Portrait in Oil - 5 Day Workshop

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.