Justin Wiest Paintings

Painting Fire

2012-02-05T16:34:00.000-08:00

Fire, like any of the elements, is challenging to show its presence and its effect on other objects. These are some sketches where I've experimented the color, value, and edge of fire.

Blocking in the Gray

2012-02-04T18:45:00.000-08:00

Today I was on the second sitting of a figure painting and I focused on the subtle temperature changes. There aren't many extreme value jumps, rather an infinite number of prismatic grays that indicate the transitions in form.

Foo Dog (Part 1)

2011-06-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

Composing

2011-06-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine suggested something on the wall for depth's sake. I've been trying out different things but need something without hard angles because there are so many already. A bull's head or wall hanging?

Composer in progress

2011-06-06T13:35:00.001-07:00

Friday Sketch 52711

2011-05-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

Friday Oil Sketch

2009-11-21T19:51:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with different oils. I like the black oil that I have used to make my paint ever since Schuler's, but my friend has been getting great results using Louis Velasquez's Calcite Sun Oil. Here is an example of some in the blue background.

Figure Drawing Process

2009-09-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

Casa Rossa

2009-09-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

In order to exploit the unique color opportunities of this famous piece of architecture, I had to plan a chromatic strategy. With white and three colors (ultramarine, magenta, chrome yellow) I did a complimentary under painting on a white primed panel. It was a counter-intuitive exercise that produced a fauvist look. Using a slightly expanded palette the next day, I glazed and scumbled more naturalistic color while retaining much of the under painting.

Castiglione della Pescaia

2009-07-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

Friday Open Sketch at Silvermine Arts Guild

2009-06-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

The open sketch class at the Silvermine Arts Guild is a great place to study the portrait and figure. The five hour format is perfect for doing a solid drawing or even an oil sketch.

First Impressions: OIl Sketches

2009-05-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Ulysses Relief

2009-01-14T12:35:00.001-08:00

Zac's Construction

2008-11-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

Begin the Beacon

2008-08-18T18:10:00.001-07:00

This is a detail shot of a painting that I've been working on for the last seven years. I've tried to abandon it many times but always come back to it and add a fresh element, but it never says "I'm done." I guess I was influenced by Cassat and wanted to update the theater genre. There is a unique time before the concert begins where the spectators prime themselves and get ready for the full experience. I lived across from the Beacon Theater and frequented the concerts there.

Oracle at Delphi

2008-05-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is a preliminary tonal sketch for a bigger painting that I plan to do. Already I see some changes that are necessary.

Shrine of the Sea Monkey

2008-04-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

Work in progress...

Portrait Demonstration

2008-01-23T19:10:00.000-08:00

This is how I start a head study (usually not on such a yellow ground). I work the largest and most obvious forms first, while exploring a limited palette with various values. I constantly correct my drawing throughout the entire painting.

Triptych Format

2008-01-15T10:17:00.000-08:00

These three images of interiors unite as one idea. The panels are all different sizes except for the height. I like diptychs and triptychs not to be bilaterally symmetrical. I think series, however, need to be the same size to hold together. A triptych can be successful in using unrelated images, which when combined, form an all new entity. This gestalt can be proven by looking at individual paintings and realizing how different they seem when not together. Vincent Desiderio makes this happen in his triptychs.

Chiaroscuro Figure Continued part II

2008-01-10T09:05:00.000-08:00

I put some shellac over the drawing followed by an earth toned glaze which I worked into with opaque color. The trick for me is to have the figure disappear into the background but not flatten out (like the hip is doing). There is constant back and forth with the temperature on top of the established values of the drawing. With all of these layers I still want the ground (paper) to sneak through to the top.

Figure Drawing Part 1

2008-01-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

Here is a figure sculpture that I've been working on. The first step is to establish an x and y grid, followed by the main flow line or expression line. I'm trying to work temperature and values of the large masses. I am constantly stumping and alcohol washing the media to avoid anything to severe.

Chiaroscuro

2008-01-08T16:31:00.000-08:00

This drawing uses additive and subtractive methods equally. The white of the paper is the highest value and the cast shadow retains some transparency.

Figure Study

2008-01-03T22:27:00.000-08:00

This is a charcoal drawing that was given a coat of shellac and then worked up with some color. I like to do these quick studies to familiarize myself with the pose before committing to it.

Tranforming Drawing into Painting

2008-01-02T18:49:00.000-08:00

I was able to have some friends sit for me when they returned from Carnival in their costumes. From the drawing I started playing around with a composition in the included oil sketch. I may do some more oil sketches and then work up a larger painting.

Standing Male Figure

2007-10-03T07:14:00.001-07:00

This painting started out as a pen and ink drawing. I like the flexibility of walnut ink because it can be pulled out if put in the wrong spot. I like the way the drawing was progressing and I had some time left with the model so I thought I would mark some color. After a thin coat of matte medium dried (5 minutes) I started to correct the contours and block in the planes. I have to battle with lost and found edges because I want the figure to disappear into the ground. Someone else said it and I agree, "...painting is 80% edges."

Head Study

2007-09-23T09:06:00.001-07:00

This head was painted with thick lead white no. 1 Winsor Newton. I ground the other colors with a heavier proportion of drier, and the end result was that the paint really started to set-up within an hour and was touch dry within 24 hours. The most dominant mark is the highlight on the forehead, which needs some attention because it looks like a bird crapped on his head. I'll probably use titanium which may make a softer transition.

Work In Progress

2007-09-16T08:11:00.001-07:00

This is a kimono composition I'm working on.

Edges

2007-09-13T12:22:00.001-07:00

Ingres, Portrait of Madame Devaucay, Chantilly
When I see Ingres' work, I realize I need to spend more time on my edges. What kind of brushes did he use?

