Clear River

Clear River
7.5" x 9"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

The River Series is an award winning exhibit of landscapes that fixes your eye on the picture plane, and has you wondering what's around that next bend.

You are invited to view River Passages at Northwest University, my alma mater, in Kirkland, Washington, from November 6th., 2009, through January 4th., 2010. Meet me there, Friday, November 6th., between 12 and 2 PM, for the opening.

River Passages, Currents in Landscape Art.

Kirkland Art Exhibit

If you want to meet me, I will be at Northwest University, in Kirkland, WA, from 12 til 2 pm on Friday, November 6th. The exhibit, which is the award winning River Series, will be on display from the 6th., through early January, 2010.

Paper Work

How do I reload elements on here?

There is nothing like finding all of those paper work projects of yours need to be done all of a sudden! Having PS Elements quit working provides some extra challenges, too. I blame my old PC. Thanks for checking back on me, and I'll be out of the administrative hole I'm in soon enough, with more news and studio stories.

Hint: I'm hanging an exhibit in the Seattle area next weekend! Stay tuned.

I haven't forgotten about my Paint for the Prize series, either. You will see the post on Content here very soon.

Vincent van Gogh: Postal

VVG et Moi

If you didn't catch this at Lines and Colors, or at Pin Tangle, then I want you to know that Vincent van Gogh's letters are being posted, one at a time, as a blog. Named Van Gogh Blog, it originates from the Van Gogh Museum, in Amsterdam. The artist's correspondences, which were mostly with his brother Theo, are the subject of a current exhibition at the museum in Amsterdam.

Van Gogh’s letters, the artist speaks, 9 October 2009 - 3 January 2010.

Vacation

Now comes vacation, which I spent so much time preparing for that I didn't get the next post written for the prize series. I did read a very great quote by de Kooning on the subject of art content. I'll give you that late next week, and we'll continue with the series. Thanks for reading here!

I hope you have been reading the comments for these past few posts. Much of the content of this series is being said there.

Looking for the Why

The Portal
4.75" x 4.5"
Graphite
Scene at "Riva Ridge," Italy
Casey Klahn

Partly because I am blocked about writing the next essay on "How to Paint for the Prize," I want to bring you along on the search for content and the need for having ideas in your art. I am blocked by the overwhelming amount of information that I have about content in art. I could tell you my ideas in painting for my recent prize. But I'm getting tired of ringing my own bell. I could write an essay on the academic truths about what content means in art; how art content is different from form and subject. So dry.

I am not lacking inspiration on art ideas - far from it. I am uber-inspired by the things I read and see concerning the masters and what many good writers have to say about aesthetics and meaning in art. How can I get you, dear reader, to ignite your spark and paint your best for that next show?

Yesterday's post on drawing, with two simple quotes from Ingres and Picasso, is foundational to what I believe about my art. Drawing is an ascendant element in contemporary art. I am reading more essays about drawing, and as a result I am going to renew my drawing focus for my next one man show. Conceptualizing my River Series as drawing-based was a huge part of the success of that series. Remember, drawing isn't as much about the tools as it is about the ideas and approach to your work.

Here are some drawing links that will get your artist's heart beating faster, and challenge you to renew your faith in your ability to win the prize of the finest art you can make.

Drawing Masters: Ingres, Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, Rubens, Käthe Kollwitz, and Picasso.
Mary Adam - Drawing Criteria.
The Rebirth of Drawing.
David Jon Kassan - This is his best video of time lapse drawing because the others lose the technique.

Speaking of painting for the prize, you would do well to follow the work of Loriann Signori, whose art was recently recognized with a first place award at the national Shades of Pastel Biennial Exhibition in Maryland.

Deer "Cast" Drawing
14" x 12"
Charcoal, Conte and Compressed Charcoal
Casey Klahn

Words on Drawing

Duc d'Orleans, 1894, Ingres.

"The drawing is three fourths and a half of what constitutes painting." Ingres

"Matisse makes a drawing, then he makes a copy of it. He recopies it five times, ten times, always clarifying the line. He's convinced that the last, the most stripped down, is the best, the purest, the definitive one; and in fact, most of the time, it was the first. In drawing, nothing is better than the first attempt." Picasso

Commit

Commitment
My (Younger) Self and Friend Ryan in the Mountains

With your focus placed on what to paint for your award winning show, it is now appropriate to ask yourself if you have the commitment to make it happen. If you are going to win the prize, much time, pain and treasure will be poured into your efforts.

