The Artist's Magazine, January/February 2013
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Best Reference Photos Ever: Try Photoshop’s History Brush Mix & Mingle Watermedia Confi dent Color 3 Artists, 3 Media, January/February 2013 3 Approaches www.artistsmagazine.com US $6.99 02 Everett Raymond Kinstler Master Portrait Painter FnL1 04 0120 01 JUYrVyBQdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMsIEluYyAo 02 SW9sYSBkaXZpc2lvbikPR3JlZ29yeSBL 03 cnVlZ2VyAE7qHvAEMTAuNAI4MAExBVVQ Qy1BDDA3NDgwODAyMzA2NgA= 0 74808 02306 6 Display until January 28, 2013 Dragonfl y Bowl (detail, watercolor, 40x30) by Nava Grunfeld c1_tam0213Cover.indd 1 10/23/12 7:49 AM Ryan S. Brown’s paintings begin as concepts that he envisions down to the most minute detail before his brush touches canvas. true to his VISION BY JUDITH FAIRLY RYAN S. BROWN DIDN’T grow up with art. He harbored dreams of being a pro athlete or a musician, but he didn’t have what it takes to play professional basketball or the chops to be a rock star. He was creative and he liked to Rmake things. Lifeguarding during the sum- mer when he was 17, Brown passed the time designing his dream house in his 2009 & 2011 ’s head. During his senior year of high TThehe Artist’s Magazine’sMagazine school, he decided to pursue a career ANNUAL in art. attended Brigham Young University (BYU), ART CCOMPETITIONOMPETITION where he majored in illustration. It was in Finalist A Path to Art college that he ! rst encountered the works of At the time, he didn’t understand art contemporary realist Burton Silverman in a very well, but he knew he wasn’t inter- show at the BYU Museum of Art. “" at was ested in a college program that emphasized the ! rst time I realized that you could paint postmodernist approaches. Instead Brown whatever you want,” he says, “and if you do 64 www.artistsmagazine.com 64_tam0213Brown.indd 64 10/23/12 8:39 AM ABOVE: Alone In Her Thoughts (oil, 36x48) is a modern like (its “presence”), from how he plans it to how it hangs take on the academic and naturalist traditions of the 19th in a gallery, employs master craftsman Rett Ashby to con- century. Brown uses natural light on the model and on his struct his frames, but Brown himself designs the frames easel most of the time, supplemented by daylight lamps and completes the decorative embellishments such as later in the day during the winter months (see a photo of the sgraffi to in the corners. his studio, page 69). The artist, who likes to control what his painting looks January/February 2013 65 64_tam0213Brown.indd 65 10/23/12 8:40 AM Genre Painting it with sincerity, passion and great technical ability, your painting can stand as a work of art Genre art fl ourished in Holland during the early and have an impact on the public.” 17th century because of the bourgeois class’s After he graduated from BYU, Brown left demand for decorative artwork to refl ect its new- for Italy to study at the Florence Academy of found prosperity. The paintings encompassed Art. He found in Italy what had been missing domestic settings and interiors; peasant life; meal- times; celebrations; and tavern, market and street from his university education and began to scenes. Genre painters often infused their compo- unravel the mystery of art, to comprehend its sitions with a degree of moral or social comment. value and its purpose. In general, genre art depicts situations and When he returned to the States, Brown scenes of everyday life. Though genre paintings felt compelled to pass on what he’d learned. span the spectrum of artistic styles, the key fea- For three years, he taught in Los Angeles and ture of a genre painting is that the scene is intro- Utah and began showing his work in galler- duced in a nonidealized way, in contrast to the ies. During this time he also established and traditional classical approach of presenting scenes BELOW: “The per- ran the Classical Drawing Academy in Utah. with heroic, noble or dramatic overtones. fect combination He then completed his studies at the Florence Well-known genre painters include Pieter of nature and man Academy of Art from 2007 to 2008 and after- Brueghel the Elder; Antoine, Louis and Mathieu Le Nain; Jean-François Millet; Thomas Hart Benton; came together,” ward returned to Utah, where he founded says Brown, “to and Norman Rockwell. the Center for Academic Study & Naturalist create a great com- position in Tuscan Painting (CAS) in Springville. Countryside Near Brown believes it was inevitable that he Florence, Italy (oil, would open a school. His ambition is to help 16x30). The shape raise the level