Flowers, Peaches, and Wine

A pastel still life painting.

Flowers, Peaches, and Wine - 11 x 14 Pastel on Board

I did this on Ampersand Pastelbord with Rembrandt Pastels. It was a different experience. The board has some tooth but the pastel builds up pretty quickly and then it is necessary to make it all smooth. I do like working this way. Very different from pastel paper or Wallis sanded paper. I've tried working on Wallis paper but don't have the knack. I'm doing a still life today on Wallis paper. Hope it works.

Picture from dickblick.com

John Singer Sargent

One of my very favorite artists is John Singer Sargent. In January Leila, Bridget, and I (Like Mother Like Daughter) went to the Boston's Museum of Fine Arts to see the exhibit of Sargent's watercolors. (The visit and awesome lunch was a birthday present from Leila.)

It was wonderful. Sargent's watercolors are so spontaneous. 

Sargent Watercolors at Brooklyn Museum

I certainly learned a lot from seeing his work up close. I have a couple of books of Sargent's work, including some of his watercolors, but it is a different experience to see the pieces in all their glory. For one thing, the colors can never be reproduced truly in a book. There were a lot of paintings in this exhibit. Almost too much if you are studying every painting very carefully.

Seeing great art up close is important. One can examine a piece closely, see how the artist worked; the nuances of color and brush strokes, and the surprises. And then, you can step back and see the whole. See how it all comes together. As an artist I like to contemplate a work and imagine the steps taken to complete it. Makes you realize how important it is to step back from your own work. Paintings are meant to be viewed at a distance.

I've read (Notes on Sargent) that he would tell his students to "Stand back -- get well away -- and you will realize the great danger there is over overstating a tone. Keep the thing as a whole in your mind. Tones so subtle as not to be detected on close acquaintance can only be adjusted by this means."

After seeing the Sargent exhibit I was very inspired to start using watercolors again. I had given it up a few years ago because nothing ever turned out the way I wanted.


Also, I need to remember to make more trips to museums. Boston isn't far and Worcester is very close with their fine arts museum: Worcester Art Museum. The WAM does have excellent collections.