When you were growing up, did you ever experienced an singular event or met a remarkable person that makes you think: “Yes, this is what I want to be!”?  Every artist has a story, perhaps a reason why they paint or draw or sculpt, because something or someone that deeply inspired them at some point in their life.

My father in his studio

In this blog, I made a commitment to write about art, and the artistic process, techniques and so on.  But there are more conceptual factors like inspiration and motivation that are so important.  I am referring to the will and love to create art in its purest form (I am not talking about producing art just for the money).  A child with a tendency to paint or draw, for example, may experience a certain incident or meet a person that triggers the will to know more, bring his creativity to a higher level, uncovering the the need to create ART, and ultimately fueling his/her development as an artist.  Here I will share with you what these where for me. I would love it if you, the readers and participants of this blog, would share some of your experiences as well!

Albert Einstein, whom I admire greatly, said: “True art is characterized by an irresistible urge in the creative artist”.  I always loved do things with my hands, create and particularly to draw.  No wonder, since my parents are both artists.  My home looked more like a museum than a house (I thought all my friends houses would look like that!).

Goya

A world-renown sculptor, my father also paints beautifully, (http://www.adelaherran.com) and my mother is a accomplished painter.  Art was just an intrinsic part of our daily life, mainly because of my father’s work and upbringing.  As a teenager, I was able to appreciate his great effort, deep love for art and total dedication.  His art work alone was our source of income in my family.  Now as and adult, I truly appreciate the fact that my three siblings and I never lacked a roof over our heads, food on the table and were able to attend private schools and good universities.  I always admired his commitment and rigorous work ethic (he is almost 81 years old and he is still working 6 days a week).  As a teenager, my conversations with him often were about his art work and current commissions.  He used to buy sometimes apparently worthless, but “carefully chosen”, old paintings (from 17-19th century) in Madrid antiquaries, and then restored them…  He would also research tirelessly to find the artist that created them.  I found this fascinating, so I learned some of the restoration skills and I loved helping him. (This could be a subject for another post!).

My cousin Alvaro

My dad used to show me his initial sketches and ideas for a monument or sculpture, we browsed art books together, looking for knowledge and inspiration in the works of the great masters.  I observed first hand his excitement, his struggles, and the transformation of those initial sketches on paper into a magnificent three-dimensional work of art.  A good example is his ink sketch of the virgin of Quito, which three years later became a 140-feet high monument erected in the middle of Ecuador’s capital city.  All this was so exciting and awe inspiring… I wanted to learn to create art too!  (I have to admit, the 3D stuff was not my call.  I was much more attracted to drawing and painting, but who knows, may be someday I will give sculpting a try!)

My mother has always been an exceptional source of encouragement and inspiration. In recent years, both of us have connected even further at the art level.  Some of my happiest moments with her are those when we paint together!  I admire her love for the arts.  There are few things she rather do than painting.  She often says: “Even when I am not painting, I am still painting with my eyes”.  I could have not said it better.

So this is why I love to create and paint.  Both my parents taught me to love the arts, and motivated me to draw and paint.  There was no singular life-changing moment that I can remember, but a lifetime of learning from these two remarkable artists and role models – that happened to be my parents. They are still inspiring me and encouraging me.

So once you discover that “irresistible urge to create”, that may have been in you all along …all you need is dedication, hard work, and one of the most important qualities in an artist: perseverance!

Happy creating everyone!

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My oil painting materials and accessories

Happy New Year!

Like most people, it is time to make some new year resolutions, and for me it means serious changes in my art blog.  The first is to actually blog! … that is, post a lot more than only a few times a year!  I am ashamed to admit it.  The second is to expand its focus.  I will add new subject matter, which will include posts related to other artists, art books, articles, comments, news, anything related to art that I find particularly compelling and worth sharing.  Lastly, I will also start a new series of posts that will be an attempt to be a painting technical resource, including tutorials, demos, and general tips. These posts will basically explain all about the materials and the technical aspects of painting, and more specifically, oil painting.  Perhaps acrylic painting as well.  We shall see!

