30 minute daily sketches, AGAIN!

"A Guiding Force"

I just finished teaching at Autumn Art Workshops in Aurora, NE.  They have 4 instructors there at the same time, so Soon Warren, David Lobenberg https://lobenbergart.com, David Mensing, and myself were the instructors for this year.  It's great fun to see what the other classrooms are up to!  I was honored to be chosen by Autumn Art Workshops and be among such great artists as David L., Soon, and David M.  I had a fabulous time!  Great friendships were made!  Look them up Autumn Art Workshops and consider going next year!
I told the class how important 30 minute daily sketches are!  So, I'm taking my own advice and starting up again.  Odd to be starting on Sept. 19th, on a Thursday, but that's how I roll.  No Monday or 1st of the month for me!  :)  This time, I'm going to write a couple of sentences about the day by each sketch so that I will have a diary of sorts.  I'm committing to 3 months, but I wouldn't be surprised if I keep it up longer than that.  This truly does make me a better artist!  I can see the growth after only one month in my sketchbooks of the past.  I keep my sketches to 30 minutes for 2 reasons:  1. I don't have any excuse about not having enough time that day and 2. It will make me get the simple shapes in there.  Since I tend to do so much detail, this is a protective measure for myself.  Hope you all will decide to join me!  I use these as studies for bigger paintings.  Can't wait to paint this one!

30 Paintings in 30 Days Collage

30 Paintings in 30 Days!  Images:  7" x 10"

Well I made it!   But I have to say this was my hardest 30 in 30 that I've ever done!  So many things on my calendar during February and my pride got in the way, so I really tried my best.  No 5 minute paintings here!  Most of these took 4 - 6 hours to complete. This was supposed to be abstract collage, but I diverted from that style as the 30 days progressed.   Below are the only ones that are not sold.  If you are interested, be sure to contact me BEFORE March 15th,  when the 30 Day Sale will be over.  Right now, these are available for $75 each, but after March 15th, they will go back to regular prices. 

Day 27 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Dragonfly in Gold"     $75
Acrylic, permanent markers, gold foil        7" x 10"

I have to admit that I grabbed this from my stash of finished paintings  Confession: I didn't do this within the 30 Days.  But I'm attending a Paint-in and I want to paint large paintings and try new things.  That's what I love about Paint-ins.  We exchange ideas, and have critiques at the end of each day.  For many of us, its a reunion, only seeing the other artists once per year. There are usually 40 of us attending.  So much fun!!!!  This painting was originally $155, so this price is a steal, specially for this 30 Day Challenge.  I use gold foil paper instead of gold leaf.  It's so much easier.  This process will be shown at my workshop in Bradenton, FL on March 8 and 9th.  It's called, "Painting like Gustav Klimt".  Here's the link:  http://keetonsonline.com/GImages/180308KK.PDF

Day 26 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Overhead View"      $75
Watercolor and permanent marker         7" x 10"

I began this painting thinking it was going to be an abstract.  Then as it developed, I knew that it needed something recognizable in it, so I added the dragonfly.  I used a design study for the initial abstract design. (see below) It was a square format, so I stretched it lengthwise to fit my 7" x 10" size.  I'm so excited to be going to Karlyn Holman's Paint-in tomorrow, so I'm going to keep this short today.  This is an example of part of my workshop for Dillman's Resort.  Use this link to find out more!  http://www.dillmans.com/dcaf/2018/karen-knutson.html

Design study for "Overhead View"

Day 25 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Clara, the Chicken"    $75
Watercolor and permanent marker        7"x 10"

I have been drawing chickens for the past year.  The wire drawing technique works so well for this subject.  Every time I teach this workshop, the students are amazed how much fun it is, AND how it leads to them to develop better drawing skills.  I'm teaching Wire Drawing at 2 future workshops.  The first one is in Bradenton, FL on April 10th.  It is a one day workshop.  Click on this link to sign up. http://keetonsonline.com/theartistscorner.html  I'm also teaching this process at Dillman's Resort in northern WI, at a beautiful location, nestled in the pine trees and a gorgeous view of a lake.  This workshop starts with the process of the wire drawing and then each day, teaches the students how to develop their own designs into an abstract painting by the end of the 4 days!
Click on this link:  http://www.dillmans.com/dcaf/2018/karen-knutson.html
Students can choose to use mixed media or stick with watercolor or acrylic.  It's a great workshop that I'm really proud of!

