Art Class - Rose Painting

Having completed our sessions on learning the basics of lino-printing we were given a week to choose what we would like to do.  I scaled up the design of my lino-print rose and chose to do a painting in the style of the American artist Georgia O'Keeffe.  This was painted in Acrylic paint, starting with pale thin washes, gradually building up the colour with glazes. We also have to make craft items for our course and I have chosen to create greetings cards from my art.  I took a photograph of my rose painting and then printed to fit blank cards.  

The second card was re-coloured using an Art package on the computer before printing.

Lesley x

Art Class - Amaryllis Christmas Star

Christmas Star

A free choice this week so I decided to take some photos of my beautiful Amaryllis and do a painting from these.  Another big thank-you to Sandra and Tony who bought us the bulb for Christmas.  I scaled up a section of one of the photos before the class and then painted it in Acrylics, finishing it at home.  Wasn't sure about my choice of the yellow background at first but I'm OK with it now.  I was aiming for a bright contrast with the red flowers. 

Lesley x

Art Class - Abstract design

Can you see what it is yet?

A very different class today.  We have a different tutor while our usual one recovers from a fall. As a getting to know us exercise we started by drawing our hands.  A difficult enough task, but first we had to do it without looking at the paper at all.  I wont show you my effort from that.  Then we could look 10% of the time and finally another quick sketch where we were allowed to look at the paper.  At least that one resembled a hand.  Next we did the same thing again with some objects chosen from the studio. I chose two small jars.  Then we had to focus in on a section we liked and develop an image.

extract from sketchbook

I rather liked the simple lines of the 'no-looking at the paper' jars and developed this at home, first onto some old Gelli-prints

extract from sketchbook

and then into a small painting (18 cm x 18 cm).

Only then did I remember the task was to develop an abstract so I looked back at my sketchbook and decided to use the shapes at the bottom-right as the basic outlines for some Zentangling. The result of which is at the top of this blog.  I really enjoyed this exercise, an interesting way to develop images into something new. I think the Zentangle and the Gelli print images would work well on cards.

Hope you like too.

Lesley x

Art Class - Cypress Trees

This week's exercise was to take a black and white photograph  and interpret it in colour.  I used a photograph I took on holiday last year in Italy on a day trip to visit the remains of an ancient Greek city at Paestum.  I have many pictures of the fantastic Greek temples but this one was taken on the very edge of the settlement, looking away from the remains.

I started off trying to emulate the style of Van Gogh.  I had in my mind a painting of cypress trees he had done.  However, that didn't work as you can see.  At the end of the class we compared our paintings to the colour versions and my grass was far too green, the earth being nearly parched in the original, and the sky far too vivid. The painting was finished at home and I must admit I used my colour photograph to help me get more realistic colours. Yes, I know that is not what the exercise was about but I had lost interest towards the end. I have a wonderful painting in my head if only I could get it onto the canvas.

Lesley x

Art Class - Thistles

I have called this painting Thistles but I think maybe the larger ones are artichokes.  We had to take in a still life to paint but I hadn't got round to getting one together so I quickly grabbed some old silk flowers I had in a cupboard and took those.  This is my first attempt at using my new Artisan water soluble oil paints.  The canvas board had been given a wash of Raw Umber acrylic before the class.  I used acrylic so that it would dry quickly. Our tutor told us it is alright to use acrylic under oils but never the other way around.  I found using the oils very different to my usual acrylics but very enjoyable. For health and safety we are not allowed to use solvents in the studio. The Artisan oils can be cleaned up with water which makes life a lot easier.  Because of the drying time this was painted over two classes. It took nearly a week to be  touch dry.  I won't use oils again in class because of the practicalities of transportation but I will definitely have another go at home.

Lesley x

 PS. The speckles are light reflections off the oils. I must learn how to take better photographs. 

Art Class - Earth colours

Still life

This weeks exercise was to paint a still life using oils in earth colours.  I had bought a beginners set of Artisan Oils but this didn't have enough of the earth colours in so I reverted back to my acrylic paints and tried to use them like oils.  I am quite pleased with the results especially as I didn't do any preliminary pencil drawing and started straight away with brushes.  The lipstick was added to the painting at home as I felt the composition wasn't quite balanced.  Not having the other objects at home to compare with it was difficult to get the scale of the lipstick correct but I think it does add to the overall painting. The painting is darker than the photo shows, the flash has made some of the highlights look white but the are really a pale yellow ochre.  I keep wanting to make the lipstick bright red, what do you think?

