I just got back from a lecture on color by Graydon Parrish. He’s one of the great modern American realists (here are a couple of links, plus a bad, and unwarranted, review of his latest painting by the New York Times).
I’m still digesting what Graydon had to say; more about it later. Graydon is a great proponent of the Munsell color system. If I didn’t already have a decent understanding of Munsell color terminology, I would have gotten much less out of the lecture. He lives and breathes it, even to the point of using color chips from the Munsell set to directly determine colors on a model or object as the starting point for his color mixes. Of the 1600 color chips in the Munsell set, Graydon says that he’s mixed and tubed about 800. Yes, he’s that hard core.
I also got to meet a number of people whom I had previously interacted with only online, including Jeff Freedner (who sometimes comments here as Painterdog) and Rob Howard, the moderator of the Cennini Forum and the public face of Studio Products.
I had a great time. Much to think about.
Wow is the right word David. Graydon has an amazing mind and is extremly well versed. From reading his comments on the Cennini Forum and today’s demo I have come to the conclusion that this guy is in class of his own. He mixed and tubed 800 colors based on Munsell! Hard core indeed, I think Mr. Munsell would have been very pleased indeed.
It was great meeting you today. The lecture was an eye opener for me to. It became more apparent as I was driving home.
Yes much to think about. I did have short conversation with Graydon about transparency and shadows and how the system could be worked with that as ooposed to 19 century painting.
It’s pretty simple(in theory)you have a toned canvas or panel, and you work up the edge of the shadow, the trick is to find the right gray value to turn into the transparent shadow.
The NY Times article was spot on. Mr. Parrish has figured out how to make a 19th century painting. Congratulations.
Of course this is 2007……
Erik,
You’re entitled to your opinion, of course. I disagree. I have not seen the painting itself, but from the photos I’ve seen it is very impressive. While it uses some elements of paintings from the 19th century (as all artists reference previous work), no reasonable person could confuse Mr. Parrish’s painting with one from a previous century, subject matter aside.
Take any notes you could share with us?? I’d love to know what stood out to you really great website! keep it up!
Rodrigo,
Graydon requests that workshop participants not post their notes for public access. So, other than to say that the focus is on using Munsell color chips as a standard against which color mixing can be accomplished, I am not at liberty to post extensive information on the lecture. Sorry.
Completely understandable, I’m sorry to have sounded naïve I just get so excited. = ) I guess my real question then is, does anyone know if/when Graydon is scheduling another lecture?
Rodrigo,
I’m sorry, but I don’t know whether or when Graydon Parrish might be giving another color lecture.