Finished Painting, "Evening at the Mansion"

"Evening at the Mansion"

This was my demonstration for the workshop, held on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.  It is size 10" x 10".  Based on my color study (see my post from 4/19/2013), this painting was pretty easy to do.  Adding the collage made for exciting textures.  I'm really tickled with the way that this painting turned out, and it sold at the workshop!  Now, my intention is to do another rendition of this that is image size 22" x 30", which will be acrylic and collage or possibly all acrylic.  I had such a good time with this group of 15 ladies, who meet each year in April on Kiawah Island.  It's absolutely beautiful there!  Lots of partying, painting, eating, and laughing!  We all really connected!   

Color Studies, good design

"Luring Music"

Only a few days till I teach a design workshop in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.  One of the lessons involves the students looking through magazines and cropping the photos down to a 1 inch square.  That simplifies the shapes, big time!  This color study (size 4" x 4") was done, using Tombow markers.  I love that they have two ends; one is fine marker, and the other is a brush.  Also, they don't smell, and work very much like watercolors, where I work in layers, etc.  This color study started from a photo of a dining room table and chairs.  How crazy is that?  Below is my 2 value sketch of the photo.  My steady rule (that I really believe in) is to connect the light pathway.  I can always adjust it later, but in the beginning of every painting, I have a light pathway. I will post the painting that I do from this color study after the workshop.

Where do ideas come from?

"Springboard for ideas"

Recently, I gave a demonstration for a local watercolor group; my topic was how I get my ideas for abstract paintings.  The idea for this 30 minute sketch actually came from a handmade card that I recently made for a good friend.  I've had painting friends sometimes tell me that I shouldn't waste my time making handmade cards.  Each one does indeed take about 1 hour and 30 minutes to make, but I always get ideas for paintings or discover interesting new color combinations when I allow myself to "play".  It's refreshing to me when I don't have to think about design, color dominance, etc, when I'm making a card. I used scraps from old paintings to start with, and just added black marker and brads.   Although, I have to say that when I did this 30 minute sketch, which was based on the card pictured below, I did remember to focus on design, color dominance, zinger colors, and center of interest.  Watch future posts, because this 30 minute study will turn in to a real painting very soon!



Handmade card which folds inward from both directions.



Metallic Paintings

"Metallic Leaf"

I'm preparing for a workshop that I will be teaching near Charleston, South Carolina, on Kiawah Island.  One of the days, we will be doing different metallic effects.  I used grommets, embossing powder, rubber stamps, metallic ink pads, and gold liner pens in this painting.  I hadn't done one of these for at least a year, so it was fun refreshing my memory as to the many effects of metal.  To start with, I used an old painting (see below) and built up a light pathway.  Have you heard me say that before?  If you've been in my classes, you definitely have heard about the light pathway.  It's key to leading the viewer's eye through the painting.  This painting is image 6" x 7", and is available for $95, matted.

Old painting that I started with for this project.