Interview With an Artist -- Barbara Benedetti Newton

I've invited local Black Diamond artist and author, Barbara Benedetti Newton to be my very first guest blogger. She has agreed to answer a set of interview questions taken from the Artwork Archive site's article, 50 Terrific Topics to Write About for Your Art Blog. These are her words...

I’ve been making art for more than 70 years. My professional art career began as a Fashion Illustrator. I took a twenty-year sabbatical from art to raise my children and when I re-entered the world of art it was through the humble colored pencil. I worked exclusively in that medium for a dozen years, served as President of Colored Pencil Society of America, taught extensively, and co-authored Colored Pencil Solution Book.

I had long been interested in pastel and through trial and error taught myself how to use the medium. For the next decade, I worked in pastel, creating art and teaching others and wrote Pastel Drawing: Expert Answers to Questions Every Artist Asks.

I’ve retired from teaching art a couple times and this year, with social distancing in place, I have been more retired than ever before. I have revised my personal and art goals and look forward to continuing to make art.

Feeding Time, Colley Whisson

It’s the end of summer and also nearly the end of my year-long study with Australian painter, Colley Whisson. 

COVID-19 has imposed hardships and blessings and I am grateful for the months of being able to focus on my goal of becoming a better painter. The time I used to devote to volunteering with various organizations has been used instead to re-invest in and re-energize my art life.

The Interview

1. What are you currently working on? 

I just shipped the last painting of my Annual Summer Super Sale on my online gallery at DailyPaintworks and am working on the last few oil paintings for my mentor. I look forward to returning to pastel work.

2. Why do you work in the medium that you do? 

It is about the process, not about the finished product. Regardless of the medium, I paint for the challenge of handling physical objects like paint and paper to create emotion for my viewer. The question is really, why do I move from one medium to another and the answer is that I become bored when a medium is no longer challenging. I know new challenges will await me when I return to any medium.  

3. What is your process like? 

My process varies depending upon the medium and whether I am painting in the Studio or Plein air. I sometimes work from photos, other times I work from actual subjects in front of me and at other times I work from memory. 

4. What are your steps for creating art? 

My Art Journal Blog is filled with step x step examples.

Click on How to Pastel or How to Oil Paint in the Labels section of the sidebar.

5. What would you do differently or the same in your art career looking back? 

I have no regrets about my art journey. It would have been helpful to realize sooner that when a painting doesn’t sell immediately, it is needed for a future step in your career.

 

 6. What strategy tips do you have for an art career?

Paint. Don’t let your ego or lack of confidence get in the way of the creative process.

 

7. What is your philosophy as an artist? 

The same as my philosophy of life: working to be an honest and ethical human/artist.

Example: Any painting that I have adjusted based on my mentor’s advice is no longer totally my work and is not eligible for competition. 

8. What is your favorite piece you’ve created? 

My signature piece in colored pencil is “Sweetness and Light” (peaches)

And one of my signature pieces in pastel is “Heartbreak Morning.”

Portrait (2018), Ingrid Christensen

9. What is your favorite piece by another artist? 

I love the work of Ingrid Christensen and Tibor Nagy

Place of Growth (2019), Tibor Nagy

10. How do you find inspiration?

Sometimes by a scene, sometimes by viewing the work of other artists, sometimes by trying something new with a medium or trying a new medium.

Interview With an Artist -- My Own Philosophies and Experiences in Art

I'll be the guinea pig for the initial interview, then follow up with interviews with other local artists. Art is something I've engaged in for my whole life though never professionally. To get the ball rolling I've selected the following 10 questions from the Artwork Archive site's article, 50 Terrific Topics to Write About for Your Art Blog. My plan is to allow artists to answer the ones of their choosing. Here are my own answers:

1. What is your philosophy as an artist?

Anyone can do art. It takes practice and effort to be good at it, but who really cares as long as it pleases you. I want people to enjoy doing art, but I am happy if they simply like looking at it, and even happier if they are willing to talk about it with others. I admire those who do art and humbly try new mediums to learn and improve.