Inspiration for New Content…

Inspiration for a change originated in part from several LinkedIn forums I have been participating in.  Also, the idea of including tutorials and helpful technical material came actually from the class material I am gathering for my young art students, which I have been teaching for year or so.  I love art, painting, and of course, sharing what I love.  Yes, this new focus has been incubating for a few months! …It has been only during this holiday break that the idea has actually emerged clearly in my mind.  The future “how to” posts will mostly be aimed at the beginner and intermediate artist.  I will share any tips, tricks (although in painting there are very few of those!), personal experiences, helpful hints and methods that work for me, and that may in turn work for you.  I will gladly welcome questions and requests to address a specific issue or challenge!  Nothing will make me happier than to be able to share what I have learned, from my mistakes, no doubt! and help others in their work or hobby.  Painting is all about enjoying the process, and if possible, learning from it, so we enjoy it even more and become better artists!

So join me as I cover these interesting new topics.  I look forward to your comments and requests!

Happy New Year and happy painting everyone!

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My Art Work was Featured in an Article!

Hi all, I am posting a recent interview that Ana Trigo Alonso, an art consultant and expert museologist, did recently of my art work.  So here is the text from the interview. Also, you can find the full interview and photographs in Ana Trigo’s art blog – see links at the bottom of the page:

Interview to Sonsoles Shack  by Ana Trigo Alonso, art consultant and expert Museologist.

Throughout the History of Art, artists have not limited themselves to paint, sculpt, photograph or write. Many of them have done much more than that and have used their talent and sensibility to serve a cause that contributes to Humanity’s progress, little by little, step by step. This is the case of Sonsoles Shack, a very, very special artist, because besides creating art, she also works in the fight against cancer. Her job as a scientist contributes to the advancement of our knowledge of this terrible disease, and helps improve the quality of life of the patients that suffer it. Not only that, her art work has also contributed to this great project. Would you like to know a little more about Sonsoles and her important art work? Do not miss the interview that she has been so kind to grant us.

Sonsoles, every artist has a moment in which she discovers her talent. When did this happen to you?

Since I was little I loved to draw and paint. I grew up surrounded of art and talent. Mi father is a sculptor, and my mother also loves art and painting. I probably was eight or nine years old when I realized that my drawings with pastel paintings were pretty good, and my teachers would cheer me on to continue painting. I enjoyed so much doing it. That plus the example and advice of my parents have been the biggest incentives to continue practicing, and painting a lot is essential to perfecting the painting technique, to find a unique style and in general, to grow as an artist. In fact I am happy to see that I am painting more and more.

At the time you decided to take drawing and painting classes, where did you study? How did you learn to create?

Well, first I need to admit that, although art is my passion, my vocation and profession is the research against cancer, a field I have worked on for almost 25 years. When I came to live to the US in 1987, I quickly joined the university to finish my degree in Molecular Biology. It was then when I took a painting class in campus because I wanted so much to draw again and I had not done it in years. Later on I signed up to take some private art classes. I could paint very little since I was working and studying at the same time. It was only recently that I dared to experiment with oils and acrylics and started painting seriously. Regarding the moment I learned to create?… What a great question! For me to start creating art was hard since I am a perfectionist and I was terrified to do it wrong. It was easier to “copy” a style or another artist’s painting, and justify to do it “only as an exercise” (and that is how I copied the drunken old man from “The Feast of Bacchus” by Velazquez). At last I could fully give myself to create my own original work when I lost the fear and I could let go. My first real original art work is the “Backlit Lilly”.

Analyzing your work, it is clear that you have an excellent drawing technique that allows you to create works that bear great realism. Is the drawing the most important part in the creation of a work of art ?

I think so. To draw well is essential to painting well. The drawing is so to speak the skeleton and the skin of a painting. The skeleton because a good drawing is the base upon which a painting grows and develops; the skin, because the final details need to be drawn with accuracy. I am very lucky, because I love to draw and I have done it for many years. Being a perfectionist also helps, but it sometimes torments me!

Still-life, portraits, landscapes… you have an ample array of themes, which is unusual in artists these days. What do you feel more comfortable doing?

You are absolutely right… I do a bit of everything because I like everything. But it has been interesting to observe how I have evolved in the last few years. The drawings you see in my website were done earlier, then I dared to tackle color, still-life, landscapes… and two years ago I tried something “even harder”, making portraits. Now I can say with certainty that portraiture is what I like most of all. Making good portraits is very difficult, and it is a great challenge; that is why the satisfaction is ever greater.

