About three years ago I joined a Friday night portrait sketch group, The Pretentious Cleveland Portrait Artists. The website is at www.literarycafeartists.com and the weekly model sessions can be found at the blog link. The group (formerly known as The Pretentious Tremont Artists of the Literary Cafe) was founded in 2005 by Tim Herron and Brian Pierce, who wanted to practice portrait drawing and drew bar patrons late every Friday night at the Literary Cafe in Tremont, Ohio. Over that past 15 years the group has grown. It is unique that it pays the model for their time with the finished portraits! Though the original meeting location has changed, the group has still been open to all for both drawing and public viewing while the artists work.
Since March 2020, because of the Covid-19 pandemic and stay at home orders, the group was able to move to an online streaming platform, thanks to the help of seasoned arts interviewer, Roger Miller, of Tues@7 on Facebook and YouTube, managing production for the first 12 weeks. This has enabled even a broader reach of artists to join in the weekly drawing session, beyond the Cleveland area. Artists then send in their portraits to give the model.
Around April of 2020, Tim Herron was interested in drawing portraits of doctors and nurses as a thank you for their service on the frontlines of battling the Coronavirus. Several artists around the world were making the news at the time involved in similar projects. Through his network of models, artists, and friends and their connections, he started receiving photographs and selfies of healthcare workers from different locations and hospital systems, including MetroHealth Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic. He opened up the project for any artists in his Friday group that wanted to participate.
So far (as of March 23, 2021), 18 artists have participated in this “Doctors and Nurses in Covid 19 Times” project, creating 155 original portraits, which are showcased on the group’s website at www.literarycafeartists.com/doctors-and-nurses-in-covid-19-times.
I personally have produced 28 portraits for the project to-date, and will continue to do more. It’s great practice and I enjoy being part of a group of artists working together. I have an individual webpage on the group’s site at www.literarycafeartists.com/janet-dodrill, where they can be viewed under my general portrait gallery. We are following along with the idea of giving the portraits to the models, in this case the doctors and nurses.
MetroHealth Hospital in Cleveland currently has an exhibit in their lobby, since last fall, of their portraits, which is visible to the public when they visit for their Covid vaccines. Linda Jackson at MetroHealth organized photos and exhibit. They also produced a video on the project, Local Artists Honor Frontline Health Care Workers.
As a result of posting some of my doctors and nurses portraits on instagram (@janetdodrill), I have been asked to tag these works for a curated North American exhibit using hashtag #portraitsforcovidheroes for inclusion in the project by Jules Smith @jules_smith_artist and @portratisforcovidheroes.
Thank you, to all healthcare workers helping to battle this virus in this pandemic and save lives. You are true heroes.
Copyright article and images. All rights reserved. Not to be used without permission.
Snippets of portraits of doctors and nurses on the frontlines by Janet Dodrill.
Snippets of portraits of doctors and nurses on the frontlines by Janet Dodrill.
Portraits of Covid frontline healthcare workers exhibit at MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Roger Miller).
Portraits of Covid frontline healthcare workers exhibit at MetroHealth Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio (photo by Roger Miller).
Many of the sketch groups I participate in (on Zoom) feature two models in their sessions. Here is a sketch of a lovely couple for the month of February from one of those life drawing sessions.
Copyright article and images. All rights reserved. Not to be used without permission.
Figure life drawing of a couple by Janet Dodrill, 2020, watercolor, 5.5 x 8.5 inches.
Another amazing life drawing session, and this time with a ‘Parrots’ theme with Macaws, Cockatoos and Parakeets with the special online event produced by The Henley on Thames School of Art and Oakley and Crew. Birds were shown flying, landing, sitting on perches, walking on the ground, and an unexpected trick at the session end, and was held on November 27, 2020.
Below are highlights of my drawings from the session.
There are more online animal life drawing sessions scheduled for December 2020, featuring Wild Mountain Gorillas, Draft Horses, and Reindeer at www.thehenleyschoolofart.com/online-classes. Artists are welcome to join!
Copyright article and images. All rights reserved. Not to be used without permission.
Incredible live drawing session with ‘Birds of Prey’ theme. Beautiful Owls (Dark Breasted Barn Owl, Little Owl, and Long-Eared Owl), Harris Hawk and Peregrine Falcon with event produced by The Henley on Thames School of Art and Feathers and Fur Falconry Centre (handler Sadie) via Zoom. Great lighting, camera work, and props, held on October 30, 2020.
Below are highlights of my drawings from the session.
There are more online animal life drawing sessions scheduled for November and December 2020, featuring Longhorn Cattle, Fjord Horse, Raccoons, Kinkajou, and Coati, Parrots, and Wild Mountain Gorillas at https://www.thehenleyschoolofart.com/online-classes. Artists are welcome to join!
Copyright article and images. All rights reserved. Not to be used without permission.
Because of Covid-19, it has been safer to stay at home. As an artist, the art life drawing groups that I once attended have not met since early March, 2020. A couple of the groups have moved to Zoom or Facebook Live. I have found dozens of additional art groups online, both out of state and out of the country. I have been fortunate enough to stay busy with these drawing sessions, while meeting people, and fulfilling the sense of community that I seek in addition to improving my drawing skills. The life models have their own remote cameras and setups at their homes or studios, and these sessions have brought people together from all over the world.
