WORKSHOP DEMOS

The giant eye is on a 5"x7" bozzetto.  I give workshop participants the option of doing some small practice pieces of facial parts and studies of color ideas before starting their first painting.  This is the demo of the structure of the eye I did showing some ways of introducing color into the area.  The other demo is an example of some interesting compositional ideas.  I like the composition, not very thrilled with the painting.  Worth doing again for a better outcome.  Tomorrow I should be able to make a slide show of the completed student paintings.

EVALUATING THE EXPERIMENTS

I'm working on these small paintings a few minutes here and there around all the minutia of my day. I am getting anxious to spend considerably more serious time on a major painting. I am excited because I thought of what I want to do. The dark side of producing a painting that turns out to be a major piece and receives a lot of attention is the pressure to do it again! I feel like I've peaked! I was contemplating how to photograph the drawing that will be in the next Strokes of Genius 2 book and I realized I never did a painting of this image, only the drawing. I think it should make an interesting painting. That will be my next project. I am going to change the format a bit. I will post as I work on it.

In the meantime, I need to evaluate my little experiments. Today I worked on 3 more bozzettos, only completing this one. The others aren't worth wasting more paint on. It's not always a virtue to keep going. I once heard a wonderful expression: "When the horse dies, get off." I learned what I needed to with the unfinished last two. The texture was too overwhelming and unattractive for a portrait head. The one I completed (above) is too textural in the face as well. The stamps seem to have less contrast than the plastic squares. I think the acrylic gel gets down in the grooves of the pattern of the squares and deposits too much texture. It does make an interesting background, however. Scale plays a part. This size pattern on a much larger head will look somewhat different.

I changed the set of primaries on this last head to see what colors I could produce. New Gamboge, Ultramarine and Primary Red. Don't ask what Primary red is. It's a hue but not a pigment. I just go by the labels on the bottles. The red mixed with Ultramarine creates a purple that is close to brown, very rich and beautiful. Excellent skin tone for darker complexions.

FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION!

Today was a lot of fun playing around with texture ideas. I wanted to stamp into thick gesso. Unfortunately, the only gesso that comes really thick is by Utrecht and I was out. I decided to use heavy gloss gel and then cover with a thin coat of gesso so it would accept watercolor. I found a sheet of smooth press watercolor paper that I had divided into bozzettos of 5 x 7. This paper was a failed start that I had lost interest in. Perfect for today's experiments. I slathered on some heavy gloss gel onto one of the 5 x 7's, smoothed it out with a plastic credit card ( I save all those card offers that come in the mail ) and then stamped into gel with a rubber stamp. I then took the stamp and put the residue on another 5 x 7. I actually like the second one best. It leaves behind a more defined texture and uses less product. The stamp I used was a variation on a checkerboard. I also have these plastic squares with different overall patterns on them. I used two of those on different 5 x 7 's. I found these pattern sheets in the scrapbook and stamping isles of Michael's Craft Store. They come in sets with 4 different plastic sheets each with a different pattern on each side.

After the gel dried, I brushed on a coat of regular gesso and let that dry. Notice on the second image how there are streaks on the right side of the face. I must have been careless when applying the textural surface. These things show up after it is too late to fix them. I used the Vis-a-Vis pen and quickly drew on the head. I am gauging the placement mentally but with a pen you get what you get. I would have liked a little more of the head and shoulders in the frame, but c'est la vie! These are just studies so it didn't really matter that much. I have posted an image illustrating the process to this point. I then used my Caran d'Ache watercolor crayons and colored in everything. Next I wet a brush and dissolved the crayon and followed with Hydrus liquid watercolor. I did a second one holding off adding Caran d'Ache until the end. It makes a difference how the Hydrus flows onto the painting depending on the order of application. I like this look. I am very pleased with the rich saturation of color, the liftability of the paint, the edges etc. The first pattern reminds me of the textured glass on shower stall doors. I am going to try this on a large sheet of watercolor paper.

STUDENTS' SELF PORTRAITS AND MORE!

Saturday we worked on self-portraits by doing modified blind contour drawings looking into mirrors. Everyone was inspired by the work of Elizabeth Layton. I had two posters of her work and a special "Coloring Book" version of her work. "Grandma" Layton took up art at the age of 68 and cured herself of lifelong depression through her amazing contour drawing self portraits. She is an inspirational figure that speaks to the power of art on our spirit. You can read all about her and see some of her work by putting "Grandma" Elizabeth Layton into the search. There are many web sites to explore regarding her life and work.

Everyone worked quickly and finished at least one self portrait. I loved them all! I am thinking now how I should have taken the photo of the painting with the person so everyone could see how they really captured the essence of each person.

