Oksana's Summer Hat, 18x24

When the message came through.....
.... my day had been all scheduled, and art was not figured in any of the time slots.  Sometimes it's necessary just to buckle down and 'take care of business'.  It was a locked up schedule.  No changes.

The text message said that Oksana could stay in town an extra day and pose in Nancy's garden.  Schedule got unlocked, changes were made, rock solid intent went by the wayside.   I had enjoyed painting her once before so jumped at having another chance, especially outdoors where color is at its best.  Here is the 10x12 portrait done last year indoors.

About ten artists showed up so it became a Working Party.  A covey of quail, a pride of lions and a brush of artists.  I made that up but it seems right.....although maybe a 'party of artists' is more apt.  It usually is one.

I toned the 18x24 canvas on board, sketched the major shapes, blocked it in with major color shapes and went for the finishing  doodads.  During the ninety minutes to do the majority of the painting the sun had swung over and began hitting the canvas so I quit and spent another half an hour tweaking it when I got home.  It only meant adjusting some values.

Outdoor trick.  Want to find out where the sun will be later?  Hold your first and index finger together at arms length and count over.  Each two finger segment is about 15 minutes.  This only works in the temperate latitudes.  The earth turns much faster near the equator so maybe two fingers is ten minutes.

I used this trick to pose her in the filtered shade of a tree.  It was easy to see how long I had before the the sun cleared the tree.  It was great focused fun.  Working fast it became lots of colorful dabs of paint.

I like it and am glad I abandoned my schedule.

James Gurney, one of my favorite artists and who has a terrific blog, just published a video on Gouache.  He is the author of the book Dinotopia among other things.  Anyway, this is a very good video on painting with gouache with many demos, a complete run down on equipment and how to do it outdoors or when traveling.  The download is only $14.95 and well worth it.  I've watched it twice, soaking up everything I could get.  Check it out HERE.

And, speaking of videos, Catherine Gill just released a new DVD on 'Ooze', Mixing it Up With  Watercolor and Pastel.  If you are a watercolor artist you likely already know about Cathe through her book.  I've been doing the camera and editing work on all her videos and the publishing under 'Candy Corn Productions'.

We are especially excited about this one and it has already gotten good reviews from those that have purchased it.  She goes back and forth, mixing the pastel with the watercolor, watercolor with pastel.  At some point magic happens which she calls 'Ooze' where the two take on a fluidity and unique quality.  You can find the DVD on Cathe's website HERE as well as a dozen downloadable vids and two more DVDs.

Thanks for looking.  No doubt I'll be back soon.