Vanitas II – Etiquette – WIP

Here is an update and progress shots of my second Vanitas painting. I've made a couple of passes over the underpainting and I'm starting to model the form. Looking for a very sculptural feel, I want the illusion of space to govern this piece and to have all the objects sit and recede with a sense of dimension, which moves the viewer into the picture by means of light, form and depth. This is very important to the narrative of this Vanitas.

My still life set up is a shelving unit draped and boxed in with black fabric to block out any light.  I light it from within and balance the same light on my canvas and palette. I often use my pochade box as a standing palette, and will normally use a hand held palette in unison to work out color mixtures.

On the palette I premix mix a string of colors for each object representing it's hue, value and chroma. If I see there is any color shift as it moves from light to dark along the string I will tap warm or cool into it from my color palette as needed. This way I am never tied to those premixes and as I see reflected light or a temperature shift I can quickly punch it up or tone it down without breaking the flow of the painting process. Because if am really way off on my judgement, I can make those finite adjustments as I return for my second or third pass. Each time I visit a passage, the subtle differences in color and value become easier to find.

This way I can just stay in the zone.

The Vanitas or memento mori imagery is a fascinating genre to explore and is full of interesting symbolism. My concept of the Vanitas or certainly the core idea behind them is to use it not just as a platform to speak about the struggle of life and death, but of art and life.

I will save more of that conversation for later and as I work through this piece I will share those thoughts. I do want to share this link to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the amazing series “The ArtistProject” in this episode’s artist Roland Flexner discusses the 16thcentury Vanitas painting by Jacques de Gheyn II.

Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 

Link: The Artist Project: Roland Flexner

"the Met" -  http://www.metmuseum.org/

Website - jimserrett.com 
Studio Blog - jimserrettstudio.com 
Landscape Blog - Pochade Box Paintings

One Pochade Box

Since I first posted my, "How to build your own Pochade Box" instructions back in February on my other site Pochade Box Paintings,
I’ve had an amazing response from people all around the world.
That post is being read in 48 countries and has been translated into 28 languages. There has been an array of correspondences with artist on every continent.

But these are the first images I’ve seen of a Pochade Box built from these plans. This kit was built by Ruth Vines, a fine artist/graphic artist living in Florida, USA.
Ruth built a 10’ x 12” box with a Plexiglas palette.

Quote: " It was very easy to build, has more space than the small cigar box I have been using thus far (bought at ebay), and with the flatter mixing area I can finally do some knife painting. I put a piece of plexiglass in the mixing area, for easier cleanup".

Not only did Ruth do a beautiful job of making the Pochade kit, but she has already field tested it, producing some stunning work.
Check out Ruth’s work on her site.
http://www.krautart.blogspot.com/

Conquering the world, One Pochade Box at a time.
Enjoy, Jim.

How to build your own Pochade Box

I've been busy working on a project for my other site dedicated to en plein air painting (painting on location from life). Part of my efforts there was to design and build my own Pochade Box and Panel Carrier. When i decided that I would tackle building my own Pochade Box, there was a precise set of criteria I needed to meet. It needed to be a simple, functional design. Most importantly, it must be easily built without the use of a shop full of equipment. I've seen some wonderful “build your own Pochade Boxes” online. But most people do not have routers and table saws, or any method to cut dados into material. So it had to be constructed with just a set of hand tools, any average person would own and simple joinery. No complicated hardware to fabricate. So here are the results of my efforts. If you are interested or would like to see more details visit my other site, Pochade Box Paintings by this link.
Enjoy Jim.

Since I first published my simple Pochade Box Plans in 2009 I have received many images and emails from both students and professionals who have made a  Serrett Box ( as the simple box with a bungee cord has come to be called ) If I do not get a chance to respond to your email or post your kit on my Pochade Box site, let me say it has been so rewarding to see your efforts, and your correspondence has been greatly appreciated.
 Thank you and keep paying it forward.