Thursday, November 10, 2011

University of the Arts, Philadelphia

If you live near Baltimore, Maryland, please come see my presentation "Imaginative Realism: Painting What Doesn't Exist" at Maryland Institute College of the Arts, 1300 W. Mt. Royal Ave, Main Building, Rm. 110, TONIGHT from 7:00-8:00.
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Yesterday I visited University of the Arts in Philadelphia for the second time. The first time was in the winter of 2010, right on the eve of the historic snowstorm. I was delighted to return with all new lectures, and to meet a whole new group of students.



The head of the illustration program is illustrator and graphic designer, Mark Tocchet, who created the award-winning digital painting “Lover’s Pass,” above.


Here I am with Mark (and a reference skeleton) from the last visit.

Over the years, the school’s illustration program has been led by legendary instructors, such as Ben Eisenstadt (1906-1996) and Henry C. Pitz (1895-1976). The celebrated graduates have included Richard Amsel, Jerry Pinkney, and the Berenstains, creators of the Berenstain Bears.

The illustration program has been ranked among the top three in the nation by US News and World Report.


In between my lectures on color and composition, I did a twenty-minute portrait of Mark with water-soluble colored pencils, while he and the students watched the projected image on the screen.

Thanks, UArts, and keep up the great work.
 University of the Arts, Philadelphia
Mark Tocchet's website 
at

13 comments:

  1. JPNovember 10, 2011 at 12:34 AM

    Great portrait Jim. I really like this one!

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  2. David TeterNovember 10, 2011 at 1:44 AM

    Yes, I too thoroughly enjoy all your watercolor sketches. If that was all that was shown here it would be enough for frequent visits.
    And the idea monster from an earlier post... what fun!

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  3. MathiasNovember 10, 2011 at 3:32 AM

    20 minutes only… What a result!! Impressive!

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  4. SteveNovember 10, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    Twenty minutes, preceded by decades of practice.

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  5. Ernest Friedman-HillNovember 10, 2011 at 9:35 AM

    James, when you do these projected portraits, it would be so great if somebody was recording the whole event so you could share them with us. Does that ever happen?

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  6. James GurneyNovember 10, 2011 at 11:16 AM

    Thanks, everybody. Ernest, I'd be happy to share a video, but I want to do one where it's shot from a fixed copy stand angle (rather than obliquely) and properly miked. Until I have the right setup, I've asked the venues where I've done demos to just project and not record or distribute.

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  7. Shelley Whiting's artNovember 10, 2011 at 5:53 PM

    Wow you did that in 20 minutes! I'm impressed. The guy looks very intense and interesting. Beautiful and intriguing picture.

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  8. Mark BehmNovember 10, 2011 at 8:27 PM

    Nice! I haven't seen Mr Tocchet in a long long time, but that's him alright!

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  9. UnknownNovember 10, 2011 at 9:38 PM

    It was a great presentation James. I'm very glad Dom and I were there to see it and it was nice seeing you and Jeanette again!

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  10. Sarah Sedwick StudioNovember 10, 2011 at 9:53 PM

    I went to MICA - graduated ten years ago. Looking forward to seeing pictures from your lecture there - I hope you are well-attended and well received!

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  11. UnknownNovember 10, 2011 at 10:40 PM

    Thank you so much for coming to MICA and for signing my book. Turns out the talk was public after all! I'm glad they let alumni in!

    And this is that credit card reader for iPhone and Android! https://squareup.com/

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  12. Mike ManleyNovember 10, 2011 at 11:17 PM

    James is a mench, two talks and a demo and not a break in between. Both the talks were great and the demo was a joy to watch. I know it's harder than James made it look, and he talked the whole time describing his process. It was a great day for the students and one I'm sure they will long remember, for those interested I blogged about it on my blog, great job, thanks again James!

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  13. KaosNovember 11, 2011 at 12:11 PM

    It would be lovely to see a video of your water-soluble coloured pencils technique.

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