Sunday, October 22, 2017

October 21, 2017

How's this for an appropriate starting image? Nothing says autumn like pumpkins swaddled in cozy fabric. Emily did this lovely still life entirely during class. We love the texture, the color choices and the composition—and did we mention that this is her graduation painting? Is she good, or what?


This is Emily's "fabric" homework. Talk about challenging. She's chosen a fabric with sheen and composed it with deep, tight folds. You can get lost in this fabric! On a sad note, we are sorry that she won't be joining us (at least in person) next term as she'll be returning home to Poland.  We have thoroughly enjoyed knowing and painting with her. 


We're all in the autumn spirit. Bill uses his new Mission paints for the still life below. Believe us that the orange of the bowl is deeper and richer than the photo would indicate. In fact, all the colors are. No wonder Bill is a fan of these colors, especially the warm ones! 


Bill also finished this piece visualizing a concept of the origin of the world. A vessel shatters, releasing the Word in ancient Hebrew.



Elaine finished her latest portrait. We think the subject looks like she'd be great fun to know. We had a lot of fun making haircolor suggestions for each other.



Moving along to another stranger, Elaine is trying something new. She's using shades of grey to build up the values on this portrait. Then, she'll add a wash of color. While this is almost the opposite of how Elaine normally works, she figures it works well for Steve and many Renaissance artists, so it's worth a try.


Greeta finished two more sweet colored portraits of her aunts from an old sepia toned photo. We love the bows and necklaces...


...and maybe it's just the season or maybe it's looking at two small portraits together, but our thoughts turned to ghosts and scary movies. We probably were a little over-imaginative today.


We quickly recovered ourselves in time to admire this next house in Greeta's Houses of Graceland West book. Individually, they are each beautiful, but it's a wonderful experience to flip through a whole booklet of these houses. Here's a thought.... maybe she'll publish these when she's finished.


And then, Greeta did this delicate floral painting using pen, ink and wash.  She says it was a relief after all the intricacies of architectural painting and portraiture. We agree! It's like a beautiful breath of fresh air. Just look at the shadow!


Isa is using the same device here, contrasting airy, delicate blossoms against strong graphic elements. Zoom in to see today's addition. She's added a layer of fine spatter. This keeps getting better and better!


And then, like Greeta, Isa took a break and painted some flowers. This almost looks like a tutorial or time lapse with each flower becoming ever more intricate and layered—an especially difficult task since yellow has a notoriously shallow value range.


Ken's been hard at work seguing his corn painting into mosaic mode. We're interested to see how this comes out, but so far, we are really liking the contrast between the deeply modeled kernels and the flatter, mosaic elements.


We're really into the yellows and greens of summer, aren't we? Alan finished his watercolor version of this painting and there's so much to love. From the composition with Greeta calmly framing the left side, through the flowers, the water and the the people. Not to mention the transparent shadows on the umbrellas, the highly polished table, and even the long format.


Madeleine is painting landscapes, too. Here, she's finished her Ann Arbor sunset, adding and blending colors to draw focus to the magnificent sky...


... before moving on to an Amsterdam landscape. Notice the complexity. There are countless elements from the tulip beds to the paths and water.


Susan's vacation landscape is very different. This is a glacier in the Canadian Rockies. The guide is dipping a cup into the glacier melt for the people to drink. How often do you get to see a glacier, much less drink from one?


Still in the Canadian Rockies, Susan adds some final touches to her waterfall. It's Takakkaw Falls and the name means magnificent in Cree.  We concur.


Another national park! Sara painted this impression of Yellowstone National Park, inspired by a Park Service poster.... and her recent trip, of course.


Another landscape, another national park. Feast your eyes as Sara guides you through tree branches, across shadows, fields and more, until you see the Grand Tetons rising majestically in the distance. This may be our record for national parks visited in a single post.


And we sketched! Sara did this sketch in preparation for a larger painting of her boys. We love it, but she's thinking of going even bigger or changing media. Keep watching to see what she decides.


Steve's also been sketching in preparation for the next in his Hawaiian and merman series (what's the plural of series?).  Here is a merman rising from the water, pushing himself up on a rock. You can barely see a splash of water and a flash of tail at lower left.


These hibiscus blooms are from memory and we think they'd look great painted in the Hawaiian mud pigments.


The same here. Steve's pineapple would use the different muds to great advantage. And we're intrigued by the way this looks like a fine botanical painting.


And don't forget these ongoing events:

    

Corn and Cats.  Ken's show at Ten Cat Tavern (how appropriate!) is up. While you missed the opening reception—and it was fun—you can still drop by to see the paintings.


      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     September 30–November 15 
 

Food.  Alan and Greeta are featured artists in a group show about Food. The show runs through January, so there's still time to catch it. If you attend, you are asked to please bring a donation of non-perishable food for neighborhood food pantries.


      4243 N  Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL

     When:
     Exhibition: September 16–January 13
    



 
Kilbourn Park Mural. As part of  the Year of Public Art in Chicago, Erika Doyle and three other other artists have painted murals in the Avondale area. There is an opening reception on Sunday, October 22 but if you miss that you can drop by any time to see the murals.

Where:
      Kilbourn Park

      3501 N. Kilbourn Avenue

     When:
     Reception: October 22, 2017, 2–5pm

     Exhibition: ongoing

 
    



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