SeE ThE DiFFeReNcE?

While living with this painting (below on the left) for a couple of days, I kept asking myself questions like, 'does anything get undo attention?' or 'does anything jump out at me that shouldn't?' I finally determined that there were seven specific areas to adjust.

Though the changes were minor, they made a difference in the outcome. The larger picture on the right includes the final changes.

First change - some very diluted Cobalt Blue was charged into the bigger orange panel. Even though I hated to part with the glorious textures on that panel, as soon as I glazed it, I could see it get knocked back where it belonged.

Next, part of the top orange panel was darkened with Transparent Pyrrol Orange and Pyrrol Red. The darker value helped suggest the change in direction which the umbrella makes where the spokes bend and angle upwards.

Using both Cobalt Blue and Transparent Pyrrol Orange, I subdued all but about five of the white dots. Doing that seemed to add some needed movement to the picture. I'd previously toned part of them down, but hated to part with too much of the white of the paper. However, the red had been so bossy that it took over everything, and toning down the powerful 'whiteness' of the dots helped alleviate the strength of the red.

The glow of the deck is my favorite part of the painting. I think that with the adjustments to the dots and orange panels, the red umbrella is now less demanding, allowing the eye to move easily around the rest of the painting.

The bottom of the handle on the red umbrella didn't quite seem to be touching the deck, so there are a few edge and shadow adjustments in that area. A slightly lighter value was also added to the under side of the steel bar going up into that umbrella so that it didn't look so wimpy. It's so nice with transparent fluid acrylics to be able to add a lighter value when it's needed - something that's way more complicated to do in transparent watercolor.

The next adjustment was on two parts of the deck. Very diluted Quinacridone Burnt Orange was painted in a small part of the really white deck area above the top notch post of the red umbrella. Then, the crack between the boards to the left of the handle of that umbrella was widened slightly.

The only other change was in the upper right hand corner where a darker wedge was added to create a 'push' down into the picture where the bluish umbrellas overlap. Edges in that area were melded together a bit so they weren't so important.

Small changes can help tweak a painting. In the past, the danger for me has been to overdo the tweaking process, causing my painting to loose freshness. I've thrown away far too many paintings that would've been okay if I hadn't tried to perfect them so much.

It's taken years, but I've finally quit trying to make a painting perfect. A great quote by Michael J. Fox was the ultimate thing that made me stop over tweaking. He said, "I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business."

A very special thanks go to Jude, Sandy, and Bob, who used their expert eyes to help spot some of the needed adjustments. And thank you, Almighty GOD, for making painting so much fun, for giving me the chance to be an artist.

The painting is finally signed and completed, and I'm on to the next one. It's of two giant pigeons, and it's the biggest painting I've ever attempted. More later.

ARTISTS SHOWPLACE in DALLAS

Last week, 17 artists joined me for a five day workshop at the beautiful Artists Showplace in Dallas, Texas. You can see by their work below just how talented and diverse the group was. There were struggles, of course, but everyone was highly successful with the challenges of painting on YUPO. In fact, they absolutely loved it.

They've asked me to return in late September next year and promised that it won't be 107 degrees then. Anytime that you're in the area, be sure to stop in to see the beautiful treasures of art in their expansive gallery. It's on the north side of Dallas, and getting around that amazing city is relatively easy. Several artists there own and operate The Artists Showplace gallery, and it's quite a team. Their workshop area is large and well equipped, a delight to teach in, for sure! They sponsor excellent workshops continually throughout the year so check out their website. I'm really looking forward to returning.

My next YUPO workshop is in Toledo, Ohio at the end of this month. For more info about it, you can email them at toledoartist@sbcglobal.net or see the side bar on the right.

My apologies to the Dallas workshop artists if the colors aren't quite right in your paintings below and for the descriptions/titles that I made up. Some paintings had a slight glare from the lights, too. You can still see what an awesome job they all did - each woman expressing herself in her own unique way. Here is a selection of some of the workshop paintings, all on YUPO, some watercolor, but most painted with fluid acrylics ----- ENJOY!


