Feel The Love, Show Time

I Might Wear This? What Say You?

Hi dear friends:

Yes, it is that pre-show, reception ahead time,  a solo show of over 100 pieces of art.

I could get nervous.

Instead, I intend to "Feel The Love"! Join me. Love is good. Feel it. Spread it like butter all over the place. Especially to those who need to "Feel The Love".

Follow Your Bliss

Teacup Madness continues thru' November. Join my mailing list, button above, and I will send you a free teacup print via snail mail, absolutely FREE.

Opening Night
16 x 20
Oil on linen
Johanna Spinks
To purchase contact artist
johanna@johannaspinks.com

Morning friends:

There is always a story behind a teacup. I painted this still life, most of all,  wanting to paint the pink vase, an unusual color for a vase I thought. 

These flowers and vase were given to me by my mentor for the Opening Night of my 365 Days of Drawing Show in 2010.

I need just that little something 'extra' to make things sing. And sure enough, this little silver Christening Cup was waiting for me at the local thrift shop near my studio where I am often to be found.

I found my bliss and it was a snap to paint to complete the painting.

More bliss followed when this still life was later chosen for the cover of the Jack Richeson Still Life Show Book cover.

Always important to follow your bliss, don't you think?

Have a blissful day now.

Johanna

Making It Your Own

My Very Own
By Johanna Spinks
8.5" x 11"
Watercolor, oil and gouache.

SOLD

Good afternoon dear friends:


One of my art students yesterday, an absolutely charming Italian man, came over to me as I was finishing these ordinary teacups up,  and said something like:" You have shown me how you take something (ordinary teacups) and make it your own".

This comment passed over my head somewhat as I was a bit tired from election night and art school coffee was giving me more heartburn than caffeine lift.

 But then I really started to think about his comment today and what a compliment it was.

Making it your own is the key to whatever you do. And it sure takes time.

 It can turn the mundane into the extraordinary, don't you think?

A boring political speech into a teary masterpiece

A hum-drum piece of writing into a Nobel prize-winning tour de force

A simple apple pie into a mega monster pie hard to beat at the annual pie contest

A simple rose bush that flourishes magnificently with crazy blossoms year after year

You get the idea.

So let's all go out there and be extraordinary for the next 24 hours.

What will you do?

How To Paint A Still Life?

How to paint a still life? Well, don't ask me. But this was my demo yesterday at my First Friday Studio Atelier Day.  If you want real specifics of 'how', pick up the phone or post here.

Come paint with me this September (12th through 16th)  at my Malibu Wine Country Workshop. Watch this space for details.

"Summer Glow"
Oil on Linen Panel
9" x 12"

$500.00 incl. shipping
SOLD

How to paint a still life? Well, don't ask me. But this was my demo yesterday at my First Friday Studio Atelier Day.  A most enjoyable day including lunch.

Come paint with me this September (12th through 16th)  at my Malibu Wine Country Workshop. Watch this space for details.

How To Paint Features?

How to paint features? Just paint them well, that's all I can say. Let's face it, a crooked nose out of place, a mouth slightly askew, eyes too close together, will not score you points. Someone WILL notice and you will, well, lose face! Don't pay lip service to anyone who tells you anything different!

My class demo this week at The California Art Institute in Westlake Village, CA.  http://www.calartinst.com/ Join me there Wednesday mornings.

Join me at The Los Angeles Figurative Academy of Art http://www.laafa.org/  this spring/summer semester Friday mornings, starting April 20th. This school was just voted among the TOP TEN atelier schools in the USA.

Join me for my once a month day-long painting atelier,  "Oil Painting- A Valued Approach" in the beautiful Malibu wine country. The day includes lunch and wine tasting. Email me for details. johanna@johannaspinks.com

Join me at The Vita Art Centre in Ventura, July 12 thru 14th for a painting workshop.

A Tale of Two Cities..Two Mayoral Portraits

Ms. Cheryl Heitmann, Deputy Mayor of Ventura, as featured in The Ventura Breeze http://www.venturabreeze.com/, Thanks to publisher Sheldon Brown.

Painting a portrait of a  British Mayor this week and so enjoying it.

Gosh, it's been busy this week. So much to catch up on.

A portrait delivered to a lovely client who I so enjoyed working with from Northern CA.  Another 'Face of Ventura' sitter, or maybe two or three including the charming deputy mayor Ms. Cheryl Heitmann; classes to teach at The California Art Institute and a Spring/Summer semester to plan for at the gracious invite of  The Los Angeles Academy of  Figurative Art,  just voted by American Artist Magazine as one of THE TOP TEN TEACHING SCHOOLS IN AMERICA;  new newspaper editors to meet; new portrait projects to plan for; fresh travel for rather exciting portrait events all around. See tomorrow's post for that!

English bacon butter sandwiches are helping me through this WHIZZ but not my waist line. Oh, well, who cares. This is not the first time I have relied on fried hog. Sorry to all the veggies out there.

Enjoying painting my current portrait of an English mayor. 50" x 40"-ish.  All that red robe gorgeous stuff, fluffy fur, and ancient gold ceremonial necklaces, not to mention the most amazing face. Who can complain? I was charmed by this lovely mayoral lady last September at a lunch in prep. for this portrait. No hog.

Looking forward to attending the ever so elegant National Trust For Scotland Event  Gala April in New York City at The Metropolitan Club where I will have a portrait up for grabs, so to speak.  More to follow on that. This is always such a lovely rewarding evening. 

 MOST excitedly of ALL, I am told my 'Face of Ventura' project will get its'  museum debut at The Ventura County Museum of Art thanks to my dear friends at Food Share http://www.foodshare.com/ late August this year. More on this to follow....

