Paul Ingbretson Talks About Painting

The idea of painting the thing as a whole, the unity of the big general impression, necessitates having all the parts together at one time. What, if any, legitimate ‘dodges’ or stratagems may be used to maintain visual integrity when all the elements of the ‘scene’ cannot always be present? In Response to Richard QUESTION: This one left me wondering what your thoughts are concerning Velazquez painting such a complex work as “les Meninas” or “The Spinners”. Would you say he had the entire “ensemble” in front of him each time he worked on the painting, or would it be necessary only for the start? Could he then complete the painting with parts missing relying on memory of the whole and perhaps a final shot with the entire cast in place to pull it together? Richard

This concerns the importance of understanding the major value units of a ‘scene’ and how to grasp and maintain them in a painting. Blurring the eyes is always a key to organizing the values. In response to Gail QUESTION: I don’t know whether you’ve addressed this issue in one of your videos, but I’ve read in several sources that Sargent advised using a limited number of values: three in a drawing and no more than five in a painting. Do you have an opinion on this? Would there be an advantage? Apparently the human eye can detect 400 values so it doesn’t seem that having a larger number of values in an artwork would be confusing or wasted on the viewer. After studying the values in some Sargent works I’m not convinced he held himself to that standard anyway, except perhaps in his murals. Do you consciously limit the number of values in your own work? I don’t remember you discussing this in the studio.

Impressionist drawing naturally evolved when painters began seeing the world as strictly visual phenomena and not objects. This is a look at how some of the French Impressionists managed it...and includes some more Boston School discussion. QUESTION: Let me get you into trouble , you speak of impressionists and mentioned the Boston school but how about the work of the original ones? Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Auguste Renoir, Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas? If you look at their drawings they use line and symbolism to express the real world, except Monet who takes it to the idea of color and light , his pencils (he even did caricatures) seem to have the idea of line... is this impressionist line or how you go about it understanding this way of drawing? Antiguous

The idea of painting the thing as a whole, the unity of the big general impression, necessitates having all the parts together at one time. What, if any, legitimate ‘dodges’ or stratagems may be used to maintain visual integrity when all the elements of the ‘scene’ cannot always be present? In Response to Richard QUESTION: This one left me wondering what your thoughts are concerning Velazquez painting such a complex work as “les Meninas” or “The Spinners”. Would you say he had the entire “ensemble” in front of him each time he worked on the painting, or would it be necessary only for the start? Could he then complete the painting with parts missing relying on memory of the whole and perhaps a final shot with the entire cast in place to pull it together? Richard

This concerns the importance of understanding the major value units of a ‘scene’ and how to grasp and maintain them in a painting. Blurring the eyes is always a key to organizing the values. In response to Gail QUESTION: I don’t know whether you’ve addressed this issue in one of your videos, but I’ve read in several sources that Sargent advised using a limited number of values: three in a drawing and no more than five in a painting. Do you have an opinion on this? Would there be an advantage? Apparently the human eye can detect 400 values so it doesn’t seem that having a larger number of values in an artwork would be confusing or wasted on the viewer. After studying the values in some Sargent works I’m not convinced he held himself to that standard anyway, except perhaps in his murals. Do you consciously limit the number of values in your own work? I don’t remember you discussing this in the studio.

Impressionist drawing naturally evolved when painters began seeing the world as strictly visual phenomena and not objects. This is a look at how some of the French Impressionists managed it...and includes some more Boston School discussion. QUESTION: Let me get you into trouble , you speak of impressionists and mentioned the Boston school but how about the work of the original ones? Claude Monet, Berthe Morisot, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Auguste Renoir, Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas? If you look at their drawings they use line and symbolism to express the real world, except Monet who takes it to the idea of color and light , his pencils (he even did caricatures) seem to have the idea of line... is this impressionist line or how you go about it understanding this way of drawing? Antiguous

Paul spends some time remembering and thanking some of those who encouraged his efforts and enabled the evolution of his skills. QUESTION: Who in your painting life helped you to achieve your dreams?

