THE ART AND TECHNIQUE OF PUSHING A STRING!

STRING DRAWING #1

STRING DRAWING #2

STRING DRAWING #3

Want to try something fun?  In my latest drawing book, there was this exercise to dip a strand of a rag mop into ink, hold it at the end and draw with it.  I loved the idea and the challenge.  I think the results have a wonderful quality to them I couldn't get any other way.  This is an excellent way to learn to simplify a subject.  It's not possible to put in little details.  The string won't behave!!!  This process builds your patience, concentration, ingenuity and on and on and on.  You will never get the same results twice.  I started this blog with a drawing I did from a tennis ball dipped in ink.  Hmmmm, what else will make an interesting mark?  

IT'S OFFICIAL!

AUGUST 25, 1963

Today we are officially married 50 years!  It seems to have gone by in a flash.  Lots of wonderful memories,  fantastic children and grandchildren, supportive families on both sides, special friends and a blessed life.  Through it all, Jerry has always been a constant encouragement and supporter of my art endeavors.  I couldn't have done it without him.  

SURPRISED AND HAPPY!

50 YEARS LATER

The National Watercolor Society published the names of the artists that have paintings to be included in their 2013 International Exhibition.  I was surprised and thrilled to have the above painting included!  I didn't make the cut that past two years, so it is wonderful news.  I like this painting a lot but wasn't sure how much others would take to it.  Trying to second guess the judges is an exercise in futility.  In the end, we have to be the final judge and jury.   I start with a concept or idea, do my best to carry it through, evaluate the outcome and go on to the next one.  I love when others find value in a painting or drawing, but ultimately, mine is the only vote that  counts.

This painting is a tribute to my husband, who has been an unwavering support and cheerleader of my artistic endeavors all these years.  Sunday will mark our 50th wedding anniversary.  

Jerry's Highschool Yearbook Picture 

Still handsome after all these years.

I SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST!

DEMO DAY 4 BROOKINGS WORKSHOP

DETAIL DEMO DAY 4 BROOKINGS WORKSHOP

This was my favorite demo from the workshop.  I love when happy surprises show up unexpectedly.  Pretty boring if you know exactly what you are going to get before you even start.  I start with an idea and have a mental picture of what I think it will be like.  Of course, that never happens, but I have a direction.  In this case, I have been working on putting gesso on part of an old painting, stamping into the gesso and transferring that gesso pattern onto the rest of the painting so that part of the old painting shows through the stamped pattern.  This time my idea was to gesso the general shape of the image I planned to paint and stamp the rest of the page, thus having more of the old painting showing through and having a total white space for my new image.  The old painting was on YUPPO from a George James workshop I took.  The surface was covered with watercolor and in some areas heavy concentration of watercolor.  Watercolor on YUPPO can be easily activated by moisture because it is just sitting on the surface, nothing has been absorbed into the plastic paper.  The old painting color scheme was complementary with Indigo and Brown Madder (a low intensity red orange).  My new color scheme was a different version of blue/orange compliments.  

Here is where the serendipity came in.  As I scraped the gesso over the old paint, it became activated and some of it mixed with the gesso.  Then, when I painted over the background, the old color activated and mingled with the new color  resulting in some beautiful color I will never be able to recreate again!  I drew the image with walnut ink, a water soluble material, because I wanted to be able to make corrections is necessary.  I love the edges that are created when painted over or next to.  

Now, where are those other cast aside paintings from the GJ workshop?  I want to do this again!

DAY THREE IS ALL ABOUT THE ELEMENT OF "LINE"!

Have you ever ranked the elements of design according to  your personal favorites?  For me it is Texture, Line, Color, Size, Value, Shape and Direction is last.  On  Wednesday of the workshop we think about the element of LINE and the roll of the dice had me pairing it with the element of color.  The most gorgeous use of a colored line is the mastery of Wayne Thiebaud with his shimmering contour line, and of course, Vincent Van Gogh who constructed stunning paintings out masses of lines, lines, lines.  Another Red/Green complimentary color scheme and we are off and running!  

This is the third painting on this piece of paper.  Two unsuccessful  paintings are underneath.  The letter M was on the previous painting but worked out for this one.  Maybe a letter sweater from college?  I think this will be the final incarnation as I added Portfolio Oil Pastels on top of the paint to brighten things up and bring out the color of the lines a bit. I have never tried to cover oil pastels.  I'm not sure they would cover easily.  

This looks very much like a caricature which are lots of fun to do.  If you appreciate the art of caricature, check out Caricature Showdown 3000 on Facebook.  Every week they pick a different person to draw and paint and then vote on Friday.  The winner gets to select the next subject.  Lots of people submit entries in a wide range of styles, techniques and materials.  Different aspects of the face are exaggerated by each artist.  I love to browse each week and evaluate whether they captured the essence of the likeness.  It makes you think about what makes "us" look like "us".  It turns out that programmers who are working on facial recognition software are studying caricaturists because they see the differences in faces so easily.

SECOND DEMO

This is only a quarter sheet.  I wish it was a bit bigger.  I started with an old painting that had been covered with collage .  I love how the collage papers make this very simple drawing and painting so much more interesting.  Roll of the dice called for a compliment with Red Orange and blue green color chord.  

WONDERFUL WORKSHOP AT WRIGHT'S FRAMING AND ART GALLERY !

DEMO BROOKINGS WORKSHOP DAY 1

On the first day of the Variations workshop we deal with the element of SHAPE.  We also roll the dice to see what color chord we must use.  I drew analagous  colors with red.  Playing with shape can be lots of fun.  Distortion is often involved.  Here is my demo using an old unsuccessful painting with gesso stamping as my sub strait.