Danielle Cleary won 1st place at the Sonoma Co. Fair
Tuesdays at Creighton's - Aug 26
It was a short meeting today, things to do, people to see, etc. We showed off our work on different shaped paper: a 3-D mask, an ocean in a fishbowl and someone did four different versions. Freeing our surface from the rectangular opened up new and fun painting styles.
Some of us showed artwork from our distant past and it was interesting to see elements of current work viewed from long ago.
Mary talked a bit about her show and promised to bring in pictures, soon.
I noticed a poster about an exhibit at the San Francisco Zoo called "Washed Ashore: From Beach Trash to Ocean Art". I found this link for more information: http://www.visualnews.com/2014/06/19/creating-sea-inspired-sculptures-beach-trash/. There are other exhibits around, like at the Marine Mammal Rescue Center in the Marin headlands.
Next week's experiment:
#28 - Convey a Bright Day, pages 85 + 87
See you next week, Shirley
ps - we missed you Joanie
Tuesdays at Creighton's - Aug 19
Since we are working on a new name I am using a fairly generic greeting.
We met at Creighton’s Tuesday to start the “new semester”.
Here are the choices for our group name:
- Try it or Try it Tuesday
- Primaries & More
- Boldenfrees
- Tuesdays at Creighton's
- Watercolor Players
- Tuesday Painters
- The Experiment, The Painting Experiment
- Intrepids
- Why Nots?
- The Curious
- Muddy Waters
Email me at watercolor.sf@gmail.com with your preference. Winner gets a free cup of coffee!
Here is a summary of the experiments we worked on over the summer from Lawrence Goldsmith’s book, Watercolor Bold and Free .
#54 Practice Calligraphy
#39 Combine the Figure with Land Forms
#56 Spatter Freely
#08 Focus on a Central Dark Area
#02 Let the Base Dominate
#03 Compose From the Side
#27 Convey a Grey Day
#30 Use Mostly Hard Edges
Final Library Critique and Sharing
A few brought current paintings to share. There was a night painting, someone tried egg tempera but said it was smelly and labor intensive, and a yummy looking cupcake that requested a little shadow support.
We discussed good shadow techniques and one was not to try the yellow/violet compliments to make neutrals because they often turn a sickly greenish color. Try painting the shadow in first and then over glaze with a very transparent color. For shadow placement try making a black and white copy which will show values and shadow shapes.
Another trick when you are stuck is to turn your piece in a new direction. If you aren’t sure what you do next you could try laying a piece of acetate treated for watercolor and paint on that to see if it works!
For the next meeting we agreed to bring a piece of old art that we have done. It can be any medium. Dig back and find something from your childhood or just something you did when you were starting.
We talked a little more about “The Painting Experience” and here is a link for more information. http://ccesf.org/
New experiment - #07 - Use a Different Shape Paper.
Don’t go gimmicky….or make it totally gimmicky…whatever. Have fun with it!
Until Tuesday,
Joanie and Shirley
Kay Russell News
Showing Off in a Good Way -
Mary Ciofalo
Sat, Aug 23 + Sun, Aug 24
Northbay Artworks
-
Heather Solway
Thu, Aug 28
24th Street
-
Kinya Matsumo, Gail Block, Pat O'Connell
December dates pending
A.W.E. Gallery
Congratulations -
Danielle Cleary won 1st place at the Sonoma Co. Fair
Studio classes begin -
Wednesday, Sep 24, 6:30 - 9:30 pm (Full with waiting list)
Thursday, Sep 25, 1 - 4 pm (Full with waiting list)
Studio classes will be posted on Schedule page
Mary Ciofalo
Sat, Aug 23 + Sun, Aug 24
Northbay Artworks
-
Heather Solway
Thu, Aug 28
24th Street
-
Kinya Matsumo, Gail Block, Pat O'Connell
December dates pending
A.W.E. Gallery
Congratulations -
Danielle Cleary won 1st place at the Sonoma Co. Fair
Studio classes begin -
Wednesday, Sep 24, 6:30 - 9:30 pm (Full with waiting list)
Thursday, Sep 25, 1 - 4 pm (Full with waiting list)
Studio classes will be posted on Schedule page
Tuesdays at Creighton's - Aug 12
Every Tuesday we will meet at Creightons at 10 am. Everyone welcome every week!
- For those of us that are working independently of any assignments, bring your work and show it.
- If you are working from Goldsmith's experiments, bring it and show it.
- If you have some of both, bring them all.
If you are new to the Tuesday group, it is composed of painters that embrace the support, motivation, good ideas and related news about watercolors. We meet at a coffee shop in the Diamond Heights Shopping Center and have a good time and value the comments from the fresh eyes of the group. Here are the details:
- Tuesdays at 10 am.
- Creighton's Bakery & Cafe
5214D Diamond Heights Boulevard, San Francisco, CA 94131-2118
(415) 282-2366
If you would like to participate in the Goldsmith experience, it has proven to be a great way to get the juices flowing. His suggestions for ways to approach a painting encompass whatever subject or painting style you are interested in. Painters learned a lot about their habits, misconceptions, likes and dislikes, techniques, and a whole lot more.
