STUDENT SLIDE SHOW FROM GUALALA WORKSHOP!

Here is the long awaited slide show. You can see what terrific work everyone did. This was the first time a few of them had even worked in watercolor much less done a portrait. Some pretty brave souls! Tomorrow I will post a slide show of the beautiful Art Center in Gualala and the very unique and beautiful chapel in the town.

I heard from my friend Nancy Standlee. She has joined two new blog sites. One is dedicated to Texas Artists and there are several fantastic figurative painters on that site. The other is featuring abstract artists. Check them out! So much great art, so little time!

blog Daily Painters of Texas - http://dailypaintersoftexas.blogspot.com
blog Daily Painters Abstract - http://dailypaintersabstract.blogspot.com

GUALALA WORKSHOP DEMO: PROFILE

This is the demonstration I did for the workshop for the second painting, a profile. It is on Tyvek paper using Dr. Martin's Hydrus liquid watercolor.

I spent a few hours today clearing photos off my laptop and onto the auxiliary hard drive so I can download all the photos I took last week. Then I can create a slide show. I am trying to move the photos into electronic folders so I can find images by categories. This is taking lots more time than I would like, but I think it is necessary. I will probably save time in the long run by not having to go through all the photos to find the ones I want. It is the curse of the digital age.

NEWS FROM GUALALA

I have not fallen off the face of the earth! I am in Gualala teaching a workshop. This is definitely G-d's country! On the California Coast, Highway 1 just north of Sea Ranch and an hour's drive south of Mendicino, Gualala is nestled in the Redwoods, the air is freshly scented with ocean and forest. I am being hosted by my new friend Dorise who found me on the internet. Her wonderful home is filled with interesting art she has created and collected from other talented artists. It is a feast for the eyes. I am continually discovering new pieces I overlooked. Fawns were on the lawn yesterday morning as we had breakfast. I hope they are back today. We have no deer in Foster City! I know they eat everything, but what a joy to find such beautiful wild creatures so close.

The Gualala Art Center is amazing. Totally built by volunteers (maybe she meant funded) it is a gorgeous structure tucked in the Redwoods (a state park for camping and hiking is just down the road). This area is a mecca for artists and the creative energy is exciting. It must be wonderful to be surrounded by neighbors who are fellow artists. The Center has interesting exhibits and a huge classroom upstairs where we are working. The art library is to die for. The classroom has wifi internet service so I will have a chance to post from there.

We are having a great time. Everyone is working fast and furious. The first portraits should be finished today. Hopefully I will be able to make a slide show before I leave, otherwise I will create one for next week. I will also make a slide show of this beautiful area and the Art Center.

This is was my demo for the group. Yes, it's Morris again. He is so much fun to paint. I demonstrated texturizing an old painting with gesso. Then I used a new idea from Mary Todd Beam's new book "The Creative Edge". You brayer colored gesso onto aluminum foil (in the book it shows black but I used red) place the wet side down on your paper and draw lines into the back side of the foil. Lift the foil off and add watercolor when the gesso is dry. Everyone in the class got into the spirit of "what if...?" and tried little experiments with the painted foil in slight variations. Next time I am going to save the foil and collage it into a painting.

SLIDE SHOW FROM VALLEY WATERCOLOR SOCIETY WORKSHOP!

Finally, I have gathered from some of the participants who were nice enough to send them to me, most of the photos from the workshop to create this slideshow. Not all of the photos were identified by name. I apologize for the omission. I can edit the show, adding names and new photos. Please send me any that are missing. This was an impressive group! Notice that Jill and Gail used the same reference photo and came up with two very different paintings. Everyone was very creative in their compositions. A few of the group even had time to paint two versions of their subject. Some are still a work in progress. Enjoy the show!

I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment on the last blog, giving me information on how to retrieve photos. I am sure I am not the only one who didn't realize that there is software out there to do this recovery process ourselves. The free software isn't available for the Mac but my husband and son both have PC's so I will recover the images onto his computer, put it on a memory stick and transfer it to my computer. What a technology dance! That seems like a good project for tomorrow.

GONE WITH A PUSH OF THE WRONG BUTTON!

This was the demo I did for the workshop. Our old friend "Morris" on Tyvek utilizing the new Daniel Smith Watercolor Sticks. No additional paint was used. I have a few more surfaces to try out this new paint format. The jury is still out but I am having fun experimenting.

Sadly, this is the only photo I have left from the Valley Watercolor Society workshop! I had photographed everyone with their paintings, even taking several shots each to ensure that I would have a good one.

Sunday the entire family went to Long Beach to the Aquarium and the Queen Mary to celebrate, birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, end of school, graduations etc. Took over 200 photos there.

We drove home yesterday and, in a tired state, I downloaded the photos from my camera, cleared the card in the camera, edited the photos deleting the blurry, redundant ones, and then emptied the "trash". Somehow I managed to delete EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! Its gone, all gone. Arghhhh!

Lots of people were taking photos during the critique, so I am hoping my S.O.S. to the group will yield most, if not all, of the paintings by e-mail. Hopefully I will be able to make a slideshow. Everyone did such a fabulous job, I wanted to share their success with everyone.

If anyone knows how to retrieve permanently deleted photos, please share.

RESULTS FROM LAST NIGHT'S DEMO

There was a wonderful turnout at the Valley Watercolor Society meeting last night. It was especially nice for me to have two of my sons and my daughter in law there. A traffic accident on the freeway created a 5 mph crawl for much of the way, spiking my level of anxiety of being really late. We barely arrived on time, but things went smoothly from there on. They have a very special system where the painting process is projected onto a large screen and they are video taping at the same time. I am wearing a microphone and the room is dark so the screen is brighter. It is very strange to look out and see blackness as you are talking. Fortunately, some people asked questions while I was working, otherwise it feels like you are talking to yourself as you chatter away and paint. They are going to create a DVD and provide me with a copy. It should be ready some time in July. That will be great to have.

Today was the first day of the workshop. It was a pretty big group...24...but everyone was enthusiastic and from the drawings I saw at the end of the day, there should be some great painting by the end of the day tomorrow. I will make a slide show and post the results.

DEMO TONIGHT AT VALLEY WATERCOLOR SOCIETY IN ENCINO

In preparation for my demo tonight at the Valley Watercolor Society meeting, I thought I would spend a little time getting familiar with the image I want to use. This man was photographed in Bordeaux, France in an outdoor flea market. Lots of fantastic looking people there. First, I did a pen sketch using a Pilot extra fine roller ball pen. I found this pen at the office supply store. It is the same pen I used yesterday for all those sketches. The ink is permanent and won't bleed.

The second sketch was done on heavier paper with the vis-a-vis pen. This ink does bleed and so I was able to do some tonal work, then I applied the finer Pilot pen for additional lines.

The last sketch was with the Vis-a-vis pen and then some additional watercolor in blue and vermillion. I was looking for a light pattern i could use with this head. The actual light on the day I took the photo was overcast, so no strong light pattern.

It helps if I have these ideas worked out in advance before a demo as things have to move along pretty fast and no real time to make decisions.

I have been told they will be creating a DVD of the demo tonight and I will receive a copy. Nothing like a little pressure! I hope it comes out well.