February 11, 2017

Happy Valentines Day! Yes, we know we're a little late, but seriously, what better way to spend the day than looking at lovely watercolors and marking your calendar for all the upcoming events you're invited to? Okay, we'll make it quick—we'll view our paintings alphabetically so we can get to the events and then  back to your champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries!

We begin with Bill's romantic super moon...

... before moving to Bill's abstractions in black and white....

 ...and beautifully subtle primaries.

Ellen has finished her lovely elephant family. And yes, she's still using only two colors.

Moving along to a landscape, Ellen continues her masterful color blending.

Hector is also painting a landscape, but concentrating on a single tree. He's also using a limited palette and focusing on energetic brushwork.

Ken's corn painting may look monochromatic, but there are worlds of colors in those greens. Look closely and see.

Madeleine adds some finishing touches to define the subject's eyes squinting against the sun.

And then, she moves on to add pen and ink to her painting of her grandson.... enjoying some books on vacation.

Rommel is still intrigued by complementary colors, as you can see here. This is one exercise sheet that will prove invaluable in the future!

Sara is tackling that most difficult of subjects.... the portrait. And since her subjects are familiar, she is doing quick studies of the faces here...

 ... and here. Look at how natural the faces look. And then look at the colors she's used to achieve it.

Here is Sara's final painting. No wonder she wants to get the faces perfect. Not only is it a wedding self-portrait, but the rest of the painting is already beautifully romantic.

What's more romantic than a gondola ride in Venice? Steve has added the gondolas in the foreground, contrasting with the misty morning light in the sky.

Tony's distinctive palette leaves no doubt as to who painted this picturesque Greek church.

Vivianne is also exploring complementary colors and we love them! Look closely as she combines rich deep reds and greens before moving to the blue/orange and yellow/violet pairs. So many lovely colors!

It's our favorite exercise.... the paper towel and skin. Vivianne has some wonderful swatches here—and once you've mastered this exercise, it's a piece of cake!

Vivianne does one final exploration of complementary colors. Notice the pairs? Yet, notice how she uses hard architectural forms to contrast with the soft, delicate colors.

Come join us!

Here are some ongoing exhibitions you don't want to miss. And mark your calendar for February 25. St. Gregory the Great Church is having its quarterly "Open Sketch." You're invited—so bring a pencil and paper and join us.

The Corn Exhibit.  Ken will be having a show at Ten Cat. Drop by to see the art...and maybe play some pool. 

      Where:
      Ten Cat Tavern

      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     January 22–March 15, 2017
  

Orange.  Bill and Madeleine are having an exhibit at Orange. Bill has watercolors; Madeleine has oils. Drop by for some food and some art.

      Where:
      Orange

      2431 N. Clark (north of Fullerton)
      Chicago, IL

     When:
     Ongoing through the end of February
 

Open Sketch date
It's an open sketching/photography session at St. Gregory the Great Church and we are invited! Bring your cameras, sketch pads, pens and pencils. A docent will also be on hand to answer questions.

     Where:
     St. Gregory the Great Church
     5545 N. Paulina
     Church entrance is on the corner of Gregory and Paulina;
     one block west of Ashland and one block south of Bryn Mawr

     When:
     Saturday, February 25
     12:00–3:00pm

 

12 Notes/12 Artists
Erika is part of a group show where 12 artists paint their visual response to music. Click the thumbnail at left for more information.

     Where:
     Perkolator
     6032 W. Irving Park Road, Chicago, IL

     When:
     February 9–March 27

See you next week!

February 4, 2017

We had a full house today. We even welcomed back some friends we hadn't seen in a long time. Is it any wonder our painting subjects seem to lean heavily toward family and relationships.  We begin with Ellen's elephants—these are definitely a family! The spatter technique works perfectly here, as does the minimalist palette. Who would guess you could get so much from just two colors?

Sara is also painting a family—the beginning of hers. Yes, it's her wedding portrait. We can already see the beginnings of the happy couple beginning to emerge and are anxious to see how this finishes.

Yet another relationship painting! Elaine paints two brothers playing a computer game. We love the way they share a chair as they get their 3D glasses settled and ready for action. (It was a dinosaur game, if you wondered.)

We're all about family today! Madeleine paints her grandson in Ireland. Look at the texture of the shirt, the water and the tweed cap. But the real star of the painting is the light. Notice the shadows on the face and the rail cast by the overhead sun.

And not to leave her other grandson out, Madeleine's beginning to sketch him, engrossed in a library in Ireland. Readers are leaders!

While these men may not be family, there is a sense that they are great friends and know each other very well. You can almost hear bits of their conversation—even though we can't understand them since Tony based this on a visit to Greece.

From the travel scene above, Tony returned home to Montrose beach and recorded this beautifully serene seascape. Don't you feel instantly more relaxed as you watch the sun shine across the lake?

Steve is combining some of our favorite themes... water, vacations and architecture. This is Venice and it's already looking like a travel poster, even without the gondolas.

Bill has caught the "minimal palette" bug. This is last December's "super moon" in two colors. The moon is covered with masking fluid, but will reveal itself in its full glory next week. Meanwhile, look closely at the lovely buildings and sky.

Remember Bill's still life from last week? Well, he's gone in and tweaked a few things. Notably, he's given the cactus more dimension and worked on the shadows.

