Paul Ingbretson Talks About Painting

Chiaroscuro and, particularly what is called tenebrism, are perhaps the most striking qualities in Caravaggio’s work. They are produced by the use of a very particular, and easy to understand and recreate, kind of studio lighting. Also shows other painters including Rembrandt, Vermeer, and the Boston School men to discuss studio light. QUESTION: Can you talk about how Caravaggio manages to earn the effects of tenebrism and chiaroscuro? Especially on David with the Head of Goliath. DAVID

A revisit to the question of how to use the eyes when working like a Boston School painter. Focus, generalized and particular, lost and found, coming out of a fog, and aspects of the question of the ‘finish’ are all addressed. QUESTION: You have to retrain the way you see. And correct the instinct to focus on one thing. If nearsighted, as I am, is it helpful to take off your glasses until further along in the painting process?JAN

Oil painting is a visual form of self expression and the many motives and inspirations as well as how they affect the work are points discussed here. In response to Richard QUESTION: A painters personal journey. The why and how of art. Why does one paint and how do you go about expressing that in a chosen medium - Hopefully not a station one arrives at but a manner of travel. RICHARD

Rembrandt was an imaginative painter, an illustrator, with a remarkable ability to bring mood and feeling to every part and the whole. He also loved projecting light effects as much as any impressionist. More pictures and discussion in this follow-up to Talk No. 80.. QUESTION: Could you please comment on a contemporary of Velazquez, Rembrandt (especially given that this year is the 350th anniversary of his death) and any influence he too may have had on the impressionist approach to painting (especially in his later years). I love Rembrandt’s treatment of light and his ability to convey emotion. KATE

Having success painting in changeable circumstances is difficult but there are ways to work through them and achieve reasonable results. Some of the thinking involved is discussed here. QUESTION: Certain paintings by J. Sargent that where painted out doors over a long period of time (carnation, lily lily rose for example as described by Charteris) must pose many more difficulties than working from spots, effects and nature as it appears in a steady north light of a studio.RICHARD

Despite not being a key to understanding them, Rembrandt is doing a number of things suggestive of the thinking associated with the Boston School. This covers his use of light and particularly his ‘search’ mentality as well as the issue of expression. QUESTION: Could you please comment on a contemporary of Velazquez, Rembrandt (especially given that this year is the 350th anniversary of his death) and any influence he too may have had on the impressionist approach to painting (especially in his later years). I love Rembrandt’s treatment of light and his ability to convey emotion. KATE

Gammell was a key to my understanding of the entirety of painting as an art form and was entirely human as well. Some of Paul’s experiences are shared with a view to opening up a little for those who see him as a mysterious sort of cult figure. QUESTION: Can you comment on the personality and teaching style of Mr. Gammell? I've heard that he could be a difficult teacher at times and that he was a bit of a curmudgeon. Any funny or interesting stories about Gammell and how he would teach or critique his students? JASON

DESC: Outlining the basic source of visual beauty in paintings and differentiating it from the ‘literary’ poetry involved in the subject itself. One having to do with the dance, music of the eye - the purely abstract elements - and the other the narrative or story content. In response to Luisa QUESTIONS: I feel that one can reach both worlds of the spectrum with the outline and the masses! Academic work kills the spirit of the light (impressionism) but ...too much impressionism kills the form of the academy! The poetic form of realism must be kept! There' has to be a balance between these opposites! Talk about the ways the academic and the impressionist have of making the poetry, and the common points if any. [paraphrased I think] LUISA

Provincetown Painter Hensche, a student of legendary Charles Hawthorne, had a significant impact on painters through the middle of the last century. His contributions are evaluated from a broader impressionist perspective inclusive of Monet, the Boston School, Richard Lack and Paul QUESTIONS: Those exterior paintings 49 and their luminosity made me think about Henry Hensche and his particular way of painting. I’m not a fan of his way of handling form but i have to say that he got the impressionist color and light right spot-on. What are your thoughts on his method? and how would you compare it with your own? GABRIEL

Some oil pigments are by their nature more transparent than others. Discussion is of whether or how much that should be the basis of a decision of whether on not to include a color for your palette when painting in a full color range for example as Paul does QUESTIONS: I've been thinking of expanding my own palette from brown/blue to colour and wanted to ask if you have some advice regarding the opacity of paint. To be more specific: should the pigments used in a palette be of the same opacity/transparency to make the wet into wet blending more manageable?PEIK

Comparison of some of the points of Meldrum’s teaching and that of Paul Ingbretson completing a query from Jas. QUESTIONS: What do you think of Max Meldrum’s teaching. JAS

Paul reviews some of Meldrum’s and one of his student’s work and discusses some of the positives and negatives of it. QUESTIONS: What do you think of Max Meldrum as an Artist? JAS

The methods of the non-academic painter are different enough that doing them requires a total rethinking of what was done before. Slowing the process or rather, breaking it into parts, is key to getting yourself started. One way of doing that is discussed here. QUESTIONS:Coming from an outline way of thinking I do find it difficult to transition to the visual order way. It feels overwhelming with all the things you need to keep track of along the way. Do you think it’s best to stick with drawing until one has mastered the basics of this way of thinking before trying to do this with paint? Thanks in advance! KEVIN

Successfully painting from life requires first the naming of the needed visual information and then its prioritization. This covers some points from a book called The Organized Mind and more QUESTIONS: How a painter organizes his mind and material to avoid exhaustion and to succeed.