BOATS BY CAROLYN BUCHMANN
MEXICAN VILLAGE BY PAULINE CAFFREY TUMBLING ABSTRACT BY LYDIA GOWENS
CRASHING SURF BY JUDY CAMPBELL EXPANSE BY DOVIE WU
JEWELS BY TETA SMITH FOREST BY MARSHA BENDA
SNOWSCAPE BY SHARON SERRAGOLANDSCAPE BY ANNIE JAMISON WINDOW BY DARLA BOSTICK

ADVENTURE BY MARY TRUELOVEMETALLIC BY KELLY PEREHOUSE

STANDING TALL BY NANCY DUBRO

ABSTRACT OCEANS BY SHIRLEY COLLINS ARCHITECTURAL GAMES BY ROBIN JORGENSON
BEATEN PATH BY JANE KAHLER

BOTANICAL BY CAROLYN HARPER

GROVE BY PAULINE CAFFREY

LETTERS BY JUDY CAMPBELL

TAPESTRY BY CAROLYN BUCHMANN

SANTA FE BY NANCY DUBRO

MIGHTY OAKS BY LYDIA GOWENS

SOLITUDE BY JANE KAHLER

DANCER BY SHIRLEY COLLINS

SEAHORSE BY DARLA BOSTICK

COLLECTION BY MARY TRUELOVE FALL FRENZY BY ANNIE JAMISON

IRIS BY CAROLYN HARPER

DELIGHT BY DOVIE WU

TRAVERSED BY SHARON SERRAGO

DESIGNER BY KELLY PEREHOUSE

FANTASY BY ROBIN JORGENSON

SEEING RED

On a rainy Tuesday morning in August, the artists left their wet umbrellas outside on the deck before coming into the studio for class, unknowingly creating a painting ready to happen with those wet umbrellas. For the last couple of weeks, most of the class has been creating lively, exciting paintings inspired by the colors and shapes of those umbrellas.

My final sketch contained several minor adjustments to help improve the composition, and a value study helped me determine which shapes needed to be lighter, which ones darker, (which I forgot to follow at one point.) We'd decided to work with FLUID ACRYLICS this time - the OTHER watercolor! No one in the class had used them, and the challenge was on.

I'd recently watched Nicholas Simmon's new dvd again showing his expert use of fluid acrylics. Viewing it helped reinforce all the things he'd taught us when he was here at the studio last November for a week long workshop. We moved slowly to incorporate the same process and techniques that Nick demonstrated on his dvd.

Below is Step 1 - painting the deck area (background area.) This shows the area with the miskit removed. Fluid watercolor acrylic paints were poured onto wet paper. There are two pours of colors over the whole area, and I made sure that blossoms and run backs happened each time before spraying off the paint just before it dried. Nick calls this effect his 'watercolor batik' look, and it's a very cool way to make great textures. Some drizzles of water and paint were added to the deck boards to add more texture before the miskit was removed. Click on the picture to see textures better.

To see more detailed photos of another original umbrella painting, go to Rhonda Carpenter's blog at http://rhcarpenter.blogspot.com/. I forgot to take more pictures until I'd completed the painting, but Rhonda has posts about the succession of her painting on August 18, 19, 20, 27 plus today's, showing her completed masterpiece. I wish everyone could see it in real life. It's got a magnificent glow, and the colors dance off each other beautifully. She wasn't loving it until she cropped off one umbrella (which I liked.) She's gotta love it now.

The next step was to paint all the dark and blue umbrellas - (the middle ground areas.) I miskited any shapes and patterns that I wanted to remain white, then wet each area to be painted before charging in the colors. Back runs were encouraged again. Before the paint dried out completely, a blast from a sprayer washed off the still damp areas, creating more of the batik looking areas.

Knowing when to blast off the paint after making blossoms is one of the trickier parts of this process. Waiting until the 'blossom' areas were still a little shiny to blast off the fluid acrylics seemed to work best to create those batik spaces.

Popping in that bright color on the wet red umbrella panels, then spraying off the blossom areas again, made for a lively textured focal point. Each panel was done separately, and when they were all dry, I painted more red over the entire umbrella after wetting the whole red shape completely with water.

We used Nick's SEWING MACHINE STITCH to soften some edges, then drenched the entire painting with water before swishing color randomly throughout the painting. That helped to soften and unify the painting. A few more drizzles were added to the red umbrella, too.

After class was over, I added stronger color to one of the red panels and also placed a very light orange glaze on parts of the deck floor. Now I'm living with it for a while before I call it finished. A few more small areas may still need to be darkened. I've started another bigger painting using fluid acrylics and will post it when it's done.

