McCormack Studios

Double Event

2011-11-02T06:33:00.000-07:00

Art of the Carolinas & Rembrandt in America

Join me in Raleigh, NC for the Art of the Carolinas and the Rembrandt in America Exhibit at the NCMA. I will be teaching 3 one day workshops. Portraits in oil, watercolor and drawing from life. November 10 - 12.

The NCMA is open late on Friday evening until 9pm on November 11.

Portrait in Watercolor Demonstration by Paul W. McCormack

2011-10-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday, November 20th, 2011 at 1:00 pm

Allied Artists of America, Inc.
Reception & Awards Ceremony for the 98th Annual Exhibition at
The National Arts Club
15 Gramercy Park South ~ New York, NY

"Karen in White"
Oil on Linen - 40" x 29"

Allied Artists of America, Inc. 98th Annual Exhibition
November 4 -20, 2011

Workshops and Classes

2011-08-03T06:54:00.000-07:00

Portrait in Watercolor from Photo Reference

August 10 - 14, 2011

9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Fee: $ 750

McCormack Studios, Inc.

400 Market Industrial Park, Suite 11

Wappingers Falls, NY 12590

Phone: (845) 831-3368
Email: info@mccormackstudios.com

Website: http://www.mccormackstudios.com/

In today’s competitive market of portraiture all professional artists eventually find that it’s necessary to learn how to properly work from photographic reference. In addition to my regular course of instruction, lectures will include how to take good photographic reference shots, lighting and posing your subject, printing your own photos and how to deal with distortion.

For the exacting realism found in my work, most of day one will focus primarily on the drawing aspect of the portrait. Three different photographs of a model will be supplied where the student will choose one to work from. With instruction on the proper use of angles, plumb lines and relative measurement, students will learn how to acquire correct proportions in order to achieve a likeness of the model. As the course continues, this intensive workshop will then focus on painting. Lectures will include basic color theory, how to see and execute correct value relations, proper treatment of edges, and so much more. Demonstrations in watercolor techniques will include wet into wet, glazing, and my signature dry brush technique.

2011-03-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

ACOPAL's Exhibition of Contemporary American Realism
OPEN COMPETITION

Don’t miss this opportunity to exhibit in NYC and Beijing, China with the
World's foremost Realist Artists
National Arts Club ~ NYC World Art Museum ~ Beijing, China

Steven Assael • Scott Burdick • Jacob Collins • Gabriella Dellosso • Gary T. Erbe • Nanette Fluhr

Chao Ge • Max Ginsburg • Gary Godbee • Daniel E. Greene • Michael Grimaldi • David Jon Kassan

Everett Raymond Kinstler • Valerie Larko • David A. Leffel • Jeremy Lipking • Susan Lyon

Pang Maokun • Paul W. McCormack • John Morra • Graydon Parrish • Charles Pfahl

Tony Pro • Christopher Pugliese • Guo Runwen • Anthony J. Ryder • Ronald N. Sherr

Dan Thompson • Joseph Todorovitch • Thomas Valenti • Anthony Waichulis

Patricia Watwood • Chen Yanning • He Yeuhua

Visit the ACOPAL website for more information

www.acopal.org

Free Art Lessons: Portrait in Watercolor

2010-10-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Back in the spring of this year I was down in Raleigh, NC where I spent the day demonstrating a new watercolor palette of my design that’s being produced Jerry’s Artarama. The first video demonstrates the basic use of the palette. The second video demonstrates some of the initial steps in painting a portrait in watercolor and the third demonstrates my approach to painting an eye.

This is a fairly good sampling of what to expect at one of my watercolor workshops. If you would like to learn more, I have 2 workshops scheduled this fall that are listed in the previous post. For more information be sure to visit the workshop page of the McCormack Studios website.

Paul McCormack How to Set Up a Watercolor Palette Part I | Free Art Lessons

Free Art Lessons: Portrait in Watercolor Part II- JerrysArtarama.com

Free Art Lessons: Painting an Eye- JerrysArtarama.com

Fall Workshops & Art of the Carolinas 2010

2010-09-30T06:46:00.000-07:00

5 Day Watercolor Portrait Workshop

November 3 - 7, 2010

9:30 am to 4:30 pm

Fee: $750 (model fee included)

McCormack Studios, Inc.

