TO BE A PAINTER

By Hal Baker as told by Milford Zornes, Published by Sasse Museum of Art, 2022

Review by Craig MacDonald

Milford Zornes was one of the world's top painters. On January 26, 2008, a day after turning 100, he put on a two hour painting demonstration before an overflow crowd of more than 250 people at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. Three weeks later, he was working on a painting in his Claremont residence, went to bed and didn't wake up.

This modest, Oklahoma native's phenomenal work has hung all over the world, even in the White House, Smithsonian, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Library of Congress. The former President of the California Water Color Society received many honors, including National Academician and was selected as a member of the prestigious National Academy of Design.

The remarkable, dedicated, driven individual was the leading figure in the development of the California Style of Watercolor Painting.

He gladly and frequently shared his wisdom, teaching workshops around the globe. I had the pleasure of seeing him in action, patiently teaching one of his sold out workshops and was astounded at how his students, of all skill levels, of all ages, of all cultures, hung on his every word.

Milford got people to really think and learn not only how to paint but to develop their own style. I learned a lot about him from my good friend, internationally-known artist Bill Anderson, whose gallery in Sunset Beach has sold Milford's work for more than 28 years.

Bill Anderson  (left) with Milford Zornes

Bill had the good fortune of painting with the master, one day a week for Milford's last 15 years. They also went on painting expeditions together to Yosemite and other spots in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Hawaii, Arizona and Utah, where Milford and his wife owned a home built by well-known artists Maynard and Edith Dixon.

What I learned from Hal Baker's fantastic book, thankfully preserving the painter's own words and thoughts, not only helped me better understand his father-in-law, Milford, but Bill, my sister, Sue, and other artists as well.

Bravo to Hal for spending countless hours, reviewing Milford's words, his own interviews with the master and what others had to say, to create a fascinating, thoughtful and inspiring book that will really get you thinking, no matter what your passion or occupation. It's a testimony that hard work, the endless desire to improve and sharing your talents with others will indeed make this a better world.

Unbelievably, at Milford's birth on January 25, 1908, his mother, Clara Ann, stated that he would be an artist, a famous one. The former teacher made it start to happen by showing him how to draw. Soon he became known as "the boy who could draw," the author writes.

He attended school in Southwest Idaho but he would end up graduating from California's San Fernando High School. He also studied at Santa Maria Junior College, Glendale Junior College, Otis Art Institute, Pomona College and Scripps College. (His main California residence would be in Claremont.)

He kept developing his talent and ended up painting for the Army (as a Military Artist in China, Burma and India during World War II), working at film studios, including Disney, and becoming a professor at Otis Art Institute as well as teaching at Pomona College and putting on workshops all over.

In 1942, Milford married Patricia Palmer, a fine creative talent in her own right, a student at Otis and a film studio artist. They decided early in their marriage that she would give up her career in art to support his. She also served as one of his best critics, typed letters for him and helped in so many ways, including assisting in raising their daughter, Maria.

In the 1980s, he began to have vision problems and was diagnosed with early Macular Degeneration, something he would deal with the rest of his life. Milford never gave up and learned to deal with it in creative ways. He used vision enhancers, read books by listening to tapes, used binoculars and got closer to the canvas.

As the years went by, he painted what he saw, the way he saw it, often simplifying subject matter, using bolder colors (that he could see) and having a higher contrast between dark and light.

Milford offers invaluable advice, which is further detailed in the book, advice that really gets you thinking. Here's some, in part, in Milford's own words:

I do not recommend rules. You should learn the basics, experiment and invite change.

...A painter (is) responsible only to himself, his tastes, his message and his way of presentation.

The whole reason for being an artist is to find yourself.

Intuition is an artist's most important tool.

One can make a living by art if he has something to say to others that enriches their lives and has value to them.

I try always to paint a big picture. If I'm doing a small sketch, I try to think of it large and readable.

In planning a painting, I first establish a horizontal reference and then a vertical one.

If we're going to be involved in color, we have to be involved with light because light is the source of color.

Any brush will do.

Art is a constant, creative change. Don't imitate your previous effort.

Look at a complicated world and reduce it to the simplicity that expresses it. Choose only those things that express what you want in your painting.

For the artist, nothing is without interest. It requires only his thought and vision.

It's hard to say there's only one way to paint a watercolor. Every person will find his own way.

This impressive book will teach you so much more about painting, about Milford and his travels, and about learning to enjoy the journey because, for him, the journey was the reward.

Thanks to Hal Baker for assembling Milford's words, and those of others, that will inspire so many and thanks to Sasse Museum of Art (sasseartmuseum.org) for publishing and saving this wisdom, which is often illustrated with Milford's memorable paintings.

Also, thanks to Pomona College for having Milford's letters & art in the Zornes Archives as well as Bill Anderson (aagcollection@aol.com), who has copies of this book and some of the master's art in his Anderson Art Gallery, Pacific Coast Highway and Broadway in Sunset Beach, California.

The reviewer is a Pulitzer Prize-nominated Journalist/Historian, the author of 24 books, two of which (Gold Rush Glimpses, Vol. III and Yosemite's Unsung Hero) have art by Milford and Bill.