Excellent Resource Links (Books, Videos, Materials, Etc.)

Link for Color Frontier's Gridded Color Charts 
http://colorfrontier.com/


This site offers great color charts with peel away gridding.  Simply paint assorted mixtures in each of the "windows" of the grid.  When finished, peel away the grid and you will have a neatly bordered, sturdy color chart to refer to as you paint.


Link for Portrait of Maquoketa by Rose Frantzen

http://www.oldcityhallpress.com/index.html

An amazing resource for portrait painters and students alike!   This book features 180 portraits by Rose (many are presented in the book full size). The folks who posed were all citizens of Maquoketa, Iowa, Rose's hometown. 

Rose completed the paintings in a storefront on Main Street - in only 4 to 6 hours each!  Don't let the speed of her work fool you - she is a very gifted artist who is able to capture the personality and spirit of the people she paints.  Her project of all 180 portraits was featured at the Smithsonian Museum last year!

Most of the images in the book are life size - so all the various skin tones, edges, colors, values and brushstrokes can be seen!  The book not only includes her Portrait of Maquoketa project, but also many of her other works - still life, landscape and figurative.

Rose is a faculty member for the National Portrait Society of America and she recently won the People's Choice Award at their Annual Conference.  She studied at the Palette and Chisel with Richard Schmid, as well as at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts.  Rose is represented exclusively by Old City Hall Gallery in Maquoketa, Iowa.  She offers workshops at her studio in Maquoketa and at the Scottsdale Artists' School in Scottsdale, AZ.

Link for  Not Far From Home by Daniel F. Gerhartz

http://webfarm.foliolink.com/Asset.asp?AssetID=59227&ArtistID=36476&AKey=HTDFQTVK

This is another wonderful resource!  Dan is a very gifted painter who creates beautiful figurative and narrative works.  He is inspired by Russian, European and American masters including Nicolai Fechin, John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, Carl Von Marr and Anders Zorn.

With the guidance of instructors Richard Schmid, John Baitinger and Bill Parks, Daniel F. Gerhartz studied and practiced painting and has established himself as on of the top representational painters of our time.  Dan offers painting workshops at his studio in Kewaskum, WI.

I also strongly recommend his DVD, which is entitled Her Mother's Locket. 
The lessons are a step-by-step journey through the painting, from initial drawing and block in to final stroke.  The DVD presentation lasts about 8 hours and is jam-packed with wonderful insights, demos and inspiration!  It is available at:
http://www.danielgerhartz.com/Asset.asp?AssetID=59223&AKey=HTDFQTVK

PS
Dan won the top award at the Art Renewal Center's first annual Salon!  You can view the winning painting here:  http://www.artrenewal.org/articles/2004/Salon/winners1.php