The Berkeland Studio

FAQ: Do I work from photography?

Though the public likes to hold onto myths about an artist's seemingly magical ability to pluck color and form and composition solely from the depths of the imagination, painters have continually sought ways to make the purely technical problems of portraying reality easier to solve.  English artist, David Hockney, did an interesting study a few years back where he searched the internet to compile thousands of digital images of portraits painted from as early as he could find up until the present.  He printed them all out and pinned them to a wall in his studio in chronological order forming an elaborate time line of the history of portrait painting.  He was not surprised to find that at around the year 1420, portraiture took an enormous leap towards realism.  He theorized that there was no coincidence in this leap happening right around the time that the concave mirror was developed.  The invention of optical lenses and later photography only propelled this leap exponentially.  Is this cheating?  I guess that depends on what you thought the rules were to the game that we artists are playing.

How I Paint: Winsor & Newton Artists' Oil Colors

A majority of the colors in my paintings come from this series of paints. Right now I have in my arsenal Cadmium Red, Permanent Rose, Winsor Orange, Indian Yellow, Winsor Yellow, Manganese Blue Hue, Winsor Blue Deep Shade, Indigo, Burnt Siena, and Raw Umber. "Because each color contains the maximum pigment consistent with good handling qualities, it achieves the optimum tinting strength when reduced with white. Artists' Oil Colours remain soft and wet for several days, allowing rework. All colors dry to the touch in 2–12 days. Winsor & Newton has developed permanent alternatives for the less durable traditional colors, without compromising the handling properties of oil colors." BLICK Art Materials is having a sale on these colors of at least 50% off right now until Feb. 18.