We're getting close to spring ... notice how we're into plants and greenery? Witness Ken's corn. He's finished the background, adding a lot of depth.

More corn!  Ken feels he's getting close to pure abstraction with this series, but we can still see "corn," can't you?

Hector is back! And he used this session to play with colors, specifically pale red, blue and yellow. In the center, he overlaid colors to achieve the "eye." It's beautifully hypnotic!

Vivianne is also playing with color in the form of our color wheel.  She's finished the ring with the hues and is filling in tints, shades and tones. Notice how soft and peaceful this color wheel is....

... and then, contrast with Rommel's. Same colors, but the vibe is very different indeed. This color wheel is spinning and moving. Every bit of the page is active.

Finally, Romell experiments with complementary colors. In some circles, he pairs the complements; in others, he tests a theory by pairing split complements or random pairings. We think it's true—colors do look more vivid against their complement.

 

Come join us!

Here are some ongoing exhibitions you don't want to miss. And mark your calendar for February 25. St. Gregory the Great Church is having its quarterly "Open Sketch." You're invited—so bring a pencil and paper and join us.

The Corn Exhibit.  Ken will be having a show at Ten Cat. Drop by to see the art...and maybe play some pool. 

      Where:
      Ten Cat Tavern

      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     January 22–March 15, 2017
  

Orange.  Bill and Madeleine are having an exhibit at Orange. Bill has watercolors; Madeleine has oils. Drop by for some food and some art.

      Where:
      Orange

      2431 N. Clark (north of Fullerton)
      Chicago, IL

     When:
     Ongoing through the end of February

Open Sketch date
It's an open sketching/photography session at St. Gregory the Great Church and we are invited! Bring your cameras, sketch pads, pens and pencils. A docent will also be on hand to answer questions.

     Where:
     St. Gregory the Great Church
     5545 N. Paulina
     Church entrance is on the corner of Gregory and Paulina;
     one block west of Ashland and one block south of Bryn Mawr

     When:
     Saturday, February 25
     12:00–3:00pm

See you next week!

January 28, 2017

Sorry for the delay in posting, but it's been a busy time for us, starting with exhibitions and openings. More about that later, though. We start with Madeleine's still life. There are so many things to love here–the patterning on the fabric and the cups, the background, the composition. And look at the contrast between the beautifully modeled pieces on the left and the flat perspective of the cloth and background.

Madeleine then knocked out this beautiful landscape under a daytime moon. You can tell it's Ireland by the lush greens in the foreground.

 Bill reworked last week's still life. Based on expert advice, he's added elements to bring the number to an odd number. We like this even better than ever, although we're not sure that the number of elements is what did it for us. We like the leading lines, the textures and the way our eyes are drawn to the focal point.

Ken is adding background to his "corn dress." It's definitely corn, but abstracted. It's colorful and "stripey" and we love it.

Ken's also started a new painting in his More Corn series. It looks pale and monochromatic right now, but keep watching for more of the color we love. And, if you like the paintings above, read on to find out where you can see more of  Ken, Madeleine and Bill's paintings in exhibition.

 Strangely enough, Steve is also one of our most colorful painters and he's also doing just a sketch. This is from a trip to Venice. It's going to be lovely with gondolas in the foreground and a golden morning sun between the background buildings.

Tony is painting a vacation scene too. These men are sitting and conversing somewhere in Greece. You can just see their story, can't you?   Now, we are just waiting for the tiles. We'll see if they are glazed or not (that's an inside joke—you don't need to get it).

 Here's another relationship story by Elaine. This painting is of two small boys with 3D glasses watching their computer. Strangely futuristic—but funny!

Even elephants have relationships, as we can see in Ellen's painting of an elephant family. She's using only two colors, but to great effect.

Moving to our newest students, we see a riot of color. Here is Vivianne's initial plaid with all the colors and two brushes.

Here's another color experiment where Vivianne beautifully combines a rainbow and a color wheel...

 ... before moving on to another experiment with color. We love the color "bricks" with the fine black outlines.

And here, Vivianne begins her "official" color wheel. We think she already has a great understanding of color. 

Same exercise, but with a very different vibe. Rommel adds licks of flame or feathers to his color wheel, making it very alive and active.

Here's the  second color wheel with tints, tones and shades. Again, Rommel adds brush marks to make the wheel spin.

Perhaps you're wondering why you haven't seen some of us in awhile. Well, in the case of Sara, it could be because she's been vacationing around the world. But she's taken her paints with her. Here are a few views from her sketchbook, starting with her Paris apartment entrance....

... and a view from her Paris apartment.

We're already jealous, even before she takes us to the Shakespeare bookstore.

Back from Paris, Sara sketches the Women's March—she was in Washington DC.

 

And then, she returned home and found equally scenic views from her windows. These are so lovely, you'd never know she wasn't feeling well.

And, as promised, here are some of our exhibitions you may want to visit. Mark your calendars!

The Corn Exhibit.  Ken will be having a show at Ten Cat. Drop by to see the art...and maybe play some pool. 

      Where:
      Ten Cat Tavern

      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     January 22–March 15, 2017
  

Orange.  Bill and Madeleine are having an exhibit at Orange. Bill has watercolors; Madeleine has oils. Drop by for some food and some art.

      Where:
      Orange

      2431 N. Clark (north of Fullerton)
      Chicago, IL

     When:
     Ongoing through the end of February 

See you soon!