of discourse about art in the “It’s incredibly expensive to go to an art of this particular manner that the Juilliard School does for music: academy or atelier,” says Brown, who’s still road and the typical to explore the interrelationships between visual paying o# his school debt. His experience in Italian landscape art and the performing arts, between ! ne art Florence set him on a path to make a high- just begged to be and architecture; and to invest his students quality art education more accessible for those painted.” with the zeal to discover what art means. without the means to otherwise attain one. 66 www.artistsmagazine.com 64_tam0213Brown.indd 66 10/26/12 1:01 PM ABOVE: Sarah in a Stole (charcoal and white chalk, 30x20) is the developmental drawing that Brown did for The Fox Stole (at right). “I’d never painted fur before, so it was important for me to fi gure out how I would approach it before going to can- vas,” he says. “I also wanted to capture the right attitude in the portrait, one that would match the subject’s expression. As it turned out, I believe I achieved a more appropriate facial expression in the paint- ing than in the drawing, but it’s interesting to see what a difference the slightest change in expression can make.” From Concept to Canvas Brown’s paintings begin with a vision. “I almost always start paintings from my imagination before I ! nd a model or location,” he says. “I have the idea pretty sol- idly in my mind before I start.” He has always form to the way he wants them to look. ABOVE: Brown wanted to have dominion over his surround- “At this point I can also ! gure out what sometimes fi nds clothes in consign- ings, to create his own habitat, to design every- size I want the ! gure to be,” Brown says. “" e ment stores, clothes thing down to the furniture so that things look size of a painting is often determined by the that demand to the way he envisions them. He ! nds inspiration scale of the people and the objects in the com- have their story told. in a variety of sources— from architectural ele- position. " e ! nal ‘presence’ of the painting is The fur in The Fox ments on old buildings to antique shops—and very important to me, and the size and subject Stole (oil, 30x20) often alters things or tweaks them so they con- matter must be balanced in order to create the came from an correct presence for the viewer.” antique store. More After this preparatory process, Brown often, however, he Materials works out the poses for his ! gures, designs discovers it’s easier their costumes and decides on the background to design the cos- Oil paints: Natural Pigments lead white as well elements and the setting. He scouts for models tume, to choose the fabric and to have as other colors; Gamblin and Old Holland colors and locations, as well as objects to use as props. the piece made by a Brushes: Trekell & Company hog bristles; Once he ! nds a model, he works with a master seamstress than to Rosemary & Co mongoose brushes seamstress to make the costume, if necessary. procure something Medium: Natural Pigments Rublev Oil Colours He already knows how he wants it to look—for that matches his Oleogel gel medium, walnut oil example, how the collar frames the face and vision at Old Navy or how long the sleeves should be to sheathe the a resale shop. Text continued on page 71 January/February 2013 67 64_tam0213Brown.indd 67 10/23/12 8:41 AM Initial Lay-In and Progressive Refi nement BY RYAN S. BROWN 1. First I toned the can- vas with a warm brown (Gamblin’s asphaltum and a little ultramarine blue) that I was hoping to preserve in some areas as a subtle transparent element coming through in the fi nal paint- ing. I can’t always preserve the tone (later on I used a thicker, impasto paint, so the undertone isn’t visible here). Then, after the toned canvas was dry, I transferred the fi nal compositional drawing onto it. 2. Next I laid in the sky (at right). I wanted to establish this fi rst for two reasons: so I could key the painting off the sky color and value, and because I was working back- ground to foreground to bet- 1 ter create a sense of depth. 34 3. I needed to paint the refl ection in the pond at the same 4. Painting the trees and other plants into the sky while it was time I painted the sky, using the same large pile of color, so wet was important so I could create interesting edges. At this the sky and the refl ection would properly correspond. stage I also established color continuity and harmony. I knew the color harmony I was going for because I determined it long before this in the studies I did from life.