Diana K. Gibson

Just recently I had the pleasure to sit for a portrait painting class. Sitting for the class reminded me of my beginnings in the art field. Before I began painting I was a portrait model. The transition from portrait model to art student to artist seemed only natural. This transition ultimately changed my life and enriched it beyond measure. Here are some pictures taken after the portrait painting class. The garb that I am wearing is a dress that was picked up by a relative who was on a business trip in Sinai, Egypt. I was told that the dress was made by one woman who constructed the dress and embroidered it by hand. The estimated time frame to complete such a dress was approximately two weeks. The dress is rare and is over 20 years old. The jewelry pieces are antiques from the Sinai and India.

Some quick tips that I offer to my students in regard to creating further distance in their landscape paintings are as follows: COMPOSITION: *Look for the ellipses in the landscape and translate them upon the canvas. The ellipses help to create movement and draws the viewers' eye through the picture. *Be aware of scale and perspective. Contrast and compare the shape and scale of the objects. Things get smaller as they recede into the distance. Think about how much of the sky will appear in the picture. By merely raising or lowering the horizon line, one can shift the perspective creating more or less depth within the painting. *Be cognizant of any kind of repetition that maybe occurring within the painting. We may sometimes be unaware of the consistent repetitive shapes or equally spaced out items we are creating. Shapes and spacing are quite varied in nature and are not as systematic as we sometimes unconsciously portray them. Constantly observe, compare your work to the

Above are pictures depicting mixing colors. These colors were pre-mixed with the intent to paint a sunrise. The palette was prepared the night before and a dark toned panel was selected. My gear was readied and awaited the morning. The start to my day went a little differently than planned. At 4:30 AM the house woke to two cats hissing and growling outside in the yard below. Being up earlier than planned afforded time to watch the very early dawn of the day. The sky was still dark but there were tell tale signs that the sun was soon to rise. Quick preparations and a short walk down the road, my gear was set up and I stood waiting for the magical moment for when the sun would break over the horizon. Knowing speed is critical for painting a sunrise, the land masses were massed in and I anticipated the sky to burst into color. I glanced over my shoulder to track the progress of the sun in the sky when I noticed a cloud bank moving up towards the sun. In the distance a large bank

Getting outside to paint en plein aire this summer has really been a challenge since the majority of this summer has been subject to much heavy rainfall. This piece was actually started on a misty rainy day and was worked on over a period of a few days. In the past my plein aire work was completed in one session however lately I have taken a different approach and have started to work on the same piece over a span of a few days. That means I start a picture and then return to the same site at the same time of day under the same lighting conditions until I consider the painting finished. This new approach has been beneficial for me because I have learned considerably more through intensive direct observation. I have also taken a new approach in modifying my palette in hopes to create more saturated naturalistic vibrant colors.

This still life is currently in progress and it is my first endeavor to truly break away and do something quite different from my past work. Instead of pounding away at a piece and trying to finish it alla prima, I have slowed down considerably on this one and have taken much more time to analyze the subject and painting. The finished painting turned out pretty well if I may say so myself. :)

Ever become a tasty snack for a swarm of hungry biting insects and wish you had some bug spray? Ouch! How about having a sopping brush and realizing you forgot your roll of towels or rags or better yet you set up your pochade box and go for your paints only to realize you left them next to your easel at home? Maybe some of you are nodding your head and chuckling and know too well what I am relating. Sometimes forgetting supplies can be just down right frustrating though the forgetfulness does make for some good jokes and story telling. But the lack of efficiency can take away from constructive painting time, which is no joke. Through years of plein air painting experience I have learned to carry some extra supplies on hand because I have had those days where I in my haste I forgot something at the house or left it along the side of the driveway. So to prepare for those inevitable opps duh moments, I keep the following plein air staples in the trunk of my car: Bug repellant (seasona

Well it has been a little while since I participated in the Cranford Artist Studio Tour and it would be remiss of me not to chat about my experience! I must say I had an awesome time! Many cheerful and supportive patrons of the arts poured out onto the streets to check out what Cranford had to offer. The drizzly rain did not hinder the fans of the fine arts nor we visiting plein air painters! Myself and Eleinne Basa were the plein air painters demonstrating plein air painting techniques, explaining about the easels we used, the colors on our palettes, and explaining exactly what is plein air painting, etc. I was absolutely delighted to meet the public and to meet fellow artists. I was extremely touched by the support of my students who showed up and remained with me for the entirety of the event. There was an energy that was positive and supportive and the buzz that was created from this event left me feeling very happy. I would like to recognize Deborah Leber and Paul Casale fo

Hi out there to you all in blogger world! It has been quite a long time since I have updated my blog and I promise to get some new images uploaded as soon as possible! This Spring has proved to be a rainy one and the Summer looks to be a continuation of the Spring, wet and rainy. The rain has been an hinderance to plein air painting, however I have managed to get out there and do some work. So please check back soon to view my latest work and read some of my painting tales! Cheers!

This Spring offers exciting events which I am happy to share with you! This year I was invited to participate in the Cranford's Artist Open Studio Tour 2009! Artists' home studios together with local businesses hosting visiting artists will provide the venues for exhibitions of painting, photography, stain glass and more! Between the hours of 12 and 5 PM some of Cranford NJ's very best fine artists as well as visiting artists will welcome you into their studios and work locations. Whether it is a Cranford artist or a visiting artist, they will guide you through their creative process. See works in progress, finished pieces and demonstrations during this self guided tour. Artwork will be available for purchase. Please come join me at the Cranford Artists' Open Studio tour scheduled for Sunday, May 17 12 to 5 PM! Advance ticket purchases are available. For further information please visit Cranford Artists' Open Studio Tour .

