Work from life, paint from life, draw from life...repeat again!
In light of the article on January 22nd in Low Country Weekly (http://www.lcweekly.com/art/5760-new-light-new-life), I thought I would do something each day over the next week or so. This is something I have wanted to do at some point over the last 18 months…..to recognize one individual each day who has been instrumental to me in my own artistic development and growth over what is now 15 years since I re-ignited my pursuit of visual poetry in fine art.
Today's blog post recognizes Gabor Svagrik, artist, teacher and owner of the Tucson Art Academy in Tucson, AZ. http://www.tucsonartacademyonline.com. Gabor is probably one of the two most influential teachers I have taken workshops from, so I think you will enjoy this post!
Here are some of my favorite paintings by Gabor:
My all time favorite painting by Gabor, what a sense and feeling of light!
Boy, where to start? Fair warning, this could be the longest blog post of the whole concept but I encourage you to read it all!
I first met Gabor in 2007. In the course of looking at more fine art, studying the artists I admired, etc. I learned about plein aire painting. "Plein aire" was a French term which essentially meant painting in the open air or outside from life. I was still attending Schrodt Art Studio in Louisville and distinctly recall telling Judy Warren, the owner, that I was going to sign up for a workshop to learn about plein aire painting. She cautioned me as to how difficult and overwhelming that was going to be.
At that time, from what I recall, the Scottsdale Artist School was "the" place to go for art instruction in the country. I don't believe as many artists were teaching workshops on their own back then and online teaching had not even taken off for fine art (at least to my knowledge). Gabor would later be one of the pioneers in online teaching. So, I picked a course titled something to the effect of Introduction to the Basics of Plein Are Painting by Gabor Svagrik. Candidly, it seemed like the only one that sounded introductory to me. I don't think I even spent much time researching Gabor, something I would later do much more of before ever signing up for an artist's workshop.
Gabor is a fabulous teacher, I think the best I have ever taken from as far as having the ability to explain and articulate all aspects of the painting process and what to think about. I think most people who are not familiar with the fine art painting process have no idea just how complex and difficult it is to execute. When you think about all the elements that go into a successful painting.......choosing the subject/idea, design, composition, drawing, values, color, paint application and edges.....it is not anything like the case of the typical image people have of artists........their head in the clouds just painting away producing masterpiece after masterpiece, oh what a wonderful life, it must be so nice!
Gabor and I hit it off pretty well, so much so that I invited him to come to Kentucky twice to teach plein aire workshops. I would organize the workshop, get the participants (enough that Gabor waived my tuition and Gabor stayed with me and my family while he was here so I could extract as much information from him as possible!). I was also fortunate to swing into Tucson a couple times on a leg of a corporate trip and one time had the opportunity to paint with Gabor and Phil Starke in the desert!
Painting by Gabor, actually from a photo while we were out scouting locales to paint from in Louisville, KY
This past fall I went by the house which has since been razed and a new less charming, less character filled home has been built in its place, too bad! But thankfully, as artists we can capture and preserve what may disappear down the road before it does in paint!
While I am so impressed with Gabor's teaching ability and admire his own work greatly, what really sticks out in my mind when I think of Gabor and what I am most thankful for is of course our friendship and what I learned from him over the years.....
1) Gabor stressed and stressed and stressed to me the importance of working from life. Like many artists today, Gabor uses photographs in his own work, as do I, ..............and when teaching he may be the best out there when it comes to teaching you how to use photographs, photoshop and all things digital. However, he always reminds students that without the experience of painting from life you will most likely not produce work where the viewer can see and feel the warmth of the sun and the light, the heavy atmosphere on a humid day, etc. Go back to the first image above if you have any doubt about what I am stating!
I am so grateful that I met Gabor when I did....to this day....I make sure I work from life often....because of his influence I attend a life drawing open studio session one day a week to draw the figure from life, all of my bourbon paintings are painted from life and I try get out at least once a week to paint the landscape from life (need to do a better job on that third one in 2020!.....alas, the demands of galleries and studio work!).
Some examples of work I have done from life:
3) We learn from the past masters and contemporary masters.....Gabor introduced me to so many painters I had never heard of, granted many were out West so understandable but it opened my eyes to so many new artists (past and present) that I could learn from just by studying their paintings...the list included Len Chmiel, Skip Whitcomb, John Budicin, Matt Smith, George Carlson, Phil Starke, Ray Roberts, Luigi Loir, William Reese (his book the Painters Process is a gem), Joseph Zbukvic (fabulous watercolorist), Laura Robb (OMG her edges!), Frits Thaulow (might be the best water painter ever, and I purchased a book on his work through Gabor and owned by William Reese!), Daniel Pinkham (what a colorist), Birge Harrison (nocturnes that no one can touch!) and many, many others. Go to the Tucson Art Academy Online website and click on Inspirations to see a selection of these great artists and you will see what I mean. I so appreciate Gabor exposing me to these artists because I did a get a late start compared to many contemporary painters so these folks provide plenty of motivation to aspire to in my own work.
Finally, a word about online instruction.....it has come a long way! Gabor was a trend setter for sure on this front as far as I can tell. I remember the two of us discussing the limitations and cost of an onsite workshop....airfare, hotel, food, rental car.....I do believe Gabor pioneered online teaching. Give it go!....I also took Phil Starke's online still life course, it was great! Phil is also another one who offers a lot of workshop opportunities online and he is a fabulous painter and teacher as well! I highly recommend them both.
Cheers!
