Gratitude Giveaway Continues...Win this Original Oil

"Summer Belles"
Oil on Linen
By Johanna Spinks
http://www.johannaspinksfineart.com

My Holiday Gratitude Giveaway continues for just a few more days. Post here or on my public Facebook page what you are grateful for in 2013 to be picked to win. I think this one is a little gem, a perfect gratitude for someone.


Looking for that perfect Holiday Gift. Free shipping. Gifts for every budget: Holiday shopping go here:
http://www.johannaspinksfineart

WIN THIS PAINTING! Gratitude Giveaway Continues...

PANSY POWER! Original Oil
MY GRATITUDE HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY

WIN THIS ORIGINAL OIL by me!  "Pansy Power", 5x 7. 

My Holiday Gratitude Giveaway continues. Post what you are grateful for in 2013 in the comments section below. Winning comments will be picked on Dec. 24th so you can keep posting on all giveaways until then. Shipping free, my thank you to you. This is also running on my public Facebook page so you can join in the fun there. Share in the gratitude. 

Visit my online store for some great Holiday gift ideas. Art for every budget.
http://www.johannaspinksfineart.com

Tuesday Nights At The Lipking Studio

Life Study, three hours
By Johanna Spinks
Oil on linen, 12 x 16

Most Tuesday nights I head over to Jeremy Lipking's engaging studio to paint. I have done this for the last two years. He is an inspiration and a true young master at the top of his game.

Lipking paints it all very well from figure to landscape. Plus, he is a generous teacher to everyone in the room. One of the main lessons for the room last night was to work your dark mass shapes first before moving toward the light. Amen. Place your eyewear in the sketch toward the end of your painting. Make sure the eyes are 'pushed back' behind those frames, painted down in value a bit. Treat the under-eye area with kid gloves. Gently. Softly.

I will never paint like Lipking. No-one can. Many try but they are not as good.

That's not the idea. I believe in surrounding myself with greatness, hence showing up the last two years.

Check out Lipking's work here You can also join his ongoing class in Agoura Hills, C.A, by signing  up directly from his website. Look out also for his solo show at the Arcadia Gallery in New York, opening this December 12th. More information here

Above is my three hour study from last night. The room was packed and I was standing near the back. I needed the model's glasses. But I like wot I got. I love a gal in glasses.

Below, a taste of the evening Lipking style!

Close-up of Lipking's sketch. Copyright Jeremy Lipking

Last night at The Lipking Studio - some great work going on.

Visit My Studio today - New YOU Tube

Hi all:

Come on over to my studio today and see what I am working on? I serve a good cup of tea. See ya there.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Happy weekend!

"Lazy Sunday Afternoon"
By Johanna Spinks
9"x12"
Original Oil on Panel, Silver Leaf
$600
Free shipping
Purchase here:
http://www.johannaspinksfineart.com/#!corset-art/ca5b

Art Du Corset By Johanna Spinks

Art Du Corset
SOLD
By Johanna Spinks
Drawings, Prints and Original Oils
http://www.johannaspinksfineart.com/#!corset-art/ca5b

You asked so here it is: my new artwork collection "Art Du Corset By Johanna Spinks. My corsets were wildly popular in my 365 Days of Drawings in 2010 which kinda took me by surprise.

http://www.johannaspinksfineart.com/#!corset-art/ca5b

I decided to come up with a collection of affordable drawings, prints and original oils featuring corsets and other whimsical things. I have been working on the collection for quite a while aside from my portrait work. Portrait to corset? Boy, it even rhymes.

Don't worry I am still painting portraits all the time but there is something about corsets which just appeals to me. They have a magic and a story all of their own. And you don't have to worry about a likeness.

Would love to hear what you think?

Portrait Painting Demo

Thanks for the wonderful folk of the Camarillo Art Club for inviting me to demo last  night. A great warm crowd. Thanks also to my sitter chosen from the attendees and raffled off. Painting time, one hour and twenty minutes. Fun time, priceless.

Demo SOLD

Eat, Paint, Love...Palette Knife Portraits...

