Emma, 18x24

Demonstration paintings....

...are surprisingly fun to do.  Painting 'Emma' was stressful, time and performance pressured and immersing, but because she was such a great first time model we both had a good time.  She was so helpful and attentive I'm giving her the painting.

I had volunteered to do a demo for my class thinking that, because it was mostly interpreting and painting landscapes from photographic reference, that they would like to see me do a landscape....or at least a still life.  But 'portrait' was the vote.

The people there took photos of the process and perhaps if some one of them could forward a few pics of the process I'll post them later.  In lieu of that, here is a closeup.  The demo took a bit more than two hours but that included model breaks and a bit of talking and explaining.

 
Painting classes begin again the last week of January at the Winslow Art Center.  I'll also be teaching a Marker Workshop in early February....plus some other courses.  Come join us....we have a lot of fun.

Geraniums, 16x20

 

Last week's class demo.  I didn't quite finish it until that evening but you can see the steps at Diana Kingsley's blog.  I like doing demonstration paintings because an audience keeps me from thinking too much and focused on just intuitively slapping paint around.  Sometimes it works.

This class is about painting from photos and making them believable.  In Diana's photos you can see that I was using two sources to get the most information.  Outdoor experience, however, is the best source.

Blue on Blue, 20x20

Blue on Blue, Demo, 20x20

Noelle seems to like this but she thinks it would have worked better if the plums were bacon.

I did this for my morning class.  For some reason they like demonstration paintings.  I have to admit that I like doing them....and I like watching artists do them.  It's mesmerizing to see a blank white surface explode into something that seems real.

Here is the quick marker sketch I did before the painting to explore composition and values before committing it to canvas.

It is about 7 inches square and what you see here is the part I framed after doing a more inclusive sketch....you can see the drawing continuing on from the black line.  Just enough information to guide me into the painting.

Season of Giving
Colin Page (wonderful painter) has an 18 month old nephew who can't walk.  His mother is trying to raise enough money to give him the therapy he needs.  She is doing this by selling Christmas ornaments.  Even if you can't help her out please visit her site HERE and read the story of Jakob.  His smile will melt you.

Thanks. 

Spring Snowballs, 14x18

Flowers can be so fleeting that several Springs can go by before I get around to painting certain ones.  It has taken a few years to get around to painting snowballs again.  My friend Debbie showed up and took some progress shots....thanks, D.  I'm sharing them below so you can see the steps.

In this painting I drew a little first.  Another demo, but one in which I didn't draw, I posted  HERE.

A few things to note:  When the flowers are drawn in they have square edges that reflect the planes of their shapes.  I then put a single dot where the center of the flower is which immediately establishes which direction they are pointing.

Another is, that since this was a fairly close valued painting, the first note of paint was the value and color of the sky.  From this I could judge what the rest of the values should be to describe the flowers but still keep them in light spring colors.

The photo of the source doesn't accurately reflect values or color....and there is no sky.  The day was cloudy and very cool. 

By the way, I have a plein air workshop coming up in July at the Winslow Art Center. 

February Artwalk Demo, 11x16

Pulled from the brink of value/color disaster this little painting looks deceptively simple....but, once again sitting in the middle of a party, it held my attention for almost two hours .   I've never bungie jumped off a high bridge but doing this one seemed like how that space between jumping off and hoping something stops you before hitting the rocks must feel.

This is gouache.  My Gouache Workshop for this year is on February 24th and 25th.  If you haven't heard me say it before, gouache is a terrific medium for learning to paint as well as producing quality art pieces.  It's like watercolor.  It's like oil.  Mix and Match.  Join us if you can.

Apropos of nothing, did you know that in the 18th and 19th century that when one wanted to paint 'outdoors' that a portable greenhouse was set up with a heater to keep ones digits warm.  Must have been for the 1%.   Brings a whole new concept to the idea of packing light.

Deanna's Sunflowers, 11x13

'What's that?'
'Sunflowers, I hope.'
'No, what is that stuff you are using?'
'Gouache.'
'Goosh?'
'No, opaque watercolor.  It's spelled g-o-u-a-c-h-e.'
'Oh.  Why don't you use pastel?'

Once again it was time for the Artwalk and, as the crowds swirled their wine and the band played, I painted....and answered lots of questions which I enjoy.  While I seldom work from photos (more on that in the next post) this was a good time for it and, since it's so freeing, I painted in 'goosh'.

