David Cheifetz: Manipulating Reality

David Cheifetz: Manipulating Reality

David Cheifetz - "Black Hole" 9" x 12" Oil on panel

David Cheifetz - "Of This World" 8" x 10" Oil on panel.

I recently posted about portrait painter Stephen Bennett and how he replaces colors in his amazing acrylic portrait paintings. I mentioned that I had used a photo of one of his portraits in my beginner oil painting class to show my students how important values are and how you could swap out any color you wanted to as long as they kept the values the same.

I just recently learned about David Cheifetz who paints these wonderful portraits and still life paintings. In "Black Hole" (pictured above) David replaces the yellow green of the drapery in one section with the same value pale purple that creates a fantastic splash of color directly below the main subject of the painting - the black hole of the water pitcher. David likes to infuse some of his pieces with fresh bursts of color but just enough to intrigue you. He manipulates reality for his own amusement and it works. His paintings done using his palette knife have exciting movement and vitality. He also works with brush just as effectively but my favorite paintings are those done with the palette knife. 

I would definitely love to take a workshop with him but for now I'm going to purchase his download tutorials and see what bits of knowledge I can pick up from those. 

Please check out his work at:  https://davidcheifetz.com/

Stephen Bennett Portrait Painter

I used this photo in my beginner oil painting class last night to illustrate the importance of values to my students. Showing students gets through to them more when they can see examples of what you're talking about. I'm only halfway through the class and I'm quite sure I've already worn out the word values. I explained to them that you can be off with your colors but you really need to get your values down pretty close.  I use Stephen's paintings to illustrate the point that you can change the colors all you want as long as you get the values correct. I showed them how he replaces hues in his paintings with these vivid colors but because he keeps the values correct, you can still recognize forms as a face.

If you're not familar with Stephen Bennett's work, please visit his web site. A strange thing happened a few weeks after I discovered his work. I was driving to my painting class with Stuart Dunkel and I was stopped at a intersection and as I looked to my right, I saw one of Stephen's paintings or perhaps a reproduction on the wall in a business. Really strange coincidence!

http://theportraitpainter.com/web/index.html

Here's one of my all-time favorite paintings by Stephen:

Djalu Gurruwiwi,

Caretaker of the Yidaki

Acrylic on canvas

80 x 64 inches

Art Related Pinterest

I've been adding a lot of my favorite sites and things I like to my Pinterest site. Of course most of the pins are artist's web sites, art blogs or related to art.  I hope to put some really cool Photography, Graphic Design and Illustration, Favorite Food and Recipes and other pins up there over time.  I have to admit that it's mostly for myself so I can see all my favorite stuff in one place, but I also hope to introduce other people to these artists and view art and things that they may not have discovered otherwise.  Hope you enjoy!

Rick Mercer's Pinterest Page

Getting back in the groove

Well it's been awhile since I picked up the brushes but I've managed to get back into the swing of things. I've been trying get back into the "daily painting" thing and I cranked out 4 paintings last week which I'll post when I take the photos. Here is a sketch I did on the bus ride this morning. You quickly forget how much fun it is. You learn some serious quick sketching skills as well as the bus hits pot holes, people move in front of your subject, your subject turns his head or worse he gets off the bus altogether.  Hate when that happens!

I'm looking into maybe teaching a class at Create Artisan Studios in Wakefield as well.  They are located at 39 Albion street in Wakefield, Ma and there number is: 781-975-1319.

I spoke with AnnMarie the owner and we've discussed a few possibilities. Teaching a daily painting class either one night or over a period of a few weeks or a paint and drink night. Maybe even a weekly drawing course if there is interest.

 http://www.createartisanstudio.com/

Received Scholarship for Landscape Workshop

I really excited I received a scholarship for a 3-day Landscape Workshop with Andrew Orr.  I met Andrew at the awards ceremony at the The Boston Guild of Artists back on October 2012. Andrew won the Robert Douglas Hunter award that night.  I had a chance to chat with him for a bit and I asked if he had any workshops that he was planning so he gave me his card and told me to check his website because he did in fact have a few planned for 2013.  We stayed in touch and emailed back and forth and he mentioned that I could apply for a scholarship that would cover the entire $300 workshop cost and turns out that I was lucky enough to be chosen to receive it from the Southern Vermont Arts Center.  Thank you so much to them, please check out their website for more great workshops at: http://www.svac.org

Andrew Orr "Quiet Side of the Lake" 16" x 24" (Oil on Panel)

Robert Jackson Opening Night Exhibition

"Poker Night" Oil 24" x 36" by Robert C. Jackson

I attended the Opening for the Robert C. Jackson exhibit at the Arden Gallery on Newbury street and it was spectacular as expected.  I did get a chance to chat with Bob (I was he goes by Bob) for 20 minutes or so and he shared some helpful tips on his painting techniques. 

He also shared his story about painting and hanging out with John Morra at his studio which is a converted church.  I saw photos of it in Workshop magazine and it's unbelievably beautiful.  I guess John invited a bunch of artists to his place for a weekend and Bob attended.

The pieces on exhibition were great and there were a few new subjects that I've never seen such as some milk containers, a wooden table and there was even a painting of this huge stack of oreo cookies that was about 3 feet tall.  Very whimsical paintings indeed!  If you ever get a chance to view his work, you will not be disappointed and you'll certainly get a chuckle.

Also, I'm not very big on spending lots of money of books unless I really, really like them, but Bob has a new book out that features tons of his work in full-colored plates and I'm going to purchase it myself.  I viewed it a the opening and for some stupid reason I didn't purchase it there.  Why?  I have no idea why because I could have saved $10 shipping and had him sign it while I was there.  Lesson learned I guess.  Click on this link to order his new book:

http://www.robertcjackson.com/pages/book.html

Portrait Painting Demonstration this Sunday, March 11th at Kidcasso

I will be doing a 2-hour Portrait Painting Demo this Sunday at Kidcasso Art Studio which is located on Albion Street in Wakefield, MA.  There is a minimal $2 fee to cover studio costs. 

The demo will be an underpainting done if burnt umber or burnt sienna.  The main idea of this demonstration is to share my thought process as I paint my portraits.  I will discuss how to sketch in the features, how to shapes instead of painting parts of the face, how to paint values and their importance, getting a likeness and how to paint individual parts of the face.  I will also have a brief discussion on the Zorn palette and how you use it to simplify your painting.