Apart from being representational painters Bouguereau and the Boston School have little in common. We focus here on showing some of the key differences between the academic and the impressionist approach; the imaginative painter and the painter of the world immediately before him, the impressionist. QUESTION:I wonder what ur thoughts are on Adolph Burguereau , i think he has many similarities with the boston school and altho his paintings are very detailed it has alot of value play and the quality of the arabesque Sagi

This short video briefly suggests how to use both eyes virtually all the time when painting from life, how to see flat, and how to see the unified field simultaneously. In response to Mist QUESTION: I started a night time painting so that I would be able to look for longer times without changes in the light. It has been very enjoyable. When looking at the picture plane I notice I need one eye closed to avoid a double vision of everything beyond the plane. Do we take the visual impression in through one eye or both eyes open? Specifically when looking through the view finder. Edit: episode 21 answers my question well enough about double vision. I don't draw double vision so closing one eye when needed is just fine, or even backing up or whatever to get rid of the visual distortion. Unless im painting a vision about double vision that is :) maybe a painting of being drunk lol Mist

Truth in color is in the relations between notes. How that works and how managing relationships prevents color distortion and reduces subjectivity and arbitrariness in painting from life is what I am trying to bring out of these questions. In Response to Antiguos QUESTION:I have a question, color theory says that the outside world is colorless, that actual Color is not the property of objects but the retina. I take it this is what the impreossionists where searching. How do we deal with simultaneous contrast? Or succesive constrast or an afterimage? The retina plays color tricks on what we see, and light affects color since it changes with the ilumination. Wouldn’t that make the impressionists work illusory and not truthful? Since color is not real, a teacher will see color one way , and the student will see it another way, the camera can’t even capture color? Wouldnt it make the work of the masters more real? Since they painted monocromatically representing form , and separated color? Even though they did not know what we know of color by way of science? Color as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, why then bother to pursue something that is not true? These then would mean that the expressionists were actually trying to link color to emotion? Isn’t this the way we respond more to visual images? In a painting that has a harmonious combination we feel is a good picture because those relationships are right. Color theory says that the eye is always balancing and adjusting what reaches the retina, because vision as any other sense was an adaptation to survive, human beings were not born to be painters but is an acquired skill since we learn to see because our eyes get trained. The average Joe does not see the world as a painter, yet we talk about beauty , poetry and all that Jazz, but is actually not how people see, a painter has overdevelop his eye by observation (imagine acquiring a microscope or a magnifying glass ), but how can we say that we offer a truth if its only subjective? Antiguos

An attempt to point out and clarify some things about the way the impressionist naivete works. Seeing and registering visual information is easier without knowing what the object is. In Response ot Anonymous QUESTION: Could you discuss the way you look and think when painting impressions of the eye. Anon

Conversation commencing on the early practices of Velasquez. Grisaille underpainting and/or other preparations. Copying from the masters in general. Also Boston School practices, and those of Gerome, Ingres and Carolus-Duran. QUESTION:I am going to copy Velazquez Old Woman Frying Eggs and interested about his early painting method, how he started the preparation of the canvas. I think he used some reddish earth colors ( burnt umbra, sienna ) for the base, because if you look up close the painting there are a lot of reddish color break through on the surface witch i think its the base layer. After he roughly but carefully sketched the basic shapes with some dark colors, but after that i dont know how he continued. Can you talk about the whole painting method? Andrea

Rather than focus on things he would do differently, Paul talks about aspects of his training, practices, and early thinking for which he has no regrets, that he wouldn’t do differently.. In response to Poopy QUESTION: tf would be amazing if you could do a video on exercises for beginners and which ones are the most useful or better, how would you teach yourself if you had to start all over again? also, do you have or plan to have some kind of online course? Poopy

Very brief Introduction to a list of books Gammell recommended and reviewed for the student of painting. The review, an essay which he gave his students in the ‘70’s can be acquired at the various Ingbretson Studios internet locations. In Response to Various Viewers QUESTION: What books do you recommend for your students?

This discussion focuses on different ways of measuring with the eyes. Using his painting, Warm and Cool, Paul outlines a way of using your eyes to measure, or rather to get a concept of the thing fixed in your eyes, that is consistent no matter whether doing angles, shapes or color. In response to Mist QUESTION:When measuring relations of size I have a habit of picturing a copy of the smaller shape and I can see how many times it goes into the larger. Is this measuring in my head just as bad as using a device or is this the way I am supposed to grasp the relation of size? I have the feeling that proportion is a more abstract sense that applies not only to size but the other visual phenomenon as well. So when you grasp the relationship of angle or hue does that feel the same in your head as when you grasp the relationship of size? In my current way I picture vertical alongside two other angles I see, that feels different in my head compared to when I judge the relationship of size.. Mist

A review of the advice and comments of Boston School’s Frank Benson as it relates to design and its importance. From the notes taken by his daughter, Eleanor, after painting critiques she received from him. QUESTION: What have Boston School painters said specifically about design or composition?

