Skulls and Roses: Sprick Demo Review

Daniel Sprick
Orchids and Human Head
Oil on Board- 22" x 18"  (from Salon d"Arts 2010)

 

 

Happy Summer All! I have been painting and having a great time with all my summer students but before too much time passed I wanted to post my quick review of the wonderful Daniel Sprick demo from a few weeks ago. Sprick is one of the most celebrated artists in my home state of Colorado and perhaps one of the most accomplished realist painters in the country.

He’s known for his oil paintings of  interiors reminiscent of the Dutch interior masters and beautifully rendered contemporary portraits and figures. Sprick's painting "worlds" are chock full of mind boggling painting challenges such mirrors, double window reflections, fabric folds, skulls, petals, flesh tones, self- portraits, and even insect parts.  Sprick’s an artist who has reached such a high level with his craft and technical skill that when I see his meticulous oil paintings I can’t help but wonder:  How in the world does he do that?

Daniel Sprick Still Life Setup--Love the wrapped skull!

To my knowledge Sprick doesn’t paint many demos or give workshops, though I do see him on the roster for this year's Weekend with the Masters which I bet would be amazing.  So after many years of admiration I was really looking forward to his still life demo earlier this month at Meininger’s Art Store in Denver.

Sprick began with an intimate still life arrangement (on top of a sculpture stand) that included several iconic Sprick items such as a skull (which he had wrapped in cellophane) and a single white rose.  (Note, shortly after he started painting a summer afternoon storm darkened the natural north light so my pictures are a bit murky.)

To start, he massed in his large shape relationships with a neutral tone relationships on a medium size (12x16 maybe) standard canvas board.  I loved his interesting U-shaped composition. And I have to say I was a bit relieved when Sprick noted he might spend several hours if not days fine tuning a single subject such as the skull even though he’s painted it many times. As “daily painter” I couldn’t help wonder what it would be like to concentrate on and perfect a single apple or lemon. Could be an interesting exercise...

Daniel Sprick Palette

Sprick’s painting surface quality is satiny smooth.  During the demo he often softened his edges with a fan brush as he worked along.  He has a quiet thoughtful approach—carefully mixing color piles on a large glass surface with a knife.  He didn’t list all his palette colors but I saw he premixed a nice warm white with what I think was Titanium White and Cad. Lemon.This is a great idea if you tend to overuse pure white to lighten colors.

I half expected a hyper realist painter to be detached, literal, and rigid but Sprick manner was warm, humble, and flexible.  At one point he joked that he didn’t care for a certain type of brush because they shed which makes him bristle. Get it? Bristle. Ahh artist humor.  At another point, he said he didn’t love the tall green bottle and would likely change the color of it. You can see it's bluer in his painting.

This demo was only a couple of hours so an artist with this attention to finishing detail can’t complete his work but it was still fascinating to observe a master craftsman like Sprick and gain insight into his process. If I ever have the opportunity to take a workshop from him I wouldn't hesitate. For more info about him I recommend this video interview conducted by the Denver Art Museum.

It was SAMtastic!

Botanic Garden Hollyhocks-12x12Oil on Linen Panel

Click to Bid-Thank You!

Whew have just about recovered from SAM! I want to thank everyone—friends, fellow artists, art lovers, and my students for visiting me at the Summer Art Market a week before last.  Especially Saturday when the temp was pushing 100 by mid-day.  Sunday was a perfect plein air market day though—sunny,  gentle breezes…It was like being on vacation hanging out in my comfy red director’s chair.

Early AM setup on Grant Street--a beautiful summer morning.

So again, my thanks to my many students and their families who took time out of their buy summer weekend to support me and the Market.  It’s always nice to see familiar faces when your “on display” for a few days. (Best of all, this year, I did not slice a big piece my big off during set up--see last year’s show post if you want the gory details.)

I’ve participated in the SAM for over 11 years and am honored  to be a part of such an amazing group of artists all in one place.  It’s a lot of time and effort to get ready for any art festival or show but being part of this community makes it all worth it.

