Picture Hat Perfect - Malibu Art Association Demo

Show stopper! Lovely sitter. Picture hat perfect. Thanks to everyone who showed up last night for my one and a half hour demo for The Malibu Art Association.

SOLD

Life is a Cabaret Old Chum, Demo Tonight!

One hour demo
My class yesterday at The California Art Institute
Busy class!!!
Portrait/figure/still life
Join us Wednesdays

You are invited.

Portrait demo tonight for The Malibu Art Association

7 p.m.

Small fee

The Michael Landon Center

24250 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265

How to paint lace- or wear it.

"A Little French"
AKA "Paris Here I come"
12 x 16,
$500, free shipping
Pay via Pay Pal link on sidebar, top

Yesterday' s fun at my First Friday Atelier Day in the beautiful Malibu Highlands.

Come study with me this summer, Three Day Workshop. Great location. Great wine, Great food, Great company and GREAT PAINTING FUN

First Friday Atelier Day this Friday

Join me to learn all aspects of painting...this Friday for my popular First Friday Atelier Day in the Malibu Highlands.

All aspects of painting covered. Email me for further details and to enrol
johanna@johannaspinks.com

Please Persissssst....

Untitled as yet
16 x 20, oil on panel
 By Johanna Spinks, copyright

Close up
Johanna Spinks

Morning friends:

Every felt like giving up on a project or task? Well, I did on this one.

I told myself 'please persist"... it will come to pass. I tell myself that quite often in life actually.

That is exactly what I did on this still life...almost finished bar a few tweaks and value adjustments. That yellow cup on the right needs to be glazed down as it competes with the head. And the fan needs a bit more work.

I started the gold head months ago but then changed direction a few times to finish it.

It's early days after such a long 'persist' to know if it was worth it. But I learned from the persistence so that is reward in itself. A bit like your husband cooking a marvelous dinner in the kitchen, but you have to do the messy clean-up.

Nothing in life is gained without a huge period of persistence sometimes, don't you agree? And then there must be a pregnant pause

Now Go Take On The Hour.

Johanna

Sign up for my list,,,free tea cup print

Hi All:

Day 3 of November Tea Cup Madness...hope you like my humble teacup...any good names for this teacup folks?

"Teacup in White"
Johanna Spinks
Sold.

Come back tomorrow. I love the one for tomorrow.

Warmest
Johanna

How To Paint Interiors...

Time to get serious, if you know what I mean...

Passages

Oil on canvas

12" x 16"

$750.00 plus shipping

Email artist for more information
johanna@johannaspinks.com

How To Paint Details...

It is all in the details, don't you think?  This is a close-up of a portrait I painted in Sweden two weeks ago on a pilgrirmage to Anders Zorn Land with Jeremy Lipking and friends.

I was assisting Jeremy Lipking. Lucky for me. He is pure gold.

If you want more details about this trip, seeing a few of my sketches and musings. post your comments here.

Otherwise, I am as good as gold...

The World of Anders Zorn

I am heading to Sweden tomorrow via UK to visit the world of Anders Zorn. I have wanted to visit this great man's studio since I first started painting.  Click here

I will be traveling with Jeremy Liking and friends, assisting Jeremy who is hosting a workshop there. Lipking's own magical art world here is deeply Zorn infused. I find Jeremy's work very inspiring too and feel I have been gifted to assist him this year.

In the meantime I have returned to my sketch book sketching Zorn copies with a BIC pall point pen on canvas.

I will keep you posted.

I am super excited!

How To Paint Silver...

Shipping out today, a commission from the studio,  and a very good time had painting silver on this lovely lady's beautiful dress...more to follow on this...

Figure painting from life

Any time I get to paint gold, it is a good thing, including sparkles on dresses. MY class demo yesterday at The California Art Institute. Much of it felt like I was treading upstream in molasses but that is just how it goes some days.

Sheer Shift

8"x10"

oil on linen board

$ 300.00

Free shipping

How To Paint The Figure From Life

It is one thing to paint a nude model from life and quite another to paint a real life person. I had the absolute pleasure to paint this for a client this week. We completed it from start to finish at my studio in about four hours, 16 x 20,oil on linen,  having never met before.

This client had seen another nude sketch I had done and wanted something similar as a gift for her boyfriend.

The client was very happy with my efforts.

So how did I do it? Well, just about the same as everything else. Try to get a good night's sleep before, get a good drawing down for the client to approve before we move on, then sqint my way through to paint the big shapes. Keep my paint clean, two brushes, one for the lights and one for the darks. And some good communication with the client ahead of time to find out what she wants, color scheme etc.

Portrait of A Hero: Marine Nicholas H. Anderson

Today is Memorial Day in The United States. I wish everyone wore red paper poppies in their lapels like they do in England on this sad day.