400 Market Industrial Park, Suite 11

Wappinger Falls, NY 12590

Phone: (845) 242-9000

Email: info@mccormackstudios.com

Website: http://www.mccormackstudios.com/

Art of the Carolinas 2010

With a hotel full of artists, instructors, art material vendors and the Skybox Lounge with Bass on tap the Art of the Carolinas is always a fun event. If you ever wanted to know what one of my 5 day workshops are like this is a great way to get a sampling. Each one day workshop is 6 hours long. With demonstrations and lectures given each day you will be taken through a step-by-step procedure…watch, listen, learn, and then apply. Will you walk out with a completed painting? Probably not, but I can guarantee that you'll walk away with a wealth of information.

1 day Portrait Drawing Workshop

November 11, 2010

1 day Portrait in Oil Workshop

November 12, 2010

1 day Portrait in Watercolor Workshop

November 13, 2010

Art of the Carolinas 2010
3415 Wake Forest Road

Raleigh, NC 27609

Phone: 919-876-6610
Fax: 919-876-0966

Email: sharon@jerrysartarama.com

Website: http://www.jerrysartevents.com/

Where were you in 1989?

2010-09-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

Last month I came across an old video recording of the NJ Watercolor Society’s 50^th Anniversary Exhibition in1989. The clip below is from the television program “NJ State of the Arts”. The exhibit opened at the Montclair Art Museum and then traveled to the Noyes Museum where the filming took place, and the exhibit closed at the Morris Museum in Lincroft, NJ. I can still recall driving down a deserted NJ Parkway during the tail end of the ’89 blizzard.

There was no size limitation for the exhibit giving me the opportunity to exhibit the largest watercolor I’ve done to date. Measuring 70” x 40”, “Pamelia” took 3 attempts to accomplish what I was looking for at the time. Spending nearly 6 weeks on the first attempt, the face eventually became overworked forcing me to scrap it. The second attempt was scrapped in the early stages after one week into the process. The third and final version shown below was executed in 2 weeks.

"Pamelia"

1988 - Watercolor on Arches 140lb cold pressed paper, 70" x 40"

Working on one piece for 6 weeks and scrapping it certainly can be disheartening, but this is not at all unusual for someone working in watercolor. One can view it as a thorough study of the subject before executing the final painting, and in the end this enabled me to greatly simplify many passages of the painting.

The Contemporary Portrait & Figure Exhibit

2010-06-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

I have 3 works included in this exhibition; "Daughter of Hope", "Allyson" and "Abigail Rose - Portrait of the Artist's Daughter" I will be attending the opening on June 13. Hope to see you there.

Stone Quarry Hill Art Park's exhibition, The Contemporary Portrait and Figure, highlights 14 artists whose explorations of the portrait and figure are as diverse as their subjects. The exhibition features artists: Romare Bearden, Jane Woodruff Carroll, Bob Dacey, Grace Hartigan, Darryl Hughto, David Kassan, Kevin Mayer, Paul McCormack, Katie O'Hagan, Susan Roth, Sarah Acton Sheer, Sharon Sprung, Gary Trento and Jerome Witkin. The show opens on Sunday, June 13, with a wine and cheese reception from 3-5 PM in the Art Park's John and Virginia Winner Memorial Art Gallery. It runs through Sunday, July 11. The Gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday, Noon-5 PM.

Portrait in Oil - 5 Day Workshop

2010-05-26T14:33:00.000-07:00

There are 4 spots left for the Portrait in Oil Workshop beginning on June 23rd. I've been working on a self portrait the past few weeks and it should be completed by mid-June. With this in mind I will be adding to the workshop a brief talk on the process of creating a self portrait. Below is a detail of my portrait in progress.

You can register for this workshop through the McCormack Studios website.
Portrait in Oil - 5 Day Workshop
June 23 - 27, 2010
9:30 am to 4:30 pm
Fee: $750 (model fee included)
McCormack Studios, Inc.
400 Market Industrial Park, Suite 11
Wappingers Falls, NY 12590
Phone: (845) 831-3368
Email: info@mccormackstudios.com
Website: http://www.mccormackstudios.com/

2010 Workshop Schedule

2010-02-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

Here is the 2010 schedule for workshops at the McCormack Studios.

~ 2 Day Portrait Drawing for the Beginner Workshop
March 27 & 28, 2010

~ 5 Day Portrait Drawing Workshop
April 14 - 18, 2010

~ 5 Day Portrait in Oil Workshop
June 23 - 27, 2010

~ 5 Day Watercolor Portrait Workshop
July 28 – August 1, 2010

Please visit the workshop page of the website for complete details.

Demo from the 2009 Portrait Drawing Workshop by Paul W. McCormack.

