A cropping

 This is the top left of last week's leaf.  I followed a hunch on the right side of the leaf and I like the way it turned out.  Followed another hunch on the left side, and not that crazy about the way it turned out.  Well how are you going to know if your hunch will work out unless you try it?

Elaine O. — May 27, 2023

I started a painting featuring some lovely details in the sanctuary of St. Gregory church. I love the composition (even if I find it a bit dizzying) and hope I can do justice to the architectural artistry. As we all know, though, browns are my nemesis. Why am I doing this to myself?!

11" x 14"

I've been living in my sketchbook lately as I'm getting very close to finishing one. Also, I've been organizing and consolidating art supplies--and playing with some of them. Remember back in January when I tried gouache? Specifically jelly gouache. Well, it's half a year later and I opened the palette to find the gouache ready to go with only a gentle misting. Here's a quick direct sketch I did to test them. I'm impressed.

approx. 7" x 4"

Flowers are nice but leaves have all the good structure

 And, this leaf is done.  I think I might do more paintings from different croppings.

Alan in Chicago thinking Mississippi

 I did quite a lot of work on my Ocean Springs bridge picture. I might have masqued more of the bridge to leave more highlights. I might go in with some white gauche to make the bridge sing more but we’ll see. The giant stays.

My tribute to Walter Anderson continues slow but sure with many complicated pieces. 

 

The Half Shell in Biloxi

 The photo was taken from my seat at the bar. This building was once a bank and survived Katrina. I like to sit near the shucker/griller and watch him work. We’ve done a lot of research and have concluded this is the best place to have a drink and oysters. In this case, the guy might be adding up our tab. I wanted to capture the majesty of the building and the wild reflections on the enormous overhanging stainless steel exhaust system. Note the guy’s reflection…..which I did not realize until I was actually painting it. 

Going to try the shucker next. He’s out of the picture to the right where the color gets yellow/orange. 

another ten cat show

 Opening Thursday, June 15th, 5pm.  Punkin pie may be available, BUT attendance at the spiel is required.

And you may preview the show here: https://kenschadt.com/KenSchadt/aa/index.htm

more leaves

 Put a lot of different greens and perylene green in the background to simulate leaves without, you know, putting them in directly and I think that fixed it up though it doesn't look too different from last week's highly panned painting.

That is one big leaf in the background.  I hope to make myself worthy of it.

Alan in Chicago

 I spent some time repairing one of my first stained glass panels. I had to go down into my dark and dusty stained glass sudio and clean things up. By the time I was done I realized that I wanted to do more glass so I’m doing that but it cuts down on my watercolor time. 

Here’s the one I repaired. I never liked it but putting in a colorful border made it palatable and more stable.

I haven’t given up on watercolor though. This is the beginning of a watercolor of Front Beach and the Ocean Springs bridge on 140. 

 

Combining watercolor and stained glass this is the beginning of an interpretation of a Walter Anderson print of the king from his fairy tales for children series.

We’ll see if I can still do it. 

Elaine O. — May 13, 2023

I'm happy with how this finished painting fulfills my intent. I wanted to capture my initial impression, especially the inside/outside contrast and the sense of cozy tranquility the dimly lit room gives off. I think I've done that. Even the sketchiness adds to the immediacy. At any rate, I'm calling it finished! It feels like I remembered it.

Seated Bodhisatva, Boston MFA    14" x 11"

 See you all in June!

Class News and Photo — May 13, 2023

No warmups today! Just a flurry of paintings and some "Brookies by Bryan" (a decadent brownie/cookie combo) to celebrate Allison's birthday. And, of course, a class photo (thanks to Karen, our photographer) as we happily display our latest masterpieces.

Tomato flower gets a background

 The plan was a simple green, maybe mottled a bit for a little variation but well, that was then and this is now.

Elaine O. — May 6, 2023

Flipping through my sketchbook, I came across some thumbnails. Originally, I opted for a panoramic format, but it was a difficult choice. So I'm revisiting the scene in portrait format. This time, I'll be emphasizing the dark/light, inside/outside part of what originally inspired me at the Boston MFA. Here's the start...

14" x 11"

I notice that I seem to be opting for more intricate, meditative paintings lately. Not sure if the trend will continue but for now, I'm having hours and hours of fun.

5 Minute Warmups — May 6, 2023

More 5 Minute Warmups. This time, we let everyone decide which version of the exercise to do. Most of us chose the "look and paint" version. Part of the fun is hearing the "Oh, no!" exclamations at the beginning when we each flip open the magazines and see what we'll be painting. Here, for instance, Allison found an abstract painting and succeeded in capturing the color and movement.

Ken's rockets also had movement, plus horizontal bands of color.

Sara found a painting, full of color and intricate interlocking shapes.

Dan's seascape is soft and misty...

 

...while Susan's just made us hungry!

Elaine got another animal—she's made a note to avoid the National Geographics in the future!

And the other part of the fun is sharing and seeing what everyone else painted!

Ss: Plantitas

 During the Pandemic, a lot of people coped by doing a lot of indoor gardening or taking care of house plants, indoor gardeners locally known as "Plantitas"! During our recent Ph vacation, we visited a female cousin whose life is limited by her asthmatic health issues, taking care of grandchildren and her lack of an  outside paying job. She compensated with these limitations by taking care of numerous plants of various varieties, colors and degree of care! This inspiration photo of my 2 cousins and myself was a keeper since all of 3 of us wore summer dresses or loose comfortable

flowing "duster" of amazing designs & fantastic colors showing off house plants who were obviously raised with lots of TLC! Natural Beauty is available Free:  anytime, anywhere! 

Vicksburg Early Spring

 This is the Illinois monument in the Military Park at Vicksburg, Mississippi. It is the largest building there. Inside there are brass plaques with the names of the 36,000+ soldiers from Illinois who fought in the battle. After years of painting, I still have not learned to do a good flat wash. Am watching videos on the horizontal “bead”.  It looks easy. Something to practice. 

Still working….

Still working on this12x16 on hot press. Right now the tulips and window scene overshadow her, but I’m going  to darken the interior background and her clothes, hoping that her face will then pop. I don’t really want to mess too much more with her face, but I will darken her hair. Hot press is tricky…you can’t really lift color but you can layer like crazy. Of course I’m not really a layer painter, but I guess you’re never too old to develop patience….

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More from the garden

 Inside the cathedral, or maybe just a leaky tent.

I was going to do this all in stripes like the stem but now it appears to have taken a Georgia O'Keefe turn.  Who am I to tell it what to do?