R is for Rosy

Its a rainy day, its a rainy month. I needed something radiant to warm me up. These rosy colors, acrylic on canvas board, do the trick.

Sometimes you just need to experiment to see what will appear - and then, enjoy the gift from the color spirits.

H is for HER

This summer I taught a week long workshop on Faces. In the process of researching fabulous faces painted by artists I stumbled across Kees Van Dongen, a Dutch Fauvist who painted in the early to mid 20th century . I had never seen his work before.
I LOVE it.

His paintings are bold, vibrant, colorful portraits that absolutely tell a story about each woman in his paintings. Some describe his work as garish - to me his work is glorious.

I have spent hours looking at copies of his portraits, especially focusing on the way he used color -  green shadows? Cool.

So, I have been trying to learn how he makes this work by copying some of his pictures. Instead of paint, I have been working in pastels to get a feel for the layers of color. Today's face seems to have captured the Art Deco girl (my favorite style), the cool soft coloring, and still let my own style come through.

A is for Another Year 2014



up

Halloween is over. Pumpkins are slumping on neighborhood porches. Brilliant leaves are brightening the grey sky and laying sodden on the ground. Its cold outside and rainy too. And, we are turning back the clocks tonight.

I seem to say this every year, but November in Oregon generally means miserable weather and long dark evenings.  In other words, its the perfect time to start yet another Art Everyday for a Month challenge.
 

 

This is the fifth year I am  taking part in this challenge, and I look forward to the discipline of creating, posting and writing on a daily basis. I also especially look forward to interaction with other artists and the opportunity to see and be inspired by their art.

Looking back I can see that some things have changed in my art, but, as today's image makes clear, some things remain the same. I still LOVE color and abstraction, and limiting my palette. This year I have been playing with lines - letting them "take a walk" and then working with the design that appears. This drawing combines oil pastel with Caran D'ache crayons and black ink on water color paper. 9'x12".


Looking forward - there will surely be more colorful images, more designs and more stories about what is happening in the awesome classes I teach. Stayed tuned.




 

H is for Hue

My friend Lynne says I have a "pagan love of color." I think she is right. When I paint and draw, 95% of the time I am just working toward the moment when I can break out the colors and the fun begins.
My studio (heck, my whole house) vibrates with the colors I love - no browns and subtle tones for me - check out my work and you can see I love the bright colors, the shimmering shades of light and flowers and jewels.

When I teach art, no matter what else is on the agenda, I teach about color. Of course I bring out the color wheel, but most of all, I let the students learn through their eyes and hands. We frequently have color mixing exercises that include generating strips of all the possible colors we can create with just a few squirts of paint.

Another way I help them to see color is by using some of the wonderful digital tools that allow me to manipulate images that I can print and use of teaching tools.

The floral on the bottom is an original sketch done in heavy oil pastels to demonstrate warm colors on a cool background. Its reverse is also vibrant - cool on warm. I created both of these to help me better understand and articulate the concepts I want to teach.



HUES  are the family of twelve purest and brightest colors.

• Three Primary Colors
• Three Secondary Colors
• Six Tertiary Colors

They form the full spectrum of colors which progress around the Primary Color Wheel in gradual increments.

from The Color Wheel Artist







E is for Effects

Foggy Day

One of the things I most enjoy about my life as an artist is looking at the work of other painters. I had some work in our annual Festival of the Arts this summer. The weather was horrible, which meant that I had lots of time to wander the show and really study the paintings that appealed to me. One of the things that really struck me was the use of fabulous and fascinating textures as backgrounds for images. How do they do that?

I asked. When I saw a painting that impressed me, it was not hard to strike up a conversation with the artist - to offer compliments, and ask questions. One artist in particular was especially gracious - and shared some of her secrets to her luminous colors and awesome textures. So, I went home to play.

The more I experiment, with solvents, with sprays, with laying textured materials on the canvas and painting over, with scraping, scratching and pouring, the more fun I have, and the more interesting the results. Suddenly the central image takes a back seat to the feeling of the whole, created by messing around until I get the effect I am looking for. This image, Foggy Day, is 9x12, a mixture of mediums on canvas, was completely fun to create ...

So, I knew my kid students would love to create their own effects as well. (This process is too messy for my more finicky seniors). I provided bottles of thinned paints, sponges, brushes, and water color paper, as well as pans for letting paint drip into - and everyone poured paint until they "saw a picture." Then, there were crayons and markers for enhancing anything that popped out.  It was a great lesson in color, contrast and creativity.

A is for Art Everyday for a Month Challenge AGAIN

Roller Coaster

November has begun, and so has the 2012 Art Everyday for a Month Challenge. This is the third year I have participated, and if the past two years are any indication, this month will be challenging, delightful and slightly terrifying. And, a great way to get in touch with other artists.