Michael
Today's blog post recognizes Gabor Svagrik, artist, teacher and owner of the Tucson Art Academy in Tucson, AZ. http://www.tucsonartacademyonline.com. Gabor is probably one of the two most influential teachers I have taken workshops from, so I think you will enjoy this post!
Here are some of my favorite paintings by Gabor:
My all time favorite painting by Gabor, what a sense and feeling of light!
 |
| Again, a beautiful sense of light executed by Gabor |
Boy, where to start? Fair warning, this could be the longest blog post of the whole concept but I encourage you to read it all!
I first met Gabor in 2007. In the course of looking at more fine art, studying the artists I admired, etc. I learned about plein aire painting. "Plein aire" was a French term which essentially meant painting in the open air or outside from life. I was still attending Schrodt Art Studio in Louisville and distinctly recall telling Judy Warren, the owner, that I was going to sign up for a workshop to learn about plein aire painting. She cautioned me as to how difficult and overwhelming that was going to be.
At that time, from what I recall, the Scottsdale Artist School was "the" place to go for art instruction in the country. I don't believe as many artists were teaching workshops on their own back then and online teaching had not even taken off for fine art (at least to my knowledge). Gabor would later be one of the pioneers in online teaching. So, I picked a course titled something to the effect of Introduction to the Basics of Plein Are Painting by Gabor Svagrik. Candidly, it seemed like the only one that sounded introductory to me. I don't think I even spent much time researching Gabor, something I would later do much more of before ever signing up for an artist's workshop.
Gabor is a fabulous teacher, I think the best I have ever taken from as far as having the ability to explain and articulate all aspects of the painting process and what to think about. I think most people who are not familiar with the fine art painting process have no idea just how complex and difficult it is to execute. When you think about all the elements that go into a successful painting.......choosing the subject/idea, design, composition, drawing, values, color, paint application and edges.....it is not anything like the case of the typical image people have of artists........their head in the clouds just painting away producing masterpiece after masterpiece, oh what a wonderful life, it must be so nice!
Gabor and I hit it off pretty well, so much so that I invited him to come to Kentucky twice to teach plein aire workshops. I would organize the workshop, get the participants (enough that Gabor waived my tuition and Gabor stayed with me and my family while he was here so I could extract as much information from him as possible!). I was also fortunate to swing into Tucson a couple times on a leg of a corporate trip and one time had the opportunity to paint with Gabor and Phil Starke in the desert!
Painting by Gabor, actually from a photo while we were out scouting locales to paint from in Louisville, KY
This past fall I went by the house which has since been razed and a new less charming, less character filled home has been built in its place, too bad! But thankfully, as artists we can capture and preserve what may disappear down the road before it does in paint!
While I am so impressed with Gabor's teaching ability and admire his own work greatly, what really sticks out in my mind when I think of Gabor and what I am most thankful for is of course our friendship and what I learned from him over the years.....
1) Gabor stressed and stressed and stressed to me the importance of working from life. Like many artists today, Gabor uses photographs in his own work, as do I, ..............and when teaching he may be the best out there when it comes to teaching you how to use photographs, photoshop and all things digital. However, he always reminds students that without the experience of painting from life you will most likely not produce work where the viewer can see and feel the warmth of the sun and the light, the heavy atmosphere on a humid day, etc. Go back to the first image above if you have any doubt about what I am stating!
I am so grateful that I met Gabor when I did....to this day....I make sure I work from life often....because of his influence I attend a life drawing open studio session one day a week to draw the figure from life, all of my bourbon paintings are painted from life and I try get out at least once a week to paint the landscape from life (need to do a better job on that third one in 2020!.....alas, the demands of galleries and studio work!).
Some examples of work I have done from life:
2) Gabor has a very high standard for what constitutes good work and an even higher standard for what constitutes great work. Anytime I have received a compliment from Gabor on one of my pieces, it is very much a feather in my cap, because it doesn't come often given his standard, time commitments, etc...... it means a great deal to me. The longer I have been at this painting endeavor, I kind of cringe at what I thought was great work when I first met Gabor, so thanks to him my standard is so much higher today.
3) We learn from the past masters and contemporary masters.....Gabor introduced me to so many painters I had never heard of, granted many were out West so understandable but it opened my eyes to so many new artists (past and present) that I could learn from just by studying their paintings...the list included Len Chmiel, Skip Whitcomb, John Budicin, Matt Smith, George Carlson, Phil Starke, Ray Roberts, Luigi Loir, William Reese (his book the Painters Process is a gem), Joseph Zbukvic (fabulous watercolorist), Laura Robb (OMG her edges!), Frits Thaulow (might be the best water painter ever, and I purchased a book on his work through Gabor and owned by William Reese!), Daniel Pinkham (what a colorist), Birge Harrison (nocturnes that no one can touch!) and many, many others. Go to the Tucson Art Academy Online website and click on Inspirations to see a selection of these great artists and you will see what I mean. I so appreciate Gabor exposing me to these artists because I did a get a late start compared to many contemporary painters so these folks provide plenty of motivation to aspire to in my own work.
Finally, a word about online instruction.....it has come a long way! Gabor was a trend setter for sure on this front as far as I can tell. I remember the two of us discussing the limitations and cost of an onsite workshop....airfare, hotel, food, rental car.....I do believe Gabor pioneered online teaching. Give it go!....I also took Phil Starke's online still life course, it was great! Phil is also another one who offers a lot of workshop opportunities online and he is a fabulous painter and teacher as well! I highly recommend them both.
Cheers!
Michael
Comments
Post a Comment