Request for Video or Workshop by Karin

Joan Breckwoldt · 03-31-2002, 12:09 AM

Karin,

I wish you would do a workshop, it would be full. But I see what you mean about it taking a long time with all the drying time on a painting.

What about a video? Take us through a painting, when you get ready to work on one of your beautiful paintings, have somebody hold a videorecorder as you paint and explain what you are doing. Not the entire painting session necessarily, but as long as you feel necessary. Then 2 weeks or a month later when you are ready with the next step (I don't know how long there is between steps) you could videotape the next step.

I'm not even talking about a slick professional video, just your basic handheld video recorder. I for one would be so happy to pay you a lot for a video. I know I would learn more from watching you work (even if it's on a tape) than from taking a class, and classes aren't cheap.

Am I crazy? I don't think so. I hope you'll think about it.

Joan
Happy Easter

Karin Wells · 03-31-2002, 08:35 AM

I think that a video sounds like a fine idea but I need some outside "expertise" on this...

First of all I'd need a video camera - any suggestions on what kind?

Also, is it possible that a camera could be on a tripod and focused on the canvas and could I switch it on and off myself?

Is it possible for me to edit out 99% of the boring stuff without expensive equipment?

Could I do a "voice over" of the visual?

I find it tough to paint and talk about painting simultaneously. (Funny thing, I have no problem painting and chatting about other subjects - must be a left/right brain thing).

Joseph Brzycki · 03-31-2002, 11:28 AM

Karin, I also think you should make a video. I have found a site where a classical artist has created his own painting video. He did the camera work, voice overs, editing all by himself. He makes a nice profit from these videos too.

Here's his e-mail. I'm sure he'll answer any questions you have.
[email protected]

Also, heres a page for his video:
http://webferret.search.com/click?wf...rt.com%2F,,aol

Hope this helps. Can't wait to see your video.

Sandy Barnes · 04-01-2002, 06:58 AM

I too would give anything for a video made by Karin. I am very interested in her posts on glazing techniques. Sign me up!

Karin Wells · 04-01-2002, 09:52 AM

Thanks for the URL Joseph. I checked it out and it is Alexei Antonov's video that you are refering to...

I really admire Alexei's work and sent for his video last year. I found his video extremely interesting...but even though I paint in a similar manner, I think it is not a video for a beginner. It raises more questions than it answers, and it is difficult to follow unless you know "what you're looking at"...

Alexei makes the following statement that I TOTALLY AGREE WITH 100%!

Quote:

My experience has shown that the classical school of painting can be studied without having a special "talent." The only condition is a passionate desire to learn and a little patience.

Anyhow, if ever I can figure a way to make a video on classical painting, I wish it to be SIMPLE with the beginner in mind.

I feel that it is unfortunate that this nearly "lost" information is not widely available to all who wish to pursue it.

When I have done workshops in the past, I taught "painting principles" in general...without ever concentrating on the portrait. I felt that when the student struggles for a "likeness," he cannot focus on and master the underlying principles of classical realism. To my surprise, most "got" the principles, but did not easily translate this information into a portrait without extra help.

I guess that I would have to make a two-part video and I'm still not sure how to go about it all.

Joan Breckwoldt · 04-01-2002, 11:10 AM

Karin,
I think making a video must be like many things in life where one just doesn't know all the answers because one doesn't know all the questions.
It's a process I've learned from painting, if I sit and think about painting and how to paint and what to do next, I can't figure out the 100 steps it takes for me to paint a picture. Until I get to step 12 I won't know what step 13 is, for example. It's hard for me to remember this. I just have to start and work through the problems as they come along. I think many things in life are like that and I try to remember how many things are really a learning process (for me anyway).
Maybe you can rent or borrow a video camera without making the investment in purchasing one and set it up that way. I don't know how to do the 'voice over' but I'm betting it's probably pretty easy, probably a button to push on the vieocamera. Probably somebody at a camera shop that sells videos could help you. Maybe you could even rent a videocamera from a camera shop that sells them?
It is amazing that information on how to paint in the old masters way is not readily available, as you pointed out. I do have the book on painting like the old masters, but it's just not that easy to follow. I hope you do make a video. Joan

Karin Wells · 04-01-2002, 01:55 PM

Quote:

I do have the book on painting like the old masters, but it's just not that easy to follow.

Is it "painting like the Old Masters" by Joseph Sheppard? This is the only book that I know of...I'd love to see another....

Joan Breckwoldt · 04-01-2002, 02:45 PM

Yes, that's the book I have. I have only studied it, not painted from it so I guess I'm not being entirely fair when I say it's hard to follow. I just meant a book doesn't compare to a video.
Joan

Peggy Baumgaertner · 04-01-2002, 03:06 PM

Karin,

If you are really interested in making a video series, we can talk in Philadelphia.

I hired a small television production studio and cameraman at $70 an hour, and moved my studio into an extra room at the television headquarters. I stayed there for six months until the videos were finished. I would go in three or four times a week and work with the cameraman. My model, Megan, also worked as continuity (She would remember if I had already said something or not...). When we had 50 hours of raw tape in the can, we went to work doing the editing. The filming took 2 1/2 months, the editing took three months.

I say all this to give you some idea of the time commitment. Albeit my video series is 13 hours long--a marathon of information--but the amount of time needed to put something like this together is logarithmically more involved than you can imagine. I figure that it was three hours in the studio for every hour of tape, and four hours in editing for every hour of finished tape. This is why I am very glad I made the decision to hire a professional to do the camera work and the editing. I didn't have to teach myself to use a camera, and I didn't have to teach myself to do the editing. I sat next to the editor and said, "Cut here, put the drop shot there, I want the opening shot to be panned there...," and the editor did what I asked, so it was my baby, but I didn't have to learn, buy, or rent the editing equipment.

I am planning on doing one or two more videos this summer, one on sauce, and one on charcoal, and I will go back to the same cameraman and television studio to make them.

The key thing is having an extremely clear idea on how the videos will be put together-the outline. Much like knowing exactly how a painting will look before one brushstroke touches the canvas, you need to know exactly how the video will appear before one foot of tape is filmed. Otherwise it gets very expensive and very time consuming. Heaven knows, it is time consuming enough when you know exactly where you are going. It took me two years to recuperate from the time lost to the video production.

Best luck! I would love to see you put something together.

Peggy

Steven Sweeney · 04-01-2002, 06:39 PM

I for one am happy to vouch for the success of Peggy's efforts. Having recently re-viewed the series, I have realized this week, as I begin a portrait of my son, how much I absorbed from the video demonstrations and the commentary. I keep wanting to paint the eye, but I know Peggy would say it's not time to drop that "poached egg" into the socket yet. And I'm especially happy to be keeping the integrity of the entire piece going at once, instead of noodling around prematurely with small, discrete areas. Even the initial lay-in, which took only an hour on a 20x26 canvas, was (in my opinion) already not a bad little painting, for the overall attention as well as the focus on a value plan. I glad you did all the hard work, Peggy, and I'm glad I've gotten the benefits.

Cheers,
Steven