New Painting Completed 3/26/2012

I'm back in Susan's class, struggling with color & also trying to learn brushstroke.  I want to leave the palette knife behind for awhile.  This painting is finally completed & fresh off the easel today.  I can see some of the mistakes I've made, but then that's why I take the classes - & keep trying!

Early in the painting process.  What are all those spots??

Getting close to the finished painting.

The finished painting!

Shells

I'm between classes right now.  I need to practice painting & solving problems on my own - think I've become too dependent on having an instructor "hold my hand".  Over the past couple of weeks I've worked on this little piece, painting an hour here & there.  There are a few problems with it that I haven't figured out how to solve, but that's the process.  What I don't solve in this painting I'll hopefully solve in the next painting.

Shells

Hope Valley Meadow

This is my latest attempt.  Several years ago I shot this scene in Hope Valley on one of my Fall excursions to that area.  I've always loved this meadow with the red willow.  Terry Miura helped me accomplish this little painting.

Red Willow

Yellow Roses

I finished my yellow roses painting this past Monday.  I'm very happy with this little painting.  I wanted a challenge, & this was definitely a challenge! Here are the images, from Step #1 through Finish.

Step #1

Step #2

Step #3

Finished

Advanced Techniques Workshop, Days 3 & 4

I am EXHAUSTED!!  Yesterday was the hardest day of all.  I'd had 2 nights of very little sleep & really felt pretty miserable.  Last night I took a Valerian tablet & slept really well until about 4:00 AM.  I practiced a relaxation technique from my yoga class & it seemed to work. I felt much better today.  One of the more accomplished artists in the workshop - & also my weekly classes - said she understood the true meaning of "tortured artist".  This was a tough workshop.


On Day #3 Susan did a demo using 2 photos as reference material.  She stressed that a photo never takes the place of life.  You can't get your colors from a photo & you have to understand color concepts & atmosphere of the real landscape before you attempt painting from a photograph. Susan started out the painting with a transparent series of washes pushed cooler or warmer with a transparent blue or a transparent red added to the basic transparent red oxide.  After establishing temperature of the washes, she wipes them back, except for the darkest dark. This is the first stage of the painting & the 2 reference photos.  The base support has a very pale wash of transparent red oxide all over.

The next series of photos are the landscape with local color being added. Susan "spots" the colors first rather than paint the entire area & then discover the color/value doesn't work.

This is the finished landscape.

I'm still doing very simple still lifes because I'm trying to learn brush techniques & having enough trouble with that without trying to learn other new concepts as well.  So I started a simple vase with a poppy yesterday. I thought I would be done with it today, but no.  I was so tired yesterday that I had trouble thinking straight & we had the demo most of the morning.  I'm a little reluctant to even post this - understand that I've barely begun on the flowers & the stems aren't there yet.

To give you an example of a couple of the great artists in the workshop with me, I'll post the "tortured artist's" yellow roses & a landscape by one of the artists from Washington.

There were many other beautiful paintings done in the workshop - wish I could post them all for you.

Advanced Techniques Workshop, Day 2

I'm actually a day behind with my posting.  Today is Day #3, but I'm lagging considerably in energy & will have to catch up at the end.  So Day #2 was another great day.  The first part of the morning was spent watching Susan bring her demo of the previous day to completion using brush techniques.  This is a photo of the completed demo.  It is only a "color study" & not a "painting".  (And this is why she's the instructor & I'm the student)!

For Day #2 I decided to paint a peach.  I'm being a little tentative, but just not feeling ready to advance to a flower quite yet.  Below is a photo of the finished peach.  I split the support in half & painted yesterday's pear on one half & today's peach on the other half.

I did a little more "mooshing" on the peach - didn't get quite the distinct brush strokes I was going for.

Advanced Techniques Workshop, Day 1

I'm taking Susan Sarback's Advanced Techniques Workshop.  The participants had been asked to come to class with ideas of what we want to learn.  I had decided I need to learn finishing techniques & if there was time, I would like to learn brush techniques.  It seems many of the class participants wanted to learn brush techniques.  Susan began our workshop with a demo of starting a painting using the knife - but beginning with Step 2 & skipping Step 1.  Then she did a demo of starting a painting using a brush, which also begins at Step 2.
  

The 2nd image is with the brush, but carried a little beyond Step 2.  

I was so excited after watching Susan work with the brush that I decided I would begin my class project learning brush technique & could learn finishing techniques at the same time.  So at lunchtime I rushed home to pick up my brushes & solvent.  This is the result of my Day 1 efforts.

It's not perfect, buy not bad for a first effort & I had a lot of fun doing it. Still could use some refinement, but Susan said to move on.  So I won't revisit this on Day 2.