February 22, 2014

It's good news week for another of our painters today! Remember Elaine T's painting from last week? The one painted in response to a night at the theater? WildClaw Theater's playwright and director saw her painting and loved it (as did we!). So well-deserved fame and approbation has come to rest on another of our painters! Congratulations, Elaine!

Besides that, we had an actual theme going today—it's "change." We suspect it may be inspired by the weather. We actually had some days this week where the temperature topped the freezing mark. It feels like spring to us and we're ready for a change!

Let's start with the Elaines. They've both gone from "eew" to "aww!"(and yes, we actually made those sound effects). Elaine T's gone from an itchy, scratchy red eyeball to Shadowcat. Can't you just feel her soft, gentle fur? And Elaine O's eerie zombie toddler has revealed his soft, gentle nature. Can't beat kittens and children, can you? Come on, say it with us.....awww!

 

Sara's changed from sketching to painting. 

 

Ken's cats have changed style and color. Same cat (Annie)....totally different feeling!

Even John's getting into the act! Here, as he begins the last illustration of his story, he's added a happy character! (Of course, it's the devil, so maybe it's not as much of a stretch as we'd think.)

 

Coincidentally, this is the 3-way fruit week for our newbies. Watch how their fruit or vegetable changes when it's painted wet, dry or in combination.This time around, everyone seemed to be especially good with drybrush. Look at the groupings below as they progress from wet to medium to dry and see if you don't agree. Done well, drybrush sparkles...and this group knows how to do it well!

Artist of the week. Well, Elaine T, of course. She's carving out a niche for herself with Chicago theater companies. Pretty soon, she'll be doing costume and scene design. Or maybe program covers like Hirschfield. We'd go just to collect the programs.

Ken also brought a book on Vuillard for the library table, sparking comparisons with Bonnard. We loved his style and were especially inspired by the backgrounds and the self-portraits. Tune in next week to learn more about Aubrey Beardsley and explore lines and curves. As you may have guessed, next week's artist was inspired by the carrots above. Don't they look like the essence of Art Nouveau?

Happy painting!