My signature as a healing reminder

Celebrating five years since my 'April fool's day' surgery On April 1, five years ago, I underwent an eight-hour surgery that had a major impact on my life. Ironically I called this event April Fools' Day! And a few days later, at Easter I wrote a post on Facebook (see PS).

The sign under my signature to remind me of my second life

A happy turning point In general five-year survival from pancreatic cancer is a great success. I am among the 20% of benign cases diagnosed in time and operable. Today my annual check-ups show a stable situation and my surgeon suggests that the next check-ups take place every 18 months. Time to celebrate!

The signature and the memory

I'm very happy about this! I am moved to be able to celebrate the first five years of what I consider my new life.

Be strong and aware

The smear under my signature on the paintings is the sign of that painful passage. And it reminds me to be strong and aware and improve myself and the lives of others.

Check yourself too

I am also writing this to strongly encourage you to schedule check-ups immediately after Easter. Even if you feel good. I discovered my tumor by chance. Unfortunately, the pancreas and other organs do not give symptoms until an advanced stage.

In the meantime, I wish you a wonderful Easter of rebirth!

Francesco PS This is the post I wrote on Facebook five years ago: Days of Resurrection

Three weeks after the surgery that overwhelmed me physically and emotionally, I consider today the beginning of a new life. I want to thank from the bottom of my heart the many people who have sent healing messages, prayers and encouragement. Thoughts from old friends but also from people whom I don't know who follow me and pay me esteem from afar.

Your spirit comforted me in moments of fear and pain but also in current recovery, while gathering energy to be 100% as soon as possible. I wish you a wonderful Easter, the beginning of a true resurrection, where your deep desires find new life, light, security!

PS. And an infinite thanks to my family (daughters, sisters, parents in law, cousins overseas), superheroes surgeons and nurses at H San Raffaele -- and to my love Roberta who's a rock!

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Leaving the Social Networks

Do you promise to quit but never do it? 

Weird! A few days ago I couldn't get into my Instagram. And then in none of my Facebook accounts. No password works. I said to myself: they had me. After 13 years in social media I should have expected that sooner or later I was hacked! 

Keep calm dad!

I think it's a bit of a disaster. What with the thousands of people who followed me for years. Well maybe is only half a disaster, I said to myself. After all, who can say that is so bad? But I kept fumbling and swearing for an hour, until my 18 year old, digital born daughter says: it's a global thing, dad! Social networks are down all over the world. Keep calm, they'll be restored soon. And they are indeed a few hours later. 

My laptop and coffee by the Engelbecken pond, Berlin 

I'm almost disappointed. After all it was a great opportunity to set myself free from this digital slavery. To get rid of this illusory circle of unknown friends and followers. Not to mention the tons of stupidity an hate, commercial bombing and atrocity news. 

Fear of disappearing

I promised to leave that for years, but then don't have the courage to cut off! Social media have become just a distraction from serious studio work and an obligation to be on screen every single day! Else you don't exist. 

Maybe I tell myself changes need to be radical. The gradualness that seems a sign of wisdom only increases the agony, the fear of rupture prolongs the suffering. And instead I should say: Yes, delete! 

Happy Art Life! -- Francesco

PS. Mailing letters are different from social platforms: they are more personal and easier to quit. If you don't like mine, please sign out. If you like them instead, invite a friend to sign up and receive my Artist Letters!!

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How to design your artwork

Do you make prep drawings of your painting? ~

In all the arts, from dance to cinema, from music to literature, a work is planned, rehearsals are carried out and parts are rewritten before performing it. But many amateur painters are surprised that even in painting it is necessary to do all of this. However, I can't remember of a great master in history - from Leonardo to Hopper - who did not invest in studies and preparatory sketches.

A thought before picking up the brush

This photo it's a good example of the process of composing and designing a painting, regardless of the media we're going to use. Here we see the studies of my student Daniel, which in this case will be developed into a watercolor artwork.

Some steps before making a watercolor (Daniel)

Draw to get into know your subject

At first glance a photograph or life scene may look simple. But it is only by drawing it (therefore observing it in detail) that we realize its complexity. We must learn to simplify it to make it manageable according to our project.

The importance of a tonal scale

We translate the initial photo into a tonal drawing of a credit card size, at most a postcard. Here we are working on a toned paper that corresponds to value #2 in the five-value scale I use and suggest. The value #1 (white) is applied with a dense opaque watercolor titanium white.

