Simplicity- a great design principle

"Just out of Reach"  Acrylic
Image:  18" x 13 

This painting was finished the first time, (haha) about 2 months ago.  I thought I liked it, but upon judging it more, I realized that it was far too busy, so I simplified it.  The design in this piece was established by drawing a wire drawing in an abstract manner.  

I love to use Iphone apps to check up on my design.  One of them that I love is called PencilSketch and another one that I like is called Notanizer.   The one on the left is from PencilSketch and the one on the right is from Notanizer, using 4 levels (white, light, medium and dark values)  I can see if I need to choose a different color or perhaps add a glaze to unify a section, just by looking at these apps, when I think I'm getting to the last steps of the painting.  

Keep experimenting!

"Quirky Friends"   Acrylic
Accepted into the San Diego International 2020 Exhibition

This painting started by me doing a blind contour drawing onto tracing paper.  I did each girl separately and then held my finger on the side so that I could maybe position them where I wanted them.  Blind contour means that you do NOT look at your paper, and you don't lift your pencil.  It's a great way to loosen up and get some unusual free paintings.  I had done a really abstract beginning, using acrylic and when I traced my new drawing onto the underpainting,  I loved how the design cut through their faces.  And the outfits just painted themselves, looking like the one on the right had bare shoulder.  This was a total experiment for me, and was so much fun to do.  I definitely plan to do more!  Notice how the light pathway leads the viewer all through the painting.  That's always very important to me.  This painting was accepted into the San Diego International 2020 Exhibition, where there were 874 entries and juror, Michael Reardon, picked 100 paintings to be included in the show.  This is one of the top shows in the USA.  I'm honored to be a part of it.

Free preview of my newest acrylic video!

More Exciting news!! Mark your calendar for this Thursday, June 18 , at 3:00 Eastern Time (2:00 Central Time zone) when Streamline Art Videos Facebook page wil be featuring part of my new acrylic video Karen Knutson: Fun with Acrylics!

We'll be broadcasting @ 3pm ET from the Streamline Art Video Facebook

page (

https://www.facebook.com/StreamlineArtVideo/

). I will be on hand to answer questions in the chat line. There is a great discount if you order the video on that day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick note to wish all my blog followers a Happy Thanksgiving!! I’m so thankful for all my artist friends. Without your support and encouragement, I would be a lost soul. You all add so much joy to my life!

I'm offering a 2 Day Abstract Acrylic workshop on December 10 and 11th (Tuesday and Wednesday), in my home studio, Eden Prairie, MN, with the main feature being Wire Drawing.  The proceeds of this workshop will go to the Holman family, in memory of my dear friend, Karlyn Holman, who passed away recently.  We will start by learning wire drawing, then how to apply it to abstract drawings, and lastly how to use it in our acrylic paintings.  If interested, please contact me at:  karen@karenknutson.com
This is bound to fill very fast.  The price is $240.  I already have 3 spots spoken for.  Don't delay.

There was a follower who contacted me to ask if she could come to my studio during Thanksgiving. I lost that request, so if it’s you, please contact me again. I’m open to visitors.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!

Being Prepared- the secret to success!

"Stepping into the Light",    Image 15" x 22"
acrylic on paper.    $1200 framed

I'm the last one to preach about being organized and prepared, but as I continue my journey as a professional artist, I find that my most successful times always are when I'm prepared.  Today, I printed out a calendar of the upcoming months and marked the deadlines of upcoming shows, because I missed a couple of important show that I had wanted to enter!  UGH!!!  So, I keep trying to be more organized.
Today, Dick and I went down to Carney's, an Irish Pub in downtown Venice to properly celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  I told him that I thought we should be early so that we could get a good table and listen to Irish music while having a Reuben and a green margarita.  Good plan, right? Well.....there was a car show in the main parking lot, so we had to park many blocks away.  Then we arrived at 11:10, and they said to eat inside, we would need to pay a $10 per person cover charge.  I thought, no problem, it's worth it.  Got sat down and asked the waiter when the music would start and it was at 2:00!  So, we enjoyed our lunch, without live music, like I'd hoped, and then left knowing we had just paid an extra $20 for nothing!  So, going forward, we will call ahead and find out all the details!  On a good note, we now have 2 plastic green top hats and some green beads for our grandkids to play with.  :)
The painting above was well thought out.  I did 2 different value sketches and worked out the problems on those.  Below is the one that I decided to go with.  These types of paintings develop stories as they go along.  This one is about the challenges in life.  If you are having one of those challenges, get help, but most importantly, do it for YOURSELF.  Until you realize that you matter, no amount of friends or family will make the difference.  You matter and you are loved!

