Born in Buffalo, New York, May 11th 1944, Jerry Ross is a well-known painter in the United States and also in Italy. He has exhibited his paintings in very important art galleries in various cities, such as Rome, Milan, Las Vegas, Portland, Florence, Bologna and Eugene, where he now resides. He has won several prizes for his work, such as a Gold Medal from the commune of Corsico near Milan, and the Mayor’s Award in Eugene, Oregon. He has been an organizer and innovator regarding the fine arts in Eugene. The Italian schools of art most significant for him have been the I Macchiaioli and Scapigliatura (verismo) schools. He taught Taijiquan in Eugene for many years and his work is highly influenced by Chinese concepts such as the Taijitu and Tao. Jerry teaches at the Maude Kerns Art Center in Eugene where he was once voted the most valuable teacher.

1. Introduction

2. Overall Process

3. Getting s Started

4. Imprimatura

5. Creating the Macchia

6. Big Shapes

7. Underpainting

8. Establish Values

9. Block-in

10. Elaborate

11. Keeping It Abstract

Introduction

“The centrality of realism in visual representation raises many complex questions of taste. For example, banal photographic reaiism has always been associated with philistinism or a taste for the commonplace and kitch.” – Art in an Age of Civil Struggle 1848-1872 by Albert Boime

When painting out of doors one needs to capture the ever-changing landscape quickly and “by surprise” as the I Macchiaioli masters would phrase it. But before plunging into paint, one needs to do some preliminary sketching and planning. This is called establishing the “macchia” (stain or spot) and is sometimes translated as a strong chiaroscuro, a sketch showing strong contrast between light and dark.

Note: Use a small sketch pad and try to sketch with brush-style ink pens (COP/C sketch C2, C5, and 100: light grey, medium grey, and black respectively)

Best results are often achieved by starting with the medium grey. Try to establish a quick 3-value study.

This “Macchia” will guarantee a stronger impact for the final painting, avoiding a “generic landscape” look and providing a check for the actual painting to see if it matches the spirit, feeling, and impact of the motif.

These “Tai-Chi” sketches (after the Chinese yin-yang symbol) provide white and black balance and establish the overall design. The sketch can be transferred to the larger canvas for painting.

DSCN5752.emJPG.JPG

The idea of “Macchia” is to get the first impression down and make it correct because no addition work done on the painting will help if the “Macchia” is not strong.

The overall painting process:

Step 1: Establish the Macchia sketch. Note previous examples were “mass Macchia” because they emphasized mass. This pencil sketch example is a “line Macchia” because it establishes the same yin and yang balance with line and some shading, for the most part.

Step2: Imprimatura – using Liquin Original (Liquin is an alkyd medium used in oil painting that is formulated to speed up the drying rate of oil paint. It also increases gloss and flow. Liquin (now branded Liquin Original) is produced by Winsor & Newton) mixed with mineral spirits to speed drying, paint an underpainting with a grey (mix titanium white and mars black) using a value of five or six (the middle range in value).

Step3: Establish large shapes. Copy (transfer) the Macchia sketch to the canvas using dry brush (just mars black pigment and very little or no medium).

Step4: Underpainting accents – Using thin paint, establish an undercoat indicating dark accents (your darkest darks) using liquin mixed with thinner. Dark accents in the foreground require some alizarin plus black (they need to appear darker).

Note: You can also add some of the highlights (lightest lights) to create a more exaggerated chiaroscuro. Note that there will be some lights inside of the dark areas and some darks inside of the light areas when looking at the overall chiaroscuro balance.

Step5: Block-in: Simultaneously establish hues and vaues of large shapes by comparing pairs of shapes, one pair at a time, with one another. Use a 7 plus or minus two (5 to 9) standard and only introduce at most nine values (although the minimum of five is recommended). Paint thin at this stage until you understand the hues and values. Use the Macchiaioli “spot” method when establishing hues: just place a dab of paint in a spot and study the color effect. Do not paint entire shapes with one hue at this stage.

Note: lock in darks first, then the lights. Use more pigment when painting lights. Paint from “front to back” meanin the sky first, then distant objects, then middle ground, and foreground last. Paint only large shapes and avoid details at this stage. Do not paint half-tons at this stage, just lights and darks. Keep it abstract for as long as possible.

Step6: Finish the painting – add half-tones, modeling, refinement of large shapes, add smaller shapes inside of the large ones. Add brushwork and simplify shapes that might appear too complex. Remove detail where it detracts from the large statement. Stop painting before it is overly finished.

Note: This painting was done for demo purposes and, in actual practice, could be further elaborated in the studio. By stopping early, however, the “Chi” (life energy) of the painting is maintained.

UNIT	Direct Painting
ONE	Alla Prima