Lesley x

Art Class - Half term homework

Prince and his Tutor

We have been doing life drawing, a first for me, and I'm not sure what the rules are on sharing life drawings without asking the sitter's permission, so I thought I would post my homework instead. The task was to enlarge and interpret a black and white photocopy of part of a painting by Gerrrit Dou in our own colours. I have tried portraits before in acrylic but they weren't very successful so for this I chose soft pastels for a change.  I found getting the detail difficult with the pastel sticks, even using a blender tool, so there is a bit of graphite pencil work on the eyes.  This did not photograph very well as the light bounced off it.  If anyone knows how to do details with soft pastel I would love to hear from you.

Lesley x

Art Class - Roman pots version 3

This is the painting I had in my head when I took the photograph back in September.  It is painted in acrylic on a paper with a slight texture. By using lots of dry brushing the texture of the paper breaks up the colour creating the effect I wanted on the pots.  I have used colours that are much brighter than the original pots. Thought you might like to see the other versions together with the photograph. 

I would welcome your comments and perhaps you could let me know which version you prefer. 

Lesley x

Art Class - Zentangle Pots

This is another version of my Roman pots that I posted on 4th November.  I printed a small copy, about 5" by 7", of my Patrick Caulfield pots for my sketchbook. I traced the outlines of the pots onto some cartridge paper and then just doodled inside them with a black pen. This is quite relaxing and doesn't take very long, unless you are a perfectionist.  I did do another version that I coloured in but I prefer this monochrome one. I have also made a start at painting my original enlargement of the photo, which I will post when finished.

Lesley x

Art Class - Impressionist Chrysanthemums

Still life

Another still-life, this time incorporating a 2D picture (front of the book) with 3D objects.  Not over enthused by the topic this week but thought I would try to paint in an impressionist way to keep in the style of the painting on the front of the book.  I am quite pleased with the flowers but still have trouble with my greens ending up too bright, even though I mix the colours rather than using green from a tube. This is painted in Acrylic with a bit of white pen work for the text.

Lesley x

Art Class - On holiday in Italy

Roman Pots

A week in Italy on the beautiful Amalfi coast. Back in class the others were doing exercises in enlarging from pictures, so I was set the task of taking lots of photographs while on holiday so that I could enlarge one when I got back.  So many beautiful views to choose from but most I would sketch freehand without having to scale up.  However, one of pots, taken in a Museum at a Roman villa in Minori, I thought would need more accurate drawing. (I did ask for permission to take photos, and it was OK as long as no flash was used).

Back home, having scaled up the photo, it reminded me of a painting of pots by Patrick Caulfield.  My daughter studied his work for her A Level Art and we had taken her to an exhibition of his work back in 1999.  She still had the exhibition book which I have borrowed.

Pottery - Patrick Caulfield

Having already enlarged the photo onto a textured Acrylic paper I decided to trace it and transfer the image to some smooth Mixed Media paper.  It was then just a case of going over the pencil lines with a black sharpie pen and colouring in with bright acrylic paint.  Still took me an hour and a half to paint, though it was quite therapeutic. The original enlargement I intend to paint in my own style at a later date.  

Lesley x

Art Class - Cezanne

Homage to Cezanne  Forest and Rocks

Cezanne again.  I decided to do my own version of one of the paintings we had been looking at rather than another still-life.  I lightly sketched the composition and then, using Acrylic paint, added the blue for the sky.  The trees and rocks were then built up using quite dry, loose  brush strokes working from light to dark.   I am much happier using Acrylics and managed to finish this painting in the studio time.

Lesley x

Art Class - Another term

Cezanne Still Life

Art class has been going again for four weeks now but I haven't got round to putting up any of my efforts.  I will try to catch up over the next week or so.

For the first couple of weeks we were looking at the works of Paul Cezanne.  Our tutor set up a still life in the style of Cezanne and we started by doing quick sketches in our sketch books.  We then had to choose a composition and do a larger painting in watercolour.  I still haven't got the hang of watercolours  and tend to overpaint as they always dry much lighter than I expect. I am also not very patient when it comes to letting them dry naturally and do their own thing. Next week I will revert back to Acrylics.

Lesley x

Flower Painting course

Hydrangea

For two and a half days back at the end of July I attended a Flower Painting course at Wensum Lodge, Norwich.  I haven't done any other painting during the summer unless you count decorating the house so thought you might like to see my efforts from the course.

The course tutor was Toni Hayden who was brilliant and very inspiring.  Her sketchbooks and paintings that she brought in to show us were fantastic and it would take me years of practice to get anywhere near the standard of her work.  There were about ten of us on the course and an abundant array of flowers and fruit in the centre of the studio which we could select to paint.  Toni demonstrated and also came round and gave us individual help and advice.

