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How Wonderful To Be Alive!

by Darren on December 26, 2011 · 0 Comments · in Rabbit Trails

December 26, 2011 – 50° – Sunny and no snow – 4 to 6 inches of ice

No, that’s not me. It’s a speed skater checking the quality of the ice. Ultimately he decided that it was good enough to make it the 5 miles across Lake Minnetonka from Excelsior to Wayzata. The photo is a composite of 9 images, shot handheld, and blended together in Photoshop.

Below are some other shots of the day.

*The title of this post paraphrases Boris Pasternak (from Doctor Zhivago).

Darren R. Rousar studied privately with Richard Lack and attended Atelier LeSueur, both in Minnesota, as well as Studio Cecil-Graves in Florence, Italy. He was the assistant director and an instructor at Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, after which he became vice president of The Minnesota River School of Fine Art in Burnsville. He has been a professional artist for more than 20 years, focusing mainly on Christian themes. Darren is currently an art teacher, technology coordinator and the eLearning coordinator at Providence Academy in Plymouth, MN. He is the author of two books, Cast Drawing Using the Sight-Size Approach and Cast Painting Using the Sight-Size Approach. He also produced a companion DVD, Sight-Size and the Art of Seeing.

Needables from Amazon

 

Velazquez’s Adoration of the Magi

by Darren on December 22, 2011 · 0 Comments · in Old Masters

The Adoration of the Magi, Velazquez (1619), Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star [...]

Head on a Platter

by Darren on October 30, 2011 · 0 Comments · in Focus, Old Masters

The painting shown above is van Dyck’s Portrait of Cornelis van der Geest, now in London’s National Gallery. He was around 20 years old when he painted it. After you’ve caught your breath, read on. The painting is just under life-size and I recall reading somewhere that van Dyck carted it around on his travels [...]

Anatomy

by Darren on October 12, 2011 · 0 Comments · in Instruction

Anatomy study is extremely helpful to the figurative artist because knowing what one is looking at can help with correcting observational mistakes. Be aware however that any intellectual study, be it anatomical, form or construction carries with it the potential that the artist will over-think what they actually see. Over-modeling, via anatomy or form is [...]

Memory Drawing

by Darren on October 7, 2011 · 0 Comments · in Instruction, Sight

A good visual memory is a must for representational artists. While it is debatable how much skill in this area we are born with, training or improving yours takes concerted effort. Two of my early teachers, Richard Lack and Annette LeSueur, both suggested that their students pursue memory drawing and this post provides the details. [...]

Painting From Photos, Or Not -part 2

by Darren on September 25, 2011 · 2 Comments · in Impressionist Seeing, Sight

This post is part 2 in the series. Part 1 is here. Most are aware of the color differences between the camera, the monitor, the print and nature so I will expand on the obvious in future posts. Instead I am beginning with the seemingly subtle, for an artist who sees impressionistically, subtle is often [...]

Painting From Photos, Or Not -part 1

by Darren on September 24, 2011 · 0 Comments · in Sight

I hope that the concern over whether to use photos or not never dies because the quality and role of an artist’s reference is of the utmost importance for a representational painter. But because of implied or assumed ethical issues these discussions seem destined to end like the ‘is Illustration a Fine Art’ discussions. Often [...]

Color Cast

by Darren on September 20, 2011 · 0 Comments · in Impressionist Seeing, Instruction, Sight

Back when I was in atelier training students were initially taught cast drawing and then cast painting en grisaille (grayscale). From there we moved onto still life and so on, all via Sight-Size. Unfortunately my opinion of still life at the time was that it was time wasted, for I had very little desire to [...]

Chasing Melons

by Darren on September 15, 2011 · 0 Comments · in Instruction, My Work

Through training and interest I am a figure painter who also dabbles in landscape. Normally that means portraits and religious figurative painting. But this summer I became interested in flesh of another kind, the insides of fruit and veg. Think about it, when does a painter get a chance to paint all those intense colors [...]

Shout Out!

by Darren on August 27, 2011 · 0 Comments · in Shout Out!

I just want to give a shout out for a blog of one of my former students, Matthew Collins. Of course he’s now a contemporary of mine and a marvelous one at that! Few of us paint religious scenes and Matthew Collins in one of them who does. Even if you’re not into religious art [...]