Worshop Demo..365 Days of Drawing

I certainly drew my hand off this week during my teen workshop. Here my class demo yesterday at the Vita Art Center, Ventura, Ca.

My parting words for some of the very talented teens, were guess what? DRAW, DRAW, DRAW. Practice forever.

Summer Workshop...

Nail those values....Just a few spaces left for my summer intensive painting workshop, August 7 -8th, Ventura, CA. We will be working from the life model AND still life set ups with a portrait demo also.

Contact me for further details.

The Eyes Have It...365 Days of Drawing.

I did a sketch yesterday of one of the very talented students in my teen workshop during a few breaks from actual hands-on instruction. I am fascinated by these over-size eyewear young-uns are wearing these days. The eye on the right in my drawing needs attending to but I know I will correct this in the painting.

Be Still...365 Days of Drawing

Still life demo from my teaching workshop yesterday, also meeting the daily drawing challenge. Plenty of drawing going on yesterday and I suspect today.

My drawing pen will not be still.

The VaLUE OF VALUES, 365 Days of Drawing

I am teaching a workshop this week - so lots of drawing yesterday with a brush. This is a quickie demo I did on one canvas from three different simple still life set ups I had planned around dark, middle and light value backdrops. Each student painted all three over a three hour period.

Ah, the value of values. Fun to nail them really fast on one canvas. Today we move to color.

A Stretch?...365 Days of Drawing

No, this isn't me having a morning stretch. But it is my daily drawing challenge for the weekend met. Time was short this weekend with house guests and more arriving tomorrow so I did Flamenco dancer sketch in two half hour sittings on separate days.

I will be glad when July is done and I am in my eight month of this drawing challenge. That is going to feel like real progress!

Blocked In? 365 Days of Drawing...

One thing I regret in this daily drawing challenge for 2010 is there is no consistency on my part in terms of subject matter and drawing medium. That was not my original plan for the challenge.

When I look back over my picture file recording it all, I regret it is so "all over the place". However, experimenting with different approaches has left with me new found techniques that I really enjoy. The Bic pen and the white chalk drawings on toned ground are appealing to me. The earlier mixed media on paper I like but don't seems to want to do so much of now.

I was exhausted late afternoon yesterday wondering what's next? What on earth am I going to draw today. I popped in an art video of a guy painting flowers and it suddenly came to me.

Why, I will just start a large floral still life, 22"x28", right now, of some purple and yellow pansies in my garden that I have been admiring for weeks. It wasn't sunny but I set up my landscaping gear in my driveway and got going. I took my time on the drawing and arrangement of tree trunk and flowers. Shown here, is as far as I wanted to take it on the first round. Blocking in the big shapes, against a WHITE ground, unusual for me, hoping to add luminosity to the white and yellow flowers as the painting builds.

Come back later...back to break-dancers today. Dear, oh dear.

Tango-licious.. 365 Days of Drawing

In haste today. Here is yesterday's drawing effort with a red and black BIC pen and one of the previous drawings from the challenge I put paint on in the afternoon. The commission I should have been working on stared madly at me.

Balance...365 Days of Drawing

Teaching, like painting, requires a certain balance I find. The first day of a new semester at The California Art Institute yesterday left me juggling my desire to do a more complete demo for students , pictured here, while at the same time giving each student enough hands-on individual instruction at their own easels.

This led to somewhat of a compromise in the demo, 18 x 24, with only about one hour of total painting time. I do like the balance in the actual demo though of warms and cools. The blue shawl against the orange-ish background worked I think.

The landscape sketch is from my recent trip back east. Ah, how I wish I was sitting there right now with a peach ice-tea.

A SHAWL THING

Oil on canvas board, 18 x 24, $250.

Opposing Views?...365 Days of Drawing

Fun to paint two quick-sketch views of the same area. The first is the beautiful vista along a serene walking path through a wooded area our gracious hostess took us too where she walks her lovely pooches daily.