Day 12 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Bird on a Branch"      $75
Watercolor and Collage     7" x 10" image
Wow!  I'm over 1/3 done with this challenge.  It has been a tough time crunch for me, as usual.  Right now, I'm visiting a friend who lives in Sanibel Island, FL.  We are painting together during the day and taking a boat ride at sundown.  Yes, it's a tough life.  But, my point is that life does get in the way of these challenges, and you just have to get ahead if you know that busy times are ahead.  For the collage of this one, I used a copy of an earlier wire drawing.  This is part of my workshop for Dillman's Resort, where we use earlier drawings to enhance new paintings.  I'm hoping to do an abstract person in one of the new few paintings.  Time will tell if that happens.

Challenges are good! Matching eyeballs.

Several months ago, Michaels Craft Store featured a paper tape by Jane Davenport, where the whole roll of tape features
eyes.  I thought it would be fun to challenge my nephew, Ren, who just graduated from High School, to start with the same eye and then we would complete them with our own imaginations.  Below is paper tape roll and my notebook as it appeared in the beginning of the challenge.

Here is my favorite completed drawing, that I call "Robotica".  My nephew, Ren, likes science fiction stuff, so I was trying to think of mechanical images as I did this.  I used my wire drawing skills to get the unusual line work.  It was so fun to do!  The right eye is the paper tape eye.

"Robotica"
6" x 6" wire drawing

Below is Ren's drawing, that started with the same paper tape eye.  He got an art scholarship for college. He is so gifted.  From the time he was 2 years old, he has always sketched almost every day!  I'm a very proud aunt!   Isn't his drawing fantastic?  Doing these will build your imagination and might even lead to a painting. Really fun to do!

Drawing by Ren Nisley

Day 30: 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"The Highest Power, #3"    NFS
Image:  11" x 15"    watercolor

     Yes!  I made it!  There were many times, when I wondered if I should quit, just for my health alone.  But I did easy paintings on those days, and then I got better.  For you runners out there, this was my marathon, and it feels really good to have made it across the finish line.

     I've been working on this painting here and there all month.  I needed a pure watercolor for the Transparent Watercolor Exhibition, so this will be one of my entries.  I know it's not a landscape, my original goal for this 30 Day Challenge, but I've already broken that many times with all my bird paintings.  So, why not break it one more time?  Go out with a bang, I say!       The study for this was the wire drawing below (drawings that look like a wire sculpture).   I've done 3 of these so far.  Every one is different, and surprises always arise as I'm painting.  Tomorrow, I will be posting the whole collection of 30 Day Paintings.  That will be your last chance to get in on the January bargain prices.  It's been a great ride, and as always, I learn so much along the way.  I really recommend you trying this.  Thanks for following along and cheering me on!

Wire Drawing of the original "Highest Power" painting

Woman of Mystery, (#3 Wire Drawing of 30 Day Challenge)

"Woman of Mystery"
 6" x 8", ink on paper, $100

I have to admit, I was procrastinating this morning, perched in front of the TV, scared to go down to my studio and face the watercolor painting that I'm doing for the TWSA show.  So, instead of wasting time, I grabbed my sketch book, and drew another wire drawing. I love this, because her hair is so long, that you have to imagine:  is she naked or is she wearing an evening gown with a low back?  Most of my paintings in this January challenge will be marked for $50, but I fell in love with this one so much, that I decided to mark it higher.  If interested, contact me.

