The Duchess Challenge

Protected Vistas of Napoleon

2010-04-08T22:51:00.066+02:00

In 2015 The Bicentennial of the Battle of Waterloo will occur. A re-enactment of the battle occurs every five years, but the Bicentennial will be exceptional. Local towns and villages are already preparing. The fields in this historical area are federally protected. I'm inspired by the color of their changing crops and the way light rolls across the open stretches all through the year. Leading up to this celebration I am preparing a solo show of plein air paintings. I will complete fifty or sixty plein air landscapes in preparation for a solo exhibition. I hope to find a sponsor(s) which will allow this exhibiti to travel in whole or in part to other cities named Waterloo -- about fifty internationally. The Napoleonic areas cover quite a geographic expanse and as such, the exhibition can encompass areas outside of Belgium--not just that where the last battle took place.

LILLOIS-WITTERSEE

Without occasions that attract tourism (the reenactments), these fields afford the plein air artist an opportunity to paint vistas that deserve to be recorded if not for their historical significance then for the beauty of the constantly changing light that falls upon them. This painting is the first the series planned for the special exhibit in relation to the 2015 Bicenteniale.

HOUGOUMONT

This is a beautiful old farm located in the protected historical area of the Napoleonic battelfields, very close to the Butte de Lion monument. The view is painted from a distance, because being on the premises is prohibited at the time the painting was done. In the foreground, is a breed of cow unique to Belgium called Belgian Bleu. Sadly, they were not kind enough to pose lfor me and retired to the far background, so I basically had to paint them from memory. I want to return in afternoon light and different seasons. I hope they will cooperate in future paint outs. I look forward to returning and getting another chance to capture their unique, pig-like silouhette.

LASNE, BELGIUM
A typical field entrance, bordering Waterloo adjacent to the Domaine D'Argenteuil in the far left distance.

The winter of 2009-2010 delivered a record- number of ( artist friendly) snows in 30 years. The roads were clear enough to navigate by car to softly blanketed views. One can see far into the distance because the baren trees leave the beauty of winter skies to shin through.

GORDES, FRANCE

This is a beautiful hilltop village is a car free zone except on market day (seen through the arch). The Napoleonic connection can be seen in the architecture. Formerly where windows were built into the original design and later removed and filled in. Napoleon sought to tax the rich and poor fairly. His assumption was that the rich lived in bigger houses and the converse true of the poor, so he decreed that taxes would be paid by the number of windows in the household. This explains the irregularity of the unique textures where wndows have been awkardly eliminated. I have another one in watercolor I'll post later. This happens to be in Provence but there are other villages where this holds true.

WATERLOO MONUMENT

The round hay bales are harvested at the base of the Butte de Lion, in late summer are reminiscnet of Van Gogh and his reverence to laborers, but he, like former soldiers are lost in silence with the view of the monument clearly in sight.
NB/materials: The watercolor paper is acid free and made in a windmill for paper production in the Netherlands, which uses the (paper) recipe of Vermeer. It produces unique texture and a rich reaction to the pigmnet.

Related Bits

Movie: The Battle of Waterloo, epic film produced in England, top actors of the time

CD rom Series: Napoleonic Era, Zane Publishing

Website: British Battles & the;Battle of Waterloo

Painting in-Progress

2010-04-08T17:35:00.006+02:00

The sequence of photos below shows the development of a landscape painting which includes the beautiful and historic Chateau de La Hulpe in Belgium, just outside of of Brussels. It is painted both on location and in indoor studio using classical technique and nature or prism palette. The photos are not top quality but hopefully will give a good idea of the progression.

GETTING STARTED

The support is Belgian linen canvas, fine weave, tripled oil primed on wood stretchers. (not shown).The initial sketch is done in charcoal which is easily 'erased' with a chamois remnant. Shape it over fingertip, end of the brush or cardboard you can custom shape and place the chamois over it for a nice point for example. If the composition, wipe it down and start again. it's much faster to refine, make corrections or indeed start all over in this beginning stage.

The MENTAL WORK

Although no strokes are made during the mental planning and contemplation, it is a vital part of the painting's creation. Visualization and trying out different scenarios are necessary, whether with the aid of experience, healthy imagination, quick value thumbnails or photoshop. If the outcome is intended to be very accurate and realistic, it is easier and faster to 'chamois down' the charcoal and to re-draw part or all of the subject to avoid making corrections during the painting stage, which takes much longer. Don't waste time starting out with a bad composition refine first and finish fasterj.