FOOD SHARE feeds 74,000 hungry people  each month in Ventura County. People all over the world visit this blog. Find your local food bank,   DONATE!!!! VOLUNTEER!!!

A Portrait Commission Signed Sealed And Delivered this week

Ms. Kat Merrick,  super cool lady and Founder of TLVC, and a Face of Ventura

  A Face of Ventura sitter not published yet...identity kept secret. ha ha

A Face of Ventura Sitter Not Published Yet

Lovely portrait sitter...portrait accepted.

Painting the fascinating deputy mayor  Ms. Cheryl  Heitmann

Painting in Mark Twain's Garden

Nothing beats painting day lilies in Mark Twain's garden in Connecticut, USA.

What a treat that was. Despite bug bites and sunburn and painting on my knees for about 90 minutes, I squinted my way through the delicate shapes of these day lilies. Wish I had more time with them. And wish I had my camera with me to finish them.

Thank you to Susan, our lovely artist host for a wonderful day.

Day Lily- Mark Twain's Garden

Oil on Panel

8x10"

$500

Shipping $10

Food Share's Bonnie Weigel...Face of Ventura Project

I am a little behind posting my Face of Ventura project sitter this month...I wanted to make sure this special lady, Bonnie Weigel of Food Share, got air time with her story. She is someone I really admire. Brains, beauty, and soul, fighting a really worthwhile cause, hunger.

STUDIO MADNESS

GETTING READY...a few big pieces for my show, 365 Days of Drawing, opening Friday April 1st.

And a quiet piece I allowed myself to paint yesterday just for painting joy and rejvenation in the middle of all this corset madness.

TEASER ALERT...THE BOOK IS COMING!

Phew...I did it, with some considerable help. My book is on its way to the printer in time for the show!! Cheers, clink! clink! All around. Here is the cover. Hope you like!

365 drawings drawn each day of 2010, many turned in to painting studies, made their way into a book with the help of a marvelous company called FLAUNT YOUR PHOTOS

FlauntYourPhotos.com

I could NOT have done it without FYP, a company geared toward helping artists in particular (but other normal folks too!) do just what I did. It was painless too, I have to say. Mrs. Peggy Kinstler founded FYP and she is used to working with artists being married to master artist Everett Raymond Kinstler, N.A. Peggy's great art editing eye and vast publishing experience, was priceless. 365 sketches plus other year images AND text, found themselves nestled into the new pages of this book within 10 days or so! Thanks for working so hard for me Peggy. I have a new baby about to be born.

The book will be available for purchase in three different sizes and prices, 5"x5", 8'x8", and 12"x12".

Watch this spot for more info on how to purchase, and pricing.

Glow...

I say a juicy vibrant tangerine will remind you why you wanted to start painting in the first place.

As much I try to keep those orange globes muted, I just can't hold back for long. I want them bright orange. Nothing else will do.

Demo this week, one on one instruction. How I enjoy that type of teaching.

GLOW, demo.

8x6

Oil

Top it off...365 Days of Drawing

I have always loved top hats...take me to the circus. Another drawing down. Free me from the tiger cage January 2nd! The challenge will be finally done. Roar.

Enlargements...365 Days of Drawing

I have started to draw really big, taking some of the earlier drawings from the year's challenge and putting them on large canvas. This one measures up to 60".

Don't ask me why. I just feel like it. And it is interesting to me. You will see the first sketch on the upper right of the large canvas.

I was blown away by the reaction to this large sketch at my Open House. I thought I had just started it. People said "don't touch it - it's done."

What do you think?

Anatomy of a Santa Demo....365 Days of Drawing

Not sure I felt like painting another Santa just 12 hours later but I did. And I had a lot of fun. This Santa was a joy to chat too and very talented in his own way.

Here is the demo...including the drawing which meets the challenge for the day.

Ah.... yes, a class to teach today and another drawing to do.

Shake it up...365 Days of Drawing

I have been trying to shake it up a bit in my somewhat brief teaching class demos at CAI -as I talk a lot and work on students' paintings. So much to do in only a three hour class.

I know what I can do around a 16 x 20, or 18 x 24, demo after teaching for a while and doing public demos for lots of art groups in and around LA - but I got a bit tired of the same ol', same ol', I thought I was doing or maybe relying on, around time constraints and getting the teaching message across.

So this semester and last, I have gone for much smaller canvases, different crops, different lighting, not always that successful but pushing me not only as an artist but also as a teacher. This one paid off more than others, 5x9, about an hour of painting. I liked her expression and the simplicity of it all.

Taking the time...365 Days of Drawing

With just over two months to go of this daily 2010 drawing challenge, unbroken so far, I decided that I need to push myself even more to learn and stay interested.

This challenge was always for me about improving my drawing skill set, taking it to the next level. Nothing more, nothing less. It has been VERY beneficial to do a different drawing EVERY day facing different uses of line. My skill set has definitely improved from the range of daily subject matter.

Now I feel the need -and interest- to take more time on some of the drawings and record the stages. To really work on the 'finish' when the mood suits me, perhaps over a couple of days as in the case of this drawing and the last one of the child I posted.

The challenge was to commit to drawing for half an hour every single day. It was not to churn out new ones every day as I have been doing for many months.

To this end, I post this drawing today, life-size, which I finished this afternoon. I started it Friday night, did about an hour and a half Saturday and another today. I started with a simple line drawing, then doing everything I could to break down the line, thinking mass, good shapes of light and shadow around values, making the half-tone value lighter than it appears (thanks Morgan!) and lastly edges. Lost and found. Hard and soft. Yin and Yang.

Sometimes the drawing looks better to me in the early stages!