I personally like your landscapes very much, I see something exciting in them, something that makes me wonder: where is that place? who lives there? what story is about to develop?… as if it was a painting by Edward Hopper. How do you choose those paintings? Where do you find them?

It is interesting, only a few days ago someone was telling me that my landscapes have mystery and poetry. I had never thought about it that way. I think without consciously trying to, that is my goal. I do not stop painting until I achieve that mysterious and poetic look… A landscape is much more than a group of trees and mountains. The beauty and mystery in a landscape can be in the light, the contrasts, or the soft and cold tones in the far away mountains… Yes, Hopper was a great master of light and drama in painting. He is a great inspiration. Regarding the choice of landscapes, they ought to be beautiful and evocative places. I try to go to interesting places to paint plein air. Later in my studio I touch up and finish the painting using photographs.

Portraits are one of the most difficult subjects to tackle. Yours have a great realism and, at the same time, there is something unreal in them, as if you captured the “soul” of your model. What is your objective when you start a portrait?

If I can, I choose a model that has beauty, not necessarily in the literal sense, but in an artistic sense. It is a little like the landscapes I guess… The protagonists of the portraits ought to be interesting and have a lot of character. Besides achieving the likeness, which is what I was most worried about before, now I see that I also need the subject to transmit or communicate personality and feelings. Otherwise, the portrait will simply be a face, without “life” or character. I do not want it to look like a photograph. That is why it is important to know the person portrayed. It is difficult to explain, because each portrait is a world apart, but something happens during the making of a portrait, a dialogue between the model, the portrait and the artist, during which the portrait almost comes to life. If I cannot give personality and character to a portrait I feel like I have failed. My goal is to reach that level of depth in art that goes beyond the likeness.

Do you have a favorite piece, one of which you feel especially proud of?

I have two favorite paintings right now. First, Randy, my last portrait. I feel I have improved greatly with Randy, not only regarding the likeness, but with the look in his eyes, his expression, the color and the light in his face. I have succeeded in giving him an expression of happiness, of hope… I am quite satisfied with him. Another example is Tea with Blanca. I painted this still-life as a memorial for a friend of mine that died of leukemia a few years ago. Blanca loved red roses and this china tea cup always reminded me of her. Last year we had a fundraising event for ovarian cancer research. When they invited me to participate, I decided to donate Tea with Blanca. The painting was auctioned and was a success. It was a moment of great satisfaction for me because I think Blanca would have liked it. It was a very emotional moment. In fact, I am thinking I will do this again with another painting.

You have lived in the United States for 25 years. What has living between two cultures meant for you?

Yes, I lived in Maryland for 16 years, and in Arizona for the last 8 years. Spain is very different, and at first it was difficult to adapt, but now I love living here. I love my work, the lifestyle and the people. But to leave my whole family behind in Spain has been one of the hardest things I have done in my life. Each time I go back I realize how much I have missed. I wish we were closer.

Lastly, could you tell us what project are you working on now?

Right now I am making another commissioned portrait, she is the mother of one of our scientists in our institute. It is going to be a birthday present. I am half way through with this portrait. It is going well for now. Also, I am enjoying doing this portrait because till now I have only done portraits of children and adolescents. I will probably finish this portrait in December, and will be published in my website by the end of the year.

***

Sonsoles lives very far (from Spain), at the other side of an immense ocean. That has not become an obstacle for her warmth and simplicity to travel across the thousands of miles and reach me wrapped in the many emails that we have exchanged in order to make this interview. Sonsoles, it has been a real pleasure to collaborate with you and get to know this wonderful project with which you contribute every day to make this world a better place. Enjoy the work of Sonsoles Shack visit her website with all her art work and news. Sonsoles, from Spain we are sending you all our love and we wish you all the best luck!

Happy Tuesday

Sonsoles vive en Estados Unidos, motivo por el que hemos decidido traducir su entrevista, que ya se publicó hace unos días, al inglés. También podéis leer su entrevista en español. 

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Hi all, Randy’s portrait keeps on inspiring me and encouraging me, so I got to keep on trying.  I think it might be my best portrait yet.  So here we go again.  I decided to submit him to another competition.

Portrait Society of America Member’s Only Competition

The category is Commissioned Portraits.  This one is a great challenge because I know the quality of the work of my fellow competitors will be great.  You just need to check their website and see their beautiful paintings.  Each portrait is better than the next:  http://www.portraitsociety.org/  To say these portraits are awe inspiring is an understatement.