GRISAILLE

After the drawing is done, pondered over and any corrections are made, the charcoal is 'sealed' with a painterly dilution of any brownish pigment with a bit of turpentine and a tiny brush. Then by squinting and placing 'darks' for shadows or landmark spots the placement of other subordinate shapes is facilated with more painterly application. This process can be described in one word - grisaille The surface is now ready to add some color.

THE COLOR BLOCK IN
Before starting the first serious pass or real painting, cover the canvas without being too fussy with details. Use a larger brush with diluted color to get a general idea of the masses of color. This layer will (1) get the surface of the canvas to receive paint more readily for the following layers and (2) dry quickly, (3) conserve the paint layers over a long term and give the work a chance to age without the painted surface cracking.

I establish the light direction early on as close to reality as possble. This is indicated in the grass and sky area of the top left mid-and background. Although creative license can be taken, following the actual trajectory of the sun, recording the light at a particular time on a particular day is my goal. The patrons of this coimmission regularly walked the grounds so the lighting and I made an effort to keep the illumination of this landmark as natural and familiar as possible.

MIRROR IMAGE AND REFLECTIONS
As there is a mirror image, notice the bottom has been painted simultaneously to assure similar colors. Light logic dictates the reflection colors are slightly darker, achieved in later stages. I contemplate if the castleshould be reflected in the water surface in the foreground. The 'angle of incidence' rule applies which means that it depends on the viewers position. Light bounces out at the same angles it flows in. Since the chateau is on a hill the viewer must also be elevated for the reflection to appear.

PLUMB LINES
The next phase is spent with T-squares, plumb line and palette knife and rigger burshes to make sure the verticals are correct on the architectural elements. Then lots of fun 'turning' the turrets by paying attention to the light and shadow side of the structure underneath the botanicals.

TECHNICAL GADGETS
Zoom buttons on the Archos 705 and Epson 5000 prove helpful for observing details, but I want to avoid including too much detail.

DETAIL OF GRISAILLE
The initial drawing is lost as the painting progresses. Here is a close up of details on the right side of the chateau. Below you can see how the grisaille is lost.

FIRST PASS DETAIL

... in advanced in-progress stages of the right side of the castle, the first color pass begins to cover the underpainting.

The full compositon is worked over in the same manner and in sections after the sky is filled in. The order is arbitrary except for the sky and water area where colors need to be similar. Another very important reason is that all the subsequent values in the elements in the foreground run the risk of being off if the sky is painted in during a later stage.

FIRST COLOR PASS IN FOLIAGE
I take note of the kinds of trees. My client asked for the setting to be in fall. However in reality there are mainly conifer trees surrounding the chateau, so I use artistic license to better meet the client's expectation and also not to be a slave to the preliminary photos we used to discuss the work.
SECOND PASS MIDDLEGROUND GRASS gives this flat area more form and balances the busier areas on the perifery.
FIRST PASS FOREGROUND reflects the sky and I decide if the water will be flat or have movement with ripples or concentric circular brush strokes. I opt for calm water since I'm adding water lilies which will attract enough attention.

Chateau de La Hulpe

COLOR PASSES AND REFINEMENT

In the foreground the reflections and foliage from contrast around the swans which vie for attention. I must take care to keep 'the story' focussed on the chateau. I am consciously creating lower key of light in the foreground and orchestrating a spotlight effect on the left grassy knoll to carry the eye to the architecture and star of the show. The movement withing the painting is problematic in this stage. The grass, turreted roof and staccato verticals of the windows, all, carry the eyes upward and out the composition. This is an undesireable trait, so I create more activity in the clouds to keep a racetrack pattern in play.

The last pass is really small touches --refining the foliage, putting small details on the architectural facade and 'sculpting' the greenery, planters and furniture on the chateau terrace, accentuating the light on the waterlilies and foliage. I stop when the movement seems to stay inside the canvas and the eye rests on the large open plane with the chateau.

In reality the chateau is further away, this was another decision I made early on to bring the architecture forward to emphasize it more. I make a last check for details and feel satisfied with the decisions I made on the foliage colors and size of the chateau. I send an image to the client for pre-approval before arranging delivery. I prepare the work for delivery with a routine procedure. This includes recording basic information about the artwork, subject, brief artist bio and care instructions and a photograph archive for personal use.