In my mountain climbing days, commitment was a tangible quality of some climbs. A given climb is described as "having commitment" if you ascend to a given point after which retreat becomes either undesirable or impossible. Going down is more difficult than going up to the summit. Or more deadly.

Having experienced this kind of palpable commitment in my past helps me in my artist's life now to commit to greater effort. Early wake ups. Late hours in the studio. Isolation. The amount of concentration required by your best efforts in the studio may leave you less focused on everyday life activities. Your friends may wonder where you've been. Conversations may be hard to carry on at first, and people may feel that your mind is "somewhere else."

Commitment means hard work. Commitment is also an attitude. Do you have the capacity to let your art live and flourish in you?

If you make the commitment, and you know what you're up against, then the prize awaits.

How to Paint for the Prize

Blue & Gray River
10" x 14.5"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

How to Paint for a First Place or a Best in Show.

It occurred to me that you might like to hear my secrets for painting to win a prize. When I knew that I was going to be in the prestigious Sausalito festival this year, I wanted to up my game, and bring the best artwork that I could. First, I decided to paint specifically for a first place prize. Cheeky, to be sure, but I hope that every serious artist would think the same way.

Very much to my surprise, I did receive First Place in my category, which was Drawing. As proof of the difficulty level, my award was a tie with the incredible Sheila M. Evans. Sheila seems to win awards everywhere she goes, and it isn't hard to see why. She's probably the most talented artist I know.

But for me, it was a hat trick. And, while the thoughts are fresh in my mind, I'll share the How To in the next few posts. We will consider the following:

Focus
Commit
Content (have ideas)
Narrow the time frame
Edit

Focus on a body of work that will "read" easily and quickly. The judges with the clipboards are looking at the work of 100-300 artists. That can mean a dizzying assortment of thousands of pieces of eye candy, all popping out and screaming "Love me! Look at me!"

The judges are on their feet, and they are there with their own sets of ideas of what they like. How will you be able to appear great, or even appear present, to these judges?

Don't bother them. If they are over ten feet away from you, just leave them alone. Ideally, your booth/display will be neat and orderly when they show up, and your best work will be available to see.

One year, I built an actual wall out of 2x4s and drywall. It was painted white, with some texture, and in the back, or deep, part of my booth. I won a top award from one of the nation's leading arts professionals, Michael Monroe. He actually gave me the award (Juror's Choice/ 2-D) two years in a row. At that show, there are three Juror's Choice awards presented for broad categories like Fine Craft and Wood and Visual Art. It looks great on my resume, and fits well in my shpeal to gallerists and collectors.

This year, I couldn't afford the space and decided to do my best with just my dark gray Pro Panels. As it turned out, that was good enough and the judges found my booth just fine.

Focus for me this year meant staying with a theme based, at one level, on subject. The River Series depicts typical American rivers. I stayed primarily with landscape (long) aspects and similar points of view (slightly high viewpoint from the near bank).

But wait, there's more! I had deeper meanings to my theme. There were fairly meaningful art related ideas as well. They included the unusual use of dark passages as "eye sumps" in the composition. Also, my ideas of coupling Modern Art ideas with Contemporary ideas. Half real and half abstract. Intensity of color, and keying on the primaries. More on this when I post on content.

Focus for clarity and to bring forward the merits of your art, and the award givers (and patrons) will beat a trail to your door.

Next, in a day or two I hope, I'll cover commitment. See you then.

Coffee Update

You are owed an update of my studio activities. First, pour yourself a cup of coffee.



The studio sits all a mess after my return from Sausalito, California. Since my two children are, for the first time, full time in grade school, I have time on my hands. What am I doing with that time? Catching up on the home with cleaning, reorganizing and general Daddy duty. The impact of a large art fair is not limited to the 3 days of the event!



Another cup? You drink fast, huh? I promised you a post about how to paint for a first prize, and it is in the hopper. Soon, dear reader. Let's just say the basics are focus, content and heavy doses of self critique.



Meanwhile, I have posted an interview with Stephanie Smith, of the U.K., whose new floral pastel works are very great and worth your look. See this interview at my other blog, Pastel.



New interest in me teaching some pastel classes is causing me to push that forward. I hope to teach one locally, soon. Then, I'll organize for a class that I can take on the road. Do you have an art society or pastel society and want to know my methods for making intuitive pastel landscapes? Contact me and we can talk.

Thanks to my readers for the wonderful comments on this post.