Recently I rediscovered drawing and it has been a delight to return to the basics! As of late plaster life casts have been the focus of study and they are wonderful to learn from.  If anything that I have learned from my drawing foray and I say foray cheekily, is that one must really understand not only how to create linear elements but also know how to model and shape through a multitude of black and white values.  I now have a broader understanding and a greater appreciation of just how difficult drawing can be and in some cases some drawings can require as much time to execute as a painting!

The results are in and I am happy to announce that I am one of five finalists for the American Artist Showcase Your State: New Jersey plein air competition!  To view the American Artist on-line article just click on this link -> "Showcase Your State: New Jersey Winners."  Thanks to all of you for your support and vote of confidence!  :) Congrats to the other finalists!  You rock! FINALIST #5: DIANA K. GIBSON (from Ringwood, New Jersey) Springtime in the NJ Highlands by Diana K. Gibson, 2006, oil, 18 x 14 In the Words of the Artist: "The New Jersey Botanical Garden (NJBG), in Ringwood, New Jersey, is one of my favorite places to paint in the spring.  Each spring a week prior to the bloom, I drive through the NJBG observing the buds on the cherry blossom trees.  Often, the buds show no signs of blooming.  Then, as if by magic, the buds burst into flower overnight and within a week drop their petals.  I was walking about the gardens looking for a subject to paint when

Stretching your own canvas has its benefits. You are able to create unusual sizes that you would not find elsewhere as most pre-stretched canvases are standard sizes. You also have the luxury of stripping your canvas from the stretchers and recycling the stretcher bars for another painting. Stretching canvas takes a little time, some patience a wee bit of hand strength.  To stretch your own canvas you will need some supplies such as a roll of canvas, stretcher bars, canvas pliers, staple gun, staples, sharp pair of scissors and a small awl.  Start by putting together your wooden stretcher bars being sure that they are aligned perfectly.  A T-square can be used to check this. Once the stretcher bars are assembled, lay out your roll of canvas on a flat clean surface.  It is rather important that you do not crease or wrinkle the canvas.  With a sharp pair of scissors cut around the stretcher bars giving yourself at least two inch border from the bars to the edge of the canvas.        

When I first started painting my teacher introduced me to tubing colors.  Being a new student I did not quite understand the benefits of tubing my own colors and thought the mixing and tubing process to be fun while being labor intensive.  Later on when I put those tubed colors to use did I realized just how beneficial it was to have an abundant supply of color on hand readily available.  There was no longer the need to be constantly mixing up color hither and thither. All I had to do was reach into my paint box, open a tube of color, squeeze out some paint onto my palette and start painting.  Now I am introducing the concept of tubing colors to my students.  It is a great kick to watch them take out their supply of empty paint tubes, pigments, palette knives and see the amazement on their faces as the pigments get swirled together into large toffee colored mounds of paint that morph into flesh tones that rival makeup foundation products. When I proposed the idea of mixing an

Over the years many of my students have asked me how to tone a canvas. Often I would verbally explain how to prepare the canvas but found it was simply better to actually physically take a canvas, prepare the tone and demonstrate the process. Today my student Kay was at the studio and had some canvas she wanted to tone. I took the opportunity to show her the process and thankfully I had my camera on hand to document the simple steps of toning a canvas.                                         Start with clean stretched canvas. Lay it on a flat steady surface be it a floor or a large table. Using your palette or taboret, mix up a batch of neutral color. The amount of paint mixed will depend on the size of your canvas or the quantity of canvas you are planning to prepare.                                                                  Taking your palette knife, scoop up some of the mixed paint and gently smear it across the canvas. Then taking a clean rag, pour some odorless turpenoi

Many of my students ask me, "what is this palette that you are teaching me?" To which I reply "a palette that my teacher's teacher's teacher developed some time ago long before you and I were born." Of course this explanation fetches some curious looks, but in truth, the palette has been handed down through the generations from teacher to student. Fortunately it was handed down to me and happily I am handing it down to a future generation of aspiring artists. At first glance, the prismatic palette appears to be of a complex nature with many colors. As shown above it proffers an array of a multitude of manufactured and premixed colors laid out in strings according to values. The top string of colors are manufactured pigments ranging from white, yellow, orange, red, blue, and black. The rest of the palette is comprised of pre-mixed colors in eight equal steps of light gray to dark gray, eight equal steps of light blue to dark blue and eight equal steps of li

AMERICAN ARTIST  magazine showcased one of my works to announce their on-line plein air painting contest  Showcase Your State .  The painting "Springtime in the NJ Highlands" can be found in the February 2009 edition of AMERICAN ARTIST  magazine.

Sometimes I find that setting up a still life is the most complicated part of painting. Trying to find the right combination of textures, colors, surfaces etc. can drive me bats. Then there is the composition. For whatever reason I have a tendency to keep my compositions simple. Perhaps there is beauty in simplicity, who knows. Well once all of the still life objects are set up and a pleasing composition is arrived upon, I work to set up the easel. A toned linen canvas is placed upon the easel and the palette is prepared. Time is taken to prepare the palette and as you can see in the pictures, lots of paint is mixed. After the palette is prepped, a rough sketch is made upon the canvas and once the drawing is place then the painting process begins.