Monday, November 24, 2008

My 'Broken Heart'







How do you mend a broken heart.... Lyrics from the past. One of my assignments for an illustration is to create an image to illustrate making amends. One image I thought of, right off the bat, was a broken heart being repaired.






To approach this image, I sketched out a couple of ideas, one being a broken heart with a band-aide. One with rope or string wrapped around it too tight. Others I won't admit to :)






My next step was to do an image search on the Internet. I use Google, but others work as well. I wanted to get an idea of what sort of images are already out there. I want mine to be different. I want to present a unique take on the subject, my take. So I did a search on 'broken heart' and there are a lot of strong images out there. Some very predictable, some disturbing, some very interesting, some very well done.






So I went back to sketching and decided to take the approach of a heart that has started to be put back together. One that had been broken in many pieces. So I did the sketch, then enlarged it and even though I like the black and white image, I also painted it.






I like my image. It has a sad element to it, but with a glimmer of hope of perseverance.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Demo of an Autumn Landscape


Saturday at the November WACG meeting, I gave a demo on painting an autumn landscape in oils. The demo included tips and techniques that can translate for almost any medium when trying to capture the colors of the fall. It's 16"x20" on acid free canvas board. I did the painting in just over an hour. I had laid in the sky and grassy areas before hand, but did 95% of the painting during the demo.


Everyone appeared to enjoy the demo. There were lots of questions and good discussions as it progressed.


The December meeting will be 12/20 at 10:15 am at the B&C Art Museum in Myrtle Beach (near Springmaid Pier). We will have a Christmas party, plus Dixie Dugan as agreed to critique paintings for us, everyone can bring up to 3. Plus we collect new and gently used art supplies which we then donate to a local art program. Bring a goodie to share if you want, and come join the fun!


New Flowers




In class I have been working on more flowers. Here is a better photo of the Red Hibiscus.




I have also created this painting of a geranium just starting to bloom. I used the same combination for the back ground as the hibiscus. I like the way it sets off the red blossoms.




'First Blooms' is a happy painting. I like the way I captured the patina of the pot as well. Here are two examples of a single subject painting. One, the hibiscus, I floated by itself on the canvas. The other is the plant in the pot and that painting has more weight to it. Each is an example how one can paint a single subject matter. See my November newsletter for more keys to painting a single subject well.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Workshop Truck


Yesterday, the WACG sponsored an all day watercolor workshop with Mary Spelling to learn out textures in w/c. It was held at the Base Rec Center - a great facility for classes and workshops. There were 10 of us plus Mary. We created a painting of a old rusty truck. Mary demo-ed each step then let us play with it. It was fun to see all of the different versions of the same subject matter. The students were challenged, encouraged and everyone put out a great effort for wonderful results. The consensus opinion is that we want Mary to return next year for another workshop.


I work fast, so I was able to complete mine. Although watercolor is not my first choice of medium, I do like to dabble in it occasionally and I learned a lot. Just spending a day with fellow artists enjoying the time together and creating something fun is worth it. If you get opportunities to take workshops, I highly recommend it - always leave with more than you came with.