Aristotle said, "The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." So what I may produce is an expression of something inside of me the significance of which may or may not appeal to you. Or vice-versa!

2. Why do you create art?

Reflections of a Starry Night (niece, me, daughter)

Most of the art I do is a demonstration or socializing of art with others. It’s fun to explore new mediums. I feel a sense of accomplishment on an even greater scale when I’ve encouraged others to do art. I like talking about art and getting others to do so as well. Once as a youth, my brother and I were commissioned to decorate a wall in our dentist’s office. I recall it being a circus theme. Fun!

I enjoy developing or adapting art projects for my various classes, making customized birthday cards, and doing Paint Nights with my family.

Sunrise Over Mt. Rainier, Ken

At my very first Paint Night, my daughter and I chose to paint Mt. Rainier. This was actually my first adult attempt at using acrylic as a medium.

Menagerie (1998), Mr. Patterson

One of my favorite and most ambitious projects was this 'stained glass' coloring book page cutout. This was an early lesson I taught in my daughter's 6th-grade class. The easy part was creating a tissue paper collage for the background. For the positive-negative space portion, I challenged students to cut apart a drawing of an animal from a coloring book, then trace the pieces onto a piece of black construction paper to later cut out. Mine combined three animals (with odd additions) into a Surrealist composition. You need to have a teacher who really loves art and allows extra sessions to complete such a project.

Check out these digital photos of animals, in the article entitled, I Photograph Zoo Animals And Turn Them Into Surreal Images. 

You also need to see these 30 photographs of John Marshall Posing With My Cardboard Cutouts At Sunset. Amazing!

Sunset (2019), Patterson

I painted this acrylic landscape in preparation for my own Paint 'n' Sip class that was to be held at a small local coffee shop.

3. Why do you work in the medium that you do?

Collage Landscape by an FTJ Student

If I had more time, I’d do more watercolors. Acrylics and even pastels give me more instant gratification. I taught myself to do pastels for a class I taught with Seniors. My family and I created sample works as a dry-run for my lesson and to try out the pastels that I purchased for the class. One of my best, most successful, and enjoyable art classes was doing collage portraits with seniors. When working with paper cutouts, it's like we're channeling Henri Matisse.

Cowboy (1982), Ken Patterson

My watercolor Cowboy was painted from a small photograph taken from a magazine many years ago. It uses many of the techniques I learned in a class that I took at Everett Community College just after I started working in Washington State.

Clown (1968), Kenny Patterson

When both my parents died in August of 2011, I managed to eventually retrieve my oil painting of an Emmett Kelly-style circus clown that my Dad kept over the years. It must have meant something to him. In 6th-grade, my teacher, Mrs. Douglas allowed me to prominently display this painting, along with probably a dozen others, in a school display case. Somewhere, there's a snapshot of me proudly kneeling in front of it.

4. How did you teach yourself?

I read lots of art books like this one co-authored by artist, Andrew Wyeth. My passion for art gives me the energy to try new things and explore new artists. Every lesson teaches me something new. I will do my own art, research supplies and techniques, and come up with lots of examples to inspire my students. Reading other blogs and researching on the Internet helps me delve deeper into an artist’s background, life history, elements of their style, or other obscure details. I’ve become a better writer by editing daily blog posts and researching online for information to share with my readers and eventually my students. 

5. What have you learned by teaching a class or hosting workshops?

Travel is another way that I teach myself about art. Trips like this one to seven Baltic countries are invaluable learning opportunities. I’ve honed my public speaking skills, learned to plan ahead, order supplies, and ask for a stipend in advance. I’ve learned that I can teach to a variety of age groups and capability levels and am able to adjust almost any lesson plan to fit. I’ve learned different ways of looking at art and often discovered something I didn’t see or know when discussing it with others.

