Four Little Paintings Get Together

Remember the painting class I took recently where I learned to use charcoal?  Well the last lesson in the class was mounting the drawings/paintings on wood panels. 

Wow.  I never would have thought of that myself.  But it was easy and it made them look so much more.... important?  Official?  Not sure the perfect word to describe the difference - but they looked surprisingly better. 

So I hung them up in a group.  The photo is slanted because they are in a narrow hallway and I couldn't get far enough from them to take a direct shot.  I would definitely take another class from this teacher because I learned SO much.  Now I just need to actually USE that new knowledge to make more drawings. 

Postcards

 I plan to participate in Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour next Fall.  People have such a good time visiting artists' studios that sometimes they like to buy a "little something" from the artist as a memento of that visit.

I was looking for something that reflected my style but was small enough to fill this purpose for some of my visitors.  An artist on this years tour had small postcard size drawings (I bought TWO!) and I am trying out that idea for myself.  So here are pics of some of them.  They are 4x6 inches and I will be getting some transparent mailer covers for them. 

A worthy (and FUN!) experiment.  I am having great fun making these little guys and isn't that what it is all about?

Another little guy....

Some of my card critters.....

Learning More New Things

So here is my first attempt at Pears.  Hmmmm.
It was hard.  Partly because I did not have the proper supplies.  I have a grand supply of acrylic paint - but not heavy body acrylic paint (which is apparently thicker and covers over other layers more effectively).

The process for this little painting was to start with looking at shapes and shadows and then paint those basic areas with a very dark paint.  Fine so far.  Then you use other colors to use the initial sketch as a base - and color over it.

That is where the problem occurred.  My paints would not cover the dark initial layer.  Hmmmm.  A challenge!!  How to proceed?

So I looked at the supplies that I did have - and added some gesso to the paint - and it worked pretty well.  It eventually covered.  I really did learn a huge amount by trying to add the right colors in the right places and to "see" the shades and shapes.  And I am happy with this for a first effort.  But I have a whole new respect for people who paint pears!!

And here is the last lesson.  A "loose sketch of a hummingbird showing motion".  Again hmmmmm.  I don't do "loose" very well.  It is apparently (for me at least) an acquired skill.  I will definitely try this again.

Overall - a GREAT class.  I learned so much about supplies and tools and about ME.  I can't wait to try some of the new techniques on drawing a face.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Learning New Things

Here is something that you probably don't know about me... I have never learned how to draw realistically.  I have great fun drawing whimsical imaginary critters and I can recreate faces in fabric - but I have never learned how to actually "draw" what I see.

So I am taking an on-line class.  And it is great.  My brain practically hurts from stretching but I am loving it.  I figure that anything new that I learn about art will add to my own fabric creations.  And it will certainly add to my art journals.

The class is called "Draw and See" and this first drawing is leaves (I know - obviously!).  But here is the thing that I learned:  It uses charcoal.  I never did that before and it is a whole different experience.  And it uses a technique of measuring distances and angles with a bamboo skewer.  Really!  Strange but surprisingly effective.

This is the second one.  Flowers (obviously!) but the technique starts with watercolor blobs in the general shape of the flower first - then charcoal.  And I was amazed that they actually do look like flowers.  Some more than others of course - but a good start.

And then a Bird.  Again using the bamboo skewer to be sure the drawing is accurate.  You would be amazed at the Ugly Stage this went through.  I truly did not think it would ever look like anything resembling a real bird.  But I am feeling more confident.


Obviously the teacher is excellent.  To lead someone like me with basically no experience to a point where I feel pleased with what I am learning and also looking forward to not only the rest of the lessons but also to making up my own challenges and seeing what I can draw is a real accomplishment.

This lesson was very strange - but my eyes are learning so much.  This is an eraser drawing.  Yup.  You start with a smeared charcoal background and start erasing to find the shape of the Moths.  Then add charcoal and white pastel and white ink.  Again using that goofy bamboo skewer to make the size and angles accurate.

I am especially amused by how different each of the lessons is - but how they all flow together and build on simple techniques and new combinations of different media. 

The next class is Pears.  Hmmm..... can't wait!

Fall

The latest in the EarthWise series.  Scroll down to find Mother Earth, Spring and Summer.

I hate to play favorites .... but this IS my favorite in this series.  I especially like the details of the eyes.  The design is not what I thought it would be when I started.

It was pretty obvious that if I made a quilt called Fall that it would include falling leaves.  Uh huh.  But in my head, there were four times as many leaves falling in the background.  And I really had no idea how to add interest to the head.

Funny how quilts just "tell you" what they want to be sometimes.  And I have learned that if I simply pay attention and do what the quilt wants to do - it works better than trying to force it into submitting to my original design idea.

Anyway I absolutely DO like the final quilt.  The Scan 'n Cut was essential to the success of this quilt because I could not have cut the leaf shapes without it.  I was rather challenged when it came time to figure out the quilting lines.  Go around the sharp angles of each leaf?  Nope.  Find a way to imply the motion of falling leaves?  Yes.  And the tiny beads and light colored thread really helps that motion become visible.

So Winter is next.  I am still unsure of the colors.... sparkly white? Or silver? Or blue?  We'll see........

By the Sea By the Sea.....

Do you remember in the last post one of the critters that was wearing a swim suit?  Well - she decided to become a quilt. 

I loved the design that my friend Betty made - it made me smile.  But when I started to make this little gal in fabric I had a terrible time!  I almost threw it away.  But when that happens, I try to keep plugging and figure out what is NOT working, and fix the problem.  I actually like the completed project.

She is standing in a lake and you can tell she got a little too much sunshine on her pink body.  She must have used more sunscreen on her face.  The blue sparkly fabric on the waves adds a lot of sparkle to the finished quilt. 

This quilt is what I call one of my "cleanse my palate" quilts.  I needed to just switch gears and do something completely different - and this really helped.  I am curious to see what I do next.

Creating with Friends

One of my favorite days each month is getting together with my Renegade friends.  We have been meeting each month for 14 or 15 years.  All of us are Art Quilters and we bring our latest projects to share and to get advice on when we run into challenges.  And we are Friends.  This meeting adds Joy to my life.

So this month I brought a project for us to try together.  I found the idea online and had such fun myself that I knew my buddies would make lovely little critters. 

Again it is very simple and uses just cardstock and scrap paper and glue.  Here are the designs that the Renegades made.....