Sketches and a Couple of Things

I managed to do a couple of quick sketches.  I am hosting the Scavenger Hunts over the holidays, so I better sketch, right?  I sketched for Hunt 387 http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1368047in the large sketchbook with a Micron 05. 

Number 3, dominant hand with non-dominant hand
Number 4, shoes

It was interesting drawing with my left hand.  Not easy for me.  The pen doesn't work well for a flow of ink.  I wonder if I have changed it by using it with my right hand or if pens, like scissors, are mainly for right handed folks.  Maybe I should have held it differently?  I will check with Larry tonight as he is a lefty.  Maybe some of you are left handed and can chime in?? 

The art scene in Bastrop is growing constantly.  There is an article on the Bastrop Economic Development page that may interest you.  http://www.bastropedc.org/blog/artbastrop

My good friend and super painter is having a workshop.  I met Susan through the Austin Pastel Society years ago.  She is in San Antonio and has refurbished a historical building and set up her studio, gallery, school and apartments.  If you can take a workshop with her you will be very pleased.  This one sounds super.  I received this notice:

It's impossible to describe the pleasure of announcing a workshop of mine in our own studio.  But, trust me, it feels WONDERFUL.  I hope you'll join us!-Susan smiling widely

The Narrative Figure Inside.

When: Friday, Saturday, Sunday February 20, 21, 22 with a welcome reception the evening of Thursday February 19.

Where: Whistle Stop Corner, 330 Lamar, San Antonio, TX 78202

Fee: $365. Includes instruction, model fees, reception and lunch each day

http://www.whistlestopcorner.com/workshops.html

us@whistlestopcorner.com
210 602-8562

Class fee includes reception and lunches and much more.  Read up on it.  The class will fill up soon.  Susan hasn't had many workshops with all the work they have been doing and we are all anxious for her to get back to being an artist!!

Part 3, of My Review of Tom Christopher’s Workshop

The second day of the workshop Tom Christopher did a demo of snow.  He gets to see a great deal of snow in Iowa.  Since we don’t have much snow here, I painted from one of his many reference photos.

He started again with a very simple sketch.  He didn’t rush, though, and put his plan down on his paper. He used U-Art sanded paper.

Without using any pure white, Tom worked toward a finish.  By the way, Tom puts his paper and canvas on a wall at home to work upright.  He has a door on the wall and uses that for his easel.  It is good to work upright or even tilted a tiny bit forward so the pastel dust falls off your work.  He says it gives him more room to step back and look at his work.  (I always stand to paint when I can.  I have more movement and can move back and forth so I don't get stuck in one place and start to over work any section.  It is good to look at the work upside down or in a mirror, too.  I take snapshots and look at them in black and white and flip them around on my computer.)

We then worked on our paintings with much individual help from our instructor.  He has a great deal of patience and tunes his help and critiquing to fit the artist.  He was very encouraging to the beginners and helpful with those of us that had painted before.

Here are a few more from the day.  Some of us did more than just two a day working from his photos and personal photos.

Day three, we convinced Tom we needed a third demo.  He painted a path in the woods and some rocks.  Demonstrating that to lightly scumble different colors of the same value into the different areas, he could then use the various shapes to pull out the trees in the background, leaves on the path and the rocks.  It was helpful to paint the rocks that way with just a few marks instead of trying to “draw” the different rocks.

After lunch our instructor critiqued paintings.  He offered to do them individually or in front of the group.  We chose having our work talked about in front of the group.  Each of us could ask questions and learn from the other artists.

And finally my snow painting. 

I like the light in it very much.  Tom really liked how the snow drifts just worked themselves out in the scumble technique.  This painting is 24 x 18 inches on Wallis paper.  Very large for me.  I really enjoyed spreading the pastel dust around so freely.  I must do some more large work.  Wallis paper has a lot of tooth and was good for the light scumble technique.  It will make your fingers bleed if you are an artist who blends pastels with your fingers.  It can eat up your pastels, too, if you use a heavy hand.

It isn’t practical to get too much larger in pastel.  Glass and backing get very heavy.  Frames get very expensive, especially if you don't work in standard sizes.  Perhaps I will look into acrylic glazing.  I do have some non-glare acrylic on my Ollas painting.  It works, but doesn’t show the luminosity as well as museum glass in my eyes.  It is a bit pricey as well.

The workshop was well worth it.  Lou (Bag Blog with link to her post) and I had such a great time and we even learned a bit.  Gene and Toby had fun.  It was great to see David and Lisa and get my new shelf for the niche.  

My funk seems to be on the run or more like slipping away.  I have painted the cows since we got home, finished the apple painting which I haven't posted here yet and worked on the first painting we did at the workshop.  I think it is finished.  I will post those two paintings soon. 