If you want to explore some really great techniques using fluid acrylics, I'd recommned clicking on http://www.ccpvideos.com/page/CCP/CTGY/ARTNS to order Nick's dvd from Creative Catalyst Productions.

And THANK YOU, Marian, for bringing that red and orange umbrella that day. Purple wouldn't have worked (inside joke.)

"MARIAN'S RED UMBRELLA" Fluid Acrylics on 140#HP Arches, 16 x 21"

SUMMER'S END

This anchor laid on the ocean floor, easily visible when the tide went out. Three summers ago, four of us stayed in a ocean front home, painting and enjoying the incredible northern Maine coastline right outside our door.

Textures always seem to scream at me to paint them, and the textures in this painting were fun to do - the rope, the rusted iron, the rocks and mossy weeds. Compared to my previous post, this was done in a much more controlled way, a way I find more relaxing to create.

Painted while we were at the coast, I can remember smelling that fresh, salty ocean air as I worked. It was a great week. Thanks so much for including me, Barb.

"LEFT BEHIND" Transparent Watercolor on 140# Arches 15 x 11" COLLECTED

A GOOD BOOK

For the past two weeks, my Wednesday evening class has been challenged to paint portraits in a less than photo realistic style. Painting loose and free looks so darn easy, but, at least for me, it's not.

I think the deception is that it just looks like the paint was slopped down on the paper with reckless abandon. And actually, it just about is like that. But there's LOTS of thought before the brush touches down - exactly where does that shape go? How light is that shape? Does the shape change in value and get darker or lighter? What kind of edge does the shape have, and how and where does that edge change? And of course, what COLOR is the shape?

The last question is actually the least critical of all of the questions, but it's the one we respond to the most. Just to get it out of the way, let me list the colors I used - Raw Sienna, Quinacridone Coral, Quinacridone Magenta, a little Cerulean, a little Quinacridone Burnt Orange for skin areas. For the hair, it was Cobalt Blue and Quinacridone Burnt Orange with a bit of Lunar Earth for texture. Seven colors, total - a warm yellow and red, a cool red, a cool and warm blue, and a two browns. Any other colors could be used, with each selection lending a different feeling to the painting.

Color gets our attention. How many times have you heard someone ask, "What colors did you use?" Color is magic. But the thing is, the painting usually succeeds, not because of the colors chosen, but because of the way the shapes, values, and edges are handled. Good composition and technical skills along with the ability of the artist to pour emotion into the painting are the final key factors for real success.

Applying the pale washes of color into each dry shape, spreading the very fluid paint into the area it belonged, then creating a soft or lost or hard edge helped form the structure of the face. Only pale values were used, no darks - pictures 1 & 2.

Notice the pure white areas left on parts of the face. The photograph we were working from had color in those white spots, but they were the lightest areas. Leaving those areas completely white gives so much more dimension to the painting and adds freshness and sparkle to the painting.

After the paper was bone dry, a darker wash was applied in the same way - very fluid, juicy paint. Edges were softened, etc. Notice that there's no hard edge or 'line' where the hair meets the forehead. Edges are SO IMPORTANT.

When I'd finished the hair, I thought it needed just one more stroke above the ear to break up a dark shape. I didn't check the paper to know that it had lost its shine, and when I put that brushstroke down, I got a really bad blossom there that looked like a caterpillar crawling through her hair. I grabbed the spray bottle and spritzed the area lightly, hoping it would help. Whew! Now it's my favorite part of the painting. Pure luck.

Small shadow areas and details were added - the blur of lashes and brows, the dark by the nose, suggestion of glass rims and temples. The whole lip area was painted with the paper upside down. It was an unusual shape that was really easiest to follow upside down.

The supporting parts of the painting - the clothing, book and background area - were done quickly, with not much detail so that the focus would remain on the face. Using mostly cool colors there helped emphasize the warmth of the face, too. The painting's captured the sense of someone really enjoying a good read but is not a photo copy of her face.

She never looked up when I was taking pictures. It must've been a good book!

"CAN"T PUT IT DOWN" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Fabriano Artistico 22 x 15"

FINISHING PAINTINGS

Last week before the art show at Lynne's in Michigan, I shuffled through my flat files to collect work that needed to be matted. These iris were dug out of that stack.

The painting was a fullsheet - 22 x 30" - and although I enjoyed painting it at the time, I went on to something else before completing them. To make life easier, I cut the picture in half and completed this half before putting a mat on it. The other half may never get finished. We'll see.