The Paul W. McCormack Watercolor Palette

2010-01-26T06:48:00.000-08:00

I just received the prototype for the Paul W. McCormack watercolor palette. It measures 13" x 16" with a snap on cover (embossed signature of course)...hard plastic like a Pike Palette. It's being produced by Jerry's Artarama. When you take into consideration that every element in one of my watercolor paintings is first simplified into a light, halftone and dark, this palette will begin to make perfect sense. In a simple head and shoulders portrait you would begin with 3 mixtures for the flesh, 3 for the hair and 3 for the garment. The smaller wells on the side are simply used for smaller mixtures, iris color, pupil, etc. The snap on lid can be used for the larger washes such as the background. Anyone who has worked with me in the past will know exactly what I'm talking about...a logical approach to watercolor.

Allied Artists of America 96th Annual Exhibition

2009-11-25T06:52:00.000-08:00

The watercolor painting of my daughter, “Daughter of Hope” received the “Mary Bryan Memorial Award” with an honorarium of $3,000 in the Allied Artists of America 96th Annual Exhibition. The exhibition is now on view at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, NYC. Please join me on November 29th at 1:00 for the artist reception and awards presentation.

5-Day Watercolor Portrait Workshop in New Zealand

2009-09-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

If you ever wanted to visit New Zealand and attend one of my watercolor workshops, this is certainly a prime opportunity. As you know a 5-day workshop in the States can cost $750 and up. New Zealand Art Schools is offering this 5-day watercolor portrait workshop for half the cost at $525 NZ dollars the equivalent of $375 USD.

Unlike my regular portrait workshops that are done from life, this 5-day workshop will focus on portraiture using photographic reference. The New Zealand Art Schools are not well equipped for a live model set up, so we decided to offer this unique opportunity. In addition to my regular course of instruction, lectures will include how to take good photographic reference, printing your own photos and how to deal with distortion.

For the exacting realism found in my work, most of day one will focus primarily on the drawing aspect of the portrait. With instruction on the proper use of angles, plumb lines and relative measurement, students will learn how to acquire correct proportions in order to achieve a likeness of the model. As the course continues, this intensive workshop will then focus on painting. Lectures will include basic color theory, how to see and execute correct value relations, proper treatment of edges, and so much more. Demonstrations in watercolor techniques will include wet into wet, glazing, and my signature dry brush technique.

5-Day Portrait in Watercolor Workshop
October 7-11, 2009
New Zealand Art Schools
61 Seaview Road
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Phone: (04) 568 4126
Fax: (04) 568 3027
Website: http://www.artschools.co.nz/
Email: malcolm@artschools.co.nz

Alfred Collins

2009-09-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

Continued from "Sunday at the Met"...Unable to locate a color pic of Alfred Collins' portrait, I did my best to shoot this photo through the glass. I took out most of the reflections but left the O as reminder that you are looking through glass and many reflections are still visible. In fact you can see my reflection at the very bottom.

Sunday at the Met

2009-08-26T11:47:00.001-07:00

Karen and I paid a visit to the Metropolitan on Sunday. I missed the Francis Bacon show. Not that I’m a fan of his work, but it’s always good to see a large body of work in a retrospective fashion from any artist. I was very surprised to find that the American Wing Painting Galleries are closed until 2011. This would be very unfortunate for the first time visitor. However, many paintings have been moved with majority of the well known works being moved to the Henry R. Luce Center for the Study of American Art or as they now call it…visible storage. This is a large room with aisles of large glass showcases that house an amazing array of American art examples from the decorative to the fine. I must admit that it was nice to see Madame X’s head at eye level for the very first time. If you don’t mind viewing work behind glass it is a great opportunity to see many works up close at a foot away.

I was glad to see that my all time favorite portrait still remains in the HL Center; Alfred Collins portrait of his wife “Mrs. Alfred Q. Collins”. I don’t think I have ever visited the Met without stopping by to see this painting. If anyone knows where I can find a good color image of this painting I would be very grateful.

One my favorite landscapes “Banks of the Loing” by William Picknell has been moved to the Robert Lehman Wing for an exhibition of American Landscapes. Here you can see some of the greats from the Hudson River School including Frederick Church and Thomas Cole.

Although I was disappointed at first with the temporary closing of the American Wing Painting Galleries, I still left fully enriched by seeing some old favorites in a new light...literally.

Powdered Graphite & Denatured Alcohol

2009-08-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

With the upcoming portrait drawing workshop on August 14th, I am posting part my recent correspondence with Gary Brookins, the cartoonist from the syndicated comic strip “Shoe”. Here you will find a brief description on how I use powdered graphite and denatured alcohol in my drawings.

