Dong Kingman - 1954
It's about 15 minutes long.
Artist - Dong Kingman
Dong Kingman - 1954
It's about 15 minutes long.
Tuesday at Creightons - Jan 27
Good morning TACers!
So behind…so will do a quick two week recap.
1/20 was Introduce India Ink and 1/27 was Understate Your Subject.
- Mary: 1/20 - she did two pieces. First, a restrained factory with india ink that she thought was great for pollutant particulates and a second was a fast and wild acrylic ink water scene where she used a brush with the ink. 1/27 - she went very bright with a hint at a subject behind a wavy line and dot overlay. It looked good when she turned it in any direction.
- Avelina: 1/20 - she did several, as usual! She had trouble with the ink smearing whether she used it first or last. First was her granddaughter, outlined after her brushwork, second was a flamenco dancer with her granddaughter, both bright. The third was an African girl of watercolor base with details in ink, which was very poignant. 1/27 brought two bright flamenco dancers in hot reds and oranges with tons of movement. One was watercolor and the other was crayon. Her other two were drafts of her grandmother’s story with ink and watercolor.
- Marjorie: 1/20 - first she did a hot swirly wash with ink then added more color and some lifting. The second was a softer forest scene with washes and three different inks on printmaking paper. 1/27 was reflections and she thought it was full of mistakes but she learned a lot.
- Lee: 1/20 - - first was her wet, drop ink, blot. Next was a piece with a waterspout but she didn’t like the ink and the third was seafoam-ish with resist, very subtle. Turning changed the composition in interesting ways. 1/27 - She did a gift painting of a bluet mushroom that included mushroom spore prints and lovely pinkish lavenders. She used iridescent pink and blue watercolor crayons shaved into water as paint.
- Heather: 1/20 - She used a piece from Kay’s class, added a wash and then picked up some shapes with ink with a splotchy, subtle indigo effect.
- Pam: 1/20 - first were beach cliffs with dry brush and sumi to build up darks then color at the end. Then she used ink first and pulled it when moist and added a color wash and more ink for clouds. She likes the “not results oriented” feel of the experiments. Also ink can be used as a wash for tonal value and not just for line. 1/27 - a bridge almost lost in fog from a photo from a friend.
- Sue: 1/20 - She did a ship with reflections which started as a pencil drawing then she added washes, gouache and wax and some scraping. Her reflections worked well. 1/27 - She is into watercraft right now. Her first was a subtle piece with sailboats and the second was a redo of last week’s ship. She was unhappy with it but we think we gave her some good ideas. It had an early 1800’s feel.
- Joanie: 1/20 - the first was fennel blooms with an underpainting of yellows and greens with ink detail and gouache for the flowers but she wasn’t satisfied. Mary thought it needed one more step. The second was fan coral with an underwash of oranges and yellows with the fan in ink drawn with the dropper and then some blowing and water spray. 1/27 - a small painting of drifting feathers in soft greys.
- Carole: 1/27 - first was a small foggy landscape and the second was an abstract of iris in earthy reds, blues and preserved white space.
- Shirley: 1/27 - all inks of air bubbles. She stamped with a sponge on wet, spray, spatter and lifting, with white india ink drawn with string. She also asked for ideas for her Doggie Diner painting. We were happy to oblige.
Ikea had 11x14 frames in black for $7.00. May be useful to know for quick framing.
Arch is at 2349 Third Street near Dogpatch. It is okay to park right in front of the door if that space is open. It looks like a driveway.
Next experiment is #13-Reveal White Paper
Tuesday at Creightons - Jan 13
Hi, Painters!
57-Position Tension Spots
A smaller but still lively group of us shared our work. We managed
lots of tension!
- Shirley started with circles in bright colors. She tried the
Peerless watercolors and didn’t much like them.
She does love spots, however, so she enjoyed this one.
- Heather did another “fix”. She actually washed out an old piece under the tap then painted over the result. She felt she got muddy in some places. There were some nice shadowy marks left where she washed it off.
- Avelina felt stumped but still managed to do three!! She did an interesting self portrait of her reflection in a window with her new watercolor pencils. Number two was called “Wave Action” with mostly yellows and golds. One of us thought it looked a bit like a giant clam shell. Number three was a portrait of a farmer in darker greys with bright highlights. She used a photo for inspiration and tried a stiff brush to add some really nice brush effects.
- Marjorie had a dark, smoky landscape with water reflections. Her tension spots were a more subtle dark purple that still moved the eye around the paper. Her second was a landscape with a subtle fisherman. There was a lot of movement and dry brush work. It is a “fortune cookie” piece.
- Pam had a forest landscape with rising smoke which was unclear so we suggested more red spots and smoke. Her #2 was a reworked scene with aspens which she woke up with some reds. The trees were scraped in but she says,”don’t try this at home!”
- Sue did a seascape with a sailboat with three blues, sepia and splashes of bright yellow. She used wax and white crayon to add sparkle. It was suggested that she try lost edges on the sail to help add depth.
- Joanie did hills in greys with a hot pink sunset. We thought she should darken the foreground.
We talked a little about wax. Beeswax is softer and gives a different effect than parafin. Plain wax has sharper edges.
