Cover photograph credit: Jessica Minor
Link to PowerPoint presentation referenced in episode is available here.
Show Notes:
1:20 intro and background
2:40 Slide 4 - Overview of Part I: 6 & ½ tips & tricks: 1 – perspective & point of view; 2 – Light; 2-1/2 – shadow; 3 – value / contrast; 4 – temperature; 5 – depth and illusion of 3-D; 6 – line
5:00 Slide 5: Point 7 - Brushstrokes
6:35 thickness of paint
7:00 blending with dry brush
8:00 Slide 6: Point 8 - Layering
9:40 ‘fat over lean’ rule
11:15 scumble – layer of opaque white
11:30 glaze – transparent layer over an underpainting
12:40 Slide 7: Point 9 - Paint as a Language
15:50 Slide 8: Point 10 - The Figure
19:45 Slide 9: Point 11 – The Palette
32:40 glazing
33:50 Slide 10: Point 12 – Studio Practice
42:50 figurative group show with artist from Hip Bone Art Studio
43:45 process of applying to shows
45:00 narrative/figurative and surrealist approach to still life work
46:05 artist statements
48:45 sharing WIP and final works
51:20 connection to the cranial optic nerve – thinking with our eyes when painting
1:00:00 painting from imagination with focus on ‘technique in service of art’
1:02:10 how to deal with writers’ block and painters’ block
Please share your comments and/or questions at stephanie@warfareofartandlaw.com
Music by Toulme.
To hear more episodes, please visit Warfare of Art and Law podcast's website.
To leave questions or comments about this or other episodes of the podcast and/or for information about joining the 2ND Saturday discussion on art, culture and justice, please message me at stephanie@warfareofartandlaw.com.
Thanks so much for listening!
© Stephanie Drawdy [2025]
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
I'm a very ferocious painter but beginner like.
That's part of why I paint onaluminum because I can attack it
and it won't rip or break.
You know, it's it'll.
It'll sustain the strength ofthis arm.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to warfare of art and law, the podcast that
focuses on how justice does ordoesn't play out when art and
law overlap.
Hi everyone, it's Stephanie,and that was artist and attorney
Stefania Salas-Bruins from herpresentation entitled how to
Work your Lawyer-Trained Brainto Strengthen your Cranial Nerve
(00:39):
Too.
Stefania began part one of thatpresentation in 2024, which is
available at episode 138.
And what follows is part twoStefania Salas-Bruins.
Welcome to Workfare of Art andLaw on Second Saturday.
(01:00):
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Thank you for having me and Second Saturday, thank
you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Thank you for having me.
So this is part two of anoverview that you began last
year.
So do you want to introduceyour presentation and maybe give
a little background on part one, and then we'll dive in?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, so this is part two of what I've titled how to
Work your Lawyer-Trained Brainto Strengthen your Cranial Nerve
2, which is your eye.
Basically, I'll give a littleintro, like you said, about my
own background and then I'll gointo some additional tips and
tricks.
So I was a lawyer for 12 years.
(01:38):
Well, I still am a lawyer, butI was practicing at a law firm
and then in-house for about 12,13 years, and then I quit my job
to go get an MFA at the NewYork Academy of Art, and that
was a two-year program which Ifinished in 2023.
And then I moved from New Yorkto Portland, oregon, where I've
(02:01):
set up shop and I've beenfreelance lawyering and painting
I guess also freelance painting.
I will go through first, likeStephanie mentioned, a brief
overview of the tips and tricksfrom last year, and then I'll
move on to the new ones, and Ido have a little disclaimer.
(02:24):
Then I'll move on to the newones and I do have a little
disclaimer.
You know this is all aboutfigurative oil painting
specifically in sort of thestyle I have.
So there's obviously endlessways to paint and this is just
one perspective.
This is a brief overview oflast year's tips and tricks,
(02:46):
which were six and a half.
So the half is because shadowis a part of light, which is
actually point number two, pointnumber one being perspective
and point of view.
This is something that's itsounds so obvious when you think
about it that everything isdetermined by a point of view,
(03:07):
but it's not until you reallystop to think about it that you
notice its impact.
You could see a paint tube.
You could look at it straighton, you could look down at it,
you could look through it tosomething else.
There's just so many ways tolook at something and that
sounds more obvious than it is.
(03:28):
And the same thing goes forlight.
You know, everything we see.
We can only really see becauseof light, which also sounds very
obvious, but it's not thatobvious.
When you start painting andthinking like that, you realize
how you can play with that andinfluence what the viewer can
(03:51):
see and not.
You can hide things in theshadow, so to speak, and the
shadow is nothing but theabsence of light.
Point three was value, which isactually the most important
point, which is contrast, andthat's really how we observe
most things is through contrast.
So if you squint, all you endup seeing is just light and dark
, and that's how we get most ofour information, and so it's
(04:15):
very important to an image tohave the correct contrast for
what you're trying to convey.
Number four was temperature,which is basically dealing with
color, but in terms of relativetemperature to each other,
varying between cool and warm,and if you want to hear more
(04:35):
about that, you should check outthe previous presentation.
0.5 was about depth and theillusion of three dimensionality
in a 2D format, and point sixwas about line, which is related
to depth, because we use linesto focus our attention and
(04:56):
indicate depth, which is a nicetransition into our first point
for today's talk, which isbrushstroke.
Again, this one seems prettyobvious.
You're working with brushstrokeswhen you're painting, but what
is maybe not so obvious is howyou use the brushstroke to
(05:19):
convey what your image is orwhat your message is.
What your image is or what yourmessage is, so not only are you
sort of putting the paint inthe right places, but the
direction of the stroke itselfcan indicate something.
So if you're using, for example, an arm going back into space
(05:40):
or a banana and you're kind ofrounding your brushstrokes
around that surface, by makingthose brushstrokes rounded and
following that depth you moreeasily convey that effect than
if you were doing like straightlines for the arm, where the arm
(06:01):
seems maybe straight, orstraight lines for the banana,
where it seems to be straight,so kind of flowing.
It's almost as if with yourbrush you're like caressing the
object that you're portraying.
You're sort of going around itand following its contours, as
(06:21):
if the panel you're working onwas three-dimensional, so you're
almost sculpting even thoughit's two-dimensional.
And with that comes the nextpoint, which is thickness, and
so you can also play with thethickness of the paint to convey
that three-dimensionality.
(06:41):
Same goes for blending.
Actually, when I first startedpainting before going to school
for it, it turns out I neverblended.
I didn't know you're supposedto blend or could blend.
I had no idea.
So I would put the paint andI'll smush it around.
So I guess I was blending.
But when I'm talking aboutblending here, I'm talking about
like using a different brush, adry brush, and sort of just
(07:03):
lightly swooshing the paint, oryou know, like it's different to
mixing the paint.
There are people who use makeupbrushes for the blending, and I
guess it would be like applyingmakeup, except I can't make an
analogy because I don't usethose brushes, so that's not
(07:23):
going to be helpful.
But a dry brush that sort ofswoops over the paint that
you've already applied and takesaway any harshness in lines and
that allows you to kind ofdecide where the detail remains
and detail goes away.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Stefania, after blending, do you ever go back
over the section you blendedwith more paint?
Can you describe if there'slayers to blending or whether
it's kind of like a one silver?
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah well, gina, thank you so much for your
question, because ta-da.
So yeah, definitely I go overthe blended parts, absolutely.
What you're saying, um is, uh,what I do, um, I.
So once, um, once things haveblended, then you've lost your
sharpness right and then, butyou might have lost too much of
(08:21):
it.
So again, this is just the wayI paint.
You know, some people do have awhole underpainting that's set
and then they go on like that,but in the way that I've sort of
(08:44):
adopted once, by blending anddrawing it again, which I guess
can get frustrating or it mightsound tedious, but really it's
not, because you're justinvestigating that one thing all
over again, so it would beblended and then re-added on
until sort of like, I'm happywith the effect and I guess
(09:05):
that's why I love oil paint isbecause you are, you can layer
this way, and people do achievesimilar things with acrylic.
It is possible, it's just notsomething I do.
And so the translucency of theoil paint well, not all oil
paints, but the transparent onesreally allows for that layering
and allows for like, if youhave a blended section and you
(09:29):
go over it once it's dry.
Of course it needs to dry first, so you're just going to keep
blending.
You can keep applying layersupon layers forever, and a
general rule is fat over lean,and that means is the amount of
oil, or and paint, because thepaint itself has oil, but you
(09:50):
want the first layer to be theleast oily, so you're almost
working with just the paint andas you go on, you add oil.
And I guess I should alsoclarify I don't use any medium,
I only use linseed oil, which issomething I was going to
discuss later, but I guess it'srelevant to this portion.
(10:11):
If you do use medium, yourlayers will dry a lot faster,
but also it acts differently andit's far stickier and it's just
not something I can talk aboutbecause I just did not like that
approach.
So, yeah, linseed oil, and inlayering, one thing that I find
helpful to think about is goingfrom general to specific, which
(10:34):
actually is a funny parallel tohow laws are written, right from
general to specific, and howyou would analyze a legal issue.
So what I mean by that in animage is you're going from like
the biggest overall structureand then becoming detailed.
It's almost like the image isblurry, like you kind of see it,
(10:58):
and then certain aspects of itbecome more distinct and precise
and detailed and others do not.
One thing I guess to realizewith layering is so I guess, in
terms of technical terms, ascumble is when you add a layer
of opaque white like this overhere, which is just a tiny
(11:21):
segment of a painting and youcan't tell what it is, but it
shows a scumble.
You see the transparency of thewhite and overlay to whatever
object is underneath, whereas aglaze is a transparent layer
over, over and under painting orwhatever was underneath it.
(11:41):
So, like this apple down herehas glazes of red as compared to
the scumble.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
For those who do look at the presentation later,
we're on slide eight.
Is it for layering?
Or we're on point eight,layering, and you're referring
to the scumble as the top leftof the slide and then the apple
on the lower left?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
oh, yes, yes, thank you.
Yeah, and one thing I guess toconsider is um, once you do add
opaqueness, I guess the only wayof going back in terms of you
having covered the underlyingsurface in my case aluminum, but
it could be anything else theonly way to go back would be to
(12:26):
scrape it off.
So with the transparent layers,you know you can keep going
irreversibly.
But once that white gets in,the only reversing is getting
rid of it or it will remainopaque.
So, going on to the next point,number nine, painting as
language.
I think this is a a niceanalogy.
(12:48):
I mean it's I didn't come upwith this, obviously the you
know, painting as language ishow you're told to develop your
artistic voice and and view yourbrushstroke application as a
language that you're creating.
But I actually thought it wouldbe fun to break it down even
further and analyze sort of thewhole painting process through
(13:14):
language, and I would view painttubes as the alphabet and
mixing colors as vocabulary.
Personally, and mixing colorsas vocabulary Personally, I
prefer to keep my palettelimited, which we'll talk about
later, and create my own colorsas needed.
So I would view your colorchoices, your palette choices,
(13:37):
as vocabulary, and the brushstrokes are kind of like
sentences and that makes thelayers of paint like paragraphs,
such that the image is a storyand you're painting your story
should fit within the context ofart history in some, in some
way.
Whatever you're pulling from orinspired by or relating to, and
(14:02):
the page in that book which iswhere your image lies, should be
contemporary.
It should be now.
In my opinion, it should besomehow reflective of your
current life or the life aroundyou, or society, or whatever is
happening right now relative toanother point in time.
