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Quenton slowly shifted to a walk again, staying close to Alex's side, and attentive. He bites his lip as though it woudl guard against words and ideas he would rather communicate some other way. Its endearing.

Being given the gift of plain words, it took Quenton a moment to pare his own expression- uncertainty had no purchase on him now. It was a simple reply, comical in its film-noir cheese, and he hoped would be taken as both a lightening for their worries and an honest question, "Your place or mine?"

He stopped again in front of a Sargent offering a more classic to their situation comment on a different vein, "Its unfortunate that Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose isn't part of this show. I think its part of the Tate collection. The technique in the flowers reminds me of you, even if it is oils in that one- it was even praised by Sir Frederic Leighton.

Quenton nodded in ascent to the choice, not perturbed in the least. His place was spotless of late, excepting for a strew of sheet music pages with his pencil scribbles of composition on them with his recorder close by on one of the two chairs near the window. The plants had brightened and freshened the place as hoped, and now had a sun lamp with a timer to keep them happy through the closely looming the winter. There was even a new, incredibly silky microfleece blanket that would serve very well that had been a Hallow's Eve gift from Stroud.

"The history of the piece was that he wanted exactly and specifically the twilight of the end of day when the sun is gone but the light not dead, and would paint in the garden for the few minutes of dusk en plein air. When season killed the flowers, he had them replaced with silken artificials. The level of intent, focus and dedication to that vision he wanted to capture, and the skill to make on canvas what was false so vibrantly alive- he'd captured the moment perfectly in his mind and it lived there, even if not in the season of the paintings finish. The focus of his mind may have been the girls and lantern...but the foliage and light are what were really captured and expressed...and what really haunted me long after I saw the piece. "

"I think what keeps me from seriously considering teaching is that nagging fear- 'Those who can do; those who can't teach. ' But maybe....it would be a steady paycheck, good and consistent time off to pursue my own art...constant exposure to the cutting edge and youth of the field."


But Alex had asked a specific question, "Plain words....you do have tough demands. Technique wise, Sargent was known for sketching with his brush, and he learned and painted in the alla prima mode. It is a wet-on-wet technique with oils, though it you can see it in watercolor, that encourages and relies on chroma to establish light and form more than just following the map and glazing the tones of an under-painting. The loaded brush also creates some spontaneity, which guided rather than restricted by a skilled hand can make focuses of light that breath real life into pieces. I haven't seen enough of you actively in studio to know if it is a technique you already practice, but it felt like one that you would be able to use. One that would push you from rote and solid realism into something that not only allows but actively makes the sudden colour and life of settings. "

" It's all based in arguments of perception and persistence of perception, the importance of realism over the 'Impression' or 'Expression' of a point in time. Hence those movements in painting that were happening near enough to be informative to Sargent. It is all the intensity of a dream, but the vision of a living man. The flowers in that piece, because of how he painted them, feel as luminescent, delicate and luscious as the lanterns. "

"Additionally..." He looked down at Alex with a smile, "When he painted for himself, it was usually landscapes...and usually watercolour."

"I'd be a fool to turn down private studio time with you. All I know is yours for the asking, " and the words weren't platitude. What he lacked in skill himself with watercolours or oils was immaterial to demonstrating techniques so that one who had the skill could see them and learn to make use of them. "But its more probable that it isn't that you don't know some of the stuff I go on about- you probably just never heard the vocabulary for it."

"Wet-on-wet with oils is the technique Bob Ross taught on The Joy of Painting. It used to be on public television, though it hasn't been in years now. Some of the specifics might be different between Ross and Sargent," Quenton smiled, "But the ideas are much the same. "

"I don't know that we'll see any amount of whole works completed so airily as you like at this show. But we can hold out hope. William Berryman might be more along the lines of what you'd like? He was a 19th-century English painter who did work while he lived in Jamaica. I only came across his name because of a show of his work that was at Yale ...maybe 2007? Not well known, but skilled and using gradated washes like you just mentioned. I think he drafted his sketches in pencil as well, so don't feel like the only mark of skill is drafting in brush. Its just a style quirk I'd thought to mention. Glazing and washing are both wonderful techniques. Have you had a chance to experiment with salts or frisket?"

He stopped in front of another piece, this one a Edward Burne-Jones. "What do you think of this one?"

"Frisket is another word for liquid masking. Stuff you paint down where you don't want paint to go, then you paint over it, wait for drying, and you can rub it off. I used the windsor newton stuff during my techniques class, but it left a slight yellowish tint to the paper where it had been. I don't know if other brands do the same. "

"Salt, on the other hand, is a hard to control but easy-to-use texture technique- sprinkled on damp watercolor each crystal chases away pigment to create flower-like spots. I'll be happy to demonstrate." They were near a piece that used the technique, so he pointed out the snowflake like patterns in the sky that gave interest to the otherwise calm scene. "Like here. "

In fact, they'd nearly exhausted that show in their slow pacing around from piece to piece. It hardly felt like time had passed, but it was plain it had in the realization that there were some other patrons that were coming in after them and milling from piece to piece. I hope my going on to Alex hasn't bothered anyone.