6. What would you do differently or the same in your art career looking back?

It was the right choice to pursue Engineering, although I always wonder what would have happened if I stayed the course to become an Architect. Expanding into the emerging field of computer software was the best and most creative path for me. I would have loved to have worked in an Advertising Agency. I’m glad that I have volunteered in the visual arts for the past 28 years.

I am in awe of those people who make the time to write and illustrate children's books. And that extends to those who share their craft and artistic techniques by writing books about different mediums.

7. What have you learned using social media for your blogging?

Delifrance Advertisement

I’ve learned that reading other blogs and making comments causes spikes in my number of daily reads. My wife also posts about my blog on Facebook. I have yet to turn my blogging into a business, mainly because I feel I wouldn’t have control over what ads are shown. I need more foot traffic before I go seeking the bread (I do like this Delifrance ad). Maybe online teaching will inspire me to sell some of my lesson plans on Etsy.

8. Which advice should you have listened to or ignored starting out as an artist?

Decide early on whether you want to pursue a career based on your aptitude for certain subjects (e.g. math or science) or one that is based on your interests or someone you admire. For me, studying Architecture in college was very competitive and students were constantly weeded out in favor of those who caught the eye of the teaching staff. I was lucky enough to discover software development, and eventually, earned a Master’s degree in Project Management, finding that I enjoyed running things from the top-down.

9. What strategy tips do you have for an art career?

Find a mentor who knows the business side of art. Find someone whom you admire and try job shadowing. Emerging technology makes a career in art more possible and lucrative nowadays. It may even be merged with a career in technology.

10. What was the most valuable thing you learned about art in school?

Marc Chagall Museum, Nice France

I was once told that bigger is better when learning to express yourself, so I always shy away from doing tiny drawings. When I teach, I try to limit the constraints, expecting that my students will learn from my lesson, but secretly hoping they go outside the box and create something surprising. Constraints are meant as guidance so that no artist is left staring at a blank sheet of paper. You should keep going even if you feel like you made a mistake. I don’t allow students to throw away their work or start over.

Just look at all of the studies created by famous artists that have survived them!

A judgment-free zone is critical in creating art, so I always try to find something good to say about anyone’s art. Besides, when I’m teaching it’s more about the process than the final result. However, I do love happy accidents!

10 Quotes From Famous Artists -- My Interpretation

Let's start with one of Picasso's most famous quotes:

1. “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” – Picasso 

Bouquet of Peace (1954), Picasso

I totally agree with Picasso. Most children love to color and paint and even draw until someone criticizes their work or tries to make them do it differently. I remember being told that I couldn’t make a career out of art. What we need more of is encouragement, especially when we think we've failed. Part of growing up is learning from our mistakes. I love to see adults attending Paint Nite classes to try their hands at painting. We all deserve a chance to channel our inner child. Expressing yourself freely through art is a way to do just that!

2. “Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” – Pissarro

Peasant Women Planting Stakes
(1891), Pissarro

I think that most people are impressed when they see a colorful sunrise or sunset and may even capture it on their cell phones today. Nature can certainly be humbling. Pissarro and French painter, Jean-François Millet found it humbling to paint peasants doing their everyday activities. Pissarro humbled himself by dressing like them. The artists were able to find beauty in the mundane and familiar and were often criticized for it by the wealthier ruling classes.

The Gleaners (1857), Millet

3. “Everything is beautiful, all that matters is to be able to interpret.” – Pissarro

Woman Washing Her Feet in a Brook (1894), Pissarro

Beautiful things are often exploited or objectified as being worth more than other things. Even Pissarro was deemed unworthy as an Impressionist by anti-Semitic artists such as Renoir and Degas. He was friends with Cezanne, Gauguin, and Van Gogh though. Pissarro saw beauty and painted it, while others rejected his work as nothing.

As far as the ability to interpret, I think that Pissarro wanted to paint meaningful works. Perhaps Impressionism leads to more interpretation because it provides less information (if that makes sense). Canadian artist, Ron Carwardine wrote, "Interpretation includes very real feelings for elements such as light, shadow, color, wind, weather, value, contrast, composition and subject matter."