From 'Starts' to Finish Plein Air Paintings in Two Stages

2008-04-07T10:44:00.492+02:00

'Starts' are intentionally unfinished paintings that will be finished later - indoors and often during winter months

Westeremden, The Netherlands

Oil on Panel , Finished

Oil on Panel, , finished

When an artist friend came over t visit from the US, I showed her the coffee table book of a Dutch artist, whose countrymen voted as their second favorite artist under Rembrandt in 2006. She was so impressed, she asked if we could visit him and his studio. It's a little country and I speak Dutch so within a short time we were packed and on the road toward Groningen, where the classical painters are trained and hang out so to speak. It would be four hour drive to get there so we booked a B&B his wife suggested. This way maybe we could squeeze in some plein air time. It was a phenomenal experience. The museum was having a retrospective of his work--the most I have ever seen in one place. The studio visit turned out to be an invitation to see his whole house where many fo the amazing objects used in his paintings are just a normal part of the interior. We were very inspired and chattered the rest of the day about the works we would start and objects we would be anxious to add ot our studio props.The plein air images shown above were done in one sitting of three hours in Westeremdem. both being 6 x 8 , a standard size I keep in my pochade box. The weather conditions posed nimbus clouded skies,. Eventually it started to rain, but passed quickly> Oil paint repels water, so it was not a real problem. Because of conditons I stayed in the same spot and squeezed in a second painting by turning my view about 40 degrees and changing the composition to a vertical.

Ohain (near Brussels) Belgium

The Start now r eady for indoor details

This is a quaint village with local traffic and very picturesque trajectories. I thought it would be a great place to introduce my artist friend to her first plein air experience. I was however wrong.
She is a wonderful, experienced, trained painter and we had discussed her coming over each year we had roomed at an artist conference. At a first time paint out, one has a lot to think about already, but add a couple of variables like jetlag, homesickness , friendly,well-meaning villagers coming out of their house to speak (in a foreign language) and just normal village life going on around a newcomer to Europe), to the normal things like changing sunlight, --and concentration can easily dwindle into less confident strokes. She grew impatient and before we left wiped the wet paint down, claiming she did not want to do any more painting like this on her trip and proclaimed herself an indoor artist. The joy I have of plein air and I put my prizewinning friend's on a pedestal, blinded me from other considerations already outlined so I did not take this comment seriously. However, it would not be until we arrived at Monet's Garden before she would try again.
I set up at a fork on the street with the view shown above before me. Things went fine until later in the day when locals started to come home. It seems I had chosen the exact spot they need to make a three-point turn to avoid taking a downhill fork in the narrow cobblestoned street for it prevented turning around for more than a kilometer. Little engines revved and gears screeched as the drivers and I exchanged scary and funny glances to one another over and over. Who could have known this? Next time I see a fork in the road at a picturesque place, it will have to be a pretty special view before I tempt wisdom.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands (The Spui/Student Quarter)

The Start

After indoor studio touches

Here, I sat on a large bridge over an active canal with lot of tourists coming by in glass-top boats. The railing slightly blocked my view as I chose to sit fairly low on a lightweight 3- legged stool and my eyeview met with a black metal tube, so I constantly sat up straight to paint and ducked to see the actual view. My duchess challenge occurred when I left the scene however.
The bridge was so wide that a restaurant spilled its terrace on to it. Due to the terrace filling up, a sizeable audience was amused to see a cross between Mrs. Bean and a female Charlie Chaplin contort to every angle possibel while trying to get one stubborn retractable leg on my easel to cooperate. Patiently, I held back all the expletives that made up my entire vocabulary in the last few minutes. worked out of the dilemna and took a well deserved bow to the applause of the terrace 'audience' on my departure. As for the finishing touches later in the convenience of my studio, I employed creative license with the trees and gave them more compliments to the blue boat to create more vibration, corrected a few verticals, punche up the sky and boat. Amsterdam is a beautiful city and this is a great memory of the student quarter near The Spui and the generous, delicious warm apple pie I enjoyed at the "Zeezicht" ( seaview) afterwards before heading over to the Rembrandt House.

JOAN OF ARC MONUMENT Paris, France

After indoor studio touches

the Start at a very hectic location

This beautiful imposing monument is near the Louvre on rue de Faubourg near Hotel Regine overlooking the Tuilleries. I'm not the first artist who asked the hotel conceirge for permission to set up, so it was readily granted and in 20 seconds--just like the advert for my easel claimed, I had it up and started topply the first strokes with fervor.When the distant mist that made me choose ths spot later lifted, to my surprise the Eiffel Tower and a big Ferris wheel appeared. Wow! How lucky could I get?! My friend stayed back in hotel to catch up on some emails home. I felt I could easily capitalize on the time to build in these elements. Just when I thought I had the choice spot, the view got livelier and my duchess challenge was about to descend.