These studies give us, among other benefits, these opportunities:

• simplify the subject and crop the framing and format
• consider more design options, for example varying some tones
• establish a focal element (such as the bell tower)

In version A (red dot) the mid field is cleaned of chiaroscuro details. Both the strip of land on the horizon and the sky become lighter (tone  #1). Clouds are grouped up except for a few accents, which will become blue in the painting.

The reference image of our painting

In version B on the right, the light of the clouds is reduced to spots and has a V-shaped direction. The ground on the horizon becomes darker again as in the original picture.

The monochrome preview in watercolor

The two pencil sketches are repainted in a monochromatic watercolor on cotton paper. Black is obtained by mixing complementary colors and dosing the dilution in five degrees. This phase brings us closer to the pictorial stage. Here we consolidate the lighting and atmosphere that we want to maintain in the final color version. Please note that in the watercolor draft A the ground below the skyline is darker than in the sketch. Daniel got 'distracted' by the photo rather than following the instructions implied in his pencil drawing.

 

Another example of value study before painting (Stefano)

The distribution of weights and shapes

The two first steps are very important to get familiar with the subject, both visually (light/dark) and as an anticipation of the type of brushstrokes to use, layering, dampness of the paper and for the edges and effects we desire. The compositional part definitely includes many other aspects, for example the distribution of forms and their weights in the space. Not to mention the color palette and harmony choices. But let's not go into more detail here.

These topics need a longer course to be covered. But you can comment and ask questions here or by email. In the next episode we will see how Daniel resolved his final painting.

Happy Art Life! - Francesco

PS. I you want to learn more about this, ask for a free 20 mins Zoom individual call at workshops@francescofontana.com We'll figure how to plan a set of mentorship sessions. 

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My 9 Ways to Overcome Creative Crisis

Stuck in a creative slump? Fear not!

Late last year I've been not so willing to paint new projects. Kinda of waiting for fresh ideas. That feeling of being stuck in a creative slump as an artist, can be frustrating and disheartening. If you're there, fear not!  I know the proven measures I've used to go through this transitions. Not a drama, chances are we simply have exhausted the potential of our previous path. 

Be confident you'll find the next direction

Stagnation is a natural part of the creative life. Embrace it as an opportunity to learn and grow. It's how we respond to setbacks that truly defines our artist journey. You'll find the road to the next station!

Inspiration is found in the action

Tree in Basilicata ~ Watercolor by Francesco Fontana

Inspiration meant as magic is overrated. Writer Alberto Moravia -- who lived in typewriter times, said: inspiration is one page after the other thrown in the trash bin! To me inspiration is nothing but activating new connections from /to what we already know. 

Small goals and little routines

Start by setting small, achievable goals for yourself. Whether it's completing a painting within a certain time frame (I often set the timer) or experimenting with a specific technique, having a clear objective can give you a sense of purpose.

Search in you not on the net

Museums and art galleries are a great way to find ideas that resonate to me. The venue itself is often a source of meditation and self search. Drawing to study great masters is a great experience. Browsing art online is to do with caution, I do 15 min day tops: it's become overwhelming and a distraction from hearing my inner voice. Contemporary art galleries might also  trigger creative thoughts.

Let me recap and add a few pointers

1. Display on a wall old and recent paintings and find what they have in common (a color, a subject, a mood,.. ) (Jerry Saltz's totem concept)
   
2. Play Mode. Set a game with one or two simple rules (see my article) (size, medium, time)
3. Remake some of those you like in a different media. If anything you'll learn more about the peculiarities of your typical media.
4. Join a group and ask for feedback. They see what you don't see!
5. Travel, meet people, go to not art museums (aviation, design, history..).  
6. Recall what you loved to draw/paint at the very beginning. The real you may be there
7. Draw, scribble with no purpose, but a giving time and slot every day
8. Paint unfamiliar subjects, those you think you're not good at. Surprise!
9. Use the internet as a newspaper, not as an art book. Real art is in real life. 
   

Seek support from fellow artists

One of the best ways to overcome a creative slump is to connect with other artists who understand what you're going through. Join local art groups or online communities where you can share your struggles, seek advice, and receive constructive feedback. 

