February 24, 2018

We're ending February with more paintings of people, places and flowers—can't you tell we're ready for spring? Tony is still inspired by his experiments in Cubism. We love this Picasso-esque portrait—the colors, the depth, the composition—just everything!

From there, Tony moved to another of our favorite genres, the travel landscape. This Greek countryside has sheep grazing in a valley, surrounded by cypress trees.

Madeleine's travel landscape is a little closer to home. This lovely woodland scene is in Michigan and features delicate line and soft fresh washes that proclaim "spring."

 

From there, Madeleine moves on to an urban travel landscape from Cuba. While the colors are soft and high key, there is a lot of complexity here.

Travel is about the people as well as the countryside and architecture. Here, Bill returns to a couple he saw on one of his trips. He only saw them from behind, framed by other people, but the body language says so much he's tried another version. We like the way the other people frame the couple and focus our attention. Also, look at the way Bill mixes colors in the clothes and backgrounds.

Bill began another version below. This time, he's chosen a vertical format and zoomed in on his subjects. The colors, while still beautiful, are much more high key here.

Sara is another example of the value of doing multiple studies. This is the final portrait of baby Nora and her uncle. It's incredible! The color choices, the graphic composition, the inspired use of shapes—all of which lead to the finely modeled face, which, in turn, links to the baby. This gem would never have been possible without the prior studies.

And now, Sara is following the same process with baby Nora and her father. After many sketches, Sara has this study. While there are many wonderful elements (the faces, the composition and the color blending), Sara is not quite ready to call this final....

...so she returned to her sketchbook to tweak a few things, like the shoulder. Such a little change, but it deepens the sense of the relationship, doesn't it?

Steve is experimenting, too. He's doing a series of face/hair studies before embarking on the next in his merman series. Takeaways from this? The sun on his face and the wet feel of the hair are successes!

Okay, we know this isn't a real person; Elaine's painting suits of armor from the Medieval room of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Even the horse is wearing armor! She's also using rough paper instead of the usual cold-press. If you zoom in, you'll notice the difference in the edges. 

Crazie is also trying a new paper. Here, she's discovered Yupo, our favorite plastic paper. She's noticed that some of the Yupo seems to be resisting the paint, but the paint flow on the sky is amazing!

Using more traditional watercolors and paper, Crazie paints this summery tree....

... and finishes her flower silhouetted against a strand of hair and the sky, which morphs into the sea (with koi). This uses some gouache to great effect on the blossom.

Isa has added some color and depth to her roses and is ready to add a background. Tune in next week to see what happens next as Isa is the master of the active background!

Yi finished her flower, too. This beautiful morning glory is set against a blue sky (an inspired, but tricky choice that she handles perfectly). We also like the compositional balance of the leaf and the ground.

From there, Yi sketched her next painting. You may not be able to see too clearly, but this classic, but ambitious, painting will feature flowers, mountains, a figure with a parasol and more.

Ken continues his mosaic series. In this painting, he zooms in on a single tomato plant. The green sepals are in place and he's begun the petals. All of this may (or may not) be set against a blue sky. Come back and see what happens next.

Sarah's finished her bouquet from last week--and it's beautiful! We love the sophisticated colors, the
active background and the perspective.

And then, with time to spare, Sarah began this brilliant painting of flamingos. She painted with water and then dropped in some beautiful colors, letting them move and blend on the page. You can still see where the water droplets haven't completely dried. This is a lovely example of watercolor done well.

Lilith finished this single blossom today. It's so simple and delicate, yet look closely to see the skilled gradations in the petals.

With time to spare, Lilith was inspired to paint this palm tree. Can you see that vacation is on her mind? It feels warm and sunny, doesn't it?

Upcoming events and important announcements

Mark your calendars! We will be having a group show at Ten Cat! The paintings are already on display in the windows and you can stroll by and see them. But even better, why not come to the opening reception on March 10? You've heard how much fun they are, so here's your chance to join in the fun. See the postcard at the bottom for details (and some of the artists). You're invited!  

The Ten Cat Group Watercolor Show.  We will be having a group show at Ten Cat Tavern. Drop by to see the art, enjoy a drink and maybe even play some pool.

      Where:
      Ten Cat Tavern

      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     Exhibition: February 18–April 15, 2018
     Reception: March 10, 2018, 4pm

February 17, 2018

We're recovering from the snow and getting closer to our group show. No wonder our thoughts (and paintings) turn to flowers and friends. Madeleine paints a cathedral silhouetted against an iridescent sky and nestled in lovely green foliage. Look closely at the subtle colors in the sky and the simple graphic style of the cathedral.

From there, Madeleine sketched and inked her next painting.... a wooded stream in Michigan. She'll begin adding washes next week. Be sure to tune in then to see more.

Isa finished her rose from last week, adding yellow highlights and an active sky-colored background...

...before beginning work on more roses. These are drawn from memory and demonstrate careful observation skills.  That, and the fact that Isa really likes roses!

She's not the only fan of roses. Yi finished her adorable painting of a cat hiding among roses. Zoom in to see how delicate and carefully drawn the rose is.

That's not all—Yi began this painting of a morning glory. We love the delicacy of the colors and are looking forward to spring!

Lilith is also looking forward to spring and spring flowers. Here, she's carefully layered petals against a lilac sky to create this beautiful painting.