- Heather did another “fix”. She actually washed out an old piece under the tap then painted over the result. She felt she got muddy in some places. There were some nice shadowy marks left where she washed it off.
- Avelina felt stumped but still managed to do three!! She did an interesting self portrait of her reflection in a window with her new watercolor pencils. Number two was called “Wave Action” with mostly yellows and golds. One of us thought it looked a bit like a giant clam shell. Number three was a portrait of a farmer in darker greys with bright highlights. She used a photo for inspiration and tried a stiff brush to add some really nice brush effects.
- Marjorie had a dark, smoky landscape with water reflections. Her tension spots were a more subtle dark purple that still moved the eye around the paper. Her second was a landscape with a subtle fisherman. There was a lot of movement and dry brush work. It is a “fortune cookie” piece.
- Pam had a forest landscape with rising smoke which was unclear so we suggested more red spots and smoke. Her #2 was a reworked scene with aspens which she woke up with some reds. The trees were scraped in but she says,”don’t try this at home!”
- Sue did a seascape with a sailboat with three blues, sepia and splashes of bright yellow. She used wax and white crayon to add sparkle. It was suggested that she try lost edges on the sail to help add depth.
- Joanie did hills in greys with a hot pink sunset. We thought she should darken the foreground.
We talked a little about wax. Beeswax is softer and gives a different effect than parafin. Plain wax has sharper edges.
Next week: 53 - Introduce India ink.
Tuesday at Creightons - Jan 06
Happy New Year!!
It was a gang at the first gathering of the New Year! Twelve of us gathered around the table and had almost all the chairs!!!
55 - Add Work with Cray-pas
- Shirley started us off of. She used crayons and didn’t like the effect of the crayons on top of the watercolor and wants to try crayon first and then paint. She added a “neat, interesting doodle” with pen. She said Caran d’Ache crayons are great. We didn’t know there was such a thing.
- Carole D. used an old painting that she wasn’t happy with. She liked some parts. It was a bit mysterious and magical. She got several suggestions from the group.
- Janie loves this one! She did a vase of hydrangeas with watercolor first and then used soft pastels over. The vase was really lovely and she plans to frame this one. She had been wanting to do it for awhile.
- Heather fixed two paintings with Caran d’ Ache watercolor crayons. One was an arched pergola with garden behind and the other was a field of lavender. She thinks this is a great way to fix paintings.
- Marjorie did two. She thought she sent too far with her calla lily but nope! She thought her shadows were muddy and, once again, we disagreed. It was rich and powerful. Then she reworked a skull she had done earlier and it was sort of POW!
- Joanie did a vase of rose hips with a loose underpainting of watercolor then bold strokes of oil pastel on top.
- Avelina worked on an earlier portrait of Chuck Close and used crayon both under the portrait and then over. Really an interesting result.
Jo didn’t do #55 but asked for ideas on two pieces. One was a study in greys and she wanted to add more texture. Some ideas were: grated watercolor pencil, spatter, wax, salt, sponging, Daniel Smith Lunar Black. She was also working on a portrait of her great grandmother and she and Avelina got together after the critique for some coaching.
Mary brought her #1 - Compose from the top. There were layers of rectangles that faded as they went down the paper. We thought flags, banners, cat in the hat…fun!
Pam had a church scene and asked for ideas on the building and trees. It was agreed she should darken the building.
Sue shared about the “Roads to Arabia” at the Asian Art Museum. It ends January 15th.
Peg shared Frank Hodgkinson’s book , “Kakadu and the Arnkem Landers”. Some lovely stuff in there!
There was conversation about the paintings in our heads and unmet expectations. Some of the ideas were to embrace “happy accidents”, dissatisfaction drives creativity (Martha Graham). Shirley said she as noticed that when she is working and it is not going as planned, if she sticks to her idea the work seems to come out flatter. She thought that maybe it is because your mind has already seen it. Someone else talked about how the same piece would look different in different mediums…and the mind is a medium!
Next time it is 37 - Position Tension Spots
Have fun and see you next week!
Joanie and Shirley
Tuesday at Creightons - Dec 30
Happy New Year All!!!
25 - Paint without Drawing First
We had a small group on Tuesday and our discussion went quickly.
- Janie reworked her leaves from last week but she still wasn’t happy with them. We thought they were lovely!
- Shirley did her last “23 Monterey” painting in her journal. She took the bus to the end of the line at the beach and painted the sunset. She did it at 4:30 and it got dark fast so she wasn’t too sure of her colors but the piece turned out. There were the Farallons in the distance.
- Carole did a scene from Glen Park that was rich, and earthy and we agreed it had a bit of a magical quality.
- Marjorie worked plein aire at the base of Yosemite Falls. It looked COLD! There were people at the base of the falls. She also did two mountain pieces and one was a very successful snow scene. The second was part of her “fortune cookie” series.
- Joanie did two pieces as well. One was abstract and she used one of her new tools for mask. The second was of the ocean driving back from Monterey when the ocean was sooooooooooooo blue.
Joanie also bought Peerless Watercolors which are very concentrated on a special sheet of paper. Very interesting…google them. They seem like they would be great for sketchbooks and plein aire.
Then we drew for next week:
55 - Add Work with Cray-pas and chatted while we finished our coffee.
Hope to see you next week!
Joanie and Shirley
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