Praising Budding Artists for Their Work

Words of encouragement go a long way to inspiring young artists. “Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are appreciated.” - Alexander Osborn

For example, "I love the way you...", or "Your style amazes me." is a great starting point. Get people talking about their art and have them practice talking about the work of other artists. "What do you like about it?" "Why did you choose this color combination?" Use art vocabulary, explaining how their choice of complementary or contrasting colors added interest. Besides praising an artist for their own unique style, it might be helpful to compare their work to that of other more famous artists. It also helps to take a picture of your art on your phone. Seeing a photo can change one's point of view away from the canvas you've been staring at for an hour and a half, and that which you've become overly critical.

Making connections with other artists and even the subject matter -- "Your brushstrokes remind me of Van Gogh" or "That reminds me of MY dog" -- are inspiring comments for an artist to hear. Their work is being thoughtfully acknowledged for its content, execution, style, or the feelings it invokes in the viewer.

Two Crabs (1889), Vincent Van Gogh

My family, friends, and colleagues encourage me to do more art. Museums are always stimulating, especially when I discover another Van Gogh painting or see a Rembrandt in person! Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens was heavily influenced both artists. Van Gogh was also influenced by his friend, Paul Gauguin, who encouraged him to paint from his imagination, French realist Jean-François Millet, other Impressionists, and Japanese art. Van Gogh painted Two Crabs in 1889 as an experiment in complementary colors inspired by the color theory of Eugène Delacroix.

In May of 2017, I saw it hanging in The National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square.

Emily's Chicken

I wonder if PawsWithCause resident artist, Emily, was inspired by Van Gogh's crabs. Here is her portrait of a chicken in a very similar contrasting color scheme. Amazing! And I love the brushstrokes!!

An art docent needs to understand and become familiar with the elements and principles of visual art.

As time is often limited to an hour and a half, it is important to monitor the progress of the artist's portrait. They need to decide where to start, then begin to lay down paint. If they have a favorite color and are unfamiliar with brushes and the medium, you may suggest starting with the background. Help the novices mix their color in the large space in the center of the palette, making enough to cover the surrounding area. Often, with Seniors especially, the background is left blank. If the body of the subject animal is grey, that too may require mixing lots of that color in the middle of the palette.

One of our seniors spent most of her time outlining the features of her white cat and chose to limit her palette. She simply used black paint to suggest texture on the cat's coat. She carried on and used black for the front paws in shadow. The cat's tail saw the beginnings of Pointillism that had time permitted would have been an awesome technique to finish with. Because there was no paint applied to the background it made for a harmonious somewhat linear composition.

White Angora Cat (1761), Bachelier

Another favorite of mine is this portrait of a white angora cat beautifully (oil) painted by French artist, Jean-Jacques Bachelier. Here we see a cat chasing a butterfly. The cat's fur is well-executed. Though I wouldn't want to have to brush that coat!

All one-color animals, such as white or black cats, or white, brown, or black dogs, are particularly challenging to paint. It may take time to execute the subtle shading (primarily shades of grey). As an art docent I'd recommend doing small areas at a time while the paint is still wet; this is when blending is most successful. Maybe work on the head, then body and legs. Highlights may be added later, as with the back and tail in Bachelier's painting.

Two Cats Blue and Yellow
(1912), Franz Marc

Cats on a Red Cloth (1909),
Franz Marc

20th century German Expressionist Franz Marc captured some cats sleeping or grooming themselves. The first painting is more realistic than his second more expressive Cubist work. Can you find the mouse?

18th century English artist Thomas Gainsborough also studied feline positions of the Great Cat. According to the referenced link, his black-and-white chalk drawing is similar to that of another famous artist from the 15th century.

Apparently, I missed Paul Gauguin's Flowers and Cats (1899) while visiting the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen, Denmark on our cruise to the Baltics in June 2019.

Another recent post, entitled Making Connections with Artists & Animals features the cats of French Fauvist Henri Matisse.

