A Pochade Box from a Cigar Box

  Recently I've had an interest to create a small pochade box from a cigar box. I have a simple one that a friend had given me a while back, but I wanted to modify one that would be a more versatile and would be able to accommodate my interests for both oil painting and watercolor painting. I don't consider myself "handy" but I learned a lot as I went along. Here are some pictures of what I came up with.

   I looked at a number of sites and blogs that featured cigar boxes and had information on how to convert the cigar box into a small pochade boxes. What renewed my interest was a book another friend had lent me. This was a book about painting from the plein air painter, Trevor Chamberlain. He was using a box that was designed for 19th century painters and that were not really made any more. It was much better design than the ones offered in the art stores today.

 

The neutral gray palette is thin Plexiglas that I use for oil painting

   I sought out many cigar shops in the area for discarded empty cigar boxes. They either gave them away or asked for a couple of dollars for them. Looking at some other examples; I found that I needed to know more about the hardware and assembling it.

Underneath the gray palette is the setup I use for watercolor.

   I used metal brackets and wing nuts on both sides for lid support and adjustable angles for the oil panels or watercolor boards. I added screws and nails to the top to serve as guides and slots to keep two panels for storage with separation. I also applied three coats of lacquer on the entire box inside and out. A metal hinge was added to the left side to keep it closed and secure. The top lid lip was cut out so the two 6" x 8" boards can slide in and out. The is a leather strap which has Velcro glued is attached so the boards will not slide out when moved.

   I cut down brushes and the brush holder as well as different watercolor trays. I also bought empty half pans and filled them with paint. The palettes were then glued with superglue to Plexiglas for easy removal.

   This box is great for painting small and if you don't want to draw a lot of attention to yourself. I found that using it in the car is a real advantage. Also it is easy to take on trips and I put it in my backpack on our trip to the southwest.

   Please contact if your interested in more about it.

spdamato@gmail.com

Trip to the Southwest

 

   Recently we took a trip to the Southwest, which included the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce Canyon. A great trip with some amazing sites to experience. Three words come to mind to describe it. Awesome, monumental and spectacular.

Judi and I at the Bryce Canyon

Antelope Canyon

Zion

This is my new cigar box/pochade box that I built

I will talk about the cigar box in my next blog

Bryce Canyon

The Whitney Museum presents:

Modern Life: Edward Hopper and His Time

October 28, 2010–April 10, 2011 

     

   Being a big fan of Edward Hopper's work I was pleased to see the show at The Whitney Musuem. This show includes approximately 80 works in a range of media by Hopper and artists from his time period. His contemporaries include the Ashcan School painters with whom he came of age as an artist in the century’s first decades, the 1920’s Precisionist artists, whose explorations of abstract architectural geometries mirrored those of Hopper, and a younger generation of American Scene painters, who worked alongside Hopper in New York during the 1930s.such as John Sloan, Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, Paul Strand, Charles Demuth, Guy Pène du Bois, Charles Sheeler, Charles Burchfield, Ben Shahn, Reginald Marsh.

Soir Bleu, 1914. Oil on canvas

   Unfortunatley some may look at Hopper's work in a superficial way; seeing it as lacking technical skill. If you look at his early work and his background as an illustrator it is apparent that he was quite a capable skilled artist. He seemed to have put aside some that knowledge and focused his attention on depicting dramatic mood and a sense of timeless silence. These themes dominate his work through out his life. When once asked about his intention of his work, he simply said that wanted to paint light on the side of a house. He does that and so much more, finding his poetic voice and style.

The Barber Shop , 1931.,oil on canvas

Early Sunday Morning, 1930 , oil on canvas

   Although this show lacks in the number of work, I found the association with the other art in the exhibit was interesting. The photographs of Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Strand give that same haunting urban desolation which Hopper continues with his work.
   Also to note there are a series of watercolor that are stunning and are done plein air.

http://whitney.org/Exhibitions/ModernLife

Paintings that include me by Benat Iglesias Lopez

 Benat Iglesias Lopez is definitely one most talented artists to have studied at the Art Students League of New York. Inglesias studied in Spain before coming to the U.S.to study in Manhattan. It had been a pleasure to know him. He has included me as a model in two of his paintings in the past year.

 He was featured in American Artist January issue as one the 11 groundbreaking artists to watch.

  He had painted the above painting in the spring of 2010 while in Harvey Dinnerstein's class. Here I am the central figure painting. 

  Below is his painting entitled "The Louvre Project" where a crowd is depicted viewing the Mona Lisa. I am the second figure in the back row looking up at my camera phone there are several other students also used as models in this painting.

  From the American Artist interview he is quoted as saying: What I felt is that people were not interested in experiencing; they were more concerned about capturing the image, going home, and saying.'I was here'".

Ridgewood Art Institutes Juried Show 2011

My oil painting "Jessica" has been accepted in

The Ridgewood Art Institutes' Annual Juried show.

The Show runs until February 6, 2011

The Ridgewood Art Institute  12 East Glen Avenue   Ridgewood, NJ 

201-652-9615

www.ridgewoodartinstitute.org

Degas: Drawings and Sketchbooks at The Morgan Library & Museum

   
   I haven't been keeping up with my posting and painting these last few months since I've been on the mend, after shoulder surgery.
   However, I did see an interesting show at The Morgan Library and Museum last week. "Degas: Drawings and Sketchbooks". It is on display at through January 23, 2011. It only houses twenty drawing/oil sketches, pastel, and some pages from his sketch books. One sketch book was only about 3 x 5 inches and he used it beautifully, calculating his composition designs.
   There are some of his great drawings there. Even though this show is lite in the number of pieces, most of the work is fantastic and intimately displayed. I combed through it a number of times.

Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas (1834–1917), Emilie Bécat at the Café des Ambassadeurs, 1877–85, pastel over lithograph. Thaw Collection, 1997.88.

Recent Paintings Done in Cranford (2010)

 "Theatre at Night" Sold
watercolor

 "Cranford Hotel Sunlit"
watercolor

 "Eastbound"
watercolor

 "Perrotti's Meats"
watercolor  Sold

 "Eastman Ave Morning"
watercolor

Another Recent Painting From Cranford (2010)

  I find Cranford to be a really inspirational town to paint in. I guess there is some sentiment there but also the historical charm that is mostly still intact. Many of the building were built around the turn of the century (19 -20th).

Awnings On North Avenue (watercolor)

12" x 16"

  The barber shop is unchanged from it's original state and seems to be run by some of the old school Italians. My grandfather was a barber and I believe he worked in a shop with a similar look. As kids, my brother and I used to try hide when he'd come over. He loved to cut hair and always seemed to cut it shorter than we wanted. After all we really liked the Beatles' look, but that was definitely out of the question. "Just a trim", he'd say.

Jean Gates Award

 
  I was pleased to get the good news that my oil painting of Maria won a Jean Gates Award from the Art Students League of New York. I painted this painting of her in May and actually forgot that I entered it in the competition which was judged last month.

 

Some Of My Watercolors From Wildwood (2010)

  On a recent trip to Wildwood, NJ I was able to paint on location. The weather was ideal except for one day the beach was filled with all sorts flies, which made painting impossible on that day. The boardwalk is always an interesting place to hang out and paint. A lot of characters - borders on the dangerous, mysterious, etc. Especially in the semi-deserted evenings.

 

 "Oxygen Tattoo on the Boardwalk"

watercolor "9 1/2" x 16"

"Side of the Pier"

watercolor "11 1/2 x 16"

"Hazy Beach"
watercolor 6" x 81/2"

"Distant Water Tower"

watercolor 9" x 14 1/2"

This one is done from Sea Girt

"Sea Girt"

watercolor 9" x 14 1/2"

"North Ave and Eastman" Oil, 12" x 16" 6/2010

    I worked this painting outdoors for five days in downtown Cranford. This is the piece that I was working on when interviewed for the Cranford Patch article. I found the light especially interesting as well as the various shapes of the buildings and storefronts.

"North Ave and Eastman"  oil. 12" x 16"    Sold

    I wanted to keep the scene somewhat simple and quiet. There was a lot of interest in the painting by area store owners and passerbyes after my first day of painting. The first day I worked it as an underpainting which may be the reason.
 
    I wanted to approach this painting not as a usual alla-prima plein-air painting but rather a carefully thought a piece much like my figure paintings done in the studio. It allowed me time to get the colors and values correct. I'd like to do more of these in addition to the quick plein-air paintings.

Cranford Patch Interview

This is from a recent interview in Cranford Patch a local online newssite. I've been doing a painting there lately. This was my first day doing mostly an underpainting. 
http://cranford.patch.com/articles/artist-finds-inspiration-in-cranford

This is an except:

Artist Finds Inspiration in Cranford

   Arist and Cranford resident Stephen D'Amato, 50,  finds beauty in the everyday scenes around him – namely the streets and old buildings that populate downtown.

"I walk around a lot around here – it's good for me because there's so much I find interesting in this town," he said." I really like the architecture and the fact that they've been here since the 1900s, and some earlier than that. They have more character to them than modern buildings. "

   Yesterday D'Amato stood painting at an easel on North Avenue East, detailing a mixture of light and shadows that show up on the corner of Union Avenue and Alden Street. He was doing what oil artists call an 'underpainting' – brushing in the light-and-dark tones of the scene first before adding the color. 

At the "Paint the Town" in Cranford, NJ

  I was happy to have sold my Quick Draw (2 hour painting). Sorry that I didn't get a photo of it, but I painted a portion of the Cranford Hotel. It was an intense two hours.

  JCAS did a great job in making this event a big success. There were thirty of us artists who were juried in to the five day competition and showing.

  Here are some photos.

Plein Air Painting in Cranford, NJ

    
  I'll be painting at the Paint the Town Cranford Plein Air Event. This event takes place from June 9-13th.

   This June, Jersey Central Art Studios together with the Chamber of Commerce and the Cranford Downtown Management Corporation will be bringing artists' to Cranford's sidewalks, parks, private gardens and meandering river. For five days, June 9th through the 13th, over thirty juried professional artists from New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Kansas, and even Germany will be using Cranford's historic architecture and natural beauty as their inspiration. This event will allow the public to watch over the shoulders of nationally known painters as they bring outdoor scenes to life on their canvasses.

Here's a link for more information on the event.

http://www.jcas.org/plein_air_home_page.html
http://www.jcas.org/schedule_of_events.html

This is jcas main site.

"Dan, by Stephen D'Amato, Oil on Linen, 14" x 14" 2010

Paris Trip

 These are a few of the pictures from our trip to Paris a couple of weeks ago. The weather was cool and a bit rainy. The sites were incredible and the art was amazing as expected. I didn't really paint much but I sketched a bit at some cafes.