The slide show also has some completed bozzetto sheets of "expressions" and several full size paintings based on one of the bozzettos.

Right now I am in Cedar Hill, Texas. The art school looks wonderful and I am excited to begin the week long workshop. I will be able to share our progress throughout the week.

EXPRESSIONS! Student work week 3

Here is a slide show of the work my students in the Advanced Watercolor Portrait class have done in the past several weeks. There are some large paintings worked up from a bozzetto changing the light pattern on the face and some starts on the lesson of expressions which we worked on Saturday. I am seeing some tremendous growth in several of my students. As a teacher, this is as exciting as seeing progress in my own work. I feel like a proud parent. It is the real joy of sharing through teaching.

I had the opportunity to photograph the assistant curator of the Triton Museum in Santa Clara, California during a talk on art he did for Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society. His name is Preston Metcalf and he gave me permission to use the photos as I saw fit. What a brave man! He was the most enthusiastic speaker with the most amazing facial expressions and hand gestures. His passion for art was electric. I share these photos with my class because of the range of facial expressions by one individual. They are genuine and natural, unlike a book currently available on the subject that uses people "acting" out the expressions.

Expression is what I most wish to express in my paintings. It is endlessly fascinating to me how a subtle change in any of the features produces a different "mood". Years ago I took a class in college called "Non-verbal Communication". The knowledge I gained in this class has perhaps had the most impact on me over any other class I took, includng the art classes. Much of our 6th sense and intuition comes from the subconscious recognizing non-verbal facial expressions that flash so quickly your conscious mind doesn't register it. One researcher has taken film that when slowed down frame by frame shows that flash of true emotion and then the "social mask" returns.

So, the message for today is pay attention to your intuition!

Speaking of the mysteries of the mind, I came across an amazing artist in my continual wanderings on the internet. This Genius, Gregory Blackstock, is an Autistic, Artistic Savant. He is the "Rain Man" of art. He spent 25 years as a dishwasher but has spent his whole life drawing from memory (he never is looking at an object when he draws it...it is all in his head!) He creates sheets of objects like a catalog with beautiful calligraphy neatly penned in perfect rows (no ruler used). I have included the website where you can check him out. There is a wonderful little video to watch as well. His works sells for significant dollars and there is a book available through his gallery. We all probably have this information stored in our brains but not the ability to access it. It is a gift that Gregory can show us what is possible.

http://www.garde-rail.com/artists/artists.html Gregory Blackstock autistic artistic savant

LESSON 2: CHANGING THE LIGHT SOURCE

Saturday's class was very small. Illness kept many at home, but those that showed up did a great job with a complicated concept. The idea was to keep the same image but change the light source on the head, therefore creating different moods and effects. You really have to think through each change. I had everyone do fairly quick value sketches in watercolor. We were all working on the same bozzetto at the same time. I had lots of reference material to share and a great book by Hogarth on dramatic light and shadow.

Everyone will have their bozzetto sheet as an excellent reference in the future. This is a great exercise for understanding the structure of the head. It also gives one more options than the lighting of the original image. I have posted my bozzetto sheet above. If you look closely, you can see that there is still some wet paint in the upper right corner! I finished the sheet today while I sat at the Gallery Concord and became a little impatient to photograph the page. It's always best to let things dry.

The slide show has the student's finished bozzetto sheets on the color for people of color and their full size painting done this past week plus the light changing bozzettos. I think they did an amazing job. Enjoy!

SIMPLIFIED...2 MORE VERSIONS

I was hoping to start a larger painting today. I managed to cover the disaster popcorn painting with gesso and tried some texturing ideas but the only painting I actually did was the door to the studio. Sometimes real life intrudes on artistic life! I am making headway in the studio reorganization and have finally come up with a solution for where to store all the large framed paintings.

In the meantime, here are two more bozzettos I painted on Saturday. I was trying to simplify the shapes. I don't think I am a simplified shape person but I feel it is good to strive to reduce an image to it's essence. Detail is easy, simplicity is amazingly difficult! What is the least amount of information that will still convey what you want to say? These little color sketches are the perfect vehicle for this kind of exploration.

ANOTHER VERSION FROM SATURDAY'S CLASS

I started this second sheet of bozzettos on hot pressed paper and decided to use my Hydrus Liquid Watercolor by Dr. Ph. Martin. I started adding watercolor pencil to the mix. I don't usually work on hot press paper, so I was enjoying exploring another surface. This is one of the images I played with.

Wednesday night I will be doing a demo for the Artists by the Bay group at the San Mateo Sr. Center at 2645 Alameda. It is across from the Beresford Rec. Center. The meeting starts at 7 PM. I think I will do this guy on Tyvek on Wednesday. If you are in the area, everyone is welcome to attend the meeting.