I could have played with said pooches all day but we thought it a perfect spot to paint in. After spending about an hour or so on this view I then turned around and tried to paint the dappled uphill path we had walked down to get to this remote, beautiful, location.

The second view gave me trouble and didn't work out. I was getting really hot and bothered too by this point in quite extreme heat. But I am sure glad I had a go. The front view I liked. I will do this exercise again.

My astute daughter shared yesterday with me she doesn't think showing quick-sketch stuff so freely is wise. To her eye, it doesn't reflect the level she says I am able to paint at when things are more considered and worked out artistically. I thought this most interesting.

My opposing view is the artist's process, including quick-sketch, is interesting in itself and reflects one's thoughts and discipline as an artist. The end result is not the point.

You artist readers out there...any thoughts on this?

Love Affair...365 Days of Drawing...

I AM BACK! My landscape fun/painting trip with great pals on the east coast proved to be nothing short of marvelous. My drawing was challenged every day doing between one and three three small studies a day, with some false drawing starts in between and plenty of 'after painting hours' highlights and hilarity.

I feel energized like you can't believe. My mentor, Master Artist Everett Raymond Kinstler, N.A., (painter of seven US presidents at this point, wow!) has encouraged me from the very beginning to get out and paint the landscape. I reluctantly did this, kinda playing the field with my commitment to it.

But now I think I have a new love affair, still a bit GREEN around the edges, perhaps not pass the first kiss yet, but gaining in strength and understanding with a deep desire to work out the mysteries and commit for life. Betrothed to landscape painting , so to speak.

Along with a dear painting pal Holly Metzger, an artist of considerable talent who I admire deeply, we battled an apparent plague of bugs, including a huge alien green-eyed one which bit Holly, an intense east coast heatwave, deep thirst, smearing sunscreen, stinging repellant, and a few other delights of outdoor painting, to come up with some small sketches that I thought really captured the moment and the fun we were having together. Painting from life is amazingly powerful. A moment in time is always captured and an ice-tea never tastes so good afterwards.

My sketches were far from perfect but I enjoyed painting absolutely every one of them and learned a lot.

I post a selection here (more tomorrow) along with some quickie studies for learning purposes I did in my sketch book on the flight home. No engagement gifts necessary.

FACE UP TO IT...365 Days of Drawing

AS I head off to the east coast for a painting trip, this face says it all..."What? How many more days of this challenge do I have left???"

I know I will be drawing in airports to meet the daily challenge so FACE UP TO IT, I guess.

Will be away from posting daily for a few days. But I will be drawing and painting each day.

Bear Down...365 Days of Drawing

Bear Down...only 130 or so shopping days left until Christmas or should I say drawing days!

Have I crossed the line drawing and painting cute bears? There is a part of me that says yes. My astute daughter's response was:" Well, it is not the best thing you have ever done".

Here 's is yesterday's drawing turned into a painting. The block-in took me quite a while to work out, believe it or not, how high I was going to put that little 'fluffian' on the canvas making sure he was either a third from the top or bottom and not centre. One thing about a DAILY drawing challenge is one really does get to draw IT ALL.

FAITHFUL FRIEND, daily painting

8x6", Oil, $200

For sale through www.dailypaintersoriginals.com

Jump For Joy...365 Days of Drawing

I am jumping for joy...another weekend down in the drawing challenge. Weekends are hard with so many distractions...this was yesterday's done with that ol' red BIC and no safety net. One false drawing move it would be time to start another.

Time for botox?...365 Days of Drawing

This daily drawing challenge is making me age by the day...time for some Botox, d'ya think?

Yesterday's effort...white chalk on toned paper.

Daily Bread...365 Days of Drawing

Who doesn't like a slab of bread with jam? I don't think bread is the easiest to paint being close in value range, and a different kind of texture to anything else around. I have certainly seen my students struggle with painting bread. For one class, I even baked the bread for the still life to be sure of the right "crown" to the loaf. Baking the darn load to perfection turned out to be way easier than painting it so!

Today I felt the need to paint some more bread, putting some paint on a drawing from the day before yesterday, block-in shown here.

