Back to art!

Sometimes I get busy with other stuff... Sometimes I just have nothing to say... Sometimes I need a break to redefine where I want to go with my art and blog.
So I am back today with a demonstration from one of my summer classes. This is a format that I would love to explore... possibly with my nighttime ideas. Stay tuned! Acrylic on 4 x 24 inch canvas board

Tissue Paper Watercolor

I thought I would publish all of my tissue paper watercolor projects together to show you all the variations that my students have explored so far. The top one is industrial/architectual. 

I found a rooster calendar that served as inspiration for the second one. The students used different types of papers to layer and then use watercolor ground in the shape of the rooster and then watercolor over top the ground to get the vibrant colors.

The third one is the original sunflower exploring the shape of the sunflower from different angles. 

And the last one was from a children's class, just gaining experience with painting on texture. We used acrylic paint for this one.

The technique is described here 

http://mklart.blogspot.com/2012/10/tissue-paper-watercolor-texture.html

Succulent Demonstration

This is a quick demonstration I did for my teen art camp today. We talked about point of view, mixing grayed greens and layering with shadows. This was a tough class for them, but they worked and came up with some wonderful paintings. You can see their work at 

www.room101art.blogspot.com

acrylic 8x8 inches

Church Roof Lines, Southside of Pittsburgh

I was invited to be part of a show called 89, the Neighborhoods at Gallery Sim in the South side of Pittsburgh. The show has images from many of the 89 Neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. My 10 x 10 inch, acrylic, is of the roof lines of St John the Baptist, Ukrainian Catholic Church in the South side neighborhood. Churches are an integral part of the neighborhoods and give a history of the population there. SOLD

Another Red Glass

Just a quick 8x10 acrylic on stretched canvas for my friend's kitchen.

I have been teaching all week and again next week so no new people work to show.

You can however stop by http://www.room101art.blogspot.com/ to see my students work.

Small portrait

I was doing some research for my Baba paintings and found some old photos that I found really interesting. I think this is a family member from Russia. I painted this small 5x7 inch acrylic painting from a black and white photo. I used strectched canvas and painted a bright warm red as a base. I also gave her a yellow pencil... not from the time... she had an ink pen and ink jar... but I wanted to add some yellow warmth to the image. Hmmmm.... was it wrong? or could this be like a game... what does not belong in the picture? (Where's Waldo-ish?)

An Apple a Day

Just another quick 5x7 inch acrylic on stretched canvas.

Small Acrylic Break

I painted this small pear with acrylic on a 4x6 inch stretched canvas. It was a  nice break from the larger watercolor and pastels that I have been working on. I like to look for hints of warms and cools in the shadows and play with them till I think it works. I used a bright orange/red as an underpainting. I like how it gives the image a glow. I will post the other paintings soon. I felt like I was neglecting my blog so I did this quick pear.

Also a qucik travel note. Went to New York to the Moma to see the Tim Burton Exhibit and thought it was great. It's a nice insight to how he works, from highschool on with examples of sketches, paintings, storyboards, films, notes, models, armature, props... all really fun and a nice inspiration for the boys. Can't wait to see what they come up with now!

acrylic demos

I have a student who enjoys working in acrylic and I try to do demonstrations for her as often as I can. We have been looking at how colors relate/reflect... warm, cool... light sources... It is so interesting if you take the time to do your value drawings, take color notes and study the image before you paint. We have been painting from life in the studio.

eggplant, 7x5 inches garlic, 4x4 inches

Painting Glass

These are some demos on painting glass. I just did the two cordial glasses and the jars are from before. I will cover some techniques in the workshop coming up but having good observation skills is key. Then you can decide what to edit.

Only Two This Week

This week we did a cup and saucer for class. The class is really doing well with being able to see shapes, shadows, keeping things symetrical when needed and using good color. I did my demo in acrylic. The portrait of myself is also done in acrylic, 8x10 on board.

Chocolate covered cherry

I had the best classes this week. We used valentines day candy as our inspiration and last night one of my students brought the best truffles in the world (from Betsy Ann Chocolates!) to paint. They all did such a wonderful job and then they got to eat them. I did not paint one, but wish I had. I had this chocolate covered cherry, 6x6, as a demo instead.

Oh and I was tagged this week by conniep . This is a fun thing to do to be able to share and see other bloggers. I am supposed to list 7 unique things about myself.

1. I have a studio, Room 101, where I teach and paint in Mars, PA.

2. I met my husband racing sail boats and he is my best friend.

3. Pizza is still my favorite food.

4. Next to chocolate.

5. And all kinds of homemade soup. (yes, I enjoy cooking!)

6. I am very proud of my teenage boys.

7. I have a buddy (dog, mutt) named Buddy.

Not so unique, but hey, it's me and I kinda like where I am right now.

Instead of tagging others I will just list some blogs that I enjoy.

Faces and Figures

Connolly Portraits

Dana Cooper Fine Art

Carol Marine's Painting a Day

A Painting Today

Drawing Tel Aviv

My World of Painting Today

candy

My demos for class this week were of valentines day candy. Watercolor, 4x5 chocolate covered cherry and 8x9 candy hearts. I have one more to do tomorrow and can't wait since it will be a truffle in acrylic. I will add it when I finish. I also redid the picture of Greg, acrylic 8x10. It still seems labored but I am happier with the result. I used some left over paint to do the old soldier, acrylic 8x10. A limited palette, a short amount of time and I am happy with how loose and fresh it feels. Also to something to keep in mind....

Just two

The portriat of Greg is 8x10 acrylic on board. This is the first time I used a black gessoed board and found it to be a great surface to paint on. I can't wait to do more. The small 4x5 watercolor flower was from a demo I did in class yesterday.

farmer talk

This was supposed to be a quick study (8x9ish) but I ended up working on it more and will go back to change a few things to finish it. ----update--- The bottom was the origional watercolor. I didn't just retouch the skin tone, I redid the image using titatnium white and color washes. It ended up a bit washed out but fun to play with the color and to see the difference it can make. The top was a quick 8x10 in acrylic.

oranges, oranges, oranges

I am pretty lucky that I have my classes to teach. I continually get to go over the basics (that we often forget) and I am able to do demos to show the techniques I am teaching. Today, I had a new student who was interested in watercolor. The rest of the class was interested in trying acrylic since they had been painting with watercolors since fall. So I chose a simple subject, strong light and some texture. My watercolor demos went well and I ended up with one strong colored and the other alittle muted. The acrylic demo was great fun and the students also did some nice work. It is always a good day when the students dive in and end up with work they are proud of.

So, here are my oranges, oranges, oranges, 1, 2 and 3.