Happening right now relative toanother point in time.
(14:24):
Yeah, I just wanted to sharethis analogy.
It's one that's been shared bymany artists that have taught me
and I feel like it's a reallynice way to look at images,
especially if you're producingnarrative work.
Now, in this case, the image inthe slide is of boots.
(14:45):
It's just a pretty simplepainting of a still life of a
pair of boots, specifically DocMartens, but I chose this
because I feel like itillustrates this point.
The layers of paint on thisimage of boots have sort of, you
(15:11):
know, been layered on almostlike the boots were worn.
So, for those who aren't seeingthis, the boots are very worn,
the leather is like scrunched upand roughed up and the boots
were red, but they are sort ofall sorts of shades of red at
the moment because they've beenthrough a lot and so the paint
is conveying that history andthat timeframe.
And many artists in the pasthave paint boots and shoes.
(15:33):
There are even philosophy ofart articles written on, for
example, van Gogh's pair ofshoes.
So, yeah, shoes are aninteresting, I think, analogy
for this point.
Point number 10, or tips andtricks number 10, relates to the
(15:54):
figure.
So within figurative art, ofcourse, the figure is central.
A starting point for the figureis anatomy, so I think that's
an important one to study Again,focusing on point of view, so
you can look at a figure frommany different angles.
(16:15):
You could even crop the figureand focus on, like an elbow or a
finger.
It's still important to keepanatomy and perspective in mind
whatever you're doing with thefigure.
One thing that I think goesunderstated and is really
important is how features are asmall part of the face we are
(16:40):
sort of designed throughevolution to really focus on
features and eyes are soimportant and we care about them
so much, but from a pure image,like perspective, it's a very
small part of the face, and so Ithink it is important to,
(17:01):
especially when drawingportraits, to allow the eyes and
the features to sort of appearalmost on their own as you're
working through the surfaces ofthe face, and instead of
focusing on drawing the featuresor painting the features
(17:22):
specifically, as that couldbring them out of proportion.
I forget who taught me this,but it was kind of an eye-opener
for me, even though it soundsobvious.
Next and I think I touched onthis in the last one, but it is
really important there arereally no concavities, like we
are sort of just formed out ofshapes connecting, so things
(17:44):
might seem like there's a divot,but it's just two connecting
forms that are actually rounded.
And I think I should have titledthis slide Debunking Myths,
because they're kind of alltrying to get us away from
things that we think we see.
And the other one is fleshtones.
I've never really understoodflesh tones out of a tube.
(18:05):
That makes no sense to me, justlooking at flesh and anything
else.
It's all just colors and valueand contrast and temperature
shifts that we're seeing.
It really doesn't matter thatit's skin or not and the thing
that's interesting about flesh,which is very nice for oil
painting is that it istranslucent in some areas.
(18:28):
You know, skin varies a lot interms of tone and you can
capture all that nuance with,just starting with your prime
colors, really, really yeah.
And I guess the other thing Iwanted to talk about is the
(18:49):
figure as sort of an academicstudy, kind of like the ones
we're seeing here.
These are all academic styledrawings, but I think that for
something this is my personalopinion for something to become
sort of art on its own, it needsmore than technique.
You know, it needs to beelevated by sort of conceptual
understanding of ideas orthoughts or feelings, whatever
(19:12):
you're conveying, andimagination.
And when you combine sort ofthose elements with technique,
then I think you know we reach apiece of art that's elevated
from a study.
So I think actually this isquoting somebody I just don't
remember who who said that thetechnique is in service of the
(19:34):
art and not art in itself, and Ithought that was a nice piece
of advice, a nice, nice piece ofadvice.
The next point is the palette,and I I'm never um too keen on
sharing the pod, just notbecause I don't want to share it
, it's just I don't know why itwould be interesting.
But it turns out people areinterested in the palette and so
(19:57):
I um have also, at the end,actually listed the paints I use
specifically, but I just wantedto talk about it at first, a
little more abstractly.
So this is point 11.
I think that it behooves everyartist to just go through a
painful process of trial anderror because you don't know
(20:20):
what's going to click with youor the message you have, until
you try.
And it's overwhelming how manytubed paints there are out there
and how many different types ofyellows, blues and reds there
are.
So I would say, just startsomewhere.
And to me, I've always likedworking from prime colors
because it really allows for abetter control of the mixtures.
(20:44):
If you start mixing paints thatare very specific, that are
sort of pre-mixed prime colorsin the tube, it's hard to
control where they're goingbecause you don't know exactly
what's in there.
So the purer the pigment, in myopinion, the easier it is to
figure out where the mixture isgoing.
(21:06):
For those who are looking atthis image, one of them is just
sort of my clean palette when Ijust refreshed it and a sort of
halfway used palette, and I usethe same palette for all my
paintings, you know, unlessthere's something else going on,
(21:28):
like I'm doing a monochromaticpainting or something, but
otherwise I use this fullpalette and I just focus on
different tones depending onwhat I need.
In terms of palette layout,everyone has their own system.
People separate, warms andcools.
Some people just have adifferent palette for every
(21:48):
mixture.
Some people pre-mix.
In my case, I like to separatemy transparents from my opaques
four.
Once that opaqueness gets inthere, it's.
(22:09):
You know, you've transformedsomething.
That layer is now opaque and soI want to control that element,
especially at the beginning.
So I keep my white and myopaque paints as far away from
my transparent, even though whenI mix it goes all over the
place place.
But that's a different point andI guess, in terms of the
palette also, it's very good tohave palette hygiene to clean
(22:32):
your palette when things startgetting too muddy, which they do
.
I mean, if you mix all thesecolors together, you get gray,
pretty much some of gray, whichis also why it makes no sense to
buy gray paint.
I've never understood thateither.
So, cleaning your palettewhenever you need to and also
(22:56):
your brushes, cleaning yourbrushes every time you finish
working.
Don't go to sleep withoutwashing your brushes.
Would be, I think, my mostimportant advice Um any
questions.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
When you're cleaning your palette, the palette
hygiene.
When does that kick in?
Or does it vary, Like some daysit stays pretty under control
and other days it has to bewiped off fairly often?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, for me it's latter.
It really depends on thepainting and how I'm mixing and
what's going on.
I also work on multiplepaintings at once within a
sitting.
So even within like three orfive hours I will probably work
(23:42):
on two or three paintings.
I do try to consciously cleanmy palette before working on a
different painting, for sure,but sometimes even within the
same painting.
It really depends on what I'vebeen doing and if things have
become a little gray on mypalette.
I guess the point if I had todescribe the point at which it
(24:07):
happens, it's probably when Ihave lost control of the
mixtures.
So if I can no longeraccurately get a little piece of
ultramarine blue without itbeing contaminated and mix it
with titanium white without itbeing contaminated that's, with
titanium white without it beingcontaminated that's when I need
to.
You know, as an example of twopaints, if I, if I can't get
(24:32):
pure color and mix, then I needto clean it.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I was curious too, because you do work on multiple
paintings at once.
There may be some overlap withthe colors that you use, but
maybe not, and the palette thatwe're seeing here is, it's like,
maybe medium size.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I guess I'm just wondering, like has it ever been
a temptation to have like aseparate handheld palette for
each painting so that you don'thave to like, if you're rotating
, that you don't have to likestart your palette over again
each time?
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Yeah, I mean I have thought of having separate parts
.
I do have three of thesepalettes.
Having separate parts, I dohave three of these palettes, so
I do rotate, in the sense of,like, when I clean it, I'm
literally just um, scooping fromthis, scooping the clean paint
from this one and putting it onthe other one.
So it is a fast process.
It only takes about, I wouldsay, less than five minutes, so
(25:30):
it's not really a hurdle, evenbetween paintings, since I'm
just scooping from here andputting it on the other one and
then wiping this one down, andalso because I keep it in the
fridge so that the paint doesn'tdry.
I really only have space forone.
So pragmatic situation, but Ialso don't feel like I need more
(25:52):
space.
It is a medium to small palette.
Like some people use a verylarge palette, I like having it
in my hand, and if it got muchlarger or heavier that would be
a problem.
I like being able to go up tothe painting and sort of mix the
color immediately right beforeapplying it, as I need to, and
(26:16):
so, yeah, yeah, I just have tocompromise, you know, the amount
of space on the surface of thepalette for the functionality
that I need it to have.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Steph, can I ask you a question about, um, like the
proportions of paint that youstart out with, like, is every
color the same dot or size oramount?
Do you find yourselfgravitating more to one
particular color that you usemore often when you're first,
(26:48):
you know, laying out yourpalette?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
yeah, that's a good question, especially given these
images.
So unfortunately, the trueanswer is a little disappointing
.
The size of the blobs of paintare relative to the tubes from
which they come and how they,delicately or undelicately, they
(27:12):
squeeze out.
If you know my practice, youknow I don't always cap my tubes
and so, um, you know, I justdeal with it.
You know I need to be able tosqueeze paint out fast for some
reason.
So I can't deal with the cap,don't know why, it's just is,
and so sometimes I get biggerchunks of paint.
So so that's the reality.
(27:33):
But if I were to ideally set upmy palette, I guess I would
have a lot of white and a lot ofNaples yellow, and then the
prime colors would also be inbigger chunks than the rest.
And I'll, like I said, I have alist of the specific paints and
there are four, no three sortof extras that are, that are
(27:59):
that I use.
Much less of Hope that helps.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
It does.
Thank you and.
I do the same thing, like I'llbe pouring out, and then one
will just like blob all over theothers.
I'm like, no, I just did theplan.
But it's funny because I'llthen be like, oh, should I be?
This is the painting trying totell me something.
Like it wants more of thiscolor.
Like I try to like listen tothe paint.
It's so weird.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
No, I'm glad you said that.
I'm glad you shared that becauseI fully agree.
I also try to listen to thepaint and it.
You know, I think that there'ssomething to that.
Obviously, you know, I don'twant to fully embrace my
sloppiness in terms of my tubes.
I am very careful with my paintand I don't waste it.
(28:45):
Like I said, I put whatever'sremaining onto the next palette.
But there is something aboutjust working with what you've
got and like embracing whatcomes out of the tube on your
palette in that way.
I love that.
I also think that the paletteis a very personal thing to
every artist and I guess that'swhy I'm usually hesitant to
(29:08):
share it, because I'm sort oflike, well, this is just the way
I do it, Like why would anyoneever want to do this, you know,
in this specific way.
But it is fun to sort of hearabout how different people
approach it and I came to thisdecision of Tube specifically
(29:33):
and the setup just through a lotof trial and error and also
sometimes picking up fromanother artist something that
they really care about andseeing like, oh, let me try that
, and then seeing if it sticksor not and sometimes it does and
sometimes it doesn't.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
How was that in the Academy?
Did they have that kind of openattitude about how you lay out
your palette, or was itsuggested that you do it a
certain way?
Speaker 1 (30:02):
It really varied, teacher to teacher, instructor
to instructor it it.
You know, some, some professorsreally had like a specific like
you should do it this way, youknow, and they would try to get
you to do that.
And others were sort of like,well, that is just how you want
to set it up and let's just workwith that.
So it was very person to person.
(30:24):
There wasn't like a specificoverarching instruction on that,
although the one thing thatthere was but it was also not
that strict was for every class,as is normal for any art
instruction, there's a requiredlist of paints or with some
suggested, and so I did try to,wherever I could afford to do
(30:50):
that, buy all the paints thatwere asked for so that I could
at least try them out.