In the past, the work I created reflected my place in my own learning. Year one was more about drawing, last year was all about abstraction. This year, not only am I still deeply into my journey as an abstract painter, but I have also been studying color theory and working with a limited palette.

Aurora working on her roller coaster

Most of all though, this year I am teaching art. My students range in age from 5 to 95! Since I have such a variety of students and abilities, I need to spend considerable art time each week preparing lessons that can meet very specific and individual needs. This means less painting and more drawing. Fewer acrylics and more ... anything and everything. This also means a lot of practice and a lot of full sketch books. The process of regularly generating new ideas, practicing them, analyzing them for ease and accessibility has had a profound impact on my paintings. They are often simpler and much more fun. Add to this all my work in color theory  - my painting are evolving and my sense of my own skill is growing.

So, this month, I will be writing about painting, about abstract art, about some of the new and wonderful materials and media I have encountered this year, about my students, and the cool projects I am coming up with so that they can feel successful and able. I will also, no doubt, be using my digital camera and digital tools to help me share my work, and maybe, the work of some of my talented students. This feels like an ambitious list, but thirty days is a long time, and lots of pages to fill.

The drawing on this page is inspired by my young student AJ. He suggested we paint roller coasters. I love his idea and have done several versions. This one is color pencil on sandpaper - a WOW combination I discovered purely by accident.

In Layers

Float

I started this by using a compass to draw a pattern of circles. Then I drew the weaving lines over the circles.

My idea was to use color to identify each circle, cool colors for the circle shapes, warms for the background. I combined medium and fine point sharpie to draw all the lines.

Then I layered more lines to define each circle, and then used thin layers of intense pencil to create the overlapping weave of background color, and added another layer of lines to define the over lapping areas. Then a little more color.

This does not translate well on the screen, but the image on 11x14 drawing paper creates a strong impression of depth.

Playing Games

I am still fascinated by drawing lines to create shapes. I love the way I can build layer upon layer of color while defining some shapes and creating new ones at the same time. I never know what to expect ... but each drawing in this series has felt like a meditation - just doing it and waiting for the final work to reveal itself.

This one is based on a tic tac toe board (really) - and was actually drawn in blues and greens, marker pens and inktense pencil on watercolor paper.

However, the photo image that allows me to bring it into my computer and this blog simply fails to capture the delicate lines and colors. So, I started to play with it to see it I could make it work. Who knew that a reverse tweak in Photoshop could result in such vibrant colors, making this a really a mixed media work.

A Break from the Ordinary

Goldfish

Lately I have been struggling with paint and canvas. Nothing I have tried is working to my satisfaction. My growing need for detail and depth is limited by my ability to make it appear on the canvas. Its a good thing I have lots more painting classes in my near future.

Today, as I was searching for a photo in my VAST collection, I came across a favorite, a mass of goldfish in a pond, from a trip to Hawaii. This was a perfect starting point for a digital painting. I wanted to abstract the intense details of fish eyes, mouths and frenzy, and add the cool blue watery beauty that thoughts of Hawaii bring to mind.

Once again, gotta love what I can do with Photoshop. Creating this digital painting was a mini-vacation from the work of painting on canvas. I feel refreshed now, creative and ready to keep learning.

Exploring Variations: Finding Ideas

Evening in the City 

In the last post, the image, Koi, was painted with a deliberate plan. The painting is for my son and his wife. He asked for something that somehow "went with" a beautiful Japanese image of a large orange Koi fish.  It was  easy to find my inspiration for this piece - colors, layout and size were all "givens."

This painting, though clearly related to the last in style and composition, began with no plan except a desire to play around with a pallette knife. I am currently reading and working through Painting Abstracts, by Rolina Van Vliet, considering the images, techniques and approaches. As a result of what I am learning in the book, I knew I wanted to combine larger areas with smaller ones - but had no vision of where I was going (I hate that.) I started by using the palette knife to lay down a multicolor layer, experimenting with textures, and combining light and dark,colors. Ugly - but an interesting background.

I am still enthralled by the abstract trees I've been painting; I love the outlines and individually defined shapes. Oh, and also, I have a great fat new brush that holds lots of paint and creates wonderful texture. So, using the new brush, and laying colors directly from the tube, I began to paint a pattern of squares. Soon the trees appeared, (good, I thought that was to be the plan) and then they went away.  A city scene appeared ... at least to me.

I so often struggle with knowing what to paint, especially when I am on my own and not in a class. But today's project, in which I did not stop when I hated the results, and just kept on messing around to see what would appear, is a success.

Not because it is beautiful (is it? I can't tell yet, but I know it gives me that good feeling) but because I allowed it take its own shape and I learned in the process. This is the reason I believe it is important to work regularly, and as often as possible, and to work with no particular outcome in mind. I find it so much more difficult now that I am working in the abstract mode - because in my more realistic working past, I always could find a photo to guide me. This is different - a photo can contain some of what I want to appear - but a lot is now needing to be drawn from imagination and abstraction.

