Leroy's Art Blog

For some time now I’ve been following Lavanna Martin's blog, with interest and envy. She calls herself a “coffeehouse painter,” and actually sets herself up in a coffehouse and paints the clients while they sit there and sip coffee, talk, use their computer, etc. She has outfitted herself so she can carry everything on her bicycle. Her work is very loose, but very intriguing. I like the way she captures something of her subjects in a very loose style, and would love to work that way, too.

Well, I’ve been carrying all my painting supplies in a backpack for quite some time already, and I often get to classes by bike - except when I’m carrying larger size canvases or it is cold or raining or I simply feel more like taking the bus. It is really people that interest me, too. And I already do a lot of ad-hoc pencil and ink sketching of people on the subway, the train, busses... But to do OIL PAINTING that way? It seems so much more - I don’t know - formal? serious? dedicated? intrusive? egotistical? All of these?

There is that old aphorism for life: Be aware of what it is that most frightens you. Then do it.

So the day before yesterday I put my new little tabletop easel on my bike and went looking for somebody to paint in a park, or along the Scenic River Trail. No dice, and I came home relieved that I hadn’t had to actually paint somebody “cold.” So. Yesterday I bit the bullet and went to the Java coffeehouse near my apartment, determined to paint somebody drinking coffee. Sat at an outdoor table with my stuff and looked around. Found I was still too chicken to take on a subject directly, but there was this gal talking to her friend, with her back to me. I don’t know how much hair I want to continue painting, but it was certainly a non-threatening way to claim that I have painted somebody in a coffeehouse. After she left and I was packing up, I got into interesting discussions with a number of the people who were there and had been watching. It was fun, and felt good.

And the result is even kind of interesting, in its way:



Yesterday evening I went to the evening workshop at the Sketch Club to see if I had been accepted as a member. Answer: Not yet, but I will be, no question. And on that basis, I can submit a painting to be included in their show at the Newman Gallery downtown. That was great news and since their size limit is 40” I can submit my “Black Boots” portrait that I think is about my best painting ever, and which measures 40” x 30” (see my post of March 31). That painting was also exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts last month, so it is serving me well.

I also came away from the workshop with a 2-hour painting that turned out pretty well. By the time I got there the prime locations around the model had been taken, so I had this raking view of her, rather back-lit. I like the proportions and general modeling, but the greenish color is a bit weird. That was because the model had one strong spotlight on her, then fairly dim fluorescent lighting. Then, when they turned on more light at the end of the workshop - WOW. Anyhow, here’s the product:



Another of my summertime goals is to paint a number of Philadelphia’s historic sites, starting with Independence Hall. I’ve been looking at it, sketching it and mulling it over. Of course it has already been painted by a million people but, as I had to remind a critic: NOT YET BY ME. It is a tough cookie, though - it’s shape is basically an inverted T, and there is no interesting background for it. Also, there is only one clear view of the central core - even that is partially obscured by trees, and I have yet to paint a tree that I am happy with (ie, that looks like something other than a green blob).

Yesterday (Sunday) was “Art Day” at my Unitarian Church - a one day show for anybody who wanted to bring in their artwork. They hadn’t limited the number of works an artist could bring in, so I decided to take in enough to show what I’ve been up to: Two portraits (my copy of Walt Whitman and one that I’m not so wild about but Patricia insisted I take), my painting of a Lancaster County Farm in Autumn, Night Bus, and a selection of the fruit/vegetable paintings. They looked good, presented together, and I got some good complements from other Church artists that I respect. That even included Logan Speirs, whose work I am just in awe of. Of course, a lot of people had no idea that I’d been painting at all, so were surprised to see my things just for that reason alone.

There are lots of interesting summer painting classes, but I have decided to avoid them. So far, most of my paintings have been either class assignments or studio settings that I have no control over. I want to take this summer to see what kind of paintings and settings I choose in the absence of that classroom direction, and spend some time just fooling around with paint. Maybe this will even help me find a “direction” in what I am doing as an artist and painter - but I’m not counting on it.

There is one major exception to that last paragraph, however. Neil Di Sabito will be giving a class entitled Conquering Hands and Feet at the Academy in June, and I’m really looking forward to that. Neil is a good artist and teacher, and those appendages are a problem for most artists, certainly including me. It is interesting to notice how many paintings hide hands and feet, or just kind of “indicate” them in their paintings.

And then, some minor exceptions too. I’m joining the Philadelphia Sketch Club (it claims to be the oldest sketch club in the country, this IS Philadelphia after all), and they hold lots of “workshops.” These are basically open studios with a model provided, for drawing, sketching, painting, whatever. I'd largely stopped going to the workshops through the year but, with more time now, I dropped in again last Thursday. The model, Cheryl, was beautiful and there were spectacular shadows across her face, framed by her long black hair. I wish I’d had more than 2.5 hours to paint, but even so I’m happy with the incomplete painting that resulted. I even like the sketchy background I used. It is the most dramatic background I’ve used in any painting to date.


Just in goofing-off mode, I’ve also painted a bunch of female heads. Not from life, just generic sketches. Silly, but fun. I’ll probably do more of these just to see where it goes. Or doesn’t.



So that’s life here in my studio, for now. (I used to call it my apartment, but by now the art supplies, equipment, paintings, books and stuff have taken over.)