I'm working on a donation for the Family Crisis Center Gala.  It was the Festival of Trees in past years.  It is a beautiful fundraiser.  I will tell you all about that, too.

I’m having fun in my studio again!  Woohoo!  

Part 1, How I Choose a Workshop, Part One of my Review of Tom Christopher's Workshop

Part 2, of My Review of Tom Christopher’s Workshop

Part 2, of My Review of Tom Christopher’s Workshop

I have been in my art funk for a couple of years and hope this is the event that will bring me out of it.  It seems to be working.  I have always enjoyed painting the high desert which I find easier as I know it better.   We live in the Lost Pines now and visit the mountains in the hot weather.  I have been working on learning about painting trees for a few years and this workshop looked like the perfect way to make some additional progress.

As mentioned a couple of posts ago, Lou (Bag Blog) and I attended the Tom Christopher (http://tomchristopherartist.com/) pastel workshop at the Eureka Springs School of Art in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in mid September. This is Part 2, you can read Part 1, here.  

Tom lives in Iowa and paints what he knows:  the landscape, rivers and trees in his area.  He stresses the importance of value. His painterly style is considerably looser than the way I generally work and I wanted to give it a shot.  As I mentioned in Part 1, this opportunity fit right in my plan.

When I say he paints looser, it means he doesn’t fill in all the details, leaving the viewer to complete the painting.  I hope I can add a bit more mystery to my work without giving up detail that I find important to the story I’m telling in my painting.

Tom begins with a very light and minimal sketch with pencil or charcoal.  If he has not worked out the values, he will do small value sketches.  

In this case, he had decided how he wanted to start this demo.  You can see he was working from a couple of photos for the textures and values.

He demonstrated how he starts his values by using a watercolor under painting.  He said the color is not important, just the values.  He used a purple gray for the dark, red for the midtone and left the paper white.

He then worked on color building up to the lighter values on the main tree area.  He uses a very light touch with the broad side of the pastel.  He only uses the edges of the pastel for fine lines if necessary.

After the demo we all started a painting with the watercolors and worked in Tom's style.  Lou and I used our own photos.  He had many reference photos on hand for us to try.

Lou’s underpainting with a start of pastel.

My underpainting with a bit of pastel.  I actually liked the under painting.  I don’t do many watercolors and it seemed pretty good to me.  Ha.

Lou’s second painting for the day, near "workshop finished" and Lou working.

My two paintings as finished as they got at the workshop.  Sometimes I work on paintings after the workshop and sometimes I just start new paintings.  The first painting is on Pastelbord, so I am working on that one at home.  Progress in another post.  

I plan to work on the second one as well.  I painted this scene before so we shall compare at the finish.  I’m not goint to show my finished painting yet, I don’t want it to influence this one.  I don't think I used the same composition, but it is from the same.

Tom spent time with each of us, helping to pick a photo, work on the composition and values.  He encouraged us to try to work with big shapes and what to leave out of a painting.  It is tempting to paint every tree, rock, building, etc.

We worked untl lunch and then started the second painting after lunch.

It was a great workshop art wise.  Tom said we have to "look and see" well to work that information into our paintings.  I have really been looking at trees  .... and values.

It was also a good time to get together with Lou and Toby, her husband.  Gene and Toby rode their bicycles and visited while Lou and I were in class.  We explored the downtown area and had some great dinners in the area.  On the weekend, David (our son) and Lisa, his wife, came down to Arkansas from Kenucky to deliver my shelf so we all had a good time.

 The four of us.

 The view from our deck.

 Our home away from home.

Downtown Eureka Springs

I didn't get a good photo of David and Lisa so I will post this photo from the wedding in August as I haven't posted those either.  David, Lisa, Nick, Christy, Cindy and Cole  It was a great wedding and lots of fun.

When I was planning how to do my posts about the workshop, I ran across this quote.  It seemed appropriate somehow.

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. —Dwight Eisenhower

Free on-line Workshops this Weekend

Here is a chance to try out the artistsnetwork.tv workshops for free.  I will be at the baseball games so won't get the chance.  Have fun!


http://artistsnetwork.tv/c-17-fwspecials.aspx?et_mid=208727&rid=2920851

These are the folks that have the Artists Magazine, Pastel Journal, Wet Canvas, etc.

Pastel Workshop Reminder

A reminder that I will be giving a pastel workshop in Marble Falls on January 13 & 14.  It should be lots of fun.

If you can't go, maybe you can recommend it to someone.  I will be demonstrating different under paintings and showing how color can help you find the light in your work.  I hope to see you there.  :)

Call me or send me an e-mail if you have questions, sign up directly with the Guild in Marble Falls, contact on my workshop page.

One type of under painting is shown here in this post doing a plein air landscape.

