| Author | Message | ||
  Deecubed Member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 29 Registered: 12-2007 |
Ricky, Thank you for your kind words about my painting of my granddaughter. Since I painted that, I have been dabbling in acrylics, and was introduced to a new [to me] method of transporting a palette and paints. Dianna Shyne, an acrylic workshop instructor, introduced me to a very practical, thrifty gerry-rigged palette, paint holder ... from the craft section of a Michaels, etc ... It's a plastic 12" by 12" scrapbooking paper case that closes air tight, which works especially well with acrylics. She puts wet absorbant shop towels in the case, then lays in one of the Masterson sta-wet palete sheets in and dampens that. It's wonderful! Large enough surface to lay paints out, and small enough to carry en plein air or to the studio. Most of all, inexpensive. About eight bucks! | ||
ricky Unregistered guest |
Deecubed, that painting of your granddaughter is beautiful. I use the John Pike palette at home, with adjuncts of small bowls for washes, and when I travel I use white Corel plates. They fit into my daypack and clean off easily. | ||
Whitewatercolor Senior Member Username: Whitewatercolor Post Number: 382 Registered: 10-2006 |
Wow! Dee and Eugene, thank you for sharing your people paintings from the Nutthall class. They are wonderful. I wonder if he ever instructs in Portland, Oregon. I've switched to a butcher's tray palette exclusively. I find that it forces me to sqeeze out new pigment each time I paint and the results are worth it. It is also convenient to carry for plein air painting. I just slip it in a heavy plastic cover. | ||
Dave New member Username: Dave Post Number: 8 Registered: 6-2008 |
I really like these pieces in Ted's style. They certainly make no apologies for being watercolour (by which I mean they have a transparency and lightness to them that shows even at quick glance from across the room that they are WC). I need a LOT of practice before I get that kind of control over my washes. As for a palatte, I use cheap folding plastic ones from the local university bookstore. I work mostly ATC and sketchbook size so small palatte in one hand, brush in the other works well for me. Because they are cheap I can keep them loaded with different sets of colours depending on mood, subject etc. One has about three wells filled with ultramarine blue, and 2 with burt sienna, the rest colours to work well with those. Saves me from the temptation to have lots of paint of every colour and so mix too much mud. | ||
Deecubed Junior Member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 23 Registered: 12-2007 |
This is my granddaughter, done more quickly the last day of Ted's class  | ||
Deecubed Junior Member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 22 Registered: 12-2007 |
Joanna, RE dots from my notes ... "know where you are going to lose edges ... put a DOT to close space and define anatomy. Dot across a hard edge line gives it a resting place ... dots on face add interest and texture. Use subtle overlapping of transparent dots on side of face on shadow side of face ..." Ted's work is on the cover of Watercolor Highlights 2008 [along with a feature article], and he has been featured in several Watercolor articles over the past several years. | ||
Joanna Senior Member Username: Joanna Post Number: 208 Registered: 10-2006 |
Eugene and Dee: I am IMPRESSED! Eugene: this work of yours is looser and more vibrant! Dee--I see what you mean about the dots--not sure what you mean about the brackets. I'm REALLY liking these and if I get to take a workshop, I think I may choose Ted--definitely productive time for both of you! | ||
Deecubed Junior Member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 21 Registered: 12-2007 |
Joanna, no masking. As Eugene said, Ted does a series of glazes, and very watery washes. He also uses 300# hot press, and paints vertically, which helps because he doesn't necessarily mix colors. He applies a very watery wash of one color, and then juxtaposes another color which charges into subsequent washes and "mixes" as he goes down the paper. The sloppy dots look random, but are very deliberate, and he uses some to "bracket" spaces, but not always totally symmetrical. [Note the two dark dots at the temples of his demo piece in the photo I sent in an earlier post.] Loved the way he progressed thru his demos. Each stage [four days] was packed with helpful hints. | ||
Eugene Senior Member Username: Eugene Post Number: 479 Registered: 8-2006 |
I believe Ted had only one brush with him-- the no. 16 round kolinsky. (about 200 bucks) But then, he sells his prints for $350 and up and originals for $3,500. I used a no 16 Cheap Joes water hawk, and I think it worked very well. Any brush that points well and holds a lot of water will do if you cant afford the sable. Although his work looks slapdash, his method is very controlled, with wash after wash of pale colors. Some of his backgrounds have as many as 10 washes. Marie when you attend-- have your contour drawings done ahead of time, so you have more time to paint. Do large heads with definite shadows. Not glamour shots, but faces with character, vintage photos are great. Crop for an interesting layout and take them to Kinko or any place that will make big, cheap b&w copies. and have them blown up to the size you will paint them. This is the way he works, making no excuses for using photos. Says it’s the only way for him to get the fleeting expressions he can’t get from a model. I believe he got a few frowns from several of the other instructors. but I agree with him-- it’s the results that count! He doesn’t copy the photo, but uses it as a reference. that’s why he uses black and whites-- it forces you to invent the colors. here is some work I did in Ted's class--- I'm still making some changes--as ted often does CLEM  SEATED FIGURE  THE CONNOISSEUR  | ||