What do you think? What is the best way to build skills? What inspires you to just jump in and paint? How do you handle "artist's block?"

R is for Red

Its a red red red red world out there - at least for now. Storms, wind and rain will probably tear down this incredible beauty by tomorrow, but today was a perfect opportunity to record the remarkably rosy abundance of leaves.

Meteorologists are blaming the incredible intensity of the leaf colors on our unusual summer and fall weather - whatever the reasons, the results are spectacular.

 Of course, I can not simply take some photos and leave them alone. Last year, for the challenge I created another leaf design - using gold leaves. I wondered what would happen if I played with this red image  -

This is the result  (thanks Photoshop) and thanks Ronaele for the inspiration :-)

  

N is for Nice and Warm

November weather is nasty more often than not. Its grey, its rainy. What could be more comforting that swirling great globs of sunshine colors across the canvas and basking in the warmth.

M is for Many Colors

So, what did I learn in school yesterday?

I am privileged to be studying Dynamic Abstract Painting with Illa Guttman at PCC this term. I have repeatedly referred to something I have learned from her in this blog - but yesterday's class was particularly enthralling.

The subject was Color Field painting "with its emphasis on stain painting and visual gorgeousness."

In class, we explored the often HUGE works of Helen Frankenthaler and Mark Rothko, among others.

Often in museums, when standing in front of a work of art that looks like nothing more than a line on a field of color, I think, I could do that. This kind of work looks easy - but ...  Ha ha ha ... not so fast.

Yesterday was a chance to try. I began by finding a photo (a sea scene) with vivid colors that laid out in lines.) On  a canvas 2'x3', and following the guidance of my teacher, I laid down a strong underlayer of a dark violet. Then, using painters tape, I laid out a pattern of stripes and began to paint, changing, mixing and layering colors - and seeing the effects of the color that lay beneath.

I was lucky to have 4 hours to work - because I needed time for layers to dry, and to watch how one stripe of color affected the next (and to remove and replace tape.) In the end, the simple stripes were too flat for me so I added the other lines. I am not sure if this works, but I know that I learned a tremendous amount, and already have several ideas for ways to use what I have learned in some new work.

J is for Jazz, jerk, jump, jig, jog, jello .....

Driving along, thinking about what to do for my J post.

J J J? What begins with J? (I think I've been reading too much Dr. Suess to my grandson.)

Jazz, jagged, jerk, jump, jig, jog, jello (which jiggles) juggle. J moves, J soars. J's is lines. J is energy. J jangles with color.

Which brings me right back to my teacher's wise advice, to create an abstract - start with a word, or in this case, a list of words. This is the result, acrylics on a 9x12 canvas board and a little digital tweak to make it look better on screen.

I is for Ideas (or no ideas)

One of the biggest challenges of the Art Everyday for a Month challenge is coming up with ideas for what to do next (okay, this is a constant challenge.) Add to this the fact that I am trying to work in an abstract way, and today I drew a blank. (Not one I can post here however.)

Though no abstract ideas are coming my way, the stack of pears on my kitchen counter are calling my name. The tree in my yard has been most abundant this year. A source of culinary inspiration, and this morning, an art idea.

One of the first things I learned to draw was a pear. I was first inspired to try to draw one because I saw them drawn, painted, photographed in almost every book I read as I was learning about drawing with pastels. Pears are just a lovely, sensuous shape. They come in wonderful colors, they lend themselves beautifully to pastels, and they taste good too.


As I look around my studio, I realized  that because I draw pears at least a few times a year, they are a good judge of my progress. So, today, something real - a quick sketch in pastels on canson mi tiente.

F is for Fun with Flowers Day 6

Talk about mixed media, today's image started as a digital photo of a lotus like flower. I used it for the basis of a drawing in black and white to get a sense of the shapes. I liked the simple drawing so much I photographed it.

My plan was to paint this flower on canvas - I worked on it for several hours but I was not getting the vibrancy I had in mind. I will continue to work on the painting -   but I liked the shapes and composition of this flower so much, I opened the black and white sketch in Photoshop and began to apply color.

A little wild? Maybe. But its a dark and dreary November day and I am in the mood for something fun. I hope you are too.

D is for Dahlia

Last year for D day I painted a detailed, realistic dahlia from my friend's garden. This one is based on a photo from my garden, which I then worked on in Photoshop to begin to understand how to abstract the image.

My teacher keeps reminding me to abstract an image, simplify - so that is what I tried to do - find and simplify the essential shapes.
The colors are all mine ...

I am beginning to find some ways to work with the acrylic palette. Once again, I selected only a few colors and white. I notice that when the colors are blended with one another, the results are harmonious, and the variety of colors that result are incredible.

This painting is on canvas board, 8"x10". The flower is probably close to its real size.