The Start (rained short)

VILLERS LA VILLE
Belgium (south of Brussels)

This ruined abbey is a well kept secret. Ensconced in a forest about half hour from Brussels center, it is a remnant of one of the largest cistern abbeys that existed in Europe in its time. It is amazing--again as one of these places which has so many painting trajects, it will give you Stendahl Syndrome just choosing where to paint. I set up on second level opening to a courtyard beneath with a lot of botanical growth typical to the whole ruin.. .One can always depend on solitude upon entering this history-drenched alcove of Belgium. Worth a google if not able to visit there in person. I am a lucky artist, but it is great place to practice zooming in and simplifying a composition. There's a lot of information for paintings in nature thus the plein air artist constantly has to select what gets included and what is left to another work.

MONET'S HOUSE
Giverny, France

This is a quintessential tourist area of France where wars, whose veterans are still living, indubitably bond the French and American past. Each time I visit this village, I feel very at home. because an artist lived here and many, as I , still come here to paint as a short term resident and admirer of Monet. I bring my workshop groups here but today I would be painting not teaching. This day I brought my artist friend and it was a more relaxed.

As I was here mainly for my friend's benefit I deferred to her decision to the question "Should I stay or should I go".After carefully considering the weather and rest of our agenda, she decided it would be worth staying and she would indeed try plein air again at Monet's House! Albeit later than planned, we enter the big doors in the tractor shed and sniffed out our painting spots. We then go all over the premises taking hundreds of photos, hoping the weather will turn to more favor. The colors! Fantastic!

work off, and would have be able to take home proof of her painting experience in this famous place. She became resolute to venture into plein air when she returned from the photo session (to my great delight). Despite the challenge of the moaning cat, we had a serendipitous windfall occur too. We came here on a Monday when artists are allowed to reserve private painting sessions.The facilities are closed to the public and gardeners are doing maintenance. On this Monday, the guardians who live in Monet's House, had a VIP The day started out overcast. photographer booking as well. All of the windows and door shutters suddenly were opened for her shoot and I was able to obtain great shots as well for our archives and reference materials once back in our studios. For the rest of the time I had to imagine how far the shutter would open which was easy but I was glad to get the lace curtains archived.
After major photo session, and just upon setting up easels, the mysterious cat reminded us we were not alone even though other artists had pushed Lady Luck and dared to start painting on a day like this. It was to be an annoyance that drove us to distraction. If it was a human singer it would have been more Rod Stewart than Maria Callas if you get my drift. What a wretched, rasping woeful effort warned everyone of its presence. Was it hurt, looking for love,
even dying or what? The sound was there all day long, like a broken record and our concentration was less than normal for sure. The good news is that my friend did not wipe her final
Normally I can draw fast and accurate especially with a familiar subject, but this day a very neglected cat cried forlornly in the near distance all day long! It was my duchess challenge because I felt so sorry for it and yet annoyed because it was hard to concentrate. I was slightly annoyed the proprietors did not do anything to change its location or help it. Perhaps they knew more than we, but we had decided to stay and paint and so we did.

Shown here is an example of some flowers that will be incorporated into the foreground in the planted beds as well as on the trellis that runs the length of the terrace or porch. This is such an amazing place. The anemones were taken on a previous trip. And I'll use them as well as my own imagination for the finishing touches.

Click here to link for an all media selection of

Plein Air Checklists

HOW TO USE THE CHECKLIST : Don't pack all that is on the list, it's meant to promt ideas and serve as template for possibilities to scavenge for things you may find at home. iF you are attending a workshop the organizer usually sends exact list of what is needed, per medium. Use the lists as a template to select items to pack/buy/or organize on location as deemed appropropriate if flying to the painting destination.

Have fun and good luck!

Plein Air Discovery

2007-09-26T11:32:00.002+02:00

Challenge & Discovery
I put my plein air kit together, watched numerous dvd's of the big guys, purchased the rolls royce of easels and its accompanying backpack in preparation for an artist friend to come over for a plein air excursion in Europe. The trip included places in Belgium and France and The Netherlands and maybe a quick jaunt to Italy. The goal was to have a plein air painting to represent each day my friend was here and to post finished works on this blog... Life takes funny turns sometimes.

