...and has begun to sketch an equally classical woman. Ignore the color above. Both these portraits have the monumental, solid feel of Picasso's Mother and Child. Seriously, look for it next time you're at the Art Institute.
Melissa has put the finishing touches on her painting and matted and framed it, preparatory to sending it to the subject's family. Again, the color is much better in real life.
Here, Sara begins with a soft color wash for her dual portrait. In a sort-of mini-theme, there have been technical difficulties we've had to overcome. Sara used workable fixative to prevent the graphite lines from smudging. It did that, but it also affected the way the paper took the paint. Still, it doesn't seem to have slowed her down, has it?
Steve too has experienced a slight problem. Look at the merman's left shoulder. That's not a birthmark, that's some issue with the paper scarring. Rather than give up in disgust, Steve's determined to save his painting. We're sure he'll be successful, and we'll be watching carefully to see how he does it.
Elaine's portraits are coming along, too. Again, we apologize for the color cast and assure you that child is not jaundiced.
Remember our assignment from last week? To bring in a painting we consider "good." Melissa has done so below and, in the process, is at the forefront of our latest trend.... gold! Notice the nails? That's shiny gold paint. In this triptych, she's hit all the things we defined as elements of a good painting. Kudos!
Glen is experimenting with watercolor pencils in the streetscape below. That may not be gold, but the golden yellow cast is on trend for us... and he's also incorporated elements we agree make for a good painting. (Don't ask for an explanation! We discussed this at length and, in a rare instance, actually asked to see the reference.)
Madeleine's streetscape is also drenched in yellows and golds and features a graphic lampost. And we love the perspective.
It's hard to see, but there is gold paint in this Istanbul church interior. Madeleine bought it specifically for this painting and we're eager to see how it comes out.
No gold paint here, but Bill's experimental abstract feels like Klimt, doesn't it? We can almost see Klimt's typical gold background.
Isaac's background feels like burnished gold. This is another experiment; in this, he's using watercolor pencils.
Here's another burnished gold background by Isaac, framing a subtly beautiful white orchid. This would be perfect on a golden Japanese screen.
Nicola's crocus is equally lovely, but almost a negative of Isaac's orchid, with the clear white background and the rich deep petals. All they share is the elegant arch of the stalk... and the fact that they are both excellent examples of botanical painting.
We're all about nature! Even Ken's abstract feels like shoots bursting from the ground. It's spring!
Rosemary's right in line with her textured painting of mushrooms. It may be fall instead of spring, but she's captured the essence of the flora, from the grass to the craggy bark.
Bill's painting of a bridge in Michigan leads us deep into a stand of trees that shares Rosemary's warm autumnal palette.
Ellen's composition is similar to Bill's as she uses a raft to lead the eye into the Chinese landscape. But there the similarity ends. Her palette is bolder and more colorful, as befits the season. And zoom in to see how the drybrush in the foreground adds sparkle and freshness.
Contrast the marine painting above to Bill's below. The soft, delicate colors suit the mood of the waves rolling onto the beach.
In another landscape, Bill uses layers to emphasize the feel of the city at sunset.
Susan is back from the Philippines and she has a lot to show. Here are some beach scenes from her hometown. And she captured the water without a speck of turquoise!
Like Monet, she painted the same scene at different times, showing a 4pm pre-sunset...
... which quickly changed to a golden sunset at 6pm.
The highlight of her trip was a reunion with her sorority sisters... and the fact that they used her painting on the cover of their memorial book. There is also a spread of 12 of her paintings from her trip to South America inside.
Here are the paintings from the center spread that we haven't seen yet (unless you were lucky enough to get her 2016 calendar). Zoom in for a closer look at each. They range from light-hearted paintings of Susan and Tony dressed as toucans to more serious tributes to the desaparecidos, or disappeared persons.
And lest you think that Susan got off without answering "What makes a good painting?," she said it was one that made you want to be in it.
That's it for now. We'll be off the for the next three weeks, but after all the talk about good paintings, we have homework! We'll be back with deliberately "bad" paintings. (Should be easy, don't you think?) Anyway, we look forward to seeing you when we get back.
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