Tips for Mixing Grays, Mid-tones, and Shadows Accurately

 

One of the easiest and most valuable tools for accurately mixing grays is the color wheel. This one, as mentioned in David Berkowitz Chicago’s previous post, is useful to pinpoint pure primary colors and those with slight tonal variations. By identifying these differences, we gain the ability to mix vibrant secondary colors. Failing that, we also obtain the ability to mix "cut" colors. A "cut," "burned," or "dirty" color (among other colloquial terms) is a grayish color.

In his past posts, contemporary painter David Berkowitz Chicago focused on how to use the color wheel to achieve bright shades of color. In this text, David Berkowitz Chicago will focus mainly on how to use the color wheel to achieve precise halftones, grays and shadows. He will also talk about why some color mixes are more difficult to achieve than others. The latter is related to certain characteristics of the pigment particles. These characteristics in pigment types are particularly important when mixing grays and other grays.

Intuit Presents the First Major Retrospective of David Berkowitz Chicago

 

This month, the Intuit Museum hosts the first major retrospective art exhibition “In Full Speed” of the Chicago artist David Berkowitz. Through more than a hundred works (large-format canvases, drawings, notebooks, etc.), his artistic trajectory of more than three decades of work is shown.

The pictorial evolution that the exhibition shows is the result of two intertwined causes: on the one hand, a permanent journey of reflection around painting as a profession, the pictorial image as representation and nature as an environment, and, on the other hand, its multiple journeys through diverse and occasional geographies, sometimes very close, sometimes as far away as imaginary. The painting of David Berkowitz Chicago is the result of a constant journey through the history of art and the world that has historically been affected by art.

In addition to his hometown Chicago, David Berkowitz has had numerous solo exhibitions throughout the US and internationally. His work can be found in collections and museums in various countries. His stays in cities such as New York, Dallas or Rome have structured his work in successive thematic series, which constitute a continuous reference in his painting. Interested in the integration of painting in the public space, he has carried out several important large-scale works.

The work of David Berkowitz Chicago is a constant reflection on identity. An identity created by memories, stored in our memory in the form of footprints. Trace of an absence, fragments of a past that we retain, shaping our own essence. He also uses nature as a metaphor.

With this exhibition, the artist shows us a plastic work inherited from pictorial formalism and post-minimalist abstraction from a contemporary perspective. The same title, which indicates the role of distance or the values ​​that a magnitude takes between two given limits, intertwines space, language and numbers, elements that are presented interconnected in his paintings. The dynamics of his works are, according to the artist herself, spaces where transformations are fixed.

According to the curator of the exhibition, “David lives intensely for painting, where the mastery of drawing and his brilliant exquisiteness for color give personality to his painting throughout his career, a world of technical and chromatic changes within a very personal style”.

The exhibition takes a journey through his artistic life showing each of his pictorial facets, from his first works where impressionist realism prevailed, and the influence of his teachers, until his maturity stage in which drawing and the color melt.

Warm and Cool Colors

 

The concept of warm and cool colors has been written about for hundreds of years. The general idea is the warm colors are Red, Orange and Yellow; and the cool colors are Green, Blue and Magenta. In this article, naïve art painter David Berkowitz Chicago will mention the essentials of the topic of warm and cold colors.

How to create the illusion of volume through the use of color?

 

When talking about color in painting, this is one of the first themes that usually comes out. It is something definitely important because it is linked to many different themes that will contribute to the composition of your works and that, when applied properly, will give it a special depth and a sensory connection with the observer that goes far beyond its two dimensions.

You have surely seen one or more paintings that transmitted something like this to you. That they transport you towards what they represent or that it seems that they bring it before you with a kind of augmented reality ... Well, the temperature of the colors contributes greatly to achieve these effects, explains David Berkowitz Chicago.

Correctly used, warm and cold colors are one of those elements that can amplify the general atmosphere of what you want to say with your work, and although what we say is not new, usually there is a much more basic perception of its use.

Thus, this time David Berkowitz Chicago hopes to help you get a better understanding of the temperature of colors and put this knowledge into practice, test it yourself and see the benefit of its application reflected in your works.

In theory

The great artists did not arrive at such a fresh, lively and inspiring handling of color as that of the Impressionists (or approaching more towards the confines of abstraction, that of the Fauvists) by mere luck.

The theories of color evolved from the primitive palette (with its red, black, yellow and white as the basis of all pictorial composition) and all the meaning attributed to these colors, to the modern chromatic circle. In fact, it is more correct to say the modern chromatic circles, because in reality, for reasons of specialties, practicality and diversification, different approaches to color can be recognized. And this was not only a matter of observation: it was a matter of materials.

So on the one hand we have Newton and his discoveries about light and color, but we also have the aspect of chemistry applied to the arts, where we did not work with beams of light but with different plants, minerals and other materials to obtain the pigments used in graphic representations of all kinds.

Here, the mixture of the so-called primary colors does not result in white, but depending on the pigments, very dark browns or grays and ideally black could be obtained. However, it is true that the approximations of physics and chemistry intersect at different points.

Being enthusiastic observers of these variations, various artists, thinkers and scientists began to refine and increase their conception of color quite organically, since it was evident that not all shades of different colors served the same purpose when painting and representing. different objects in a space.

