Just a fly-by

I've been quite busy recently, and have spent the last week or two since my last post up to my ears in painting/researching/planning my future.

First miniature is underway, and I promise I'll post about that soon.  I've discovered that, perhaps due to the small scale (to which I'm still adjusting), I can only work on it during daylight hours.  If I want to work on it after dusk I'll need to finally buy a decent flexible lamp.  Since the bulk of my days are taken up with my regular 8-5 job, I don't have a lot of daylight once I've gotten home and eaten dinner and regained a bit of energy.  As this means I can't really work on the miniature during the week, I also started a new oil painting.  It's kind of steampunkish, and I'm really hoping it turns out half as good as it looks in my imagination.

Getting back into "serious" painting fits into the whole "planning my future" bit I mentioned in my first sentence.  I have lots of ideas for new pieces, and lots of ambitions regarding heading towards an eventual art career.  However, nothing will ever happen until I put together decent, and coherent, body of work.  That is my goal for the summer.  Also been reading lots about art fairs and visiting local galleries etc.  It's all rather frightening, but not, I think, unachievable.

And totally unrelated to anything else, just check out John Singer Sargent's studio!

I can only imagine working in a space like that... but I suppose sheer genius deserves the best.

Tackling the portrait miniature

Queen Charlotte by Jeremiah Meyer- 1772

It kind of goes without saying that miniatures are not only way cool but extremely prevalent in the 18th century, in the latter half of which they truly enjoyed their heyday.  The problem is, no one does them nowadays.  (actually, if anyone knows of anyone in the world who paints 18th cen style miniatures, I'd love to see their work)

Painting miniatures was one of those few occupations considered genteel enough for a lady, and while a large number of professionals had a thriving business painting miniatures it was also a hobby often picked up by amateurs.  In 1712, a writer for The Spectator noted, "limning, one would think is no expensive Diversion, but... she paints fans for all her female acquaintance and draws all her relations pictures in miniature".  While Europe seems to have been more accepting of female artists in a professional capacity than America was during the 18th century, there are certainly references to ladies learning painting and drawing here during that time.  By the early 19th century a few women were working as miniature painters, and the number of female artists rapidly increased as time went on.

All of this fits perfectly with my long-standing desire to combine fine art and reenacting in an appropriate and enjoyable manner.

-First step:  Look at LOOOOTTTSSSSS of miniatures

-Second step:  Read primary documents concerning The Art of Drawing and Painting in Water-Colours, and Miniatura or the Art of Limning, etc.

-Third step:  Research tools and materials.  Try not to get too bogged down in the thrill of Artists Pigments c. 1660-1835. (No, seriously... this book is epicly awesome.  I could, and may yet, write a very long blog post on just a few snippets of info found within its pages.)

-Fourth step:  Read more about the history of portrait miniatures, or, as they were more commonly known before the mid to late 18th cen, 'limnings'.

-Last step:  Hold my breath, cross my fingers, and just paint.

(will post more later about materials, techniques, and my progress)

New clothes! 18th Cen. Jacket in Pink

I shall preface this post with the disclaimer that the jacket is Not-Done-Yet and is still in want of trim.  That said, I've worn it twice now to two different gatherings, and wanted to document its existence.



The jacket is made of a pink cotton homespun, lined with a natural medium-weight linen.  This was one of those situations where I had both fabrics in my stash and really didn't want to spend extra money... Also, I'm trying very hard to move away from blue in my costuming, as about 2/3's of my historical wardrobe is in the blue family.  Not sure how successful I'll be in the long run, as I still adore blue (and it never fails to look good on me).

Like the majority of my historical clothes, the interior seams are all done by machine, but everything visible is hand-work.





The fullness of the skirts is achieved with five inverted box pleats, one at each seam, which are whipped to the lining for stability.

The pattern is very loosely based off the robe à l'anglaise in Jean Hunnisett's book.  I say "very loosely" as I looked at it for general sizing, and drew what I thought would work.  Fortunately, it did.  I didn't bother drafting a sleeve pattern though, and just adapted one of Nicole's personal sleeve bases.

I'll probably write more about research and general info once I really truly finish it, and can post pictures of it in all its trimmed glory.

Paintings of the lower sort- still in 1795!

Unless I decide to add backgrounds, the paintings are done. 

I worked quite a bit smaller than normal on these, using paper about 12x20 inches large for each piece, with the figures being approximately 6-9 inches tall.  That's about the size I normally like to paint faces.

One of the things that had impressed me about the original 1795 ad was how colorful so many of the garments described were.  I tried to get that same feeling of color in the paintings without it turning into a circus (though that would have been fun... late 18th cen circus... hmmm).  After all, how often do you ever run across yellow, purple, and white striped trousers?

These were all painted on rag paper primed with gesso, and, as per my usual, are done with oil paints.

Common men sketches

When breaking down the list of clothing in the ad from 1795, it was decided to mix and match the garments on a variety of figures.  We settled on having six figures total spread across three separate illustrations.

Naturally, the first step of any project is to sketch it in order to work out general composition and provide a point of reference for the painting.  Depending on how good my reference images are changes how detailed the sketch is.