And actually that's how you endup with this bucket of paints
that you don't use because youtried it and you're like, well,
that wasn't for me, but it's, Ido think it's worth trying out
in any event, because you neverknow if it's going to click.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
For the transparent versus the opaque.
I'm kind of looking at thepalette and I know you have a
list at the end, but in general,is your use of transparent
50-50 with opaque, or how doesthat kind of the percentage?
Can you put a percentage on it?
Or just when you're approachinga painting, do you find that
(31:33):
you're using equal amounts?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Yeah, I think it all, because the white sort of
contaminates everything it andit kind of has to, because
that's what's going to bounceoff the reflect light off the
painting and have a visualimpact.
The painting and have a visualimpact, I would say most of it
(32:01):
ends up being opaque, but notbecause it's only opaque paints.
I guess it's a tricky questionbecause all the transparence get
mixed with white and becomeopaque.
So yeah, get mixed with whiteand become opaque.
So yeah, I think I use onlytransplants with no opaqueness
(32:21):
only, while sort of glazingthrough layers, which I actually
don't do as a full layer butlike on specific areas.
So I guess if I had to answerthe question, I'd say most of it
is opaque at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Just for those who maybe aren't familiar with
glazing of certain areas, couldwe hover on that for a moment,
about, like when you're doingthe glazing and then adding the
opaque?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Yeah, I do try to keep it separate, but I feel
like I would be twisting realityif I said I kept it that
separate.
You know, I think there aremoments when I do get a fresh
palette, completely fresh, andonly put my Transparent on, so
there's no opaque on the paletteat all.
(33:08):
You know, if I really need todo glazing of that type, because
just the way I work work, ifthere is that white available or
the full palette, I willautomatically mix and work on a
different area of the painting.
That's only because I work onthe painting throughout and not
in specific areas.
I think it's more usual to workon specific areas and have your
(33:36):
paints for that area set up.
But yes, there are times when Ionly have Transparency on my
palette, but it's just very it'slike one out of ten times.
So point 12, which is the lastone of the six for this part of
the tips and tricks, is StudioPractice.
One of the six for this part ofthe tips and tricks is studio
(33:57):
practice.
There's probably a lot to besaid on this topic, but I have a
few points to touch on.
The first one, which ties innicely to the prior point on the
palette, is sort of researchversus trial and error or even
better the balance between thetwo Sort of figuring out what
other people have done, doingsome research, but also just
(34:18):
doing the thing, like goingthrough it so that you can
figure out what works I think isa slow and painful process but
it's worth it because, well, Iguess it depends on your
learning style, but for me, if Igo through it then I kind of
get the muscle memory for it,whereas if I'm just observing or
(34:41):
reading about it it won't go in.
In the same way for paintingand the same goes for process.
I think it's really importantto try different processes.
Try a monochromaticunderpainting, try drawing
things first, try all sorts ofthings and see what really feels
right and gets the resultsyou'd like.
(35:02):
So for me that ended up beingjust going straight on with
paint on the panel, and alsochoosing your support is a big
deal.
I think that and again this issomething someone advised me or
advised the class was to reallycare about your support objects,
(35:35):
and that's definitely a styleand an approach.
But if you are painting oncanvas or panel or wood, you
know, choose or prepare yourpanel as you'd want to, and for
me that ended up being aluminum.
But the process is stillongoing and I've changed my
procedure for preparing thepanel several times and I'm
getting to a point where now Ienjoy the preparation process
and and kind of um, want it tobe a certain way.
(36:00):
So I will sand the aluminum andthen I'll spray it with um
Rust-Oleum so that the paintbetter adheres to it, whereas at
first I was going straight on,which is not a good idea, um,
but it, you know it took a while.
It took, you know, gettingadvice but also attempting
things, and I think the samegoes for your medium.
(36:24):
You know whether you're usingGamsol or not and things like
that, and your tools, yourbrushes or palettes or whatever
palette knives, whatever you'reusing, your brushes or palettes
or whatever palette knives,whatever you're using.
Also, a big point of your studiopractice is whether you're
working in your own privatespace or in a group space, and
(36:47):
I've done both.
I've worked in an open groupspace, closed group space where
there's walls, and currentlyworking on my own, and there are
advantages and disadvantages toboth, of course.
I think when you're in a groupsetting it's really nice to just
be inspired by the work aroundyou and get sort of casual
(37:12):
critiques, you know, getfeedback, ask for advice really
quickly.
When you're on your own, youreally have to go out of your
way to get advice and brainstorm, something which is a lot
harder, but you do have sort ofthe sounds and the messes of
your own doing as opposed toshared.
But I do think it's somethingto think about.
(37:35):
I think some people you knowthere's cost obviously
associated with both.
Some people might prefer torent a space somewhere.
I think there's.
You know I sometimes thinkabout that.
Should I have a space that's ina shared location so that I get
that community, or do I workjust on my own?
I think important things tothink about.
(37:55):
And the same goes forself-reliance on your own,
feedback to your work andgetting critiques.
Critiques are obviously veryvaluable because you're getting
an audience to respond to yourwork and you can kind of listen
to how it's read, how it'sinterpreted, which ideally is
(38:20):
somewhat aligned with how youintended it to be received, but
it's not always the case butalso learning to have that
critique internalized in thesense of like being able to step
away from your work, maybe fora minute or maybe for a day or
(38:40):
however long, and look at it andsee, well, how is this going to
be received or how can Iimprove it, or is it doing what
I want it to do?
And I think that also comesfrom consistency of practice.
But also, yeah, I think thatthere's this perception and I
used to have this too where it'slike you have to be mentally
(39:04):
ready to go to the studio or togo to your painting or your
practice, whatever your art is,um, but really it's important to
treat it as just a part of yourweek or your day, however
regular your practice is, evenif it's monthly.
But having just going, even ifyou're not ready to paint
(39:26):
something or you don't know whatyou're going to paint, or you
are stuck in something and justsitting there, or whether it's a
desk or a whole space and justconsidering just being with your
art or your art thoughts, evenif you're not being as
productive as you'd want to be,I think that's really important,
treating it like a job in a way, in in the sense that you show
(39:51):
up regardless and you do yourbest regardless of how you're
feeling, as opposed to attachingsort of this romantic view that
it's always going to feelwonderful.
I think that's an importantthing to keep in mind, as well
as and this is something I'vetalked about before like the
(40:12):
ever-changing setup.
I've put some pictures like theever-changing setup.
I've put some pictures up hereof different studios.
I've had two of the threeformer studios I've had in my
current studio, which is muchlarger than anything I've ever
had, and I always thought once Ihad enough space I would stop
rearranging.
But I'm still constantlyrearranging.
(40:34):
I either want differentpaintings around me, or I want,
like, just to look at differentthings, or I want to pin up some
inspiration, or I don't know.
It just never really settles.
It's always moving and in thatcontext it is very helpful.
This sounds silly, but it'svery helpful to have everything
on wheels, whether it's youreasel or your cart or anything
(40:57):
really in your studio.
If it's on wheels your lifewill be easier because you'll
just be rolling it around as youplease.
And I guess the last point Ihave on here is more of a kind
of a discussion point or like anopen point.
I think up to now I've beenfocused.
You know, this presentation andthis talk has focused on things
(41:18):
that I feel confident sharingin terms of things that have
worked for me and that have thatI've figured out over the I
guess probably four years thatI've been consistently painting
in some form and the.
The next step is obviously onceyou have all these paintings,
(41:40):
how do you sell them, if youwant to sell them or share them
with the world, whether it'sonline or, preferably, in person
, I mean, if we're talking largefigurative paintings, they
really should be seen in personand not online.
I think everyone would agree onthat.
So, yeah, the last point onthis talk is how do you find
(42:04):
your buyers, your collectors,and how and where do you show
your art?
It can be group shows inartist-run galleries, it can be
group shows or solo shows insort of blue-chip galleries.
It really depends on the marketfor your work and what you want
(42:29):
, and that requires, I think, alot of research, and for me,
it's ongoing, and so I justwanted to share that as a final
thought.
Thank you for listening to mytips and tricks group show that
(42:54):
you were in.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
I don't know if you want to share a little bit about
that, since that's one of thediscussion points that we were
ending on about shows.
Other than that, any showsyou're currently in or that
you're applying for, what yourthoughts are when you do apply.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Yeah, so I do have a piece in a group show at a local
artist-run gallery here inPortland.
It's a figurative show with allthe artists showing Also do
figure drawing at a place calledHipBone Studios, which does
live figure drawing sessionsthroughout the week.
(43:26):
So it's a really nice show ofpeople with shared interests and
shared training experience inthe sense of looking at the
figure and creating artworkbased on it.
I do apply to opportunitiespretty often and I try to find
(43:47):
spaces that fit sort of the workI make but also that show
artists that I admire.
I think that's one way of goingabout it is seeking the spaces
that show the work that youwould like to be shown next to
(44:09):
and you know it's an ambitiousposition, but I feel like that's
a good place to start,alongside more approachable
spaces where you can sort of setup your own group show.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Where do you usually find the shows that you apply
for?
Speaker 1 (44:30):
A lot of them are from calls for art through
galleries.
I follow on Instagram and I dothink I might be on one or two
mailing lists that aggregatecalls for art, but I will owe
you what those are because Idon't remember them.
(44:51):
But I think calls for art onInstagram are a good way to find
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
What is your process when you're making the choice
about which type of work you'regoing to focus on?
Figurative landscape, stilllife?
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like the short answer to a lot
of these questions will soundreally silly.
So I just paint what I want,basically.
But I guess, if I think aboutit, I've broken down my practice
maybe into two branches themore narrative, figurative work,
which is now focusing onpulling more from imagination,
(45:34):
which is now focusing on pullingmore from imagination, and
separately to that sort of stilllife work, which has sometimes
morphed into landscapes based onstill lives, for example,
having broccoli be tree andhaving carrots be people and
lemons be sunshines, things likethat.
(45:55):
So more of like a surrealismapproach to still lives.
And I guess one thing I didwant to talk about relating to
studio practice which thank youfor your question, stephanie.
This just brought it backbecause I'd forgotten is artist
statements.
Gotten, is artist statements,which can be a challenging
(46:23):
aspect of practice but it's veryimportant and also ties into
applying to opportunities whereyou mostly require an artist
statement.
But the process of writingabout your work sort of
clarifies to yourself that whatyou're painting about and what
your subject matter is.
So back to your question on howdo I decide what to paint.
(46:46):
It's been driven by sort ofintuitive like desire to paint
something, but then, uponreflecting on it over the years,
I fine tuned it towards tryingto stick with an overarching
topic, whether it beintrospective feelings or
(47:11):
experiences, or sort ofobservational starting from
observation, whether it's anobject or a person, and that has
come through writing about whatI paint and thinking about what
I paint instead of justpainting it, if that makes sense
.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Yeah, and do you find that the creating of this
artist statement is an ongoingprocess for you?
Like, once you think it's greatand you've sent it out into the
world, then you're stillthinking about it and updating
it.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
Oh, yes, and I think it should be.
I think an artist statementshould be updated, you know, if
not every year, which isprobably not often enough, um,
maybe twice a year, three timesa year, or whenever something
shifts within you or your work.
I agree that it's neverfinished, Like truly.
(48:10):
A painting is, you know, neverfinished according to Da Vinci,
and I think he's right.