"Well...which collection would you like to see next? "

"If you're doing a lot of wet-technique painting, masking would help make tree-branches faster without causing bleed- since going over an area of watercolour paper that is already painted on with new, wet watercolour has a tendency to capillary out the first layer in a halo."

"Regular table salt does work, it's just less dramatic than if you were using large sea salt. Flaked salt also acts a little differently. Depending on the quality of your paints, the pigment you're affecting will also differ the effect a little. Lastly, the amount of water present, or saturation of the paper will alter the reaction."

I think that is everything involved with those two.... He used watercolour mostly for quick, somewhat crappy, studies if he wasn't just using vine charcoal and conte, so he hadn't used many of the fancier tricks outside of the techniques classes.

When Alex didn't react badly to their being witnessed, Quenton let go of a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding for a hot minute. "Well...how about the hall of sculpture then? Our two specializations each in turn. "

"Most of the Destiny City collection are copies of originals help by other museums, but they're still nice to look at. I used to come here once in a blue moon to do anatomical and lighting studies. " In was a short, pleasant walk with both their feet clicking and echoing on the polished, granite floors. The doors to the Hall of Sculpture were glass and brass, and they led into a room large and open as a roman forum with faux colonnade that looped the perimeter. Between the columns and divided by them in 'visual space' were an assortment of classical statuary from Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Renaissance, Gothic and Modern styles.

Quenton happily walked them around the statuary hall's initial subjects, considering Alex's opinion. "The do have skill, that copy by hand and that skill is admirable. "

Actual forgers, who copied not for practice or preservation though, no matter their skill, would not earn his own respect. It was a practice abominable, to artist and culture, one no recognizable skill could unmarr to his eyes. It wasn't a point worth arguing though- it was a sticking point of his own hard line choices and lines in the moral sands that didn't apply to the statement of whether or not the skill itself was present. So he kept his peace on bringing up any of the rest of his opinions on web-deviated subjects.

"I would love to have copies of your photos, " There was no doubting the eagerness to the tones. If it was sculpture, Quenton was glad for any study aid offered him. "That is kindly offered. Did you have a favorite?"

The first sculpture he stopped at was a replica in wood of a saint. "I don't know that you'll have gotten to the Gothic or High Gothic styles in your first semester. When I took it...Stone Age, Mesopotamia, Egyptian, Hellenistic for three weeks, Roman 3 weeks, midterm...leaves 6 weeks. Final in the last, so five weeks, Byzantine and Islamic for two, then the start of the middle ages? Did I get it right?"

"Gothic and High Gothic are the 1100 to 1300s, so they'll start off in your second semester Survey of Western Art. Its concurrent with the Battle of Hastings, the First through the Fourth Crusades and the Black Death there at the end. I find that knowing what was going on in history is actually really helpful towards understanding how the art styles were developing at the time. It helps give an idea of maybe what the people were experiencing and feeling as well. "

"Take this Gothic Saint. A lot of works in the 1300s were strictly religious, but you'll see that the emotion is more heightened then other periods. Heightened and intense, but so introspective. 'Vulgo & ab effectu atram mortem vocatibant' - Commonly and from effects, they called it the black death. With the Plague ravaging the art of the time became a riot of opposites. Morbidity and uncertainty of survival or of reason for the catastrophe made people hedonist or exponentially pious and self-abasing. You can see it in this statue's eyes, the pain of losing all he knows, the defeat of his shoulders. But his pose is so human and alive. Gothic sculpture developed the sensuous 'S' to the figure that can be coquettish or a writhe of epiphany, pending the details of the expression of the face- which were getting more and more accurate. There was no longer a fear of showing people a little more realistically such as this double chin. His proportions are still idealized, but he's recognizable as a flawed human like the rest of us."

"The Survey art history courses are required for any major in the arts, but I would recommend you spend at least one of your electives on a more intensive 200 or 300 level specialized art history course if you can. The surveys will give you an overview, and the paper assignments tended in the 5 to 10 page range, self chosen analyzation of topics that match whatever period you're studying at the time. It should give you an okay idea of what specialization course would interest you. If not, strike up some conversations with the professors during office hours- I think there's one or two that watercolour professionally and have shown work in local galleries. "

"You won't actually get too much history in the techniques courses themselves, " Quenton sighed, "Just name dropping, technique overviews, practice, application, and critiques. At least I haven't in 3D Studio Arts. Maybe painting and fine art is different."

He walked them slowly about the hall of statuary and sculpture beyond the Gothic piece, offering what historical applicative knowledge he had as it seemed to have some interest to Alex in providing extended understanding of pieces. The commentary about the feeling as those did during the plague found a corner of his mind to dwell in without external comment. He wasn't certain what to make of it in comparison to the life he led now, or where it was headed, so he couldn't offer much on it. It was good, though, that Alex felt the lighter modern world and life removed from that grim space. It was good that Alex had that innocence. It was something he wished could be long within the other youth- with his paints and fashion and flowers.

When they came to the end of the hall, after what turned out to be a long while of walking, talking and two exhibits, he couldn't deny that thirst was chief among his thoughts as well as sit down. He offered a light joke at his own expense, "How do you feel about the food court now? I don't know how the professors manage the three hour lectures without a water."