"Toni"
NFS
Palette Knife Portrait from Life, four hours
16x12
oil
By Johanna Spinks

The start with my beautiful model Toni Czechorosky
My demo this week at The California Art Institute

EAT: Eat up all the inspiration you can. Alice Neel comes to mind, my own personal portrait heroine.

PAINT: Paint like it was your last day on the planet. Paint like you don't have a care in the world. NO worries about sales, competition success, other people's opinions.

LOVE: Love the art process. Love what you create. If you don't no-one will. Share that love toward others and their creations.

Join Me- Monthly Studio Workshop

Fancy a real good painting time tomorrow at my studio including great lunch and wine from the local Malibu vineyards? Then join me. One space left.  A great time guaranteed. Phone 310 384 7029 or email me johanna@johannaspinks.com

My life painting class demo yesterday at The California Art Institute.
16x12
oil
Johanna Spinks

Art Assistants...

ARRIVING AT MY ONLINE STORE TODAY...

Lemonade
High Days and Holidays Collection By Johanna Spinks
16"x12"
Oil on panel
$600
Incl. framing and shipping

Purchase here:
clickhere





TOO PAWSESSIVE?

My studio assistant Bentley Azure is now even copying how I dress. Something must be done, don't you think?

TGIF Painting Tip

Well, here it is...my TGIF (Thank God It's Friday) freebie painting tip, posted late in the day due to wildfire craziness in this part of the world

Let me know what you think and if you would like more.

Have a great-ful weekend.
Johanna

Demo, 24x30
Available for purchase
email johanna@johannaspinks.com

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

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.

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

A Happy Portrait Client is A Good Thing

A recent portrait commission delivery. It was a biggie, five foot by three, and with its' five inch frame, only just able to fit in my car for delivery. Going to  home in Texas. Wonderful clients. And happy ones too, including the pooches.

Recent portrait commission delivery
Five foot by three
By Johanna Spinks

The client threw a lovely unveiling party for the portrait sitter.. A grand time was had by all.

The Best En Plein Aire Box?

"The Way Forward. Malibu"
Johanna Spinks
Oil on Linens 4"x10"
$395
Purchase at my online store :click

Painting at Peter Strauss Ranch yesterday with my "secret' box. It magically paints everything for me.

Recently I have been out and about painting a lot of sketches en plein air taking a much needed break from the rigors of portrait deadlines in the studio. More deadlines starting next week so I have made use of the time. It has felt marvelous. It has also felt like the ONLY thing I wanted to do. Nature equals nurture.

I have been around a lot of artists during these recent 'landscapades', and some GREAT ones, many from far afield, including at Jeremy Lipking's February workshop www.lipking.com in an assisting role capacity to him. Now there's a guy who can paint landscapes!

There is a ton of  talk about painting boxes. Which is best?  Paint boxes seem more fascinating than how Marilyn Monroe really died or did O.J. do it? Along with a few other of life's great unanswered questions. 

Soltek versus the current hottie Alla Prima? Guerilla Pochade versus Mabef?  And all the other whizz boxes I don't even know the names of and can't spell. Sorry to say, I don't know the best one.  All I do know is these boxes are more expensive than a Mercedes monthly car payment, not that I have one of those. 

I also know expensive boxes won't make you a good landscape painter and they lend somewhat toward personal taste, like shoes.

I also know understanding values, composition, drawing, edges, and color temperature will make you paint well from an old shoe box.  Along with soul. A few creature comforts packed in that box, will also help you stay on location well.  Clothing in layers, hand wipes, trash bags for rags, sunscreen, bug spray, hat, water, cell phone, snacks, and I now keep my car keys on a tie around my neck. Lost keys on location? Big problem. I know to my expense.

So what do I use? I have spent my inheritance on every single thing Guerilla Painters pochade company ever made owning two of its boxes and every super sexy slinky dinky accessory. I was among this company's earliest of fans and sent many people to its' way. I have enjoyed these boxes. I have travelled internationally with them many times but my paintings often looked far from sexy or the way I wanted them to. Nothing to do with Guerilla. 