A special thanks to all my collectors at this show where there is so much gorgeous high quality artwork to choose from.  I sold several  my favorite paintings I’ve posted this year which is always exciting to some new collectors--which was fantastic. But I particularly want to acknowledge several repeat collectors and art lovers who visit me each year at this show. 

One buyer said she remembered buying from me over 10 years ago and still enjoys that landscape. 
Another buyer (who is a talented designer with Armigo Design Group here in Denver) told me that an alphabet abstract painting she bought a few years back can be seen in this Better Homes and Garden Decorating magazine article.

Now, ironically, if you read my post a a while back about the importance of a signing your work AND with clear signature somewhere on your painting (for example printed on the back if you have an artistic signature) you'll see that I'm not credited in the article. For which Beth kindly apologized (she'd purchased the piece several years before the article) and I know she did her best to find me. So note to self.  But I'm thrilled to see my work in place none the less so thanks so much Beth for this nice surprise.

Colorado Realism Master Daniel Sprick blocking in his still life.

June’s been a busy and exciting art month so better get back to my easel. In my next post I’ll share my experience at the Daniel Sprick demo I saw the first weekend in June at Meiningers art store. Simply amazing. I've wanted to see Sprick (one of the best realist painters in the country) paint in person for as long as I can remember so waiting in line for over an hour for front row "rock star" demo seats was worth it.

Sante Fe Souvenirs

Colorful Casita-8x8 oil on linen panel-SOLD

First I'd like to welcome any visitors from the Summer Art Market website--I look forward to seeing you at the Market!

Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe

Like so many artists before me, New Mexico is one of my favorite places to visit. As an artist, you can't help but feel both welcomed and inspired by all the art, color, and creativity. I'm not much for long car rides but if I wanted to I could leave my front door around 11 AM, drive due south and be in beautiful Santa Fe just in time to have some veggie tacos and mango margs at the Coyote Cafe rooftop cantina at sunset.

Mm-chocolate pastries at the Maven

 In the morning before I head down Canyon Road to stroll through all the galleries I'd probably stop by the Chocolate Maven Bakery for some chilaquiles (my favorite breakfast of all) and some spicy Mexican hot chocolate. Sounds pretty good doesn't it?  As I recall, this little adobe home was either along Canyon Road or just off.  I'm hoping to visit Santa Fe again this fall again and I'm already looking forward to it.

Quick note about my recent posted smaller daily oil painting like today's posting. Typically, I'd be selling these on the Daily Paintworks site but I like to take as many paintings as I can to the Summer Art Market in a few weeks. But after June 10 I'll be uploading my paintings again on the DPW site for bidding. In the meantime, I wish everyone a colorful and creative May!

Fine Feathers

"Fine Feathers" 8x8 oil on linen panel

Happy May everyone! I think one of the hardest tasks any busy artist has is prioritization. I'm taking a quick break from painting and getting ready for the upcoming Summer Art Market in just a few weeks on the weekend of June 9 and June 10 to post this new bird painting.

If you've prepared for a show or festival you know there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes in addition to painting--such as event paperwork, getting your tent ready, ordering post cards (love Vistaprint for those), etc. In other words, many tasks that tempt you outside of your main goal which is creating art.

Lately I've been trying some new colors on my palette. In this little bird oil painting it's Old Holland Caribbean Blue--which is a wonderful and not very common blue-green thalo turquoise pigment (PB16 for my fellow pigment enthusiasts).

Thanks for stopping by--be sure to check out the Scarlet Owl Pinterest boards for more art inspiration. I look forward to seeing you all at the Summer Art Market and for all my fellow artists in the show I hope you all have a super successful sunny show this year!

I Break For Irises

Blue Tongued Beauties 8x8 Oil on Linen

And anything else that I think might make an interesting photo that I could use for painting.  I’m loving Kevin Weckbach’s “Master Class” in oil painting but I've learned already that I need to keep taking a lot more photos.  He gives weekly “homework” and it’s nice to have a variety of subject and themes to choose from.

Photography is not my strong suit so I find I have to take dozens of photos to get just that right painting. Last Saturday morning (while visiting a neighborhood tag sale) I spotted these intense blue violet irises. 