Many of the world's most famous artists kept cats as pets. Here's a list:

Henri Matisse (Minouche, Coussi, and Le Puce); Pierre Bonnard (Cat);

Salvador Dali (Babou); Gustav Klimt (Katze); Georgia O’Keeffe (Siamese); 

Pablo Picasso (Minou); Louis Wain (Peter); Andy Warhol (Sam); and

        Wassily Kandinsky (Vaske)

We lost American artist Laurel Burch in 2007. She was famous for her bold cat designs such as those featured in one of her books, Fantastic Felines (1997). I believe we've done a jigsaw puzzle like this.

by Bill

Many of the artists who paint the shelter animal portraits are seniors who hang out at senior centers or assisted living establishments. One such artist is Bill, whose work is reminiscent of German Expressionist, Max Beckmann. See my post entitled, 'Egyptian Art, Sculpture, and Tombs'.

Another PawsWithCause patron painted this portrait of Cai with a light green tennis ball in its mouth. The artist's style is also like Beckmann, but with more of a Surrealist vibe. The background continues with the lime green color, adding little wispy shapes much like Henri Matisse decorated his red wallpaper in his Fauvist works. The touches of blue add interest to the composition.

You may also appreciate Medford the dog, who is sporting a Dio de Los Muertos mask on his face, reminiscent of the art of Frida Kahlo or Diego Rivera. Spanish Catalan painter Joan Miró often used a black background and Whimsical shapes (like spirals) to create his abstract art with Surrealist fantasy. Notice how the brushstrokes in his blonde fur add a realism that adds an anthropomorphic touch as if the animal is celebrating a human holiday. See Pepe the Dog in my post entitled, Making Connections with Artists & Animals.

Marlee is a good example of Realism. I especially like the artist's use of small, jagged brushstrokes, lending texture to the dog's coat. Happy accidents, like allowing the marker outline (from the original sketch) to show through, accentuate subtle features. I love the impressionistic background which further softens the overall painting. Check out the eyes with different color irises!

This portrait of Emma shows a good example of well-executed shading. The blue-gray color that the artist chose is a beautiful complement to her orangish-brown coat. Her sad eyes and overall color scheme make me think of the melancholy paintings (like "The Scream") of Norwegian Expressionist, Edvard Munch.

Many of our painting sessions, as with many of the art classes I've taught, are often too short for seniors or even younger students to complete a portrait in the allotted time. Although not common for established painters and master artists, some works are intentionally unfinished.

Gilbert Stuart created the Athenaeum Portrait of George Washington that currently hangs in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. The unfinished work was used to paint 130 copies sold for $100 each and for the engraving of GW on the US $1 bill.

The only other unfinished painting I've ever seen is “An Allegory of Virtue”, attributed to Corregio (~1489-1534), which hangs in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. 

My Artwork on FineArtAmerica

"Degas Recreation" by Ken Patterson

My brother has started posting his artwork to FineArtAmerica and he has inspired me to do the same. Artists are able to display their art, sell products with an image printed on them, and even sell originals (if available). Artists may set their own prices and receive a nominal fee for each product sold. It's a great way to get your art out there! My neighbor loved one of my pastel paintings and purchased a canvas print.

"Vernazza Harbor" by Ken Patterson

My latest acrylic painting is of the port city of Vernazza, Italy, where my daughter and her husband visited while he was stationed in Vincenza, Italy. It was supposed to be a wedding present, but I dragged my feet and gifted it to them for Christmas last year.

"Wedding Portrait"by Ken Patterson

I recently discovered photos of some of my old watercolor paintings that I did prior to taking an art class at Everett Community College. I painted a couple of portraits to practice using the medium.

"Clowning Around" by Ken Patterson

Ten years later I went on to paint faces at my daughter's 5-yr-old birthday party, where I was recruited by Bubbles the Clown to work with her. I consider this painting to be more of a quick study rather than a finished portrait.