4. “The beautiful, which is perhaps inseparable from art,

is not after all tied to the subject,

but to the pictorial representation.
In this way and in no other does art overcome the ugly
without avoiding it.” – Paul Klee

Rembrandt Self-Portrait beside da Vinci's Mona Lisa

In 1878, when Margaret Wolfe Hungerford published her book, "Molly Bawn" we first heard, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." How an artist interprets a subject creates beauty for us to appreciate regardless of its actual appearance. Rembrandt wasn't much to look at, though his self-portraits were magnificent and quite prolific. 

Albrecht Dürer said, “Nature holds the beautiful, for the artist who has the insight to extract it. Thus, beauty lies even in humble, perhaps ugly things, and the ideal, which bypasses or improves on nature, may not be truly beautiful in the end.”

5. “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” – Degas

The Blue Dancers (1899), Degas

Artists must see in order to create their vision of something, but not everyone sees exactly what the artist expected us to see (which is okay). While he may make us look, even focus on something particular, it is up to the viewer to interpret what he is seeing, much like how the artist interpreted when he painted it. I'm sure that Pissarro could have said it better, as he understood the interpretation part.

Some criticize Degas for objectifying women and call him a voyeur. But they often overlook the fact that he was also an anti-Semitist. Check out this The Dark Side of Degas article from the Chicago Tribune.

6. “There are no lines in nature, only color, one against another.” – Manet

Roses in a Champagne Glass (1882), Manet

I am totally on board with Manet. I can see a need for a line sometimes, but I am more impressed when I see colors side-by-side creating a line. Shading and subtle changes in value tend to soften the overall effect while contrasting light and dark more sharply provide a focus.

7. “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” – Picasso

The Angelus (1857-59), Millet

I’ve blogged about how Van Gogh was inspired by Japanese artists and French artist, Jean-François Millet, and painted his own versions of their works. 

The Angelus After Millet (1880), Van Gogh

Van Gogh did much more than copy a bunch of Millet's paintings -- he made them his own. Is that stealing? No, he gave his admiration and paid homage to the artist. Van Gogh's fellow artist and friend, Camille Pissarro, who tried to help him out during his illness, perhaps said it best, from the 1954 article, The Humble and Colossal Pissarro: “Father to Us All”, written by Alfred Werner, 

Pissarro himself told two artist friends not to be afraid of resemblances,
for it was wrong to think “that artists are the sole inventors of their styles
and that to resemble someone else is unoriginal.”

8. “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.” – Dali

Bird and Dali by Murat Kalkavan

I think what Dali was asking is, why have wings if you aren’t going to fly? Why amass intelligence without using it for some good purpose (he probably meant scientific discoveries). Dali was an artist who enjoyed reading scientific journals and studying the written works of Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein. He was also obsessed with double images and optical illusions.

I kept this quote on my list because I love this painting that pays homage to the artist. It also feeds into the next quote about creativity and art.

9. “Art is the most valued thing in the world...
it is the expression of the highest form of human energy,
the creative power nearest to the divine. The power is within - the question is how to reach it.” – Arthur Wesley Dow

Boats at Rest (1891), Dow

Art may not be the most valued thing, but I certainly do feel that it should be more valued than it often is. The divine part is that God gave us talents and an ability to create things when he created us, our brains, and our beautiful surroundings. It’s like Dali’s quote (above) if I may paraphrase, “Art without creativity or creativity without art is a boat without an oar.”

10. “We don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”

– Bob Ross

I loved watching Bob Ross' The Joy of Painting on TV. I'm happiest when some budding artist takes my project constraints and creates something that doesn't necessarily resemble the sample artwork. Although my students may think they made a mistake, like muddying their watercolors while trying to paint concentric circles, I see the beauty in the fortuitous outcome. It's those 'accidents' that I look forward to when I'm teaching art. 

I hope that my students preserve their artfulness through adulthood and maintain a lifelong appreciation for beauty and self-expression.

