5/25/10

YUPO ALL THE TIME

May 27th - New photo of painting posted --- The painting has been adjusted a bit since it was first posted two days ago. The hull of the gondola is a bit more accurate, and some areas have been lightened and warmed a little inside the work shop as well as inside the gondola. There's more warm/red on the face of the guy on the left, and the sweater of the man on the right has more variation in it now.

The demo was drawn and painted in under an hour - somewhat easy to do with so few values and shapes, especially using YUPO. Since the demo this past Saturday, I've probably invested about 2 more hours making adjustments. Time to STOP before it goes into overkill.

(Blog below was posted on May 25.)

Twenty artists explored painting on YUPO last Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana, and their explorations were dynamic, so creative, and very colorful. We used transparent watercolors as well as many tools and devices to apply the paint.

The time literally flew by, but unfortunately, there was little time for taking photos. I so regret not having the time to photograph the paintings that were near completion. The variety of subject matter and style was amazing.

This painting of two men discussing how to repair the gondola in their shop was one of the demos which I painted in early afternoon. After the demo, there was plenty of time for the workshoppers to develop their own original artwork, using the techniques they'd been practicing all morning. The critiques at the end of the day went way past the alloted workshop time, yet no one seemed to mind at all.The Bloomington Watercolor Society is a young organization - 5 years old - with over 80 members.... lots of talented artists with a strong desire to learn more about painting. I loved the diversity of people in the workshop - so enriching and inspiring. We all went home satisfied with a great day's work - actually it was all PLAY, not work, (except maybe for the concentrated efforts at making good design and composition in the paintings.)

It was great to see several artists returning from earlier workshops I'd taught. Teaching is so incredibly rewarding and invigorating, especially with a great group like the BWS. Thanks a bunch for asking me to give the YUPO workshop. Next time we'll have to explore using FLuid Acrylics like watercolor on the YUPO surface. Happy painting.

"TALKING BUSINESS" Transparent Watercolor on YUPO 26 x 20"