Plein Air - Mud In

This week the mud and humidity placed us back inside for our plein air painting. We did another still life painting which was good practice. For some reason, I am not usually drawn to painting or drawing a still life, but once I get going on one I usually find it interesting. I still have a long way to go when it comes to composition. That is probably the greatest challenge for an artist. I just need to keep up the practice. I am sitting here wondering how you crop a panel. When you paint a watercolor painting, you can always crop your paper to get the most interesting view. The same goes for stretching your own canvas. In the meantime, this is a study - meant to be fun. Hope you enjoy seeing it.

Entertainment on a Muddy Day

Plein Air Rainout

This past week our plein air class was rained in. Instead of braving the fresh air and insects, we painted a freehand still life painting. It was just a study - fun and challenging. Even though it is only a study, I may make some changes, but for now here is what I have.

Portrait in Colored Pencil

This is my other project that I was working on. My son asked me to do a portrait of the son of a co-worker of his. He wanted it to be a surprise gift. It was a surprise, and Donna seems to be very pleased with the outcome. She also gave permission for me to share this with you. This is Karat Aquarell watercolour pencil by Staedtler on Canson Artist Series Drawing paper 9" x 12" 153.6 lb. Light Gray. This is a slightly better cropping of the original portrait. The paper was slightly curling.

Donna's Son

From beginning to end.

Spring 2015

It is spring 2015 and the emphasis has shifted. Our drawing teacher offered a plein air painting class in place of our drawing class this semester. I am having great fun, and am hoping that my teacher is going to survive the experience - there is just something about having your teacher look at your work, shake his head, and walk away mumbling. Just kidding. Our teacher is very patient with our wobbly art steps.

A few things about plein air painting:

• The fresh air is amazing!

• If your french easel is missing part of the hardware you need in order to extend the leg, prop it against the nearest fence.

• If you forget your plexi-glass palette, and intensely dislike your wooden palette, make do with the inside top of the tin box that you carry your oil paint tubes in.

• If your hair keeps blowing into your face the whole time that you are painting, plan ahead for the next event by getting a pony tail holder to hold your hair back, or getting your hair chopped off - whichever is cheaper. Hmmm - pony tail holder!

• If you think the weather will definitely warm up - take an extra layer of clothing anyway. If you stand in the shade on a cool windy day, it may seem cooler than you expected.

I am also working on a colored pencil portrait. Hopefully, I will be able to share that with you later.

For now: Keep in mind that this is only the second plein air workshop I have ever attended. Most of my landscapes have been painted in the studio.

Plein Air Sketch

Plein Air Quick Study in Oils

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Still Life and Plein Air Painting

Today, we started our Still Life and Plein Air Painting class with Kraig Kiedrowski. We did super quick value studies using black and white acrylic paint. Thought you might enjoy seeing the results:

1st Painting - slightly longer time limit on this one

2nd Painting - shorter time limit - this needs the little box that was to the right of these 3 boxes

Working With Budding Artists

Spending time working with some budding artists, AKA our grand-kids.

Introduction to Human Anatomy for Artists by Stan Prokopenko with Marshall Woodruff

If you are interested in being able to draw figures that do not look stiff and static, then you will probably understand what I am working on here. I am taking a course that is being offered by Stan Prokopenko and Marshall Woodruff called  Introduction to Human Anatomy for Artists. This is not a paid promotional plug for their course. I just happen to be taking the course and learning a great deal. The example below is the part where Marshall has explained a simplified version of some of the bones of the skeleton and the types of joints that connect them (example of the shoulder shown below). There are free versions of the videos and if you want a more in depth explanation there is a paid version that is very reasonable. This is a fun way to learn about drawing the figure in perspective.

Shoulder and Upper Arm Assignment

(Marshall's explanation)