But, you know, a body of workcertainly never is finished.
There could always be anotherpainting that you make, and I
think the same goes for thestatement.
They're both evolving inparallel.
Speaker 2 (48:28):
When do you decide that your work not necessarily
is finished but ready to belaunched into the public eye?
Because you actually post a lotwith your works in progress.
So what is that for you?
Like sharing your works inprogress and then sharing what
you've announced as a final work, Like how do you make that call
and what are your thoughtsabout that?
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Yeah, um, I enjoy sharing works in progress just
because it keeps me, um,producing.
I guess you know it feels like,okay, well, I've gotten this
far, I gotta keep going.
You know it feels like, okay,well, I've gotten this far, I've
got to keep going.
You know, it's sort of like apersonal milestone in terms of
(49:13):
sharing ongoing work, in termsof work being done, and again, I
feel like these answers allsound silly, but it's when those
paintings stop speaking to me.
So if the conversation is, uh,concluded with the painting,
(49:34):
then it's done.
Um, so that could be.
That sounds very abstract, butthat could be that I can no
longer think of something toimprove it.
Obviously, it could be improvedif I started all over again and
fixed all the things that Idon't agree with in the painting
.
But in terms of that piecebeing done, if, if, I cannot do
(49:58):
something else to it or I'velost interest in it.
You know that sounds negative,but if there's just this
disconnect, it's either becauseit's done or it needs to sit in
a corner.
I think I've probably spokenabout this before where I just
put my paintings in the cornerthat I've felt stuck with and
(50:20):
later observed them, and itcould be that I was wrong and
they're not stuck, they're done.
But more often than not therejust needs to be like a few
brushstrokes here and there andthen they're done.
So it's a delicate, interestingtopic when a painting is done,
and I think it boils down to thecommunication between myself
(50:45):
and the painting.
Speaker 2 (50:48):
Any other thoughts or questions?
Comments for Stefania.
Speaker 3 (50:54):
Stefania, could you explain the heading, like the
title of this presentation,again, the nerve part like just
described to me, like what thatmeans and I'm sorry if you
addressed that already in thefirst session, um, and I missed
it, but I'm really interested inlike the, the scientific aspect
of like looking and seeing inyour process, um, so if you
(51:19):
could explain that a little bitmore in detail I would
appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
it coming from a brain that was first lawyer
trained and then arts trained,and my first starting point was
(51:47):
going from sort of analyticalthinking to visual thinking.
Well, actually that wasn't thefirst point.
That's where I ended up.
But at first I was thinkingthat law school teaches you to
think and art school teaches youto see.
And then, as I pondered it more, I realized that it wasn't just
(52:10):
thinking and seeing, likethey're both a combination of
those factors, and one of themis just analytical, the other
one's visual.
But you're still using yourbrain, through your optic nerve,
to to think with paint, as itwere.
Um.
So that's why I connected thosetwo, um and I.
I titled it this way because Iwanted the focus to be on the
(52:33):
cranial nerve, like notforgetting that our eyes are
literally a nerve implanteddirectly into the brain, and
it's that conversation is prettydirect, like our eyes are more
connected to our brain than, say, our stomach, you know, which
isn't a nerve, obviously, butit's like a very short
(52:54):
connection toward the brain.
So I think we're thinking withour eyes when, when we paint.
Speaker 3 (52:59):
Basically, you don't know who it was, but she and I'm
pulling this from um a sir kenrobinson ted talk, where it's
the woman who choreographed cats.
Um, where he references that hehad to move to think and I'm
(53:20):
like, oh, we have to see tothink, like as you're giving
this presentation and, firstly,like I loved all the visual
little things in yourpresentation too, like this Q&A
using the primary colors, likeyou used that on the first slide
too, and just how like yourpresentation itself was like a
visual, getting your viewer tothink it was really really cool.
(53:43):
Um, so thank you for explainingthat.
That has helped me like think Ithink better or like understand
, maybe like how I processthings.
Um, so awesome presentation.
I love this picture.
It's loop worthy.
Like replace the Mona Lisa,like this gold.
Speaker 1 (54:03):
I'm glad you like it.
I did want to sort of finishwith the quote which I've always
kind of thought about, which iswriting about music is like
dancing about architecture,which has unclear origins.
But I kind of, in my mind, Isubstitute the writing about
music with writing about art,and the reason I bring it up is
(54:25):
because we're talking about artand we're even talking about
writing about art, and it feelsstrange, because art should be
viewed or be made, or be made,but talking about it almost
(54:49):
seems so removed and so, youknow, contradictory to what it's
supposed to be doing.
But, on the other hand, I thinkthat it's really important to
not forget that painting is avisual language back to one of
those earlier points and it istrying to communicate concepts,
just like language does and justlike music does.
(55:10):
And, you know, I think it'ssomething we shouldn't lose
sight of the combination ofconcepts and language and images
and paint one more thought juston that part, because your like
analogies with like paint asalphabet.
Speaker 3 (55:31):
Cool, that was so powerful.
I've never heard that before.
But, like, you're right, youhave to like learn how to almost
like read art.
Um, just like how you have tolike learn the alphabet in order
to like speak and write.
Like.
It's this very elementary kindof concept, but I don't often
hear art being taught that wayor even spoken about in that way
(55:53):
.
Um, really like I got emotionalfor whatever reason, when you
started talking about that.
I was like, oh gosh, this islike clicking and it makes sense
, like wow, I just yeah it wasreally cool.
Speaker 1 (56:07):
I'm glad it made sense.
Speaker 4 (56:09):
I quite like this.
For the first sort of twothirds, three quarters of this,
I was driving, so I was justlistening and I really liked it,
because I know it's strangebecause you were describing
things, but I just got really inthe moment and it was weird
actually because it was probablymore distracting listening to
you than if I'd have actuallyjust put the screen up and been
watching it, because you know,when I just listen to things, I
(56:30):
just you know I'm in the zoneand it's that thing where you go
.
How did I drive here?
You suddenly arrive somewhereand you're going.
What happened for the last 40minutes?
But I did that during thelockdown.
I've been lots of walks andagain I was listening to these
series of podcasts all about art.
It was people.
I think they called it likesomething like the case for or
the argument for they did alldifferent concepts and I just
(56:53):
loved it because I was walkingin the dark like miles and miles
through all the woods andthrough all the lanes and it's
just really strange justlistening people describing a
visual medium but I quite likeit and thinking about one of the
best a couple of years ago, bbcradio 4.
Here they did the hundred bestthings about britain.
(57:13):
You know like objects andartifacts, all sorts of things.
You know art.
You know some art things, somehistorical things, all sorts of
things, and the funny thingabout that is a really
successful radio series.
There was a radio series,there's a radio series about
objects, so you couldn't seewhat they were talking about at
all and it still really worked.
So it's yeah, it's interestinghow you, you know, one sense can
(57:38):
sort of accommodate for another.
Speaker 1 (57:40):
Um, but there you go yeah, and I wonder what happens
if someone were to paint whatthey heard described.
Speaker 4 (57:50):
You know like it's another step removed and gets
translated in a whole differentway I think it might work
because it's just, you know,this whole idea of like
synesthesia and how we all startoff synesthetic and then over
time our brains learn tocompartmentalize and it how much
that happens depends on theindividual and things.
(58:10):
But yeah, I find, because Ilike listening.
It's I mean, don't get me wrongI like looking at things.
That's why I like art, but alsoI just like listening to things
because it just zones me out.
You know there's something to benice where and especially when
you're walking late at nightthrough forests and woods and
things like that, it's reallydark and you're just sort of
relying on maybe a little bit ofmoonlight or a tiny head torch
(58:33):
and you just sort of, you knowyou can't see three feet in any
direction, so you just feelreally encapsulated and you're
just living inside your own head, especially when you've got
headphones on.
And it's just strange.
I just find that really worksfor me.
And it's not until afterwards,I think I've just like literally
spent the last three hourslistening to lectures and
podcasts about people describingvarious art and art techniques
(58:57):
and I've got no idea how itactually was in practice,
whether they said oh, if youlook at the excellent way that
they've done this and done that,but in your head it sort of
won't work you must have a verystrong imagination to capture
all that.
I suppose.
So yeah, imagine that's theworst thing having a good
imagination when you're walkingthrough woods miles from
(59:19):
anywhere on your own at night.
They always say that I've gotfriends who do cave diving and
they say the key thing with cavediving is you mustn't have any
form of imagination.
If you've got any form ofimagination, you just won't go
down there Because at bestyou'll be catastrophizing about
things that can go wrong, but atworst you'll be going.
(59:40):
What if this has been sealedoff for like millions of years
and there's still a dinosaurdown here?
Speaker 2 (59:46):
I was uh going to ask you earlier and this brings me
back to a question uh, from apoint you raised stuff about, uh
, sometimes you work from umobservation and sometimes from
imagination.
And how does does that work?
And do you find it moredifficult to paint from
(01:00:09):
imagination?
Say, if you're doing a figureand correct me if I'm wrong I
thought that sometimes you don'tuse a reference and you do your
figurative work or other workfrom imagination.
Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
Yeah, I would say last six months, or all the
paintings I've started in thelast six months.
I've not used references.
I've just decided to go back tomy original process, which is
just imagination, like that'show I started.
(01:00:47):
And then, as I, wherever Istruggled like that's how I got
into figure drawing and anatomywas like I was struggling and I
was like, okay, I need to learnsome stuff because I can't do
what I want to do.
It's kind of back to thattechnique and service of your
art.
Um, and then during schoolspecifically, I was very reliant
(01:01:08):
on references because I was sokeen on getting the technique
down and getting realism.
And then it's not that I'veachieved that and now I'm beyond
that.
It's nothing like that.
It's more like I think I've gotenough to keep me going and I
don't necessarily want toachieve that.
I want to achieve what's in mybrain, as opposed to realistic
(01:01:32):
perfectionism, which is a wholedifferent branch of art.
And I think the statements likegoing back to, like thinking
(01:01:52):
about what you're making kind ofhelped realize like what is
that I want and what is it thatI'm working toward.
So, yes, I've done away withreferences.
Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
I'll still look at little things when I need to,
but I will no longer try andcopy what I see, and we had a
question from Nabundo and unlessshe wants to jump on, I can
read it for her or she can addto it.
She'd like to know how you dealwith writer's block and my
first thought was when you'relike you're talking about
writing about your work, likethat right there, I know can be
(01:02:24):
a struggle, but then alsopainter's block, so maybe you
could speak to both.
Speaker 1 (01:02:29):
I've yet to feel painter's block, but it's more
like I start too many thingsbecause I'm like oh, I gotta
make this and I gotta make thisand I feel like you just have to
start somewhere.
Um, writer's block, I feel likeand maybe it's why I don't feel
painter's block and I feel likewith words it's kind of similar
(01:02:49):
, like if you just throw wordsat a paper without feeling
constrained and then you canrearrange them as you please
like, because they might be inthe wrong order, um, not forming
a sentence, for example but Ifeel like if you start just
somewhere, you know.
So if you have to write aboutyour statement, maybe just write
a few words that come to mindwhen you think about your
(01:03:11):
paintings or when you look atthem and, yeah, just starting
somewhere, anywhere and thenfixing it.
Spend all your time fixingthings.
That's my painting strategy.
Speaker 2 (01:03:44):
Wonderful, thank you.
Well, thank you so much, andthen, fixing it, spend all panel
or the canvas.