Top 15 Paintings that Use Primary Colors -- Red, Yellow, and Blue

Some of my favorite artists -- Franz Marc, Henri Matisse, and Vincent Van Gogh -- were famous for painting with primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. I'll introduce the color, then highlight my Top 5 favorite compositions in each of the three primary color categories.

RED

Bison, Altamira in Spain, (c. 15,000-16,500 BC)

Let's start with the color red, which is the dominant color in many of the highest-priced paintings. Its use began as early as pre-historic times in cave paintings using hematite-based ochre, then toxic cinnabar in ancient Egyptian times. Up until the Protestant Revolution red was very popular. Other sources of red pigment were minium, vermilion, cadmium, and carmine, which was made from cochineal bugs.

Portrait of Agostino Pallavicini, van Dyck (1621)

Vermilion red was popular with Titian, while J.M.W. Turner, Rembrandt, Rubens, van Dyck, Vermeer, Thomas Gainsborough, and Sir Joshua Reynolds preferred carmine red. Henri Matisse used cadmium red and even encouraged his friend, Renoir to use it as well, but apparently, he was too resistant to change. Later, abstract expressionists such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko used Lithol red.

1. J.M.W. Turner’s The Scarlet Sunset (1833)

Turner painted amazing atmospheric effects. Many of the images of this painting that I've seen on the Internet show the red as much more vibrant than is seen in this photo. I would love to see this particular painting in-person at a gallery.

2. Henri Matisse’s The Dessert: Harmony in Red (1908)

What I like about Matisse is his boldness, not only in his use of color but in his unabashed usage of large patterns that cover walls and tables in his compositions. Even the window or large framed landscape is oversized. His areas of color create a space that is nearly free of perspective relying almost solely on the juxtaposition of color against color. I could go on and on about this painting...

3. Jackson Pollock’s Red and Blue, 1943

As you may already know, I love abstract expressionist paintings. I also love finding lesser-known paintings that are departures from the famous paintings done in an artist's familiar style. While I love Pollock's drip paintings, this one speaks loudly to me.

4. Helen Frankenthaler’s Carousel painting (1979)

Maybe it's the size of this work that impressed me when I saw it this year at the Palm Springs Art Museum. It was hung on an upstairs wall next to a narrow walkway such that I couldn't step back to view it properly. Therefore, it was like I was drawn into it. In another post, I contrasted Frankenthaler's softer (impasto) style against Pollock's bolder, layered (impasto) style. While I love drip paintings, I prefer the almost watercolor effect that Frankenthaler achieves in her expressionist works.

5. Georgia O'Keeffe's Red Canna paintings (1924).

Who can resist looking at a flower close up? While we know O'Keeffe painted soft New Mexico landscapes, she is probably best known for using line and color to draw us into her rich flower paintings. There are many versions of similar paintings, some accented in black and other with pale lavender tones. I appreciate her use of the color red.

YELLOW

Lascaux Cave Painting (c. 17,000 BC)

As far as the color yellow, again ochre was used, and lead-tin yellow was also popular. There are some very obvious choices for paintings that are prominently yellow or yellow-orange or gold. Three of my five favorites were painted by Van Gogh. He suffered from epilepsy, which was treated with digitalis and known to cause patients to see yellow.

1. Van Gogh's Café Terrace at Night (1888).

Van Gogh effectively uses bright yellow with the help of blue and orange to achieve his focus on the awning of the outdoor restaurant. He also painted the interior of The Night Café in the Place Lamartine in Arles, complete with red walls and yellow floor.

2. Van Gogh's Sunflowers (1888). 

This must be on my list because it is a classic and I enjoy sunflowers. We currently have about six large pots of sunflowers growing very tall up to our 2nd-floor deck. Van Gogh painted a series of 12 sunflower paintings, including 5 in Paris prior to this one, and 7 more (along with this one) while in Arles from 1888-89. I was pleasantly surprised to see it at the National Gallery in London when we visited the UK in June of 2017. Like the Mona Lisa (in the Louvre), it was smaller than I had expected, yet no less impressive.

