NEW LINE CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK!

The challenge for the coming week is to create a painting of THE FRENCHMAN using LINE AS A DOMINANT ELEMENT WITH THE EMPHASIS ON A COLORFUL LINE. This version of Vern has colorful line work done with torn paper. It's one of my favorites but, unfortunately, I didn't realize the paper (cheap colored tissue) will fade! Now I paint my own colored papers with light fast acrylic paint. I guess I should have a giclee made of this painting to preserve the image. Live and learn.

I am providing some additional examples of other artists who have done some fabulous work with colored line. These examples are to stimulate your thinking and come up with your own ideas. Wayne Thiebaud is the first artist that comes to mind with a shimmering color halo around his objects. Van Gogh's work can be considered texture and colored line.

I'm itching to get started!

GRAPHITE SKETCH OF "WILLIE"

This morning I awoke at 6 AM and stayed in bed for an hour drawing this sketch of Willie Nelson. It was so nice and quiet and a great way to start the day before rushing around.

While I was in Texas I bought a magazine with the most amazing photos of Willie Nelson celebrating his 75th birthday. He is a big hero in Texas, beloved by all. He has the most amazing face and I have been collecting images of him. The photographer is so talented and created some very unusual photos. The detail and camera angles are incredible. I like to draw very detailed graphite sketches in an Aquabee sketch book. I cannot see this kind of detail without a photograph. It is just for practice and fun. Working from someone else's photographs means I can't display or sell any of them, but I find great joy in the process of drawing. The magazine has a website with a video interview with Willie. You can stop action the video. I plan to do that and draw from the "still". Website is texasmonthly.com. The photographer is Platon. I went to his website and loved, loved, loved his work. He uses a slightly distorted camera angle much of the time. My new Photoshop Elements 6 has a feature that will distort in this manner. I think I can get some of my photos to have this same effect.

If you want to improve your drawing skills, there are no shortcuts. The old "practice, practice, practice" still applies.

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.

PEOPLE OF NEW YORK SLIDE SHOW & MAY PAINTING CHALLENGE

Usually, photos are only interesting to the people who took them, especially vacation photos. I usually leave the "tourist" type photos to my husband and I spend my time searching out potential material for paintings. Since I am mostly interested in faces and figures, the majority of my photos reflect my interest. Digital cameras are so amazing and they allow you to take tons of photos and edit later. I often focus in on small details that can be inserted in other images. Shoes, hands, etc. A good zoom lens keeps me anonymous. The slide show will give you an idea of the kind of people who catch my eye. My friends have me all figured out and are good spotters for me when we are out together. The Museum of Modern Art was a wonderful place to take interesting photos. Most of the museum had no restrictions on taking pictures and they allowed you to get quite close to the art work. For those of us who want to see every brush stroke, it was a welcome bonus.

Today is the first of the month, so I have a challenge for myself and any of you who want to join in. Let's start with the title and see what image pops into our heads! With this in mind, I have an exciting web site for you. It is designed for writers to give them ideas but it works beautifully for artists as well. I will give you three titles to pick from. If you don't like any of them, you can go to "http://writingfix.com" and play around until you find a sentence or phrase that inspires you to paint. Many of them lent themselves to images other than people. Because of my desire to do a figurative painting, these are the three that set my imagination off on a journey:

1. "Her Friendship is like a birdcage"
2. "Finding my Marbles"
3. "The Picture in the Catalog had lied"

If you come up with some other wonderful titles, be sure and share. It will be fun to see multiple interpretations of the same title.

INSPIRED!

They are painting the outside of our house today and the paint smell was giving me a headache, so I stayed away for much of the day. I was anxious to start painting after being inspired by all that great art in New York, so I came back in the afternoon and started work on this little abstract. I have posted the original photo I shot from the window of the Museum of Modern Art. They were doing some reconstruction on a building across the street and I thought it might make an interesting abstract painting. When you are in the MoMA everything starts looking like a potential abstract painting! I normally do not attempt this type of painting as I never know when I am finished. I plan to add some lines to this and maybe lift out some additional light shapes. I might collage some small pieces into it. Sometimes you have to let an image marinate for awhile and then go back and work on it. So far I like what is happening.

Tonight I went with a friend who was speaking to a college class studying interior design about her business of Art Representation. She works with local designers in placing art work in client's homes and businesses. I talked a little about the latest innovations in watercolor and how it can be put on canvas without glass. It made for a long day, so I didn't get my slide show of interesting people of New York made. Hopefully, I will get it done tomorrow.

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!

BOUQUETS TO ART IN SAN FRANCISCO

This is the week that the special event, "Bouquets to Art" is at the DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Ever since I stumbled upon this spectacular happening, I have made it a point to go every year. Today I went with my friend, Andy, and wasn't disappointed! I have posted a few of the floral displays for everyone to marvel over. You can see them in more detail by clicking on the image. This is how this event works: Each year, the top floral designers and floral clubs are invited to participate by the Museum. The museum selects part of their collection (they choose different works of art each year) and then the floral designers pick which piece they would like to "interpret" The ones I have posted are the more obvious interpretations. Some of the designers just use the color of the piece or they may take a section of the painting to inspire them. Sometimes you can't figure out which painting the floral design goes to ! The designer must use real plant material and then they can incorporate other things as well. The DeYoung Museum has a wide range of art from very abstract to tribal, antiquities, etc. The imagination and craftsmanship that goes into these pieces is a wonder to behold. One of the paintings on my website "Cascading Tulips" was done from a photo I took at this event several years ago. I have stopped taking thousands of photos of the flowers each year and now concentrate on the crowd! Women dress up for this event and it is gratifying to me to see so many people at the museum. I was chasing this one woman around today who was wearing a pink floral hat with big organdy roses, slender body and platform boots! Her face was very interesting, almost a caricature. I finally got a shot of her although it is a little blurry. I can work with blurry. That's the advantage of drawing hundreds of faces. You can fill in the details .

I will post the next challenge on Friday. I am hoping to get mine done, at least started, as an example. I have been receiving some challenge drawings and paintings from the last challenge which I I will make into a slide show on Friday. Stay tuned!

ABSTRACT INSPIRATIONS FROM NATURE

I should have been working on my taxes or painting today, but instead I agreed to help out a friend who wanted my "artist's eye for color" to help her select some granite for her bathroom remodel. Friendships are important so I spent the afternoon looking at tons (literally) of marble and granite slabs. I had never done this before, so I was in awe of Mother Nature's variety and beauty. The different colors and patterns were amazing. I had my camera with me thinking I might see some interesting people but what I found was a treasure trove of inspiration for future paintings !!! I don't know how much help I was to my friend because I became lost in my own little world, photographing like mad. I wound up with 141 shots and have put 41 of them into a slide show to inspire you to find inspiration in unlikely places (and always have your camera or sketch book with you). There was one slab that was a fabricated piece...a composite of gemstone like pieces in a mosaic. I don't know how they did it but the slab was priced at $20,000. I could have photographed sections of this piece for days. Some of the images in the slide show come from this piece and some from different natural slabs of stone. I have "enhanced" all of them in Photoshop Elements so the colors are more intense and the values are exaggerated.
Tomorrow I am DEFINITELY going to work on my taxes and paint!