Unity in painting comes in every area of the work from narrative, to the mood, to the abstract elements. This is a review of what comprises it. QUESTION: I was reviewing earlier talks where you discuss Robert Douglas Hunter's work. It led me to a few of his demos on youtube where he starts a landscape with no drawing, and he talks about getting the brush going in every direction, and he says that paintings will finish themselves if done this way. I was wondering then if his still lifes were done this same way, with no drawing? Also, in relation to what Richard writes below, Robert Douglas Hunter stresses that "the one element that all great painting has in common is a sense of unity". I was wondering if you could talk more about this subject of unity in a painting. Jack “People untrained in the art of painting believe finish is attained by adding detail to detail and dismiss it as a mere bi-product of industry and patience. Unfortunately this view does not correspond with the truth. For an essential characteristic of all fine painting is unity of effect, and this unity is destroyed by any detail stated in a false relation to other component parts of the picture. ....To achieve this end, each detail must be set down with just the degree of definition and coloration which it holds for the eye when the focus of vision is adjusted so as to include the entire scene depicted.” Gammell (Bunker) RICHARD

This Talk is a review of the basic difference between painting “realistically” by values and painting by line. Although Leonardo was the first real scientist elucidating the visual data his way of working was primarily from the outline of objects. Velasquez and Vermeer between them set the visual to work more or less on its own terms without the overvalued reliance on knowledge typical of the Renaissance man. Comparison is fascinating and crucial. In response to Sue QUESTIONS: I bought a painting of Da Vinci a few weeks ago and I noticed that in his image The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist he was using outline to draw the foot of the lady on my left. Can you please explain to us why? SUE

In the final analysis all visual art, at least that which seeks to be true to the look of nature, requires absolute commitment to understanding the stuff of the eye - the essential content of both the visual world and that of pigments. What they have in common is ‘line,’ value and color and they must be approached methodically and objectively if one wishes to master our medium. So says Meldrum and that is the point of departure for this Talk. In response to Jas QUESTIONS:How does Max Muldoon stack up as a visual artist and thinker. JAS

Pastel is a ‘natural’ for impressionist painters particularly those trying to get more of the Monet broken color since it is virtually required for hitting notes. Painters who have used it impressionistically are discussed and differences between the use of oils and pastels. QUESTION: in relation to pastel painting, which past masters in pastel have the visual impression approach? Can you comment on the differences between pastel and oil painting in regards to the Boston School approach? VIVIANE

Role of the Personal Style in Painting In response to Fay QUESTIONS: How to Develop a Personal Style in Painting.Thank you Paul for discussing this important topic... Degas used drawing from memory - do you do this? Does it help develop a personal style, so you can avoid painting every leaf or folds in fabric?Is drawing from memory the key? Hockney uses this method, incidentally. And he has a strong personal style.FAY

Hitting the note is not a matter of chance or talent but a product of thinking skills which must be developed. This is a brief description of a cognitive scientist’s outline for ascertaining the truth before you

Painting by accessing the truth of the visual relationships of visual phenomena provides a purity of approach that eliminates ‘process confusion’ caused by mixing in head knowledge. This is a discussion of how and why to do it. QUESTIONS: You truly do start out with color spots like the impressionists. And I still conclude, extremely difficult to pull off. Yes, you can do it. And I'm sure with training there are some who can pull it off. But not all of us can. There is no way I could work this way. If the end result looks similar, with proper attention to color, would it matter how you start? Perhaps just placement lines, then work the way you do. You seem able to see the end right from the start of your picture and keep it firmly in mind, throughout. JAN

Sharing of experiences Paul values in developing into a painter who works from an impressionist outlook that respects good drawing. Done with a view to helping think through the many teaching vehicles and approaches today. QUESTIONS: I really enjoy the pictures you posted this week on your facebook where you showed your process in the studio, especially the way you begin with color spots. I’m going to apply that to my next study from life. What’s with the self portrait behind you in this video? Do you think it is a good way of learning how to paint? Did Gammel made self portraits?GABRIEL

Dow’s book on composition and Dow’s work form the basis of a discussion on the elements of composition. QUESTIONS: Do you see any value in Arthur Wesley Dow's book on composition? RICHARD

Overview of Paul’s upcoming book on the Boston School thinking.

Returning to the ‘edge’ discussion but to focus on the management of the visual edge vs. the physical ones previously discussed. Also discusses certain canvases and drying-in issues. In response to Richard and Gabriel QUESTIONS: Edges are one of the hardest things to understand, GABRIEL Could you talk a little about your choice of canvas. I've been using Claessens single oil primed linen with Grumbacher and or Windsor Newton paints, no medium other than a little linseed oil if needed for the lay in and when dry the thing is completely sunken in and matte, especially the darks. Can this be because the paint is applied to thinly? Any suggestions? RICHARD