Well, let us see how my young man does in this event.

See photo of the final portrait below:

May be he has a chance this time.  May be he speaks to you like he speaks to me… that look, the light in his face and hair, that soft smile and those beautiful eyes…  Tell me what you think!

As always, I am always open for critique and suggestions (and of course compliments are always welcomed!).  Portraiture is difficult and we need to be humble and persevere because there is always room for improvement.  I guess I am a perfectionist, so I keep on trying to do better.  On thing I have learned, patience and perseverance is the only way you will give yourself the chance to learn what works, what doesn’t, specially with portrait painting.  That is how we improve in little steps: the technique, the composition, the use of lights and darks, the use of color, and achieving the likeness of the subject, and how it all comes together into the final portrait.

Thanks all in advance.  As always, I will keep you posted on the outcome of this competition.

See also:  New portrait and demo of a handsome young man, Randy

See also:  Randy’s portrait finished and submitted to Southwest Art magazine for Artistic Excellence competition.

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Here is the final portrait of Randy and you can see why I decided to submit it.  I am pleased with the way he looks.  I think I was able to capture his intelligent look and optimistic personality.  Yes, I think it turned out alright…  So I decided to submit to the Southwest Art Magazine competition for Artistic Excellence.  This competition is not just for portraits.  It includes many types of paintings and drawings, and of course open to a variety of media and subject matter.

Let’s keep our extremities crossed and wait patiently till December 1st, 2011.  That is the deadline for the results and when the artist will be notified, …but only if they have won in one of the categories.   My submission of Randy to the Southwest Art Magazine competition was in the category of oil painting.  See portrait below:

See also: New portrait and demo of a handsome man, Randy

I will probably submit this same portrait again elsewhere:

Member’s Only Competition of the Portrait Society of America

I know, the portrait artist’s in the PSA are extremely talented and the competition will be very tough.  But I got to keep trying.  May be I will get lucky and the judge will like it.  I have nothing to loose!

See also:  Randy’s Portrait submitted to the Member’s Only Portrait Society of America competition  

Stay tunned for the results of this competition by December 1st, 2011.

The post Randy's portrait finished and submitted to Southwest Art Magazine competition for Artistic Excellence. appeared first on My Art Blog.

When we were in Cabo San Lucas last, I made it a priority to pack my plein air painting gear,so I could paint if and when the surroundings where right… I had prepared a box with just a few basic things, the minimum for plein air painting: three or four small brushes, a couple of small gessoed wood boards, some rags and a few folded paper towels, and a few tubes of paint. I wanted to try my water soluble paints I had just bought.  They are perfect for traveling since you do not have to worry about flammable paint thinners, and leaking on the luggage…  We stayed in a beautiful hotel, by the beach and yes, the conditions were very right for painting.  I was so glad I had brought my gear with me!

I painted these on the beach, it was so wonderful to be there. It is a lovely place… I have painted plein air mostly inland, but it was a real treat to be there on the beach, listening to the waves, feeling the sea breeze, with beautiful weather and absorbing it all, while doing what I love most…

I painted for a while but did not have time to finish them… I had never quite put the last touches and signed them, so I never considered them finished.  Days later, when we returned home, I was able to use the photographs I had taken and add the last strokes.  Well, now they are done, and here they are.

Sonsoles

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It is time to start a new portrait: a young man named Randy.   He is a handsome youth that will start college this fall.  So now it is the time to catch him before he goes away!  I know him well.  He is intelligent, inquisitive, optimistic and quite funny.  I would like his portrait to reflect his unique character.  A portrait is not just a copy of a face, it should extend beyond the surface of what we see, that is, skin, hair and facial features.  It should be also a portrait of the inner self, reflecting the personality and the life within the subject.  This is quite a challenge but I will do my best!  Hope he turns out at least as handsome in the portrait as he really is inside and out.

See the enclosed photograph.  I will probably not use this photograph as reference, although it may help at some point.

Future Portrait Demo

I will do something new and interesting with this portrait. During the painting process, and at key stages of the portrait, I will take sequential photos to later publish a demonstration or “demo”.  Each photo of the portrait will be posted with a text that will explain what has been accomplished up to that point.  Both the demo and the finished portrait of young Randy will be posted in this blog and in my website  http://www.sonsolesfineart.com 

See also:  Portrait submitted to The Southwest Art Magazine Competition:

Randy’s portrait finished and submitted to Southwest Art magazine competition.

