September 9, 2017

After a month away, we are back and rarin' to go. Did you miss us? We've got a lot to share today—from paintings we've done while we were away, to upcoming events and a new challenge from Pat—so let's get started! While most of us were painting buildings or portraits (or both), there's always the rebel. Although, for Ken, this isn't rebelling at all. Cats are a return to his roots. Scroll back through the years and you'll see. Here, he's painting cat eyes in a mosaic technique...

 ... before moving on to this masterpiece. It's taken him over a month, but it's worth it. We couldn't decide how to describe this sparkling painting—glittery, Byzantine, Mardi Gras, jewel-like. No matter how we describe it, we love it!

We are excited to welcome Isa back to "fun" school, now that she's finished "serious" school. She's patiently painting leaves over a fence. We love the variety of colors and the layers. It has a sparkly mosaic feel and looks positively Klimt-ian (if that's a word).

Greeta painted during the break and did both people and architecture. Her grandson is concentrating in the back seat of the car. We're glad to see the seat belt in place; safety first and all!

Then, Greeta moves on to buildings—three of them, in fact. She's starting a book dedicated solely to the buildings of her neighborhood, similar to her previous booklet of faces. What a great idea! And what a lovely neighborhood!

Madeleine, too is painting grandsons and buildings.  She's captured her grandsons in a great pose, standing in a large verdant park... which just happens to be their back yard.

 Her buildings are part of a line and wash cityscape in Ireland.

Below, Madeleine uses acrylics to paint a super moon on a dark Chicago night as it lights up a nearby skyscraper. Go back to February to see that Bill painted the same moon in watercolor and the difference in the feel of the media.

Bill painted two cityscapes to test his new Mission paints. We agree that they are very rich and pigmented. This is the Vanilla cafe in Turkey.

Below, Bill uses the Mission paints to paint buildings, adding backlit people in the foreground. The new paints work well here.

Moving to Bruges, Bill does a sketch using muted primaries...

...before beginning the intricate painting, which is more precisely drawn.

We love this atmospheric landscape by Bill, especially the boats and the reflections.

People! Titled When the Saints Go Marching In, Bill's painting prefigures our new painting challenge. Read on to find out more.

Susan has finished her food series and is painting a vacation to the Canadian Rockies. Notice how she's added people to all her landscapes? They add scale and tell a story. And notice that she's labelled the Banff gondolas, Peyto Lake and Spirit Island.

Steve is doing people and he's at the drawing stage. Notice how he's doing four different drawings on the same page and that he's using grids of different sizes as a drawing aid.

Elaine finished her architectural study of the chapel at Rosehill cemetery. She hasn't added people to this.... and doesn't plan to!

Pat's Challenge. What's this about, you ask? Pat has challenged us to do something artistic every day and she's added some structure to the challenge. Each day, we think of a song and, inspired by the song, do a sketch, painting or some other artwork. It can be as little as a five minute sketch or a full-blown painting, but if we follow through, we'll have 49 small works of art by the time the class is over.

Save the date! Ken will definitely be having a show opening at Ten Cat, probably at the end of September. The exhibit will feature (what else?) corn and cats.  There will be an opening reception and you'll all be invited.Watch this space for details!