A Little Zen Doodle

I decided to play a little with Zen Doodle today. I figure it is probably a little bit like exercising the brain in an artistic way, and I don't see how it could possibly hurt to have worked on this when I return to oils, acrylics and watercolors. I have been working on the previous three. I got the isolation coat onto my acrylic painting, the varnish onto my oil painting, I worked some more on my water mixable oil painting, and pulled out an older watercolor painting and added some negative painting to areas in it.

For now I will show you my partial Zen Doodle.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Holiday, everyone!

Zen Doodle that I am working on.

Latest Portrait

If you read my post from Nov. 1, then you know that I am working on a new portrait. Slowly, but surely, it is getting there. In the meantime, if you read the last post, here is how my daughter and her husband explained Trisomy-13 to their children.

Bubble Pop Photograhy

If you get a chance, please check out Bubble Pop Photograhy and view more of Lisa's lovely work. Yes, this spelling is the way it is listed. Lisa does lovely work and gets portraits with just the right amount of action so that they look natural.

This is how the grandchildren explained Trisomy-13 to us.

Unfinished Latest Painting - Royal Talens Cobra Paints

Primary Cyan, Primary Magenta, PrimaryYellow, Permalba White Water Mixable Oil Paint by Royal Talens. And this is how far my latest painting is now.

How Do You Explain ...?

It is 54 days before Christmas and I find myself thinking about the Nativity - probably because I notice all the preparations for the different winter holidays that are celebrated here in the US. People are already running around buying gifts to give to friends and family. It is also 1 year, 1 month, and 8 days since the day that Matthew was born. Which brings me to the inspiration for my latest painting (started yesterday). It is based on a photo I took the summer before Matt-Man was born. My daughter was consoling her daughter over something that had upset her. And so the photo reminded me of so many paintings over the years of Mother and Child. I also knew that my daughter was trying to figure out how you explain Trisomy-13 to a toddler. Not an easy task.

For this painting, I am using the 3 sample tubes of Cobra water mixable oil paints that I got when I was at the demo at Asel's in Dallas. I have been rather curious about how these paints work. Like anything you try, I am sure there is a learning curve. I have noticed that you can purchase a medium by Cobra that would probably help to spread the paints and I hope to pick some up before the next painting (or maybe the next layer of this painting). The paint itself seems a little gooey (that may be true of all water mixable paints) and it may be that I should have added some water to my brush.

Here is the under painting. Once the under painting is dry, I will work on it again.

Under Painting

Under Painting

Another Weekend Full of Fun

Last weekend I was able to take advantage of a very unique experience. Michael Mentler did a portrait demo at Asel's for Canson (and showed off his new paint by Rembrandt called Mentler's Mustard). I must say that the only disappointing aspect to this demo was the fact that it only lasted for 1 1/2 hrs. The first half of the demo was devoted to drawing the anatomy of the human skull (Mr. Mentler is so fast that he drew three different versions). Then he painted a monochromatic portrait study from a live model. Each brushstroke was placed with such deft assurance. The painting that is shown in my blog The Weekend was done with pastel and acetone, but Mike Mentler said that you could do the same thing with mineral spirits. I know that he talked about his new paint and I thought he gave a quick demo of the difference in color and opacity between the Naples Yellow and his Mentler's Mustard. He gave us so much information so fast that I am sitting here scratching my head trying to figure out exactly where he used the Mentler's Mustard. I thought he painted a little bit of it out for us to see, but I don't see it on the paper and don't think he used it in this portrait. After he liquified the pastel with the acetone, he lifted out highlights and added more pigment to get the mottling and values.

Mr. Mentler mentioned to us that Ellen Eagle is going to give a pastel painting workshop at his studio in Carrolton, TX, in February. He also mentioned that he is giving a workshop in Woostock, GA, early in December (there may already be a waiting list).

The icing on the cake for all this was the fact that for a very nominal fee, we got the demonstration and several Canson samples as well, including a sample of the Bruynzeel graphite pencils, aquarel pencils, and the Cobra water mixable oil colors by Rembrandt (the last of which I have already tested out as kid friendly with my grandkids).

That was last weekend. This weekend, I got a chance to attend a demonstration at Herweck's by Barbara Jackson on the use of Golden Acrylics and mediums and again, we received a very nice sample packet of paints and mediums. I was especially interested in her explanation of the mediums. Barbara gave very clear and concise descriptions of the products and had examples and samples of each.

If you are looking for more information on your favorite art products, you may want to check out your local art supply shops for demonstrations and workshops. Enjoy the adventure!

The Weekend

My husband and I got a chance to spend a fabulous weekend with family in the Dallas area (including members we had never had a chance to meet before), celebrating one beautiful wedding and reception, one sweet birthday, and even a demonstration at Asel's, which was done by Michael Mentler (watching Michael Mentler draw and paint in person is like watching an amazingly skilled magician at work).

I will have to share more about the weekend with you later. Suffice it to say, the whole weekend was amazing and lovely.

Michael Mentler's demo at Asel's in Dallas sponsored by Canson

More Art Instruction

Just got back from a really terrific portrait painting workshop in Austin with Scott Waddell. It was a whole week of tremendous fun with fellow artists, and cram-packed with great information and instruction. The week was so full of information that there really wasn't time to finish a whole portrait, and that was OK. We got all the important points covered without having to complete a whole portrait. We spent two and a half days drawing from a live model and two and a half days painting from her. Here is what I managed to accomplish.

A great big thanks to Danny Grant of Austin, TX who worked so hard to set up the workshop, as well as to Scott Waddell who gave the workshop.

Art Instruction

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the delay in writing. I haven't been hibernating (it's too early in the season for that), but I have been burrowed down in my studio watching a fabulous set of DVD's by Bryan Neher. I won these DVD's in a drawing that Bryan did - see, you can win cool goodies by entering a drawing.

The first few sets of DVD's were review for me: Drawing, Value, Color, Edges - and review is always a good thing, especially when it can possibly add new insights or an understanding from a different angle. Brian gives an easy to understand analogy of value and color in terms of a dimmer switch and thermostat. There is a tremendous amount of good information in these first sets of videos. Then came the dessert! Painting Outdoor Light. Now, I have to tell you that it is going to take me awhile to get the cognitive information and the motor skills from that DVD into perfect alignment simply because there is so much great information, both verbal and visual, to digest. So I am now munching, or perhaps more accurately, I am at the ruminating stage. This is the information that I have so diligently been searching for. In fact, I actually had the information, but he helped to put it together for me - you will especially be interested in the effects of color on the different planes of the face in outdoor light. Brian clearly explains the choices he makes as he paints and he shows you his palette as he is mixing his colors. You will also be interested to know that if you don't want to have to wait for DVD's in the mail, and you know how to download a link, you can get a break in the price.

Whether you are interested in painting or not, you simply have to view his lovely work. I first came across his work on Artist Daily several years ago when Brian's wife used to post it for him on that website. The portrait in his Painting Outdoor Light is of his lovely wife. I am personally hoping that Brian has more videos up his sleeve to offer to us later.

By the way, Brian, if you read this, thanks for helping to make my summer delightful!