Students work from my last workshop!

Can you believe it?  I'm so proud of all 10 of my students who did these paintings!  Mine is the second one on the top row.  I should have made you guess.  We had a super time and they did such a spectacular job learning how to make a messy beginning for textures and then add big simple shapes to create their subjects. Next home studio workshop is the end of July! 

Paintings LIttle Abbeys (small abstracts)

"Little Abbey 1", Original watercolor and collage, $45

"Little Abbey 2"  Original watercolor and collage, $45

I just finished teaching 2 separate workshops on Painting Little Abbeys.  "Little Abbey" is my nickname for little abstracts (5" x 7" images).  I use these as warm ups whenever I haven't painted for more than 3 days.  It's amazing how much I forget in those 3 days that usually comes naturally.  I sell them for $45 each.  We start these by laying in analogous colors.  Then I add collage for texture.  The things that I keep telling myself are 1. Simple shapes to start with. 2. Keep colors pretty by remembering the "clean color" rule. 3. Let my painting talk to me, so that I get interesting shapes.  4.  Repetition and variation of shapes and colors.  5. Make sure that I have accentuated the center of interest.  These paintings are so fun to do!  I've been asked to do another workshop on October 29 and 30th in my home studio here in Eden Prairie, MN.  It's a 2 day workshop: one of the days will be Little Abbeys and the other day will be Funky Ladies.  If interested, please email me.  Karen@karenknutson.com   Below are the student's paintings:

Workshops aren't for sissys!

Marker sketch of the mannequin on the right

Last night, I took a workshop at one of my favorite art supply stores, Wet Paint, located on Grand Avenue in St. Paul.  Don Colley was the instructor.  From Chicago, he is the representative for Faber Castell Pitt Markers.  He showed us several of his incredible sketch books and talked about his process of sketching for the first hour.  I was so scared to begin sketching when he gave us several items to choose to sketch.  I sketch totally different than he explained to us!  My friend, Janice Morris, came with me, and we had a ball!  Anyway, this sketch was fixed up by Don Colley, so if you think it's good, it's because he did most of it!  I loved watching him work, and learned so much.  I even bought a small woman mannequin, so I could practice perfecting the drawing process.  He usually starts with a tan or grey paper, and then when he needs a lighter color, he used a white pencil or marker.  I really liked the Faber Castell markers.  Now to practice, practice, practice!!!!

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.

 

Blogging with a Friend, (Charcoal Pour Lesson)

"Cardinal Creation"

I have a friend who is going through chemotherapy right now and she asked me to be a guest artist on her blog.  I loved to do it, knowing how miserable she has been from the treatments.  Kathie George is my friend who is such a joy to be around and such a fantastic artist! She's a master of batik paintings!  I got to meet her through Karlyn Holman, another great friend, who I respect so much!  I have met so many lifetime friends through my art.  What a blessing!  Anyway, I'm purposely NOT showing you the steps to this painting, so that you will visit Kathie's blog to see it!  You won't be sorry!  Look back through all of Kathie's posts, for great lessons and what a great writer she is!  Here's the link:  www.kathiegeorge.com/blog  Be sure to hit "read more", so you can see the whole lesson.  And sign up to receive notices of her blog!  Have fun doing the charcoal pour!!!

How I get my ideas for paintings!

"Rhythm of my Mind"

 

Do you ever wonder where I come up with my ideas for abstracts?  I have many different triggers to get ideas, but one of my favorites is to do "little abbeys" and then use that little 4" x 6" painting as my study for a larger painting.  I start out by dragging my loaded brush across the cold press 140 lb. watercolor paper, and the skipping action is how the whites are saved.  (I do this in a drybrush fashion.)  Then I add collage papers to liven up the colors and add a center of interest by adding a totally opposite color in that area.  After that dries, I weave a unifying color through the painting, and lastly add blacks near the center of interest.  Below is the small study that I used for the finished painting, "Rhythm of my Mind".  Even though the colors are different, you can see some similarities, I hope.

I'm going to be giving a demonstration on this process this Thursday night for the Minnesota Watercolor Society.  The meeting starts at 7:00 and is held at the Christ Presbyterian Church, 6901 Normandale Boulevard, Edina, MN. Hope to see you all there! 

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. 

Surprise! Day 31 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

"Wearing their Paintings"        11" x 11"            $145

First of all, let me explain why I did a 31st painting.  In the middle of this challenge, I painted a chicken painting instead of my figurative paintings, due to the guilt of that long overdue commission painting.  I knew that the chicken wouldn't fit in with all my other collection, so I promised myself that by the end, I would replace that painting.  I will be making a booklet (published by Blurb) of this series, so if you are interested, mail me a check for $30 (includes shipping) with your shipping address and email, and I will mail you a copy upon it's publication.  It usually takes about 3 weeks to publish.  My address is Karen Knutson, 8621 Coachman's Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347.

Now, a little about this painting.  I've always gotten a kick out of artists holding their full sheet paintings in front of themselves, because it looks like they are wearing their paintings.  So, this was so fun to do, and complete the background with a Frank Lloyd Wright look to it.  I'm hoping that the figures don't pop off the page right away.  I tried to make you see an abstract first and then, later, discover the figures.  By the way, this is me and a Florida friend, when I taught her how to paint in acrylics for the first time. It brings back such fond memories!

Collection of all 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

Well, there you have it!  All 30 Paintings to view in one glance!  What did I learn from this challenge?  That it is better to be prepared with meals and sketches ahead of time.  I love that Leslie Saeta features this every year, because it gives me the push that I need in January after not painting at all in December.  I discovered many new tricks and they are all shared on my daily posts, so if you are a student, you might want to look back over this past month's posts.  For those who want to buy a book of these paintings, just send me a check for $30 (this includes shipping) with your mailing address, and email to : Karen Knutson, 8621 Coachman's Lane, Eden Prairie, MN 55347.  It is size 6.5" x 6.5".  I made one last year of my bird paintings, and really liked the quality of the Blurb product.  Thanks to all those who purchased many of these paintings.  It's always so rewarding to have you buy my artwork for your homes.  If interested in any of these, I've tried to keep updating them as to whether they have sold or not, so each day should have the details of each painting status.   I can't thank all of you who commented or "liked" my paintings as I posted them on Facebook.  It really means a lot to hear what you think!  And special thanks to my wonderful husband for encouraging and supporting me when the house hasn't been cleaned all month and we've been eating take out food most days.

Day 30 of "30 Paintings in 30 Days"

"Cheers"              11" x 11"             $145 SOLD
Acrylic on paper

Wow!  I made it!  I wanted to do a toast to all the friends and family who have supported me in this 30 Day Challenge, hosted by Leslie Saeta.  So here's to all of you!  Cheers! :)  It's been quite a ride!  I always wonder if I will do it again next year.  I've done this for 3 years in a row, every January.  I challenged myself to painting figures with abstract backgrounds and I have to say that I really learned a lot!  Yes, I'm glad I did the challenge, and I'll probably do it again next year.  I could really feel the fatigue this year, far more than any other year, so I may have to find a way to make my paintings more simple.  You know how well I do simple....NOT.  Below is my value study (only 2 values) that  really helped me as I selected colors.  I wasn't "feeling" which colors to use in this painting, so finally, I grabbed a napkin that had colors that I liked and that really helped me out.  Try it! BTW, the figure on the left is ME, and the right figure is a good friend.  Wonder if she will know this is her?