SLIDE SHOW FROM LESSON ONE ADVANCED PORTRAIT WORKSHOP

Yesterday we had a great session. One of my students, Leslie Werner, had broken her right arm. Being right handed, this was a challenge, but she gamely drew and painted with her left hand. She was pretty impressive! I decided to try and draw a few images with my left hand, to get a sense of what she was up against. It is an experience I encourage all of you to try. I didn't try painting with my left, but I will do that soon. I have posted the slide show of some of the work. Everyone is encouraged to do a full version of one of the bozzettos during the week. I used my new overhead mirror for the first time. I think it made things much easier for everyone. It is reasonably light weight and fits in my car for transporting. If anyone wants more information about this mirror, drop me a note.

I had an unhappy surprise when I returned home from the workshop yesterday. Watercolor USA had returned the slide I had entered telling me it was ineligible because it was not painted within the past two years. I don't know about you, but "2 years" means 24 months to me, so something completed in late 2006 is within two years. I guess they were counting 2008 as an entire year even though we were only 3 months into it at the time the slide was submitted. This is the first time anything like this has happened to me. I don't mind if my painting isn't accepted because the judge chose other paintings but I feel unfairly treated when this painting should have been eligible for consideration. I wanted to share this information in case you are asked the year something was painted. I know what I will do next time

I have added a new link to the blog. Annelein Beukenkamp is a wonderful watercolorist in Vermont. Her florals have that fresh, exciting feel like Shirley Travena. Check out her blog and website. We are discussing a date for me to come to Vermont for a workshop.

The workshop page of my website is now updated.

THE SUM OF THE PARTS! & APRIL'S CHALLENGE

This is how the sheet looks all finished. The tape worked fairly well but some paint still slipped underneath. Having coated the surface made it easier to clean up the dividing lines of errant paint. Overall, it is a good representation of the lesson I will be teaching.

I am looking for people within driving distance of Concord who would be interested in coming to one or more of the Advanced Portrait classes as subs. Since each class is a separate topic and doesn't depend on the previous lesson, you should have no problem. Stretching this class out over two months means life gets in the way and some of the participants can't make all five sessions. If you are interested, send me an e-mail and let me know which days you would be interested in coming.

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful messages in the past few days. It means a lot when people are cheering you on! Until I experience everything in New York, it won't feel real.

It's a new month, so I am throwing out another challenge. This month, pick an element of design: Line...Shape...Size...Direction...Color...Value...Texture. Now, keeping the same image, see how many ways you can work with that element to create a new painting or drawing. I am going to work with texture and the image in this bozzetto page.

FINAL BOZZETTOS #8 & #9

Sitting at the Gallery Concord yesterday, I was able to finish the bozzetto sheet. Here are the last two pieces. This is an image that I want to work with much more with texture, composition, lighting, and other ideas. Texture and mixed media will require larger formats than 5 x 7 but I am going to work with lighting next so a bozzetto sheet will work nicely. So this is my challenge for the coming month.....to develop as many ideas as I can with this image.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the American Watercolor Society website in the last day, they have finally posted the awards. There are some very exciting paintings there. I am looking forward to being able to see them and the entire show in person. Tomorrow is the official opening of the show with a big reception...food, drink, music. If you can get to New York City, it should be an exciting event.

I finally have my workshop schedule updated. You can find it on my website at www.myrnawacknov.com. The one in Ocean Shores, Washington is being held at a resort and will be like a mini vacation! If you have time in October, consider joining me there.

BOZZETTOS # 6 & #7

I am closing in on finishing the bozzetto sheet. I worked with a round brush on these two but it didn't have a point on it so I had difficulty in creating some lines I wanted in the eye area. The last one, I used my favorite brush, the Cheap Joe Lizard's Lick #4. I am loving how I can lift color off of this surface and I am getting better at getting color to stick. I took advantage of the initial beading up of the paint on the last bozzetto to create an interesting texture in the background. Now I am thinking about which one to enlarge into a full size painting. If you have a favorite, cast your vote in the comment section.

Tomorrow I will be acting as the juror for a CWA show at the Gallery Concord. This will be my first time to participate in this capacity. I am pushing myself to do something I find uncomfortable because I think it is an important growth step in my progress as an artist and teacher. I will discuss the process tomorrow. Stay tuned....

BOZZETTO #5 & WCBTO SLIDE SHOW

I like this bozzetto because it is looser and more in the spirit of color sketch exploration rather than a finished work. Why is it so difficult to relax and loosen up? I have been fussing over the others too much. I hope to stay in this less finished mode for the rest of the page.