"Cowboy" by Ken Patterson

I did two paintings while taking the watercolor class at Everett Community College in 1982. One was a seascape including a lighthouse and the other was this portrait of a cowboy (posted to FineArtAmerica).

"Clown" by Ken Patterson

The earliest oil painting I have in my possession is a clown painting I did in ~6th grade. I like his expression, though I could have done better on the collar and the background. You can see by my signature that I used Miss Kittle cursive penmanship!

Pumpkins 2024

This year, I got inspired by the sequel to the movie, "Beetlejuice", and the death of James Earl Jones (the voice of "Star Wars" character, Darth Vader). I also tried to pay homage to Barbie. 

With the passing of my wife, Judy, I thought of "Good Grief, Charlie Brown" as my first pumpkin. I typically carve 5 pumpkins per season.

We did our family tradition of carving pumpkins this year at my sister-in-law's home. It took super long to carve Beetlejuice (above) and I was pleasantly surprised when he was finally lit up. Everyone did an awesome job and were enthusiastic and creative with their choices.

We went to Ben Franklin store the morning of the party to get supplies for my snake version of Beetlejuice, which I carved later that morning.

My sister-in-law's husband carved a spooky tree with a bat flying out of it. He did an excellent job! I love the little yellow eyes on the bat!!

He also spent lots of time scraping down the inside, which resulted in a more glowing pumpkin.

Next is the mystery pumpkin by my niece's significant other, whom I discovered is an amazing sculptor. He wouldn't tell us what exactly his vision for his jack-o-lantern was. He started by cutting off the bottom and kept whittling it down until we finally saw the eight legs of his spider pumpkin.

That arachnid is flexible! Well maybe just its neck!!

My sister-in-law went more traditional, although I have to say she broke out from her triangle-shape comfort zone. Simple but with a scary expression!

My niece was dedicated with the chevron-shaped cutouts for her owl's feathers. We kidded her that the top of the head and ears resembled a hat from the Revolutionary War. Ha!

My nephew chose to carve a pirate pumpkin complete with eyepatch. We thought he was saying "Arrgh!"

After the party, I worked at carving my remaining pumpkins. Admittedly, my Darth Vader was copied from a design I saw online. Still, I embellished him with black Sharpie. I started using a Sharpie last year when my other niece used one to color in a ghost's hat. Very effective!

Here's this year's pumpkin carved (and flipped) by my innovative niece.

This was also the year of the Barbie movie. I think I've created Mediterranean Barbie, although at night she becomes Vampire Barbie!

I had trouble with the eyes and had to replace one of her bottom lids. My brother recommended that I peel more skin off the hair to make her look blonder.

The Art of Perspective

Perspective is one of my favorite art elements of Space. Using perspective can create the illusion of depth in a painting. It's important in creating the focal point of a painting, not only to create interest, but to emphasize the importance of an object, figure, or shape in your composition. To make your two-dimensional painting look three-dimensional, you may choose to vary size, position objects relative to each other, and use overlapping.

My personal favorite for teaching this topic is The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet. See More Seniors' Art -- Acrylic Landscapes for the six ways to create depth in a two-dimensional painting.

Café Terrace at Night (1888), Van Gogh

Perhaps one of the best examples of the use of perspective may be found in Van Gogh's Café Terrace at Night (1888). While somewhat cartoon-like, I appreciate his use of color and repetition of shapes. I hadn't noticed the color and relative size of the figures walking up the street outside the café, as I was focused more on the silhouetted patrons against the elliptical white tabletops. The oval shapes are echoed in the starry night sky, and the cobblestone street has more of a pointillist vibe. I'd have to see this in-person.

Bedroom in Arles (1888), Van Gogh

Also painted in 1888 is Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles. Much more shortened in its perspective, the floorboards and the placement and size of the chair against the back wall create the depth. A second version added a checkerboard texture to the floor. Van Gogh was very selective about the colors of the objects and wanted to create a restful and dreamlike setting. I love the simplicity and absence of light and shadow.

