Armand Cabrera has posted a very good article on how one should be proactive with the galleries that represent their work.
Be Proactive with Gallery Representation
Posted in Business Issues on Sunday, January 31, 2010 by Todd ShafferHenry Raleigh
Posted in Artists on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 by Todd ShafferHenry Raleigh is one of my favorite illustrators from the early 20th century. David Apatoff has put together a very informative introduction to Henry Raleigh.
Marquardt Facial Mask
Posted in Portraiture on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 by Todd ShafferDr. Stephen Marquardt has spend many years analysing beauty and has developed a facial mask — simply a grid for facial structure — which he believes is the ideal human proportion that has been wired into our genetic code.
Matthew Innis has looked at this and tested the grid on a number of photos and paintings of “beautiful” people. The grid does work pretty well, but on the same hand, it doesn’t always agree with our cultural ideals (such as Brad Pitt).
Despite any controversy, what I like about the grid is that it has use in painting figures. It helps to simplify proportions and to look at the human face as a collection of planes. It’s also very similar to the facial grid that Andrew Loomis developed, which you can find in many of his books.
Famous Artist School
Posted in Uncategorized on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 by Todd ShafferThe Famous Artist Course was created back in the mid-20th century, and was a very robust correspondance course that developed the fundamentals of good art through units of study taught by well known and very talent artists.
The Famous Artist School is operating today on the same basic principles, and their program is very similar to the one introduced last century. It’s worth checking out.
Thick Painting with Brad Teare
Posted in Painting Quality, Painting technique, Video on Saturday, December 12, 2009 by Todd ShafferBrad Teare at Thick Paint has posted a number of videos of his technique of painting thickly.
Build Your Own Pochade Box
Posted in Easels on Friday, November 13, 2009 by Todd ShafferJim Serritt posts a instructional on how to build your own pochade box. You can purchase the hardware at Judson Art Outfitters.
Painting for the Impatient with Morgan Weistling
Posted in Morgan Weistling on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Todd Shaffer
Nicolai Fechin History, Palette & Techniques
Posted in Nicolai Fechin on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 by Todd ShafferMatthew Innis has put together an excellent article on Nicolai Fechin posted on his blog Underpaintings.
Not many realize Fechin died of lead poisoning, likely due to his painting technique of licking his palette knives and painting with his fingers.
Jeffrey Watts Gesture Painting DVD
Posted in Jeff Watts, Portrait, Video on Friday, August 14, 2009 by Todd ShafferJeffrey Watts has just released a new 5 hour DVD on what he calls Gesture Painting.
Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida
Posted in Joaquin Sorolla on Friday, July 10, 2009 by Todd ShafferJoaquin Sorolla is the Spanish John Singer Sargent. His complete works are available online here.
The Prado also has an exhibition online here. You can also visit Museo Sorolla for more images.