I finally got the slide show together from the Tuesday Watercolor Beyond the Obvious class. I tried to get everyone's efforts recorded but I'm not sure if I missed someone. I foolishly didn't write down names, so I left that out. These photos do not do justice to the work but will give you an idea of the range and creativity. I was holding the camera over the paintings that were laying flat on the table. Some of the images are cut off, some are crooked, some have the shadow of my arm. With all these problems, I think you will still be excited about these wonderful paintings. Enjoy!

BOZZETTOS #3 AND #4

This has been a nice way to spend the evening after dinner. My days have been busy lately, so evening has been the best time to paint. Tonight I finished one I started last night and did another. #3 plays with warm and cool colors. It is a good example of how the skin color can be pretty arbitrary and still "read" as a particular ethnicity. #4 has a fair amount of distortion as a way to vary an image. I am changing the brush I use each night. Last night I used a "cat's tongue" shaped brush. Tonight I used a filbert (a flat with a rounded top). It is an unusual shape for a watercolor brush but fairly common for oils and acrylics.

BOZZETTO #2 Change of Value

It was a very exciting day. I went back down to San Jose for the Tuesday Class of Watercolor Beyond the Obvious. So many talented artists producing amazing series of 20 paintings. I tried to photograph the first and last of each artist. I had to hold the camera over the painting so couldn't see what was in the view finder. My arm also cast a shadow on many of the photographs. Tomorrow I will try and "fix" the photos as best I can and then create a slide show.

In the meantime, I was very inspired to go home and paint. I kept fussing with this little bozzetto. The surface is so liftable, you can rework the painting over and over. Not necessarily a great idea but so tempting. I finally decided I was satisfied with it. My idea was to change the value on the left side and loose the edge on the side of his face. I still am working with traditional skin tone for awhile but creating more interesting color in the total painting. Hair is a fun place to start introducing unusual color.

BOZZETTO #1 - Neutrals

Today I went to the final class of Watercolor Beyond the Obvious. This is where each participant in the class shows their 20 paintings in sequential order. It is a fun celebration with lots of art affirming moments for each artist and cudos for Mike Bailey, the incredible innovator of this unique class and educator par excellance! It made me wish I had taken the class again, it's so much fun and motivating and reinforced the value of staying with an image to pull out the creativity. If you keep changing the image, you do the same thing but change the image. If you keep the image, you do something different each time. I have taken the class 3 times. Some students have taken it 6 or more times. If I wasn't so busy, I could take it indefinately. My 3 series are posted on my website.

Doing a sheet of bozzettos is another version of beyond the obvious, in miniature. I did this first one after dinner tonight. I had a plan and color scheme decided before I started. I have been going a little wild with color lately and I wanted to start with a neutral color scheme. I used mostly raw umber and ultramarine blue with a little cerulean blue and burnt sienna and a touch of cad red light and quin gold. The darkest darks were ultramarine mixed raw umber. I also worked with a 3/4 inch and half inch flat brush. I normally use a round brush, so I wanted to challenge myself to develop greater mastery over the flat brush.

I was surprised how resistant the surface was to paint in the beginning. I had to really decrease the amount of water to paint. The surface did lift beautifully, however.

Tomorrow is another Beyond the Obvious celebration. The class is so popular, they added a second section. I look forward to more inspiration and comaraderie. A wonderful potluck lunch is an added bonus.

BEGINNING A BOZZETTO SHEET

Finally, down to some serious painting. In preparation for my advanced watercolor portrait class, I have started my bozzetto sheet. The first session is about using color for people of color. This will be my example to give the class some ideas. It is always best to be able to illustrate one's words with visual examples. I find it easiest to use a half sheet of watercolor paper 22 x 15 and divide it into nine 7 x 5 inch sections. I found this wonderful very narrow masking tape to separate the sections. It worked well on the Tyvek, so I am anxious to see if it works equally well on the watercolor paper. This paper had been previously coated with diluted clear gesso but it was already sectioned off, so I didn't start with a new piece of paper. The class is going to work on 3 sections of diluted clear gesso, 3 of diluted matte medium and 3 sections of uncoated paper to get a better feel for how each medium affects the outcome.

The image I am working from has fabulous hair and lighting. I drew each 5 x 7 section with a mechanical pencil in a modified contour drawing style looking and drawing shapes. I did each drawing fairly quickly. I am not really concerned with likeness or traditional accuracy. I am looking to develop an interesting and compelling image that evokes some emotional response. These bozzettos are going to be color, value and composition studies. This is an opportunity to try different ideas. I will pick one when I am done and work it into a larger painting.