It's really inspiring to hearyou talk about it, so thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
Thanks, and I think it's all about even when writing
.
It's all about caring aboutwhat you're doing and if you
don't feel like you care atfirst, like you feel that, block
the blank page, just love like,learn to love it somehow.
Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
And when you figure out how to love it, you'll be
drawn to it.
There will be links in the shownotes to learn more.
If you're intrigued by thispodcast, it would be much
appreciated if you could leave arating or review and tag
Warfare of Art and Law podcast.
Until next time, this isStephanie Drotty bringing you
Warfare of Art and Law.
Thank you so much for listeningand remember injustice anywhere
(01:04:39):
is a threat to justiceeverywhere.
I'm a very ferocious painter but beginner like.
That's part of why I paint onaluminum because I can attack it
and it won't rip or break.
You know, it's it'll.
It'll sustain the strength ofthis arm.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Welcome to warfare of art and law, the podcast that
focuses on how justice does ordoesn't play out when art and
law overlap.
Hi everyone, it's Stephanie,and that was artist and attorney
Stefania Salas-Bruins from herpresentation entitled how to
Work your Lawyer-Trained Brainto Strengthen your Cranial Nerve
(00:39):
Too.
Stefania began part one of thatpresentation in 2024, which is
available at episode 138.
And what follows is part twoStefania Salas-Bruins.
Welcome to Workfare of Art andLaw on Second Saturday.
(01:00):
Thank you so much for beinghere.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Thank you for having me and Second Saturday, thank
you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Thank you for having me.
So this is part two of anoverview that you began last
year.
So do you want to introduceyour presentation and maybe give
a little background on part one, and then we'll dive in?
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, so this is part two of what I've titled how to
Work your Lawyer-Trained Brainto Strengthen your Cranial Nerve
2, which is your eye.
Basically, I'll give a littleintro, like you said, about my
own background and then I'll gointo some additional tips and
tricks.
So I was a lawyer for 12 years.
(01:38):
Well, I still am a lawyer, butI was practicing at a law firm
and then in-house for about 12,13 years, and then I quit my job
to go get an MFA at the NewYork Academy of Art, and that
was a two-year program which Ifinished in 2023.
And then I moved from New Yorkto Portland, oregon, where I've
(02:01):
set up shop and I've beenfreelance lawyering and painting
I guess also freelance painting.
I will go through first, likeStephanie mentioned, a brief
overview of the tips and tricksfrom last year, and then I'll
move on to the new ones, and Ido have a little disclaimer.
(02:24):
Then I'll move on to the newones and I do have a little
disclaimer.
You know this is all aboutfigurative oil painting
specifically in sort of thestyle I have.
So there's obviously endlessways to paint and this is just
one perspective.
This is a brief overview oflast year's tips and tricks,
(02:46):
which were six and a half.
So the half is because shadowis a part of light, which is
actually point number two, pointnumber one being perspective
and point of view.
This is something that's itsounds so obvious when you think
about it that everything isdetermined by a point of view,
(03:07):
but it's not until you reallystop to think about it that you
notice its impact.
You could see a paint tube.
You could look at it straighton, you could look down at it,
you could look through it tosomething else.
There's just so many ways tolook at something and that
sounds more obvious than it is.
(03:28):
And the same thing goes forlight.
You know, everything we see.
We can only really see becauseof light, which also sounds very
obvious, but it's not thatobvious.
When you start painting andthinking like that, you realize
how you can play with that andinfluence what the viewer can
(03:51):
see and not.
You can hide things in theshadow, so to speak, and the
shadow is nothing but theabsence of light.
Point three was value, which isactually the most important
point, which is contrast, andthat's really how we observe
most things is through contrast.
So if you squint, all you endup seeing is just light and dark
, and that's how we get most ofour information, and so it's
(04:15):
very important to an image tohave the correct contrast for
what you're trying to convey.
Number four was temperature,which is basically dealing with
color, but in terms of relativetemperature to each other,
varying between cool and warm,and if you want to hear more
(04:35):
about that, you should check outthe previous presentation.
0.5 was about depth and theillusion of three dimensionality
in a 2D format, and point sixwas about line, which is related
to depth, because we use linesto focus our attention and
(04:56):
indicate depth, which is a nicetransition into our first point
for today's talk, which isbrushstroke.
Again, this one seems prettyobvious.
You're working with brushstrokeswhen you're painting, but what
is maybe not so obvious is howyou use the brushstroke to
(05:19):
convey what your image is orwhat your message is.
What your image is or what yourmessage is, so not only are you
sort of putting the paint inthe right places, but the
direction of the stroke itselfcan indicate something.
So if you're using, for example, an arm going back into space
(05:40):
or a banana and you're kind ofrounding your brushstrokes
around that surface, by makingthose brushstrokes rounded and
following that depth you moreeasily convey that effect than
if you were doing like straightlines for the arm, where the arm
(06:01):
seems maybe straight, orstraight lines for the banana,
where it seems to be straight,so kind of flowing.
It's almost as if with yourbrush you're like caressing the
object that you're portraying.
You're sort of going around itand following its contours, as
(06:21):
if the panel you're working onwas three-dimensional, so you're
almost sculpting even thoughit's two-dimensional.
And with that comes the nextpoint, which is thickness, and
so you can also play with thethickness of the paint to convey
that three-dimensionality.
(06:41):
Same goes for blending.
Actually, when I first startedpainting before going to school
for it, it turns out I neverblended.
I didn't know you're supposedto blend or could blend.
I had no idea.
So I would put the paint andI'll smush it around.
So I guess I was blending.
But when I'm talking aboutblending here, I'm talking about
like using a different brush, adry brush, and sort of just
(07:03):
lightly swooshing the paint, oryou know, like it's different to
mixing the paint.
There are people who use makeupbrushes for the blending, and I
guess it would be like applyingmakeup, except I can't make an
analogy because I don't usethose brushes, so that's not
(07:23):
going to be helpful.
But a dry brush that sort ofswoops over the paint that
you've already applied and takesaway any harshness in lines and
that allows you to kind ofdecide where the detail remains
and detail goes away.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Stefania, after blending, do you ever go back
over the section you blendedwith more paint?
Can you describe if there'slayers to blending or whether
it's kind of like a one silver?
Do you know?
Speaker 1 (07:58):
Yeah well, gina, thank you so much for your
question, because ta-da.
So yeah, definitely I go overthe blended parts, absolutely.
What you're saying, um is, uh,what I do, um, I.
So once, um, once things haveblended, then you've lost your
sharpness right and then, butyou might have lost too much of
(08:21):
it.
So again, this is just the wayI paint.
You know, some people do have awhole underpainting that's set
and then they go on like that,but in the way that I've sort of
(08:44):
adopted once, by blending anddrawing it again, which I guess
can get frustrating or it mightsound tedious, but really it's
not, because you're justinvestigating that one thing all
over again, so it would beblended and then re-added on
until sort of like, I'm happywith the effect and I guess
(09:05):
that's why I love oil paint isbecause you are, you can layer
this way, and people do achievesimilar things with acrylic.
It is possible, it's just notsomething I do.
And so the translucency of theoil paint well, not all oil
paints, but the transparent onesreally allows for that layering
and allows for like, if youhave a blended section and you
(09:29):
go over it once it's dry.
Of course it needs to dry first, so you're just going to keep
blending.
You can keep applying layersupon layers forever, and a
general rule is fat over lean,and that means is the amount of
oil, or and paint, because thepaint itself has oil, but you
(09:50):
want the first layer to be theleast oily, so you're almost
working with just the paint andas you go on, you add oil.
And I guess I should alsoclarify I don't use any medium,
I only use linseed oil, which issomething I was going to
discuss later, but I guess it'srelevant to this portion.
(10:11):
If you do use medium, yourlayers will dry a lot faster,
but also it acts differently andit's far stickier and it's just
not something I can talk aboutbecause I just did not like that
approach.
So, yeah, linseed oil, and inlayering, one thing that I find
helpful to think about is goingfrom general to specific, which
(10:34):
actually is a funny parallel tohow laws are written, right from
general to specific, and howyou would analyze a legal issue.
So what I mean by that in animage is you're going from like
the biggest overall structureand then becoming detailed.
It's almost like the image isblurry, like you kind of see it,
(10:58):
and then certain aspects of itbecome more distinct and precise
and detailed and others do not.
One thing I guess to realizewith layering is so I guess, in
terms of technical terms, ascumble is when you add a layer
of opaque white like this overhere, which is just a tiny
(11:21):
segment of a painting and youcan't tell what it is, but it
shows a scumble.
You see the transparency of thewhite and overlay to whatever
object is underneath, whereas aglaze is a transparent layer
over, over and under painting orwhatever was underneath it.
(11:41):
So, like this apple down herehas glazes of red as compared to
the scumble.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
For those who do look at the presentation later,
we're on slide eight.
Is it for layering?
Or we're on point eight,layering, and you're referring
to the scumble as the top leftof the slide and then the apple
on the lower left?
Speaker 1 (12:06):
oh, yes, yes, thank you.
Yeah, and one thing I guess toconsider is um, once you do add
opaqueness, I guess the only wayof going back in terms of you
having covered the underlyingsurface in my case aluminum, but
it could be anything else theonly way to go back would be to
(12:26):
scrape it off.
So with the transparent layers,you know you can keep going
irreversibly.
But once that white gets in,the only reversing is getting
rid of it or it will remainopaque.
So, going on to the next point,number nine, painting as
language.
I think this is a a niceanalogy.
(12:48):
I mean it's I didn't come upwith this, obviously the you
know, painting as language ishow you're told to develop your
artistic voice and and view yourbrushstroke application as a
language that you're creating.
But I actually thought it wouldbe fun to break it down even
further and analyze sort of thewhole painting process through
(13:14):
language, and I would view painttubes as the alphabet and
mixing colors as vocabulary.
Personally, and mixing colorsas vocabulary Personally, I
prefer to keep my palettelimited, which we'll talk about
later, and create my own colorsas needed.
So I would view your colorchoices, your palette choices,
(13:37):
as vocabulary, and the brushstrokes are kind of like
sentences and that makes thelayers of paint like paragraphs,
such that the image is a storyand you're painting your story
should fit within the context ofart history in some, in some
way.
Whatever you're pulling from orinspired by or relating to, and
(14:02):
the page in that book which iswhere your image lies, should be
contemporary.
It should be now.
In my opinion, it should besomehow reflective of your
current life or the life aroundyou, or society, or whatever is
happening right now relative toanother point in time.
Happening right now relative toanother point in time.
(14:24):
Yeah, I just wanted to sharethis analogy.
It's one that's been shared bymany artists that have taught me
and I feel like it's a reallynice way to look at images,
especially if you're producingnarrative work.
Now, in this case, the image inthe slide is of boots.
(14:45):
It's just a pretty simplepainting of a still life of a
pair of boots, specifically DocMartens, but I chose this
because I feel like itillustrates this point.
The layers of paint on thisimage of boots have sort of, you
(15:11):
know, been layered on almostlike the boots were worn.
So, for those who aren't seeingthis, the boots are very worn,
the leather is like scrunched upand roughed up and the boots
were red, but they are sort ofall sorts of shades of red at
the moment because they've beenthrough a lot and so the paint
is conveying that history andthat timeframe.
And many artists in the pasthave paint boots and shoes.
(15:33):
There are even philosophy ofart articles written on, for
example, van Gogh's pair ofshoes.