Discussion of reading resources and then the first of a series of presentations of the aphorisms or shoptalk on which Paul based his development as a painter. This first one focuses on numerous quotes from Gammell critiques but includes others as well. In response to Christian QUESTION:You have mentioned Paul Valery, the French intellectual. Can you talk about this man and his impact on Gammell's thought? Are there any intellectuals that have influenced your thinking? Did you teach yourself to study or have any techniques for reading the sayings of artists? I ask because you have mentioned aphorisms and C.S. Lewis as someone who interested you. Christian

Paul looks at the work of the Scottish painter, Patreick William Adams, who worked around the same time as the Boston School, with perhaps some of the same influences, and compares that richly colored realism and sunlight painting to the impressionist Boston School. QUESTION: I know you would like to do less comparison videos, but for your own interest you may want to look at the work of the Scottish Patreick William Adams as his interiors look strikingly like Boston School work. Jack

Tom Dunlay, who preceded Paul as a student of R. H. Ives Gamell, is interviewed in Gammell's Williamstown, Massachusetts summer studios in which they worked. This is an effort to bring a clearer sense of both the teaching and the man who have been so important to the revitalization of painting in America today. It covers Tom's search for a teacher, his studio and landscape experiences with Gammell, as well as the larger influence he had on Tom's life.

A facebook conversation occurred recently in which banter went back and forth about whether the Boston School used “glazing.” That string of conversation is shown and then Paul reviews the question with another Boston trained painter in his first attempt to use Zoom while making a video. QUESTION: Does the Boston School incorporate glazing in its methods?

An attempt to demonstrate how I unearth the main line of the landscape before me and how I use it to create an overall unity of “line.” In Response to S QUESTION: Would you walk us through the way you search out the main line of your composition and then what you do with it – how you use it? S

This is a limited survey of some of America’s 19th Century painters who specialized in painting the themes of the wild west. The evident split between the academic and more impressionistically educated is one of the observations made. In Response to Richard W QUESTION: Would you mind talking a little about the old Western artists? Richard W

Points raised by Annican on aspects of painting including use of pigments, glazing, scumbling and more, but also issues related to the painter’s journey. In response to Annican QUESTION: Do you ever become blind to your work? Any advice on how to see with "fresh" eyes? What are some traps that you see students fall into? Such as chasing a style vs learning to see. Would you describe some more about the powerful moments of discovery in your visual journey? Is wiping out to reveal lights of any value? What are some best practices for using white? Can luminous areas be thin or is it necessary to thicken the paint? Is there a good way to use a scumble or a glaze? Annican

Museum visits can be overwhelming to the young student but knowing great art is as important as knowing nature herself. So many new things to see; so many possible directions painting goes. This is a collection of things I have found useful in using the museum visit to further the knowledge base. In Response to Rasha QUESTION: Now that many museums are reopening, do you have any advice about what things i can do there to make the best out of the experience? I am planning to go weekly Rasha

Painting’s history has a remarkable continuity over time. The best is clearly of a long and timeless lineage while the moment, well, just is what it is. This is a question dealing with the new motives in art schools only on the periphery. In response to Fay QUESTION: The best art has always been radical, innovative by necessity (the artist’s need to overcome the inadequacy of the existing modes of expression), and extremists (taking something to its extreme). Contemporary artists honour those of the past by following their example, not by aping their work. Every artist’s work is ultimately about the experience of now, not the past nor the future. It is made for the present, even if it fails to be recognised or acknowledged right away. I want my work to bring the present moment to the conscious surface of the viewer’s experience, to make them alive to the present moment. I think an artist’s work gets most interesting when it is taken to its own inherent extreme. “... art is a context rather than a medium.” (On Being An Artist, by Michael Craig-Martin p.281) *YBAs - the Young British Artists of the late 1980s and 1990s, such as Damian Hirst, et al.,. Could you give me your views/responses to these six points? For example, your talk on memory drawing from your rear-view mirror relates very much to point 4 “work to bring the present moment to the conscious surface of the viewer’s experience, to make them alive to the present moment.” Fay