Where's the Grapes?

I went out a few weekends ago to photograph some grapes as reference for my adult watercolor class. Drove to many places and found they were harvested or none on the vine. So I went to Costco, bought some grapes, cut some vines and took them home. I used twist ties and the backs of chairs to set up the grapes and vines against a strong evening sun and photographed.

This is the demonstration painting that I did for the class. We focused on the warm light coming from behind and the cool light reflected from the sky above. Using my artistic license I took out the twist ties and darkened the background to keep the focus on the warm glow.

Well, now what?

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I  wonder what this Basset Hound is thinking?
I kind of feel like I interrupted his morning.
watercolor dog portrait on quarter sheet watercolor paper

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

Plein Air in Peninsula, Ohio

 

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I had such a wonderful time a few weekends ago participating in a plein air competition in a little town called Peninsula, Ohio. If you are ever in the Cleveland, Akron area, you should stop for a visit. The town has a railroad station that is part of the Cuyahoga Valley Railroad, bike trails (bike one way, take the train back for $2), an old canal, river, shops/galleries, art center with classes, food, and super nice people. It is part of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park area... so much to do...
Anyway, I found a quiet street corner to paint this fun wooden chicken advertising a Bar-B-Que fundraiser... and I just found out it won second place in the plein air competition.

Lemons and Glass Watercolor

My adult watercolor class has been such a joy to teach. It seems like all the pieces have been falling into place for my students and their last few projects have been the best. Here is the demonstration I did of our last project. Believe me, they nailed it!

watercolor on quarter sheet 

Pastel Portrait from Life

My son came home from college with a new haircut. We had him model for us.
Pastel 11x17 on Wallis paper.

Gregory Pastel Portrait

I have a few commissions coming up and thought I would do a quick portrait of my son to warm up a bit. He looked at it and said, "Why so serious?"  It is hard to catch him in a serious photo. He usually has a goof off face.  I think he was surprised to see that I had a good photo of him to use.
He comes home from his freshman year/university in a few weeks. Can't wait to see his goof off face.
Check out his blog              17x17 inches on sanded paper
UPDATE--- Just found out this painting won Best Portrait in the Associated Artists of Butler County Spring Show!

Sky, Water and Waves Demonstration

This is the demonstration I did for class today. We talked about cloud shapes, how this cloud was backlit and how the water color is a bounce off the sky. We also talked about calm water and rippled water and how the colors reflect off the angles of the ripples/waves. We looked at many examples and it was good to observe and learn the form/shape of things and how the light sits on the shapes.

and here is a small 5x8 inch demo I did of waves.

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

Sketches at the Zoo

We went to the zoo on Friday. Both of our sons are into art/animation and we all took sketchbooks.  I follow James Gurney's blog and have wanted to get a little sketch kit together like he uses. It was wonderful in size and supplies.  I started with pen and ink on the moleskin watercolor book and did the watercolor washes at home. Next time I will do the watercolor washes on site and draw bigger.  Here is a link to one of my son's gestures from the day. And here is a link to my other son's blog. Hopefully he will get his sketches up soon. Lots of links today, but the info is good.