CAT TAILS

I added some more greens to the reeds and more golds in the open pod.
These are finished – at least as far as I’m concerned. Not one of my better paintings, but it made a good demo!

FLUID ACRYLIC WORKSHOP

This weekend I gave a 2-day workshop in fluid acrylics.  You can see more about that at Rhonda's blog - she took lots of photos and has lots of description - and I promise I didn't pay her for that!  Didn't even know she was doing it - when you are the teacher you get so focused you become oblivious to what else is going on - like forgetting to put out the coffee cups and not realizing it's lunch time!  I also forgot to take any photos on Saturday, but remembered on Sunday.

Jean had never painted before - never, nothing, nada (but she may be hooked now!)  She painted along with me on Saturday and used a reference from one of the other ladies on Sunday.

Sharon is going to make a series of 4 florals for her kitchen - she likes yellow!

Sharon's first try with FA and first time working on a board in a watermedia.

Jo does a great job, whether it's watercolor or FA!

Rhonda worked on 3 over the weekend!

My Saturday demo, unfunished - photos courtesy of Rhonda!

My Sunday demo - I'm liking this one and will finish it (soon, I hope!)
I've got lots of computer catching up to do, and then am out of town a couple days, but may have some blog posts uploaded in the meantime!   Hope you don't miss me while I'm gone!
(No paintings were harmed in the taking of these photos!)

. . . AND WIN SOME MORE!!! GEORGIA WATERCOLOR SOCIETY NATIONAL EXHIBITION

I received a really nice call the other night – my painting “Blue Pitcher and Pears on Lace” won the Sam Flax Award at the Georgia Watercolor Society National Exhibition!
I consider any award in a national show an honor!

CASEIN DAISIES - 2

I added some more greens, then drew in the design and misketed it, then added some purple.
After assessing the darks and lights, I added some indication of flower petals, added a bit more green and purple here and there; then per a suggestion from a friend, I added just a touch of orange here and there along the design lines. I then added a touch of the orange in the flower centers.

The colors are a bit gaudier than I normally paint, and it is much looser than my normal paintings - but it shouts “Spring!” to me!
After the painting was completed and signed, it was varnished.

. . . and WIN SOME!!!

Our local art group, Southeastern Indiana Art Guild, had its annual spring show on Saturday evening, a very well attended show. I thought that this year the art was much better over all. I think that speaks to the group as a whole – the artists are taking their work more seriously and many are showing improvement.

My painting “Engine 5901” took first place in the watercolor division and 2nd place overall – not too shabby!
I was very pleased to see that a former student took several awards and honorable mentions – and she has been painting less than a year! Girl’s got talent!!!
PHOTOS BY MIKE: Once again my personal photographer, chauffer and taste tester did a fine job with the photos – and with sampling every available foodstuff on the buffet tables!

CASEIN DAISIES -1

I like to pour watercolor and fluid acrylic and decided to give pouring casein a try.  My idea is a photo reference of some daisies.

Once I sprayed the canvas and added the paint, I really liked the way the flowers just sort of appeared – and, other than the pencil lines that I followed for the background design, there are no pencil marks on this painting.

YELLOW LILIES - PART 3

More done on the lilies – still need more darks and haven’t decided how I will handle that because – duh – no value study. So, to the drawing board to figure this out now – better late than never!

ART SHOW OPENING

Friday night was the opening at Art Beyond Boundaries. It was an all women show and it turned out that I knew most of the artists, having met them at various art events. (I’m very good with faces but terrible with names, so it was a good thing we all wore name badges!)

As you can see from the photos we had a pretty good turn out and a few pieces sold (sadly, none of mine – yet???). The show will run through the end of May – so if you live in the area I suggest you go downtown to 1410 Main Street to view this eclectic and beautiful show – sculpture, acrylic, oil, casein, watercolor, fiber and drums!!

I saw some old friends and met some new friends – and had a great time!
Photos by Mike - who did a great job climbing above the fray to get the photos (even though he did not use the flash and only once remembered to “zoom” – but hey, it beats a blank!) His additional duties were chauffer, bodyguard, and premier buffet taste tester and food critic.

YELLOW LILIES - PART 2

Once the drawing on the tracing paper was complete I made some adjustments and when I was happy with the final changes, I put Saral transfer paper under the drawing and traced it onto the painting - here you can see the graphite lines.

Even though the lines are now drawn onto the watercolor paper, I will still make small changes as I begin to paint.

In starting the painting I decided to paint more on the lilies themselves rather than the background. At this point, I’m not so sure that was the best idea!

YELLOW LILIES - PART 1

Here is the start of some yellow lilies photographed in Chicago a couple of years ago, and I’m finally getting around to using them in a painting!
First I poured some misket – since I used Winsor & Newton colorless it is pretty impossible to see.  Then I poured some yellow and green DaVinci fluid acrylics.

The next step was to tape some tracing paper over the painting and attempt to find lily shapes in the poured paint.

To the best of my ability, and using my photo as a reference only, I found shapes that represented lily petals in the shapes in the paint and drew those shapes onto the tracing paper.

I think this is the thing about this technique that confuses people. Due to the abstract nature of the pours, it is hard to define exactly where the painted shapes will end up. You can trace the drawing first and then attempt to pour the miskit and paint within the parameters of the drawing, but it is probably better to try to make your drawing fit the pours, and use your photo as a reference for a jumping off point only.

So, while the painting will look somewhat like the photo, it is not a direct copy of the photo.

CAT TAILS

I have continued working on this by adding to the reeds and, as noted, will have to do a bit more to cover all of the water spots showing through the reeds, but it’s getting there.