TRICIA TOONE

A New Way to Learn Color Mixing?

2008-08-04T19:19:21-04:00

This turtle was carved into Balsa Foam and painted in acrylic paint by an 8th grade student who happens to be color blind. Concerned about his ability to mix color, he asked his friend to describe what colors should go into mixing the colors for his turtle.

Beginning with the dark green on the right side of the turtle, his friend gave very precise instructions on how much green, orange, red goes into each stage of the gradation. He coached him through painting the entire turtle.

In some ways his description gave better color mixing results than the color mixing on his own project. Perhaps the act of having to describe the contents of the color caused him to look "deeper" into the color.

Light Observations with 4th Grade

2008-07-28T18:45:31-04:00

The objectives of this unit:

* Practice observation skills that are important in both art and science.
* Describe and visually represent how light affects the appearance of an object and its shadow.
* Create drawings from observation.
* Vocabulary: value, shadow, highlight

Part 1- Light Observations (You can download a lesson plan for the first part of this unit.)

In a dimmed room, student groups spent the period taking notes and sketches based on their observations of a single light source on a manikin. I left their mode of note taking open ended so that they could record their thoughts in whatever way was effective and comfortable for them. Some people think in words, some in pictures.

I loved seeing their notes at this stage. Most of the students were looking at light and shadow in a new way. The shadow was the first thing that fascinated most of them. As they looked deeper, they noticed the relationship between the distance and location of the light source to the manikin and its effect on the shadow. I had to prompt many of them to look at the actual manikin and how that looks in the light. I learned a lot from their observations- they pointed out things I never noticed.

Part 2- Proportion

Students continued with their observation of the light and manikin. This time, all students created sketches of their manikin and shadow with a focus on proportion in their drawing. I like to create an opportunity for practice in most lessons. It reenforces for the students that ALL art is part of a process of learning and that one perfect finished project is not the main goal of art.

Part 3- Individual Interpretation

Students were to take what they learned about light and proportion and take it a step further. Put it in context. Imagine a scenario for the manikin using the manikin for reference. Students needed to cooperate with their group to come up with a manikin pose that they all agreed on that could be interpreted in many ways. Example: A manikin posed with his arms up in the air could be many things- a goalie, air traffic controller, dancer, etc. Each student could interpret it in their own way.

This student focused on color for her final drawing. She brought out the warmth and glow of the light source behind the manikin. Also notice the attention to color mixing in the mostly violet shadow. She neutralized it with a combination of colors.

This student did an excellent job of taking what he learned about proportion and light and applying it to a mostly imagined form. Although he used the manikin as a model for proportion, he adjusted his character to have huge muscles and a missing limb. Using his knowledge of shadows, he adjusted the shape of the shadow as well.

Crazy Octopus

2008-07-28T18:44:30-04:00

I did this lesson with Kindergarten. The objective was for students to practice making many types of lines, to create shapes by combining lines (avoiding stick figures), and to explore warm and cool colors.

Part 1

I showed a photograph of an octopus. Where do they live? What are these arms called? How many are there? Can you do different things with your arms all at the same time like an octopus? as I rub my belly and pat my head. Students try the same.

Their octopuses were to be especially crazy. How many types of lines can they use in their tentacles? As a class, we brainstormed as many types of lines as we could think of- straight, wavy, zig-zag, curly, spiral, dotted, long, short, etc. On watercolor paper, students drew an octopus head. For the first leg, I guided them on the board to demonstrate how I don't just make ONE line for a leg. Each line has to come back to the head to make a shape.

Students drew the remaining 7 legs on their own. They were encouraged to try many types of lines, making their octopuses as crazy as possible.

Part 2

We started the class talking about things that were hot or warm. Fire, the sun, the stove!
What color are those things? We looked on the color wheel and pointed out the yellow, red, orange.
Using crayon students colored their Octopuses using only warm colors.

We then looked at the color wheel as we discussed the colors that come to mind when we think about the water where octopuses live. Blue, Green!
What does if feel like when you jump in the water?
Cold!
Using watercolor, students painted cool colors only for their octopuses' background.

Searching for "Peace"

2008-05-03T11:42:31-04:00

I just installed this painting in a client's home. She has very striking, bold decor and wanted a painting to compliment and brighten a darker area of the room.

I enjoyed working with the silhouette of a cherry tree in my in-laws' back yard. The butterfly, which creates a focal point and color accent, has personal meaning to the client. There are red bud accents matching the red furniture and art throughout the room.

As for the title of this blog, maybe you can figure it out.

Space

2008-03-18T20:39:17-04:00

Rick and I live in a small place with our dog and cat. It serves as art studio, office, guitar design workshop.

In our experience, two artists living and working in a small place has its pros and cons.

Some of the pros...

1. Mutual understanding that both artists need time to dive into projects for long stretches of time. Housecleaning, eating, bathing optional.
2. It's entirely understood and expected that the entire living space will revolve around the creation of paintings, guitars, other projects. (No television or couch necessary. Nice carpeting forbidden.)