More roses! This time, Sarah paints a bouquet featuring roses, baby's breath and more. The analogous colors are already unifying the grouping.

Basan, our resident acrylic expert, has been working to "build a relationship" with watercolor. Judging by the next few paintings, we think she's well on the way. In this field of flowers, she's skillfully used complementary colors and aerial perspective. And the rocks are incredible.

This figure silhouetted against a colorful sky uses watercolor's transparency well and has a powerful graphic quality.

Basan finished up with this bunch of grapes. The use of highlights and colors demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of watercolor.

Ken finished his latest tomato mosaic painting. It features tomato plants seen from above against pavement and flower beds, all done in mosaic.

And then, he begins another. This time, a single tomato is seen from behind. So far, only the sepals, but keep looking for the petals.

Elaine finished her New Guinea impatiens in a concrete planter.

Contrast that with her quick sketch of a cute beagle frolicking in backyard snow. Much more seasonally appropriate!

Elaine's been busily painting, as you can see. She set up a little painting corner and has been going to town, stopped only by ice dams. Here's a quick self portrait...

... and another. This one, though, is an experiment. It's painted on a background of iridescent gold watercolor ground. Watercolor ground can be painted onto surfaces that typically don't accept watercolor (like metal, canvas or glass) and it creates a soft, absorbent surface. Elaine was trying to get a Byzantine icon effect on this, but thinks it may need more experimentation.

Speaking of experimentation, Tony painted this intriguing painting of a diver using Cubist techniques to describe the motion. The girl, a relative, is an Olympic diver. We love the concept— and the result.

You've heard us extol the benefits of sketching and we're going to reinforce that advice. Sara did this wonderful sketch of a new baby and her father. She's created it as preparation for several studies and a final painting. The more you sketch and paint, the more familiar you are with the subject—and the better the final result...

...as you can see in this latest painting. We love Sara's color choices, the way she's focusing on the faces and the feeling of warmth and safety.

Steve is sketching, too. Here is the next in his merman series. Next steps are to tweak things to perfection before transferring to watercolor paper and adding paint.

Bill added the final touches to his interior scene. We love the light and feel this just shouts vintage 40's.

And in the same vein, Bill is painting this lovely couple. He's trying for the feeling of warmth and love he got from them and plans to do a series of studies to fine tune this painting.

Upcoming events and important announcements

It's really happening—we will be having a group show at Ten Cat! The paintings were hung in the windows today and we'll be having one of our fabled opening receptions. You're invited to the reception, so mark your calendars. And if you can't come to the opening, stroll by and see the art.
 

The Ten Cat Group Watercolor Show.  We will be having a group show at Ten Cat Tavern. Drop by to see the art, enjoy a drink and maybe even play some pool.

      Where:
      Ten Cat Tavern

      3931 N Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL

     When:
     Exhibition: February 18–????
     Reception: March 10, 2018, 4pm

February 10, 2018

We are in the midst of a "snow event"—we've either set or tied some record number of consecutive days with snow. Which would be fine, except that some of those days produced long and heavy snowfalls. This probably explains our sparse numbers this week. But those of us who braved the elements really came to paint. We tackled all the major genres, but perhaps the most appropriate for the day is Bill's cozy interior. Don't you love the warm, glowing light? Don't you want to curl up here with a good book and a hot beverage?

What is warmer and cozier than holding a brand new baby? Sara captures that feeling as she continues to create studies of her new granddaughter and her sons. Here's the baby meeting her uncle....

... and chilling with her dad.

How does Sara do it? As we may have mentioned in the past, she is a firm advocate for sketching. We're sharing some of her great sketches below. This is another Daddy/Daughter scene.

 
And here is baby Nora in a solo portrait. Look at her lovely eyes!

Madeleine is also a proponent of sketching.  Look closely and see that she's got her subject drawn before she begins to paint.

And here is the result. This was just a drawing last week and now we see the bridge and waterfall at the Botanic Garden.

More botanicals from Ken! This aerial view of a tomato plant against a pavement and flowerbeds has a warm summer feeling, doesn't it?

Crazie is also fascinated with flowers. She's finished the sweet lotus plant from last week. This is in gouache, which is basically watercolor with white body color added.

Then, Crazie begins a rose and some petals against a lock of hair. We are loving the color choices and the sky background and can't wait to see this finished. 

Moving from individual flowers to a full landscape, Crazie spotlights a tree against a vibrant sky. She's also testing a spray-on surface color to add texture.

Basma has been busy, too! As you may guess if you look closely at the following paintings, she has prior expertise in acrylics. She's trying for a more "watercolory" feel with these fruits.... 

... and this plant...

... before moving on to this majestic rooster.

To finish, Basma painted these beautiful landscapes.

Not a touch of snow on either of them!

Sarah's painting is our only concession to weather. This winter landscape features a deer and other wildlife silhouetted against a snowy background.

Lilith's koi would probably be hibernating on a day like today. Instead, this one is elegantly floating across the delicate background.

Did you miss the exercises? Lilith's soft, delicate take on complementary colors can be seen below. This is one of the most useful of the exercises, we've found.

Save the date

We're still planning a group show at the Ten Cat starting in mid- to late-February. We'll each have up to two paintings in the casual (no theme!) show. It's the perfect time to meet and greet us, see some good art and anticipate spring. We'll be hanging the show around February 18 and having our usual fun opening, so watch this space for further news—and an invitation to our opening reception!