Always Be Yourself!

"Yacht Club"
original acrylic on paper
Image:  14 x 21"

Do you catch yourself saying something negative about your artwork over and over?  The same statement?  I used to say that I didn't like making so many itty bitty shapes.  Virginia Cobb straightened me out in a workshop when I told her that.  She asked me if I liked making little tiny shapes, and I said that I must, because they keep showing up.  She said to honor that unique quality of my work and then just unify them with a glaze to make fewer "grouped" shapes when I was done. I LOVE that advice.  So, now when I teach a workshop, I tell everyone that the very thing that they think might be their worst thing about their artwork, actually is the very thing that they should keep!  We all need to be ourselves!
This painting, "Yacht Club" is part of a local show called Bonnie and Friends.  Bonnie Featherstone asked about 30 artists, from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, to bring 2 paintings each.  It's at the Ames Center in Burnsville, MN for the month of December, if you get the chance to see it.  I'm so honored to be a part of such a grand show.  You won't believe all the different styles.  I was talking with one of the artists and he said that he wishes he could be a little looser.  His paintings are so good, that they are almost photographic!  I told him my story about excelling at what you consider your worst feature.  He agreed with me, and we both appreciate our differences.
By the way, one of my favorite painters is Gustav Klimt.  Check out how many tiny shapes he has in his paintings!!!! www.klimt.com But they are beautifully combined into big shapes and so well designed.

Day 29 or 30 Days in 30 Days!

"Love is in the Air"     $75
Acrylic         7" x 10"
Second day of Karlyn's Paint-in and when I looked at what I had started yesterday, I just wasn't ready to tackle that large painting.  So I grabbed a small 7" x 10" that I had the first layer already on.  It was so fun to paint with pinks, greens and oranges.  A fun color scheme!   Below is the first layer, done by dropping acrylic on the surface and scraping it with a credit card.

I used a wire drawing that was in my sketch book and drew the figures on the under-painting. I'm having so much fun reconnecting with other artists and truly basking in the fact that I'm sitting next to Karlyn Holman for 5 full days.  We have so many laughs together and share lots of tricks with one another.  So, this is all I accomplished in one full day, but I'm not sorry.  Enjoying the moment!  And enjoying the process! 

Wire Drawing that I used for a value study

Day 17 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Dragonfly Love"     $75
Acrylic      7" x 10"

I'm finding it harder and harder to get my painting done daily.  Today, I actually cheated and picked out one of my half done paintings and completed it.  This process is what I call, "Painting like Gustav Klimt", one of my most popular workshops, where we actually drop paint on the surface and then spread it out, using a credit card.  It's really fun! This painting also has 3D Gold outliner on it for an extra dimensional look.  This also has the Wire Drawing in it, that I love doing so much!  Check my website to see where I will be teaching both of these different workshops next. www.karenknutson.com

Before and After! Makeovers are good sometimes!