Hope this helps. It's only a small part of the practice I do. Talk to me and ask questions, that will pull out more inspiration. 

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Masters Who Inspire Artists (Me)

What makes a painter a great role model? ~ 

I am often asked who my reference artists are, great masters of the past and contemporary authors. Not an easy answer, artists in history are endless! And just as many today, when visual access to art is global and often overflowing. I look with admiration at Turner, Monet, Hopper, Fattori, Segantini. But also living artists the like of Dean Mitchell or Sean Cheetham. Each of them has something specific that inspires me and pushes me to learn.

Under the Awning, on the Beach of Zarautz

See more of Sorolla's works

However there is one who somehow represents them all: Joaquin Sorolla (b. 1863, Valencia, Spain). I was blown out at his exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan in 2022. It completely overwhelmed me! Not even the visit to the Sorolla Museum in Valencia had such an impact on me. 

Why Sorolla?

Because his work expresses a complete range of fundamental aspects of pictorial art, in his case in oil but not only.

• The composition of his scenes, often complex, with unusual angles and a combination of figures and landscape, never intimidated by very large size. 
• The absolute mastery of drawing, which emerges from proportions and anatomy.
• His tonal strategy and his sense of light. For me his dynamic power surpass Caravaggio, the monument to tonalism.
• Sorolla's palette is an infinite vocabulary of colours, warm and cool, often high key -- which make his phrasing very rich, like the timbres of an orchestra.
• Finally his alla prima brushwork, energetic, fat and sensual. It ties everything together in a rhythm and a fantastic dance!

As if that weren't enough, many of Sorolla's masterpieces were painted en plein air. He's not the only artist to do this for sure -- Monet and Cezanne even a little before him. But he worked outdoors on larger formats and in challenging conditions, on the seashore, under blinding light and with water, boats and figures in motion. For days.

He was able to transfer this vibrancy to his studio works as well. 

Studying Joaquin Sorolla therefore means for me studying almost everything about the artistic practice of painting. He   became a model later in my career. This means to me that reference models change over time and are perhaps an achievement of maturity. Just at the stage where you no longer need to imitate them.

Happy Art Life! - Francesco

PS. Sorolla is a genius of  alla prima painting, which was re-actualized by a great personality of recent times, Richard Schmid. The American master who passed away a few years ago, influenced a couple of generations of oil painters around the world with his iconic book Alla Prima.

PPS. There are so many historical and contemporary artists that I admire. I think I will need more posts to talk about it. So be ready by signing up now and receive my (News) Artist Letters!

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Paris 1: Art, Love and my Bohemian Life

Myth of broken artists and the struggle to make a dream come true ~
Paris Memoir Part Two | Part Three

As you may have heard from some interviews with Eric Rhoads, I started my career in Paris in the eighties. But never shared details that I believe might interest the fans of artists' life. I was twenty years old and earned my bread as a tourists' portrait artist. The most iconic place I worked was Montmartre. This early experience gave me an artistic and ethical imprint for life, and is still an inspiration 40 plus years later. Maybe some of these memories can inspire you too.

Van Gogh and his time in Montmartre

Van Gogh's Le Moulin de la Gallette.

The Basilica of Sacre Coeur at the top of Montmartre hill can be seen from many corners of Paris. Behind the large white church lies the famous Place du Tertre, jam packed with artists' stand and cafe terrace. 

Back in the day it was already a tourist attraction, with many souvenir shops. But it was still the place where Gauguin, Pissarro, Toulouse-Lautrec used to be and where Van Gogh lived for a while with his brother Theo in Rue Lepic and painted the nearby windmill: Le Moulin de la Gallette.

The fight to grab a spot

Permitted artist a their official spot in Montmartre, Paris

The space was limited. In addition to the official permits that the City had recently established, the square was kinda bossed by a clan of Slavs. I guess that was the legacy of the first come first sat up times. No longer than ten years earlier, the artists daily battle to grab a spot began at 5 in the morning, still dark. (1972, The Underdogs of Montamartre, video).The many unauthorized walking artists at the entry of the square, are a tradition too. 

New romance every day 

Therefore the street portraitists who continued to arrive from abroad had occupied the large Beaubourg plateau, in front of the Centre Pompidou. In the evening we moved to the Latin Quarter, especially on the legendary Boulevard Saint Germain. Which I remember as romantic stroll place, where new romance started every other night!