The medium for these paintings was Gouache, something I have only tried a few times before, and watercolour paper. Everything was painted with one brush which Toni recommended, Da Vinci - Maestro No.6.  An investment as it cost more than I usually spend on a whole set of brushes. Certainly won't be letting the grandsons borrow that one!

Add caption

 This may not look much for half a weeks work but it took a lot of concentration. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and if you like flower paintings check out some of Toni's work.

Lesley x

Art Class - Final Piece

Arum Lilies on Green/Acrylic

This is my final piece for this term's Art Class which was influenced by the flower paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe and Tamara de Lempicka.  We have these beautiful Arum Lilies growing around our pond and it was easy to choose them as my subject.  I wanted a more subtle background compared to my red/pink practice painting and opted for pale greens.  The leaves are supposed to be more of a pattern than real leaves.  I dry brushed on some red towards the end as the painting had become too green.  I prefer this painting, the composition is better, but the jury is out as several of my colleagues at the Art class and my husband, Jeremy, liked the red version better.  If you have an opinion please let me know. 

No more classes until September, but I hope to keep practising over the summer so do pop in.

Lesley x

Art Class - Arum Lilies

A zoom in on some Arum Lilies in the style of Georgia O'Keeffe/Tamara de Lempicka.   I was aiming for a simplistic style and not realism. This is a practice piece before I do my final painting for the end of term. I have used white wax crayon as a resist on the flowers and then gone over with very diluted Acrylic paint like watercolour, gradually building up the colour. The green is more vivid than the photograph shows.  The background took me longer than the flowers as I changed it's colour several times before I was happy with it. 

Lesley x

Art Class - Not quite fifty shades of green!

Puddle Duck Pond

This painting in acrylic was influenced by the Jungle paintings of Henri Rousseau, last weeks artist to research.  We had spent half an hour mixing as many different greens as we could with our own paints and this proved very useful as a reference when I came to paint my picture. Not quite fifty shades! We have a large natural pond in our garden and this is based on a photograph I took. Rousseau added exotic animals to his paintings so I thought I would add a Moorhen. Not really exotic but I thought the colours of the bird worked well with the painting.  We do have a resident pair nesting in the reeds but they are very shy so I resorted to Jeremy's bird books so that I could add one in. Some bits of the painting are better than others.  I spent a lot of time on the large leaves at the front and they are more detailed than others.

Lesley x

Art Class - Oil Pastel

Overlooking the Wensum

The original sketch for this was done after watching a DVD on Manet, who often drew his friends in his paintings.  This is Mike sitting at a Wensum Lodge Cafe table sketching the opposite view to me. The following week we scaled up our sketches and as I had been experimenting with oil pastels at home I decided to use these. It was a lot harder than I thought especially where I needed detail.  I think the only bit I really like is the trees. Poor Mike has aged at least ten years.

Lesley x

Art Class - Two versions of Van Gogh's Sunflowers

Sgraffito Sunflowers

 No Art class as it was half-term. Thought I would keep in practice by copying one of Van Gogh's Sunflowers using acrylic and trying to mix my own colours to match the colours of the reproduction.  Tried to get the effect of the brush strokes by using a gel medium but found this quite difficult with the brushes. Might try the medium another time with palette knives. Finished acrylic painting below.

My copy

For my sgraffito Sunflowers I used oil pastels put down in blocks of random colours, covered this  in black oil pastel and then scratched the design using an old kitchen knife.  In future I will use Indian ink on the top instead of black oil pastel as this version turned out to be quite messy to do.  The Indian ink method seems to seal in the oil pastel so you don't end up covered in black. I wanted the background colours to be random rather than laying down the colours for the flowers etc because I was aiming for a decorative design, doodling in patterns for the flowers heads. 

Lesley x

Art Class - Calla Lily

Yellow Calla Lillies

Art class this week we had to find a picture by a favourite artist and do our own version.  My picture is based on 'Calla Lily' by Tamara de Lempicka.  I brought in my own fairly life-like plastic lillies and borrowed a vase from the studio. I used Lempicka's composition, vase of flowers and a present, and copied some of the leaves from her painting as well as trying to do a similar background to hers.  The painting is not as clean and smooth as I would have liked as the acrylic paper I used had quite a rough canvas texture. I found painting the glass vase quite difficult and left it until last.  Not a good idea as I had to finish the painting off at home without the vase to refer to. The actual vase was made of green glass but I decided this would make the painting too dark so I painted it as clear glass.  My background is not quite as blue as the photograph makes it look. Friendly critique, good or bad would be welcome.

Lesley x