Today
was a far cry from last week's perfect summer day. Most of the country
found itself in the middle of a heat wave and we were no exception. It
was a perfect day to spend painting in air conditioned comfort.
Appropriately enough, most of us painted scenes of summer and how better
to start off than with typical midwest summer scenes. Here's Ken's
latest in the corn series. Again, he's painting in quarters, with each
quarter more abstracted than the last.
Greeta's
cow series is also quintessentially midwest. These particular cows look
like they are cool and comfortable in some mountain meadow, but we have
to agree with Greeta, "who knew cows were so cute?!"
Moo-ving
along (sorry! But you can see how we couldn't resist?) to more typical
summer scenes, Greeta finished her small study of five boys in a boat,
and then realized she needed to paint it again.... but much bigger.
Sorry for the blurry quality of these two paintings—that's the
photograph, not the painting.
Here's
the start of the bigger painting. We like the boys' position in the
boat even better than the study and are looking forward to seeing this
progress. Notice the skin tones? Especially the standing boy, whose
shoulders seem to have a touch of sunburn.
More vacation paintings of kids having fun in the summertime. These boys are climbing a giant friendship tree in Mississippi... even though climbing is strictly forbidden. Look it up. This tree is over 500 years old and absolutely huge! Alan painted this one on traditional watercolor paper...
....
before moving back to his beloved Yupo to paint this girl dancing at an
evening music festival. We love the way the girl is doing her own
thing, oblivious to the people listening to the music.
Another vacation painting by Alan, this one is a 55 Chevy from a Mississippi vacation. Also painted on Yupo, he's used watercolor pencil to achieve the intricate detail and perfect color of the car.
Alan has officially begun a series..... old cars. This truck is a larger version of last week's painting. This is on traditional watercolor paper (last week's was on Yupo), but the subject has the same retro feel.
Alan has been working hard on another vacation scene—a wonderful house full of re-purposed elements lovingly painted in intricate detail. We love the texture on the windows, glass block and shutters. Zoom in to see the painterly foreground and the detailed ivy. This is a great example of using Yupo to maximum effect.
Mary is also painting houses. Like Alan, she's also using watercolor pencil to great effect. Look at the level of detail she's managed to achieve in the adjoining house and store—not to mention the trees. This is her childhood home, so it's no wonder every detail is so lovingly rendered.
Like many of us, Bill find practice makes perfect. Here is explores a stone facade carved into the side of a mountain. First is a grand view with an impressionistic feel.
...followed by a closer view that gives this an entirely different feel. This version feels cozy and private. The mountain foliage seems to encircle the entrance, drawing focus and also creating a feel of intimacy.
With all the foliage above, and knowing that Bill has just returned from a vacation to Ireland, you'd expect his next painting to be very green indeed. Instead, his impression of Dublin is very urban and features one lone Dubliner against buildings. Not a speck of green in sight. But come back next week to see how he balances the small figure against the large buildings.
Madeleine is also painting her remembrances of an Irish vacation. Like Bill, she spent the morning sketching. And like Bill, this is an urban scene. Madeleine's drawing is a beautiful view of the rooftops of Dublin. The perspective is spot on and we're eager to see her next steps.
The following two paintings are Madeleine's, both begun weeks ago. In quite a different feel than the cityscape above, here is an intimate and inviting view of a table and chair against a window. Decorative glass birds are backlit with sunlight streaming through. We love how the curtains draw us deep into the space and almost give us a sense of voyeurism.
You'd think this is a memento of a tropical vacation, but no. Madeleine is painting a tropical bird as spotted in a Chicago neighborhood. Quite a familiar site, as many of us recognize the bird... and the restaurant. Look closely at the iridescence of the feathers and the intricate detail.
Susan's painting is actually tropical. These are fishermen in the Philippines. We love the moving water, colorful sky and sand.
It almost seems wrong to move to Steve's painting of a merman (coming right after fishermen as it does!), but we are thrilled to see this finished. We are enamored of the texture in the water, sky, rocks and tail. There is movement in the tail and the water splashing on the rocks. The sky reaches back forever and the water has the perfect tropical hue. Look at the subtle iridescence in the tail. All in all, we are so glad Steve finished this, undeterred by the flaw in the paper. See if you can even spot it now. Hint.... it's on the shoulder.
Not all of our paintings were a riot of color. Elaine's detail of a neighborhood church (we're talking staycation here) uses only two colors but still has the feel of a European vacation.
Another example of how you don't need a rainbow of colors or strong values to make a strong statement—Sara's self-portrait is soft and subtle, but manages to convey a lot. Despite the tight values, there is real dimension here. And this looks like a real person, even with the minimal, muted colors.
Join us next week. It'll be the last class of the term, but you'll want to find out about the Summer Sketch Club which will fill our summer Saturday mornings. You're invited to this drop-by-and-sketch club, so be sure to come back for details.
