Weekly Video...How to create luscious color

Hi all...

I continue my new series: I hope you like it. I will learn how to improve the quality.

Click on this YOU Tube I filmed today in my studio. It is CHOCK full of color guaranteed to beat any artist's Monday
blues.

Learn about:

*warm versus cool
* bright versus muted
* limited palette of the BRIGHTEST KIND

Come back for another studio with me this Friday

Do you have any questions about painting you might like me to help answer???  Please post.

And don't forget...my FIRST FRIDAY ATELIER workshop day is this coming  Friday May 3rd at my studio. Only two spaces left.

Be sure to visit my new online store...for some COLORFUL new arrivals, art priced to fit every collector's budget.

Click on the tab below:

Have a very colorful week.



Johanna

clickhere

Weekly Painting Tip - The Perfect Ground To work On

Morning All

I thought I might start something new on my blog. A painting tip from my studio posted here and on YOU Tube twice a week. EVERY Monday to start the week and every Friday to kick off the weekend.

Let me know if you like it by leaving your comments here.

Five things to ensure a great portrait demo.

My class demo yesterday at The California Art Institute.
12x16, oil
Join me Wednesday mornings
Purchase this sketch at my online store.
clickhere

Demo block-in using transparent wash for gold light

Building up...

closeup

I am often asked to do portrait demos for various art groups and I find this a real privilege. So what are the five things I have learned from doing them - as in the big five to getting things right in front of a crowd, painting usually in a very short amount of time? By the way, this was the earliest demo I have ever done, arriving at 7.30 am for an early morning start!

*Be as awake as you can. I like to give myself a couple of hours to wake up  if I can before I paint in public, but not too much coffee. Hand shakes not good - only on arrival or departure. Get a good night's rest. Set the alarm early. 

*Good light set up. Travel with a light, extension cord, spare bulb. Extra props. Hats, scarves, to spice up the pose. 

*Hand-outs, free stuff. Mailing list sign-up. People love swag. I know I do. It also gives people a chance to see your more finished work. BE GENEROUS with free stuff and YOUR KNOWLEDGE.

* Sketch the day before to sharpen your drawing. However, not the night before. Give the brain some time to rest.

* Keep things simple. Keep the pose simple, keep the value shapes simple, keep your palette simple. Don't try to impress painting the sitter upside-down. Being 'clever' never works.  Just paint what you know...that is the best teacher of all. 

A privilege to be invited to do a portrait demo for gifted high school students this week. I love help shape young art minds.

Giving Back...Donating Art

In a week of trauma like no other in The States, it feels good to be giving back. This morning I am doing a sitting from life and hosting a lunch for the winner of a raffle, 100 per cent of the proceeds going to FOOD Share which feeds the hungry in Ventura County each month.

FOOD Share also have supported my art in a way only angels can. Please donate if you can.

http://www.foodshare.com

I also donated another portrait demo this week to talented young artists, more on that later.

Catch my "Master The Masters" class at CAI this coming Wednesday, if you dare!

Going Dutch
By Johanna Spinks
Oil on panel, 12"x16"
Available at my online store later today.
http://www.johannaspinksfineart.com

Sedona Rocks!

Morning Walk
Sedona
Johanna Spinks
7"x5", oil on panel
$395.00
Incl. shipping and framing

Purchase at my online store click here

Another day en plein air sketching in Sedona. All I can say is she leaves me breathless as did my morning walk in this spot.

You Rock! AKA, How to Paint Rocks.

"Sedona Rouge"
Oil on panel
5"x7"
Copyright Johanna Spinks
$395.00
Includes shipping and framing
Purchase at my online store
click here

I am currently traveling through Arizona and enjoying the lovely vistas. I got to stop off at Sedona and bask among the magnificent red rocks.  Boy, if you haven't been, make it a high priority. Hope you enjoy my little painting from this trip, more to come. It feels good to be out of the studio and my routine. Enjoying nature at its most humbling.

Painting a Butler to the stars.

Richard Chesterfield
Butler to the stars, Housewives of Beverly Hills
by Johanna Spinks
Oil, 16x16

If you have watched Bravo TV's Housewives of Beverly Hills, you might recognize this dapper chap.  Richard Chesterfield is my Face of Malibu, appearing in this week's Malibu Times. To read more about his interesting life story click here

Each sitter is painted from life in a single sitting recording the current day face of Malibu in portrait paint. I completed the Face of Ventura, 58 sitters all recorded in the same way. That collection is now in the permanent collection of the Museum of Ventura County.

Hysteria for Wisteria

I will be painting this tomorrow. Come join me? Or come back to see how I did it.

Come paint with me tomorrow at my studio in the Malibu Highlands. This is the beautiful set-up I am just creating in my garden studio. I have had one last minute cancellation.

It is going to be a gorgeous day full of blue and orange color harmony and a delicious lunch included in the day price $110.

Email me fast www.johannaspinkscom