So, yeah, shoes are aninteresting, I think, analogy
for this point.
Point number 10, or tips andtricks number 10, relates to the
(15:54):
figure.
So within figurative art, ofcourse, the figure is central.
A starting point for the figureis anatomy, so I think that's
an important one to study Again,focusing on point of view, so
you can look at a figure frommany different angles.
(16:15):
You could even crop the figureand focus on, like an elbow or a
finger.
It's still important to keepanatomy and perspective in mind
whatever you're doing with thefigure.
One thing that I think goesunderstated and is really
important is how features are asmall part of the face we are
(16:40):
sort of designed throughevolution to really focus on
features and eyes are soimportant and we care about them
so much, but from a pure image,like perspective, it's a very
small part of the face, and so Ithink it is important to,
(17:01):
especially when drawingportraits, to allow the eyes and
the features to sort of appearalmost on their own as you're
working through the surfaces ofthe face, and instead of
focusing on drawing the featuresor painting the features
(17:22):
specifically, as that couldbring them out of proportion.
I forget who taught me this,but it was kind of an eye-opener
for me, even though it soundsobvious.
Next and I think I touched onthis in the last one, but it is
really important there arereally no concavities, like we
are sort of just formed out ofshapes connecting, so things
(17:44):
might seem like there's a divot,but it's just two connecting
forms that are actually rounded.
And I think I should have titledthis slide Debunking Myths,
because they're kind of alltrying to get us away from
things that we think we see.
And the other one is fleshtones.
I've never really understoodflesh tones out of a tube.
(18:05):
That makes no sense to me, justlooking at flesh and anything
else.
It's all just colors and valueand contrast and temperature
shifts that we're seeing.
It really doesn't matter thatit's skin or not and the thing
that's interesting about flesh,which is very nice for oil
painting is that it istranslucent in some areas.
(18:28):
You know, skin varies a lot interms of tone and you can
capture all that nuance with,just starting with your prime
colors, really, really yeah.
And I guess the other thing Iwanted to talk about is the
(18:49):
figure as sort of an academicstudy, kind of like the ones
we're seeing here.
These are all academic styledrawings, but I think that for
something this is my personalopinion for something to become
sort of art on its own, it needsmore than technique.
You know, it needs to beelevated by sort of conceptual
understanding of ideas orthoughts or feelings, whatever
(19:12):
you're conveying, andimagination.
And when you combine sort ofthose elements with technique,
then I think you know we reach apiece of art that's elevated
from a study.
So I think actually this isquoting somebody I just don't
remember who who said that thetechnique is in service of the
(19:34):
art and not art in itself, and Ithought that was a nice piece
of advice, a nice, nice piece ofadvice.
The next point is the palette,and I I'm never um too keen on
sharing the pod, just notbecause I don't want to share it
, it's just I don't know why itwould be interesting.
But it turns out people areinterested in the palette and so
(19:57):
I um have also, at the end,actually listed the paints I use
specifically, but I just wantedto talk about it at first, a
little more abstractly.
So this is point 11.
I think that it behooves everyartist to just go through a
painful process of trial anderror because you don't know
(20:20):
what's going to click with youor the message you have, until
you try.
And it's overwhelming how manytubed paints there are out there
and how many different types ofyellows, blues and reds there
are.
So I would say, just startsomewhere.
And to me, I've always likedworking from prime colors
because it really allows for abetter control of the mixtures.
(20:44):
If you start mixing paints thatare very specific, that are
sort of pre-mixed prime colorsin the tube, it's hard to
control where they're goingbecause you don't know exactly
what's in there.
So the purer the pigment, in myopinion, the easier it is to
figure out where the mixture isgoing.
(21:06):
For those who are looking atthis image, one of them is just
sort of my clean palette when Ijust refreshed it and a sort of
halfway used palette, and I usethe same palette for all my
paintings, you know, unlessthere's something else going on,
(21:28):
like I'm doing a monochromaticpainting or something, but
otherwise I use this fullpalette and I just focus on
different tones depending onwhat I need.
In terms of palette layout,everyone has their own system.
People separate, warms andcools.
Some people just have adifferent palette for every
(21:48):
mixture.
Some people pre-mix.
In my case, I like to separatemy transparents from my opaques
four.
Once that opaqueness gets inthere, it's.
(22:09):
You know, you've transformedsomething.
That layer is now opaque and soI want to control that element,
especially at the beginning.
So I keep my white and myopaque paints as far away from
my transparent, even though whenI mix it goes all over the
place place.
But that's a different point andI guess, in terms of the
palette also, it's very good tohave palette hygiene to clean
(22:32):
your palette when things startgetting too muddy, which they do
.
I mean, if you mix all thesecolors together, you get gray,
pretty much some of gray, whichis also why it makes no sense to
buy gray paint.
I've never understood thateither.
So, cleaning your palettewhenever you need to and also
(22:56):
your brushes, cleaning yourbrushes every time you finish
working.
Don't go to sleep withoutwashing your brushes.
Would be, I think, my mostimportant advice Um any
questions.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
When you're cleaning your palette, the palette
hygiene.
When does that kick in?
Or does it vary, Like some daysit stays pretty under control
and other days it has to bewiped off fairly often?
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, for me it's latter.
It really depends on thepainting and how I'm mixing and
what's going on.
I also work on multiplepaintings at once within a
sitting.
So even within like three orfive hours I will probably work
(23:42):
on two or three paintings.
I do try to consciously cleanmy palette before working on a
different painting, for sure,but sometimes even within the
same painting.
It really depends on what I'vebeen doing and if things have
become a little gray on mypalette.
I guess the point if I had todescribe the point at which it
(24:07):
happens, it's probably when Ihave lost control of the
mixtures.
So if I can no longeraccurately get a little piece of
ultramarine blue without itbeing contaminated and mix it
with titanium white without itbeing contaminated that's, with
titanium white without it beingcontaminated that's when I need
to.
You know, as an example of twopaints, if I, if I can't get
(24:32):
pure color and mix, then I needto clean it.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
I was curious too, because you do work on multiple
paintings at once.
There may be some overlap withthe colors that you use, but
maybe not, and the palette thatwe're seeing here is, it's like,
maybe medium size.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
I guess I'm just wondering, like has it ever been
a temptation to have like aseparate handheld palette for
each painting so that you don'thave to like, if you're rotating
, that you don't have to likestart your palette over again
each time?
Speaker 1 (25:07):
Yeah, I mean I have thought of having separate parts
.
I do have three of thesepalettes.
Having separate parts, I dohave three of these palettes, so
I do rotate, in the sense of,like, when I clean it, I'm
literally just um, scooping fromthis, scooping the clean paint
from this one and putting it onthe other one.
So it is a fast process.
It only takes about, I wouldsay, less than five minutes, so
(25:30):
it's not really a hurdle, evenbetween paintings, since I'm
just scooping from here andputting it on the other one and
then wiping this one down, andalso because I keep it in the
fridge so that the paint doesn'tdry.
I really only have space forone.
So pragmatic situation, but Ialso don't feel like I need more
(25:52):
space.
It is a medium to small palette.
Like some people use a verylarge palette, I like having it
in my hand, and if it got muchlarger or heavier that would be
a problem.
I like being able to go up tothe painting and sort of mix the
color immediately right beforeapplying it, as I need to, and
(26:16):
so, yeah, yeah, I just have tocompromise, you know, the amount
of space on the surface of thepalette for the functionality
that I need it to have.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
Steph, can I ask you a question about, um, like the
proportions of paint that youstart out with, like, is every
color the same dot or size oramount?
Do you find yourselfgravitating more to one
particular color that you usemore often when you're first,
(26:48):
you know, laying out yourpalette?
Speaker 1 (26:51):
yeah, that's a good question, especially given these
images.
So unfortunately, the trueanswer is a little disappointing
.
The size of the blobs of paintare relative to the tubes from
which they come and how they,delicately or undelicately, they
(27:12):
squeeze out.
If you know my practice, youknow I don't always cap my tubes
and so, um, you know, I justdeal with it.
You know I need to be able tosqueeze paint out fast for some
reason.
So I can't deal with the cap,don't know why, it's just is,
and so sometimes I get biggerchunks of paint.
So so that's the reality.
(27:33):
But if I were to ideally set upmy palette, I guess I would
have a lot of white and a lot ofNaples yellow, and then the
prime colors would also be inbigger chunks than the rest.
And I'll, like I said, I have alist of the specific paints and
there are four, no three sortof extras that are, that are
(27:59):
that I use.
Much less of Hope that helps.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
It does.
Thank you and.
I do the same thing, like I'llbe pouring out, and then one
will just like blob all over theothers.
I'm like, no, I just did theplan.
But it's funny because I'llthen be like, oh, should I be?
This is the painting trying totell me something.
Like it wants more of thiscolor.
Like I try to like listen tothe paint.
It's so weird.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
No, I'm glad you said that.
I'm glad you shared that becauseI fully agree.
I also try to listen to thepaint and it.
You know, I think that there'ssomething to that.
Obviously, you know, I don'twant to fully embrace my
sloppiness in terms of my tubes.
I am very careful with my paintand I don't waste it.
(28:45):
Like I said, I put whatever'sremaining onto the next palette.
But there is something aboutjust working with what you've
got and like embracing whatcomes out of the tube on your
palette in that way.
I love that.
I also think that the paletteis a very personal thing to
every artist and I guess that'swhy I'm usually hesitant to
(29:08):
share it, because I'm sort oflike, well, this is just the way
I do it, Like why would anyoneever want to do this, you know,
in this specific way.
But it is fun to sort of hearabout how different people
approach it and I came to thisdecision of Tube specifically
(29:33):
and the setup just through a lotof trial and error and also
sometimes picking up fromanother artist something that
they really care about andseeing like, oh, let me try that
, and then seeing if it sticksor not and sometimes it does and
sometimes it doesn't.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
How was that in the Academy?
Did they have that kind of openattitude about how you lay out
your palette, or was itsuggested that you do it a
certain way?
Speaker 1 (30:02):
It really varied, teacher to teacher, instructor
to instructor it it.
You know, some, some professorsreally had like a specific like
you should do it this way, youknow, and they would try to get
you to do that.
And others were sort of like,well, that is just how you want
to set it up and let's just workwith that.
So it was very person to person.
(30:24):
There wasn't like a specificoverarching instruction on that,
although the one thing thatthere was but it was also not
that strict was for every class,as is normal for any art
instruction, there's a requiredlist of paints or with some
suggested, and so I did try to,wherever I could afford to do
(30:50):
that, buy all the paints thatwere asked for so that I could
at least try them out.
And actually that's how you endup with this bucket of paints
that you don't use because youtried it and you're like, well,
that wasn't for me, but it's, Ido think it's worth trying out
in any event, because you neverknow if it's going to click.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
For the transparent versus the opaque.
I'm kind of looking at thepalette and I know you have a
list at the end, but in general,is your use of transparent
50-50 with opaque, or how doesthat kind of the percentage?
Can you put a percentage on it?
Or just when you're approachinga painting, do you find that
(31:33):
you're using equal amounts?
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Yeah, I think it all, because the white sort of
contaminates everything it andit kind of has to, because
that's what's going to bounceoff the reflect light off the
painting and have a visualimpact.
The painting and have a visualimpact, I would say most of it
(32:01):
ends up being opaque, but notbecause it's only opaque paints.
