BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: JULY CHALLENGE

Today Gallery Concord changed the exhibit for the quarter. I spent the last few days getting these paintings framed and ready for the show. I wanted to exhibit some new paintings this time. I photographed them on the wall in the gallery so reflections are showing up in the photo. Like a double exposure, it adds an interesting layer to the images. I guess double exposures will be a thing of the past. Without film it can't happen. I suppose one could create the same illusion in Photoshop with a little effort.

Now I have to reframe my painting for the National Watercolor Society show. That is my project for tomorrow. There is lots of paper work for that show, as well. After receiving my signature with NWS, I was rejected the following 2 years. Makes one think perhaps they have lost their touch! I was excited to get back in this year. I missed getting in the San Diego Watercolor Society show by one painting! They notified me I am first alternate. Seems the societies are protecting themselves these days by having artists at the ready to ship their paintings should there be a problem with any of the accepted paintings. When you don't get in a show, you usually don't know if you missed getting in by a inch or a mile!

As soon as I can finish packing up the painting to send off to NWS, I am going to get back to serious drawing and painting. I was thinking about ways to create a paradigm shift away from photo realism to draw the image when I came across a web site of an artist that does cut paper. I loved it! Then, today, I discovered another artist that does fabulous cut paper work! The universe at work. I am providing the websites to check out these artists and get the idea. The key to cut paper imagery is basically that the shapes that are "cut out" have to be surrounded by a continuous shape so it doesn't fall apart. This requires some thinking, designing, and planning. When I have mine done, I plan to actually cut out the shapes and put the sheet over a darker piece of paper and photograph the result. If you are confused as to this concept, I think looking at these two web sites will make things clearer. There is nothing like a good visual to clarify matters. The first website is matthillart.com/cut-paper-slideshow/. His work is the simpler of the two. The other is Patrick Gannon Paper Cuts. You can find the link on the right side of my blog under Blog Lists.

I am looking forward to seeing lots of creative drawings from everyone using this idea. Just send me an e-mail with the image attached and I will post them as they come in.