I shamelessly ripped off the pose from Thomas Rowlandson's Seaman for this one.  As it's in public domain, the only real issue at hand is my oftimes inherent laziness.  However, the point of this project is to depict the clothing, not to create pieces of fine art.  In this instance (like when doing costume renderings) I'm quite content to cut a few corners.

Once the sketches were approved and changes discussed, it was time for the actual paintings to begin...

At the Mayor's Office- working mens' clothing from 1795

A good friend of mine, Tyler,  is currently studying for his masters in material culture at Winterthur, and as part of his thesis is discussing working mens' clothing from the late 18th century.  He is looking at a particular advertisement from 1795 which lists a number of clothes that a certain criminal had made off with... ideally, there would be images of these types of clothes to use as a reference in this thesis.  Unfortunately, there are not a lot of visual references for working mens' clothes from the time, much less ones which contain the exact items listed.

This is where I, as the artist friend, came in.  I agreed to paint several illustration depicting specific articles of clothing mentioned in the ad.

The problem was, I'm not terribly familiar with men's clothing from the 1790s and really didn't want to completely bollocks things up.  Fortunately for me, Tyler knows a great deal about the subject (you know, it being the object of his thesis and all...) and he provided me with some prints and drawings of sailors and slaves, plus the original ad in question.

It reads as follows:

"At the Mayor's Office
Are the following articles of Clothing, all new, supposed to have been stolen out of some slop shops or shops.  They were found upon a Joseph Lone, a convict who not long hence escaped from gaol - They may be seen by the claimants.  Sep. 5, 1795

I pair cotton striped yellow, purple and white trowsers.
3 ditto- yellow and white do.
2 ditto- red and white do.
I ditto- black and white do.
I ditto- plain nankeen do.
I ditto- do with fringe.
2 sailor's jackets, plain nankeen, bound with black silk
I ditto- striped silk
I ditto- plain nankeen
I ditto- Raffia duck, bound with black
I red waistcoat, bound with black
I buff fustian waistcoat, striped yellow and grey
I white waistcoat, with red stripes and spots
I cassimere muff waistcoat, with blue and red spots
I white waistcoat with blue and white spots
I nankeen purple, striped waistcoat
I muslin waistcoat, with red spots
I cotton checked striped shirt
A sheeting bag with a drawing string"

These are the images that Tyler sent me to look at.  It's all his research, not mine!

 British Plenty by Henry Singleton- 1794

 Scarcity in India by Henry Singleton- 1794

 Barber scene by Benjamin Henry Latrobe- 1797

 Seaman by Thomas Rowlandson- 1798

 Industry and Oeconomy by Henry Singleton- 1800

 Making a Compass at Sea, London- early 19th Cen.

For better or worse, I am basing my illustrations off these images, discussions with Tyler, and what I read in the book The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England.  I fully acknowledge that this subject is not my strong point, but as it is, I've already learned a lot from this project.  The biggest thing that has jumped out at me so far is the prevalence of striped trousers.  Of the nine pairs of trousers listed in the ad, only one pair was completely plain.  Seven pairs were striped and one was fringed.

I'd have to look at a lot more ads from the time to really see if striped trousers are that common across the board, or if Joseph Lone happened to steal from a shop owner who was really fond of stripes.  But it's interesting nonetheless.

Next up, preliminary sketches and illustration progress...

The War of 1812? Say what?

Last weekend my housemate, Nicole, and I spent a couple hours at Military Through the Ages, an annual timeline event at Jamestown.  Since it was a timeline event, we had the option of dressing in any era we felt like, and ended up wearing 1812 impressions for comfort reasons and simply because we wanted to. 

For me, the 1812 period is kind of a default... after all, I originally started this whole costuming thing because of the Richard Sharpe series and various Jane Austen films.  Granted, I know a lot more about English history of the time than American and could tell you more about Napoleon and Wellington and the Peninsular Campaign than I could about the War of 1812, but the general time period, fashions, and aesthetic are resoundingly familiar.  Perhaps because of this, I was floored by how many people came up to us at the event and asked us what time period we were from.

Seriously?  SERIOUSLY?!

I realize the the War of 1812 is vastly underrepresented in reenacting circles (though things are picking up as the bi-centennial approaches) and that it's almost never talked about in history classes... but one assumes that the general public has at least seen some of the Jane Austen films and could make a connection to that.  In fact, 1812 was barely represented at the event, having only one very small group (one, I may add, with NO ladies) which was wedged tightly between much larger Rev War and Civil War units.  Even the incredibly niche 1920 IRA group had a larger presence!

On the bright side, all of the good reenactors there (and there were some very impressive groups, including a wonderful 14th century camp that was enough to make me want to go temporarily medieval) knew exactly when we were from.  It's really the general public that I was appalled by.  Including the woman who called me a "damn yankee" when I said my 1812 group is mostly Michigan based as that's where I'm from.  She wasn't joking.

Location might have something to do with it too.  1812 doesn't seem to be nearly as significant in reenacting circles in the south as it is further north... though I haven't yet figured out why.