Painting

Post Breakthrough

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The Power of Six – Photo Credit: TheFresnoBee.com From left to right: Caleb Duarte, Nigel Robertson, Terrance Reimer, Laura Goldstone, Julia Woli Scott, and Leslie Batty

So the breakthrough show went great. The Fresno Art Museum had a record number of visitors on the night of the reception. There was nearly 800 attendee’s in appreciation, which I think is fantastic. I applaud everyone who put in effort to make the show a success. I especially enjoyed Terrance Reimer’s show: Third California, and Leslie Batty’s paintings. She has very powerful and meaningful work. All of us who showed at the Breakthrough Show were in the Fresno Bee which is always great for exposure. Speaking of exposure, I am in the Arthop Brochure twice this round. Hooray! Small victories.

 

If you are in the Neighborhood of the Fresno Art Museum, definitely  make sure you swing by and see the show. Admission is $5 and well worth it, because every visit and contribution to the museum goes to keep Fresno art culture alive.

Fresno Art Museum - Breakthrough Show

Here I am, speaking at the show about my work.

Allora…

Ill be at Broadway Studios (1416 Broadway) during Art Hop this Tursday hangin’ out. Come visit! Ill have Saint Gerome Postcards for sale, and my Academic drawings from FAA will be on display as well. Art Hop is always alot of fun in Downtown Fresno.  I always reccomend checking out ART HOUSE! Great artwork and great people over there at the Art House.

If you are interested in acquiring any paintings from the show visit my Available Works Page

 

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The Haggin Museum – Stockton

I took a trip up to Stockton to visit some wonderful paintings at the Haggin Museum which was spectacular! They have a wonderful collection of paintings by some of my all time favorites. The top of the list would start at Bougerou, then Albert Bierstadt, Jean Leon Gerome, and Ridgeway Knight.
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It is breathtaking. And the wonderful thing about this museum is you can get very close to the paintings, so if you are really trying to study how the paint was applied you can. Every serious painter must go see as many masterpieces as possible. How else are you supposed to know what a great painting looks like?
Bougerou Close
The way he models the flesh is just unbelievable. You can really feel the fleshiness of the skin. I am curious what his process of layering was. If anyone has any idea please post a link in the comments!
Jean Leon Gerome This painting is called the Artist and his Model. It’s quite a small painting, but as you can see it is absolutely beautiful. It seems to emit its own light. Gerome was quite incredible.
V This is my Friend Vicente, sitting in front of an Albert Bierstadt Painting of Yosemite Valley. I love the light and the clouds. I was almost born in Yosemite Valley… Perhaps that is why I love these paintings of it so much. They are all of a time before tourism. They are calm and peaceful. There is a true sense of a higher power in his paintings.
I highly recommend going to the Haggin Museum. It really is “The Jewel of Stockton”

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Updates coming soon…

Im working on some updates for WWW.NIGELROBERTSON.COM at the moment. You might notice most of the pages of artwork are not there anymore. Its because there are  new and improved pages going up. I usually do this once or twice a year, and its about that time… So come back soon. Also I thought I would post a few new paintings that I have been working on to hold you over. Have a lovely day.

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And as usual, if you are interested in any of these works please feel free to contact me and Ill give you a price.

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Hand Made Frames

It’s amazing how time consuming making frames is. I think I have spent most of this year working on frames. Presentation is so important to me. Today I am matting some FAA drawings with my dear friend Steve from Hide and Seek Gallery.
Hand made frames made by Nigel Robertson

I have always loved Hand painted and Gold leafed Frame Corners. This is what I came up with:

Here is a painting I did in Florence. I painted this in Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace:

Boboli Gardens by Nigel Robertson

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New Updates Coming Soon!

Things are finally rolling in fresno. We just got internet in the studio at Chinatown Gallery. My new Art Studio. It’t quite an awesome place! Be excited because I am…

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Good ol’ Fresno

Rembrandt's Jeremiah

After visiting Cairo, Fresno, to me, is quite a nice place to be. I appreciate the clean streets and neighborhoods, and orderly traffic much more now than I used to. I love the friendly faces I see in the Tower District, and there is no shortage of good company lately.
I am looking into a studio in Downtown Fresno at the moment, and I have found a few options to pick from. Im excited to get back to work, and the goal for 2012 is to learn to make frames. After visiting the Louvre, and the Rijks, and other museums of that caliber I have realized how important a good frame can really be. The frame is like a window into the artist’s world. Almost like a gateway into the vision of the artist. I really like this concept, and I think it adds much depth to the artwork.

One of the concepts that I really like about a lot of dutch paintings is their comic-esque qualities. I use this Rembrandt as an example. Here Jeremiah mourns the destruction of Jerusalem. It is hard to tell from this photo, but outside the cave is the small burning city of Jerusalem. So Rembrandt cleverly placed this little vignette off to the side of Jeremiah to show what he was thinking about. Well done Rembrandt.  I certainly approve.

I have heard many artists talking at FAA and occasionally I hear them bashing decisions like Rembrandt has made here saying that “he just painted the figure, and then put a background in.”  Often times it is said like it’s a bad thing, but I disagree. I think if the background is put in tastefully like Rembrandt did here, it can add many new layers of depth, and make the picture much more interesting. Yeah the background was stuck in there, but there was a purpose for doing so, and I think it works.

Antique Dutch Frame

Antique Dutch Frame

It wont be long before I settle back in to my new environment that is the Central Valley, and soon enough I will be learning the art of framing, and I should have almost every aspect of this wonderful obsession down. From making wood panels, to stretching and rabbit skin gluing linen, refining my own linseed oil, to making oil based gesso and grinding my own paint, all the way to making professional quality frames. I am very excited for 2012. It’s going to be a great year.

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