My artist friend let me know after her first 'wipe away', that plein air was not preferable over her indoor studio. (I am still hopeful for a conversion, but it did not happen on this trip). Europe has complicated textures that invite tedious brush strokes and longer producution time than the setting sun allows. Vision is good but fast vision and ability to slap it define one's capabilty int th e great outdoors. My friend, from the point she decided the outdoor work did not match the merit of her indoor work and emphatically revoved any evidence she had succumbed to anything not lookign classically real on her canvas, turned to her passionate interest of photography. In light of our 'discovery' it was hard to set up too many times without guilt. After all it was her first trip abroad and we were excited to see panaramas either with cameras or brushes.

I ended up with seven 'starts' in the month. My husband labeled them 'childish-looking' compared to my 'other work'... considering the speed I worked, in an effort to dimish my guilt and selfish activity, I only gave him one left hook. When these works 'mature' out of their ugly duckling phase, it could be amusing to post the starts as well as the finished works. This cannot be done today. The 'afters' are not done'and none are photographed. So hang in there. Visit again and see for yourself if the left hook was justifiable or I must eat humble pie. It's the journey that counts, and posting such comparison are today a side road.

Back to our trip It contained many experiences that I am certain will be relived in paintings yet to come. We met the modern-dayDutch Rembrandt in his studio and talked with him at length after viewing his 40-yar retrospective in his museum. We did popular things too like Monet's Garden and surroundings and Richard the Lionhearted's castle. We lingered to snap other landscapes, waterscenes, sunsets before heading into Paris.

There, while set up for a street scene, I was spotted by a group of plein air artists meeting nearby before heading for their barge trip in France. I was painting the Joan of Arc statue near the Louvre, which had this gigantic Ferris wheel for a backdrop and wonderful frame for the main story. (The fair comes only once a year, and I found this a pretty lucky view). Another pleasant surprise occured there. When I started the painting it was foggy and it was only later the Eiffel Tower gradually appeared out of he misty background into a day full of sunshine Yes!
I think this has a lot of commercial appeal based on my own -want-to-keep-it feeling. There are a lot more famous sites in Paris than this little corner, so I may get to enjoy it for a while before it has a buyer which will be okay..

Still Life Series - Antiques I

2007-09-26T10:36:00.003+02:00

GREEN APPLES This is the first of a series of still life paintings that include antique objects in the compositions. I am drawn toward real antique items, over let's say250 years old. I find them in travels in Europe: crockery, pewter, French faience, certain tools -- things that have simple shapes and wonderful patinized surfaces -- the older the better. I aspire to own something with a surface so old that its patina is actually turquoise, or a delicate soft green Roman glass. I'll have to sell a few more paintings before these can be added to my stash. It makes the evolution of one's work interesting and does not have to happen all at once. I also am looking for romer glasses with the raspberry pontils for better gripping (before utensils were commonly used). I also want to fit objects into my work than make them non-gender specific in terms of the audience. I'm not interested in hunting as an activity, but I've discovered a whole world in duck decoys, their colors, construction and the appreciation of this craft. I visited a museum with 2800 examples. In Natchez, I found an oyster knife used on the Mississippi with a beautiful patina on the handle in a local antique shop. I bought a lot of seashells, where just one shell is valued on the internet at 300 Euros, originating off the coast of India. What fun it will be to juxtapose the items into a nice composition.

Still Life Series

2007-09-26T10:19:00.013+02:00

Chestnut Series
This is part of a series of still life paintings, depicting objects from the art and antiques collection of Dutch 'n' Duchess Art and Antiques, a web-based business supplying mainly to US dealers. This painting features a water or wine vessel of French origin with a chestnut on patinized wood. The challenge is to first track the marvelous at the markets with scrutiny, making sure the antiques are genuine.
My signature item in this series will be a chestnut placed somewhere in the composition to form the basis for a body of related works for exhibition.

Still Life Series

2007-02-28T16:36:00.084+01:00

First Visit to Florence

I had been working in watercolor and desired to switch to oils. I headed for Florence to take a course in still life. While working on a still life in class with instruction was interesting, I decided to set up another one in my room. After a short time, not accustomed to working from life with natural light, I started to lose the enthusiasm that had shimmered over me upon arrival. During my first solo museum jaunts, in the city, just hours before-- my eyes welled as hairs on my arm had stood on end,when I saw for the first time the marvelous works of art 'in real', that were created where the wonderful Age of Reasoning flourished. I was so inspired that within a short time, a small still life in my room in a beautiful fifth floor walk-up, took shape. I set up near the window with a view of the Tuscan hills and Florence rooftops to amuse me during breaks and hoped to keep similar tempo as the one in class. From lunch to about six I visited museums and sketched in the city. The city took all of my energy trying to see and do everything in one month. I retired each evening exhausted but happy.