Eric Member Username: Eric Post Number: 32 Registered: 4-2008 |
In Eugene's post number 478, a few posts down, he mentions that Nuttall uses one brush: a Raphael 16. I find that statement interesting and got me thinking that generally speaking, I've observed that the more accomplished painters tend to use less brushes (and bigger brushes) than beginners or amateurs. | ||
Joanna Senior Member Username: Joanna Post Number: 207 Registered: 10-2006 |
Beautiful girl--shame about the leprosy and just the one eye....ah, ok, just joking. Nice job on the light coming through the straw hat. I like the light on the hat ribbon. I have a feeling this is even more striking in real life rather than on a screen. Did you use masking around the light spots or glaze over a lighter wash? | ||
Deecubed Junior Member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 20 Registered: 12-2007 |
Here's one of the paintings I did in Ted's workshop ...  | ||
Deecubed Junior Member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 19 Registered: 12-2007 |
Ted Nutthall  | ||
Deecubed Junior Member Username: Deecubed Post Number: 18 Registered: 12-2007 |
I attended a Ted Nutthall workshop in August in Coupeville, WA. Ted paints vertically and gives a great deal of bang for the workshop buck! He spends several hours on his drawing and paints from a black and white enlargement, enlarged to the size he intends to paint. His sloppy dots are sort of his signature style. He is not only a wonderful artist, but an awesome instructor as well. You don't often get that combination ... | ||
Eric Member Username: Eric Post Number: 31 Registered: 4-2008 |
Marie- I seem to remember that "Robert" attended one of Nuttall's workshops a couple of years ago so there is some info somewhere buried on this message board, although I don't remember if he spoke about the question you're asking. | ||
Marie Senior Member Username: Marie Post Number: 469 Registered: 8-2006 |
Welcome back, Eugene. I have heard only good things about Ted Nuttall. He's coming to Georgia to teach a workshop in April, and I'm looking forward to attending. Just curious, does Nuttall work horizontally or vertically? It's interesting that he works wet. Recently, I have started taking 300# sheets, soaking them in the shower, and then just throwing pigment on the paper until it starts to dry. It's a bit of a challenge for figure work, and I haven't worked out all the kinks yet, but I'm pleased with the preliminary results. | ||
Eugene Senior Member Username: Eugene Post Number: 478 Registered: 8-2006 |
I also use a John Pike )big well) palette. I just returned from weeks worksop with Ted Nuttall, a fantastic portrait and figure watercolorist. He uses a rather small hand held metal one, similar to a paint box lid or a travel kit---and he paints wet! 1/4 and 1/2 sheets . His only brush is a #16 Raphael round kolinsky | ||
Marie Senior Member Username: Marie Post Number: 468 Registered: 8-2006 |
A John Pike palette is my mainstay for studio work. I supplement it with several shallow mixing cups (each about 3" in diameter) and some porcelain sushi plates. Occasionally I use an Eldajon palette for just for washes, not for holding/storing lots of pigments. For outdoor work, I use a metal folding palette with whole pans from Daniel Smith. | ||
Joanna Senior Member Username: Joanna Post Number: 203 Registered: 10-2006 |
I have three--one is Skip Lawrence's from Cheap Joes. I have it loaded with mostly American Journey paint and the lid keeps the paint fairly moist. The absence of dams in front of the wells make painting big and juicy very much easier. The brush glides from paint to mixing area. The smooth, light texture of the AmJ paint makes painting big, wet stuff a lot of fun, by the way. The critiques of this paint as "second rate" are unfair. For the purpose, these paints are excellent. For small paintings, I use a couple of the flower ceramic Chinese palettes. One is solely for irridescent paint (to keep it from mixing with regular paint and also I find it dries harder on the palette.) The small ones are good for funny color palettes--I might use one for greens or blues (away from the yellows) or to set up an unusual palette. Sometimes I use the big Quiller ceramic (my Christmas present last year) but it is quite heavy, so needs to sit on the tabouret alone. It has a lid, but doesn't seem to keep the paint as wet as the Lawrence palette. Easy to clean out--as it is ceramic. I tend to use this one for major works that I do slowly, with lots of color glazing layers. What do you use, how do you employ your palettes? |
