In contrast, Marva began this warm and delicate landscape painting of a tree on a bank. There will be a boat in the river, distant trees and even more wonderfully warm and textured elements to make us feel like we're enjoying warm weather.
Susan just returned from a trip to Australia and New Zealand is is chronicling her trip in paintings. Below is a painting of a Haasy River ride. The tourists are boarding a boat on a beautifully blue and placid river.... then, they are spun around in a wild ride. We like the way Susan uses an inset to contrast the ride with the calm setting.
Here's Susan's view of the Sydney Opera House. She left room on the right side to add the story of the Opera House and its construction. It's fascinating!
Here's a scene from Susan... cows calmly grazing on lush New Zealand grass. Notice that she's added a kiwi with travelogue information at bottom left. Very clever!
This isn't finished, but here's Susan's whimsical take on the Hobbit village. The Hobbit hole below is the Artist's residence and she's repeated the round lines of hobbit dwellings in the undulating landscape. Come back to see how this turns out.
Talking about fantasy worlds, Elaine T. began this painting of Ming the Merciless. We already love the hands and cape and can't wait to see more. There is nothing like a good villain, is there?
We can't have a starker contrast than Ellen's painting of Bella the dog. It highlights her personality, too... but it's obvious this is a sweet and much-loved dog rather than an evil despot from the planet Mongo. Ellen has a new specialty—dog eyes and tongues. In fact, she's gaining a reputation among us as a pet portraitist.
Steve is painting a study from a sample he got from Pat, our teacher. The sensual lines of the fabric and the woman remind us of the Hawaiian landscapes and mermen he's so good at.
Like Steve, Tony is taking inspiration from the masters. Here, Tony copies a Van Gogh, but uses his tool of choice—a black calligraphy marker. Then, he uses water to draw out the various pigments in the ink into soft washes and adds darks with the touch of ink from his fountain pen. Look closely to see all the color and subtlety in this seeming monotone.
Sara's also going monochrome below. But this isn't a finished painting; it's a drawing of her next painting. In this beautiful drawing, Sara captures the feel of the textures of the objects and the quality of light drenching the room...
... before moving on to a light underlay of color. It looks like Sara's sofa is the place to be for a warm and cozy afternoon.
Isa's also into "comfort paintings." Here, she's adding to her painting of pumpkin pie elements. We love the use of warm colors and great texture in this painting.
Still in her orange period, Isa takes on the challenge of difficult textures. Here's a fall leaf perched on a hammered copper mug. This is going to be great—notice how Isa already has achieved the feel of the hammered copper.
Elaine O. finished the painting of her Wyoming living room. Like Isa, she's in an orange mood. And, like Sara, she's painting a cozy interior. However, this living room in Wyoming has more of an evening feel and seems more suited to seeking refuge from a winter storm.
Moving from interior to exterior, Elaine O. finished this painting of the Volunteer Firefighters' Memorial from Rosehill Cemetery (visit if you ever have the chance. It's a wellspring of American history). She started with cerulean blue—the complement to all the orange above—and finished using only two more colors, light red and yellow ochre.
Dana also used a minimal palette to get a maximum effect. This small painting is a spread in her sketchbook. She confines her color to the background sky and the foreground sand (and did you notice she uses complementary colors?), silhouetting the focus of the painting However, if you look closely, you'll see that the horse and rider aren't a flat black; there is depth and movement here.
We have only one more session before the holiday break, so plan to be back next week. Meanwhile, here's a public service announcement about grants for artists who qualify.
SPARK Microgrant program
Check out this grant opportunity to see if you are interested and/or qualify. It's a program of The Joyce Foundation and Chicago Artists Coalition called SPARK. A recap follows, and you can learn more at this site:http://www.chicagoartistscoalition.org/spark-program-joyce-foundation-and-chicago-artists-coalition
SPARK: A Program of The Joyce Foundation and Chicago Artists Coalition
Program Description. The SPARK Microgrant is an annual, unrestricted
award opportunity for Chicago-based visual artists who identify as
ALAANA (Asian, Latino, Arab, African diaspora, Native), an artist with a
demonstrated need, an artist with a disability,
or as a self-taught or informally trained artist who is striving to
make their art practice a primary vocation.
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