Category Archives: Influences

Practicing the Knife!

Bernie Dellario tasked our zoom-based art group with painting a fairly complicated scene using only a palette knife. The idea was to force ourselves to simplify. I selected a photo that I’d taken at a Nats night game, courtesy of friends Doug and Toni. I loved the vibrant colors, the dramatic lighting, the sharp green grass, the movement of the crowd and vendors. . . .

Here’s the painting and references. A note for composition buffs: For a bit of extra drama and clarity, I combined positions of orange hands from the two photos. I also omitted the wonderful yellow foul marker because it would been too much for a small square painting. . . . Maybe I’ll do a larger version some time so I can add that color into the mix.

At the Nats. Oil on Arches Huile Paper. 10″ x 10″.

New Facebook Challenge ~ 10 Paintings in 10 Days ~~ per friend Kathy Stowe

Ooof! I did one of these challenges not long ago, but here goes! Day 1 of my mission to share something from my art, my studio, or my life for ten consecutive days, no explanation needed, and nominate someone to do the same. I nominate Penny Smith to share some of her beautiful artwork and carry on the call. The idea is to promote positivity and bring art into each other’s lives.

Here’s what’s on my easel at the moment — inching toward a dual portrait of my deceased brother-in-law Albert ‘Terp’ Ward, and his widow, Donna Garnett.

Double Portrait – 2d session
Initial drawing, using Catherine Kehoe’s method of building a web of intersecting lines until features emerge.

Mississippi Workshop – Part II. Water & Wildlife.

It would be impossible to retrace our workshop footsteps and recount all of our painting triumphs and pratfalls, so I’ll just say:  WATER and WILDLIFE!   We spent every day painting by beautiful waters ~~ the old Ocean Springs harbor, the gentle marshes of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, the sparkling Ocean Springs beaches and the marshy streams meandering down to the shore.  Here are a few shots of the waters we enjoyed.

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And as for the wildlife, there was a feast for the eyes ~~ from bombardier pelicans, sunning alligators, eel-gulping herons, osprey, crab and who knows what else.  And I guess we have to count as ‘wildlife’ the daring youngsters, male and female, who paddle boarded within feet of the alligator after he decided to take a dip in the harbor.

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Remembering Our Recent Workshop on Mississippi Gulf Coast – Part 1

In writing my last post, I realized I hadn’t described our recent workshop in any detail.  It was great ~~ a delightful mix of ‘7 Palettes‘ painting buddies and Kathy Stowe, another Maryland-based friend; two of my sisters (Ceci & Susan); and three other Coast-based artists — Marylyn Gibson, Sherry Carlson and Curtis Jaunsen.  And of course our most excellent instructor, Marc Hanson.

Marc and Terry Miura are two of my most favorite landscape painters (not to take anything away from our outstanding MD-based artists).  Painting ‘rock stars’ in my book.  I’ve taken workshops with each of them and our 7Ps group sponsored a workshop with Terry not long ago.  It was fun to learn that they both trained at the same school in California!  Must be something in the water (or the OMG) out there!

Here are the beautiful demos that Marc did during our four day workshop.  I bought ‘On Canal by Old OS Harbor’ as a memento of the wonderful experience.

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The ‘7 Palettes’ Kicked Off a Summer-long Exhibit Yesterday!

Yesterday, some friends and I, who collaborate on all things art as The 7 Palettes,  opened a new exhibit in Bethesda, Maryland.  Our art — some 40+ pieces — will be displayed for three months at Maplewood Park Place on Old Georgetown Road.  Come see our pretties, please — any day between now and August 24, from 10 to 4 daily.   And congratulations to Sara Becker, whose large abstract painting sold during the Opening Reception!!  Way to go, Sara!

 

Thinking of You, Dad. Belated Memorial Day Salute!

I hope everyone had a good and thoughtful Memorial Day weekend.  I spent a lot of it remembering and reflecting about my late father and his military service.  Thank you, Dad!

Thought I’d share some photos from his service as a Marine pilot in the Pacific in 1945.  As many of you know, he shot down 5 Japanese planes on his first combat mission, becoming an ace at his first opportunity.  He never gloried in these killings.  In fact, he had a Mass said on behalf of those other young pilots every year on the anniversary of their deaths.

One study down and ninety-nine to go!

At our recent workshop, Marc Hanson suggested we do a quick painting a day for 100 days and we would see a big improvement in our skills.  Number small panels 1 to 100 and put each away as it’s finished,  When you’re done with all of them, line ’em up in order and you’ll be surprised at what you’ve learned and how much better you’ve become.  And start the next 100.

I’ve started the process.  ‘Quasi-daily’ painting also ought to produce good change, right??

Here’s #1 — based on a reference photo I took on a hot summer day by the Potomac River bridge (new +  old fragments) at Shepherdstown, WV.  In the noonday sun, folks were swimming and kayaking on the still water and walking their dogs in the rocky shallows.  My hubby and I were enjoying the cool shadowed woods along the bank.  Heaven.  The painting is too busy — should have simplified more, but it does ‘bring me back’!

Study #1, Potomac at Shepherdstown. Oil on Paper. 8×10. 2018.

The reference.

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Getting Bolder with Flowers

I made this flower study during a recent workshop with Duane Keiser.  He plopped the vase down on the table one hour before the session was to end and suggested we paint quickly!  I was slinging and slapping that paint around like mad.  I completed it in the allotted hour.  Actually, it’s more accurate to say I ‘stopped’ at the end of the hour!  Duane encouraged me to go for the bright blue background — which the composition had in ‘real life’.  I was about to tone it down to something insipid.  I’m glad I followed his advice!

Red Roses & Frilly Purple Things

Red Roses & Frilly Purple Things

Torpedo Factory Portrait/Figurative Conference

For someone interested in learning more about figurative & portrait painting, there are few places better than the Art League of Alexandria, aka the Torpedo Factory Art Center.  My art buddy Helen Gallagher and I enjoyed hanging out at its first conference, celebrating a milestone anniversary.  Here are a few of the pieces we saw demonstrated at the event.

Drawing the Line

With some of my 7Palettes friends, I’m studying plein air painting with Carol Rubin this Spring.  Last week, it was too chilly to paint outdoors, so we made line drawings of a complex still life Carol had assembled.  Here’s a ‘line drawing’ made of oil paints.  Our warmup exercises follow.

Hat, Vases & Vegetation

hat, vases & vegetation. oil on canvas.

Two 30 second drawings.

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bottle, pot & dried hydrangea. charcoal pencil on vellum.

Thirty second hat and more.  charcoal on vellum.

hat and more. charcoal pencil on vellum.

A minute-long ‘continuous line’ drawing — made without taking the pencil off of the paper.

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hat, pots & plants. charcoal pencil on vellum.

A ‘blind contour’ — made while keeping eyes on the object.  NO looking at the paper!  (Well, maybe we got to take three short peeks. . . .)

no looking at the vegetation???  charcoal on vellum.

no looking at the scribblings??  only the objects???  charcoal on vellum.

And finally, as depicted above, we made complex line drawings in black paint and then brushed thick white paint over selected areas to ‘erase’ lines as needed to make the ‘drawing’ more accurate or more interesting.  A fun day.  I did more at home using my own props.  Will post those next time.