Jack Fortenberry graduated from Baylor with a Bachelor of
Arts Degree in Art
and Education. Asked to return temporarily to teach commercial art, he
stayed 18 years and established a BFA program in Commercial Design.
Meanwhile he began his own commercial design business, which
eventually required so much of his time that he had to leave Baylor to tend it. A man of many interests, he has
served in many business and community
organization, including advertising associations, BBB, Kiwanis, and the
Texas Ranger Museum, which he co-founded. He also flies a plane, and has
raced sports cars.
Retirement took Jack back to his roots in Mississippi, where he built a
studio
and began a second career in fine art. He served as
president of the South Mississippi Art Association for three years and
showed his work in many art festivals and museum shows in Mississippi
and Alabama, before moving back to Texas. He is
currently a member
of
the Outdoor Painter's Society, a very unique artist's organization that
meets once a month somewhere in a five state area to paint as a group.
He tells us that "Plein-Aire Painting is my best effort because it
allows me the greatest opportunity to break away from the hard fast
rules of illustrative art and flow into the wonderful world of
impressionistic response."
Jack prefers oil, but also paints in acrylic when
the occasion demands it. His
demo will feature a quick way to to separate the
background from the foreground (subject) by overpainting cut-outs which
have been adhered to the canvas prior to painting. This is similar to
masking or rubber cementing parts of the image in watercolors to
preserve the whites. Due to the time constraints, he will work in
acrylic.
Don't miss this one. We will meet Sunday, January 10, at the Waco Charter
School, 615 N 25th Street. Refreshments and conversation begin at 1:30,
the meeting at 2, and the demo soon thereafter. First time visitors are
free, so bring friends. Also, bring an artwork or two for our Show and
Tell during the break.
Jack
began by showing us photos of art restorations he has done. He was able
to save paintings that were burned or torn by having the surface
removed and transferred to a new canvas (wax reline process). Then he
filled the missing areas with a plaster of Paris and glue mixture.
Finally, he had to match the colors, brushstrokes, and styles of the
originals to make the painting look like new. For painting
dimmed
by tobacco smoke, he uses Ivory Liquid and water and a cotton swab. For
varnish that has changed color, he uses a special solution and a very
light touch so as not to remove the paint. He also restores broken or
chipped
embellishment
on a frame using the same plaster mixture mentioned above to resculpt
the design while the clay is wet, making sure it matches the original
design. He then sprays on the gold color, and tones back unwanted
brilliance using a faux art stain with brush and paper towels. His goal
is to make the repairs invisible.
For
today's demo, Jack painted a scene of a white egret in a swamp setting.
He first made a mask by sketching the egret on heavy paper and cutting
around it. The mask was then coated with rubber cement (left) and placed
where it would be on the blank "canvas." (He actually used masonite
board, which may be easier to seal properly than canvas.) For the
background, he used cobalt blue, cerulean blue, titanium white, medium
yellow, and burnt umber light, which he mixed on a glass palette. He
pulled one color
into
another on the canvas,
creating
variations in color and value in the sky and water as he painted
horizontally. He added black for the vertical trees to get a darker hue.
The masking allowed him to get continuity of brush strokes for the
background as he painted right over the mask. He paid special attention
to making the water look natural, using his color mixtures to create
reflections.
Then
he carefully removed the cutout from the canvas (left), leaving a white
hole for the egret. He painted the shadowed side of the bird first,
adding details and highlights later, including the black legs, which
were not included in the mask (right). As a final touch, he added
flowers and other contrasts to liven up the scene
(lower
left). The final painting is shown at the lower right. We welcome Jack
back as a member, and enjoyed watching a professional at work. Included
in the audience were a couple of new members, some guests, and Jodi
Wheatley, a reporter working on an article about us for Waco Today.
Thanks go to Jack, to Charleen Isbell, Myrl Luper,
Gloria Meadows, Bill and Judy Franklin, and Karen Groman, who brought
refreshments, and to all of those who brought their work for Show and
Tell, shown below.
Nancy Cagle
Julie Cash
Bill Franklin Judy Franklin
Larry Garza
Linda Green Tom Godby
Charleen Isbell
Rose Jacobson David Leifeste Christine Niekamp
John Vasek