I was one of these kids attracted by a bohemian dream, who had left Sicily and landed in France with no money nor a word of French.

When the fakirs attacked us

On the Plateau du Beaubourg it was tough, there were about 40 painters and as many street artists including fire eaters, fakirs, acrobats. One day a group of them attacked us, throwing our stools and easels into the air. To make room for their special event. I proposed myself as a negotiator between calling the police and go for revenge. We ended up shaking hands and share a drink with the fakirs!

Walking portraitist at the entry of Place du Tertre, Montmartre

Nevertheless I had the chance to be head butted in another fight and had my front teeth almost knocked out. I had tried to defend a girl who had her necklace snatched by an Arab gangster, - as she approached for a portrait. My mouth bleeding, I was taken to a dentist who saved my smile!

Part 2 next week. Stay tuned for Picasso around the corner, Love and the great old masters, Lifetime friendships and more stories!

Happy Art Life! -- Francesco
PS. What story would you like to read in my MuseLetter? Comment below or reply to the email
Paris Memoir Part Two | Part Three

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Paris 2: Friendship and Resilience in the Artist's Journey

Light and dark of bohemian life ~
Paris Memoir Part One | Part Two

Saint Germain is a mythical boulevard, writers such as Hemingway, Sartre or Henry Miller used to seat at the Cafe De Flore or the Deux Magots. At different times in history masters the like of Sargent, Boldini, Modigliani, Monet and countless others, had hung out in the neighborhood. Pablo Picasso finished Guernica in his studio at Rue Des Saints Augustins, three minutes walk from my center of gravity: Rue Mazarine, where my American girlfriend live in a chambre de bonne, a tiny messy attic!

Love and violence

She too is an artist, a beautiful and sensitive soul. Originally from the Antilles, she was an air-hostess (as they say) and a stylist for Pan Am, before fleeing to Europe after the drama: an intruder broke down the door of her condo in New York and God knows how she survived. 

• We conceived a baby and decision was hard

We conceived a baby. But her health is poor, I am too young and stupid, and we are both penniless. Before I know it she decides not to be a parent. I visited her for a few years, trying to give a little help, until she breaks off even as friends. Now she's left this world. Rest in peace my sweet Jeanne Marie!

Ian Hargreaves with on of his oil painting of Morocco

Talents from Countries at war

Among the many young expatriate artists there are Iraqis and Iranians who coexist amicably on the Beaubourg pave while their countries are at war. We are in the 80s, The Poles arrive from Poland as the Country is inflamed by the Solidarnosc protests, nine years before the Wall falls. Many of them are very talented and have a strong art education from the academies of Eastern Europe. There is Ian from London, Omar from Argentina, and Davy who is a British-Malaysian. All landed into Paris in different ways. 

Ian Hargreaves by the art studio he's built in his backyard in Dorset, UK

• We were young and looking for adventure

Ian had to leave London for he was on the spot where a gang attacked one of the portrait artists in Piccadilly one evening. Blood is pouring from his head, and he lay on the floor unconscious. Many people stand watching as they beat him and kicked him, but nobody does anything. Except Ian. He decides to help him and grabs the leader from behind before the artist gets killed. "A few minutes later a policeman arrived and the gang run off - Ian recalls -- but the gang leader swears revenge. I felt I had to leave the city for a while. That's how I landed in Paris and met you Francesco"

Ian Hargreaves and Francesco Fontana at Ian's art studio

A lifetime friendship

When I returned home in Sicily, Ian joined me for some time and we painted portraits on the street of Palermo. We imported this custom totally new to the city. His love for the sunny views of the Mediterranean begins here. Many years passed and we kept in touch, even before cell phones and the internet were invented. I went to visit him in the south of England a couple of times a dozen years apart. 

Ups and downs of art business

I love to browse through his canvases in the studio he built in the garden. We chat over art and tennis and eat fish and chips. Definitely the friendship of a lifetime! From the streets of Paris, and thru the ups and downs of art business, Ian finally has anded in many prestigious galleries and built a solid career with his splendid oil views of Italy. You can admire them here: https://ianhargreaves.net/

The story of my Paris times can't stop here! 
Be ready for part 3 next week. Meanwhile please interact in many ways

Paris Memoir Part One | Part Three

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