Now I use a box and set up that works for ME. It is a very personal thing. Only learned perhaps by doing it. These days I  like a very small lightweight compact set up that can be carried/rolled in one trip. NO going back to the car. I don't like to sweat and puff. Best of all, I have no care to defend it to those  art box purists.

My box was made for me by a retired police officer, the lovely Bob W.,  who I first found out about from the stellar artist Morgan Weistling during a workshop I did with Morgan in 2003. www.morganweistling.com. Bob was the model. 

Bob is a real craftsman as well as a dedicated artist. He makes art boxes for artists whose work he wants to collect. He and his lovely wife now have  an outstanding HUGE art collection by the way,  worthy of a museum, including, I am honored to say, two of mine.

Bob and I reconnected two years ago when I was lucky enough to assist Morgan Weistling at Weekend With The Masters. I told Bob how much I had wanted one of his boxes for a decade. Soon enough, I was invited to his home having a lovely time with him and his wife.

I can't tell you how much I treasure my box. I use it ALL the time. And I think about Bob, about to turn 80 years-old, each time. I know I will paint on it for the rest of my life. It gives me good vibes and confidence somehow whilst fitting my compact needs.

So that is what I think about art en plein aire boxes. Find what works for you. You will probably spend a bit of money so perhaps try an old shoe box first.

Bob, if you are reading this, I covet  that little attachment. You know the one I mean. Just saying...

Painting Under Cool Light.

"Zumba Wrap"
By Johanna Spinks
Oil and Gold Leaf On Archival Board
12"x16"
free shipping
$995

Come study with me this Friday, March 8th,  at my First Friday Atelier (delayed!) in the beautiful Malibu Highlands. 

 We will be painting from the life model under cool light conditions pretty similar to this sketch I painted at the weekend at my pal Jeremy Lipking's studio. He sure knows a thing or two about cool light and lots of folks had flown in for the weekend to see how he makes cool magic. Lipking's approach has made him one of today's most successful young figurative artists in the world. View his work: here

I have been lucky enough to be around Lipking quite a lot over the last year consolidating my art thoughts on a few things: first, that Lipking is truly a master of cool, among other things, and secondly, if one follows a few rules things seem to go a lot smoother.

Basically the rule of thumb is "where there is cool light, there are warm shadows". Art rules are usually meant to be broken but  I haven't seen this one broken too well.   If you have cool light and cool shadows, your sketch will be fit for the morgue - or the sitter will sure look like he/she is heading that way. Also, one can really push the shadows, making them warmer than they appear on the sitter. Transparent shadows are good too of course

Artists seem to have trouble with this cool skin stuff often sticking to the 'mustard and ketchup' approach,  mixing between a basic white, yellow and red to get PEACH. Many seem to paint PEACH for years before throwing a cool into it. 

I find it helps to have a basic mid-value mix on the palette that is cool,  to dip all my light mixtures into, avoiding any yellows until much later on.  That yellow will of course be a very cool one. Lemon yellow comes to mind. On this sketch, I used a grey pre-mix the color of fawn suede. Some super cool mauves, blues and pinks are handy to have around too.  Lipking taught me this. I don't think he would mind me sharing with you that he favors a mauve mix made from alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and white. He has been using this mix now for years.

I wouldn't get away perhaps with this cool skin tone on a portrait commission but, hey, art collectors of my non-portrait work seem, well, quite peachy about it.

Jeremy Lipking teaches year-round, all information at www.lipking.com

Figure painting in Paris.

Dreams of Paris
8x10
oil on archival board
$500
Free shipping

Writing letter to get me to Paris

image http://www.freehdwall.com/2011/11/eiffel-tower-statue-and-inscription.html


If I am going to spend a year in Paris, I am going to need a good satin robe. For the models, not me, silly.

Plans are going well. Resumes/applications being hand-written for opportunities.  Yeah, right.

This  figure sketch was painted this week in my teaching class at The California Art Institute. Join me every Wednesday. Well, until I get to Paris.