May 6, 2017

The rains have finally ended! It's cool, but at least it's sunny. And so is our mood. We arrived happy and ready to paint. We begin, appropriately enough, with Sara's painting of sunlight spilling through her house. This is probably one of Sara's best ever, highlighting her masterful color work. Look closely at the color gradations and how she relies on color, not value, to suggest dimension. Look at the exquisite details, like the midground shadows, the background view and foreground, from the sun bleached floor to the intimately lit left wall and the brilliant swath of color at right. And it's even more beautiful in real life.

Yes, Sara continues to paint every day.  As you can see, she's done a lot of work on the painting above, but she's also finished this delicate study. We love the shiny blue vase and the refined lace, perfectly focusing on the yellow forsythia.

Ken's painting is far more robust, but it's also a plant. Yes, if you've been following along, you know it's corn. Here, he's introduced new elements—they're either eyes or peacocks hiding among the corn stalks. Come back to see which!

Beth's painting fruits, not vegetables, but her paintings are equally vibrant and exciting. Look at this grapefruit—you can see the rosy undertint and the texture. The calligraphic marks add the perfect touch.

Beth seems to have found her niche painting fruit. This wonderful study of bananas and grapes has it all—delicate colors, elegant calligraphic line, subtle gradation and a lovely economy of brushstrokes. Especially fine is the way she's left white space between the brushstrokes.

Susan finished her celebration of spring with this layered floral study. She's focused on the redbud branches in the foreground, painstakingly detailing each flower, while giving us just the right amount of background information. The colors are beautiful; the angles of the stairs and rails move us through the painting. This says spring!

Bill uses the same device, but to a different effect. Here, the branches are not the focus, but a veil that invites us to look through at the grasses, water, city and sky beyond. The colors and textures are beautifully subtle and we love it. 

Bill then switched to a multi-media abstract, using graphite to add tone to his watercolor. He also scanned the original and changed scale on a home printer before adding color.

As if that weren't enough, Bill did a portrait, too. Seeing the benefit of painting people he doesn't know personally, Bill is beginning a series of Strangers to Me. We can't believe he did this in only half an hour—he conveys a feeling with a minimal palette and brushwork, especially in the clothing. 

Yes, Elaine is still doing her People I Don't Know series. The benefits are obvious. Because she doesn't know her subjects personally, she's less invested in making them look like them; she just needs to make them look like people. This is number six in the series and it really is great practice in painting portraits and capturing expressions.

Steve is hard at work on his Hawaiian mud-man, finishing it today. This is something we're hoping will turn into a series. He's grinding up chunks of dried Hawaiian mud to use as pigment as he makes his own paints. Then, he uses them to paint Hawaiian scenes. With only four rocks, he has created a wonderfully retro world.

We are fascinated by people, aren't we? Tony begins a portrait of a 95-year old war veteran from the WWII Battle of Crete. The painting commemorates the May anniversary of the battle where Greek forces valiantly fought against a Nazi invasion. The composition is superb and the colors are lovely. We are anxious to see the painting finished... and to hear more of the stories Tony shared.

Tony also painted this field of lavender in Provence. So simple, yet so evocative.

Madeleine began this brightly colored travel painting. This is Mexico and she adds a touch of pen and ink to the brilliant colors. We are already enamored of the green clapboard, the tin roof and the planters. We can't wait for the next bright colors to come in!

We had a little fun with Bill and Elaine's paintings today. We noticed that they both have strongly expressive faces and we decided that they told the story of the end of a relationship. We moved them around and added Bill's abstract between them to signify the relationship itself (it's complicated!). Well, okay, we thought it was funny at the time.

Special thanks to Sara for researching this fascinating tidbit—something else in the "you had to be there" category—Just to set the record straight on chicken egg color: there is no correlation between feather color and egg color. It depends on genetics, although chicken earlobe color often correlates to egg color. Yes, it's true; chickens have earlobes—see sources below.

https://askdruniverse.wsu.edu/2016/01/11/can-you-tell-what-color-eggs-a-chicken-will-lay

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/why_are_chicken_eggs_different_colors

Who knew? Come back next week for more portraits and more fun!

April 29, 2017

What a weekend—cold and rainy all weekend. You'd think it would be perfect for a watercolorist (being so full of water and all), but NO! Those of us without family commitments and trips spent a lot of time and effort trying to protect our paintings from the elements. We also spent a lot of time revisiting sunny vacation trips of yore. Here, Madeleine finishes her bird, perched on some rocks in sun-drenched Spain. Aren't they beautiful?

And then, Madeleine painted this simple graphic travel painting. This would be a great travel poster—we love the use of black and white, the minimal color blocks and the expressive sky.

Bill has also finished his painting of rooftops in Spain. Notice the bright, hot colors and the inspired use of complementary colors (purple and yellow) for shadows and highlights.

From the rooftops above, Bill switches gears (and perspective and colors and temperature and mood) for this cool layered scene. The distant skyline is lovely—well worth the viewer's trip through the trees, across the foreground and the water.

