We hope you're as thrilled to be back as we are. It's only been a few weeks, but we had a lot to come back to! Even our studio/classroom was all new and smelling of fresh paint. New tables, new chairs and a new accent wall. Not to mention all the new events in our lives. Speaking of which, read through to the end for your invite to a free concert, featuring our very own Steve!
So let's get started. As usual, we seem to have been in our group-think mode. We're all looking forward to summer as we paint fruits, flowers and fantastic places. We begin with Marva's truly fantastic seascape. Just look at the sea and sky. The brushwork is so wonderfully energetic, the whole scene seems to be moving. Take some time to enjoy before you focus on the red sail.
Speaking of fantastic places, John is drawing one, but this time it's real! Well, it was real. While it no longer exists, the drawing is based on written descriptions of an Incan site.
In Steve's hands, Montevideo, Uruguay exudes a colorful tropical atmosphere. Don't you want to vacation here?
Another place we'd like to be is the Netherlands, as pictured here by Bill. The soft reflections exemplify another theme—water. Starting with Marva at the top, it's interesting how many of us are drawn to this difficult subject.
Again, Bill paints the Netherlands. Notice the distinctive roof gables and the water, both of which define the location beautifully.
More water, more Netherlands. This time, Madeleine bravely tackles a view from a boat which fills more than half the picture with water. Difficult, but a challenge Madeleine has risen to with aplomb.
Here's another European painting. No water this time, but only because we've moved from the Netherlands to Brussels. We love the horse, the splashes of color, and especially the shadows on the cobblestones.
And here Madeleine sketches her next painting. Moving back to the Netherlands, we're thrilled to note that there's water in the foreground. We can't wait to see how it comes out!
Closer to home, Abla sketches her next painting. This ambitious scene is from the Detroit Zoo. The bears are part of a fountain that features—wait for it—yes, water! Both a pool of water and a spray from the fountain. Come back to see how this develops.
With her finger on the pulse of our common themes, Abla finished her still life of a bowl of tulips. We love the soft, watery feel of this.
Also combining themes of flower and place, Glen paints an exquisitely lovely view of cherry blossoms against a misty landscape. This is a skillful combination of wet and dry, made even more impressive when you consider that Glen has just attained "old master" status this session. Wow!
Susan continues her "shower with the flowers" series, but this time she places more emphasis on the flowers (Asiatic lilies in this case), losing the towel for the first time. We've made some suggestions as to her future direction, but we'll see if she takes our advice. :-)
Sara's birthday means it is time for her annual self-portrait. We always applaud the idea, but so far, she is the only one actually doing it. As usual, she starts with a sketch (below).
Most of us would stop there, having achieved such an animated, lively drawing. But not Sara! She moves on to a quick sketch in watercolor. Although she's not finished, we are already enamored of the soft modeling and the pensive feel she gives the subject.
Elaine finishes a portrait, too, but this is a painting of a young artist hard at work on a canvas at his kitchen table. She actually owns the pictured canvas, so she can attest to the accuracy. It also makes for a sweet scene.
Speaking of sweet, you can't beat cats, can you? Especially when they are as beautifully textured as Mohammed's (below). And to add to the "awww" factor, his cat is nestled in a basket, curled up around a kitten.
Mark is also painting portraits, but with a twist. He is working on a series of self-portraits, but he is representing himself using props from various classes he is taking. Below we see the soles of his tap shoes. As you may recall, a previous painting included a softball bat and juggling balls. Judging by Mark's many interests, we don't expect him to run out of subjects any time soon.
Isaac is another new "old master" who seems determined to show up all the old "old masters." Planning for a still life, he spent the break painting the separate elements. Here is a simple cloth study, for instance—but it's so much more. The gentle folds are reminiscent of Georgia O'Keeffe's southwest landscapes, aren't they?
Here's a still life sketch without the cloth. We love the 3D modeling and the highlights in the bottle and fruit; not to mention how the grisaille foreground and background focuses the viewer's eye on the subject.
During the break, Isaac took the opportunity to paint individual fruit/vegetable portraits. These postcard-sized gems are simply lovely, aren't they?
We're also excited to welcome Lydia and Spring to our watercolor world. You'll see more from Spring next week, but here Lydia begins her famous plaid. Notice that she's starting with more colors than the usual, so we're eager to see the final plaid.
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See you next week!
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