Gary Brookins to Paul
Hi Paul-

I came across your work on your Web site several months ago, and really liked what you're doing . . . very nice work. I am especially intrigued by your pencil portraits, and was wondering if you can give me a brief description of your process? How you mix the washes? What brushes do you use to apply them? Are they put on before or after your "drawing" stage with pencils? Which leads do you use (2H, HB, 2B, 4B, etc.) Anyhow, I'm planning on taking your one day workshop in Raleigh in November. But I would like to try some of your techniques before them, if you don't mind passing them along. (Many years ago, I did a lot of graphite drawing, often spending a hundred hours or more on a drawing.)

You can look at some of my work at:
http://brookinsart.blogspot.com/
http://garybrookinstoons.blogspot.com/macnelly.com

Thanks, Paul.
Gary Brookins

Paul W. McCormack to Gary
Gary,

The process is difficult to describe without writing a short book. I love "Shoe", so let's give it a shot.

Washes are mixed with denatured alcohol and powdered graphite. Cretacolor powdered graphite works the best as it's more forgiving...DO NOT buy Generals. Using a watercolor palette and some old watercolor brushes the graphite is diluted with the alcohol and applied in the same way as a watercolor glaze. Be sure to test the value first on a piece of scrap. You can tell the wash is dry when the yellow tinge of the alcohol is gone. Using a large flat wash brush you then brush off the excess graphite, this will even out the tone.

The above is done after a fairly tight line drawing has been executed. Paper of choice is Strathmore 3 ply Bristol plate 400 or 500 series. The heavy ply will keep your surface from buckling.

Using the powdered graphite my washes are built up to a light, halftone and dark. This begins with the simplification of light and shadow splitting the form at the bedbug line. My darkest darks are then established with a Nero pencil. This pencil has a bit a charcoal added to the graphite achieving a much darker dark than a 6B graphite.

Now that I have my darkest dark and lightest light (the white of the paper) established I proceed to render with graphite pencils. I use a range from 4H to 4B being careful not to press too hard. Too much pressure or too many layers will give the surface a shine and uneven finish.

Hope to see you at one of my workshops.

Best,
Paul

Gary Brookins to Paul
Paul,

Thank you for your response. And in much less than a short book, you described the process perfectly, where even a cartoonist could understand it! I'll let you know how it works for me.

I would love to take the three day workshop in August, but I don't think I can fit anything else into my schedule . . . we have several big things going on up through September, and it's doubtful I can squeeze anything else in. However, if things change in the next couple of weeks, and it looks like I can do it, I'll get in touch. Otherwise, I will be taking the one in Raleigh in November.

Thanks, Paul. I appreciate your help.

Gary

July Watercolor Workshop

2009-07-29T07:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the July watercolor portrait workshop. Click on the image below and it will bring you to the Picassa website where you can view the images full screen. It’s great to see that everyone from the group is staying in touch and conversing about what they have learned. All the notes of thanks have been greatly appreciated and I am looking forward to working with everyone again in the near future.

Be sure to read about Marty Kelley’s workshop experience on his “Action Blog” at http://www.martykelley.com/. Marty is a fine artist who writes and illustrates children’s books. Marty has a great sense of humor and I’m certain that you’ll enjoy reading his daily posts about the workshop.

Drawing Workshop - April 17, 18 & 19

2009-04-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

I would like remind everyone that the portrait drawing workshop is April 17, 18 & 19. There are still several spots left. My beautiful wife and muse, Karen (model for "Hope") will be posing for the workshop. Details can be found on the workshop page of the website. http://www.mccormackstudios.com/
I am looking forward to working with everyone.

Paul

2008-12-25T08:05:00.001-08:00

I started this blog several months ago without letting anyone know. Now that the new McCormack Studios website is up and running I would like to welcome everyone. The new website is a work in progress and I welcome all comments...good and bad. Please visit me and Karen at www.mccormackstudios.com .

Welcome

2008-08-11T12:51:00.000-07:00

To all,

Welcome to the McCormack Studios Blog. I am new to blogging so please bear with me. I will be posting images of new work, listings of upcoming workshops and notes from the studio. I am presently finishing up my chapter for the 2009 publication 'Splash in Action" by North Light Books. You can see the drawing for the painting "Daughter of Hope", one of the works to be featured in the book. I will post the finished painting as soon as it's completed.

Thanks for visiting,
Paul