Cute Stuff, HHI Mug Shot, 4x4 Inches, Oil

This is my friend Sheryl, trying to look tough.  Yeah, she can't.  She's a softie.  And a wonderful artist, as are all my Hilton Head Gang friends.  I can't believe I haven't even known them a year.  Being in a workshop sometimes makes friendships 'ripen' faster.  I've met some of the best friends at workshops.

Anyway, she is - if you can believe it - a grandmother!  Stylish, talented and sweet... and with a red-headed sense of fun!  I have a few more to publish, but I'll space them out.  If you would like to see how we ALL painted each other - and this is a hoot - click HERE.  Just run your cursor over the images, and they'll all pop up.  

Colin Page Workshop

This weekend I attended a Colin Page (above) workshop at the North River Arts Society in Marshfield, MA. The class was overwhelmingly filled with my 'peeps' from the South Shore - and we had a lot of laughs as well as good lessons in observation and working with values and color.
The first day we were at Scituate Harbor, it being primarily a Plein Air workshop, and I struggled with this little lobster boat (they MOVE!). I was thinking of Colin's loose but definitive brushwork for the background trees, and his 'sparkle' in the water. The hardest part was the 'dark white' of the side of the boat in shadow.

SOLD

I thought what I loved about this painting above was the 'pop' of blue inside the boat, but what turns out to have grabbed me was the color changes in the water from blue to lavender to 'muddy' green... Also the man who owns this boat came to talk to me, and it turns out that THIS boat was built in Warren, RI, where my studio is! How about that?
The second day it rained, so we painted indoors. Oh, what was I thinking with this figurine (it was Colin's and actually had a smiley face painted on its belly)????? I was happiest with the blue pitcher in the background...
I painted this because there was nowhere else to sit when it turned out I had to move after we'd started painting. I have an allergy to turps except Gamsol, and there was someone using Turpenoid, so when my eyes started burning and lips started tingling I knew I couldn't paint the pink carnations in a jar I'd chosen. I was almost in despair over this (all blue? stripes? a painted pitcher????) but Colin helped me eliminate the non-essentials and calm down and just DO it. :) If you ever get a chance.. it's a worthwhile workshop!

I promise, no more workshop photos after this!

As promised.... the Belly Dancer! Here I'd first like to send a BIG 'THANKS' to the TSA personnel in Phoenix for untaping all my wet canvas boards (all held aprart so you could actually see in the spaces between the wet paintings), smearing the wet paint all over the paintings packed face-to-face) and effectively ruining every single canvas. I feel so much SAFER now! Seriously, there was an explanatory letter on top of them, with only my empty easel also in the suitcase. Apparently there's a threat of EXPLOSIVE paintings - now there's something I never thought to worry about! Anyway... learned my lesson, and forever more will 1) use only Galkyd paints when I travel, and 2) ship via UPS!

Enough ranting. These belly dancer paintings were only FIVE minutes long, each, so don't be too harsh! They were fun to do, because with just 5 minutes you can't get fussy! Our model really got into it, and she was so strong and fluid it was a pleasure to paint.

Then this last one was from an earlier day, with the most beautiful shawl and dress...


Things to remember from the workshop:

#1 - Be A Designer (don't let reality get in the way of a good painting)!

#2 - Title First (when you give your painting a title first, you are more likely to stick to the focal point!)

#3 - Separate the dark and light pattern with clean, interesting shapes! (and not only things in 'shadow', but things that are actually dark go into the dark area).

#4 - 1/3 - 2/3 rule , keep 1/3 of the painting light, 2/3 dark, or vice versa, to keep a rythm and interest in a painting.

Thanks to all who checked in on the blog, and DOUBLE thanks to everybody who commented - it made me feel like you were right there with me!

*Ooops, Double Post Deleted....

LIVE! From Scottsdale, AZ! PKR workshop!

Hello, Everyone! I'm in Scottsdale at Peggi Kroll Roberts' figure workshop with the Scottsdale Artist School this week! We are painting FIENDS! I feel like we are empty vessels, and PKR is STUFFING us with information on how to paint figures. (Feeling very, very full right now...) She's working us very hard, but it does actually feel like something's 'clicking'!

This is the last one of the day, done outdoors.

Our first outdoor piece, this afternoon...

Sorry, no Photoshop here! No cropping!

Our lovely model, Athena (what a cool name,huh?)

Well, I'll try to check in tomorrow night. I'm missing everyone but am working very hard. It's HOT here, and clear and wonderful. Thanks for checking in! Put any questions/etc. in the 'comments' section on the blog, OK? Thanks, all!