Painting En Plein Air Along the Tiber

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This past Monday I had the pleasure to do a private lesson with Shiri and Dan from Jerusalem along the Tiber.  It was Shiri’s first time painting with oils, so I was most impressed with her result.  Thank you, Dan, for sending the pictures and thank you, Shiri, for writing a quick note:

Dear Tim,  Thank you so much for a fascinating lesson; I learned a lot and enjoyed it very much.  It was a great experience to draw with you on site at the Castel Sant’Angelo bridge.  It was a pleasure to meet you and I hope to meet you again someday.  With gratitude,  Shiri

If you too are interested in a private plein air lesson in painting in Rome, please contact me.

Summer Portrait Painting in Louisville, Kentucky

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It was really good to be home in Kentucky this July to spend time with my parents and a plus that I could do some portrait sessions with neighbors Geetha (the painter) and Remy (the model).  My thanks to the both of them. (Photos below by family resident star photographer, Dad.)

A note to those who were on the trip to Rocca Calascio this past summer: I tried a birch wood panel for this portrait and have found it much more to my liking than I did the wood panels that we had used.  I should also note that I did use a primer on the wood panel that was oil-based and not acrylic.  Determining if that in an of itself made the difference will require further experiments.

In Puglia as I write this.  Looking forward to returning to Rome and starting yet another season of PADASOR.

I’m hoping to post the schedule for Fall 2015 by the end of August, so stay tuned.

Finally, if any of you were in my Figure Drawing class at the end of the Spring session in 2014, you might remember a girl from Sweden named Saga (In fact, if you were there, I defy you to forget her).  I’ve just posted to my own website and look at the two nights I had last year to paint her portrait.  I invite you to have a look.

Cheers,

Tim

Testimonial: Private Lessons in Drawing

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Elisabeth had started with me in a group painting class, but it was clear from the start that  some basic drawing was needed.  We decided she’d come for some private drawing in studio.  Here is a look at her work.  The first drawing was our starting point.  The rest was done over the course of 8 lessons.  Well done, Elisabeth!

I had never taken art classes before and I felt very nervous when I started. I wanted to take private lessons so that I could focus on the basics of drawing. Tim is an excellent teacher, he explained things clearly, at the right pace and he knew when to intervene and when to just let me get on with it. I really love the sculptural approach to drawing that Tim teaches, it’s very dramatic. The classes were a lot of fun and I surprised myself with how much I progressed. I’m looking forward to continuing.

—Elisabeth F.

Testimonial: Copying Caravaggio

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Il quadro del Giovanni Battista di Caravaggio l ho visto per la prima volta alla mostra delle Scuderie del Quirinale ed e’ stato amore a prima vista, credo di essere rimasta davanti a quel dipinto per almeno 20 minuti immobile con la gente dietro di me che reclamava il proprio turno. E’ difficile da spiegare, per chi non l ha mai visto dal vivo, e’ la perfezione!  I colori dell incarnato cosi’ reali, le forme armoniose del corpo che si staccano completamente dallo sfondo scuro , il volto assonnato , il drappo di quel rosso cosi’ ricco e corposo che viene voglia di toccarlo, la luce cosi’precisa e definita che illumina quel corpo cosi’ perfetto nelle proporzioni.  La cosa bella e’ che tutto ha un senso in quel quadro, anche il minimo accenno di forma e colore..pazzesco!  Dopo questo trip mentale ho deciso di realizzarne un falso.

Tim voleva affrontare l argomento flesh tones a studio, cosi’ abbiamo iniziato la nostra avventura.  Devo dire che, inizialmente, avevo solo una vaga idea di cosa potesse significare realizzare la copia di un quadro cosi’ complesso . Abbiamo iniziato con un disegno a carboncino su carta celeste, il disegno e’ stato poi trasferito , a grandezza originale, su tela di lino con una griglia.

KEEP THE EDGES SOFT e’ stata la frase piu’ ricorrente, Tim mi ha indirizzata verso un percorso di studio, direi, accademico. Sono stati preziosi i suoi consigli, la sua esperienza e la sua pazienza(perche’ con me ce ne vuole tanta).

Ho imparato a realizzare il colore dell incarnato, il chiaro scuro e la tecnica wet to wet, cioe’ utilizzare i colori su una superficie “bagnata” da un colore di base abbastanza diluito con olio di noce, questo permette(almeno da quello che ho appreso) di avere nel complesso un effetto uniforme tra sfondo e oggetto o soggetto del quadro, utilissimo direi to keep the edge soft.

C’e’ molta strada da fare ancora e molto da imparare…grazie Tim !!

Michela Ragusa
Novembre, 2011 Rome