The Watchers

These are two examples I did for my watermedia class this afternoon - the red was done ahead of time and the blues were the demonstration.  The technique is done by squeeging acrlic paint which has been arranged in a specific manner - in this case to form figures when squeeged in a specific direction.  After the paint dries, I added detailing with Sharpie markers and gold glitter paint. These are done on chips of mat board 8"x 10" and 9" x 12".  We had a lot of fun this afternoon doing this project!

Trees and Cliffs Collaged and Painted

The watermedia class projects continue on...this was the project for last Tuesday afternoon.  The concept for this project came from the book, "The New Spirit Of Watercolor" by Mike Ward and the painting "This Good Earth" by Carole Barnes.  I did my own composition, but the concept is hers.  The watercolor paper was collaged with tissue paper using mat acrylic medium and then painted in watercolors.  I will post the student work in a coming post.

Antique Bleach Bottle With Grapes.

This is the latest in the series of still lifes in oils.  It is painted on a 12" x 9" canvas panel.  I started it a couple weeks ago,   got back to it yesterday afternoon for a while and finished it today.  The grapes are a little too tight for my taste (sour grapes, you know) but this will have to do.

This week's lesson at the arts center was one of watercolor texture.  The project was inspired by an article in the recent "Watercolor Artist" magazine in which the topic was abstraction and various artists told how they use the creative process to create a painting.  The students were given the following instructions: 1. Their painting was to include 2 birds and 3 circles; 2.The painting should have the following textures - salt, lifted and stamped (we used original stamps created from art gum erasers.  The composition could be either abstract or realistic. 

The 4 painters did  wonderfully creative  paintings - abstract, semi-abstract, impressionistic, and realistic.  I am so proud of them.  I am also including my 2 paintings - the first is my example prepared ahead of time (more design and realistic) and the 2nd was done along with the students (the abstract approach.)

Class Projects: Name Abstractions

Yesterday I posted my example of this project, today I photographed the finished projects from last week - they did so well on this one!  Love them!  What a great group of painters!  These are from our summer session watermedia class at Riverside Arts Center in Wapakoneta, Ohio.

Name Abstraction in Complementary Colors

This is my example for the 2nd project for the summer watermedia class at Riverside Arts Center in Wapakoneta, Ohio.  The lesson is to use the letters of your name, first or last, to create a linear design by overlapping the letters and varying the sizes from large to small.  I had the students due a series of thumbnails first selecting the best for the project.  Then, using a charcoal pencil, they enlarged the design on a  1/4 sheet of  140 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper.  After deciding on a complementary color design, they painted the areas with acrylic paint, balancing the colors and values.  They were encouraged to mix the colors, shading with the complementary.  After painting, the shapes were outlined in stick charcoal, and smoothed with Q-tips, and then the composition was sprayed with a fixative spray.  My complementary color scheme was purples and yellows, and of course, my name is Barbara.

"Three Porcelain Pears"

This is the latest painting I've done with the still life group that meets on Tuesday evenings at Michelle Walker's studio.  I got a late start on this one due to the fact that I attended my grandson's baseball game before.  Ryan is 8 years old and is a great baseball player - at least from Grandma's viewpoint - and one thing is certain...he is the cutest, best-looking 8 year old on the diamond!!!

Michelle set up this still life with white porcelain pears and a gold plein-air frame.  Unfortunately my granddaughter says she likes my purple pears, so I guess I went a little overboard with the purple for the shadows.

This painting is done in oil and is painted on an 8"x10" canvas panel which was underpainted in black gesso.