"Cardinal Calling", Wire Drawing #2, Within 30 Days

"Cardinal Calling", 7" x 10", $50

Here I am again, making these drawings more difficult that they have to be!  These are supposed to be little sketches, and so far, both of my wire drawings have taken 4 hours or more to complete!  Oh, well, I love to doodle, what can I say?  This was started with a pencil drawing, and then I switched to felt markers to complete it and turn it into a wire drawing.  Check out my website, www.karenknutson.com to see my teaching schedule, if you are interested in learning this procedure.

"Peaceful Farm Site"- (Wire Drawing #1within 30 Days!)

"Farm Site, Wire Drawing #1"
7" x 10", Ink on Paper, $50

This is a farm site near my friend, Jennifer Stone's family lodge near Watertown, SD.  I've had a dream of painting farm scenes with Holstein cows in the foreground for about 7 or 8 years.  I decided to build up to adding the cows and start with a farm site alone to start with.  My plan is to complete a painting of this scene to enter in the Transparent Watercolor Society of America Show.  The hard part for me is that is has to be totally watercolor, and I've become a mixed media artist these past few years.  This drawing took about 4 hours, so the idea of doing quick wire drawings is a far fetched idea, at best! Stay tuned to see the finished painting! Remember, if interested in buying this, contact me right away. 

Out with the Old, In with the New!

Little Abbeys, 5" x 7" each,  $45 each
2 versions of little abbeys, using the same colors
 

After getting very sick with pneumonia, being hospitalized for 4 days during Thanksgiving time....  I am SO READY to paint again!!!!!  All of December, I have been just trying to regain my strength.  So I started out easy, doing a little abbey (small abstract), size 5" x 7".  My goal was to stay with soft edges, and use only 3 colors.  I used cadmium yellow, opera pink, and French ultramarine blue.  Why I picked these colors, I'll never know.  I hardly ever use these colors!  But, I knew from experience, that if I stayed with only those 3 colors, I would have pretty colors. I love the red color that comes from mixing cadmium yellow with opera pink!  Who knew?  My friend, Ressie Burrows predicted that I would be painting with vibrant colors since I had it all bottled up for 2 months.  She was so right! The second day, I used the same colors, but instead of soft edges, I went with some hard and some soft.  I also added wire drawing to complete the painting.  To see more wire drawings, go back to some of my past blogs.  Sadly, I've made the decision to NOT do the 30 paintings in 30 Day Challenge, like I usually do in January.  I'm still rebuilding my strength, so it's not a wise idea to put that kind of pressure on myself.  I will, however, be posting wire drawings many of the days in January, and they will be for sale at a low price, so if you're interested, stay tuned!  Happy New Year, everyone!  I wish you all a healthy new year! 

"Don't Talk to me before 8:00 a.m.!" - (Wire Drawing workshop)

"Don't talk to me before 8:00 a.m.!"    11" x 14"    $195      Original watercolor and markers

This was my demo for my recent "Wire Drawing" Workshop, held in Watertown SD.   As I've said before, I LOVE this process and have found that the abstract backgrounds are leading to the next painting!  The students' paintings turned out incredible, as you will see before.  I made this collage of their paintings, using the website, www.picmonkey.com  I love that site!  My next wire drawing workshop is at the White Bear Lakes Center for the Arts on Nov. 3-5.  Sign up now if interested in learning this process!  The first grouping was the paintings from the first day.

 

The grouping below is the paintings from the second day, when students got to pick between doing an animal or totally abstract.  They actually got 2 demoes for the price of one!

