Those Rules about 3's

Esprit de Corps is an 11x14 done from life by Shirley Fachilla.

Artists know about the rules of three, mostly because they’re so simple. Divide the canvas into thirds horizontally and vertically to find perfect places for focal points. (The intersections are the focal point possibilities.)

Artists are often also advised to paint threesomes rather than even numbered objects. Rules of three, so simple but…

They really shouldn’t be called rules at all. They are guidelines that work sometimes. For instance, dividing your canvas into three parts vertically and horizontally works when the canvas is a horizontal rectangle (with the longest dimension the horizontal one). It doesn’t work very well with square canvases or portrait rectangles (ones with the longest dimension a vertical). 

Our eyes do find an odd number of objects more pleasing but…

If two objects are grouped so that they form one mass, twosomes can be just as pleasing.

And it’s quite liberating to paint couples. Afterall, three is supposedly a crowd!  

Blue Ballerina

Blue Ballerina is a 24x15 oil done from life by Shirley Fachilla.

Ballerinas, like women in hats and people under umbrellas, are subjects that painters love. Why you might ask? Believe it or not, I’ve actually thought about this question and even written about it in the two links above!

There is, of course, the obvious: ballerinas are usually beautiful and elegant in form, women in hats are often romantic and sometimes mysterious, and those umbrellas? Well, they can be colorful as well as great sources of reflected light in marvelous and unexpected hues.

But I think the main reason painters love umbrellas, hats and ballerinas are the shapes. At least, for me, their shapes are what I love. Those curves and swoops, oh my, such fun to paint. And with ballerinas, you not only have a beautiful human form in a leotard, you also have tutus and tulle!

[My painting is an unusual size because it literally grew as I painted it. However, I do not recommend painting in unusual sizes because it makes framing more difficult and expensive.]      

With a Little Help from my Friends

White Sundress is a 14x18 oil done from life by Shirley Fachilla.

I love painting with other artists in open studio. There’s a wonderful sense of shared endeavor and community. At the same time, there's no instructor to tell you how to paint.You are absolutely free to go your own way and of course, it follows, sometimes make your own mistakes. 

Having said that, it’s also a great way to learn from your friends. White Sundress once had a shelf holding a framed picture in its negative space. My friend, Jean McGuire said. “I really like this painting though I had a little trouble understanding (and she pointed at the shelf) that area.” Jean is tactful.

I, being somehow attached to the shelf I’d painted, didn’t follow up on her thought. Later another friend, Pam Padgett, said, “Like the painting, but that shelf is hard to understand, and you know it interferes with your negative space.”  

Two good artists and friends agreeing meant I saw the shelf and the picture in a new light. They were painted out. Ah, yes, “I get by with a little help from my friends.”  

[Need to know the arty meaning of “open studio” and “negative space”? Please visit the Artful Definitions page.]

A Rainy Day with Matt Smith

Somewhere along the Coast of Maine, a 9x12 oil.

Plein air workshops normally take place outside on (one hopes) bright sunny days. A grey day brings out the grumbles from workshop attendees. We want light effects and plenty of them!

So I was sad when one day of a three-day Matt Smith workshop was very wet and very much an inside day. But actually I learned a lot with that studio time… maybe more than when I was out chasing the sun and looking for shade.

We worked from our own photo references. Matt believes in using photos as references primarily for larger paintings. He says a photo can supply structure and details missing from a plein air study and perhaps more importantly jog a memory.

He doesn’t think a photo needs to be perfect. (What a relief! Mine never come close!) But they do need to be of a paintable subject.

This is where the inside day was truly helpful for me. My favorite photo was not a paintable one. And I must admit cascades of white water with barely any discernible form beneath would be difficult, if not impossible, to build a good painting around. But a soft morning in Maine? This was quite possible and I had a fairly good photo to jog my memory. 

So-o-o Very Nashville

Ruffled-up Cowgirl is a 24x12 oil done from life by Shirley Fachilla.

Boots and really big cowboy hats are very, very Nashville, even for girls. This particular girl is part of the annual juried Women Painter’s of the Southeast show which this year takes place right here Tennessee. The show’s not quite in Nashville but is very, very near in Franklin, Tennessee.

The exhibit's hanging at Imagine Gallery at The Factory on the Mezzanine, 230 Franklin Road. I hope you’ll have a chance to drop by for the reception or sometime during the show.

The reception is from 6 to 8:30 on Saturday, April 20^th. The show will be up from April 19 through May 20.

Ruffled-up Cowgirl is one of two pieces that I have in the show. 

Into the Interior

Blue Silk Kimono is a 12x24 oil done from life by Shirley Fachilla.

Sometimes they’re lumped with genre, but most often they’re overlooked. I’m speaking of paintings which have as their subject, interior spaces; they’ve received rather short shrift since the Dutch of the 17^th century loved and bought them for their homes.

However, I think they’re making something of a resurgence. Just look at some of the interiors painted by Paul Oxborough, Pauline Roche or Karen Bruson.

For artists, painting inside from life can be as fun as plein air, but it’s definitely harder to get permission. Oils and turps can be a messy business afterall.  

My interior was painted from life at a new open studio opportunity here in Nashville so the mess potential didn’t matter. I hope I have the chance to do many more.  

Following the Light

A Rose Is a Rose, Is a Rose* is an 11x14 oil done from life by Shirley Fachilla. 

I really like edgy, unexpected compositions like those of the Impressionist Degas. An especially striking example is his painting, La Coiffure. It’s of two women; one is combing the other’s hair. 

Two-figure compositions are difficult, especially when the figures are separate (as these are). In the painting, there’s no overlapping or visual connection.  Though the hank of hair stretching across the canvas does join them, Degas obliterates that connection by painting the hair and its background the same color and value. Instead of following the flow of hair from one woman to the other, our eyes follow their long pale arms, a much more interesting path.  

Because La Coiffure is virtually a monochromatic work done in reds, those arms, white apron and tablecloth become light pathways that lead the viewer through the painting. The faces (almost always a focal point for us humans) become instead casual pauses along the path of light.

Now how does my painting relate? I created a very straightforward light path from one side of my canvas to the other. Follow the light along the vases and rose to my lady and then travel back again via the pale tabletop.

*My title is a quote from the great art patron, Gertrude Stein.

[If clarification is needed for composition, monochromatic, value, please see the Artful Definitions page.]