I am especially impressed with the talent, professionalism, athleticism, and creativity of the models. Additionally, the organizations have been offering theme-inspired live drawing sessions on Zoom. In the past couple weeks I participated in a Picasso’s Vollard Suite inspired session featuring models Andrew Crayford @andrewcrayford1 and Annie Mae @amlifemodel both of London, a two-day live performance by Juliano Hollivard @julianohollivard of Brazil with constant movement by the model with lighting, music, poetry, video, props and masks, and most recently a session in the style of Matisse, the Odalisques, with model Valentina Rock @valentinarocklondon. Another group simply draws each other’s portraits. Most of them I discovered on Instagram, and there are many more yet to be discovered.
Some of my favorite (online) life drawing groups during the pandemic, on Instagram:
Copyright article and images. All rights reserved. Not to be used without permission.
Matisse, the Odalisques, theme with model Valentina Rock, by the collaboration of Adrian Dutton Life Drawing and Madhouse Studios, watercolor and ink by Janet Dodrill.
An ink drawing by Janet Dodrill of Juliano Hollivard’s Day Two, The Sacred, performance life drawing session through The Renaissance Workshop.
Hugo Max Schmitz, photograph, early 1900s (recently-discovered).
On a recent trip out of town to visit my cousins, some items were discovered in my uncle’s possession. Unseen artwork by Hugo Max Schmitz, my great-grandfather, all of which I had not seen before. In a couple of the works, there are similarities to his previously-known work. He was an artist and a co-founder of Cleveland wall covering firm, Schmitz-Horning Company (1905-1964). The stunning painting comparisons are below.
Copyright article and images. All rights reserved. Not to be used without permission.
Watercolor portrait of young girl by artist Hugo Max Schmitz.
Possible study for watercolor portrait of young girl by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil or gouache, early 1900s (recently discovered).
Self-portrait by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil, 1898.
Self-portrait study by artist Hugo Max Schmitz, oil, early 1900s (recently discovered).
Peninsula Art Academyhosts a Plein Air competition, open to all artists. Paintings are created (or 2-D work) outdoors in natural available light over the course of three days (Friday through Sunday) around prime landmarks and locations around beautiful Peninsula, Ohio including in the Cuyahoga National Park. By the end of the weekend the work must be completed (two pieces allowed per artist), framed and ready to hang.
The following weekend there is an art exhibit and reception and the work is juried. Prizes are awarded for first place, second, third, and honorable mention.
This was my first year participating in this type of event and though both demanding and challenging, it was a very enriching way to build my skills and technique, and the experience even allowed me to meet several local area artists. I am looking forward to future events offered by the Peninsula Art Academy.
The exhibit runs October 26 – November 15, 2019
Peninsula Art Academy
1600 Mill Street West
Peninsula, OH 44264
(330) 657-2248 www.peninsulaartacademy.org
Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 11am-5pm
Copyright article and images. All rights reserved. Not to be used without permission.
Pumpkins on Wagon, Acrylic on Canvas, 18″ x 24″ (painted at Szalay’s Farm & Market).
Steeple in Autumn, Acrylic on Canvas, 16″ x 20″ (painted at Peninsula United Methodist Church).
Greg Canda (right) of Peninsula Art Academy introducing exhibit juror Jose Sacaridiz.
Listening to juror Jose Sacaridiz review the winning art pieces. (Photo: Jennifer Newyear)
Juror Jose Sacaridiz critiquing first place winning oil painting by Mark Erdelyi.
Thanks to a few who put the Peninsula Art Academy Plein Air competition on.
Plein Air paintings by 27 artists, on exhibit at Peninsula Art Academy, October 26 – November 15, 2019.
Plein Air paintings by 27 artists, on exhibit at Peninsula Art Academy, October 26 – November 15, 2019.
Lately, I have been using primary colors (red, yellow, and blue from the color wheel) in my portraits and life model studies, and am exploring this direction in my artwork.
Below are a few examples of my artwork utilizing primary colors.
Copyright article and images. All rights reserved. Not to be used without permission.
Schmitz-Horning Company’s Old South 1930s-1940s scenic panel detail (Photo: Cooper Hewitt).
Carl Fuchs designed the Old South scenic wall paper pattern (1930s-1940s) for the Schmitz-Horning Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The color lithograph (chromolithograph) inks and (washable) paper used were of the highest quality. Old South depicted plantation life in early America, and included a steamboat and fox hunt. There were twelve sections, each approximately 40″ x 80″ in repeat pattern.
The company was co-founded and run by my great-grandfather, Hugo M. Schmitz, and after his death in the late 1930s, run by my grandfather Warren R. Schmitz.
I am almost certain this 1920s Art Deco decorative pattern, Dekorative Vorbilder (Decorative Role Models), which I came across on an auction site, is by the same artist.
Dekorative Vorbilder by Carl Fuchs, 1920s Art Deco decorative pattern (Photo: Liveauctioneers.com).
Carl Fuchs was also hired by my grandparents to paint an oil portrait of my mother, then a girl of eight years.
Oil portrait of Schmitz-Horning president’s daughter (my mother) by artist Carl Fuchs, 1939 (Photo: Schmitz family).
The Cleveland Museum of Art currently has an exhibit by artist Charles Burchfield (1893-1967) in its Focus Gallery through May 5, 2019. The show is titled Charles Burchfield: The Ohio Landscapes, 1915-1920.
The show has numerous drawings and watercolors done in both Cleveland where he attended the Cleveland School of Art (now The Cleveland Institute of Art), and Salem, Ohio, his hometown.
I admire his strength and energy in depicting landscapes. He created his own visual language with almost abstract shapes from nature symbolizing emotions such as fear and sorrow, which are pointed-out in the exhibit.
Posted by janetdodrill 