I guess it's a tricky questionbecause all the transparence get
mixed with white and becomeopaque.
So yeah, get mixed with whiteand become opaque.
So yeah, I think I use onlytransplants with no opaqueness
(32:21):
only, while sort of glazingthrough layers, which I actually
don't do as a full layer butlike on specific areas.
So I guess if I had to answerthe question, I'd say most of it
is opaque at the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (32:36):
Just for those who maybe aren't familiar with
glazing of certain areas, couldwe hover on that for a moment,
about, like when you're doingthe glazing and then adding the
opaque?
Speaker 1 (32:46):
Yeah, I do try to keep it separate, but I feel
like I would be twisting realityif I said I kept it that
separate.
You know, I think there aremoments when I do get a fresh
palette, completely fresh, andonly put my Transparent on, so
there's no opaque on the paletteat all.
(33:08):
You know, if I really need todo glazing of that type, because
just the way I work work, ifthere is that white available or
the full palette, I willautomatically mix and work on a
different area of the painting.
That's only because I work onthe painting throughout and not
in specific areas.
I think it's more usual to workon specific areas and have your
(33:36):
paints for that area set up.
But yes, there are times when Ionly have Transparency on my
palette, but it's just very it'slike one out of ten times.
So point 12, which is the lastone of the six for this part of
the tips and tricks, is StudioPractice.
One of the six for this part ofthe tips and tricks is studio
(33:57):
practice.
There's probably a lot to besaid on this topic, but I have a
few points to touch on.
The first one, which ties innicely to the prior point on the
palette, is sort of researchversus trial and error or even
better the balance between thetwo Sort of figuring out what
other people have done, doingsome research, but also just
(34:18):
doing the thing, like goingthrough it so that you can
figure out what works I think isa slow and painful process but
it's worth it because, well, Iguess it depends on your
learning style, but for me, if Igo through it then I kind of
get the muscle memory for it,whereas if I'm just observing or
(34:41):
reading about it it won't go in.
In the same way for paintingand the same goes for process.
I think it's really importantto try different processes.
Try a monochromaticunderpainting, try drawing
things first, try all sorts ofthings and see what really feels
right and gets the resultsyou'd like.
(35:02):
So for me that ended up beingjust going straight on with
paint on the panel, and alsochoosing your support is a big
deal.
I think that and again this issomething someone advised me or
advised the class was to reallycare about your support objects,
(35:35):
and that's definitely a styleand an approach.
But if you are painting oncanvas or panel or wood, you
know, choose or prepare yourpanel as you'd want to, and for
me that ended up being aluminum.
But the process is stillongoing and I've changed my
procedure for preparing thepanel several times and I'm
getting to a point where now Ienjoy the preparation process
and and kind of um, want it tobe a certain way.
(36:00):
So I will sand the aluminum andthen I'll spray it with um
Rust-Oleum so that the paintbetter adheres to it, whereas at
first I was going straight on,which is not a good idea, um,
but it, you know it took a while.
It took, you know, gettingadvice but also attempting
things, and I think the samegoes for your medium.
(36:24):
You know whether you're usingGamsol or not and things like
that, and your tools, yourbrushes or palettes or whatever
palette knives, whatever you'reusing, your brushes or palettes
or whatever palette knives,whatever you're using.
Also, a big point of your studiopractice is whether you're
working in your own privatespace or in a group space, and
(36:47):
I've done both.
I've worked in an open groupspace, closed group space where
there's walls, and currentlyworking on my own, and there are
advantages and disadvantages toboth, of course.
I think when you're in a groupsetting it's really nice to just
be inspired by the work aroundyou and get sort of casual
(37:12):
critiques, you know, getfeedback, ask for advice really
quickly.
When you're on your own, youreally have to go out of your
way to get advice and brainstorm, something which is a lot
harder, but you do have sort ofthe sounds and the messes of
your own doing as opposed toshared.
But I do think it's somethingto think about.
(37:35):
I think some people you knowthere's cost obviously
associated with both.
Some people might prefer torent a space somewhere.
I think there's.
You know I sometimes thinkabout that.
Should I have a space that's ina shared location so that I get
that community, or do I workjust on my own?
I think important things tothink about.
(37:55):
And the same goes forself-reliance on your own,
feedback to your work andgetting critiques.
Critiques are obviously veryvaluable because you're getting
an audience to respond to yourwork and you can kind of listen
to how it's read, how it'sinterpreted, which ideally is
(38:20):
somewhat aligned with how youintended it to be received, but
it's not always the case butalso learning to have that
critique internalized in thesense of like being able to step
away from your work, maybe fora minute or maybe for a day or
(38:40):
however long, and look at it andsee, well, how is this going to
be received or how can Iimprove it, or is it doing what
I want it to do?
And I think that also comesfrom consistency of practice.
But also, yeah, I think thatthere's this perception and I
used to have this too where it'slike you have to be mentally
(39:04):
ready to go to the studio or togo to your painting or your
practice, whatever your art is,um, but really it's important to
treat it as just a part of yourweek or your day, however
regular your practice is, evenif it's monthly.
But having just going, even ifyou're not ready to paint
(39:26):
something or you don't know whatyou're going to paint, or you
are stuck in something and justsitting there, or whether it's a
desk or a whole space and justconsidering just being with your
art or your art thoughts, evenif you're not being as
productive as you'd want to be,I think that's really important,
treating it like a job in a way, in in the sense that you show
(39:51):
up regardless and you do yourbest regardless of how you're
feeling, as opposed to attachingsort of this romantic view that
it's always going to feelwonderful.
I think that's an importantthing to keep in mind, as well
as and this is something I'vetalked about before like the
(40:12):
ever-changing setup.
I've put some pictures like theever-changing setup.
I've put some pictures up hereof different studios.
I've had two of the threeformer studios I've had in my
current studio, which is muchlarger than anything I've ever
had, and I always thought once Ihad enough space I would stop
rearranging.
But I'm still constantlyrearranging.
(40:34):
I either want differentpaintings around me, or I want,
like, just to look at differentthings, or I want to pin up some
inspiration, or I don't know.
It just never really settles.
It's always moving and in thatcontext it is very helpful.
This sounds silly, but it'svery helpful to have everything
on wheels, whether it's youreasel or your cart or anything
(40:57):
really in your studio.
If it's on wheels your lifewill be easier because you'll
just be rolling it around as youplease.
And I guess the last point Ihave on here is more of a kind
of a discussion point or like anopen point.
I think up to now I've beenfocused.
You know, this presentation andthis talk has focused on things
(41:18):
that I feel confident sharingin terms of things that have
worked for me and that have thatI've figured out over the I
guess probably four years thatI've been consistently painting
in some form and the.
The next step is obviously onceyou have all these paintings,
(41:40):
how do you sell them, if youwant to sell them or share them
with the world, whether it'sonline or, preferably, in person
, I mean, if we're talking largefigurative paintings, they
really should be seen in personand not online.
I think everyone would agree onthat.
So, yeah, the last point onthis talk is how do you find
(42:04):
your buyers, your collectors,and how and where do you show
your art?
It can be group shows inartist-run galleries, it can be
group shows or solo shows insort of blue-chip galleries.
It really depends on the marketfor your work and what you want
(42:29):
, and that requires, I think, alot of research, and for me,
it's ongoing, and so I justwanted to share that as a final
thought.
Thank you for listening to mytips and tricks group show that
(42:54):
you were in.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
I don't know if you want to share a little bit about
that, since that's one of thediscussion points that we were
ending on about shows.
Other than that, any showsyou're currently in or that
you're applying for, what yourthoughts are when you do apply.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
Yeah, so I do have a piece in a group show at a local
artist-run gallery here inPortland.
It's a figurative show with allthe artists showing Also do
figure drawing at a place calledHipBone Studios, which does
live figure drawing sessionsthroughout the week.
(43:26):
So it's a really nice show ofpeople with shared interests and
shared training experience inthe sense of looking at the
figure and creating artworkbased on it.
I do apply to opportunitiespretty often and I try to find
(43:47):
spaces that fit sort of the workI make but also that show
artists that I admire.
I think that's one way of goingabout it is seeking the spaces
that show the work that youwould like to be shown next to
(44:09):
and you know it's an ambitiousposition, but I feel like that's
a good place to start,alongside more approachable
spaces where you can sort of setup your own group show.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Where do you usually find the shows that you apply
for?
Speaker 1 (44:30):
A lot of them are from calls for art through
galleries.
I follow on Instagram and I dothink I might be on one or two
mailing lists that aggregatecalls for art, but I will owe
you what those are because Idon't remember them.
(44:51):
But I think calls for art onInstagram are a good way to find
opportunities.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
What is your process when you're making the choice
about which type of work you'regoing to focus on?
Figurative landscape, stilllife?
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like the short answer to a lot
of these questions will soundreally silly.
So I just paint what I want,basically.
But I guess, if I think aboutit, I've broken down my practice
maybe into two branches themore narrative, figurative work,
which is now focusing onpulling more from imagination,
(45:34):
which is now focusing on pullingmore from imagination, and
separately to that sort of stilllife work, which has sometimes
morphed into landscapes based onstill lives, for example,
having broccoli be tree andhaving carrots be people and
lemons be sunshines, things likethat.
(45:55):
So more of like a surrealismapproach to still lives.
And I guess one thing I didwant to talk about relating to
studio practice which thank youfor your question, stephanie.
This just brought it backbecause I'd forgotten is artist
statements.
Gotten, is artist statements,which can be a challenging
(46:23):
aspect of practice but it's veryimportant and also ties into
applying to opportunities whereyou mostly require an artist
statement.
But the process of writingabout your work sort of
clarifies to yourself that whatyou're painting about and what
your subject matter is.
So back to your question on howdo I decide what to paint.
(46:46):
It's been driven by sort ofintuitive like desire to paint
something, but then, uponreflecting on it over the years,
I fine tuned it towards tryingto stick with an overarching
topic, whether it beintrospective feelings or
(47:11):
experiences, or sort ofobservational starting from
observation, whether it's anobject or a person, and that has
come through writing about whatI paint and thinking about what
I paint instead of justpainting it, if that makes sense
.
Speaker 2 (47:32):
Yeah, and do you find that the creating of this
artist statement is an ongoingprocess for you?
Like, once you think it's greatand you've sent it out into the
world, then you're stillthinking about it and updating
it.
Speaker 1 (47:48):
Oh, yes, and I think it should be.
I think an artist statementshould be updated, you know, if
not every year, which isprobably not often enough, um,
maybe twice a year, three timesa year, or whenever something
shifts within you or your work.
I agree that it's neverfinished, Like truly.
(48:10):
A painting is, you know, neverfinished according to Da Vinci,
and I think he's right.
But, you know, a body of workcertainly never is finished.
There could always be anotherpainting that you make, and I
think the same goes for thestatement.
They're both evolving inparallel.
Speaker 2 (48:28):
When do you decide that your work not necessarily
is finished but ready to belaunched into the public eye?
Because you actually post a lotwith your works in progress.
So what is that for you?
Like sharing your works inprogress and then sharing what
you've announced as a final work, Like how do you make that call
and what are your thoughtsabout that?
Speaker 1 (48:50):
Yeah, um, I enjoy sharing works in progress just
because it keeps me, um,producing.
I guess you know it feels like,okay, well, I've gotten this
far, I gotta keep going.
You know it feels like, okay,well, I've gotten this far, I've
got to keep going.