"Proud in Pink"
 Image:  29"x 21"  Framed:  38" x 30"
Acrylic Painting on Paper        $2000

The painting on the left was painted at the Joyce Ells Paint-in last Fall. I knew that it wasn't done, but decided to set it aside till I knew how to solve it. First of all, paintings at Paint-in's often have problems because you are among 30 other artists with lots of interruptions and gabbing during your creative process. I'm not complaining cuz I love Paint-ins. I am there to reconnect with my art buddies rather than having the goal of creating masterpieces. Anyway, I have had this landscape in my mind for at least 5 years with a dusty pink barn and Holstein cows leading up to the barn. I finally decided to paint that image. But then I lost my nerve to add the cows. No worries, cuz at least I had the pink house and barn. Someone came by and remarked how awful the colors were!😳 Pretty gutsy of her, don't you think? Well, that made me even more determined than ever that the pink barn STAYS!

So, this week, I needed a painting for a national competition and decided that it was time for me to finally do a makeover on this painting.

Things I wanted to change:

1. I didn't like the brown colors.

2.  I felt that the light pathway lacked interest.

3. The painting lacked the "wow" factor, so I decided to add bright colors.

4.  The center of interest needed to be made more clear.

So, I worked out a color triad that went with pink. Yes, the pink has to stay!  I used cobalt blue, Quinacridone magenta, and hansa yellow medium.  I also added a tiny bit of raw umber and Bahama Blue.  I got out my chalk and made a better pathway of light.  Then I wiped out the new pathway, using rubbing alcohol.  If you know me at all, you know that I love the color, red.  I knew that if I showcased the building by red, that I would be a happy camper!  I instantly felt better after the red was added.  I think this is a good lesson for all of us.  Some of my BEST paintings are the ones that I struggle with.  They appear deeper, if I can only make it past the ugly teenage stage!  Now, I love the new colors and I like the new design too.  Fingers crossed that it will get accepted into the show that I entered.  Time will tell..... But the most important critique of your paintings is always YOU, and if you are pleased with the outcome, nothing else matters!  

From Wire Drawing to Colored Painting

Wire Drawing (sold)

"The Highest Power I"  18" x 14"
$795,   Acrylic on Paper

What an adventure this has been for me.  I absolutely LOVE doing wire drawings.  And they serve as great value studies so that I can go on to painting colored paintings.  "The Highest Power" has been accepted into the Minnesota Watercolor Society Exhibition, which will be featured at the Arboretum,  3675 Arboretum Drive, Chaska, MN 55318.  The show runs from April 7th till June 30th.  I did this colored version, using acrylics in the same manner as I described in my blog from January 26, 2015.  It's so fun to squirt paint on the surface of the paper, and then scrape those colors, using a credit card.  I will be teaching this procedure at the White Bear Center for the Arts on August 16-18, 2016.  To register, call White Bear Center for the Arts, Center for the Arts •  Phone 651.407.0597.  It is located at 4971 Long Avenue, White Bear Lake, MN 55110 • Tuition: $360 Member/$450 Non-Member. Hope to see you there! The art center is lovely!  One of my favorite places to teach!

"The Diva"

"The Diva",  Acrylic on paper, 14" x 20" image
Price:  $850



I painted this artwork yesterday, starting at 8:00 a.m. and finishing at 5:00 p.m.  I had to meet a deadline for the Northwest Watercolor Society.  I entered with one hour to spare!  Several times, I almost quit in the midst of this painting, but my granddaughter, said, "No, grandma, you can do it!", so I continued.  Constantly, I tell students that very thing.  If we just keep going past the "ugly teenage" stage, lots of times, these can be your best paintings.  I really listened to the painting as I worked.  For instance, the blue streak coming from the left side was in the underpainting, and I liked how it connected the background to her dress, so I left it in.  Also the abstract shapes behind her head were formed in the first layer also, so when I negative painted around them, the shapes were very interesting. 
This painting started with squirting several colors on prepared paper, and then scraping it with a credit card.  It's a great way to get exciting colors in the underpainting.  I'm teaching in The Villages, FL from January 25 - 29th, and this is one of the subjects, "Painting like Gustav Klimt".  It's really a fun technique!  If interested in coming, contact Beverly Hennessy at www.thevillagesartworkshops.com
bbaug97@aol.com  352-572-5317