DAILY BREAD

Oil, 8"x6"

SEEING RED...365 Days of Drawing

I mentioned a few weeks ago how I need to get to the hair salon. Well, I finally made it today and while I was having a high-light touch-up, I decided to waste no time reading a dog-eared People Magazine like I usually do there but copy an Anders Zorn drawing with a red BIC pen.

My love affair with both, Zorn and Bic, continues Not with my hair tho'. What I am learning from copying this master's etchings is indescribable. I have done a few now in the year's challenge and plan to do more.

To see yesterday's drawing tune in tomorrow when it will be posted with the finished painting.

What makes you see red?

Still Loved...365 Days of Drawing

I still love painting still life when I return to them after doing portraits. They are like going on vacation for me.

My drawing for the day's challenge yesterday was the block in for this cup and saucer called "Still Loved". Obviously, it didn't take me a full half an hour to draw it so I sketch a little girl's head in my sketch book to make up the full drawing quota for the day, not wanting to cheat.

I sometimes look at all the incredible still life painters out there, especially on the new Daily Painters Originals group I am now part of (www.dailypaintersoriginals.com) and feel incredibly humbled. Thanks for the lovely comments about yesterday's simple "Billy Can". I hardly dared post him thinking him way too humble but I sure loved painting him.

"Still-loved", Daily Painting, 8x6", oil, $150.

Wipe Out...365 Days of Drawing

SOLD
I got back in the groove yesterday with my drawing. Well, kind of. The first attempt failed. A still life of a gem. I wiped it out. Tried again and another wipe out. The third I did was of a simple Billy Can which got me back in the groove. It just kinda spoke to me and I loved the color opportunity it gave me for the soft greys I enjoy.

Ellipses are always a challenge for me.. I enjoyed painting it actually, having to check my drawing all the way.

BILLY CAN, Daily Painting

6x6"

oil on linen

Heart Be Gone...365 Days of Drawing

Drawing each day this holiday weekend I had absolutely no interest in whatsoever. But I did it. They really were half an hour quick sketch, no more, this one copied from a famous french photo. My drawing heart was elsewhere.

Today I also post my "Painting A Day" for today, now being released for sale.

"Bling"

12x18, oil, watercolor and gouache on paper.

Red, white and blue...365 Days of Drawing

Drawing under the influence (DUI?) has never worked for me. I suddenly realized at my second July Fourth party of the day, I had NOT done my drawing for the day and I had most certainly had wine.

I didn't want to delay any further. So with a groan I left the party to do my drawing, returning to see the fireworks afterwards. Now how is that for commitment to a daily drawing challenge?

I did quite a large quick half-hour sketch with the trusty Bic pen. The exuberance of the Independence Day celebrations clearly evident.

I also post a daily painting, now available for sale.

LAST DANCE?

8 x 10" oil on linen

Keep it Simple...365 Days of Drawing

Simple daily drawings keeping the challenge going over this busy Holiday Weekend in the US. These are 8 x 10" and will be painted in the week as part of the Daily Paintings series as I am enjoying doing.

Happy Fourth of July to All.

Serenity...365 Days of Drawing

Yesterday was a rush to get everything done. A family reunion to get ready for with another daughter flying home in the evening, a home re-model leaving a house upside down, needing turning upright.

Just enough time to get into the studio, draw this up for the challenge and paint in a single sitting. Hence the title.

Serenity

8 x 10

Paypal

Back to the Drawing Board...365 Days of Drawing

It feels pretty exciting to be at halfway point in my daily drawing challenge for 2010. I am stunned I have come this far because I know me, and I also know the commitment it has taken so far to get here.

I look ahead to the remaining six more months of this challenge and feel rather fearful.

The MAIN thing I have learned at half-way point from this effort is that I will ALWAYS need to work on my drawing. I am not a natural like some. That is a frustrating realization but true.

But I have also learned consistency pays off in everything. Speed and accuracy are building. The 'voice' in a drawing or a painting can not be learned I feel. That is from deep within. Don't you think?