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