June is here!

The merry month of May is just a memory.  A memory of oil painting classes, some of which I paid for and was a full time student, others I was a monitor, attending to details.  Putting out food to keep the artists happy; setting up the room for  still-life painting; cleaning up; taking down; timing the models.  So many details to make everything run smoothly.
During my free time?, I tried to paint a still life. Ha, maybe it will be finished from the photos I took, maybe not.
The full time class I took was from an artist called Qiang Huang www.qiang-huang.blogspot.com.  "Chong Wong" is a Chinese artist from Austin Texas.  He has painted with many of the current great artists, like Richard Schmidt, David Leffel, etc.  His work is wonderful and now I own two pieces of his art.  The painting below is his second demo during the workshop.  I also bid on a small piece from the daily painters auction; Orchid study 2.  I can't call it up and paste it here yet, so you will have to visit http://www.dailypaintworks.com/allartists/#/artist=huang, qiang&mode=search

All of this art and monitoring was sponsored by Whidbey Island Fine Art Studio http://www.fallcityfineart.org/.  We met and painted in one of the Fairgrounds buildings.  Parking was a real challenge because of all the semi-tame bunnies that have escaped from the fair and multiplied over the years.  They even have a special bunny graveyard!

I hope to get to finish some of the paintings I started last month.  Stay posted!  Meanwhile, the garden needs attention.  The sketchers are coming to sketch here on the 21st, so I need to make it pretty.
Pat

Second demo.  Needs a title, any suggestions?

Catching up

This month has flown!   The sketches below are the results of a class I took with Fay Castle.  The goal was to find your "what".  For me that means not painting everything in sight and making them all important!  In this case below it was my fellow student sitting on an upside down flower pot, sketching the flowers in front of her at the Crockett Barn.  You will note, I made a sort of value sketch to identify the light and shadow.  Next goal drop a color, then a complimentary color and let them blend. This was fun and a needed reminder to me, the blender of paint, to let the watercolors do the work.  A fresher look can be achieved by paying attention to the basics. 

 

Gloria, 5 months loves pillows better than bed.

While visiting Northern California, we gorged on Rainier cherries

Another version of my painting friend done with markers.  I like the attitude of her feet on the side.

David Hockney and me

Tablecloth design - Brushes

Living Room -Brushes program

Daisy using "Glowdraw" on iphone

I just read an article in the Financial Times about digital painting by David Hockney.  He has recently hung a show at the Royal Academy of Art in the U.K.   Hockney was asked several years ago to create a show entitled Spring. During three springs he became intensely familiar with the day-to-day changes in the landscape near his home, before, in a few frenetic months last year, painting the 52 works that comprise "The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire, in 2011".  These works were drawn on an Ipad!  They were drawn so they could be printed to scale and reproduced in large format.  The largest painting is a 15 meter oil painting, of purple and ochre tree trunks and outsize luscious leaves.  The article doesn't make it clear if this painting was conceived on the ipad and completed in the studio.  The show consists of very large prints from the Ipad drawings.  www.royalacademy.org.uk

The latest program I am using to draw with is call "Brushes". I hope to, someday, be as proficient as Hockney on this wonderful tool.  The difference, besides talent, is that he uses a stylus and so far I have been painting with my finger.  The finger is always available but clunky, and you can't see under your finger!
Once the painting is finished and saved, all the steps used to make the drawing can be replayed-very fast; it shows all the color choices, erasures and then the final product. I hope you enjoy this art, it's not as easy as it looks.  The living room took a couple of hours to produce and seconds to replay.

Drawing Jam

This was my first experience at the once a year drawing jam at the Gage Institute in Seattle.  Three floors were devoted to drawing from still life, nude and costumed models.  I spent most of my time in one room trying to get a good view of the models so I could draw them, then discovered the pleasure of drawing my fellow artists who were so involved with their own drawings, they had no idea that they were my models.  My view was a sea of easels, very tall easels!  I knew I couldn't stand at an easel all day, so found a high stool against the wall and enjoyed the view.

My first subject was "the big guy".  He was so involved in his drawing that I had time to study him, his clothing, the way he held his paper with one hand while he drew with the other.  His clothes were more interesting because they were layered.
My next "victim" like to sit sideways on the drawing stool; I liked the way her hair swooped back.  Another gal always drew up high onto her pad of paper, with one hand on her hip.  I asked if her arm ever got tired and learned from her accent that she was French.  She informed me that her arm was a light as a feather.  I had an empty easel near me but it had a coat hanging on the side, so I assumed someone was coming back and later a woman showed up and blocked the rest of my view so I moved on after sketching her twice.  I'm not showing this because her back was boring.

Looking for food later in the day, I found the Thai food truck in the driveway and then more models on a scaffold in the multipurpose room, this time they were dressed in simple tights or a bathing suit.  They were incredibly strong to be able to hold difficult poses for several minutes of time.

The cost for this wonderful day was $10 and it included drawing pads, pencils, erasers, and all kinds of art supplies.  It started at 9am and went on into the evening.  I would give this experience at least 4 stars.  Save the first Saturday in December to enjoy this experience.

A sea of easels

Light as a feather

Reserved

The big guy!

Are Oils my new friend?

I certainly like them, the colors are rich, they cover and blend well, but....ever since I took a plein air class with John Budicin and experimented with Acrylic, Watercolor and Oil, all in one week, I've been confused.