His book has approximately 60 "experiments." We randomly pick a number from an envelope, work on it at home during the week, and bring what we created the next week for the "show and tell." Here are the details:
- Here is the link to the book we work from:
Watercolor Bold and Free by Lawrence Goldsmith
You do not have to get it from Amazon, this is just a way to see the book.
- Tuesdays at 10 am @ Creighton's Bakery & Cafe (same address as above)
- Because of busy schedules, some folks cannot make every meeting and just come when they can. We post the new assignments every week, so you can keep up while away or take a break, your choice.
- It's pretty easy-going. I do want a group that sticks to topic as much as possible. By 10:15 the conversation is directed to art, so if you want to catch up with folks you haven't seen in a while, come early or stay late, please.
- Try it, it's fun and challenging and Joanie puts out a great summary every week.
Experiments with Goldsmith
We took a week off, but due to an overwhelming desire to keep on keeping on, we will start the autumn version of Summer Arts on Tuesday, Aug 19. Same time, same place.
It has come to our notice that Summer Arts is no longer an appropriate name for our activity and we need a new one.
Some suggestions so far:
- The Boldenfrees
- The Why Nots?
- Renegades
- Creighton Artists or Coffee Cup Artists or Tuesdays at Creighton's
So, send in a suggestion for a new name and we will start the autumn session with a new moniker.
watercolor.sf@gmail.com
There will be a prize for the winner (we're thinking a cup of coffee would be good).
We plan to combine the Tuesday Coffee at Creighton's and the group working out of Lawrence Goldsmith's book and just all work together however we want. Keeps it simple and inclusive.
We would love for you to become a part of this fun, dedicated group of artists. There is so much to show and tell.
It has come to our notice that Summer Arts is no longer an appropriate name for our activity and we need a new one.
Some suggestions so far:
- The Boldenfrees
- The Why Nots?
- Renegades
- Creighton Artists or Coffee Cup Artists or Tuesdays at Creighton's
So, send in a suggestion for a new name and we will start the autumn session with a new moniker.
watercolor.sf@gmail.com
There will be a prize for the winner (we're thinking a cup of coffee would be good).
We plan to combine the Tuesday Coffee at Creighton's and the group working out of Lawrence Goldsmith's book and just all work together however we want. Keeps it simple and inclusive.
We would love for you to become a part of this fun, dedicated group of artists. There is so much to show and tell.
Calligraphy at the Main Library
Jo Hunter has arranged a viewing of rare books with watercolor and calligraphy work. We will gather at the Main Library with a knowledgeable librarian, who will show us books that are not normally displayed to the public.
The event is scheduled for Tuesday, Sep 09 at noon and Andrea, the librarian is really looking forward the meeting with us.
There will be a limit to the number of folks that can attend, so please email Jo to sign up. She will provide further instructions:
johuntersf@aol.com
Thank you Jo, sign me up!
Summer's End Photos
With great thanks to Jesse Schlenker, our esteemed photographer, I post a batch of photos from the last meeting of the Summer Art Group. If I have missed representing anyone, please let me know. I have a lot more images to go through and want to include you in the great works of the group. Enjoy!
Summer Painters - Aug 05
Summer Painters,
As summer winds down and fall creeps in a little early (have
you noticed the Naked Ladies everywhere and spiders in beautiful big orb webs
in your gardens?) it was time to review our summer experiment.
Thirteen of us gathered at the Bernal Library Tuesday morning
to share our summer work. There were a
total of 87 pieces of art! We all
enjoyed seeing it all together and took time to look at the final experiment
using hard edges. As always there was a
big variety of interpretation of the “assignment”.
About half loved and half disliked working with hard
edges. We all agreed that we needed patience
to do this one. Some of the things we
tried were slightly overlapping with a transparent color to create a subtle
line, using a colored pencil to crisp the edge, and using a thicker, creamy
paint which can give more control.
Marjorie tried the gel pen and was a bit dismayed when she
removed it as she lost some of her edges.
She also reminded us to be careful and not press too had or it creates a
scored line in the paper.
We did a little “business”.
It was decided that we would continue to use the Goldsmith experiments
after a short break and alternate with the Coffee Klatch group so will have a
new experiment every other week instead of weekly so it will remain on Tuesdays
at 10-12 since most of us already have that time blocked out.
We celebrated the birth of the new blog! Thanks, Shirley!
It was decided that we would meet for the calligraphy
exhibit with Jo on a Tuesday, probably in early September and will get the
exact date and time to you as soon as we know it.
The Russelers are meeting at the Bernal Heights Library this Friday from
1-5 pm. Join us!!
Finally, we each shared what we liked about this summer experiment. We liked:
working outside of our box and trying new things, the fun of it, trying
and learning new things, the social aspects,
being pushed to do something we normally wouldn’t try, community support,
positive criticism, being in a dynamic group, focusing on watercolor (some of
us had been away awhile), not being result oriented, sitting down and doing
something without it having to be grand or a masterpiece, having to let go and
just let the brush flow, having to finish by the deadline so we wouldn’t be embarrassed,
idea sharing, the randomness of the “assignments”, being inspired by others, groaning
when we first heard the assignment and then pushing through, learning to not listen
to all those negative comments inside our heads and just painting. In other words, we all had a great time and
are looking forward to continuing to explore!!
We hope more of you can join us in the Fall!!!
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