November 11, 2017

We begin with Elaine's painting of a memorable visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day. While the painting (and the visit) are several years old, it's our way to thank all of those who have done so much to protect our rights and freedom—on Veterans Day and every day. We thank you!

We begin with a series of architectural studies. Madeleine used line and wash for this lovely view of a building in Ireland. Look closely at the lovely, subtle colors and textures.

Bill's castle on a hill is also from Ireland. He's finished the sky and foreground and is still adding final details to the stone castle. 

Elaine is also painting a detail of a building, but it's a little closer to home. It's too soon to see, but she was inspired by the contrast between the solid brick and the lacy stonework at the top.

Greeta painted another building from her West Graceland neighborhood. We're impressed with the beauty of these buildings and hope for a walking tour when the weather improves. 

And here, Greeta's finished her doggy driver painting. We can't help but smile when we see this.

We kept passing Greeta's sketchbooks around today... first the houses and now this one. She's doing a sketch a day. It only has to be 15 minutes, but it's daily. This is a sketch of three people she saw riding on her bus. She sketched them in ballpoint on the bus and added the watercolor washes later.

This sketch copies a postcard for a memorial show Greeta attended. Again, only 15 minutes, but we love the way we can feel the wet and humid atmosphere.

Ellen is combining people and pets, but not the usual drinking or driving dog. Here's a boy and his calf. Seriously, the calf is drinking from a bottle and casting a lovely shadow in the process.

And now for something completely different. As you may recall, Sara comes to watercolor from a background in colored pencil.  She went back to her roots to revisit this triple portrait. We are amazed at the detail, accuracy and rich color and are eager to see it progress.

Sara's been busy this week, painting the changing colors of the trees in her neighborhood. Good thing, too—the early snow seems to have stopped the show this year. In this painting, she's added the window frame, which really draws focus to the subject.

More trees by Sara, each exploring the brilliant colors of the season. Enjoy!

Susan is painting trees too, but hers are in the Canadian Rockies, and they are evergreens. This train is crossing a river before it enters a tunnel. We love the highlights and the reflection of the bridge in the water.

 All the beautiful colors in the paintings above stem from our earliest experiments. Here is one of the most valuable—the color wheel. Yanna does the full color wheel, with tints, tones and shades...

... before experimenting with complementary colors, combining them, and matching paper towels and skin tones. This is going to be a great reference!

Yi has gotten the reputation of being our "scientist." She very methodically did her color wheel and then experimented with combining colors from different areas of the color wheel. No wonder the corners are so beautifully co-ordinated.

 And the scientific process continues in Yi's exploration of complementary colors. She cleverly positions the pairs to compare the interaction of a color with its complement and with other colors. Then, she combined colors, adding and noting colors, to get the paper towel and skin colors. Long live science!

Less scientific, but equally valuable are Crazie's color wheels. Yes, that's plural! She did the color wheel in two different styles. First, she glazed colors; then, she made a pocket reference color wheel mixing discreet colors on her palette.

You can tell this sheet of complementary color work is Crazie's, can't you? It has the same exuberance as the wheel above. Follow her path around the page as she compares complements, mixes them and matches colors of paper towels, her clothes and skin. We congratulate her on getting the paper towel in three tries!

We end with a bonus painting by Crazie. She used blots and spatters to get the feeling of fireworks and explosions. It worked!

Somehow, we missed getting photos of Ken's latest corn leaves and Cesar's color wheel. Next week will be different! We won't let them escape without photos. Meanwhile, you still have a few days to catch the exhibitions below.

Corn and Cats.  Ken's show at Ten Cat Tavern is in its final days. While you missed the opening reception—and it was fun—you can still drop by to see the paintings.

      Where:
      Ten Cat Tavern

      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     September 30–November 15 

Food.  Alan and Greeta are featured artists in a group show about Food. The show runs through January, so there's still time to catch it. If you attend, you are asked to please bring a donation of non-perishable food for neighborhood food pantries.

      Where:
      Alderman Pawar's 47th Ward Office

      4243 N  Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL

     When:
     Exhibition: September 16–January 13