To see the completed demo of this portrait, stay tunned!

The post New portrait and demo of a handsome young man, Randy appeared first on My Art Blog.

I have decided to enter a couple of portraits in the Artist’s Magazine competition.  This is a magazine I am subscribed to.  I have been reading it and learning from for already several years.  I have to say, I have not felt confident enough until now to enter one of my paintings in the Artist’s Magazine‘s or other competitions.  I have been working very hard on my paintings, and more specifically, portrait painting.  It has been exciting and challenging, but I am learning so much, and I hope my portraits are getting better.  Well, I think now I am ready now to enter a competition.  I am just going to do it!

Here are the paintings I entered:

Marlee and Remembering Brandon

Brandon’s Portrait

Marlee’s portrait

I know I am competing with many artists, and VERY good artists around the world, and I am well aware that my chances are very low, but I have nothing to loose by trying!  Wish me luck guys, … I would be very happy with an honorable mention if nothing else!   Let’s see what happens.  The results will be notified to the participants on or before August 1st, 2011, and later published in an issue of the Artist’s Magazine.

This is pretty exciting!

cheers!

Sonsoles

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This sweet boy’s portrait was a commissioned by his heart-broken parents.  I have to confess, this have probably been the most difficult portrait yet, both emotionally and technically.  I have finished this little boy at least a dozen times, and the next day I looked at it I still found faults and corrections to be made.  He was such a beautiful boy, and I wanted him to look beautiful in the portrait.  I admit that even today I am not fully satisfied.

But I have a deadline, I have to stop, wait for the paint to dry, varnish it, frame it and deliver the finished portrait. Well, now it is done.  ”Remembering Brandon” has officially been finished today.  I actually uploaded the portrait to my website a few days ago but, unbeknownst to myself, it was not completed.  This little boy, sweet boy, has been quite difficult to do.  No, I did not have the excuse that he would not sit still.  Unfortunately, the reference photo I had was of very poor quality, and much fewer pixels than I would have liked, so some of the details in this sweet boy’s face was actually done with the help of my imagination…

I enjoyed the challenge and the honor to paint this portrait, commissioned in memory of Brandon, who unfortunately died at a very young age – I believe he was less than two years old-.  I tried to portray, not only the likeness, but also the beauty of his young features, and the serenity and curiosity on his face…  I hope I have done it justice.

Here is to Brandon.  Rest in peace, little angel…

This portrait is for you, Brandon.

To see my other portraits of young people in this blog, please visit:  Randy’s portrait

Also you can visit this sweet boy and other works in my website.

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Sometimes I wish I could merge the two things I love most, the work I do in cancer research and my passion for painting… It is something I have wanted to do for a long time.  I paint any chance I get and I am a cancer research scientist “by day” at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen)  http://www.tgen.org.  Our laboratory and other groups at TGen work on a number of projects geared to find how cancer develops, and how to design better cures to fight it.  So besides my work in the lab, it occurred to me that perhaps I could contribute by donating one of my paintings to a cancer fundraising event, to both help funding cancer research and also help raise awareness about such a terrible disease.

The fundrasing event: Tea for Teal, held on February 19, 2011 at the Sheraton in Phoenix, AZ, in honor of Ann Rita Monahan, an amazing lady that fought bravely a terrible disease: ovarian cancer.  Here is a link for more information:  www.anneritamonahan.org <http://www.anneritamonahan.org>

My Donation – Help Cancer Research!

I donated a painting that was very dear to me: “Tea with Blanca”.  Blanca was a friend of mine that battled leukemia for several years, and died a couple of years ago.  I painted this still-life in her memory. Her favorite flowers were red roses.  This antique china tea cup and saucer set kept reminding me of her, so I had to paint it.

Tea with Blanca, oil on canvas

Tea with Blanca was auctioned and the money raised donated to the Ann Rita Monahan Foundation (ARM) on February 19th. In addition, a gift certificate for a 20% off a portrait was given to the winner.  That 20% will also be donated to the the ARM foundation.

It felt so great to contribute to cancer research in a brand new way.  I think Blanca would have approved!  I have decided I will definitely do it again…

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