The Last Supper (c. 1495–1498),
Leonardo da Vinci

Other versions of single-point perspective include Leonardo da Vinci's and Raphael's versions of The Last Supper. All lines converge just to the right of Christ's head, focusing on the central figure of the feast. The overlapping figures subtly emphasize depth in the foreground. The horizon lines up with Christ's head, with orthogonal lines radiating outward, and the long horizontal table grounding the scene.

The Dance Class
(1874), Degas

Edgar Degas used perspective in his painting of ballet dancers. In The Dance Class, Degas uses size and placement of his dancers to achieve depth in his painting. Like Van Gogh's bedroom, the floorboards recede from view and vanish in the distance. There's even a window far off in the distance through the ornate doorway. The cluster of dancers represents the ~horizontal line. The orthogonal line from the dancer with the red and blue bows to the teacher draws our eyes toward the light blue tutu at the end of the horizontal line. The red bow holds our attention left of center.

Rue de la Bavolle, Honfleur
(1864), Monet

Using mostly orthogonal lines, Claude Monet captured this street scene in the old port town of Honfleur. Due to the shadowing, Monet has divided his painting in half. He once again uses the contrasting colors characteristic of the Impressionists. He seems to have been experimenting with light and dark values as well. The figures in red and blue hold your interest and draw your eyes toward the center.

The Gold Weigher (1675),
Cornelius de Man

This final painting uses two-point perspective and is reminiscent of Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. It is painted by another Dutch painter, Cornelius de Man (1621-1706). Here, there are two vanishing points, one on the left and one on the right. Initially, I thought this painting was done by Vermeer, but even with the checkered floor, there is no bright blue and yellow that would be characteristic of his work. Well, maybe the soft blue of the woman's shoulder and the golden highlights of the table!

Owls in Art & Photography

Photo (2024),
McDonald

In May of 2021, I posted about Birds in Contemporary Art and Photography. Today, I am inspired by a photograph taken by my nephew while stationed in Kuwait. It is a Pallid Scops Owl, one of six species found there.

My Michigan sister-in-law professionally photographed this Snowy owl. It migrates from Canada to Michigan in the Winter. There are at least seven other kinds of owls found in Michigan: Barred owl, Great Horned owl, Northern Hawk owl, Eastern Screech owl, Long-eared owl, Northern saw-whet owl, and the Burrowing owl.

I've researched artists famous for painting owls and here's what I found:

Detail from Garden of
Earthly Delights, Bosch

Perhaps the earliest and creepiest paintings of owls were done by Dutch artist, Hieronymus Bosch, famous for his tryptic Garden of Earthly Delights (1503-15). His tiny owl peers out from a log hidden amidst an otherwise busy menagerie of fantastical creatures and figures.

"Owls were generally associated with menace and death and had an emblematic, moralistic significance."

A Snowy Owl, Tunnicliffe

British Naturalist painter and etcher, Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe (1901-1979) is famous for painting birds and other wildlife. I like the white and black bird against the background's subdued color palette.

See  Royal Academy link to copyrighted Tunnicliffe paintings and etchings.

Wood Owl (1968),
Picasso 

Fun fact: Pablo Picasso rescued an injured owl and kept it as a pet that became the inspiration for a series of Picasso's whimsical painted ceramics.

See British wildlife artist, Robert Fuller's (1972) My Collection of Barn Owl Paintings. What I appreciate about owls is their ability to blend into their surroundings. Note the amber color highlighting its wings and repeating in the tree trunk's moss. It's like they camouflage during the daytime, and except for their eyes (and hoot) are pretty much invisible at night.

Barn Owls, Immature, Jamie Wyeth

Jamie Wyeth (1946-), son of Andrew Wyeth, painted Immature Barn Owls in 2006. While the owls themselves are somewhat ghostly, the artist was successful at showing them hiding in the shadowy rafters of the barn.

AB Owl (2023), Patterson 

My 'owl' pumpkin was inspired by Angry Birds. I was going for eyes that got lighter and lighter with each concentric ring. Anyway, I'm happy with the final effect!