Flowers...and sales

These little flowers were the last from a big bouquet; wish I knew what they are.  The background is a greenish blue -- you may be able to tell if you tilt your screen a bit.  Oil on board. 6x6"  Can't figure a name - ideas?

$$$.  Making art can be so expensive. Just thought I'd give those of you who have taken up art recently a heads-up about the back-to-school sales that are going on through the end of Sept.   While I usually shop local art stores, I was curious about the on-line store sales.  I compared buying 5 items at two on-line stores.  The same 5 items were about $50 at Blick Art, about $114 on another site.  Riley's and other local stores are also having good sales.  Up to 60% off their normal prices. So if you need to stock up, now may be a good time.

Homework time..... value study.

OK - in the spirit of 'practice what you preach',  I did some homework before jumping right into my daily big project.  Yesterday I practiced values (we discussed value in class Sunday).

Value:  lightness and darkness.  Value adds energy and interest to your painting... and it helps prevent chaos. Making your paint darker or lighter is how you control value.

(Remember, this is NOT about color. )

Notice values here: light value the top of top box, the box becomes less bright on the left side.  A darker mid-value on the side of  bottom box.  The ends are the darkest value, esp. that right bottom corner.  There's a tiny highlight on the little front right top corner of the bottom box. Some of the table cloth is in shadow, some in light.  If these same-color boxes were painted in all one value (no change between light and dark) - the painting would not read with any interest or energy.  (not that cardboard boxes are THAT interesting :-) The eye would not travel around the painting.

Note:  You can get darker shades of the main color you are using by adding black to your original color or by adding ultramarine blue+Aliz. crim or cad red, ult. blue+orange to your original color, etc. 

Your turn! EZ Lesson:  

1. Set up a simple subject (e.g. piece of fruit or a box etc.),  shine it with an angled light so you have bright side, a dark shadow side, and some in-between tones.  

2. Paint using only black and white to paint your picture......mix all your tones..from your charcoal gray to your very light/white highlight.  

3. Look at the subject very careful.  Identify your darkest area and decide how dark is it.  Is it pitch black or some slightly lighter shade?  Where is the highlight?  Notice all the values next to one another.  Paint your darkest areas first with black or charcoal black, paint your highlight or brightest area with pure white.  Then mix a couple grays for the in-between shades.  Try a few!

I did use a bit of color here, but I wasn't thinking about color - just my shadows and brightness.

Some artists always make a blk/white/gray value study before starting a new color painting - whether abstract or realistic. Then they know and transfer the value results to their color piece.

Let me know how yours turns out. Good luck!

"Best Buddies"

"Best Buddies" Acrylic on paper. a 20 min study.

Hey, remember me? Bet you thought I'd quit blogging. Don't know how many of you are still receiving these...hopefully some of you are still "out there"?

Over the summer, I posted a few of the 2011 series I'm working on...the abstracted florals. But, to fess-up, I had a light painting schedule. Busy summer - with a couple little local trips, lots of special time with my two grandkids... Now it's fall and I'm jumping back in.

Warm-up activities: The little painting here was done Friday -- 20 minute exercise. An art pal and I have giving set up a schedule of exercises we'll each do every week. It's a great way to hone technique. Like practicing piano scales or tennis forehand. To paraphrase what every painter knows - you have to put in the hours; you have to paint hundreds of paintings to be really competent.

Today I taught a class at the local jc and it was a blast. Had about 15 students - who knew that Sunday was a great day to teach. Makes sense; people are not at work. Everyone in this class was so very enthusiastic about starting their painting journey. Some are delving into abstracts; others plein air, still life, figure... some start their first 'real' class tomorrow! I forgot to take a photo of the class - sorry about that.