PROGRAM - AUGUST 1, 2018 - SUZANNE ACCETTA
Tom Schroeder introduced our guest speaker and artist, Suzanne Accetta.
Suzanne has been painting and drawing for over 40 years. Her paintings are exhibited regionally, nationally, and internationally. Suzanne has illustrated children’s book, was featured in Columbus Monthly, American Artist, Watercolorpainting.com, and the Complete Colored Pencil Book. She teaches at Otterbein University in Dept. of Theater and Dance. She
likes designing theatrical sets and directing plays. She was a portrait painter for nearly 20 years, studied 3 summers with Everett Raymond Kinstler, and was a cabin mate with Mary Whyte and Dawn Whitelaw.
Some of her clients include John Ruthven, Bengal player Reggie Williams, and actor John Davidson.
Ten years ago, while working on a series of painting of performers, she was introduced to an organization called Thiossane West African Dance Institute. She was allowed to attend rehearsals to sketch and photograph the artists. Their dances and drumming, and the joy on their faces have influenced her paintings. She has nearly 100 hundred paintings in the series, and over 15 thousand photos of the company.
In today’s demonstration she showed how she designs her paintings using photographs, and how to avoid the pitfalls when using photographs. She also talked about the iPad apps she uses, and how they support her work and teaching. She did a demonstration on how she begins a painting.
Suzanne started her presentation on Apps she uses on her iPad and how much she loves the ability to sketch and paint using a stylus as a brush. This App is called Procreate and allows her to photograph her own paintings, and add layers to them. She has the ability to try different ideas without actually touching the real art.
Another favorite App is Adobe Sketch which is a sketch and draw tool that lets you free-hand some artwork. She particularly likes the watercolor tool that lets it ‘stay wet’ until you press the dry button. Tayasui Sketches Pro also allows drawing and painting and features brushes, pencils, and charcoal. Waterlogue is another App that will turn your images into unique watercolors by taking away details. Other favorites are Pose Tool 3D which lets you pose figures and move poses and lighting. Handy Art Reference Tool gives you a realistic hand that can be moved and add different lighting.
She talked about getting into juried art shows and how much of it depends on the person who juries. Suzanne passed around many of her original paintings, some of which were the African dancers that have inspired her paintings. She talked about how music, art, and theater break down many barriers. that people have.
Her first step in a painting is a careful drawing. She makes her grays using different combinations of Phthalo green and alizarin crimson or ultramarine blue and burnt sienna. Her skin tones are achieved with burnt sienna, lavender, cobalt blue, ultramarine blue, and quin. rose. A great tip on painting was “stop, drop, and retreat.” Another reason for a failed painting is not mixing enough of a color. “Be careful not to lose your white of the paper” was an important idea she repeated. Her favorite brushes are synthetic flats, and she likes using a big flat for bigger areas. Her favorite paper is Arches cold press 300 lb. She chooses her paint based on which company produces the color she likes, ex. M Graham and Holbein. She also stated that people become a better painter by teaching as one has to verbalize how to paint.
By Suzanne Giegler.
Photos courtesy of Suzanne Giegle and Diane Jeffries.