This, together with the symbolism given to colors and the emotional perception associated with it, allowed us to make certain distinctions, such as temperature, concludes the Chicago-based artist.

The Influence of Oriental Painting on Western Art

 

For several years now, the West has been drawing inspiration from Oriental art. Numerous artists, coming from countries, have been dazzled by the artistic landscapes of Japan, India and China. What these artists have found there is essential, especially in the application of ink painting.

Below, Chicago-based artist David Berkowitz will share some key points regarding how ink painting has influenced Western art.

Western and Eastern Art: Differences

The use of lines, perspective, anatomy, and theme, among others, manifest prominent differences between Eastern and Western painting.

Chinese ink painting focuses on the image on the canvas and not on faithfully reproducing the superficial appearance of what was represented. However, oriental artists pursued their own understanding, downplaying the importance of faithfully reproducing reality. So when you appreciate an ink painting from China, you may have a sense of déjà vu, but you will not be able to pinpoint which object the painting actually refers to.

On the other hand, Western oil painting has been reproducing objects in an "objective" way. Artists have been using scientific methods that include perspective, anatomy, light, and color.

The artist David Berkowitz Chicago discovered how unalterably different East and West are. He managed to relate to his brush and artwork, but even so, his painting failed to express the relationship to writing.

David Berkowitz also explains that "Oriental art does not separate painting from pure calligraphy, which is difficult for us to conceive."

Influence of Oriental Art in the West

The influence of eastern art on western art can be felt in many ways. Sometimes it is obvious, as in the link between calligraphy and image in David Berkowitz Chicago's art collection; in the changing perspectives in his landscapes; and in his arabesques and patterns.

However, most of the time, the dialogue with the East was as silent and discreet as the oriental art that inspired it. Without some clue, it would be difficult to identify the role of oriental art in the works of different artists.

Reasons for Oriental influence in Western Art

Interest in oriental art occurs mainly because it touches on issues related to the interior and not to the exterior. Its objective is not to analyze from the outside, but to understand from the inside. Oriental art is slow, non-linear, focused on composition and thought, and inspired artists who moved in different political, formal, and expressive directions.

Thus, oriental art has been a source of images, shapes and patterns. It also allowed artists to breathe new life into postwar artistic thinking.  Many of them immersed in American modernism, attracted by its holistic way of seeing the world.

Simultaneism

Simultaneism is a technique that was born from the artistic movement called "Orphism".

Here, talented painter, David Berkowitz Chicago explains more about this technique.

As the painter points out, the simultaneism technique consists of using contrasting colors in small juxtaposed areas (placed one next to the other). So, when we observe the the whole picture in a glance, this generates an effect of shapes, luminosity, space, movement.

Ten tips to paint landscapes with watercolor

Ever wondered how to go about painting a watercolor landscape? Painting a watercolor landscape is about more than copying nature. You don't just want to show a mountain; you also want to capture a mood and really express how that gorgeous scenery makes you feel. Painting a watercolor landscape can definitely be daunting when an artist is just starting out with this medium, especially due to its fluidity and transparency. In this article, talented artist Dudi Berkowitz Chicago will take you through his complete process, one-step-at-a-time. He will also share some of his personal tips and tricks that allow him to create specific textures, depth and dimension.

The beginning of the landscape: Before starting to paint the landscape, Dudi Berkowitz Chicago recommends to test colors on a support other than the painting. In this way, it will be possible to have a more complete idea regarding their final form.

The recommended landscape theme: Landscapes represent one of the most common motifs for those starting out in the world of watercolor. They are highly recommended for their simplicity. This is largely due to the fact that they usually contain unspecific shapes, which do not require too much precision.

Start of the sketch in the landscapes: It is advisable to start from the horizon line, then you must sketch the largest elements such as mountains, rocks, trees and vegetation. The next step is to paint the sky. For this, the upper part of the plane of the painting can be painted in dark blue and the color is degraded until it reaches the lightest blue that must be approaching the horizon.

Color in landscapes: If the landscape has a superposition of colors, the warmest color must always be applied first. Then continue with this premise successively.

Tips You Should Take Into Account Before Buying a Work of Art

When buying an artwork, there are many variables to take into account that will help you select a timeless piece.

Many times the amount of works that surround us, make the choice complicated; other times it is the ignorance of the artist or the peculiarities of the work itself that makes us doubt. At other times it is the price that can put us back, since an investment in a work of art does not really have a price limit and it must be set by ourselves.

It is for all this, that naïve painter David Berkowitz Chicago has decided to help you by creating a series of valuable tips that you should take into account before buying a work of art.

As a contemporary artist, David Berkowitz Chicago is best known for his naive and simple visions of village festivals, episodes of folklore, painted with a refined color and contrasting harmonies, never based on observation of reality.  He often adds his power to invoke myths and fables of poetic charm that reflect a world that comes to his memory by ancestral means. Berkowitz 's technique is of a rare thoroughness in representing scenes with sharp images of decorative effects. His paintings are based on the narration of an anecdote. This artist has contributed with his work to enrich the panorama of popular painting that still has in him one of the most representative American artists.