I was wondering a year ago what I was realistically going to recommend for my students to paint on. Many of my drawing students were advancing to painting and I genuinely was unsatisfied with any of the options out there, especially for hand held palettes. Along came Kyle and Keith O'Brien. Easy on the eyes, wrist, wallet and simple to clean. They did it! I was using what was actually the best hand held palette that I had ever seen (previous to their palette). It was still too heavy and hurt my wrist. I've been using their Academian palette for months now and I still get excited just picking it up!

A large part of what I do each week involves talking about and demonstrating portrait drawing techniques. I've been a lover of the portrait drawing and the head study from about age 12. It's been a consistent staple of what I do on a daily basis to learn, perfect and share the love and the technique of this at the same time. Sometimes they are very rudimentary, sometimes however, they go a step further. Here's to more!

The sphere is perfect as a classroom exercise because there is no way of faking it! If you make one of the transition tones in the light even a little bit too dark it will look like a spot or blemish. Make the value too light in the dark range and the form doesn't turn. The more one works on it and the more real looking it becomes, the more delicate your handling must become or it will stand out compared to the previously painted passages.

Jessica Du painted this during the Sunday drawing and painting class. She is in high school and works very consistently here, even though she has the usual full high school schedule. This is all going into her college portfolio I am completely impressed at her level of focus and the care she puts into her studies. At that age, I had nowhere near her level of maturity or quality of finished work.

I first visited the Cascade mountains in Washington state as a teenager. I grew up in some perpetually gray and dreary Chicago weather and I loved seeing the mountains, lush forests and greener than green, well... GREENS! Everywhere I looked the colors and light just saturated my eyes. As always I kept imagining mythical creatures in the settings around me. So when it came time to place my most recent studio model in an environment that meant something to me, out popped my very large stock of reference photos.
This painting is a combination of a lovely rock from the Cascades, the always terrific local model Jessica Triller, some wings gifted to me from a friend who found a dead bird and of course my constant supply of gold leaf.

I tell you, you post something or ask a question and have no idea what response you'll get. These are some of the lovely comments and some of my responses from the Thanksgiving post. Without the will, genuine support and excitement of all of you The studio would be an empty room. When I started doing this, I had the attitude of "well, I'm going to do it no matter what. No matter who liked it, no matter what happens." The bonus of this is that others have the same dream and I get to share it. More people equals more fun...
John
The posts:
(calico.catering@usa.net)11/24/2011 11:25:42
I too am so thankful that I am able
to follow my passion, a different
medium but same feeling. Happy
Thanksgiving!

Thanks Veronica, Food is my favorite art!


Gabrielle
I am thankful for so much. My family, my friends, my health and all of the beautiful experiences that I encounter every day (and some not so beautiful that I try to endure with grace:/). I am also incredibly thankful for my Gold Light Studio family. The artists at GLS are a special crew of people. We all have different backgrounds and interests but we all seem to be connected by our primal NEED to draw and paint. I have been looking for a place like Gold Light my whole life and I am astonished that it exists so close to me. Even though I disappear for a while (summer, kids, kids, kids) returning always feels....right. Thank you John Murdoch for having the courage to be an artist and to make it your life. So many of us are benefiting from your conviction and talent. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Xoxox

This is so sweet Gabrielle. I'm glad you're here to share it with.

Kathleen Criste

I am very thankful to have Gold Light Studio available!

It's been great having you here. Here's to more!

The Judy

I am thankful for NC Wyeth (he made such wonderful use of clouds) and you John, for keeping me in the loup.

It's been awhile since we were together but I enjoy bridging the gap! I can't even put into words how much I enjoy NC Wyeth. The man could draw or paint anything and make it look amazing.

Debbie Shapiro

My gratitude list is always growing. This fall I have been especially grateful to draw and study with John Murdoch at Gold Light Studios. John, I thank you for your inspired, focused, kind teaching and the wonderful serious, relaxed, friendly atmosphere you have created at Gold Light Studios.

That's awesome Debbie. It's enjoyable watching you enjoy it

I gave a lecture about the basics of what we do at Gold Light Studios yesterday at Dot Bunn's studio in Doylestown, PA. There was a great crowd and some great questions and dialogue. I'm amazed the more and more that I present this material just how much there is to learn and how much more there is that we can do here.
What fascinates me most when I looked in particular at the lineage of Gold Light to my instructors, back to Jacques Louis David, is how much these guys really worked at it. The effort and love put into their own work and put into carrying on some lineage of excellence and sticking to it.

Jacques Louis David 1748-1825 trained (Picot - Bougereau)
Antoine-Jean Gros (Antoine Jean Gros) (1771-1835) trained
Paul Delaroche (1797-1856) trained (Boulanger- William Ladd Taylor)
Jean-Leon Gerome trained
William Paxton trained
R.H. Ives Gammell trained
Richard Lack trained
Bruno Surdo, Mike Chelich, (Michael John Angel and Fred Berger-not in lineage directly) trained
John Murdoch

Jean-Leon Gerome trained
Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) trained Abbot Henderson Thayer
Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) trained
Arthur DeCosta trained
Patrick Connors, Vincent Desiderio, Al Gury, Louis Sloan trained
David Rivera

Interesting cousins of note:

Francois Boucher (1703-1770) was distant relative of David and an influence on him

Jacques Louis David 1748-1825 trained
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867)
John James Audubon (1785-1851)

Jacques Louis David 1748-1825 trained
Francois-Edouard Picot (François-Edouard Picot) 1786- 1868 trained
William Adolphe Bouguereau 1825- 1905, and Jules Bastien- Lepage (1848-1844)

Paul Delaroche trained
Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (1824-1888) trained William Metcalf and
William Lad Taylor (1854-1926) great uncle of John Chapman, Doylestown (This is interesting locally to Gold Light because of the historical/ geographical connection. Taylor was a superb draughtsman and illustrator. John Chapman saved his work when it might have been destroyed. I discovered his work through the Chapman Gallery in Doylestown, was deeply impressed, and ultimately made the historical connection my own artistic lineage.

This is the first half showing the progress series from my 24x30" oil painting on wood panel, "Braydon as Bucks County Lord of the Flies". After the drawing, I built up layers on a primed panel with a light gray wash underneath.