Golden Ratio ?

2007-09-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

I think most painters have a intuitive approach to composition. I explored the golden mean, golden section, and golden ratio in this piece and had some questions while I was doing it. When I swung my arc to get my section and then checked out the numbers with the golden ratio (1.618...), there was a slight disagreement. I was interested in what sizes (in inches) came close to the golden ratio and found that 34"x55", 29"x47", 26"x42", and 13"x21" were very close. I also read somewhere that the average ratio for modern paintings is 1.34, I wonder if standard sizing has had any influence. I think that European or metric standard sizes are closer, and more interesting.
Included is a thumbnail of the painting, worked up. I'll post it at different states.

Pen and Ink

2007-09-06T19:47:00.001-07:00

Pen and Ink

Cast versus Academy

2007-09-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

Here are two interesting images from the 19th century that perfectly describe an academic approach to the figure. Hippolyte-Jean Flandrin (1809-1864) Standing Male Academy, Facing Left and Pierre- Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Two Studies of a Plaster Cast, verso and recto show the male figure in both a conceived, structural context and a fully realized, resolved one. Renoir clearly finds large mass relationships, while arranging the geometry with a variety of planes. I think Flandrin is showing off with his perfect placement of the figure. One of an academy's precepts is that the figure touch its vertical or horizontal boundaries and this on does it on two accounts. I enjoy the passage the head makes into the background as well as the calligraphic mark of the soleus.

Cast Personification Examples

2007-09-05T09:44:00.001-07:00

Here are a few examples of how Rubens referenced sculpture and made it his own. There is an example of Titian reversing the Laocoon a little and tilting it a bit compared to the original sculpture. The more you are aware of the various archetypes the more you see them. Although Rubens may have been able to do this the most graciously, Picasso was able to pilfer and recycle with tremendous efficiency.

Frontal Lighting

2007-09-04T08:34:00.001-07:00

For me, lighting the model from the front is the most challenging. Although there were no large shadow shapes the model's dark features helped with the drawing. The Russian painters of the 19th c. had success with bold lighting situations combined with a cooler palette.

Chapters: Drew Writing

2007-09-03T20:42:00.001-07:00

My friend Drew Trudeau helped me conceive and execute this painting. He is a talented writer, musician, and designer http://www.myspace.com/mob7streetwear
I am currently composing a painting of him and his band The Stick, which may turn out to be at least a triptych.

Poetry of Light- Solo Show

2007-08-31T18:48:00.001-07:00

Poetry of Light opening...

Gallery Roca

2007-08-30T18:05:00.001-07:00

This scene is a few blocks from our apartment where we have done much food shopping.

Value versus Color

2007-08-29T10:56:00.001-07:00

This theme has been recycled throughout the history of Western art and provides the artist with an excuse to paint the nude figure justified by moral ends. More importantly it is a perfect example of painting flesh and creating volume. Closer inspection and we find that the values in the drawing are what gives the central figure so much presence and by simply plugging in the temperature the figure comes to life. If we look at the painting in black and white we see a perfect opaque chalk drawing.
Susanna and the Elders, Hendrick Goltzius MFA Boston

The Beauty of Cast Painting- Russell Harris

2007-08-28T11:31:00.002-07:00

I've long admired the work of Russell Harris www.russellharrisstudio.com and his unique ability to bring objects to life with uncompromising precision and detail. This work in progress (above) gives us an idea how a piece evolves and we get a peek "under the skin" of a fully resolved painting.
Cast Painting © Russell Harris 2007

Cast Personification

2007-08-28T08:36:00.001-07:00

Untitled, © Justin Wiest 2007
I think sculpture can be a very efficient tool in learning drawing and even as subject matter for paintings. In good sculpture subtle nuance can become very clear.

West Broadway

2007-08-27T15:18:00.001-07:00

6:15 am downtown

2007-08-26T17:33:00.001-07:00

Candace

2007-08-26T17:31:00.000-07:00

Tangent

2007-08-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

Lighting the model with equal amounts of natural (window) lighting and warm incandescent lighting can produce an interesting phenomenon, pure simultaneous contrast. The optical gray produce by the wrapping of natural light illustrates this clearly (see models neck left side). The line of tangency, if both lights are of the same intensity, should be neutral. However color temperature is influenced by the acuteness of the turn. Of course large fields of color will have complementary effects with the subject also, i.e., blue landscape will help activate model's left.

Anatomy

2007-08-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

I'm gathering up some of my anatomy materials and somenoe told me about
http://www.reybustos.com/03ra/Rey_mx.htm
and I thought it was very interesting. It is very different from copying anatomy plates from Richer's Artistic Anatomy book, almost twenty years ago when I started at Schuler's. Although Hans Schuler Sr.'s thoughts on anatomy still apply. "Anatomy, learn it then forget it".

Justin Wiest Paintings

2007-08-23T07:38:00.001-07:00

I'm in the process of doing another manikin painting based on the sacrifice of Isaac (son of Abraham and father of Jacob), and hope to post a walnut-ink study soon. The walnut ink I use is simply those green rotting things on the side of the road that stain your sneakers and hands. I get a bunch of them, smash them, add some distilled water, boil them, and then strain through some pantyhose. It is preferable to use someone else's kitchen and pantyhose. You then have an ink concentrate and can water down for lighter values. I also tried adding alcohol (which prevents the ink from smelling funky) and shellac to make it flow differently. The ink has a window of flexibility before it become insoluble, that is on some papers you can make a mark and then lift most of it off. I don't know how permanent or lightfast the ink is but I have some drawings that are 10-15 years old and haven't faded or changed.