Weekend with the Masters '11: Day 2

Welcome back! Day Two of the Weekend with the Masters conference started off bright and early with sunrise demos by artists George Gallo and Frank Serrano. My friend Jon Stasko and I were pretty busy that morning, but still made time to take advantage of the beautiful, overcast sky by plein airing on the wharf by the hotel. We had plenty of pelicans and barking sea lions to keep us company!

Nancy Guzik

I sketched Miss Nancy while she painted

Nancy Guzik encouraged her students to take note of the Five Essential Darks when painting a portrait: 1) the eye sockets, 2) under the nose, 3) under the upper lip, 4) under the lower lip and 5) under the chin. These areas have prominent shadow shapes that must be rendered accurately.

One of the greatest lessons I learned from watching Nancy's demo was to slow down and get it right. When she paints, her excitement often causes her to dance in place and sing! Yet, Nancy is highly disciplined and restrains herself from painting too fast, lest accuracy is sacrificed. Each value and color is carefully mixed, and each stroke is painted with surgical precision. We can all learn from Miss Nancy to take our time to be accurate and, above all, to delight in the joy of painting!

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4
(This shows Nancy's demo in its final stage that day,
but she wanted to continue painting on it
at a later date, namely to finish the eye)

Stage 4 (Detail)
Look at the beautiful variety of whites--Wow!

Richard Schmid Paints Alexey Steele

In the evening, Mr. Schmid conducted a live portrait demonstration in the main forum. His subject was Russian artist Alexey Steele. Words like "lively" and "animated" don't quite adequately describe Alexey. Needless to say, between Mr. Schmid's artistry and Alexey's flamboyancy, there was never a dull moment!

Blocking In

Some sweet palette knife action

Mr. Schmid saved the bow tie for last, and painted it
with just a few simple, bold, juicy strokes

The finished demo

Be sure to read Ryan Mellody's blog post on WWM Day 2 here, which includes a video of Mr. Schmid's demo and some insightful tips that Ryan learned from Rose Frantzen, Daniel Gerhartz and Daniel Sprick. Stay tuned for more!