Scene Painting

About the Book

Fundamentals of painting It never hurts to talk about the fundamentals because that's all this painting is that I've ever . . . I never got any further than the fundamentals, and I do everything but just some very basic stuff. You can find these brushes as this lady brought here - - you can buy this in any hardware store in America. And I mean every little hamlet you ever go into. They're the ones laying on a tray as you go out the door. They're China bristle brushes and they're fifty cents, a dollar, dollar-and-a-half. By far, the nicest ones you can buy, don't think to spend more money and get a real house painter's brush, they're no good, they're too long and there are too many bristles in them. They just don't work. And nylon is terrible or polyester. They last forever. I've had some about four years. The biggest size they sell for about two-fifty or two dollars or something like that. And they're wonderful. You can also buy them in an art supply store, you'll pay about five, six or ten dollars if you want to, but believe me these are the ones.

I do tonal painting. I cover the surface first cause I can't face that white canvas. If you paint every day like I do, you get up at six in the morning and here's this big dry white canvas facing you. It's like, oh my God, you know. And you feel like, I gotta fill that whole thing in now with a drawing and paints and colors. So you put that tone on and right away you're into something. You're already sort of starting something.

About the Author

Charles C. Gruppé comes from one of Americas most respected families of artists. His grandfather, Charles Paul Gruppé (1860-1940) studied and painted in Europe until moving to Rochester, New York. His uncles, sculptor Karl (1893-1982) and painter Emile (1896/1978) were successful and widely recognized for their work. Charles's father Paulo Gruppé was a gifted cellist.

Charles Gruppé studied at Yale University and at Columbia, as well as at the National University of Mexico. He earned a Masters of Fine Art from Columbia University while on a fellowship there. He was also awarded a Fulbright Fellowship Grant and studied in Italy where he received an Italian Government Award. His work is collected worldwide.

Mr. Gruppé is listed in Who's Who in America Art, sponsored by the American Federation of Arts.