I felt I had to warn you that this newsletter contains nudity.

Why do I think you care? Maybe I'm still sensitive because of my early days at Imagineering back in the early '90s. They used to host life drawing classes every Wednesday night after work, with real naked people. At Disney! Once, someone (I don't remember who) invited us to hang our sketches in the main hall of the office building. I mean, evidence that art was being made, right?

But the next morning, all the drawings were blank. Still hanging on the wall, just…turned backwards.

Turns out it was John Hench who did it. He was a revered and ancient artist who still worked 3 days a week there. He was also super conservative, and the sight of naked women offended him. So we took the drawings down.

A few years later, I had to run my portrait of "Minnie Lisa" by him for character corrections. I wasn't happy with what he drew. But I had to submit. After all, John had worked with Walt himself, and he was anointed the official character sheriff at Imagineering.

I got to have my own way when I did another portrait of Minnie Lisa for the Disney Gallery. By then, my character drawings were rarely corrected. I knew how to make that flat round head look dimensional, dammit!

Imagine how happy I was when I was commissioned to do a parody of Venus on the half shell, featuring a half-naked mouse! I thought a lot about that one. What does she look like naked? Is all of her skin black like her arms and legs, or would she be pinkish? Does she have 10-12 nipples like other mice? In the end, I opted for modesty, and showed only hints of skin.

One of my favorite Disney portraits was a parody of the famous "Madame X" by Sargent. I chose Daisy as my subject, as only her beak could rival the nose of Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau (Sargent's subject). Once again, I had to think about anatomy. What is the structure of a duck breast? How far could I push the shadows and highlights to imply a bosom? And if the light source is cool, the shadows are warm, and how should I mix the white of her feathery "skin" to reflect that shift?

I learned these things from painting live naked people. Sometimes, I used a modified Zorn palette: yellow ochre, ivory black, titanium white, and English red (instead of vermillion). I learned so much about mixing flesh tones with a limited palette. Who knew that ochre and black mixed together made green? And with that cool tone, the smallest bit of red brought so much life into the skin.

Whether I'm painting humans or mice, ducks or cows, I use the same principles of classical painting. And I see how far I can push the limits. "Learn the rules to break the rules," as I always say.

And hey, you gotta have fun along the way!

With love and light,

Maggie

Art Heals

I'm not sure many would think of Jenny Saville's work as soothing or "healing," but I do. Mainly because of how she paints the flesh. She really knows how to draw and paint--and man, does she break the rules. Her work always takes my breath away. To me, her work is fearless and muscular, traditional and ground-breaking. This piece is one of my favorites of hers.