Wire Drawings Workshop



"Crazy about Chickens", original permanent marker drawing with watercolor,  $195

This was one of my demos for the Yakima, WA workshop.  They did a terrific job and loved the concept of wire drawing.  I've never had a class so excited about the prospect of future paintings, using the wire drawing knowledge.  So rewarding for this teacher, that's for sure!  Here are their drawings below:

Wire Drawings

 

"Flower Child"  watercolor and markers, 11" x 14",  $145

It's been awhile since I've blogged.  Busy with workshops and travels.  This was my demo for a recent home studio workshop. The students did beautiful paintings and were as excited as I was, when they learned how to do these!  It's again the process of what I call, "wire drawings".  I love the imaginative shapes that this process creates.  It's too hard to explain on paper, so you will have to come to one of my workshops to learn the process.  I'm teaching this process in 2 separate workshops coming up.  One is in Watertown, SD on August 26 and 27th.  Contact Jennifer Stone for info on that one:  jstone@wat.midco.net  The other one is  a 3 day workshop from November 3-5th in White Bear Lake, MN. (this is a northern suburb of Minneapolis)  It's packed with info on wire drawings, charcoal pours, and incorporating both these techniques into abstract paintings!  Contact the White Bear Center for the Arts at 651-407-0597.

 

Summer Home Studio Workshop Schedule

Every Summer, I host 3 workshops in my home studio.  They are limited to only 10 students, so everyone gets lots of individual attention!  These really fill up fast, so if you are interested, sign up TODAY!  Seriously!

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May Workshop:  Wire Drawing and Illusionary People Workshop

 (3 Day watercolor, collage, and marker workshop)

Instructor:  Karen Knutson www.karenknutson.com

Dates:  May 6 – 8^th, 2015 (Wednesday – Friday)

Hours:  9:00 – 4:00

Place:  Karen’s Home studio (Red Rock Studio)

8621 Coachman’s Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347 

Home phone:  952-934-0876      Cell:  612-940-9231

Cost:  $295

Contact:  karen@karenknutson.com to sign up

** (To register, send me an email.  The first 10 to respond will get in!  Then mail your check to 

Karen Knutson, 8621 Coachman's Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347)

This is my new favorite thing to do:  wire drawings.  They are done with permanent markers, but they look like they are wire sculptures!  That’s why I invented the name, “wire drawings”.  We will have one day of wire drawings, and watercolor paintings and the other days will involve learning how to paint groups of people in an illusionary manner.  You may or may not choose to add collage.  You know me, I will more than likely be adding collage, but you have the option either way. 

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June workshop:  Painting Textures with Acrylic- People paintings

 (3 Day acrylic workshop)

inst

Instructor:  Karen Knutson www.karenknutson.com

Dates:  June 16 – 18, 2015, (Tuesday – Thursday)

Hours:  9:00 – 4:00

Place:  Karen’s Home studio (Red Rock Studio)

8621 Coachman’s Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347 

Home phone:  952-934-0876      Cell:  612-940-9231

Cost:  $295

Contact:  karen@karenknutson.com to sign up

** (To register, send me an email.  The first 10 to respond will get in!  Then mail your check to Karen Knutson, 8621 Coachman's Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347)

I’ll demonstrate painting people in this workshop, however, you can paint totally abstract if you would prefer. No drawing experience necessary.  I have shortcuts to make drawing people really easy!  This workshop will concentrate on how to get many textures that only acrylic allows.  We will be using rubbing alcohol, different surface textures, and many other tricks to come up with special effects. Each painting will have about 4 layers to produce the special effects.  So fun! I’m really enjoying acrylic most of all lately!  Can’t wait to share my tricks!

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July Workshop:  Paint like Gustav Klimt with Good Design! 

