YUPO AT THE RACES

This is my work from the third and fourth day of the workshop and was compiled from a couple of photos I took several years ago. The class had only 8 people in it and was billed as a 'master' class.

The goal for this class was to be able to transform our paintings into strong, artistic, visual expressions, no matter what our material or subject or style was. Any watermedia could be used, and any surfaces could be painted on.

My own goal for this year is to be able to express myself better, be able to place concepts and ideas on paper with paint, and that's why I took the class. Those four days helped me a bunch in moving in that direction.

The first morning, George James spent about an hour and a half showing us various ways he puts paint on the YUPO - his various 'techniques.' After practicing what he showed us, we were on our own to design and paint. The other three days, he discussed specifc ideas and philosophies related to creating artistic expressions - challenging us to move forward into making the art that only we can make. He discussed just a little on painting preparation, layout, and composition. During the week, he also did some small, individual demos for those needing direction.

I found it refreshing that George gave almost no input to design or composition. In fact, this workshop had the least info on design/composition that I've had in a long time. We were really focused on finding our own voice, expressing our own personal point of view. To say the least, it was utterly fascinating to me. I LOVED IT!

The best thing about the whole class was when I realized how much freedom I really do have in painting. (I thought I already knew that but got a whole new, refreshing perspective this time.) Tomorrow I'll post photos of this painting as I painted it from beginning to end so that you can see the process I went through with the design and exploration.

"ON THE FAST TRACK" Transparent Watercolor on YUPO 20 x 28"

YUPO TO MARKET

'Day Two' of our workshop was a really good one. More mind stretching info from George James about creating meaningful art helped us as we explored ways to express what is meaningful to us.

This painting, on YUPO, drawn with a Derwert watercolor pencil and painted with transparent watercolor, is about 26 x 20". I've posted my reference photo below as well as a photo of another painting done last summer from the same reference, for comparison.

My goal for last summer's painting was to create an impressionistic look on YUPO. For this new painting, I was more focused on creating a contemporary look.

The paper was gridded out first, then I constructed the drawing, making a specific section within the grid most important. The grid lines on the YUPO were there to encourage me to play more with the design elements rather than be realistic. The grid also aided me by helping keep a flat look to the painting. (Normally a paper is gridded out to aid in transferring a drawing from one paper to another. This type of grid had an entirely different purpose.)

Proper perspective or realism weren't my concern at all. The main thing I wanted to do was create a dynamic painting of a special place, and I wanted the painting to appear flat rather than 3-D when it was done.

Creating shapes within a good design was a lot of fun to work out ahead of time. I incorporated John Salminen's process of using just ONE good white shape to start the painting.

A very kind woman named Grace purchased the painting on the last day of the workshop, and it was hard to part with it so soon after painting it. (But I don't have to get it framed:-)

'Europe's Best' (Below on YUPO) with reference photo used for today's painting as well as this one - - -

YUPO WORKSHOP

We had a great workshop at Kanuga with our instructor, George James. He excels as a master teacher, able to encourage, inspire, and explain so many concepts that have already begun pushing me forward, challenging me to make better art. We had only four days of instruction, but twice that would have been okay with me.

I realized on Monday that I feel like I'm so at home when I'm painting on YUPO, as compared to other surfaces like cotton watercolor paper. The surface opens up so many more possibilities for expression.

This painting started as a small value study of 4 shapes, no reference photo. . . more paintings to come soon but for now, I need a good night's sleep. WHAT A WEEK!

"PRECIPICE" Transparent Watercolor on YUPO 25 x 20"