Study of Edward Hopper Room 1-Masters Class-Week 9

This week we studied Edward Hopper under Stephanie Lee, only this isn't the painting she worked on in her video. I, once again, chose one that spoke to me, and tried some of Hopper's techniques. We're not trying to copy the work exactly of any of the artists/teachers, but studying their techniques to make us better artists with our own unique style and voice, and it's awesome! :)

On some of these paintings I'm using clear gesso over the drawings on the smooth mixed media paper in my journal to give it some tooth. The acrylics on the bare paper seem more slippery than I like. Hopper did his in oil on canvas, so mine is not going to be an exact copy from the start.

Besides, I can't copy anything exactly, even if I wanted to. :) Above is my sketch from the original, which I got more horizontal than his was. I didn't notice that until after I started painting, but that's perfectly ok. Part of the process! ...

First layer of paint. Yuck!...

Another layer. Still yucky!...

White wall too yellow! Paintings, or anything else I do, for that matter, go through a lot of layers of ugliness before they get to the point I can tolerate them...

Added another layer of white over the whole wall. Too much! ...

Added some blue to the white and went back over the wall shadow. Some better...

After a little more re-adjusting all over, I decided to leave well enough alone and quit on it. It looks a bit like sun coming in and who knew I could paint little ocean waves? :) I have a couple more of Hopper's paintings that I'm going to study later too.

Still have works in progress for Botticelli (who I haven't worked on in a few weeks at all), Francoise de Felice (who I have been working on a lot and it's about to kick my behind-very difficult for me for some reason!), and Henry Clive (who I haven't been to class on yet, but did pick out and sketch a painting off to study already).

I purchased the book "How To Steal Like An Artist" by Austin Kleon for my Kindle off Amazon when I first started the class in January, because it was highly recommended by Jeanne Oliver for the class. It was very good and simple enough to understand! Today I purchased his book "Show Your Work" for my Kindle and am looking forward to reading it. It looks very helpful also!

Staying busy with everything but housework. I do it in my "spare" time! :D

You can find links for the Studying With the Masters class and for Creative Every Day, Paint Party Friday, and my FB page (where I will also be sharing this post) on my sidebar.

Happy creating and thanks for your visit!

Study of Chagall Blue Donkey 1-Masters Class-Week 6

I forgot to take some of the progress pictures, including the sketch, on my study of Chagall's "The Blue Donkey". I also forgot and deleted Chagall's version that I studied, but you can see it on Pinterest if you want. It's MUCH better than my version! Also, his was oil on canvas, I think, and mine is acrylics in my mixed medial journal.

I studied Marc Chagall under Katie Kendrick.

I chose this painting to study, because we actually have a donkey. His name is Doris, and he's very entertaining and cute! This painting reminds me of him, plus, I love blue animals!

I sketched it on the paper first, painted it all indigo blue, and layed in some under painting colors...

More layers of color and texture...

I finally quit on it. This is the journal page with notes...

A little closer up. The sky and water actually has a pinker tone, which doesn't show up in the photo. Anyway, it was a fun challenge, and it WAS a challenge. His story is also very interesting, as are all the other Masters' stories.

I have a couple of other Chagall's sketched off to study, but, for now, I'm moving on to Francoise de Felice, who is also very challenging, but her paintings are beautiful.

The paintings from this class that I have shared here have actually been finished for a few weeks, as the classes ran from mid-Jan through mid-March, one a week. The Chagall is the last one that I have finished, but I still have the Botticelli and de Felice in progress, and I haven't started the last two artists yet, so from here on they will probably be out of order, as far as the class order, and there may be some other stuff mixed in between, as I continue to work on unrelated projects also.

Here are the Botticelli and de Felice that I have in progress:

After Botticelli WIP

                             

After Francoise de Felice WIP

Hope you enjoyed your visit! Please come again soon, and Have a happy creative day! :)

Also sharing on Paint Party Friday and Creative Every Day, links on sidebar.

Study of Georgia O'Keefe Lily 2-Masters Class-Week 5

A sketch in my mixed media journal for a study of Georgia O'Keefe's white Calla Lily painting. I brushed a layer of clear gesso, for texture, over the drawing. Hers was oil on canvas, I think (sorry I had already deleted her version). Mine is in acrylics on paper...

A wash of indigo blue acrylic...

adding under painting, letting dry between layers...

more layers of  acrylic paint and glazes...

Final version, notes and all! I love calla lillies, and I love how the swirl around the flower mimiced the lily itself. You can find her version of this painting on Pinterest. Just go there and type in Georgia O'Keefe calla lily paintings. She is an amazing woman and an amazing painter!

I have two more of her paintings sketched off to study, but for now, I'm moving on to the next artist we're studying. I will come back to these studies later!

None of these studies are as easy as the original paintings look. In reality, they're all very complicated and took a long time to complete. I am discovering so much more than just what I see when I look at the painting. There is a whole new world in the studying of the process of each one that teaches me so much about so many things. Studying with an apprentice is awesome!

This class will be up for two years and is still open for registration. Any one of the classes is worth the $62.00 charge for all nine of them. If you're interested, go to www.jeanneoliver.ning.com and click on "Studying With The Masters; Becoming an Apprentice" in the courses list. You can find out the details and the list of teachers and masters there. You can't help but learn a lot of good stuff from both! :)

I discovered and joined a wonderful group on Facebook, called Art Abandonment, this week. It's awesome! The members create art and abandon it in places where it can be found by some unsuspecting person, whose day will hopefully be brightened by it. The art, which can be any art or craft, is left with a tag, specifying that it is free to whoever finds it, and they can take it or leave it for someone else. There's also an email addy where they can let you know it has been found. Members post pictures of the art and where they left it. I haven't abandoned anything yet, but I'm looking forward to it! It's an amazing group of people!

I'm also reading my third book by Danielle Girard, Ruthless Games, which is very good. She writes about female protagonists, who are cops, and very strong women, caught up in murder mysteries and drama with a lot of twists and turns. I think she's a very good writer, and so far, I have been hooked from the very first page and have found it hard to put the books down. I got the first one for my Kindle free on Amazon, then the others have been about $3.00.

Plus, I hadn't downloaded any new music in a while, so the other day I was feeling a little blah, and I downloaded cds by Michael Grimm, "Moment in Time", John Mayer, "Paradise Valley", and Cher, "Closer to the Truth". All good! I meant to download Dana Fuchs, "Bliss Avenue", but forgot to at the time. I'll get her next time! Amazing rock artist!

A little bit of what I've been doing, besides working on the Masters painting studies of Botticelli and Francoise de Felice, and I haven't watched the videos of the last two classes on Edward Hopper and Henry Clive yet! Can't wait to watch them, but I want to wait until I get at least one painting each from the other two done. I find each artist I study influencing my work on the next one. Fun, and some amazing work being done by the other students! Can you tell I'm excited about this class? :D

Also sharing this post at Paint Party Friday, Creative Every Day, and Moxie Rabbit Hop Blues (FB page). See links on sidebar! Happy creating!