Look around and select a subject that you can see painted. That will paint itself. Do the obvious thing before you do the superhuman thing. It may have been accidental, but you knew enough to let this alone. The good painter is always making use of accidents. Never try to repeat a success. Swing a bigger brush — you don’t know what fun you are missing. For 31 years, Charles Hawthorne spoke in this manner to students of his famous Cape Cod School of Art. The essence of that instruction has been collected from students’ notes and captured in this book, retaining the personal feeling and the sense of on-the-spot inspiration of the original classroom. Even though Hawthorne is addressing himself to specific problems in specific paintings, his comments are so revealing that they will be found applicable a hundred times to your own work. The book is divided into sections on the outdoor model, still life, landscape, the indoor model, and watercolor. Each section begins with a concise essay and continues with comments on basic elements: general character, color, form, seeing, posture, etc. It is in the matter of color that students will especially feel themselves in the presence of a master guide and critic. Hawthorne’s ability to see color and, more important, to make the student see color, is a lesson that will aid student painters and anyone else interested in any phase of art. Although it does not pretend to be a comprehensive or closely ordered course, this book does have much to offer. It also represents the artistic insight of one of the finest painter-teachers of the twentieth century. "An excellent introduction for laymen and students alike." — Time "To read these notes and comments … is in itself an education. One cannot help but gain great help." — School Arts

This is the first life comprehensive book on the life and work of the most outstanding American realists of the early 20th century. It celebrates Charles Webster Hawthorne's achievements as an artist, an unacknowledged master of American realism, whose thoroughly modern idiom blends the Impressionist sensibility with the Ashcan School aesthetic. Hawthorne is best known for his masterful use of colors, and the way they capture the human essence and reveal stunning beauty in the commonplace. Influenced by the Old Masters -- especially Titian and Frans Hals -- Hawthorne admired the rich tonality of color, the monumentality and beauty of representation, and the nobility of subjects depicted, and imported them into his paintings of ordinary people for whom he felt sympathy or admiration: Portuguese fishermen, the selectmen and selectwomen of Provincetown, the fishmonger, the captain's wife, mothers and children.

"The long-awaited biography of the defining illustrator of the twentieth century by a celebrated art critic"--

Finally - a book to help you solve all your painting problems! Inside you'll learn how to study a painting and correct problematic areas. Study topics include: Ideas - Is there a good abstract idea underlying the picture? - What details could be eliminated to strengthen the composition? - Does the painting have a focus? - Are the unessential parts subbordinated? - Does the painting "read"? - Could you finish any part of the painting? Shapes - Are the dominant shapes as strong and simple as possible? - Are the shapes too similiar? Value - Could the value range be increased? - Could the number of values be reduced? Light - Is the subject effectively lit? - Is the light area big enough? - Would the light look stronger with a suggestion of burnout? - Do the lights have a continuous flow? - Is the light gradiated? Shadows - Do the shadow shapes describe the form? - Are the shadows warm enough? Depth - Would the addition of foreground material deepen the space? - Does the background recede far enough? - Are the halftones properly related to the background? Solidity - Is the underlying form being communicated? - Is the symmetry in perspective? Color - Is there a color strategy? - Could a purer color be used? - Do the whites have enough color in them? - Are the colors overbended on the canvas? - would the color look brighter if it were saturated into its adjacent area? Paint - Is your palette efficiently organized? - Is the painting surface too absorbent? - Are you using the palette knife as much as you could? - Are you painting lines when you should be painting masses? - Are the edges dynamic enough? - Is there enough variation in the texture of the paint?

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

First Published in 1997. North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary was created to fill a gap of there being a comprehensive reference work like this available, even though the bibliography in English on various aspects of the history of women artists has grown exponentially during the past ten years. As researchers, the editors have been frustrated many times by being unable to locate basic information about many of the artists included in this volume—especially those working outside the United States. This leads directly to another reason for producing this particular kind of reference book—to try and create a better understanding between and among the artists and art audiences in these countries.

Stimulating, informative guide by noted teacher covers painting technique, painting from life, materials — paints, varnishes, oils and mediums, grounds, etc. — a painter's training, more. 64 photos. 5 line drawings.