Workshop with Jo, January 13-14

Jo at her demo in Marble Falls, November 18, 2010

Come to my workshop on January 13-14, 2011, Thursday - Friday: Finding the Light in Your Paintings

The Highland Arts Guild & Gallery
318 Main St.
Marble Falls, TX 78654
http://www.highlandartsguild.org/home.htm
(830) 693-7324

I will be giving a workshop in Marble falls about finding the light and using an under painting in your work. You will work in your own style while learning some techniques and ideas that will liven up your work. I will be present alternatives in under painting with guidance in your work. There will be a portion on Blogs, facebook and other business aspects for the artists, depending on the interests of the class. The class is designed for beginners to intermediate in working with pastels. It will be a lively class with discussions on all aspects of pastel work.
There are some short videos on my website or on the sidebar to the right, that present a glimpse as to how I work.

A supply list is on the page as well.

$135.00 for the two day workshop, contact the Highland Art Guild to sign up, size of class is limited.

I encourage you to try the options to painting with pastels that I will be showing you.  These hints are great references to improving your own style, not to paint like me!  Hope to see you there.  Call me or send an e-mail with any questions.



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This demonstration will be followed up by a 2 day workshop in January.  Details to come soon.

Day 3, Pastel Workshop.....whew!

Our start this morning from the hotel. The sunrise was a little different, pretty clouds but no rain. :(

Sunrise from the hotel.

After arriving at the Windberg Art Center, we had a big discussion about why you get so tired trying to learn something! Maybe learning is for the young and not the young at heart. Everyone seemed worn out this morning, even the youngsters in the group. At any rate, after coffee we students perked up a little. Desmond O'Hagan gave a talk on the business side of being a painter. He started in advertising so was prepared for the business side. He encourages the internet presense, mail lists, and trying to get your exhibits, work, ideas in print, newspapers and magazines. His demo was about how he uses his pastels on the side like a paint brush. We had some great instruction from him. (David Patterson, Desmond said "Hi" back to you.)

We then went back to painting for the day. At lunch we took our lunch break and went to Bartlett, Texas, about seventeen miles away.

Bartlett, busy downtown on Sunday, huh?

I paid cash so don't have the name of the restaurant, something like The Boxcar, or Rairoad something. It was very good. Burgers, BBQ brisket sandwiches and chicken fried steak as basics. (The place next door may be a Saturday or Sunday stop sometime as they have menudo for Gene.) On Friday we went about 7 miles to Walberg, Dales Essenhaus - Walbergers, for lunch. They had burgers, chicken fried steaks, salad and fried or grilled catfish. Very good as well. They have live music on Friday and Saturday, but we were too tired to go back. These small Texas towns have such interesting places and structures.

We drove through farm and ranch country. It is so dry. It looked like rain, but no such luck. We had some great sights along the way.

A few tired longhorns, waiting for rain, I suppose.

A farm/ranch house

Ah, you came by to see some paintings.

The start of my landscape a mesa in New Mexico between Albuquerque and Grants. It looked very colorful under the light and bright on the easel as I worked on it.

It looks washed out under the "Daylight".

It also looks better when you stand back.

So does the lineup.

I'm not sure this indistinct look is what I am after, but we did learn a lot about using darks to our advantage. Desmond works with a very few pastels and that is good! With this glazing over other colors and varying the pressure on the pastels you mix color just like with oil paints. That is great. He also works on Canson paper. That is not a favorite surface for me. I'm anxious to see how this technique works on sanded paper or board. We shall see how it looks incorporated into my own style. You will have to come back to see how that goes.

After margarita time with Kathy Gray, I am back home with my feet up. Well, almost.

Susan Carlin and I stayed together. We had such fun. Susan is not a sports fan. She will be happy to know, though, that the Lonhorns Baseball team won today to make it two of the three games this weekend at Stanford against the Cardinal! You can read about the games on Joanna's Longhorn Baseball Page and on the official site.

I'm Here and Painting Pastels!

I have not abandoned my blog. Susan Carlin and I are at an Austin Pastel Society sponsored workshop with Desmond O'Hagan in Georgetown, Texas. Regina came up for the Thursday demo night and we have had a great time.

Desmond paints with an almost abstract style that uses shapes and light to define his subjects. A new way for me to work, but I will learn from this and am sure it will help my more detailed paintings be more dramatic.

To learn we started with instruction only and he did his demo after we painted, so hopefully todays painting will be better. I didn't finish this, but it is a start. The guy on the left looks a little off balance for sure.

Lineup
approximately 10 x 13 inches, Canson paper, gray

It was a different experience as I rarely use Canson paper any more. I may try a sanded paper today. His technique though requires a heavy hand and then lift to get variation in the strokes like painting.

Desmond showing us how it is done. What a great art center, more about that next time.