In Kevin’s class we’ve been reviewing the importance of strong, unique, specific shapes as well as dark and light pattern in paintings. So I really tried to concentrate on achieving both in this study.  Speaking of Kevin there's a nice article about him in this month's Southwest Art Magazine previewing his one man show opening on May 11 (my birthday) at Gallery 1261 in downtown Denver. I can't wait to see this and Wicked for the first time that night.


The Summer Art Market is (yikes) only about 5 weeks away on June 9 so I’ll be concentrating most of the next month on painting for that. Most of the paintings I'm posting from now until then will be on sale at SAM-- Particularly since I have an entire booth to fill this year which is both daunting and exciting.

Quick thanks to all my Spring students--Hope you all have a wonderful May month of creativity, spring joy, and artistic discovery!

Amazing Glazing: A Rose In Progress

Transparent Oil Glazed Rose in Progress 9x12 Ampersand Panel

Happy Spring Monday! Last week a student asked if we could paint a photo realistic oil glazed flower.  While I greatly admire this glowing light and shadow style and technique, I tend to paint a bit more loosely and “painterly.”  So for added guidance we watched another Colorado artist Arleta Pech’s DVD –Transparent Oils The Basics, which I highly recommend for anyone interested in learning an easy method for transparent oil glazing.  If you’re a watercolor painter looking to try oils I think it would be an interesting way to start since the planning and thought process is much the same. 

Ms. Pech recommends a smooth surface for this type of painting—we used a 9x12 Ampersand gesso panel—it’s has a very nice velvety finish. Smooth but not too slippery.  Other key materials are all transparent oil paints, Walnut painting medium, synthetic brushes for thin (very thin) paint application and some softer sable brushes (or sable synthetic) for blending out.  If you enjoy blending your oils you’ll love this method. To clean up the edges we used the walnut medium and a clean bristle brush to “pull up” any unwanted color or to lighten areas.

There’s also very little direct mixing of color—mostly layering much like watercolor glazing if you’ve tried that. Give or take, this painting will eventually have 6-8 glazes. This is the first stage—starting with the lighter colors in the background (which will be much darker) and the lighter colors of the rose.  One of aspects of this particular technique that I like is that there is no under painting.  Another interesting feature is that the white in the painting is the white of the board much as you’d “save your whites” on your watercolor paper.  

For an “alla prima” painter like myself, this type of painting takes some patience but I think it will be worth the wait. Can’t wait to add the additional layers—particularly the dark background. As summer approaches I usually have some openings in my class schedule so please email for more info about my classes in oil, watercolor, or acrylic. Have a wonderful colorful week!

Showers Bring Flowers

"Blue Butterflies in a Jar" oil on linen panel 8x8

Like many artists, I love to paint irises. Iris means "rainbow" the velvety petals have that wonderful flying butterfly shape so it's no surprise it's a favorite artistic subject. These irises were in my garden last spring and I took a few reference photos of them since they last so briefly.  For this oil floral study today I had two specific painting goals:

• More impasto texture in the petals
• Working with an intense red background (in this case I had used an old red abstract painting as a background)

American Museum of Western Art: The Anschutz Collection
If you have a passion for western art like I do, be sure to note that the Collection is going to begin regular public tours on Mondays and Wednesday starting next month (May 2012) in Downtown Denver.  This should be an amazing collection that includes Western greats like Georgia O’Keeffe and  I can’t wait to see it.
 
My Favorite Oil Painting Supplies
I’ve added a new page to my blog (see tabs above) about my “must have” oil painting supplies for those of you interested. I’ve started with the oil supplies (which is the media I’m currently painting with the most) but will also add favorite my watercolor and acrylic supplies.  Also if you’re interested in my favorite art books check out my Scarlet Owl  Pinterest boards.  Speaking of Pinterest (I'm up to 200 pins already) thanks to all who’ve pinned my art so far!
 
To end today’s posting I’d like to share a recent fortune cookie fortune that I thought was perfect for artists: Your genuine talent will find its way to success. Keep practicing….And so I'm back to the easel. Happy practicing in your studio!