Category Archives: Training

Visit Me at Gallery B & Learn Some iPad Art Techniques!

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We Seven Palettes are taking turns ‘sitting the gallery’ during our art exhibit this month at Gallery B.  I’m scheduled for more duty on Jan. 21, and 25, from 3pm to 6pm.

If you’d like to explore digital art a bit, grab your iPad and come sit with me for awhile.  I’ll show you some of my favorite techniques!  Here are some of my iPad images, illustrating how varied the results can be — from very detailed representation to impressionistic line drawings and quick notations at the ball park!

C & O Canal in Summer. Original iPad painting, 2014. 1:1 aspect ratio.

Fairy Lilies. Original iPad painting, 2013. 1:1 aspect ratio.

At the Nats! Original iPad painting, 2014. 3:5 aspect ratio.

Here’s how to find & where to park for Gallery B.  If you’re thinking of coming by, let me know in advance so I can alert you to any last minute schedule changes.

Getting Bolder with Flowers

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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

Two new models — simultaneously

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You may recognize these two gentlemen from an earlier post.  I was delighted that Danni recruited them to model.  They were positioned so I could see each by glancing to the right or the left.  Not knowing if I’d have a chance to paint them again, I decided to do both, if possible.  I set up two canvases side by side and got to work.  At some point I had to pick one to bring to greater finish — the bearded soldier.

confed soldier Torpedo Indian

Now paint some striped fabric!

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Danni upped the anty with her next assignment:  paint striped fabric so that the stripes drape properly with the twists and folds of the material, with shadows etc.

I didn’t want to be boring with two simple pieces of material.  So I composed a still life with a red and white striped towel, topped by a bottle of red wine, standing next to a bottle of sparkling water, atop a green and white striped towel.  I thought of it as a ‘Face Off’.

2 bottles

Danni focuses us on portrait nitty-gritty: fabric

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If you’re going to paint a portrait, you need to know how to paint clothes and drapes.

Hence the homework assignment to paint two pieces of fabric so that a viewer would know that they differ in weight and texture.  I didn’t have to look far for subjects:  a blue denim apron friends had brought back from Sennelier in Paris and a red satin shopping bag made by a daughter-in-law.  I draped them over a corner of my easel and set to work.  Voila.

apron 2015-01-19 13.49

 

Paintings & Workshops ~~ Catching Up

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I’m WAY behind in reporting on my art activities.  I am hoping to give some brief updates to get back on track.

After seeing Danni Dawson’s work at the Art League’s conference mentioned in the last post, I enrolled to study portraiture with her over in Alexandria, VA.

Our first model was a lovely young woman draped in a Spanish lace mantilla.  I made a series of studies of her — and they went downhill from the first one!  See for yourself:

The model:

My studies:

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First Attempt

2015-01-20 15.55e

Second try

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Third – Aargh!

2015-01-23 10.41-1

Fourth Try

 

Mixed Media Experiment – Sam ‘n Max Biking

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Shortly after dear Alison Neustrom passed away, my sister Cecilia and I flew to Maine for a mixed media workshop, turning to art to help manage grief.  We wanted to try our hands at combining oil paint with patterned papers to produce unique images, with artist Katie Wilson.  Ceci’s first effort was a portrait of granddaughter Evie; I worked on a biking scene of grandson Max steering dad Sam.

Ceci's Evie

Ceci’s Evie

Max Steers Sam on a Sunday Ride

Max Steers Sam on a Sunday Ride

Another Upcoming Exhibit ~~ Ten Paintings at the DC Writers Center!

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The wonderful DC-area Writers Center regularly hosts art exhibits in its large space, featuring the works of local artists.  Ten of my paintings will be included in the next show, scheduled to open in late June.  This exhibit is organized around the works of those who have painted with Gonzalo Navarro, a fellow teacher at the Yellow Barn Studio in Glen Echo, MD.  I have enjoyed Gonzalo’s teaching expertise — it’s always good to practice skills under the tutelage of an expert in portraiture and figurative painting.  It’s great to have Gonzalo at the Yellow Barn, as well as Maud Taber-Thomas, supplementing the excellent portraiture teaching of Gavin Glakas.

Here is one of the paintings I’ll show in the upcoming exhibit.  More to follow.

ballerina in profile

Pensive Ballerina.  Oil on Arches Oil Paper.

 

Drawing the Line

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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.

IMG_0729 - Version 2

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.

Portrait Workshop with Bill Schneider

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I recently studied portrait painting with Bill Schneider.  After he did a wonderful demo, Bill had us emulate Nicholai Fechin’s gorgeous ‘broken color’ style, by copying (on a larger scale, so we could practice our facial measuring skills) some Fechin portraits.

Fechin's portrait (L) and my copy. oil on canvas.

Fechin’s portrait (L) and my copy. oil on canvas.

First I copied one of Fechin’s beautiful women.  And then this precious child.

Fechin's portrait (L) & MOW copy. oil on canvas.

Fechin’s portrait (L) & my copy. oil on canvas.

The next day we painted from a live model, attempting to apply the broken color method on our own.  Quite a difference in beauty, eh?  (Just keeping it real!)

IMG_0249

Working toward Fechin’s ‘broken color’ in painting from life. oil on Arches oil paper.

I ended the weekend workshop with lots to practice and mull.  Thanks, Bill!