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A SHORT SATIRE 

There is one man who has gained his tremendous fame and following because of his astute medical, particularly physiological knowledge, and his intense research in social hierarchy. Aside from this he has dedicated years to deciphering the appeal of men and women in fashion, and its impact through general society. Not only is he a genius in the aforesaid fields, but he has also been the head fashion designer for the House of Conduit for the past 70 years.  He is a contemporary genius, and He creates the forefront of fashion.

****

For those of you who think the catwalk should be flooded with voluptuous women I say: you are flawed. The world of fashion has all to do with dreams and ideals of perfection, where no one wants to see fat women. It has most recently come to my attention that fashion magazines around the world want to display these so called “regular” women and men on their glossed pages. Why, perchance, do you my dear reader think leading fashionistas’ creations are not made for these people? Personally my own creations for Conduit will not suit the unrefined, and by that I mean the bovine public.  My creations are modeled only by ideal beauty.

This ideal lies in youth, and consequently slenderness. Yet there are those who have aimed to offend this ideal, the ignorant say my models are sickly thin, where it is obvious that they must be themselves gargantuan. An eating disorder, as they call it, is both a life style choice and a career tantamount to homosexuality or polygamy. There is not one man or woman who does not wish their partner was anorexic or bulimic. Not to mention pro-ana-mia does a service to all of us who are sick of seeing the filth and decadence of the obese.  And the corpulent hate us because they are ugly.

I speak out of knowledge: for I, yes I was once obese. A man who once swathed his ample girth in layers of oversized black clothing, and hid his double chin behind a fluttering Spanish fan. I lost one hundred and eighty pounds within three months. The press attributed my gains to drugs, liposuction, illness and anorexia. Yet as I stand I will tell you all: it was not one of those-but all! While it began with the sudden desire to wear designer clothing; fashions naturally modeled by very slim boys -not men my age; I soon realized the magnitude and constraints that come with beauty.  

This is a topic that transcends the fashion world, and is of imminent importance. For you see not only is obesity an anatomical issue, but also of social and ideological importance. In order to have a place in society both men and women have to be active, good-looking and above all young- and therefore slim. For a respectable appearance is sufficient to make people more interested in your soul.  And what more do we seek in life than this, and in such a way you may reap the benefits of your precursors and ten fold, by reaping the benefits of social, aesthetic, and intellectual superiority.

So that you will better understand my theory, I will logically expound upon the human body and brain’s comparison in relation to fat and the fair. I must also note that since their percentage of fat surpasses that of muscle, bone, skin, and most significantly cerebral matter, I do not refer to them as people but simply as fat, for that constitutes the majority of their being.  The fair are thus not only beautiful but better equipped mentally, on account of their body mass to brain ratio. Allow me to demonstrate: if an average brain weighs say approximately 3.3 pounds, an a so called regular person weighs 200 pounds, the average percentage of brain would be around .01%, whilst a slightly thin individual of lets say 70lb, would have .04% brain. That means a whole .03% more brain! And correct me if I am wrong but is it not the size and capability of the human mind what separates us from apes? It at once becomes obvious that- to put it simply: not only are we more beautiful and advantageous, but evolutionarily superior.

You will embark on a spiritual quest, for a diet needs not a philosophical explanation, nor all those excuses behind which people often feel the need to take refuge; but You have to treat it as an unimportant challenge and that's why you succeed. Indeed, it may be easier to drop a few (or 90) pounds if the endeavor is not treated as such a, well, weighty matter. Vomit, fast, purge, what have you; for those who succeed will form part of the elite and those who fail simply do not aspire and are insignificant. This being a scientific paper I am not going to lie: you must follow strict diets to achieve an "ideal" figure.

Let me begin by acknowledging the two best, and most known methods to achieve your goals: anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia nervosa is not a serious or threatening eating disorder. In addition to the classic pattern of restrictive eating, some people will also engage in recurrent binge eating and purging episodes. The term anorexia literally means loss of appetite. In fact you don’t even have to ignore hunger it simply becomes you to do so when you undertake it. For those who cannot control their urge and desire to consume food there is always Bulimia! Bulimia is a successful pattern of binge eating and a mastery of behavior to gain self-control. Binge eating is defined as the consumption of excessively large amounts of food within a short period of time. I personally recommend food that is: sweet, high in calories, and has a texture that facilitates haste consumption. Any amount of food, even a salad or half an apple, can be used as a binge and vomited. But you do not have to choose either anorexia or bulimia controlling one's weight may include purging behaviors (such as self-induced vomiting, bountiful use of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas) or non-purging behaviors (such as fasting or excessive exercise). However, as a professional: I personally discourage exercise because it runs the risk of making you hungry.

     Now with the aforesaid I will try to reap the ignorance that has been planted like venomous weeds in your gardens, dear reader. Anorexia and bulimia cannot in any way be traced to rupture blood vessels in the eyes, insomnia, or dental deterioration. How could this bee true of the agents of beauty? As a matter of fact your teeth will radiate form your face with a new and more vivacity and elegance than ever before, for they will be framed in perfection; do you see my logic? How could such an assertion even be plausible? As for dysrhythmia (acidic blood?), ulcers, hypkalemia (a cause of dry skin, hair and brittle nails), osteoporosis, and lanugo (fur). These are fabrications made by the fat to try and subjugate us, why just use logic:  have you ever seen anyone covered in fur, or possessing brittle nails?! As for acidic blood, why, how could a person survive with acidic blood or ulcers for that matter, this is simply absurd. 

     There is no such thing as too many laxatives. Laxatives only serve to constantly cleanse your body of its impurities, cleaning both inside and outside is the best way to feel beautiful. While this does cause dehydration, it will only encourage you to constantly consume cold water. Water will be the most important part of your diet. We need water to survive and it has zero calories so it makes for an ideal meal. But to reap all the benefits from water it must be cold: this way it can chill the body causing it to raise your metabolism to increase internal heat: this process simultaneously eliminates the prior function of body fat by creating heat of its own. Where as body fat was once thought to be the only thing functioning to insulate and retain heat now cold water has been found to produce the same effects.

     You will be relieved to find that there are also rewarding aspects accompanying anorexia and bulimia which are often presented in bad light. To name just a few: amenorrhea: this means an absence of menstrual cycles, the pain of cramps and the risk of pregnancy. Edema: the accumulation of water in joints will save you time, you wont have to drink any water because it will be stored within your hands and feet. This presents a new kind of adaptation much like a camel’s hump. Another great example is parotid swelling causes mouth and throat glands to swell, producing a natural desire to avoid food.

As for your vitamins and minerals, there is no need to worry these can be easily supplied by any vitamin shop. There are also various other forms to lose weight which I will not go into depth here, use some cocaine, gorillas will trade food for it; or get some speed or other meth amphetamines perchance; you will have abundant energy, its practically calories in powder. As for liposuction, I would not recommend it, it leaves terrible marks on your skin- oh don’t worry I wont tell you of what kind. So I leave you then with one last piece of advice before you go on your way: get plenty of sleep, steal naps whenever you can and rest when you need to rest, for deprivation increases appetite and makes you age faster.

-M.J. Jacquez

You are a conservative

and we're worth a million in prizes