(3 Day Watercolor OR Acrylic workshop with collage and metallics)

Instructor:  Karen Knutson www.karenknutson.com

Dates:  July 28- 30 (Tuesday – Thursday)

Hours:  9:00 – 4:00

Place:  Karen’s Home studio (Red Rock Studio)

8621 Coachman’s Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347 

Home phone:  952-934-0876    

 Cell:  612-940-9231

Cost:  $295

Contact:  karen@karenknutson.com to sign up

** (To register, send me an email.  The first 10 to respond will get in!  Then mail your check to Karen Knutson, 8621 Coachman's Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347)

We will get to doodle to our heart’s content in this workshop.  Acrylic actually makes this process easier, but if you’d rather work in watercolor and collage, that’s fine too.  This workshop will emphasize good design and lots of tricks to make the detail work easier.  We will also be working with several different types of metallic special effects and will be studying Gustav Klimt’s paintings. 

Day 24 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Deep in Thought"            11" x 11"            $145  SOLD
Watercolor, acrylic and permanent marker

After yesterday's detailed painting, I just wanted to do an easy painting, and even though these "wire drawings" are time consuming, they are easier for me than other paintings, as far as design, color choices, etc.  I made a discovery today!  I did 2 layers of blue watercolor and was disappointed in the color.  I knew that there was no way for me to get the color of light teal that I wanted, if I continued to use watercolor, so I switched to acrylic for the blue color.  But I first wet each area quickly with a brush, then applied the acrylic really fast, and let it drip.  The granulation was so cool!!!  I definitely will be doing this technique again.  I hope you can zoom in and see what I mean.  My favorite part of this painting is the doodling within her dress and I also like her hair.

Day 19 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Good Day at the Office"        11" x 11"image        $195
watercolor and permanent marker

Can someone tell me the meaning of the word "Easy"?  I totally meant to do an easy painting, since I was babysitting my granddaughters most of the day, and knew I wouldn't have much time to paint.  But, no, I had to start doodling!  And that takes hours!  I actually needed to go to bed last night with it unfinished and complete it this morning.  But the outcome is totally worth it!  This is another of my wire drawings.  I've been trying to take them to the next level.  My goal was to make them look more dimensional and to integrate the color with the drawing aspect of this technique.  I'm really pleased with the results.  By the way, I'm SO EXCITED to be 2/3 completed with this challenge.  Below are paintings 9-18.  It's been a great ride, but I really am getting exhausted.  On a good note, my art abilities have grown and the ideas are endless. 

Day 13 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Jenna"                 11" x 11" Image                   $145
Watercolor and permanent marker

This is another "wire drawing".  Basically a contour drawing, with changes and doodling afterwards.  In this one, I took it even farther than any others that I've done.  I'm trying to keep the integrity of the wire drawing, but add some depth to the painting too, without making it look like a coloring book.  I'm pleased, but will be trying to improve more as I go along.  The model is Jenna Erickson, who is Director of Programs at Madeline Island School of the Arts.  The first time I saw her, I knew that I wanted to paint her.  To me, she's like a Mona Lisa- very striking, and statuesque.  This isn't as good of a likeness as I would have liked but I'll be painting more paintings of her, and hopefully, one of them will capture her unique spirit.  She frequently wears colorful scarves and lots of jewelry. She is a genius at matching clothes to accessories.  If you get the chance, I strongly recommend the MISA for workshops.  It's beautiful and peaceful; it is located a short ferry ride from Bayfield, WI.  A nice place to reconnect with your inner soul. I've taught 2 workshops there and totally enjoyed the experience.

Beginning wire drawing of Jenna

Another Wire Drawing

"Heartfelt Wishes"

This was my demo for the Two Harbors, MN workshop on Day 3.  We had a fabulous time, starting out with Funky Lady paintings, then Charcoal Pour bird paintings, and lastly, wire drawings.  I told them how hooked I am in this process, and I think there are several of them that are just as hooked as I am.  This painting started out with random collage pieces positioned in a cruciform manner.  I keep the colors of the fiber paper very neutral. After the collage dries, we add the drawing of the bird, using permanent markers.  Lastly, we paint the background, using neutral colors.  My favorite combination colors for this is neutral tint and aureolin yellow.  It makes an army green/grey color that I really love!   These drawings sometimes lead to abstracts, by cropping into certain areas.