IN THE STUDIO
One such occasion came about
after Felicia had deliberately changed
the backdrop in one of her paintings.
The young artist reasoned that
switching the “ugly” colour didn’t
matter once the painting had left the
classroom, but her teacher disagreed.
“She said, ‘You’re not skilled enough
yet. You need to learn to imitate life
before you can create it.’ She didn’t
say it that eloquently, but I’ve
repeated that advice to my students
so many times and it’s true. I spent
most of that year learning to mix
accurate colour and draw better.”
Winning ‘best in class’ gave Felicia
the confidence to start taking her art
more seriously. She moved to San
Francisco, setting up a number of
temporary studio spaces, including
an old elementary school and a barn
in the woods – anywhere cheap that
would also afford her the chance to
paint. An artist friend suggested she
try the Zorn palette – a restricted set
of colours favoured by the Swedish
painter Anders Zorn consisting of
Yellow Ochre, Vermilion (or Cadmium
Red), Ivory Black and Titanium White,
which correspond to the primary
colours plus white. Felicia embraced
the restrictions, using them to help
her control colour. She compares the
process of painting with less to theABOVE Self-Portrait
(Profile), oil on
paper, 23x30cmRIGHT Notes No. 1,
oil on paper,
25x25cm