I didn't have any Transparent Pyrrol Orange when I'd started this about six years ago, but I quickly swished some of it over the lower dark petals to give them a glow. Loved it. The painting looks more controlled than how I paint today, but it worked out ok.

Is anyone else notorious for leaving paintings behind, loosing interest in them? It's tough sometimes to gain back my excitement to complete the work.

"LOVELY LADIES" Transparent Watercolor on 300#CP Arches, 15 x 22"

MICHIGAN MOLLIE

Mollie is a Belgian Sheepdog and one of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen. The painting was to be a surprise for Mollie's owner, and she was surprised when she saw this along with the portrait of Mollie's head.

It's so much fun to try to capture the personality of any animal, and especially one that's so animated and lively like Mollie. Since she's got a shiny black coat, I knew I'd be using lots of color to make that rich black be luminous. And, I also knew I would not use black paint.

To mix dark colors, check your palette wells. If the paint looks dark in the well, it'll work as one of the paints to mix for making black. I think the key is to let the paints 'mix themselves' on the paper, rather than mixing up a big puddle of darks in the palette.

Make separate puddles with lots of water, but add enough pigment to get each puddle really dark in value. Then add a brushful of color in part of the area to be black. Don't rinse your brush unless you remove the excess water in it. That extra water will dilute the next puddle, making it too light. Now add another color- get a juicy amount in your brush - and let the two colors charge together on their own. Touch in a third or fourth color but avoid stirring up the paint on the paper.

Keep your brush out of the way as much as possible and let the excess moisture of the paint do the mixing. Use your brush to control and create soft and hard edges as needed.

If the colors aren't mixing on their own, use more moisture from the puddles. Make it do what watercolor does so well - flow. Let the colors slowly move on their own with just a little help from your brush. Just a little. Sometimes artists stroke the brush over and over and over in an area, annihilating the fresh look of watercolor.

Mollie's coat had a lot of texture in some of the fur, and other parts of her coat were sleek. In the textured parts, I used granulating pigments like lunar earth or lunar blue to help suggest the texture of her coat. For the sleeker areas, I used phthalos and quinacridones, which have no granulation at all.

I do love painting animals and am so glad I got to paint Mollie.

"MICHIGAN MOLLIE" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Fabriano Artistico, 18 x 24" COLLECTED (Smaller portrait to the right is also on Fabriano.)

TREASURES

Art shows can be lots of fun, they can be fabulous, or occasionally, they can be very disappointing. This weekend's art show in Michigan was really fabulous, lots of fun, and went WAY, WAY, WAY beyond my expectations.

Lynne and Jamie opened their beautiful lakeside home to display as many of my paintings as I wanted to bring along, and both worked hard at making the event a special occasion for that Saturday. The whole day was a great success, with one of their daughters even making the trip over to help out. Melissa and I had some time to visit before the show, and I so enjoyed getting to know her better.

Lynne had invited friends over for the afternoon, and many of them now have new art hanging in their homes. THANK YOU to all who came and made the day wonderful. Lake living in Michigan is a special treat, particularly at this lake.

Gallery owner, Nancy Boyce, from the Golden Finch Gallery in Three Rivers, also stopped by. (She'd generously loaned us many easels to use for the show.) One of Lynne's daisy batik paintings that I'd done earlier was hanging on the wall, having been framed earlier this year by Nancy - who has such impeccable taste, her framing complimenting the painting so well. Actually, the framing Nancy selected made the painting look REALLY elegant. (This hummingbird was one of many who enjoyed the paintings while dining outside.)

Needless to say, I am still walking on clouds, so thankful for a wonderful weekend, thankful for good friends, for people who appreciate fine art, thankful for the gift of being able to create with a paint brush. It was a incredible experience.

I so appreciate Lynne's hospitality and generosity. She is truly amazing and creative. She golfs a good game, makes beautiful jewelry, is an ARTIST - a professional photographer - complete with her own dark room and studio, is an excellent chef, knows how to watercolor, and knows how to genuinely make a person feel right at home. PLUS- she puts on a mighty fine art show. Thank you so much, Lynne and Jamie, for this weekend, for your friendship. I treasure you both.

"LAKESIDE" Transparent Watercolor - 2 colors - Raw Sienna & French Ultramarine - on 140#CP Arches, 15 x 11" COLLECTED