 It seems so fitting that everyone SHOWS that they are actually thinking about the fallen through a simple red flower pin rather than throwing steaks on the BBQ. Almost everyone in England wears this pin on Remembrance Day. You are a heel if you don't. You also donate money to the veterans' cause with the purchase of this poppy.

Today I honor fallen Marine Lance Corporal Nicholas H. Anderson from Ventura County, killed in 2004 in the line of duty in Iraq. I painted him for an ongoing art project by Sherry Moore called The Portrait of The Fallen Memorial. If you are are an artist residing in California, could you paint a hero for this worthy project?

If so go here: http://www.portraitsofthefallenmemorial.org/

I have never met Nicholas's family. If anyone out there knows the family, I sure would love them to see this portrait and perhaps, if they would like, give them as many prints as they want. It is the least I can do.

Please read some of these posts about Nicholas' contribution to the services and the pain of his loss. It is very moving...and makes me hate war more than I did in the first place.

http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/andersonnicholash.html

And if you are out and about today in America at a BBQ, raise a glass to this courageous young man. I will look for a poppy instead and wear it for Nicholas.

How to Paint a Gem of A Portrait

This is lovely Leah, my class demo at The California Art Institute...I don't always like my demos but I think this is a little gem.

YEARNING

Class Demo

Oil on Linen

$300, plus tax

Free shipping

I am working hard on demos being not only good for the students' learning but GOOD for my painting satisfaction too.

I really caught her expression that day and I knew it. It is why I paint...just for that feeling.

How about you?

Catch my class Wednesday mornings or my First Friday Atelier Day at my studio.

Email me for details johanna@johannaspinks.com

How To Paint Gold?

How to paint gold?...well, I have seen students,  and myself, crumble at times...this was today's effort  and  a few golden oldies from a few weeks past. Yesterday this cast wasn't looking so golden.

So how to paint gold? Concentrate very hard around subtle shifts of value. Don't paint the mid-value, base too light on the light side of the form, or you will have no place to add the ZING later. Look for green and purples in the shadow sides. Anything other than yellow. Block-in the light side with a dullish yellow like raw sienna, then start building up the gold with, say,  a bright cad. lemon yellow and white mixed with a very light clean cool green. Think GOLD very last.

The most common problem I see watching students paint gold - and myself included - is we try to paint gold too fast, and too darn yellow.

We are all students of GOLD.

How to paint hands???

Not so easy to paint a Reverend, his holy hands and face in just two short hours from life.

This was my thought process. Squint. Just paint the shapes/structure. No sausages.  Forget you are painting hands, really fast. Pray for a miracle.

 I was pretty happy with what I got for my 'Face Of Ventura' series, appearing in each edition of The Ventura Breeze and on The Lyn Fairly and Friends Radio Show...meet Rev. Luther McCurtis, a wonderful guy with a soulful mission. And dare I say, great hands.  It was important to me I got his hands in. Glad I had a go. So give me a hand, why don't ya?

Painting from life...

This week's 'Face of Ventura' sitter is Mr. Doug Halter. He is the most marvelous landscape designer, very well known in the old mission town of Ventura where I am doing this crazy art project to paint 55 sitters from life to reflect its' modern day appearance, quite dashing,  and we talked about so much during this ever so short two hour sitting.

Thanks to The Ventura Breeze for featuring my project each edition and The Lyn Fairly and Friends Radio Show. And of course Mr. Halter.

Mark your calendar. 'The Face of Ventura By Johanna Spinks' at The Ventura County Museum Sunday August 26h.

Anatomy of a Portrait Demo

My demo this week at The California Art Institute...thanks to the lovely Oriana and the students that paid attention allowing me to help them on their art journey.

New You Tube Demo

New You Tube! This was a demo I did for an art group recently where the sitter won a raffle to be painted by me. Thanks to Russell Wolvek for the clever edit.

How To Paint A Busy Painting

"Girl With A Kindle"

16x20

Oil on linen panel

It's been non-stop with a trip to New York to attend a swish gala at The Metropolitan Club showing a slide show of my portrait work. Thanks to The National Trust for Scotland for supporting my portrait work once again. http://www.ntsusa.org/events/

Raced back into the studio today. Finished up the hands on one portrait. Took forever. And then finished up the background on this. Specifically the map in the background, getting in and out fast as I could. I always liked how Vermeer handled his maps. Check them out. I also wanted to do lots of props in this painting inspired by my recent visit to The Norman Rockwell Museum including a private tour of his studio. WOW!!!  http://www.nrm.org/

Double WOW,,,I was there in the first place for the opening of  my mentor's incredible show"Pulps to Portraits" By Everett Raymond Kinstler, N.A. This show will blow your socks of like nothing  else ever will.  So go! http://www.everettraymondkinstler.com/

I allowed myself today to  do a rushed map as my sitter in the painting leaves on a world trip Friday so she will need that map and the kindle she is holding.  I am sure Rockwell had the same issues.