I didn't think I would like working in oil and at first I didn't.  I was afraid of the odor,  I didn't think I would have control.  After all, I can whip out a watercolor sketch of my subject matter in just 1/2 hour for reference.  Why would I want to labor over little dabs of color, constantly mixing to get the right value and color?   The limited palette was simpler, but I use a limited palette already.  I'm thinking perhaps the ability to get distant perspective by mixing a lighter pigmented value is attractive; better than guessing your watercolor wash would be correct.

Evaluating the acrylics in comparison:  the colors seem too harsh, even hard or brittle, not soft and romantic like the oil.  A couple of the acrylic paintings are okay, but TMI, too much information, like "Folk Art".  God forbid it should look like Folk Art!  I want it to look like a painting!  It was the small brush.  The minute you start detailing a landscape with a small brush (distant perspective), you should run out of the room screaming.  "I didn't squint"!  Aargh!  Get rid of the small brushes, except for signing the painting!

Here are a couple of paintings I am still evaluating and would really like some critique.  Help me out please!

Holmes Harbor East, tide returning Oil

Langley Harbor Acrylic

Sandy Point Acrylic 

Useless Bay oil

Spring & Strawberries

It has been a long, cold, wet winter here in the Pacific Northwest.  I know, you will say what about those beach sketches?  Weren't you in Hawaii?  Yes, we had a winter break, but I'm thinking it was too soon.  The rain Gods were relentless when we returned; the rain came down almost constantly and the temperature was raw.

What a celebration, when I saw strawberries at the supermarket.  Yes, they are from California, and buying local is our mantra, but OMG, strawberries, and then, THE SUN came out!   Before we ate all of them, I painted a few to remember the moment.  I am not sure this is finished, so comments welcome.  I just had to post some pretty Spring colors.

Spring strawberries (feels lopsided)

For my artist friends:  On Friday, I went to the sixth annual Bizart Conference, www.bizartinfo.com  at Edmonds Community College.  This was a two day brain workout for writers, performers and artists.  The subjects covered, ranged from Building Business Relationships in an Electronic Era, to 100 Promotional Ideas for Under $100.  One of my classes was with the manager of Columbia City Gallery in Southeast Seattle.  Talking to her in a 20 minute one to one opened my eyes about the realities of running a group art gallery.  Whidbey Artists Gallery (co-op), is planning on opening a gallery in Langley soon.

I would recommend all artists become more knowledgeable and take these classes next year.  The conference was well-managed; the classes were too short for everything I was learning, but long enough to teach me how much more I needed to know.  Wherever you live, find out what your community has to offer to help you learn how to make it in this fast-paced art world.  Catch phrase of the day:  "SUCCESS IS A SOCIAL ACTIVITY"

WWII Control tower

Every time I took photos, stood and painted this amazing control tower, I wondered what the people inside saw on December 7, 1941.   Located on Ford Island, in the heart of Pearl Harbor, it was also in the heart of the action.  The USS Arizona lies about 1/3 mile away looking North, if you turned West about the same distance the remains of the USS Utah are rusting in the water.  In this huge and beautiful harbor many ships still nestle in its protected waters.  I could see Coast Guard ships, NOAA ships and small service boats and on the mainland, Pearl Ridge.

WWII bunker & mountains on mainland

WWII housing near the Missouri/early evening.

During WWII the largest battleship in the world was the USS Missouri.  Today its huge presence attracts visitors from all over the world.  The walkway toward the ship is lined with fluttering American flags; the ship behind the flags is a huge monster with giant guns facing out to show its might. Today it hovers beside the Island, a presence not to be ignored. There are ghosts on this ship, the ghosts of General Douglas MacArthur and the retinue of Japanese ambassadors, changed the world when they signed the Articles of Surrender in August of 1945.
The reflections in the water have beautiful, distorted images not unlike the images of peace. What is peace?  Will the world ever know?

USS Missouri guns in harbor; cottage housing in foreground

Early morning view of Arizona memorial from Ford Island

Missouri and little cottage (wwII housing) Can you imagine having that in your backyard?

Reflections of the tower aboard the Missouri

Welcome aboard BB-63!

Elipses and Dark values

Recently, I spent a weekend painting with about 18 other artists on Camano Island; the second annual (I hope) weekend with Jack Dorsey and Thomas William Jones.  If everyone else came away with as much understanding and information as I did, we struck gold.  Tom is a local artist, living in Snohomish, who has had the honor and privilege of painting images of the White House that were used for the Christmas cards for the Reagan administration for four years.  Needless to say, his work is selling for high figures and his knowledge and understanding of composition, value, and so much more is way above anything I could ever accomplish and mesh into my mind in my lifetime.

Jack is such an accomplished artist and well known on Camano Island.  He has had two one man shows at the Frye Art Museum.  He opens his home and garden for this workshop; his wife Ann  cooks a meal for us on Saturday night for the critique with Tom and keeps us supplied with brain food during the two days we work.  Jack runs around looking for everyone, trying to answer questions and help with drawing, perspective, value.  The house and garden are overflowing with potential still-life subjects for us to choose from.  I wish we could do this once a month.

I like heading into the peace of the garden and choosing my subject based on the light.  Friday, there wasn't very much light with rain threatening.  Nevertheless, I saw a shiny metal tank in the lower garden with a couple of spouts and rolls (elipses!) of wire and hoped that it would be and interesting painting.  It took me two days and two visits each by Jack and Tom to finish the painting.  I am posting Jacks ten minute tiny color study, Tom's quick value sketch in pencil and my pencil study and the ? finished product.  Weep with me.

My painting

Jack Dorsey sketch with color added.

Quick sketch by Tom