I had an open window several weeks ago to look back through some of my old sketch books. Some of those early sketch books are now in the landfill. However, several sketch books brought back a lot of early memories when I didn’t know transparent verses opaque. Cold pencil notes from early workshops stared me in the face waiting to be read. One particular reference was luminosity, paintings that have that warm fuzzy feeling called ‘glow.’ Surely I attended the class because the notes were definitely mine, when my handwriting was more legible. At first it was like reading something for the first time….then memories began to come back like an old movie. You know that feeling when the title is foreign and halfway through the movie you remember the ending and title. Those few pages had me on my feet looking for a photo reference, grabbing a canvas, making a quick sketch, squeezing out fresh paint and trying my hand at a new experience from an old page. Below is a painting created from a look back….hope you enjoy the view from inside an antique store….JoBeth
Category Archives: Landscape
Landscape Demo
This was a fun landscape because local color was disregarded and some adjustment of the photograph. It was a struggle keeping a figure from this composition. The painting was drawn with a brush loaded with yellow ocher which keeps the shapes suggestive. Halloween orange, Andrews turquoise, and Carmine where the colors of choice. A light value wash was first applied preserving some white paper. The wash was dried before the next mid values where established….negative and positive strokes. Before the final dark’s the paper is totally dry. Dark values at strategic points and calligraphy are the finishing touches to a delightful day.
Chop Shop
Twenty demos had make overs today…..hair cuts, color or new style…another advantage of cropping…paintings are simplified with a new perspective from the original…..
All About Color
Estelle Howard was an inspiration to me last week in Lamesa. She painted on watercolor canvas for the first time and her painting was exceptional….this is no surprise for those who know Estelle. She is 93 and continues to paint in oil/watercolor and anything else that comes her way. From her photograph of an open air art exhibit, she maintained fresh colors flowing into one another. When the canvas was dry a sketch of the subject was introduced with dark lines using a script brush. As I previously mentioned my camera remained out of sight and unfortunately I can not share her painting and the paintings of those who participated.
We all have photographs or sketches books laying around without plans….stacks of organized photos waiting for me to go through…thinking ‘not sure what I want to do with this’…I tend to put those in a stack of ‘maybes’. The photograph below came to mind instantly when Estelle began painting on her canvas..
Lamesa Class
My Scene
Wet the surface of the paper wash on
New Gamboge and Cadimum Orange
over the people….the center of interest..
While paper is still wet quickly
add mid to darker values of cool reds
greens, blues and purples out to the
papers edge. The challenge is to
keep colors edges soft and graded
After the paper is totally dry
shadows are used to define the
subject. The contrast of lights
and darks at the center of interest
are the main players. The dark edges
are out of focus with hints of color.
Calligraphy and final darks where
they were needed…..I introduce
‘Two Please’