Another way we handle the dark gray days of winter is adding brilliant bursts of indoor color... as in Sara's amaryllis. Notice the way Sara kept the background subtle and muted to better complement the amaryllis.
From there, Sara did this portrait in direct watercolor (no prior drawing, just paint). Again, the colors are magnificent and Sara uses color and temperature to create value and model her subject in three dimensions.
By way of contrast, Ken's portrait is carefully rendered and the art noveau/mosaic touches on the hair and hat keep the background flat to better emphasize the softly modeled face and hand. This gets more interesting every week.
Elaine O. finished her painting of Green Tara, a Tibetan Buddhist goddess, known as a protector, as well as for her compassion and loving kindness. We get the sense of both strength and softness in this image.
Elaine O. is now doing a study of White Tara, another version of the same goddess, but known for her kindness and healing powers. We'll see how this comes out, but she already looks kind and gentle.
Habte's back, with a small series to show. He began by doing his take on a Christmas Card. We especially like the positioning of the family and the way the sun glows through the trees.
It's hard to tell what is the best part of this painting... Habte's sun, the subtle gradations in the sky, the texture of the foliage or the water in the foreground. In any case, this is lovely.
Habte finished this painting today. As we mentioned, this may not be a planned "series," but you can tell it's by the same hand. Again, we see the glowing sun and the richly textured foliage, but this time we also see a person, silhouetted against the vibrant background.
Susan's painting a series, too. She's adding touches to her food paintings to bring them into her Gemini series, where the foreground and background tell two stories in the same painting. This painting of ribs and salad is framed by flowers and makes us think of a summer picnic.
Definitely more seasonal is this hearty bowl of chicken soup. In the background, Susan's added bamboo stalks and, behind that, sky and earth.
The stars of this painting are the shrimp. Rounding out the meal are cherry tomatoes, fried rice and a banana—all against a banana leaf background. And below, we see a family picnic under banana trees. In case you're wondering, Susan actually made, painted and then ate these dishes. Makes you hungry, doesn't it?
Our newbies are hard at work on their advanced color wheels. Nadia hasn't finished yet, but she's well on her way to a valuable resource, creating tints, tones, shades and hues.
Berivan isn't using typical class colors, and her color wheel is just as interesting. This uses three slightly different primaries to build all these lovely tints, tones, hues and shades.
Tom spent most of the morning sorting art supplies (and he does have an impressive stash!), but still managed to create this color wheel. We like how he's contained the colors in shapes.
Upcoming Events
Open Sketch date. You're invited to join us on Saturday, February 15 for an open sketch at St. Gregory the Great Church. This is a great opportunity to see, sketch, paint or photograph a truly magnificent architectural treasure, so bring your cameras, sketch pads, pens, pencils and paints (no oils, though). And this is a Chicago Urban Sketchers Event, so you'll see some great sketches.
Where:
St. Gregory the Great Church
5545 N. Paulina
Church entrance is on the corner of Gregory and Paulina;
one block west of Ashland and one block south of Bryn Mawr
When:
Saturday, February 15
12:00–3:00pm