NOVEMBER PAINTING CHALLENGE SLIDE SHOW / DECEMBER PAINTING CHALLENGE

Yesterday I installed the latest version of I-Life on my MacBook. Now all my photos are arranged in a new order which will take me some time to get straightened out. The format looks exciting and is going to be great but there is a small learning curve for me. I have created a slide show out of all the submissions for the November Painting Challenge. I apologize if I have left anyone out. If so, it is because of the way my photos are arranged right now. I shouldn't have any problems for future submissions. I want to thank everyone who participated. It is really fun to see different solutions and every one's efforts. I hope to have even more for the December Painting Challenge.

December is such a busy month, I thought I would keep things simple for the challenge. Any subject, any style but you are limited to 3 colors plus black and white. The way you select the three colors is the fun part. On separate slips of paper, write down each of your watercolor tubes of paint and put them in a jar. Shake it all up and then pull out 3 slips of paper. Those are your colors to work with. I have always wanted to do this, so now is the time! You can do this idea as many times as you paint a new image in December. When you submit your finished painting, be sure and tell me what colors you used. If you want to make it even more challenging, try this: Put each element of design on a separate strip of paper and pick one to be the main element of the painting. You can make a jar for each variable ie. mood, subject, style, etc.

COLLAGED GRID FOR NOVEMBER PAINTING CHALLENGE

I just had to start this painting. I have been dying to work with my collage papers since I cleaned up the studio. Now that I have the papers on the canvas, I hate to paint over them! Somehow they seem like a finished painting. I think I will paint on plastic first and see how it will look overlayed before I paint on the papers. I feel like I have all these starts but I couldn't help myself, the collage was definitely calling me today. I will muster up the energy to work on my ink drawing tonight. Then, I will get back to my commission tomorrow.

I am working on a gallery wrap canvas for this one. I have done this same technique on watercolor paper and it works well there, too. I drew the grid pattern on the canvas with my ultra wide Copic pen in a light orange. Then I decided to color in the various shapes using the markers in different colors. In the first image you can see some of this initial phase. Then I took tracing paper and made pattern templates for each shape and cut them out. I layed the paper pattern on top of the collage paper and used a wet brush with a fine tip and drew around the shape with water. The paper will separate along this wet line. I wanted definite shapes but not a cut edge. This technique gives me a torn edge. I glued the papers down with a 50/50 mixture of acrylic gloss medium and water. I always use an old bristle brush for this so I don't ruin a good sable and the bristle brush smooths out the paper. I made sure the papers wrapped around the sides of the canvas so I don't need to provide a frame when it is done. By coloring the shapes first, it influences the final color because the collage paper is tissue and therefore has some transparency.

I started painting my own collage papers after I discovered that the colored tissue available in the stores is not light fast! That was a rude shock to me as I had done a few pieces I really liked with colored tissue. Now I can have an art show in a closet! I used the video from Creative Catalyst Productions by Carrie Burns Brown. She shows some great ideas for coloring the tissue. Once I got started, I soon created some of my own techniques along with hers. Painting the tissue with acrylic makes it light fast and permanent plus gives the paper some body so it isn't quite so fragile. The great thing is you can't make an ugly tissue. It is so freeing to know there are no mistakes.

I have posted 3 images: the first is in the beginning stages, second the finished collage and the third a detail.

ART COMPETITION AT CREATIVE CATALYST PRODUCTIONS

Creative Catalyst Productions make wonderful instructional art DVDs. They sponsor on-line art show competitions on their web site. It's fun and free to enter. If you win, there are product prizes from some of their sponsors. I received a free video and some pastel paper as a result of winning an honorable mention in one of the shows. This new show is titled "Treasures" and is being juried by a very photo realist artist so I selected the above painting to enter as it fit the topic and the style of the judge. I don't usually worry about the style of the judge in national competitions as they select a cross-section of styles and subjects, but in this case there is no jurying to get in, only for the prizes. It's a fun way to start getting involved participating in competitions. You don't have to pay a fee, mail a painting, worry about deadlines, have slides made, etc. If you haven't tried doing something like this before, now is a good time to start. Just go to their website: http://www.ccpvideos.com and then find the artshows and follow the directions.

I am pleased that I got a lot accomplished today. I did a detailed sketch of my portrait commission. Normally, I just plunge ahead and draw directly on the watercolor paper, but I wanted a true likeness so I drew on tracing paper the full size of my painting. That way, I can erase and correct and get it as accurate as I can. Then I transferred the drawing to the paper and started to paint. I decided that I am going to do two paintings...one in a fairly traditional manner and the other more colorful and looser. The recipient can choose which one they like the best. It will take a lot of the pressure off of me worrying how they will like it. Doing commissions is very inhibiting.

I also booked another workshop today which will be held in San Mateo! It is sponsored by SWA and is only two days but it will cover the basics and get people started. It is scheduled for February 2nd and 3rd (Saturday and Sunday) of 2008. If you are interested, contact me and I will give you more information. I will be posting my workshop schedule on my website very soon. I will let everybody know when it is ready. I am also working on editing the video of the California Watercolor Society demo I did last year. I bought a new version of I-Life so hopefully I will be able to master the technology. When I get the video in reasonable order, I will burn DVD's. Stay tuned but don't hold your breath on this one!

