Saturday, January 20, 2018

January 20, 2018

We're back—same friendly faces but with a fun new theme. Along with our old favorites, we've gone Big on Botanicals. Scroll through and see what we mean. We begin with Ken and his newest series based on tomato plants. He's combining his mosaic style with his prior obsession with stripes below....


... while this back view of a tomato flower has a background of flowers, vines and tiles.


Below, Ken has tried something new—mixing colors! To be truthful, he's mixed colors before, but recently has been mixing colors on the paper by glazing single colors. Here, he's back to color mixing on the palette.


And he's continuing to do that below. Notice the wider range and added subtlety of color Ken's been able to achieve.


If we're talking about botanical paintings, of course we think of Steve. Here, he's painting a hibiscus plant.What's really interesting is that he's made his own paint—using Hawaiian mud, ground into a fine powder, and mixed with gum arabic. We love the color and the fact that these flowers look like fireworks.





Isa painted a tree branch and added a cardinal. Look closely at the color mixing in the cardinals feathers. Isn't this the sweetest Christmas card?


Moving a bit farther away, we see the whole tree in a park. Isa has carefully composed the scene so the branched path leads our eye to the tree...and the tiny cardinal perched in its branches.


Even Elaine is into botanicals. These are New Guinea impatiens, as seen from above. She's also  experimenting and using only her Mission watercolors. So far, so good. They have a very "watercolory" feel and are very richly pigmented.


If memory serves, Bill may have been the one who dubbed 2018 as the year of botanicals. If so, he's doing his part, painting a snake plant (also known as mother-in-law tongue, sanseveria, etc.) He's definitely captured the look and feel of the leaves.


Here, Bill has moved the plant and painted it with a softer, hazier look. It still reads as a snake plant, though. By the way, we've been actually learning about these plants as we paint them. Did you know this plant is one of the best air cleaners around? And that it's very difficult to kill? Makes up for the less than flattering popular names.


And then, Bill turns to a street scene in Turkey... another of our favorite themes. We are especially fond of the building on the right. It truly glows!


Madeleine also painted a vacation scene. This colorful painting is of the capital building in Havana, Cuba. It feels like stately architecture; at the same time, it has a lovely tropical vibe.


While she was on break, Madeleine did this delicate still life, featuring ceramics she created, along with a plastic Cupid. We love her color choices. 


Madeleine's also finished her prior still life with her Yemeni doll. We love the background she's chosen.


And, of course, we're still painting people. Specifically, new grandchildren. Here's a study of Sara's first granddaughter being cradled by her uncle. The sweet and clear connection between the two is the whole story here. We are looking forward to seeing it completed.


Yi is also painting people, having moved into the ranks of the "old masters."  Just look at the hair! This is as incredibly rich and shiny and lush as it looks here.


Crazie is also newly advanced from newbie to old master and she's also painting people. And what's more, she's experimenting with a lovely set of gouache paints. The colors are lovely and we all love the composition and the graphic shapes.


Crazie has finished her last assignment from last term.... a fabric study. She's used gouache again and placed a glowing avocado atop a stack of folded fabrics. So beautiful!

 
Speaking of new students, we have a few. And, like last term, they seem pretty advanced for newbies! Here, for instance, is Basan (we'll correct spellings of names next week!). First, she did a color wheel....


... before painting this personable little bird.


Lilith did the familiar watercolor plaid....


...before moving on to this delicate rose. See what we mean about an emphasis on botanical paintings? She's captured the thorns and sawtooth leaf edges.


Sarah also did the plaid exercise....


...before painting this landscape. Look closely at the sophisticated colors (the screen image doesn't do it justice). These newbies are good!


 Tony is back too. He's been away for a bit, but he's been painting on his own... in all our favorite themes! We'll share some of his paintings below. First, landscapes and scenery (can you tell he spent some time in Greece?)







Then, Tony painted some portraits...



... before joining us in our botanical fascination.


Welcome back! Join us next week for news about an upcoming group show.


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