The Clark, Mass MoCA, and The Norman Rockwell Museum

Last weekend visited the Berkshires in Massachusetts with a group of friends to spend some relaxation time.

On Saturday we trekked to the two major museums in the Williamstown area: the Clark and Mass MoCA.

I've got to say I was really surprised by some of the paintings at the Clark. Not only did it have a great selection of paintings by people I admire, but it held a lot of famous works I'd never seen before in person (some of which I did master copies of a loooong time ago).

Here are the Sargent paintings they had on display that blew my mind:



A whole bunch of Toulous-Latrec lithographs:



Degas sculptures:


and lots more good stuff (including stuff by Sargent's teacher Carlous Duran and a William Chase original). It was a HUGE surprise, and it reminded me how much I know about some of these artists and their back stories.

At Mass MoCA there was a lot of cool fun art to look at as well, but I didn't remember the names of most of the artists. The main exhibit was by Saul LeWitt which was an awesome experience. Several rooms were painted in rainbow stripes in various patterns, perfect for picture posing.


And lastly, on Sunday on the way back we stopped off at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA.

Norman Rockwell is one of my favorite picture makers, and a huge influence on me as a storyteller. I've always loved the attention to detail and storytelling that's so pervasive in his work.

The museum itself was surprisingly small though, and I was honestly a little disappointed in the museum considering the last time I saw a bunch of Rockwell paintings together was the traveling retrospective when it came to San Diego back in 2001. (The show in 2001 was life-changing).

Regardless of all that, it's still worth stopping by.

Going to see The Norman Rockwell Museum, though, made me think that it would be great if some of his better paintings were hanging in some major museums like the Met, or in a museum with other great golden age illustrators. Places like the Society of Illustrators have a lot of that great work in their archives, but not nearly enough and they are lacking a good permanent collection space that could showcase more than just a small handful of pieces at a time. Not to be critical. I guess after a weekend of essentially being spoiled by amazing work that the natural inclination would be to ask for more.

Thanks for reading,



frank

Cover & Spread - Velo News

Hey guys,

I did this a while back but should be on stands about now. This is a cover and spread I did for Velo News, a cycling magazine.

The book is oversized (10x12") which is always fun. I'm still waiting to receive my copy.



The issue is about the "Tour of California" race which would see the return of three of cycling's greatest athletes' return after their respective breaks from the sport: Basso, Armstrong, and Landis. I must have done a decent job on the likenesses because my friend Erik Petri who follows the sport knew right away who they all were. Thanks Erik!



Anyway, a special request from the art directors on this piece was that the spread be a continuation of the cover, so I had to design it in a way that they would work well together.

After a couple of small changes to the final art, I was given a PDF of the pieces with type in place.

Thanks to the AD on the project, Mike Reisel, for being so easy-going on this.

Figure drawing wednesday

Howdy!

I went figure drawing last night with a couple of buddies. One of the models was a super skinny old woman. I really enjoyed drawing her.

process piece

This is something in the background of an assignment I'm working on right now...


f.

30-Wed

Here's some simple concepting that I turned into a sketchbook spread yesterday...

And busted out the oils for a quick sketch yesterday also... wow it was rusty...


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29 - MonTues

I was in a doodling mood...

28 - Wednesday

Sketches and some textural experiments...

27 - Tues.

26 - Sunday

This lady sat too close to me on a half-full subway, preventing me from moving my drawing arm today.

This drawing is my revenge.






____________

Here's some advice I gave someone via email about drawing today:

...

Draw Draw Draw!

Remember that no matter how you do things to do it your way. If you want to get good fast, you have to remember that even when you're in workshop and you're working on volume, gesture, or whatever, you're doing it YOUR way.

You should always be having fun.

There isn't one way you should be doing things and another way you shouldn't.

Learning principles of drawing and painting is EASY by comparison to finding your own unique voice. It basically will take you between 3-5 years to become really good at those principles, but you're going to be spending the rest of your life trying to find your own voice. And in the end, your own voice is all that matters. So whatever you do, you have to own it.

That said, don't worry about "style." You already have it, and in fact you can't get away from it. The people who spend all that time in workshops but don't seem to be improving are trying to cover up their own style. You have to let it come to the forefront if you want to really see improvement quickly.

The most important critique you will ever receive is your own. Ask yourself what you like about this piece. Then, ask yourself what you could do to make yourself like it more (be specific).

Crits from other people are helpful, but they aren't as important as your own. Crits from others can help you to see things for yourself objectively, but ultimately they are just someone else saying what THEY would do. And that isn't necessarily the best thing.

Another thing to remember: if you're drawing for practice--i.e. in the workshops--keep in mind what you're trying to get out of it. Are you trying to learn to draw figures out of your head? (try it and see; if you can't do it, you should change how you approach figure drawing)

I heard this from Scott McCloud's talk on TED recently, and I agree with it 100%:

1) Learn from everyone
2) Follow no one
3) Look for patterns
4) Work like hell

I hope that's helpful to you. I have a blog post a while back called "how to get better" that says the same thing a little differently. I hope you get some enjoyment or usefulness out of it: HOW TO GET BETTER


--frank

25 - Saturday

Swordsman MonsterSlayer.