You know, it's sort of like apersonal milestone in terms of
(49:13):
sharing ongoing work, in termsof work being done, and again, I
feel like these answers allsound silly, but it's when those
paintings stop speaking to me.
So if the conversation is, uh,concluded with the painting,
(49:34):
then it's done.
Um, so that could be.
That sounds very abstract, butthat could be that I can no
longer think of something toimprove it.
Obviously, it could be improvedif I started all over again and
fixed all the things that Idon't agree with in the painting
.
But in terms of that piecebeing done, if, if, I cannot do
(49:58):
something else to it or I'velost interest in it.
You know that sounds negative,but if there's just this
disconnect, it's either becauseit's done or it needs to sit in
a corner.
I think I've probably spokenabout this before where I just
put my paintings in the cornerthat I've felt stuck with and
(50:20):
later observed them, and itcould be that I was wrong and
they're not stuck, they're done.
But more often than not therejust needs to be like a few
brushstrokes here and there andthen they're done.
So it's a delicate, interestingtopic when a painting is done,
and I think it boils down to thecommunication between myself
(50:45):
and the painting.
Speaker 2 (50:48):
Any other thoughts or questions?
Comments for Stefania.
Speaker 3 (50:54):
Stefania, could you explain the heading, like the
title of this presentation,again, the nerve part like just
described to me, like what thatmeans and I'm sorry if you
addressed that already in thefirst session, um, and I missed
it, but I'm really interested inlike the, the scientific aspect
of like looking and seeing inyour process, um, so if you
(51:19):
could explain that a little bitmore in detail I would
appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (51:22):
it coming from a brain that was first lawyer
trained and then arts trained,and my first starting point was
(51:47):
going from sort of analyticalthinking to visual thinking.
Well, actually that wasn't thefirst point.
That's where I ended up.
But at first I was thinkingthat law school teaches you to
think and art school teaches youto see.
And then, as I pondered it more, I realized that it wasn't just
(52:10):
thinking and seeing, likethey're both a combination of
those factors, and one of themis just analytical, the other
one's visual.
But you're still using yourbrain, through your optic nerve,
to to think with paint, as itwere.
Um.
So that's why I connected thosetwo, um and I.
I titled it this way because Iwanted the focus to be on the
(52:33):
cranial nerve, like notforgetting that our eyes are
literally a nerve implanteddirectly into the brain, and
it's that conversation is prettydirect, like our eyes are more
connected to our brain than, say, our stomach, you know, which
isn't a nerve, obviously, butit's like a very short
(52:54):
connection toward the brain.
So I think we're thinking withour eyes when, when we paint.
Speaker 3 (52:59):
Basically, you don't know who it was, but she and I'm
pulling this from um a sir kenrobinson ted talk, where it's
the woman who choreographed cats.
Um, where he references that hehad to move to think and I'm
(53:20):
like, oh, we have to see tothink, like as you're giving
this presentation and, firstly,like I loved all the visual
little things in yourpresentation too, like this Q&A
using the primary colors, likeyou used that on the first slide
too, and just how like yourpresentation itself was like a
visual, getting your viewer tothink it was really really cool.
(53:43):
Um, so thank you for explainingthat.
That has helped me like think Ithink better or like understand
, maybe like how I processthings.
Um, so awesome presentation.
I love this picture.
It's loop worthy.
Like replace the Mona Lisa,like this gold.
Speaker 1 (54:03):
I'm glad you like it.
I did want to sort of finishwith the quote which I've always
kind of thought about, which iswriting about music is like
dancing about architecture,which has unclear origins.
But I kind of, in my mind, Isubstitute the writing about
music with writing about art,and the reason I bring it up is
(54:25):
because we're talking about artand we're even talking about
writing about art, and it feelsstrange, because art should be
viewed or be made, or be made,but talking about it almost
(54:49):
seems so removed and so, youknow, contradictory to what it's
supposed to be doing.
But, on the other hand, I thinkthat it's really important to
not forget that painting is avisual language back to one of
those earlier points and it istrying to communicate concepts,
just like language does and justlike music does.
(55:10):
And, you know, I think it'ssomething we shouldn't lose
sight of the combination ofconcepts and language and images
and paint one more thought juston that part, because your like
analogies with like paint asalphabet.
Speaker 3 (55:31):
Cool, that was so powerful.
I've never heard that before.
But, like, you're right, youhave to like learn how to almost
like read art.
Um, just like how you have tolike learn the alphabet in order
to like speak and write.
Like.
It's this very elementary kindof concept, but I don't often
hear art being taught that wayor even spoken about in that way
(55:53):
.
Um, really like I got emotionalfor whatever reason, when you
started talking about that.
I was like, oh gosh, this islike clicking and it makes sense
, like wow, I just yeah it wasreally cool.
Speaker 1 (56:07):
I'm glad it made sense.
Speaker 4 (56:09):
I quite like this.
For the first sort of twothirds, three quarters of this,
I was driving, so I was justlistening and I really liked it,
because I know it's strangebecause you were describing
things, but I just got really inthe moment and it was weird
actually because it was probablymore distracting listening to
you than if I'd have actuallyjust put the screen up and been
watching it, because you know,when I just listen to things, I
(56:30):
just you know I'm in the zoneand it's that thing where you go
.
How did I drive here?
You suddenly arrive somewhereand you're going.
What happened for the last 40minutes?
But I did that during thelockdown.
I've been lots of walks andagain I was listening to these
series of podcasts all about art.
It was people.
I think they called it likesomething like the case for or
the argument for they did alldifferent concepts and I just
(56:53):
loved it because I was walkingin the dark like miles and miles
through all the woods andthrough all the lanes and it's
just really strange justlistening people describing a
visual medium but I quite likeit and thinking about one of the
best a couple of years ago, bbcradio 4.
Here they did the hundred bestthings about britain.
(57:13):
You know like objects andartifacts, all sorts of things.
You know art.
You know some art things, somehistorical things, all sorts of
things, and the funny thingabout that is a really
successful radio series.
There was a radio series,there's a radio series about
objects, so you couldn't seewhat they were talking about at
all and it still really worked.
So it's yeah, it's interestinghow you, you know, one sense can
(57:38):
sort of accommodate for another.
Speaker 1 (57:40):
Um, but there you go yeah, and I wonder what happens
if someone were to paint whatthey heard described.
Speaker 4 (57:50):
You know like it's another step removed and gets
translated in a whole differentway I think it might work
because it's just, you know,this whole idea of like
synesthesia and how we all startoff synesthetic and then over
time our brains learn tocompartmentalize and it how much
that happens depends on theindividual and things.
(58:10):
But yeah, I find, because Ilike listening.
It's I mean, don't get me wrongI like looking at things.
That's why I like art, but alsoI just like listening to things
because it just zones me out.
You know there's something to benice where and especially when
you're walking late at nightthrough forests and woods and
things like that, it's reallydark and you're just sort of
relying on maybe a little bit ofmoonlight or a tiny head torch
(58:33):
and you just sort of, you knowyou can't see three feet in any
direction, so you just feelreally encapsulated and you're
just living inside your own head, especially when you've got
headphones on.
And it's just strange.
I just find that really worksfor me.
And it's not until afterwards,I think I've just like literally
spent the last three hourslistening to lectures and
podcasts about people describingvarious art and art techniques
(58:57):
and I've got no idea how itactually was in practice,
whether they said oh, if youlook at the excellent way that
they've done this and done that,but in your head it sort of
won't work you must have a verystrong imagination to capture
all that.
I suppose.
So yeah, imagine that's theworst thing having a good
imagination when you're walkingthrough woods miles from
(59:19):
anywhere on your own at night.
They always say that I've gotfriends who do cave diving and
they say the key thing with cavediving is you mustn't have any
form of imagination.
If you've got any form ofimagination, you just won't go
down there Because at bestyou'll be catastrophizing about
things that can go wrong, but atworst you'll be going.
(59:40):
What if this has been sealedoff for like millions of years
and there's still a dinosaurdown here?
Speaker 2 (59:46):
I was uh going to ask you earlier and this brings me
back to a question uh, from apoint you raised stuff about, uh
, sometimes you work from umobservation and sometimes from
imagination.
And how does does that work?
And do you find it moredifficult to paint from
(01:00:09):
imagination?
Say, if you're doing a figureand correct me if I'm wrong I
thought that sometimes you don'tuse a reference and you do your
figurative work or other workfrom imagination.
Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
Yeah, I would say last six months, or all the
paintings I've started in thelast six months.
I've not used references.
I've just decided to go back tomy original process, which is
just imagination, like that'show I started.
(01:00:47):
And then, as I, wherever Istruggled like that's how I got
into figure drawing and anatomywas like I was struggling and I
was like, okay, I need to learnsome stuff because I can't do
what I want to do.
It's kind of back to thattechnique and service of your
art.
Um, and then during schoolspecifically, I was very reliant
(01:01:08):
on references because I was sokeen on getting the technique
down and getting realism.
And then it's not that I'veachieved that and now I'm beyond
that.
It's nothing like that.
It's more like I think I've gotenough to keep me going and I
don't necessarily want toachieve that.
I want to achieve what's in mybrain, as opposed to realistic
(01:01:32):
perfectionism, which is a wholedifferent branch of art.
And I think the statements likegoing back to, like thinking
(01:01:52):
about what you're making kind ofhelped realize like what is
that I want and what is it thatI'm working toward.
So, yes, I've done away withreferences.
Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
I'll still look at little things when I need to,
but I will no longer try andcopy what I see, and we had a
question from Nabundo and unlessshe wants to jump on, I can
read it for her or she can addto it.
She'd like to know how you dealwith writer's block and my
first thought was when you'relike you're talking about
writing about your work, likethat right there, I know can be
(01:02:24):
a struggle, but then alsopainter's block, so maybe you
could speak to both.
Speaker 1 (01:02:29):
I've yet to feel painter's block, but it's more
like I start too many thingsbecause I'm like oh, I gotta
make this and I gotta make thisand I feel like you just have to
start somewhere.
Um, writer's block, I feel likeand maybe it's why I don't feel
painter's block and I feel likewith words it's kind of similar
(01:02:49):
, like if you just throw wordsat a paper without feeling
constrained and then you canrearrange them as you please
like, because they might be inthe wrong order, um, not forming
a sentence, for example but Ifeel like if you start just
somewhere, you know.
So if you have to write aboutyour statement, maybe just write
a few words that come to mindwhen you think about your
(01:03:11):
paintings or when you look atthem and, yeah, just starting
somewhere, anywhere and thenfixing it.
Spend all your time fixingthings.
That's my painting strategy.
Speaker 2 (01:03:44):
Wonderful, thank you.
Well, thank you so much, andthen, fixing it, spend all panel
or the canvas.
It's really inspiring to hearyou talk about it, so thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:03:56):
Thanks, and I think it's all about even when writing
.
It's all about caring aboutwhat you're doing and if you
don't feel like you care atfirst, like you feel that, block
the blank page, just love like,learn to love it somehow.
Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
And when you figure out how to love it, you'll be
drawn to it.
There will be links in the shownotes to learn more.
If you're intrigued by thispodcast, it would be much
appreciated if you could leave arating or review and tag
Warfare of Art and Law podcast.
Until next time, this isStephanie Drotty bringing you
Warfare of Art and Law.
Thank you so much for listeningand remember injustice anywhere
(01:04:39):
is a threat to justiceeverywhere.
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