Today was the last class of the term and it was full of excitement and celebration. We watched an exciting art sale happen live and in person right before our eyes in class! We celebrated Madeleine's birthday with some delicious cookies and look forward to Sara's birthday (and her traditional self-portrait). We applauded our new students graduating to "old master" status. And we're looking forward to our impromptu sketch club. Keep reading for the time and place—of course, you're invited!
As you can see, our thoughts (and our paintbrushes) are turning to vacation. We're all painting places we've been or look forward to going. Follow along and see what we mean. We start with Elaine's painting of a young artist. If you look closely, he's painting rockets and planets; so, while it's unlikely he's actually has vacationed in outer space, he may hope to. But he was on vacation while he was painting—or is that stretching things a bit?
Susan also includes a person in her painting. It's part of her "Venus emerging" series.... hmm, can you sense the beginnings of a calendar, here? And the flowers were from two actual scenic spots around Chicago...the ranunculus is blooming in a flower box in Andersonville; the bluebells are from Pat's backyard. Doesn't it seem like an idyllic vacation?
Mark's vacation dreams center around sports. Here, he paints his baseball bat and juggling balls. That's right... Mark can juggle. He treated us to an exhibition today, and he's quite good, too!
Sara makes Chicago feel like the vacation spot of the country as she paints two more magnolia trees in her "treetops in spring" series. Here, the beautiful pink blossoms fade to a soft white and pink cloud just before they fall.
... while this treetop is brighter and more vibrant, like her painting from last week, but with a different palette. This will make a beautiful triptych, won't it?
Ken is also painting a Chicago tree! Yes, you heard that right. Here's the beginning of his painting below. It's a tree in the back garden of the Ten Cat, so look for some color and pattern.
...as in this view from the inside of the Ten Cat, looking out. Notice how everything is colorfully patterned and sparkling. Even the backlit door frame and the bar are brightly striped. Does the Ten Cat count as a vacation spot? It's fun and relaxing, so we say yes!
Bill ventures further afield. Here, he paints a windmill from a vacation in the Netherlands. This classic scene is beautifully composed and we love the foliage and reflections in the water.
More beautiful reflections.... more Amsterdam scenery. Bill's swans near a bridge beautifully evoke the mood of the place. We think water is his new favorite subject. No wonder; he does it well.
Madeleine is also painting water and the Netherlands, but what a difference in style! Her painting is classic line and wash illustration (zoom in for a closer look!) rather than Bill's impressionist take. The entire foreground here is water, so we're eager to see how this progresses.
Steve's vacation spot is Montevideo, Uruguay. The colors on these buildings just feel tropical, don't they? And the raked perspective gives a sense of rhythm and movement.
... as opposed to the classical symmetry of Tony's church. Unfortunately, this image is a bit fuzzy, but it's a church in Playa del Carmen in Mexico. Tony has skillfully used minimal touches to describe an entire thing... look at the wood beams over the arch, for instance. You know exactly what the adobe walls look and feel like, don't you?
And our newbies have all passed with flying colors. Starting next term, they are all officially "old masters." Here are some of their last few exercises. First, the egg. This is one of the hardest exercises to figure out, yet each of our artists has done a beautiful job. Isaac's is softly modeled and exquisitely balanced.
Anna's painted two, in plein air. Notice how much flatter they appear in the bright sun? And how the shadows are softer and more diffused?
Veronica paints her egg indoors in artificial light. Look at the dual shadow and the light bottom edge. This is one well-observed egg!
In class, all three shared the same three fruits to do a mashup of the famous big fruit/fruit family exercises. You'll recognize the same fruits below in our artists' distinctive styles. Isaac's quintessentially watercolor fruits feature sophisticated color blending and texture.
Anna's rich colors add vibrancy and make the fruits perfectly 3D.
Veronica has chosen the lemon for the fabled "big fruit." She's perfectly captured the stem end—and this lemon truly had the ridges you can see from this viewpoint.
Sketch Club. Our informal sketch club is back—and you are invited to join us! We'll meet on Saturday mornings, beginning May 16 and continuing until our next session on June 6. Here are the details:
- Who: You! This casual meetup is open to anyone with a pencil and paper and an urge to sketch
- When: Saturday mornings (5/16, 23 and 30) 10:00am.
- Where: Rosehill Cemetery. We'll meet at the entrance on Ravenswood and Rosehill
- How: We meet at 10 and are on our own for the next two hours to wander and sketch. We'll reconvene around noon near the entrance to compare sketches.
It's fun and relaxing and very casual—join us if you can.
And with that, we say goodbye until our next class begins on June 6. See you then!
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