I spent about 20 minutes on my ink drawing but didn't have the patience for it today.

MONTHLY PAINTING CHALLENGE FINISHED!

I really enjoyed painting in the studio today. Put on an exciting book on tape and here is the result. I still have some ideas for other variations - want to do one with the grid as a texture and another with the grid as collage papers but it will have to wait for next month. I have a commission portrait to do first. This will be my first commission in many, many years. The person who wants the painting is pretty flexible about the result, so we will see how it goes.

I have been thinking about the December challenge and I decided to keep it simple since it tends to be such a busy month for so many people. I will announce the new challenge on the last day of November, along with a slide show of all those paintings submitted to me.

The box of Tyvek paper arrived today!! I was really worried as the box didn't fair that well in transit. The paper survived with no damage. The box weighed over fifty pounds but with a little help I wrestled it onto a table top. Local people can let me know if you want some of this paper.

I was wandering around on the internet today and found some great sites. One was a art teacher and she had some fun sounding drawing assignments, so I will be borrowing some of her ideas and sharing them with you. I also found a wonderful interview with one of my all time favorite artists CHUCK CLOSE. It is a 21 minute interview on NPR by Terri Gross from 1998. He shares wonderful insites into his art. The one thing he didn't explain is how he knows how a square will read from across the room when he is working on it. This is the thing that most intrigues me about his process. Chuck Close has worked with a grid for almost 40 years. Since we are working on a grid this month, I thought you might enjoy listening to the interview. Below is the web address. Enjoy!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15660759 (Chuck Close Interview on NPR)

2ND HOUR DRAWING CHALLENGE/ STUDENT SLIDE SHOW

Here is the drawing after 2 hours. I wasn't quite as restless working on it this time. Following a plaid pattern is stressful. Interesting, though. I used to sew and I noticed that this was a well made shirt because they matched the pattern perfectly. I am anxious to be done with the shirt. I think the most important thing I am going to learn from this exercise is discipline.

The week before Thanksgiving was very busy for everyone but my students still found time to work on their paintings. Here are their latest efforts. So far we have been working on full or 3/4 view and then profiles. Now we are working on infant/small children. My demo isn't quite finished, so I will save it for another time.

The end of the month is fast approaching. I need to finish my painting. I have been getting some wonderful work sent to me based on the challenge. I will create a slide show at the end of the month of all the "grid" paintings. Be sure and send me what you are doing so I can include it in the show.

FIRST HOUR OF INK DRAWING IN PROGRESS

I decided I wanted to use a cartridge pen so I didn't need to keep "dipping". I figured I would need a fresh pen so as not to run out of ink. I went through the "Strokes of Genius" book to see what pens others have used and settled on a set of Staedtler pens with 4 different widths. The ink is permanent, archival, waterproof, etc. Found them at Staples. I decided to try a drawing on the Tyvek paper as I am going to really explore all it's potential. The pen works very smoothly. So far, so good. I couldn't decide whether to pencil in the figures first or just go for it....surprise! I decided to just go for it! I had fun putting my photo of a crowded market scene in a small country village in France through lots of Photoshop Elements configurations. I printed out a 8 1/2 x ll of the full scene and then a detail of the area I was going to start with. I started with the widest pen (0.7mm) and a countour drawing, then went to the smallest pen (0.1mm) to shade with. Interesting trying to get the intermediate values with pen lines. Working on the plaid took every ounce of patience I could muster. I kept looking at my watch to see how much longer I had to go but after awhile I settled into it and found myself trying different ways of marking etc. Well. this is how far I got in one hour. At this rate, I may complete the 24 hour challenge after all. I think this looks very old fashioned but it is challenging and I feel myself stretching.

FRIDAY CHALLENGE #9 "5 HOUR INK DRAWING"

Yes, it is Saturday, but I will still call it the Friday Challenge. I have been thinking about the 24 hour drawing and think I want to build up to that, so I figured I could work on a drawing for an hour a day and since I may miss a day or two I am making it a 5 hour drawing. The hour can be broken up into smaller segments throughout the day. It will be relaxing to sit and make marks. I need to go through some of my European crumbling walls and tiled roof photos for some complex, detail riddled image to obsess over. It should be fun! Anyone else want to try? I have posted some pen and ink drawings I did this summer in France to give you some ideas. It didn't take me nearly 5 hours, but you get the idea. Any subject is fine, but it needs to be something that has enough detail to spend a lot of time on it.

This has been one of the most exhausting weeks that I can remember. The studio was so trashed, I couldn't work out there and couldn't find anything, so I bit the bullet and spent three days going through everything and throwing stuff out, giving stuff away, rearranging all my books and supplies and now I am excited to get in there and really do some work! I was able to give Ronald McDonald House tons of craft supplies and took some art books and magazines to my students today so everything has a happy new home. After the big clean up it was on to cooking for Thanksgiving and then spending time with my visiting children and my grandson home from college on Friday. After teaching all day today, I am ready to retire early and start painting tomorrow!