Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Memento Mori - No.1






"Say Hello to my little friend!"
Received this great anatomy skull for my Birthday, going to be working on some drawings.






Memento Mori I, Graphite pencil with White chalk on Strathmore toned paper, 5.5 x 8.5 inches




Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 




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




Monday, July 4, 2016

The Fourth of July by Childe Hassam






The Fourth of July by Childe Hassam, 1916, oil on canvas, 36 x 26 inches


This patriotic flag painting was painted by the American Impressionist Childe Hassam (1859-1935).
I believe it to be a street in NY city, one of several pieces he produced in this genre. These are some of the most distinctive and famous works by the artist. There were around thirty painting in his "Flag series". (Notice the flag in the foreground and how it has only 48 stars as Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states in 1916.)  Always an inspiration and one of my favorite artists.


Happy 4th of July!




To learn more about Childe Hassam click this link.




Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 



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


Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Buddha Baby – Finished





I have had this little guy for over a decade, he was a dash ornament for a few years and has been hanging out on the bookshelf for several more. I've always wanted to add him into a painting somewhere/sometime. Plus, I figure anyone that stuck with me this long deserves a little recognition.

Painting, (creating a work of art) is always a balance of the internal and the external. The object I see and how to technically recreate the illusion of it in form and color with pigments. And the internal, that which generated this connection with me enough to want to create a expression of it.




Technique is important, it is the tool bag from which you pull, the foundation on which you create. Usually what attracts me to a subject is the underlying abstraction, how to convey light and form with painted shapes is more than enough of a challenge. Honestly there are times when I am oblivious to what the thing is that I am painting and see only color, edges, shapes – form described by light is a fascinating subject and the medium of oil paint is the most incredible material to depict it with.






The emotional attachment artists have to their subject matter is a difficult thing to explain. Funny thou - it can easily be seen in a piece, the expressive response has a tendency to works its way in unconsciously while you are creating. Sensitivity, intuition, passion are words used to describe that empathy for your subject. When I look at great art, art that really touches me, all tend to exhibit three central traits... skill, creativity and empathy. And empathy being the most elusive, for I feel that it is something which takes time, and something that is more experienced then learned, it is...some reflection of our artistic selves and our inner emotional lives.




“With our thoughts we make the world.” ― Buddha




Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 


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






Friday, April 22, 2016

Finished the challenge!







Here we are at the end of my 30 in 30-day painting challenge and I have got to say that it zoomed by, I must have had fun.                           

I enjoyed exploring composition and colors with these alla-prima paintings. From the beginning I intended to concentrate on design and composition but as I reflect over the collection I started to see an unexpected story being told. As I was looking at the big forms in nature, a theme quickly evolved that was about earth and sky and water. Lots of weather effects, dramatic skies, sunsets and clouds, the forces of nature.  So I was happy that they collectively communicated the spirit of the natural world.

My approach was to be as direct and complete with my brush as I could and record the motif in front of me. The goal was to make quick and spontaneous decisions, describing things simply and abstractly. Yet hang onto that illusion of real space and place and the experience of it. I find myself looking a lot at the Barbizon painters, Charles-Francois Daubigny and Jean Baptiste Camille Corot and the Russian School of the late nineteenth century Isaac Levitan and Ilya Repin.  These painters handle the sense of space so masterfully, so much abstraction in their work, brush handling, surfaces and texture. They could just drag the viewer into the atmosphere of the painting


Anyway this is where my head has been during this endeavor. Looking for insight from artist of the past and observing the world for inspiration.  








You can see all 30 paintings at my Pochade Box Painting blog.



Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim 



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


LINKS:












Saturday, April 9, 2016

Day Twenty of the Thirty Day Challenge






It is twenty days into my Pochade Box Painting challenge. And a few of these sketches I will certainly develop further into larger studio pieces. So far I have enjoyed the process and gained some gratifying hours of pushing paint around. Can’t beat that.



Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 



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





Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Day 9 of the 30 in 30 Challenge.





Day nine of my thirty-day challenge, thinking about the fundamentals of landscape composition and focusing on mark making with these alla-prima studies.




Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 



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





Sunday, March 20, 2016







I have been wanting to do a painting challenge with my Pochade Box for some time now. And figured I would just go for it this spring, with all the color changes it is one of my favorite times to paint on location. I also think because of studio projects I have neglected somewhat, my plein air work and this would be a great way to get those painting chops back up and going.

The procedure will be to produce and post daily, a Pochade box painting. The technique will be mainly wet into wet (alla-prima) completed in one sitting. However, I never underestimate the power of a good glaze.  I will post the finished works on my Pochade Box Paintings blog and at auction on Ebay.

Painting on a daily basis will allowed me to focus on the fundamentals, drawing, value, design and color and hopefully learn something new every day. That synchronicity is my goal, the more I paint, the more I learn about painting, the more I see as an artist.

Experience is the most powerful means of learning.
At the core of evolution is challenge. It is the trial to overcome an obstacle. Creative evolution does not occur in a straight, steady progression but is marked by false starts and dead ends, random leaps in different directions, and periods of fruitless activity.

It is a slow progression.

And there is something else, it takes discipline. That artistic mastery we all strive for in our life requires a constant push. So this is the idea, and the Thirty Day Manifesto, I hope you will follow along and see how I do. 




Explore - Question - Learn - - Enjoy, Jim


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






Monday, February 29, 2016

Buddha Baby







There are things we do or experience in life that seem to fit with our psyche, they just feel comfortable and natural to us. I have always drawn, filled notebooks with Army men and monsters from Mars, I was the kid in class that everyone would ask, “Can you draw me a...”.  I still remember, like it was yesterday the first real paintings I saw in a Museum. They blew my mind, and yet somehow I knew I had to figure out how in the world they did it. And later, the first time I pushed a puddle of oil paint around on a palette, I knew, oh yeah…this is it.


Joseph Campbell wrote, “If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.”



Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim




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





Friday, February 12, 2016

Short and Stout





This little ceramic teapot has such a nice warm brown glaze on it that I found it to be just an interesting subject to paint. I like the images reflected into it and really enjoy the subtle colors. I am using the red and white napkins as a design element to bring a pop of color into the motif. 

The teapot is a small 2 cup pot that is painted just about life size. My thoughts were to paint an intimate painting about a cherished object representing a quiet moment in one’s lifeNow if all of this metaphor comes through the painting, to the viewer I would be surprised. But I do think the emotional intent comes across.


I'm a little teapot
Short and stout
Here is my handle
Here is my spout
When I get all steamed up
I just shout
Tip me over and pour me out

I am a very special pot
It is true
Here is an example of what I can do
I can turn my handle into a spout
Tip me over and pour me out


Short and Stout oil on panel 8 x 10 inches © Jim Serrett




Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 


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




Monday, January 25, 2016

Brown Teapot - WIP - Underpainting Techniques






I am laying out the image on the canvas panel with a thinned mix of brown made from umbers, almost a sepia tone. Wiping out and editing the lines as I go, attempting to get as accurate a drawing as I can. What I want is the basic structure and design over which I will lay my first color pass.


You can find more information and demos on underpainting techniques here.

Links:
Grisaille underpainting



Explore - Question - Learn - Enjoy, Jim 


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