Author: Ifat Glassman

Visual Principles vs. sheer Observation in Art making

| Ifat Glassman

Figure Construction As an art student you will often hear the idea that the artist must learn to ignore what “they think they see” about their subject matter in order to actually see it as it is. That in our mind, there is an abstract visual symbol of different things (such as the shape of the head) and that we need to learn to ignore it in order to observe what is actually there.

There is some truth to that, and some falsehood as well.

As humans, there is only so much information we can hold in our mind at any given point. Principles and generalization help us to quickly understand a situation rather than analyze it as if we are encountering everything about it for the very first time. Continue reading →

Conclusion of Summer outdoor Painting

| Ifat Glassman

Forest Trail

Forest Trail, Oil on Canvas 11”X 15”

This summer I had the luxury of going outside and painting. It was relatively a new experience for me and I enjoyed it a lot.

Sometimes I would go by myself and sit in a forest for hours, painting, and sometimes go with a friend and do short studies of things.

At the beginning:

Forest Trail Beginning
A couple of small, single sitting studies:

Water Lillies, Study  Thyme for soup
It’s been a lovely summer. I hope I will get more opportunities for outdoor painting now that the summer is pretty much over here in Seattle.

-Ifat

Sculpture!

| Ifat Glassman

I love sculpting. Sometimes, while working on a painting I would go get something from my art room, see this sculpture and start working on it, forgetting all about what I was doing before. It sends me to a meditative state of mind and satisfies my love of the human figure and anatomy.

I made this sculpture during a sculpting class I took a couple of months ago. It was my first sculpting class, though I sculpted on a small scale at home before. This time I learned how to do it properly – how to construct an armature and use sculpting tools (though I still prefer my hands for most things).
The instructor for the class was actually a sculptor whose work I really like. You can check out his website Here.

So… about this piece: It is currently made out of oil-based clay and is connected to a pipe to provide it with support since I haven’t casted it (quite an expensive process). It is 22” tall.
The class was 10 sessions and was not enough time for me to finish everything, so I actually worked at home without a model for a while to finish it. I can’t say I find this sculpture perfect. But hey, I need to stop telling you what I think and just let you see it for yourself. So here it is. I took pictures from all sides, more or less and from some favorite angles.

Back Back_3QuarterRight Back_3QuarterRight_Full2 Back_Full Front Front_Full Front_Full_NaturalLight2 Front-right_full Head_ProfileBack_Left_full Front_Left_Detail
So.. that’s it. I have plants for more sculptures: some I plan to do from imagination and use them as a way to further study anatomy as I go, and at least one I plan to do from a model as part of an “open studio” sort of thing.

One last note: I’ve been working on finishing a couple of pieces that have been lingering for a while now since my last semester at the atelier. These two are definitely my favorites from all I’ve done at the atelier and have a lot more “me” in them than the other works I’ve done. Turns out my mind works very slowly in figuring out “big picture” things in art. It takes me a while of staying away from a painting to realize what it needs. Hopefully I will be able to display them soon.

Thanks for reading and have a nice rest of the week.

-Ifat

Finally Graduated..

| Ifat Glassman

So I figure I’d write an update about how things are going. June 29th I graduated from a full-time 3 year program at Georgetown Atelier.

Just in time… as even though I think I have so much more to learn, I was definitely ready to be out of an atelier environment. Perhaps this particular atelier, but nonetheless, it is nice to be on my own.

I have a couple of finished pieces which I will photograph and display soon.
One of the finished pieces is “Glimpse of the desert” – a painting I’ve been working on for a while from a miniature setup I built. Continue reading →

Graduation in a week!

| Ifat Glassman

I’d like to invite you, reader, to my graduation party which is also a student show of Georgetown Atelier and end of the year party.

There will be Drinks (important!), student art show of the best works from everyone throughout the year, refreshments and music.

I’d love to meet you in person if you are in Seattle on that day and attend.

Here is the Location. The Date is June 29th, 6pm-9pm, with the part dedicated to the graduation ceremony at 7pm.

GT Atelier Party Flyer Front  GeorgetownAtelier_2013_Back

Hope to see you there,

Ifat

Current Painting: Mermaid listening to a Harpist

Image | | Ifat Glassman

I am currently busy with 4 paintings, which I am trying to finish in time for my graduation from Georgetown Atelier in 4 weeks.

Indeed. I will be done with atelier education. Caplawza! For lack of a better word.
Here are the beginning stages of one of the paintings. It started with a little tiny drawing for the concept:

Mermaid Thumbnail

Continue reading →

‘Observing’ and Form vs. Cast shadows

Observing
Image | | Ifat Glassman

That picture and this painting of her face share the exact same principle as in this Georgetown Atelier Tutorial, which was really fun to discover.

The key is that the darkest dark is in the cast shadow. In the sphere it is the shadow right under the sphere. The core shadow is second in degree of darkness and lastly is the dark side filled with reflected light. The light on the model’s face was exactly the same. If you examine the picture bellow, look in the groove of the chin, under the top lip, right under the nose, and right under her eye in the dark side: Those are all the darkest dark. Second in degree is the core shadow, which is slightly less dark (like on her cheek), and the reflected light, which is significantly lighter here than the other shadow areas.
Seeing this principle clearly allowed me to paint with greater clarity, and better yet, I will be looking for the same principle next time I paint and every time I paint.

Observing
Observing, Detail
Observing, mid stage
Observing, Underpainting
‘Observing’, Drawing
Study 2

-Ifat

Thoughts about music and Painting

| Ifat Glassman

Trying to find a good version of Chopin’s Nocturne Op.9 on iTunes I find myself going through some strange feelings while listening to the different versions by different artists. In most cases, I feel this strong irritations at those who are doing it “wrong”. They slow down in sentimental parts too much, making it sound artificial, or they play around with the notes trying to sound fancy, or they space the notes in such a way that makes it sound “sophisticated” but completely loses touch with the emotional content.

I think to myself: It is just like those dancers who have perfected the moves of the dance so much that they seem to be a caricature of expressing feelings instead of expressing them through dance. Continue reading →

Self-built miniature model for a painting!

| Ifat Glassman

2 Years ago I painted this painting from a live model over the summer:

'Katrina', Oil on Board

After the painting was done, I felt restless about the background, which I did not like at all.

I realized what this model and pose really remind me of are a solitary moment of an Arabian princess, as she’s getting dressed in private, standing in a tent, catching a glimpse of the desert sunset through a crack in the tent opening.
From the moment I thought of that idea, I was sold on it. Continue reading →