Susan has also begun a painting using the device of looking through a veil of flowering trees towards a stairway. Of special interest here is the way we can see how she plots out the bones of her paintings. Look at the perspective lines of the background keeping place as she begins to develop the branches.

Of course we're painting flowers! It's spring, after all! Susan painted this grouping of potted flowers. Especially interesting is the way she leaves white space to make the lacey flowers sparkle against the colorful background.

What would our "flora" section be without corn? Ken is beginning the painting based on the study we saw last week. We like the blue stripe defining the center rib of the leaf. It adds structure—and an interesting shot of color.

Not content to wait for Saturday to paint, Sara continues her daily painting. Here's an orchid from her sketchbook. Even in a sketch, she masterfully blends colors—just look at the leaves, dirt and pot.

Moving indoors, Sara brings the same color sensibility to her deep perspective painting. Get closer to marvel at the Bonnard-like patterning.

Steve is letting his materials dictate color for him. Moving along on his Hawaiian painting, he's ground up more Hawaiian mud for the sand. In a brilliant touch, he's achieved the texture of sand by the way he ground his pigment. Ingenious!

Elaine added some finishing touches to her portrait below... and then spent a good bit of time pondering the background. Specifically, what kind, what color and/or if she should add one at all. While she'd love to use a dark background to bring out the light edge of his face, it feels like anything more might be too much. Feel free to comment with suggestions.

So, instead of continuing to stare at an empty background, Elaine began another of her People I Don't Know portraits. So far, she hasn't gotten much farther along than a sketch and a light wash of color, but come back to see how she progresses.

See you next week!

April 22, 2017

Happy Earth Day! And what better way to celebrate than to enjoy some corn paintings? Yes, we remembered to photograph Ken's paintings today! Here is the finished painting we promised you.

Having finished that, Ken continued in his series, combining corn and "the plan." Not to be confused with Pat's "plan," this involves doing something to the painting, then recording into a codified series of steps. He's done that below. Can you see the corn influence?

But Ken tired of the plan and decided to go back to the fresher feel of the original series. He's done a line drawing and zoomed in for a more closely cropped look at his last painting.....

... before doing a study of it. This is a small scale painting, preparatory to a larger, final painting.

And that's our theme for the day.... series and studies. Ellen paints another in her "Portraits of Mom and Dad" series. This time, they have a bright, sunny, 60's glow. This version has a distinct Peter Max vibe, but more complex and less linear.

Ellen continues with this version, which is cooler and more retro looking. Despite the more restrained palette (complementary blue and orange with a touch of red), it's still very vibrant and alive.

Elaine is also working on her series, "People I Don't Know." This portrait also uses a minimal palette (red, blue and yellow, plus a touch of gold). And yes, this is Captain Beefheart, but technically, Elaine doesn't know him personally so it counts!

If we are having a contest for who can use the fewest colors, Steve would be the winner! Here, he adds a second color. The vintage green is ground-up grey Hawaiian mud. And the skin is also ground up Hawaiian mud, but red. We love the look and feel of this and hope it turns into a series.

Bill finished his painting of Havana, Cuba. We can't say enough about the beauty of the buildings. And, of course, this is part of a series of vacation paintings. 

These Spanish rooftops are part of Bill's travel series. We love the colors, the perspective, and the unique vantage point.  Tune in next week to see the progress.

Madeleine is also painting a series of travel paintings. This is Quebec in winter. It feels sunny, but frosty, doesn't it? We particularly love the mountains, the shadows and the varied, but subtle shades of grey.

Part of the series, Madeleine paints a bird atop rocks in Spain. Quite a different feel, isn't it? The rocks are beautiful against the clear, flat sky. Again, come back to see the finished painting!

Sara is our Series Star. She regularly paints in series and often does multiple studies. Here is her second study of interior perspective. This time, she relies more on subtle color variations and less on sharp value changes. Look closely to see the lovely color gradations.

Here's a perfect series—daily painting. Sara has been doing daily sketch/paintings and this week's lot is unified even more by the use of yellow...

... from the forsythias....

...to the daffodils, perfectly set off against the blue glass vase. And look at the stems in the water in the vase! Beautifully observed.

Susan is also enamored of spring flowers. Here, she channels Van Gogh as she paints a view of her house, glimpsed through a neighbor's flower tree. Between the flowers and the sky color, this is the very essence of spring.

Tony has two series going this week. First, his cityscapes. He's captured the cool, grey feel of the sky and water in Finland. The bits of green stand out against the stone and draw our eye directly to the stone house.

And this is the beginning of a painting of Chicago, as seen from in front of the Art Institute. What was Tony doing there, you may ask?

Working on a new series... this time of drawings. Yes, Tony is taking a drawing class at the Art Institute. Here, he uses felt tips on this linear abstract.

Don't you love Tony's use of line to show depth?

And just to prove he's been there, Tony sketched this statue. We've all seen it and immediately recognized it.

Even Beth has done a series! Just by doing today's exercise, the three-way fruit, she has a series suitable for framing. If you don't remember, the exercise calls for her to paint the same subject three different ways.... very wet....

... very dry...

... and in a combination of wet and dry.

As lovely as each one is separately, don't they make a lovely triptych?

See you next week!