3. Gustav Klimt's The Kiss (Lovers) (1907-08).

This is also a classic, as is his portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907). I believe this painting has been recently restored. It is immediately recognizable due to Klimt's intricate patterns and yellow hues. The embracing figures are modestly hidden, their hair becoming part of the floral background. The composition unifies the green and yellow color fields with smaller orange and purple areas that hug the woman's body and leading upward toward the kiss.

4. Van Gogh's The Yellow House (1888).

This painting holds a special place in my heart because of the story behind it. Apparently, Van Gogh had hoped to establish a “Studio of the South” where he could invite his friends to come and paint together. He occupied four rooms, identified by the green shutters, from May 1888 until his tragic death the following year.

5. Franz Marc's The Yellow Cow (1911).

This is a whimsical painting of a frolicking cow. Marc loved to paint animals, including red and blue horses. He and Kandinsky were part of the Blue Riders group who used color symbolism. Yellow symbolized femininity and sensuality.

BLUE

Tomb painting dated to the reign of Ka-Sen

Now to the cooler color, blue. One of the oldest blues is Egyptian blue from over 5,000 years ago. Today, we see lots of blue in landscapes and seascapes for the traditional color of the sky and water. Salvador Dali used it as a contrast to his orange in his Persistence of Memory. Other artists successfully used blue to convey a more somber, melancholy mood, such as the paintings of Picasso's Blue Period (1901-04).

1. Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist (1903-04).

I love showing this painting to my students. Once I used MS-PowerPoint animation to rotate the picture on its side, then asked my 3rd-graders which way they thought the painting should be presented and which position felt more comfortable for the old man.

2. Van Gogh's The Starry Night (1889).

This is yet another classic that I cannot ignore. It's all at once magical and mystical and yet somehow sad, knowing about Vincent's turbulent struggle. The circles or halos around the stars is likely a sign of Van Gogh's lead poisoning from the paint he used. I painted something similar with my daughter and niece at a Paint Night where we thinned out white acrylic paint and flicked our brushes to get the starry effect. I've always loved his cypress trees too and often borrowed a small petrified potted version to use as a prop when I taught about Van Gogh.

There's a wonderful video of Don McLean's Starry, Starry Night accompanied by many of Vincent's works. I often show it to my 5th- and 6th-graders as a special treat. My 6th-graders had a substitute teacher who for a bit allowed his students to sing along until they got too silly.

3. Thomas Gainsborough The Blue Boy (c. 1770).

Probably Gainsborough's most famous painting was this homage to van Dyck, who had painted several portraits of Charles II as a boy, although Gainsborough's subject was not of royal lineage. My elderly neighbor in New Jersey -- Mrs. Margaret Holscher -- had an opulently decorated drawing room including a copy of Gainsborough’s Blue Boy. I recall this room was just past the front door entryway. It led straight out to her patio, where her brother, 'Uncle George' was often sitting. To the left up a couple of stairs was her kitchen. She loved making Chicken Cacciatore and gave me her recipe. I was probably 12 or 13.

When I posted about Port Townsend, WA, you may recall that we happened on a pair of needlepoint portraits (after Gainsborough's Pink Lady and Blue Boy) hanging in one of the officer's houses.

4. Henri Matisse's Blue Nudes Series (1952).

It's simply several blue shapes on a grayish background. Very effective! These nudes are typically displayed together as a series when exhibited in a gallery setting. I recall a similar Matisse work of a sailboat and its reflection that for 47 days hung upside down at the MOMA before anyone noticed. This apparently happened in October 1961 not long after the exhibit opened.

5. Chagall's In My Country (1943).

Marc Chagall is one of my favorite artists. I was lucky enough to visit his museum while in Nice, France in May 2011. Henri Matisse also has a museum there. What was most impressive was the size of Chagall's paintings, which took up entire walls in the large rooms of the museum.