Classes are starting up again and I've taken on more than usual.  Weekly instruction in Drawing for beginners and intermediates, the on-going Painting group, a workshop on working in Goosh, er, Gouache and another workshop in Portrait painting and drawing.  Plus I'll be doing another workshop in Ballard during the weekend of March 9-11....more on that soon.

You can find out about the classes and workshops HERE at the Winslow Art Center terrific new website.  It is a nice facility with easy access and a great covered outdoor area.  Come join us.....we have a lot of fun!   (and you can call it goosh if you want to)

Artwalk Demo, 16x18

Fifteen feet away a five piece band was playing.  People swirled around me meeting and greeting.  Occasionally I had to shoo folks away from standing in front of the still life setup so I could see it.  A little kid kept running up to share his latest drawing.....'see....this is where the bad guys blow up the sun'...  A few wanted to talk to me about painting, and a few others wanted to know how I could paint in a maelstrom.  (Beats me.)

All in all, last Friday's Artwalk was a lot of fun.  The music was good, the people were nice and the energy was positive....except for that sun destruction thing.

When I look at this piece I'm reminded of a comment by Bill Reese who said, while showing us around the artwork in his home, 'There is only one work I've done that I wouldn't change if I did it over', and Bill must have done thousands.  No matter how well we do things we could make them better.   It must be what keeps us trying with whatever we attempt....

The Tuesday Painter, 11x14

How many hours have I stood in front of an easel like this madly muttering under my breath because something wasn't going right and I had absolutely no clue what it was?  On Tuesdays persevering painters get together to try and figure out what makes a piece work and another flop.  While I try to tell them what I know, much has to come just from doing it again and again.  It's amazing how we can learn the most difficult things.

Too much time giving them my advice doesn't leave room for those personal 'ah-ha's' so I keep myself occupied in the background.....and this student became my target.  It also allowed one more inclusion of the still life already posted a few days ago.

Since I have a couple larger pieces in the works I'm going to take a small blog break so I can concentrate on finishing them.   Later.

Marker Workshop Demo

This is the toned paper demo using warm gray markers done for the marker workshop we had on Saturday.  What a great group.  Everyone was willing to throw themselves into the unknown and try whatever I asked of them.  That takes courage.

Speaking of courage.  RN, the owner of Oil and Water Arts, certainly exemplifies that.  Three or four years ago, while riding his motorcycle in Oregon, he was hit by a semi that was passing him and didn't allow enough distance when pulling in front.  The long and short is that RN lost two fingers on his left hand....details of which you don't want to know.

Then we went into an economic downturn which has greatly hurt the arts...and art stores.  Despite returns that were initially not good RN decided to weather it out and his store and school have shown remarkable success.

Two weeks ago we had some heavy snow.  The roof of the little two story mall began to leak.  Being a good neighbor, RN decided to go up on the roof and move the snow to prevent damage to other businesses....his own was fine.  Coming back down, the ladder slipped and he fell about 15 feet onto a cement/tile floor.  Yesterday he had surgery to fix the four broken vertebrae.  Monday he will have his shattered right heel operated on.  The left heel, ribs, and head are healing on their own.   He's had two weeks of unbearable pain because the hospital missed the broken vertebrae. (!)

This is the clincher:  Less than 24 hours after surgery we were talking to him on the phone and he had new ideas about how to make the store/school even better.  A Timex watch could take lessons from this man.   Tick, tick, tick...

Eagle Harbor Demo, 11x14

This is the demonstration painting I did last Sunday for the plein air group.  We had a great time painting all day in the park with people strolling by adding comments.  Someday I'm going to make a T-shirt filled with passerby comments.  The one that always kills me is from the folks that stand and watch for ten minutes and then, with a quizzical expression ask, "Whaddaya painting".  I don't really mind this at the beginning, but toward the end when there is obviously a boat or a tree or a house in the painting, always gets me.  I never know whether to laugh or cry....but usually choose laughter when they are respectfully out of range.  Art education has been woefully neglected...

Here is a photo of how this began.  It's just past the shape block-in stage and on to beginning color.....and, remember, no line drawing just massing in of major shapes in a burnt sienna like color (it can be any color.  bs just lives nicely with green) which you can see under the green as I started over- painting.  Hard even for me to believe it's the same piece.