3. During mental blocks, the other can help give a kick start. Objective opinions are usually available from someone whose opinion you value.

4. Support during emotional ups and downs, times of uncertainty.

5. Most of the time, it is understood when to interject an opinion and when to stay far, far away. (Refer to #2 of the cons)

Although I really can't think of many, the cons...

1. Housecleaning, eating, bathing optional.
2. It can be dangerous if one of the artist pair interjects an opinion at an inappropriate moment. See Rick's depiction of me below. Note the oversized coffee mug and aggressive paintbrush.

Feel free to add to my list of pros and cons in the comments.

Kyle Progress

2008-03-01T19:34:58-05:00

Here's another Kyle update. I'm really trying to loosen up a bit on this painting and have fun with color. I've done some more work on his face, although it's not quite where I want it to go, yet. Kyle has very fair skin with some rosy patches that I would love to accentuate. At this point, I think his skin is looking too dark.

I've gone through a couple different background colors, until I decided on this one. The first one was a white background with various shades of violet and ochre. I liked the color vibration that it created, but the end effect was too "pastel" for Kyle's personality. He is a strong and determined Taurus. I think the darker blue-green is much more fitting. I am also hoping the the color contrast will help bring out the red of his cheeks and lips as I lighten his skin tone.

Monster Eats Orchid

2008-03-01T15:37:51-05:00

Check out this video of Rick's newest guitar design, Orchid, in action. Although I'm not a musician, I can certainly appreciate it for the piece of sculpture that it is. Monster clearly appreciates it for its playability. (Like all skilled artists, Monster makes it look so "easy" — now I almost want to learn bass).

By the way, Orchid was designed for Halie, a budding musician. Of course, the smaller design doesn't seem to slow Monster down the slightest.

Kyle...you're on my website!

2008-02-18T20:42:53-05:00

So, I got a call from my 14 year old nephew a couple weeks ago. Had a great hour long conversation. He filled me in on the good and bad of high school, things he's been excited about and involved in, the girl-friend status, family drama, etc. It was great to have a conversation where I forgot I was talking to my nephew and instead I was just talking to a friend.

Then he says, "Aunt Tricia, I was checking out your website the other day and I couldn't help but notice that...I'm not on it."

I took that as a "subtle" hint.

I drove down to the shore to visit, get some sketches, photos, and a color study. He very patiently sat for me while he baby-sat his brothers and sisters. Somehow, we managed to get a pretty good drawing despite three year old Jeremy determined to get hold of my charcoal and Power Rangers blaring on the television. (I do recommend to anyone drawing from a live model...no matter how determined and focused the model, the TV is irresistible and they will turn their head every 5 seconds)

Anyway, here he is... a work in progress.

This is the charcoal drawing that has been inked in. Notice the faint remnants of a few failed drawings, especially the huge ghost head. For some reason, I naturally draw huge. (The canvas is 24" x 30") I have to really work hard to shrink my drawings down.

The underpainting.

In this image, I've began to rough in the background and build up the right side of the face.

To be continued...

The Story of Stuff

2008-02-01T21:35:44-05:00

Whether or not you agree with the narrator's message, I think it's worth checking out the illustrations she uses to make her point. I think this is a great example of how complexity does not always make things better. Sometimes the simplest drawing can communicate a point profoundly.

Some of my favorite sketchbook sketches have been the simplest.

This one I sketched as I was going through a difficult time in college. Trying to get some perspective.

This I doodled as I was sitting at a hotel job one late Friday night wondering why I was spending my time there and not doing something more meaningful with my time.

Objects

2008-01-27T16:42:07-05:00

As I acknowledge my fears in my previous post, I think back to a ceramics professor that asked us to smash our first creations after having spent a week obsessing over them. We reluctantly threw them to the floor and watched our hard work shatter, but we were reminded that art is a process. Each piece is about the accumulation of knowledge and experience, not about the actual object.

By holding on to those objects, we stay in one place. By putting them behind us, we can use our acquired knowledge and experience to move us forward in the next work of art.

Free Climbing

2008-01-27T16:37:45-05:00

The vows are complete. Like the George Washington project, this project had many challenges due to the variety of materials involved. Projects like this always keep me on my toes. No matter how much you know about your medium of choice and how you would like something to look, different mediums allow different levels of control and have certain limitations. I have to say, I love paint. Paint is comforting. You can make mistakes, paint over, try again.

The most frightening aspect of George Washington and the Vows was the limited room for mistakes.

George: Ink calligraphy on goatskin parchment that was hard to find and very expensive. (Besides the fact that a goat gave his life so I could commemorate George in a historically accurate way). The whole time I was writing on the goatskin I thought, "What if my pen leaks? What if I accidently misspell a word? If I make a mistake, there's no going back!"

