Plein air

I was walking my dog along the river when I took this photo. I wish I was always prepared to set up anywhere to paint when my little guy finally falls asleep in the van or stroller. The water was so calm, the air was a bit hazy. The vibrant fall colours in the trees with their reflection on the water was beautiful. I will pack my travel water colour kit in the van from now on for moments like these. Paint when baby sleeps is my new objective.

Red and Green

I arrived at  my second class ( unintentionally 1 1/2 hours) early. It was good for me to get some warm up painting going. We did a critique on last week's orange and blue studies. I learned a lot from other people in the class. It is quite amazing the limited palette could look so different under different brushes.  After the crit, we proceeded on using red and green. I chose Alizarin Crimson and Hookers Green and brought some produce for the market to paint.

Briefly what I learned today: 

My fear of watercolour has lifted. Painting with acrylic in a watercolour manner is fun. 

I had learned painting mainly from a couple painting teachers, really one. As much as he is a very great painter, learning from Karen has been very refreshing. Her teaching style paired with my readiness to explore is a perfect match.

Painting acrylic on raw canvas... I can't wait to try it!

Orange and Blue studies continue

The complimentary colours exercise continues. I know this subject was a bit intricate. But I find that I have to really like the subject to paint it, otherwise I get bored and loose my focus. This exercise brought me back to my art school days and all the terminology came rushing back; composition, foreshortening. Recently, I have discovered that I benefit from talking through my process. Luckily, I am at a point in the life where I don't care if I appear to be crazy by talking while I paint. It also helps that the only audience I have today is my 2 years old, and he doesn't seem to mind. I did the right one first and found that my drawing did not convey the foreshortening enough therefore confused my eyes. I drew the second one with a bit more accuracy but I think they both made me think about light source and shadow. I think I might get a flower from the market to paint for tomorrow's class.

Painting Boot Camp

So I went to my first class of Painting Boot Camp at Emily Carr last Sunday. I was a bit anxious as to the level of the students would be in the class. The Class was a good mix of younger (20 somethings) to retired Grandmother probably in her 70s. We explored colours and mixed them according to the RBY colour wheel. I was pleased to get the familiar assignment of painting an object with only one orange and one blue. Here is what I did in class. The goal is to lay the blue as the background and use the orange on the object to bring it closer to the viewer. I am very pleased with the instructor - Karen Yurkovich. She has extensive training in painting and a very light and encouraging teaching style. We are using acrylic like watercolour which I rarely do. I usually use acrylic as an oil substitute. I am enjoying going back to the basic of mixing colours and using a medium in a fresh way. I am enjoying being open and exploring.

In preparation to September

In the beginning of the summer, I received news that a good friend of, who is also a painter, is being represented by a gallery. I was very happy for her but also a bit envious and questioned where I'm at in my art career. Instead letting a bit of jealousy get to me, I though sensibly about my time and my young children. So I made a date for myself to refocus on my art career and also more on myself in September. With the kids back to school, well the little hopefully will get in to the 2 hours twice a week early preschool, I will have a more structured schedule to work with. I am excited when I flipped through the Emily Carr continue Ed calendar and think I have found a few courses I want to take. I decided on an intermediate painting boot camp course. Can't wait

Commission art

I am beginning a new commission art project of a 30" x 60" painting of my roses. I am very delighted to start this project. Although my hand still hurts from losing my balance off the bike, I am able to lightly hold the pen or pencil to do my sketches. This will be a horizontal piece, I am feeling more drawn to a vertical format right now so I am starting my sketches in a vertical format to get warmed up. I know that it will lead me to the required format in time.

Integrity

I recently saw an artist, I met in the past, preparing for a meet and greet at a local cafe. I have had odd feelings about this artist's work. She seems to have been successful in selling her work but I question her integrity. Does her work sellout? Why does that bother me? There are quite a few pieces of her work I really like, but I find that they seem to be strongly "influenced " by other artwork I have seen before. Her style also vary greatly from series to series; they seem very trendy. On the business side, it makes sense to produce work that will sell, but I question why her style seems so different? I like to try different things too, am I jealous that she is doing what I would like to do, paint whatever style she feels like doing and not concerned about developing a consist style? While I am bothered by her art practice, I know that if I can figure why it affects me, I will learn and grow from it.