As with any 'good artist', even those at the artist charm schools, who are wired with the needed bells and tooters, to show their every stroke on the big screen to a packed audience, I succumbed to a common professional hazard. This is what I personally refer to as the ugly duckling stage. Ironically, in a profession that demands acute vision and sensitivity, in the fine art production process, at a particular point, over and over with almost every work, the artist loses both and begins to wonder why the work isn't getting the intended ' look'. Why isn't it progressing? Then we doubt our talent entirely. I spiral into thoughts like why do I stay in this loner solitary work life, what made me start said painting in the first place, and then because I am so used to this-- I work more furiously with the sole aim to paint myself out of this phase. I just work through it from the come-out-fighting corner, and the other end of the spectrum kicks in as my creative spirit to hallucinates to the point I pass the home stretch on this one work and envision my work one day reaching a place of honor in a museum. It is part of the process almost with every painting for an artist no matter what ilk for we have no predictable alphabet or note like other artists depend upon. We commit gracefully each time to a flat spanse of white space and it s challenge. We come back for more, and receive a lifetime of reward for our mental and other sweatas we form our own definition of beauty. Thank you Leonardo for the concept of beauty.

Predictably, it was my turn to get through the comtemplation mode with this little still life in my room ...I questioned my prowess and moved on, into the here-I-go-again with 'the process' -- Was the composition too contrived? Was the working? Was there a fibonacci factor or natural spiral , enough harmony, too many colors, not enough? Oh can artists comtemplate things! Were the chosen objects too mundane? too close, far enough apart, justapositioning 1001 my eyes did see. On and one I hammered into my confidence until I built the wall. This is third phase, the danger zone, the artist has to pass through it--like Dorothy at the Wizard's door, we are too far to turn back but still frustrated and yet the answers lie within us the whole time by only taking the risk. However, no matter how I contorted my head, I dinged it with every dong coming out of the distant carillon. My circadian rhythm was shutting all systems down, and just like the setting sun, my eyes were heavy and suddenly before nightfal my body was calling it a day.

Then it happened! A little spark of light slowly beamed a narrow chard across the surface of my set up-- between two of the objects like a strip of combustion out the back of a race car it shot with magical illumination. Lovely! I scrambled to mix the chroma needed--the one with the dimmer switch turned up as high a possible and no medium added -- but irritatingly the sun did not wait. Okay, don't be a slave, just wing it and put it in...no wipe off, do again, looks...ok...looks better, oops too much and on it went until the darkeness lead my nose 4 inches from canvas in darkness. I missed it. I had to see this event again to get it and to be ready. I noted the time but for a couple of evenings the city of Florence had activities I couldn't miss and I joined fellow artists to indulge in some incredible lectures.

It rained out my light so I missed a session or two, but finally the perfect day fell when the Tuscan sun was again in full force. I made sure nothing and nobody kept me from the hundred steps up to my hot rod window--where I would be on my mark, ready and set with fresh pigment, anticipating a few short seconds that would make my painting cross the finish and excite the crowd. Yes! Perfect timing. Made it --the bravura flick, that would ignite the emotion of its viewer . I got it just as the sun flickered in my room and disappeared behind the hills. This was just what the painting needed.

Just as in a portrait, one wants to find the color or a personal characteristic, an event --the nuance that might go unnoticed if not for the constant search to find it. In a painting, likeness is good, but not everything. Technical bravura is not enough. A painting must stand on its own first as a beautiful work of art, say all the experts. Does the modern admirer know what Mona Lisa really looked like exactly? Why does s/he stand for hours to get a glimpse of it? For the sfumato or smokey background ? For her mysterious smile ? To fantasize if Leonardo really did use himself as the model the 15 years he carried it from place to place? Most do not know -- but for sure this work timelessly speaks to the human element--the one that gets us to read book, go to movies, write or relate our experiences to others through the visual. Apologies for the glare on the photo, good news/bad news--it sold before I could re-take the archive. The instructor at the art academy advised me to leave out the reflection in the foreground (it was on a formica surface). What do you think?