Vows: Everything fixable and replaceable except the middle. The center was signed by everyone at their wedding. They will never have another wedding day. When will they ever have that assortment of family and friends together again? I feared the moment when I had to cut the circle or glue it to the final paper. What if I slip up? Glue it crooked? Change my mind about the final paper?

I can't help but have that anxiety when I work on projects like these. But then I think of people that do things I would never consider...like Dan Osman climbing with no ropes. Does he have that anxiety before he sets out for a climb? I'm sure he does. Maybe it's the anxiety that teaches him think through the problem thoroughly and make the right choices each time.

Wedding Vows

2007-11-18T19:29:19-05:00

I'm currently working on a plaque inspired by the Jewish tradition of the Ketubah. This interpretation will be constructed from paper and masonite and painted with acrylic paint. Masonite is a good support in a mixed media project involving paper because it is stable and resists changes in temperature and humidity. The outer tiles represent the values of the married couple. For the tiles, the couple has combined the Buddhist concept of the Noble Eightfold Path, the eight practices that lead to enlightenment, and the Victorian use of flowers to convey meaning. They selected flowers to represent each of the 8 practices. In the center of the plaque, will be a circle that was signed by each guest at the couple's October wedding. The wedding vows will surround this circle of signatures.

Here are some pictures of the progress. The first image is a concept sketch of the final piece. The second is of the masonite construction, built by Dick Toone of Living History Shop, with multiple coats of primer. The final image shows a corner close up with the light blue base coat. In this image there is a removable center tile which I've pulled up slightly so you cans see it. After the tiles are painted, I can attach the paper of vows to the center panel. This will allow me to get an exact fit. More images to come.

Santa Fe

2007-10-26T14:12:39-04:00

NOTE: This is Rick. Don't tell Tricia I'm here. Webmaster privilege.

When we camped in the Sangre de Cristo mountains outside Santa Fe, I was inspired to paint the absolutely beautiful mountain light: in particular, one evening as dusk fell. The lights of the city were just visible in the distance, and the moment was poised on the edge of my eyesight failing to detect detail in shadow. The sky was luminous at 12,000' of elevation.

I took a series of photographs but a camera does not perceive light as a human eye does. Cameras can only capture the average amount of light in a scene, at a given moment. Our eyes are more sophisticated, constantly adjusting aperture (light sensitivity) and focus as we move them: we can look at sunlight reflecting on water, then into the shadows of the woods...seeing detail in both instances.

Astonishing tools, really.

So, five months later, I am painting partially from photographs, and mostly from memory. My memory of light — of the feeling — from that moment.

I have a very capable instructor, although she will not let me call her one. This is my second oil painting — Cabinetmaker was my first — my first landscape, and I have no other word for: "Tricia...how do I build the underpainting? What is the paint/thinner/varnish ratio again? Do I optically mix colors on the canvas or do a modulated blend?"

Except "teacher".

The photos are snapshots of the painting, early in the process. Photo on the left is mostly underpainting. Right photo has a second layer of paint: mid-ground mountains are gathering mist, the near mountains are growing conifers. There will eventually be a foreground layer of aspens mostly obscuring the left and lower left of the scene. Details as they happen.

ECOLIFE Foundation Fundraiser

2007-10-19T13:21:19-04:00

Tommorow night at Birch Aquarium: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, California, my recently completed painting, Still Life With Jet Fuel, will be auctioned for charity.

Rick works for ECOLIFE Foundation and through his efforts and our discussions my interest in conservation has become more of a passion. It's unsettling to realize that much of our food is transported distances of 1,500 miles or more, because our farmland is being swallowed by urban sprawl: how much fuel was burned to get Canadian tomatoes in my salad, while I live in an area with ideal soil for growing tomatoes?

I bought the "models" for the painting in my local grocery store. The selection criteria was: travel distance of at least 1,500 miles. Avocados from Mexico. Asparagus from Peru. An apple from New Zealand!

ECOLIFE Foundation is a worthwhile nonprofit, because they look at conservation differently than most: by first helping humans meet our needs through ecological sustainability, we will help the environment.

Have a look.

Critique Group...What? Why?

2007-10-19T08:58:05-04:00

Critique Group is a private space where members post images of finished pieces or works in progress. In the comments box, other members can offer constructive criticism of the work, participating in a thoughtful, but informal discussion.

It is by invitation only in order to keep the group fairly small and personal, wall out trolls, and maintain privacy. (I can think of several pieces of work I don't want floating around in cyberspace.)

If you are interested in joining, please email me.

I am intentionally inviting artists who work in various areas of the art spectrum, from realism to outsider art, in order open our minds to different ways of looking at our work. The critiques will look not only at technical aspects, but content, purpose, audience, emotional response, art historical context, social/political context, etc. As we critique, we will improve our ability to look at the work of others as well as our own.

As we see our own work more clearly we begin to develop as artists.

NEWS & THOUGHTS

2007-10-14T14:47:41-04:00

New developments, works in progress and things I'm thinking about. If you would like to join our CRITIQUE GROUP, please email me.